Genre Alert: Forthcoming Historical Fiction (2017)

• "What is Historical Fiction? These are novels set in the past, before the author's lifetime or experience. Through its serious respect for historical accuracy and details of time, place, and character, historical fiction enhances a reader's knowledge of past events, lives, and customs. The goal of historical fiction is to bring history to life in novel form." Source: NoveList Genre Outline - "Getting Up to Speed in Historical Fiction" by Joyce Saricks; updated by Sarah S. Davis (Jul 2016)  

I enjoy historical fiction and while stories set in ancient times are my favorites, the history major in me is easily drawn to any time period. If you are a fan of this genre and interested in learning about new titles coming in 2017, I have a great readers advisory tip for you.

Check out this great Forthcoming Historical Novels for 2017 list compiled by Sarah Johnson and Sarah Cuthbertson for the Historical Novel Society blog (an excellent source for reviews in this genre!). 

• HNS's "Defining the Genre" article says "To be deemed historical (in our sense), a novel must have been written at least fifty years after the events described, or have been written by someone who was not alive at the time of those events (who therefore approaches them only by research)."

I will be able to indulge my fondness for ancient history quite easily in 2017 as a majority of the titles below can attest; take a look at their one-sentence descriptions on the linked list to see what I mean. Although ... thanks to Sarah and Sarah, you can learn about forthcoming novels from any time period including many that cross over into genres such as mystery and romance. The list also includes upcoming titles from established series. 

The following titles have been added to my personal "must check into these" reading schedule. Looks like I will have at least two (sometimes more) historical fiction books to occupy myself with for the next few months. :-)

January:
Emily Hauser, For the Most Beautiful
Nancy Peacock, The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson

February:
Paul Auster, 4 3 2 1
Charlie Lovett, The Lost Book of the Grail

​David Osborne, The Coming

March:

Margaret George, The Confessions of Young Nero​ 

​Greer MacAllister, Girl in Disguise​
​David Vann, Bright Air Black​

April:
Emily Holleman, The Drowning King​
​Crystal King, Feast of Sorrow

Alyssa Palombo, The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence​

May:
Claire Cameron, The Last Neanderthal
​​Natalie Haynes, The Children of Jocasta 
​Sarah Shoemaker, Mr. Rochester​
​Dana Stabenow, Silk and Song​
​Colm Tóibín, House of Names​
​Melodie Winawer, The Scribe of Siena​

​

June:
Michael Crichton, Dragon Teeth
Leonard Goldberg, The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes 

Emily Hauser, For the Winner​
Ian Mortimer, The Outcasts of Time​

​
July:​
Ashley Hay, The Body in the Clouds
Andrew Wilson, A Talent for Murder

​
August:​

​Linnea Hartsuyker, The Half-Drowned King​
​Katherine Nouri Hughes, The Mapmaker’s Daughter​

September:

Robert Downes, Windigo Moon

Hannah Kent, The Good People 

They keep updating the list so I will be visiting the link again but as for now ... I may have just laid out a portion of my reading challenge for 2017! 

Thanks again, Sarah and Sarah. :-)​

October Display Ideas

Courtesy of the September issue of Book Display Ideas, a Library Aware e-Newsletter compiled by staff at NoveList:

• Feature ghost stories or horror novels this month since Halloween is October 31

• Twenty-five years ago, in October 1990, Rwanda’s civil war began, setting the stage for the horrific 1994 genocide.

• Dinosaur National Monument was established 100 years ago on October 4, 1915. It started with only 80 acres in Northeast Utah but now encompasses over 210,000 acres in both Utah and Colorado. Since kids more than any other age-group love dinosaurs, this would make for a great children's display

• If you didn't do a Saturday Night Live display earlier this year (the show marked this milestone with a prime-time TV special on February 15.), do one this month; the sketch comedy show first aired 40 years ago on October 11, 1975.

• October 18-24, 2015 is both National Friends of Libraries Week and Teen Read Week.

• J.R.R. Tolkien's final book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, was first published 60 years ago on October 20, 1955.

• Even people who aren't British know that the Battle of Trafalgar was an important day in world history. Trafalgar Day, October 21, is celebrated in various Commonwealth countries, and this year marks 210 years since the battle

• Celebrate the countries of the world -- the United Nations was founded 70 years ago this October, and October 24 is United Nations Day.

As mentioned in a post on August 3, celebrity birthdays can be great for creating fun displays. Choosing the Friday dates in October for a weekly display theme, here are some famous birthday ideas: 

• October 2 - Comedians: Groucho Marx, of the Marx Brothers and Bud Abbott, of the comedy team 'Abbott & Costello' 
• October 9 - Singer/songwriters: John Lennon of the "Beatles" and Jackson Brown
• October 16 - Literary stars: Noah Webster, compiler of first American English Dictionary and Oscar Wilde, playwright & poet
• October 23 - Sports figures: Pele, soccer player and Dan Flutie, football quarterback
• October 30 - Actors: Henry Winkler ('Happy Days') and Harry Hamlin ('L.A. Law')

Check out Holiday Insights for more Famous October Birthdays

RA Tip: Book Annotations: Short and Snappy Made Easy

On Thursday, November 6th, the Reference & User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association) and NoveList hosted a webcast on writing annotations. A summary of the main points discussed in the presentation are:

REMEMBER ...

• ANNOTATIONS: 
• Market your collection
• Promote books to their particular audience
• Are easy to repurpose (use again)
• A GOOD ANNOTATION IS:
• Clearly written and easy to identify
• Focused on appeals
• Tailored to it's audience
• TO WRITE GOOD ANNOTATIONS:
• Read OR research the book
• Think about the book's audience
• Start with a narrative hook
• Include a brief plot summary (No spoilers!)
• Include the strongest appeal factors
• Provide context and readers'/viewers'/listeners' advisory
• Keep it enticing, attention-grabbing, and BRIEF!

Before publishing/posting - have someone proofread your annotation OR if no one is available, slowly read the annotation out loud to yourself. These can help in checking for mistakes and in fine tuning your annotation.


NoveList has a great tool for appeal factors, The Secret Language of Books: a Guide to Appeal

RA Branch Visit

Monday, Sept 8th, I spent all day at our Kisker Road Branch having been invited by Diana T, the branch Manager, to attend the monthly staff meetings at 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. In advance of my visit, Diana had encouraged her staff to sign up for individual 30-minute NoveList training sessions to be held throughout the day.

For the staff meeting, I had 15 minutes to talk about readers' advisory, what it is, how staff can work together to assist customers, and suggest ways to prepare in advance for future RA inquiries. The NoveList training sessions were great fun! The  Kisker staff challenged me with their queries on how to use the database and I came away learning as much as they did from those 30-minute sessions.

I would love to do similar readers' advisory training at all the branches in the district and plan to spend a day at other locations in the coming months. If you wish to arrange for an RA branch visit, have your branch Manager contact me at General Administration.

Readers' Advisory Training (RAT) Program

WELCOME TO ROUND 5 OF OUR READERS' ADVISORY TRAINING (RAT) PROGRAM

On Tuesday, August 27th and Wednesday, August 28th, we were fortunate to have Duncan Smith, co-founder of 
NoveList and a great proponent for readers' advisory, present a program for our staff. 

This was the kick off for Round 5 of the district's Readers' Advisory Training (RAT) Genre Study program. Duncan is an enthusiastic and inspiring speaker and both sessions of the program were very well attended. 

Check out under Resources for a list of references related to this GREAT program!

-- Throughout Round 5 of the Readers' Advisory Training (RAT) program we will be studying various fiction genres and nonfiction topics using a combined book discussion / book talks format. 

So you can see what genres will be covered and when, the full schedule for Round 5 is available as a shared  GoogleDoc and can be found online at: 
RA Training: Genre Study Book Discussion Program - Round 5 

• A print copy of the RA Training: Genre Study Book Discussion Program - Round 5 document will be sent out to each branch so it can be posted in the staff room for future reference.

-- To help you choose which genres you may want learn more about, try using the following document to which staff have access via NoveList Plus: The ARRT Popular Fiction Reading List 

• Although available to staff through the district's subscription to NoveList Plus, this document was compiled and published by the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee (ARRT) in Illinois. 

 

To access the document, look under the NoveList Resources heading on the right-hand side of the NoveList Plus homepage. Next, click on the Readers Advisory Toolbox link, then click on the Popular Fiction List link to reach the The ARRT Popular Fiction Reading List page which contains a link to download the document.