Neela Basu
S524 Adult Readers Advisory
30 April 2012
Readers’ Advisory Lab: Providing RA Services to Five Participants
I provided readers’ advisory services to five participants of different ages, backgrounds and reading preferences. These interviews were conducted face to face with each interview lasting anywhere from twenty to sixty minutes. Each interview began with the same general opening question: “Tell me about a book you enjoyed.” Not every participant I interviewed found this question easy to answer, especially those participants that do not currently read much. I attempted to understand each participant’s reading goals and what each participant wants to take away from their respective reading experiences. Under each participant profile, I included the readers’ advisory questions that were specifically geared toward each individual. I attempted to include both fiction and nonfiction works for each reader.
After each interview, I researched and compiled a specific reading recommendation list for each participant. This list was provided to the participants approximately one week after the initial interview by email. I sent a follow-up email to each participant inquiring whether the participant found the recommendations helpful.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 1:
The participant is a 68 year old male who used to be a voracious reader in his youth. He has not read much since he began his graduate studies in his mid-twenties (he studied business, marketing and mathematics). Much of his childhood was spent reading classics. The classics he gravitated towards included works by William Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. Since his retirement, he is looking to start reading again but is anxious about starting with books of the “caliber” and “heft” he used to read. He is worried that he would not be able to concentrate enough to enjoy larger, more-densely written books. Currently most of his leisure time is spent watching television. He particularly enjoys Boardwalk Empire and his favorite television show of all time is The Sopranos. He is drawn to these types of television shows because of the vicarious enjoyment he feels from watching criminals at work along with the quick pace of the action and frequent plot twists.
RA Questions: What type of books did you used to enjoy? Are you open to rereading these classics since you first read these books a significant amount of time ago? (You may develop a new appreciation and understanding rereading these works at this time in your life). Are you interested in exploring new or more contemporary genres? What television shows do you enjoy and what is the appeal of these television shows?
RA Recommendations and Rationale: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: This reader already has a love for the classics and while he expressed a willingness to delve back into these works, he also expressed some trepidation. Given the participant’s anxiety, I felt Twain would be an easier author to start with in contrast to a more intimidating read like Dickens’ Bleak House, which is over 1000 pages and has an enormous amount of characters to keep track of.
Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson: This book is the inspiration for the HBO series.
Wiseguy and Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi: Both books are the stories of real life gangsters. Wiseguy is the story of New York mobster Henry Hill which was made into the movie Goodfellas. Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas describes the story of how the mob built and lost control of the Las Vegas money-making machine.
The Innocent by David Baldacci and Stay Close by Harlan Coben: Based on the participant’s preferences for quick paced, action based plots, I felt that this participant may enjoy thrillers. Baldacci and Coben are key authors within this genre (Saricks 82). Both these books are currently trending on the New York Times Best Sellers List.
RA Tools: The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction by Joyce G. Saricks. New York Times Best Seller List (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/).
Outcome: This participant is currently on chapter two of Boardwalk Empire.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 2:
Participant is a 53 year old female who used to be an avid reader and is now looking to jumpstart her interest in reading again. Right now, most of her leisure time is spent watching television. She likes to learn about people and enjoys stories that are character-driven. She particularly enjoys analyzing the motivations of characters and dislikes when she feels that characters “act out of character.” She is a self-described Anglophile and especially enjoys British television, including the mystery series Midsomer Murders.
RA Questions: How important is character development? How important is plot development? What type of television shows do you enjoy?
Recommendations and Rationale: This participant primarily enjoys books that are character-centered. Mysteries typically explore the lives of the investigative team in addition to investigating the crime itself (Saricks 198).
The Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby mysteries (series by Caroline Graham): These books are the basis for the television series Midsomer Murders. In addition, the Brother Cadfael mysteries (series by Ellis Peters), A Touch of Frost mysteries (series by R.D. Wingfield) and the Inspector Lynley mysteries (series by Elizabeth George) have all been made into series for British television.
I, Claudius by Robert Graves and The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer: These books are recommended based on the participant’s interest in character-centered stories. These stories provide in-depth character development in the setting of criminal intrigue.
RA Tools: NoveList.
Outcome: This participant has already read many of the books in the recommended mystery series. She also expressed interest in reading The Executioner’s Song although she is a bit discouraged by the size of the novel.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 3:
Participant is a 27 year old female who has worked for the same healthcare organization for over five years. She is experiencing some work burnout and is now interested in pursuing a nursing degree. She has chosen nursing because she is interested in a healthcare field in which she will have direct patient contact. She is interested in exploring non-fiction but does enjoy reading fiction as well.
RA Questions: What type of fiction do you enjoy? Do you characterize reading as “work” versus “fun”?
Recommendations and Rationale: This participant was adamant that she wanted nonfiction recommendations only. This is a genre that she has attempted in the past but she never found anything she read to be engaging enough to finish reading. While she was unable to remember the titles of any of the nonfiction she read in the past, it sounds like what she did read was rather intensely instructional (like reading a textbook). Because she does enjoy reading fiction, I attempted to pick narrative nonfiction books about the intersection between medicine and the social sciences which is an area of interest for her.
Strange Harvest: Organ Transplants, Denatured Bodies, and the Transformed Self by Lesley Alexandra Sharp: This recommendation was made in hopes that this book will reinvigorate her passion for her current job.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman: This book is the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-fiction for 1997.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts: This is the bestselling true story of the politics surrounding the first years of the AIDS epidemic.
RA Tools: GoodReads includes “medical anthropology” as a genre. The National Book Circle Critics’ Awards honor the best “serious” literature published in the United States in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. A listing of past award winners and finalists since 1975 can be found on NBCC’s website (htttp://bookcritics.org/awards).
Outcome: She is in the process of reading The Spirit Catches You.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 4:
Participant is a 31 year old female who spends much of her free time reading. She is pursuing a degree in English and is interested in teaching English abroad. As a result, she is interested in learning about new cultures but is not interested in reading nonfiction at all. She typically gravitates toward fantasy fiction and is drawn to the “world-building” found in these types of works. Her most recent “obsession” is with the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.
RA Questions: What have you read recently? What draws you to these types of books? Given your interest in working overseas, are you interested in nonfiction books about different countries and cultures? How comfortable are you with descriptions of violence and the use of profanity?
Recommendations and Rationale: These recommendations were made in response to the participant’s interest in exploring different parts of the world through fiction.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: The background of this international bestseller takes place in Afghanistan during the political unrest of the 1970s through the rise of the Taliban.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga: Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, this book takes place in modern day India.
Along the Ganges by Ilija Trojanow: Although the participant did not express any interest in nonfiction books, I still included this travelogue of modern India that has been voted as one of the best travel books of all time by Conde Nast Traveler.
RA Tools: GoodReads includes “popular foreign fiction” as a genre. Amazon Books Travel Best Sellers.
Outcome: The participant has not picked up any of the recommended titles; however, she is currently reading Steig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.
PARTICIPANT PROFILE 5:
Participant is a 33 year old female who has been a reader her entire life. (Her mother is a librarian). She works long and untraditional hours. She is a part of the GBLTQ community and recently has had a child with her partner (their child is four months old).
RA Questions: How much time can you devote to reading? Is your reading frequently interrupted? Do you have a preference about book length?
Recommendations and Rationale: Because this participant is unable to read for long stretches of time without frequent interruptions, I selected fiction books that were more moderate in length. I also explored a number of nonfiction books because this genre is typically easier to pick up and put down. This participant, of course, has other interests outside of GBLTQ literature but she specifically requested recommendations within this genre because she does not feel that she has enough personal knowledge about this type of literature.
Patience & Sarah by Isabel Miller: This book is the first recipient of the Stonewall Book Award for 1971 and describes a lesbian relationship that ends happily (225 pages).
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (247 pages).
A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski: Winner of the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award for 2012 (312 pages).
Inseparable: Desire Between Women by Emma Donghue: Winner of the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award for 2011 (288 pages).
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters: This book can also be classified as historical fiction and is a bit longer and more detailed for the times the participant is able to commit more time to reading (480 pages).
RA Tools: "A Place on the Shelf,” article by Devon Thomas. Both the Lambda Literary Awards (www.lambdaliterary.org) and American Library Association’s Stonewall Book Awards (www.ala.org/glbtrt/award) recognize excellence in GLBTQ literature.
Beacon Press (www.beacon.org): Independent non-profit publisher affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Beacon Press publishes many books about social justice issues with an emphasis on political science, gay/lesbian/gender studies, education, African-American studies, women's studies, child and family issues and nature and the environment.
Outcome: This participant is still unable to find time to read although she did share my recommendations with her mother (the librarian).
Saricks, Joyce G. The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2009. Print.
Thomas, Devon. "A Place on the Shelf." Library Journal 132.8 (2007): 40-43. Library Literature and Information Science Full Text. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
