Have Pen Will Review

So I am very conflicted about celebrity book lists. There are two main benefits to these lists. The first is that the lists promote reading in adults. This is important since 60% of adults say that they would like to read more but don't feel that they have the time to (Liao, 2017). So anything that helps adults to make time in their schedule to read is a good thing. Additionally, this publicity is good for the author, helping them to sell more books. This is especially good for authors that are lesser known and would otherwise languish in obscurity. These ate both great reasons to promote celebrity book lists. There are other minor reasons that these are good such as having the potential to have people visit the library more, and for them to broaden their horizons. (Note: these are minor because they are harder to prove and observe, not because their impact is less important). These are all great things but the problem that I have with these lists is that they can be used imprope...

Synopsis (Spoiler free): Hal Westaway has fallen on hard times since the passing of her mother three years prior. Money is tight, and she is barely scraping by when a letter comes saying that her grandmother has left her an inheritance. But Hal’s only grandparents died years ago. With loan sharks coming to collect and no money to pay them, Hal decides that she needs to figure out whether this money belongs to her and maybe discover the secrets that the Westaways have worked so hard to bury. Pacing: Though not fast, the pace of this book moves at a decent rate. It always feels like Hal is either learning something new or piecing something together. Storyline: The storyline of this book revolves around the mystery of Hal Westaway and how she is related to the Westaways of Trepassen House. The biggest of these mysteries is who is her father. As time continues on Hal not only discovers that her mother had lied to her about the identity of her father but also about much of her chil...

For this week’s prompt, I am coming up with an idea to promote different horror materials within the library. For this I would first find several horror books and cover their spines with black construction paper. I would then make friendly looking monsters on the spine, relating to the monsters in the book if possible. These books would then be “hidden” in different sections of the library where they don’t belong. I would also do this with some movies. Before “mis-shelving” these resources I would make sure to make detailed notes about where each book is located for when we stop doing this program and if a patron is looking for one of the books that is being used as a monster book. My hope with this would be to have patrons that usually only look in one or two sections of the library find a new book or author they like by seeing something that is out of place.

Synopsis (Spoiler free): When Katie met Cassidy starts the Monday after Katie Daniels’ fiancé breaks up with her to date her former best friend. Struggling to cope with everything as she goes into work on Monday, she is intrigued when she finds herself negotiating a business deal with a strong willed woman, Cassidy Price, who is wearing a man’s suit. Cassidy is also interested in Katie Daniels, and against both of their better judgements they go out for drinks together. What follows is a funny romp through a relationship and the story of how to find yourself when things don’t go exactly as planned. Pacing: The plot moves pretty quickly, never really dragging at any one point. There doesn’t really feel like any wasted time and you can visibly see their relationship deepening as the book goes on, making the progress obvious so that every chapter feels important. The climax of the book happens about four chapters from the end. The chapters also alternate between the two main ...

These reviews seem to be genuine but it is hard to tell how accurate they are of the material without seeing more reviews (especially for the Amazon review since she might be an outlier who really likes this author). I think they both gave me a good feeling of what is in the books and that I know what type of audience the author is writing for. I would purchase this book for the library I work at since this book is extremely popular, especially during Christmas time, with our patrons. Similar to the reviews of The Billionaire’s First Christmas, these professional reviews about Angela’s Ashes give me a good sense about what the book is about and what audience the author is writing to. After reading these reviews, I would add this book to the collection at the library that I work at, though I personally would not enjoy reading this book. For the reviews, this books seems to be well written and riveting. Additionally, at the library I work at historical fiction has been becoming incr...

In the third installment of The Stormlight Archives,  Dalinar Kholin, leader and new Knight Radiant is tasked with uniting all the peoples of Roshar against the Voidbringers which have come to destroy all of civilization. Meanwhile, the god-like being Odium is doing everything that he can to amass his forces of Voidbringers and bring Roshar under his control once and for all. Oathbringer focuses on Dalinar and his past, starting with him being a warmonger that helps unite Alethkar through force. In the present, Dalinar is having to deal with having such a blood-soaked past as he tries to convince everyone that he is not merely trying to conquer them but rather unite everyone to stand against the threat of the Voidbringers. While this is going on Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin are working to liberate the capital of Alethkar which is under siege from Voidbringers and their human slaves. Overall, the pacing on this book is well done and dramatic but it takes a while to build up momen...

Synopsis (Spoiler free): Francis Grimm is the captain of a pirate airship, after leaving the military fleet in disgrace. A man of honor through and through, Captain Grimm works with Spire Albion in a cold war against Spire Aurora, attacking merchant vessels to turn a profit. When a routine airship battle goes awry, he is forced to retreat with his ship barely intact and no profits to fix it. Spire Aurora on the other hand is tired of being picked on in this cold war, deciding to attack first and hopefully pillage Spire Albion. With a non-functioning ship Grimm Captain Grimm has no choice but to join in the war effort on a secret mission, to find the Aurorans that landed during the first attack and stop them before they cripple the economy of Spire Albion and win the war before it has even started. Pacing: Fitting in perfectly with the Adventure genre, Aeronaut’s Windlass keeps the action going from the beginning of the book to the very end. Jim Butcher expertly ramps up the dang...

To put it simply I had a bad experience when I went to get a book recommendation. I wanted to see how well the reader’s advisory would be so I started with a broad statement saying that I wanted a Science Fiction or Fantasy book. He did not ask my any questions to clarify what I wanted and then proceeded to recommend an alternative history book which was not what I was looking for. Needless to say, I would not go back for another recommendation. I am unsure what tools he used if any. There are several things that could have made this interaction better. Firstly, I think that he should have asked me many more questions about what I was looking for when I asked for something new to read. Science fiction and fantasy are broad categories that encompass everything from realistic near future (e.g.the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson) to weird nonsensical magic (e.g. the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett). So only knowing that I want something from those categories is akin to sayin...