Week 9: Book Trailers and Training Wrap Up

Assignments 1 & 2

Okay, I read the two articles about book trailers, and then I viewed a few on You Tube.  Well, I have to say that, for the most part, they are very lackluster.  I either thought they were very amateurish or failed to capture either the sense of the book they were promoting or my interest in reading it.  A couple that I found well-produced and intriguing were the ones for Harbinger, Before I Fall (which has definite Teen appeal), and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  There were a couple that were so poorly done that it was almost embarassing to watch them including Harbinger and Undercurrent (which features a dreadful 'shot in my living room' interview of the author).  Neither of these made me want to read the books.  Would I use them for RA?  Need to do it on a case by case basis.  If, for instance, the last two titles are worth reading, then viewing their book trailers would not back up that opinion.

Assignment 3

I suppose the main thing I learned from "Be More Bookish" is that I do need to read more blogs and web sites related to genres with which I am not very familiar.  Although I do try to read a lot and across many genres and subjects, I feel that there are quite a few RA tools that I was not aware of and also I want to approach the way I handle someone asking for RA more effectively.  I really thought the appeal factors mentioned were quite a valuable way of getting into the mind of the person who is asking for advice.  I tend (or hopefully tended) to listen to the customer's response to "What was the last book you read that you enjoyed?" and then immediately try to think of a read alike.  However, I think I need to do more probing and also to think outside the 'read alike' box for titles that have similar appeal factors but are not necessarily in the same genre or subject field. 

I enjoy reading Teen and Tween fiction, too, but I tend to only recommend them to Teens and Tweens.  Not sure why I didn't think, "Hey, I'm way past the Teen and Tween ages, but I read them, so I bet adults would enjoy them, too!"  But now I will.  I think that's one of the things that I'm taking away from this training.  I have a new point of view with regards to RA, and I know that with practice, it will make me a more effective Reader's Advisor.