Conversation 1
For this customer, I wanted to pick a book that would appeal to the customer's interests of the descriptions of the trip and inner reflection while allowing the choices to be book-club friendly. Since the customer does seem to like "It" books, I moved towards memoirs that have recently been popular. The books I would suggest would be:
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
All four of these books meet the requirement of being insightful memoirs about the author's inner thoughts on life while being easily accessible for the rest of the book club members. Since these are popular, widely read books, book clubs can easily find affordable copies whether they are at Target, the local indie bookshop, or the library.
All four of these books meet the requirement of being insightful memoirs about the author's inner thoughts on life while being easily accessible for the rest of the book club members. Since these are popular, widely read books, book clubs can easily find affordable copies whether they are at Target, the local indie bookshop, or the library.
Conversation 2
This customer enjoys vampire stories, but dislikes the teenage angst that comes with Twilight. Instead of handing the customer a worn copy of Dracula (after of course checking to see if they have read this pivotal vampire tale), I would recommend starting with the first books of one of the three following series:
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris
The American Vampire Series
Each of these three series create distinctive worlds with different vampiric lore allowing the customer to have an option of finding an appealing vampire tale that has multiple books for them to follow through. The Vampire Chronicles and the Southern Vampire Series both have film and television adaptations allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves into the worlds as (in my own experience) many fantasy readers are wont to do. The American Vampire series are published as Graphic Novels and represent an excellent opportunity for the customer to try out a potential new format.
Each of these three series create distinctive worlds with different vampiric lore allowing the customer to have an option of finding an appealing vampire tale that has multiple books for them to follow through. The Vampire Chronicles and the Southern Vampire Series both have film and television adaptations allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves into the worlds as (in my own experience) many fantasy readers are wont to do. The American Vampire series are published as Graphic Novels and represent an excellent opportunity for the customer to try out a potential new format.
Conversation 3
This customer loves a good, fast-paced narrative nonfiction story. The best thing about nonfiction novels is that once your interest is piqued there are tons of good resources in the back of the book for further reading. To follow up on the customer's enjoyment of The River of Doubt I would recommend the following books:
Unbroken: A World War II airman's story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences by Truman Capote
Each of these items have the distinct privilege of being true stories. I chose Devil in the White City because several would argue that it has come to define the genre of narrative nonfiction. I chose the Hillenbrand and the Bart as they are good historical pieces that examine both daring feats and the culture of the day. Finally, I chose to suggest In Cold Blood because 1) it's my go to recommendation for narrative nonfiction (partially due to the fact that I grew up in Kansas, my dad was a cop, and Smith and Hickock went through my hometown after the murders) but mostly because 2) In Cold Blood was the first nonfiction novel and I firmly believe that anyone who is going to dive into the genre (especially after expressing an interests in stories that contain murder) they need to experience the book that set the foundation for all the books that followed it.
As a narrative nonfiction reader myself, one frustration that I do have in finding new reads is that while fiction books can be found in one set section at all times, a good nonfiction novel can be found anywhere throughout the nonfiction shelves depending on what Dewey number it's cataloged under. I would suggest to this customer to always feel free to browse through the True Crime section (364), the sciences section (500s) the food/cooking section (641), and the history section (900s).
I feel pretty pleased with myself. Recommending books to others based of their interests have never been a strength for me (See Week 1 where I explained I have a hard time remembering it's not all about me) Finding the different items and using resources such as NoveList and Goodreads to find those items was a fun exercise and it showed me that I can at least Google search a decent response.
Each of these items have the distinct privilege of being true stories. I chose Devil in the White City because several would argue that it has come to define the genre of narrative nonfiction. I chose the Hillenbrand and the Bart as they are good historical pieces that examine both daring feats and the culture of the day. Finally, I chose to suggest In Cold Blood because 1) it's my go to recommendation for narrative nonfiction (partially due to the fact that I grew up in Kansas, my dad was a cop, and Smith and Hickock went through my hometown after the murders) but mostly because 2) In Cold Blood was the first nonfiction novel and I firmly believe that anyone who is going to dive into the genre (especially after expressing an interests in stories that contain murder) they need to experience the book that set the foundation for all the books that followed it.
As a narrative nonfiction reader myself, one frustration that I do have in finding new reads is that while fiction books can be found in one set section at all times, a good nonfiction novel can be found anywhere throughout the nonfiction shelves depending on what Dewey number it's cataloged under. I would suggest to this customer to always feel free to browse through the True Crime section (364), the sciences section (500s) the food/cooking section (641), and the history section (900s).
I feel pretty pleased with myself. Recommending books to others based of their interests have never been a strength for me (See Week 1 where I explained I have a hard time remembering it's not all about me) Finding the different items and using resources such as NoveList and Goodreads to find those items was a fun exercise and it showed me that I can at least Google search a decent response.
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| Self-Flattery gets me through my day. |
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