Week Seven Prompt Response

     The article "A Million Little Lies" details the lies and inconsistencies found in James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. This book was published as a non-fiction memoir, but further investigation has shown that many of the events in the book were either greatly embellished or completely fictitious. Oprah Winfrey endorsed this book through her book club, without knowing of the fictitious nature of the book. As a result, the book became a best-seller, and James Frey became a celebrity.

     This is an interesting situation, as it is important to study it in order to prevent a repeat of this event. First, it is obvious that lying, and writing fiction as non-fiction is immoral. James Frey should have written a fiction novel, or told the whole truth. Some would argue that it is acceptable to embellish a non-fiction story slightly for the purposes of entertainment, but in my opinion, if the story is not interesting enough as-is, then it does not need to be published. 

      Non-fiction is important literature, not for its entertainment value, but for its ability to reveal truth to readers. If we cannot trust non-fiction literature, then laypeople have no trusted sources of information. Experts have academic journals, with tested accuracy that they can trust, but this is targeted toward experts alone. Common nonfiction literature takes these expert sources, and repackages them into an easy-to-understand format. Without common nonfiction, experts maintain their intelligence, while laypeople cannot improve their understanding of anything beyond personal experience. 

    Does James Frey's lie alone hurt anyone? Possibly some of the people mentioned in his tale, but not the general public. But when we allow the line between fiction and nonfiction to blur, we are dooming ourselves to an information vacuum. If no nonfiction literature can be trusted, then why should we bother reading nonfiction at all? 

Science Fiction Annotation: Star Wars The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance

Author: Sean Williams

Title: Star Wars The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance

Genre: Science Fiction

Publication Date: May 24, 2011

Number of Pages: 512

Geographic Setting: Space, Fictional Planets

Time Period: The Old Republic Era (Star Wars Universe)

Series: N/A

Plot Summary:
     Taking place in the Star Wars Universe, this book has many familiar concepts and conflicts: the Jedi are fighting the evil Sith, and the characters travel to several different planets in the galaxy throughout the story. However, this story takes place thousands of years before the Star Wars film series, meaning there are no familiar faces, and the galaxy is ruled by a different government. This offers a refreshing look into this fictional universe, and the author has free reign over what happens in the story (unlike a book that takes place closer to the film series). This tale involves a secret item of tremendous value, that has the attention of the Jedi, the Sith, pirates, and various other factions. Each faction is willing to go to great lengths to secure this item, but the knowledge of the item's true power is such a closely kept secret, that none of our characters know what it truly is. The story follows several characters, offering differing views on the events of the plot. A Jedi-in-training named Shigar Konshi, a former-soldier named Larin Moxla, the space pirate Captain Jet Nebula, Sith-in-training Eldon Ax, and many more. As the characters hunt down the prize and fight each other on multiple planets, they eventually come to know the truth about this "treasure". These enemies are forced to work together to save the galaxy from annihilation, though they must always be on guard against betrayal.

Appeal: Fatal Alliance gives the reader everything a Star Wars fan would want from that universe, while bringing in a fresh cast of characters, environments, and situations. Avid fans will likely enjoy the new take on the franchise. The story is a good entry point for people who are new to Star Wars novels, as it requires no prerequisite reading, though an understanding of the films and the fictional universe would be helpful.

3 Terms that best describe this book: Character-driven, Adventurous, and Grandiose

Similar Authors and Works:

Star Wars The Old Republic: Deceived by Paul S. Kemp
This is the second novel in The Old Republic series, though it is worth mentioning that this series is more of an anthology, and this novel does not continue the story of Fatal Alliance. It does take place in the same time period, offering more adventures into the world of Fatal Alliance.

With the Lightnings by David Drake
Another science fiction tale involving plenty of deceit, warring factions, and space traveling. The two main characters are also from different sides of the conflict, and like Fatal Alliance, they must tem up for the greater good. This is unrelated to Star Wars, but it is the first book of Drake's RCN series.

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
This novel is another space-faring adventure with plenty of character interaction and a fast-paced plot. The main character is the captain of her own starship who discovers new conflicts from unexpected sources. This is the first novel of Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga.

Week Six Prompt Response

A way that the library could promote the horror genre would be to have a "movie night" for teens. The library has done this before, with a positive response. While most horror movies are R-rated, there are some that are not, and could be shown to a younger audience. This could be used to promote horror young adult books, such as Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak. This would incorporate integrated reader's advisory, as we would be using movies to promote a certain genre of books. We could have books available for check out at the movie night, so that teens who are interested in that genre could then read more right away.

Horror Annotation: The Damnation Game by Clive Barker

 
Author: Clive Barker
Title: The Damnation Game
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: 1985
Number of Pages: 448
Geographical Setting: London, England
Time Period: Modern, no specific date given
Series (If applicable): N/A
Plot Summary:
     Marty Strauss is a former criminal that has been in prison for several years. After resolving that he will have to spend most of his life imprisoned, he eventually catches a luck break: a possibility of early parole. However, this does not come without cost. After being released, he must become the bodyguard for the mysterious and powerful Joseph Whitehead. Marty agrees to this arrangement, and moves into Mr. Whitehead's mansion, where he will be available for protection purposes at all times. He quickly realizes that Mr. Whitehead is very cautious and protective, surrounding his mansion with an abundance of guard dogs, electrical fences, and security cameras. While Marty imagines that there is a reason behind his employer's paranoia, he we never suspect that an ancient evil is coming to collect on a debt Mr. Whitehead owes to him.

Appeal: The Damnation Game is guaranteed to make your skin crawl, with Barker's descriptive and somewhat invasive writing. The book is very graphic, leaving no gruesome or terrifying details unmentioned. The story also has several paranormal elements, while taking place in a regular environment. Readers can enjoy supernatural events without having to dive into a completely new world of fantasy.

3 terms that best describe this book: Gruesome, Chilling, Mysterious

Similar Authors and Works:

 Savage by Raymond Laymon
This is another gruesome horror tale with a setting in London, with a plot-driven storyline. The story is about a teenage boy encountering Jack the Ripper in London, and then being plagued by the menace as he travels to the United States.

World War Z by Max Brooks
Another gruesome story, which also makes use of the "undead" as a plot device. Humanity must survive a zombie apocalypse in this popular novel.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
While this work is not gruesome like The Damnation Game, it provides a plot-driven, supernatural horror story. It features a man with supernatural powers who strives to help a young girl who is being haunted.

Week 5 Prompt Response

After looking over the Amazon and Blog reviews for the Ebook-only title, "The Billionaire's First Christmas", I can safely say that I have no desire to read this book. The reviewers didn't say it was bad, they seemed to like it just fine. However, both reviews were very poorly done. The Amazon review is about what I would expect (sadly) from Amazon reviews. Run-on sentences, grammatical mistakes, etc. However, I was disappointed by the blog review. Usually, when I read "lol" in a review, I immediately stop reading and discard the opinion. However, as this is an assignment, I continued reading, but I was not impressed. This book does not seem to be romantic suspense, as I couldn't find any real source of suspense from the reviews. If all I knew about this book came from these reviews, I would definitely not purchase this for my library's collection.

The reviews about "Angela's Ashes" were refreshing to read. They were well-organized, and presented the review in a professional, objective manner. Some of the reviews could stand to be a bit longer in my opinion, but short reviews have their uses as well. I would seriously consider adding this book to my library's collection.

Is it fair that some types of books are reviewed to death while others are ignored? Yes, I do think that it is fair, as book reviews are a market, and like any market, products of high demand are valued. While it is fair, it is unfortunate. If librarians are not careful, collections will feature only the kinds of books that are heavily reviewed, while others are under-represented. Librarians must work to find quality materials, even for genres that are not reviewed often.

I do not feel that it is appropriate to only print positive reviews. While I understand the intention behind this, it does promote a "bandwagon" approach to reading. If some reviewers did not like a titan such as "The Hunger Games" or "Gone Girl", their opinions will not be heard, and popular books will be viewed as perfect. This is not the case, and negative reviews are necessary for providing opinions other than the popular opinion.

As for my personal reading choices, I like reviews that are organized, clear, spoiler-free, and give a quantifiable rating. I vehemently oppose spoilers, and I love being able to summarize an opinion into a number, such as "3 out of 5 stars". I tend to use Goodreads for finding reviews, but I am discovering new sources for reviews thanks to this class.

Kirkus Style Review: Kizumonogatari

Kizumonogatari: Wound Tale by Nisioisin

Kizumonogatari is the first book of Nisioisin’s popular Monogatari  series, a Japanese novel series about a teenage boy who helps his classmates with paranormal problems that plague them. Though this is the debut of the book series in English, the series is very popular in Japan, spawning dozens of books, an anime series, and a plethora of merchandise.

                The story begins with the protagonist, Koyomi Araragi, walking home from school. His classmate, Tsubasa Hanekawa, attempts to befriend our social outcast protagonist by striking up a conversation as they walk home. Eventually, the conversation shifts to a recent rumor of a vampire that has been attacking students in the area at night. Later that evening, Araragi encounters this vampire, but not through an attack. The vampire is laying in the street, missing all four of her limbs. She begs Araragi for help, and taking pity on her, he allows her to drain his blood to stay alive. While the vampire is saved, she is now without her vampire powers. Instead, Araragi is now a vampire, and he agrees to help the vampire find her attackers, and reclaim her lost limbs to fully restore her. In exchange, he will be returned to his normal human form, and continue his ordinary life. The rest of the tale is Araragi’s journey to help the vampire, and along the way he learns the value of having friends, as well as helping others in need. The story was indeed enjoyable, but the true beauty (as well as the most frustrating part) of this book lies within the author’s writing style. Nisioisin is well known for his dialogue-heavy writing, filled with dry humor and wordplay (Even his penname is a palindrome). This makes even lengthy exposition scenes highly enjoyable, as the characters are both humorous and clever. However, because wordplay is involved, it is obvious that some of the humor is lost in translation. More than a few times, an awkward, nonsensical pun would take the place of what was probably a very clever joke in Japanese. While this is unfortunate, there were still several moments where careful translation did manage to preserve the humor of the story. The translator, Ko Ransom, did a remarkable job, but there are some jokes that are simply impossible to translate.

Overall, Kizumonogatari is a humorous and clever story, in spite of some incongruencies between the jokes in the English and original Japanese versions.

Week Four Secret Shopper

I had a great experience for my secret shopper assignment. The employee was very welcoming, and listened to what I had to say. They primarily relied on Novelist for their search, and they could have used more resources. However, I was still happy with the results. After I started the conversation by asking for a science fiction novel to read, they asked me the following questions:

Have you read much science fiction before, or are you new to the genre?

I have read a few of the more popular titles, such as Dune, The Martian, and Star Wars novels.


Would you like something similar to one of those titles?

I would like a book similar to Dune


What did you like about Dune?

I liked how the author went into full, immersive detail about the technology, politics, and geography of the world. I also liked the futuristic space setting.


Would you like a book by the same author?

No, I think I'll try someone else.


Would you like to start a new series, or read a self-contained novel?

A new series would be great.


They then found three books that all seem very interesting. I will likely read these in the near future. It was a very pleasant and successful experience.