Book Club Experience

For my book club experience, I visited a local book club that I founded a number of years ago but had not been to in quite some time. This book club started as a library program where I work. The name of the group was Books & Brews, and we met at the local brewery once a month to discuss the selected monthly read, as well as anything new and exciting we had been reading. The hope was that the outside-the-library book club meeting at a bar would attract a wider range of participants, both in age and gender. Though a library staff member would be “hosting” the book club, the idea was that everything would be participant-led, from selecting the books to the discussions. As moderator, I was ready with some questions to spur conversation on if needed, but I found that it was rarely, if ever, needed. The members of the group really got involved with taking ownership of the group. The program was very successful, and after about 3 or so years I ended the program so the group could operate on their own without have to stick to the library’s early planning and rigid scheduling structure. I continued to attend meetings for a while, but had stopped going because life had just gotten too busy. I decided this group would be a great book club to attend to see how it had progressed since leaving the library, and to see some friends that I had met during my hosting time.

I attended the March meeting of the book club at a local pub called The Terminal. The book selection for the month was The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. Fortunately, I was able to read the book before attending so I could feel like I was participating instead of just observing. When I arrived at the location, it was nice to see some familiar faces, indicating that the core group that had formed several years ago was still integral to the group. But it was also refreshing to see some new faces had joined the group. The participants were mixed genders and of a wide age range, from about early 30s to somewhere around late 50s/early 60s. As we settled around the large dining table, I was worried that the volume of a pub would be too much for the group to communicate over. Fortunately, the music was kept fairly low and there was enough space that other guests at the venue were not right on top of us, so it was actually very easy to have a conversation where everyone can hear. The group ordered food and drinks and caught up on what has been happening since the last meeting. After catching up and receiving food and drink, talk moved towards the selected book. About 20 minutes was spent discussing the book. The discussion was not led by anyone in particular. Someone would speak up with a comment or question about the book and others would discuss back and forth for a few minutes. This repeated a few times until everyone had something to say about the book. The overall consensus was that the book was enjoyable, but there were divided thoughts about the ending. In a group like this, everyone felt comfortable enough to disagree and state their opinions rather frankly. It was very refreshing to see the friendships at play among members of the group that allowed for fairly strong disagreements at times.

After everyone had their say about The Paradox Hotel, talk digressed to other books everyone had been reading or had recently added to their to-read list. At this point, a few smaller groups formed around shared interest in genres. There was a group discussing fantasy, one discussing fairly steamy romance, and another group discussing general YA fiction. Each person offered options for the next book, and the group as a whole decided on an historical fiction/western book, News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I hope I am able to attend the April meeting, as I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the group form into its own group of similarly-inclined literary folks from all walks of life gathering to enjoy good food, drinks, and books.

Mystery Annotation

 

Author: Agatha Christie

Title: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Genre: Mysteries

Publication Date: 1926

Number of Pages: 276

Geographical Setting: King’s Abbot, England

Time Period: 1920s

Series (If applicable): Hercule Poirot

Plot Summary: Despite being in retirement in the quite village of King’s Abbot, Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate the murder of one of his friends, the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. With a cast of characters as potential suspects and a list of motives including debts, blackmail, and inheritance, the many alibis and differing details regarding the events the events of the evening, Poirot will have to use all his detective skills to determine who killed Roger Ackroyd.

Subject Headings: Private investigators

                                    Poirot, Hercule (Fictitious character)

                                    Murder - investigation

                                    Extortion

Appeal: storyline: intricately plotted

    tone: suspenseful

    writing style: compelling

    themes: unreliable narrator

3 terms that best describe this book: suspenseful, intricately plotted, twist ending

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson--this book explores Christie’s life from childhood to successful author, including her mysterious disappearance in 1926. Thompson was able to interview family members and read letters and other personal writings from Christie’s home.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara--a book about the serial killer in California during the 1970s and 80s, who committed 50 sexual assaults and 10 murders, but who remained at-large as of the time of McNamara’s work. The book was completed two years after her untimely death, and the perpetrator was arrested in 2018, the same year as the book’s release.

Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes--this compelling memoir by Paul Holes, a renowned cold case investigator, discusses some of the most challenging cold cases he has worked on, including his investigation and final arrest of the long-cold Golden State Killer suspect, Joseph DeAngelo.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton--both are intricately plotted, compelling mysteries. This has an Agatha Christie “who-done-it” mystery style.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz--both intricately plotted mysteries, this book very much written in the style of Agatha Christie mysteries

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson--both are intricately plotted, suspenseful mysteries written in compelling style, and both have an unreliable narrator theme.

Romance Annotation

 

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Title: Devil in Winter

Genre: Romance, historical romance

Publication Date: 2006

Number of Pages: 368

Geographical Setting: London, England

Time Period: 1843

Series: Wallflowers, #3

Plot Summary: In order to avoid an unwanted marriage to a cousin and to maintain her terminally ill father’s inheritance, Evangeline Jenner proposed a marriage of convenience to the roguish Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent. Sebastian had previously kidnapped Lillian Bowman, friend of Evangeline and fiancée of his friend, Marcus, Lord Westcliff, in order to secure money to support his lavish, aristocratic lifestyle. Sebastian and Evangeline escape to Gretna Green in Scotland for a speedy wedding, and discover on the journey that an unexpected and strong attraction exists between them. Upon their return to London to care for Evie’s dying father, Ivo Jenner, former boxer and owner of a successful London gambling club, Sebastian and Evie’s relationship grows deeper, and he is surprised to find that he loves her in a way he has never loved another woman, even willing to risk his own life to save her.

Subject Headings: Nobility - England - Fiction; Victorian erotic tales

Appeals: Pace: Leisurely paced; Tone: Steamy, funny; Writing style: banter-filled; Themes: marriage of convenience; opposites attract

3 terms that best describe this book: humorous, steamy, character growth

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

Gretna Green: A Romantic History by Olga Sinclair--this is a history of the common historical wedding destination for English elopers who needed to bypass the rules of marriage that applied in England and Wales.

How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk guide to Victorian Life by Ruth Goodman--written by a historian who recreated Victorian living conditions to gain first-hand experience of life in the Victorian Era.

Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard--a glimpse into life of six members of Queen Victoria’s household, based on letters and diaries of her servants.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

Someone Perfect by Mary Balogh—both have marriage of convenience as themes, are historical romances set in the Victorian Era, and both deal with persons of nobility.

Marry in Haste by Anne Gracie—both are banter-filled with marriage of convenience theme.

Along Came a Lady by Christi Caldwell--both are steamy historical romances with an opposites attract theme.

 

 

Secret Shopper

I went to the library with a plan to find a romance book to read for the upcoming assignment. I have never read romance genre books, so I really did need some assistance in finding something. Before I went, I had to think about what I have read recently so that I'd be ready to answer questions about my reading history and preferences. I was all set to go and try to find a book to read!

When I got to the library, there was only one desk, and someone was being assisted so I looked around the library for a bit. It was not a very large library, but it was fairly normal for a public library. When the staff member at the desk was free, I went up to ask for help finding a book to get started reading in the romance genre. I don't know the person who helped me was a librarian, aide, lending clerk, or some other position. But they were not incredibly helpful in having a readers' advisory experience. When I told her that I am trying to expand my reading genres into romance and needed some help with finding a place to start, she just told me that Debbie Macomber was a popular romance author. She then pointed at the shelf section where her books were located.

I thanked her and went over there to browse a bit before calling it a day. There was another library employee shelving books right across the aisle from where Macomber's books are shelved. She asked if I was looking for something in particular, so I ran through my rehearsed script with her. She proved to be more helpful, pointing me toward a series that she enjoys and finding the first book in the series for me. While I was taking notes, she then asked the questions I was expecting at the start--what do you normally read? what do you think of x author or x book? etc. We talked about various genres for a while, but she did not change her recommendation at all. Neither staff member used any tools or other resources, which was a bit surprising. I'm not sure if I got a good recommendation or not, nor was the experience what I was expecting. But it was a good example of what I would not want to do if I have a customer come in to ask me for reading suggestions.

Prompt Responses

 Here are my selections for the RA prompt responses. I had some issues accessing the NoveList site at home due to some problems with our library's vendor. But I was able to finish up when I came in to work. I used some other sources, such as fantasticfiction.com and Good Reads, but found NoveList to be the most useful in crafting a specific response.

1. The Lunatic Cafe is the next book I used fantasticfiction.com to look up the series by Laurell K. Hamilton.
2. The Girl in the Castle by Santa Montefiore. This book is in a similar style to Prodigal Summer, with lyrical, descriptive writing and complex characters, but seems to be a bit more quickly paced.
3. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell. This book is set in the 1799 Japanese port of Dejima, which should fulfill both the historical and the Japanese setting, and Mitchell writes in a richly detailed style.
4. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie is a suspenseful mystery with an intricate plot, but should not be too creepy and dark.
5. The Living Dead by George A Romero and Daniel Kraus. This book was begun by Romero, who contributed a great deal to the zombie themes with his Night of the Living Dead films started in the 60s. This novel is a modern, fast-paced continuation of those films.
6. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is a best-selling books that was made into a popular movie. Written in 2018 it falls within the time frame they are looking for.
7. Face of Betrayal: A Triple Threat Novel by Lis Wiehl. Her books have fast-paced, plot-driven storylines, and this genre is Christian suspense, which should avoid any foul language or sex scenes.

I typically find the books I'm going to read through suggestions from members of the book club I attend and through a podcast I listen to. The books recommended by the podcast are usually nonfiction books while the book club books tend to be fiction. Those do keep me busy so I don't often have to look for other books, but when I do I typically use NoveList or Good Reads to find my next book.

Reading Profile

I don't have time to read as much as I'd like to, but I do enjoy reading a wide range of genres and topics. I read more non-fiction that fiction these days, with topics ranging from what I want to learn more about in my life at this stage, such as child raising, bread baking, organizing, various world religions, and philosophy. At the moment I am reading Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, a book about rye breads, a bread book written by the founder of Tartine Bakery in California, and I'm listening to an audiobook version of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers with my wife. With non-fiction I find that I can have several books "in-process" at one time since I'm not usually following a plot and the books I'm reading are different enough that it's easy to keep them separate in my head. I don't read all of them everyday, but it's nice to have a selection to choose from depending on the mood I am in when I am ready to read.

As for fiction, I don't really have a favorite genre. I don't read westerns or romances much, if at all, so I am considering those for my genres this semester to become more familiar. I enjoy reading Stephen King, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley, and have started reading Agatha Christie's Poirot books. I started a book club through the library a few years ago where we meet at a local brewery and discuss the selected book for the month while enjoying a pint. We are still meeting, though we have separated from the library, and the selections come from recommendations by the members. Through that group I read a lot of books that I probably would not select on my own, but for the most part turn out to be books I quite enjoy.