Book Annotation-Women’s Lives and Relationships

Author: Elizabeth Berg

Title: Home Safe

Genre: Women’s Lives and Relationships

Publication Date: 2009

Number of Pages: 260

Geographical Setting: Chicago, IL

Time Period: The Oughties

Series: NA

Subject Headings: Widows, Mothers and daughters, Parent and adult child, Psychological fiction, Domestic fiction

Appeal Terms: Character-driven, Amusing, Bittersweet, Heartwarming

Plot Summary:

It’s been nearly a year since Helen Ames lost her husband, Dan, the love of her life, her financial planner, handyman, and provider who’s steady income allowed Helen to pursue and achieve the best-selling author status that she now enjoys.  Dan’s industry has left Helen little financial worries, though she’s afraid she may never be able to write again, until a tense call from her accountant informs her that the nearly million dollars the Ames’ had stowed away together had suffered an $850,000 withdrawal by Dan several months before his death.  Helen’s thoughts immediately imagine another woman, a second family, or a gambling problem, but she is comforted by her adult daughter, Tessa’s, unshaking faith in her father as a man of unimpeachable integrity.  Eventually the money will surface, Helen feels fairly sure, but she is unable to imagine the form or challenges it will bring with it.  Helen also knows she is going to have to learn to stand on her own more now and allow her friends, neighbors, and Tessa the opportunity of pursuing their own paths through life.

Berg’s book makes the strong appeal to readers’ emotions early on with the death of Helen’s husband Dan that identifies this novel strongly with the genre or Women’s Lives and Relationships (Saricks, 2009).  The novel also exhibits another strong element of its genre in the network of relationships that support Helen with scenes involving three generations of women in her family (her mother, Eleanor, and daughter, Tessa), conversations with her best-friend, Midge, and professional relationships (and rivalries) with other female authors (Saricks, 2009).  The tone is thoughtful and full of images of home and reconciliation with, as Saricks points out, a “hopeful” ending (2009).  One of the last elements that indicates Berg’s novel’s genre is the leisurely pace, a hallmark of books of Women’s Lives and Relationships (Saricks, 2009).

Fiction Read-Alikes:

PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Sharing the appeal factors of Amusing, Bittersweet, and Heartwarming with Berg’s novel, this book concerning Women’s Lives and Relationships deals in similar plot details of the loss of a spouse and learning what to do with that spouse’s legacy.  In Berg’s book the spousal legacy takes a very inadvertent, though concrete form while in Ahern’s book the spousal legacy seems to be more deliberate and goal-oriented.  Both of these novels are leisurely-paced and character-driven, and though the protagonists are quite different in age, Berg’s Helen is 59 and Ahern’s Holly is 29, there is plenty of emotional connection for readers of any age.

The First Time by Joy Fielding

Sharing the subject of Mothers and Daughters and the location, Chicago, IL, this novel of Women’s Lives and Relationships focuses, rather than on the life change event of a spouse’s sudden passing, on the break in a marriage after a husband’s infidelity and a wife, Mattie’s, diagnosis with ALS.  A theme of reconciliation runs deeply through Fielding’s novel, not only relationally between husband and wife and daughter, but also, like Berg’s novel, in a larger perspective of characters coming to grips with the new shape of their lives.

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani, Big Stone Gap Book 3

Berg’s novel was so “gentle” that this Gentle Read by Trigiani dealing with a mother watching her daughter move into being an adult and weathering the possible mid-life crisis of her husband could be a shoo-in for readers.  Character-Driven and Heartwarming are appeal factors shared by the two books along with the domestic network of female characters common to the genre Women’s Lives and Relationships.

Nonfiction Read-Alike:

Saturday Night Widows: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives by Becky Aikman

In this story of a group of widows reimagining and playing out what widowhood can be for women is captured the conciliatory and character-driven nature of Berg’s novel.  Sharing the appeal factor of Bittersweet with Berg’s novel, Aikman, also a writer, follows her own journey along with the five other widows in her Saturday night club through the cycle of grief.

Work Cited:

Saricks, J. (2009). The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Week 7 Prompt

Thoughts on James Frey and his "million little lies"

My mom is a fairly practical person and only really enjoys reading things that “really happened.”  She would be a prime target for authors like James Frey.  And here’s the thing, if all of the things that he says happened to him “really happened” to him it would be a story worth hearing … on its own … no literary embellishment.  But for things that are made up, well authors seem to have to give them some added value, some literary manipulation of literary devices like foreshadowing, metaphor, etc. Sort of like they’re making a puzzle that is challenging, surprising, yet completely comprehensible that brings us satisfaction through our experience of it.  Stories of events that “really happened” don’t have to incorporate literary devices to be satisfying.  The simple act of survival is “puzzle” enough for readers to feel satisfied with their experience.  As Winfrey herself said, "I know that, like many of us who have read this book, I kept turning to the back of the book to remind myself, 'He's alive. He's okay” (as cited by The Smoking Gun, 2006).  Talk about a page turner, a compelling read, and all because Frey simply said it “really happened,” not through any literary appeal factors like “Likeable,” “Intricately-Plotted,” or even “Fast-Paced.”  This isn’t necessarily a problem (just like it’s not necessarily a problem that James Patterson runs a literature factory, even if it’s slightly distasteful to some of us).  The author of a story that “really happened” did invest the time to live the story, they don’t have to necessarily invest time to now “craft” the story for readers to engage with it.  The “investment” is there.  The genuineness is there.  But that’s why James Frey’s lies about the origins of his book are kind of repugnant.  Frey basically tricked readers into not holding his work up to any real standard of authorial craft.  He, at least allegedly, is lazy, cowardly, and incompetent as a writer and so insisted that his book “really happened” so he could bank on readers engaging with it, because, well, it really happened!   With that magical phrase Frey doesn’t have to carefully balance a plot and character development so that readers stay engaged intellectually and emotionally.  Frey doesn’t have to craft a plot that stands up to readers’ critical thinking skills.  Anytime readers grow uncertain of their engagement with his story they just assure themselves, “Well, it did really happen,” and push their doubts aside and marvel, not at the craft but at the survival.  And that’s fine.  That’s what readers were paying to read.  The survival.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be what they were getting and that doesn't seem fair to me.  

Work Cited:

A Million Little Lies. (2006). Retrieved February 24, 2018, from http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies

Book Annotation-Mystery

Author: Sue Grafton

Title: N Is for Noose

Genre: Mystery

Publication Date: 1998

Number of Pages: 289

Geographical Setting: Southern California

Time Period: 1980s

Series: Alphabet Mysteries, Book 14

Subject Headings: Millhone, Kinsey (Fictitious character); Fiction; Women private investigators; California, Southern; Detective and mystery stories

Appeal Terms: Authentic character, Likeable character, Strong female, Plot-driven, Fast-paced, Suspenseful, Compelling, Conversational

Plot Summary:

Recently established as an independent P.I., Kinsey Millhone, is returning from a stint of nursing a friend back to health in Carson City when she stops to interview a potential client in the mountain community of Nota Lake, CA.  Told that money is no object by the client, Selma Newquist, Millhone reluctantly begins the research into what might have been bothering Selma’s recently deceased police detective husband enough to cause his normally passively silent demeanor to evolve into brooding, erratic habits, and his eventual heart attack.  As Millhone’s outsider status and inquiries around the close-knit community begin to build into animus she starts to see that there is more to the case than she at first thought was possible.

Grafton’s book with its central “puzzle” and P.I. character place it squarely in the genre of Mystery (Saricks, 2009).  Another aspect of the book that fulfills readers’ expectations of a Mystery are its level of detail in the setting and secondary characters (Saricks, 2009).  Finally, an aspect I found especially powerful was the likeability of the protagonist Kinsey Millhone and the serial nature of her stories.  As Saricks writes, “Mystery readers like series” and often “follow a series because they like the detective” (2009).  As I read Grafton’s book I found I felt could read the entire series just to listen to Kinsey Millhone talk some more.  The serial nature of the mysteries Millhone gets involved in provide the frame for that and Grafton did a thorough job of supplying personal details and backstory at various points throughout the story in order to keep the reader engaged with the character of Millhone.

Fiction Read-Alikes:

A Trouble of Fools by Linda Barnes, Carlotta Carlyle series, Book 1

As in Grafton’s book, another slightly reluctant female P.I., Carlotta Carlyle, takes on a case that seems fairly innocuous at first, but as events develop, Carlyle realizes there’s more than meets the eye to the unexplained disappearance of the aging, cab-driver brother of her grandmotherly client.  Like Grafton’s novel, Barnes’ novel is fast-paced, plot-driven, and has a strong sense of place similar to Grafton’s oft-detailed descriptions of Southern California mountain country.

Double Cross by Beverly Taylor Herald and Barbara Taylor McCafferty, Bert and Nan Tatum mysteries, Book 3

Although Herald and McCafferty’s book is about amateur detectives, twins Bert and Nan Tatum, and not a P.I., and from the naming of the characters to the included sub-plots of this murder mystery the whole novel is much more “cute” than Grafton’s book, Double Cross does share witty dialogue and likeable, strong female characterization with Grafton’s novel.  There is also a dash of local color in the descriptions of the city of Louisville, KY that should sit well with fans of Grafton’s characterization of Kinsey Millhone’s own towns of Santa Teresa and Nota Lake, CA.

Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr, Anna Pigeon mysteries, Book 1

Anna Pigeon is somewhere between a police detective and an amateur sleuth in her role as a newly-minted park ranger in West Texas.  With a strong sense of place and many ecological details this plot-driven, suspenseful mystery led by a strong female investigator mirrors many of the attributes of Grafton’s novel.

Nonfiction Read-Alike:

American Fire by Monica Hesse

Though a suspect for the multiple arsons perpetrated in 2012-13 in Accomack County, VA is in custody when journalist Monica Hesse arrives on the scene, she discovers that there is much more to the story than at first meets the eye.  With a strong sense of place and a detailed picture of a community reacting to unforeseen complexities, readers of Sue Grafton’s novel may appreciate puzzling out the mystery of human motivations under the influence of love, poverty, and addiction.

 

Work Cited:

Saricks, J. (2009). The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Week Six Prompt

Two things struck me as I read Julia Quinn’s Because of Miss Bridgerton.  One was that though I can find myself quite disliking “romance novels” I often quite enjoy rom-com movies.  Two was that Quinn’s novel really was more like a rom-com movie than anything else.  I think some of my dislike for romance novels is because of the “racy” reputation many of them have (fairly or unfairly) and many of them exploit (we have to regularly be careful about which volumes go on the endcap of the paperback shelves that face the children’s section in our library).

I also think the seeming contradiction in my likes/dislikes has to do with the time commitment.  I can watch a rom-com in 90 minutes.  Reading the nearly 400 page Quinn novel would likely take me at least 6 hours.  That much devotion to one entertainment in one go is something I struggle giving in to.  That said, thinking about integrated advisory I think it could work really well with romance novels in this case.  For my proposal I combined ideas from integrated advisory with elements of booktalking through technology.

“For many readers Romance novels carry a stigma they are uncomfortable with, despite the fact that in 2007 these novels made up 35% of fiction sales (Donohue as cited by Dunneback & Towner, 2010).  These same readers are often quite okay with, even enthusiastic about, rom-com movies.  I think many of us are missing the fact that these two formats carry much of the same content and conventions.  I think that by prominently displaying “pairings” of romance novels and romantic comedy films as complementary experiences we could reduce the stigma of romance novels as a genre and by incorporating an element of “booktalking” in the display we could increase our circulation of all items involved (Youth Services Librarianship, n.d.).  The book talk element of the display would be composed of a simply staged and previously recorded video “conversation” between two staff members for display on our branch library’s tablet secured to the display.  The presentation could be looped to run with subtitles in order to prevent it from disturbing the quiet nature of our library.

An example might include:

Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

Staff Member 1: The cutting banter between characters is hilarious!
Staff Member 1: I knew things were certainly going to work out between the hero and heroine but it’s all about the journey!
Staff Member 1: Billie’s spirited character is refreshing and kind of inspiring as we see her overcome all challenges!

The Importance of Being Earnest starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon
Staff Member 2: This comedy of errors and the constant play on words is hilarious!

Staff Member 2: Clearly as a comedy nothing too unfortunate can happen, but the jokes take you on such a fun journey!
Staff Member 2: The actors are so charming in their portrayal and circumvention of their oftentimes self-inflicted challenges!

Each staff member could be filmed pronouncing their individual line with a side by side pronunciation of the bolded word.  A surprised look could then pass between the two and after the third correlation they’ve inadvertently discovered between the two different items they are each promoting they could silently exchange items with each other.  Credits would then roll with library information.

The filming could be done with our library’s laptop computer and web cam.  The footage could be edited together with the program Windows Movie Maker."

Works Cited:

Dunneback, K. & Towner, M. W. (2010). Introduction: Integrated Advisory. In Integrated Advisory Service. Denver: Libraries Unlimited, pp. xi-xvi.

Youth Services Librarianship. (n.d.) Book Talk. Retrieved from https://youthserviceslibrarianship.wikispaces.com/Booktalking

Book Annotation-Romance

Author: Julia Quinn

Title: Because of Miss Bridgerton

Genre: Romance

Publication Date: 2016

Number of Pages: 375

Geographical Setting: Kent, England and London, England

Time Period: Late 1770s during the American Revolutionary War, Georgian/Regency Era

Series: The Rokesbys, Book 1

Subject Headings: Regency, England, Fiction, Love Stories, Historical Fiction

Appeal Terms: Historical Romance, Banter-Filled writing style, Spirited character

Plot Summary:

Miss Sybilla “Billie” Bridgerton is known as the tomboyish and “reckless” young lady of Aubrey Hall who never had a “season” in high-society London, though her marriage prospects seem assured in her close relationships with most of the Rokesby gentlemen of the neighboring estate.  The only brother she’s sure she could never like let alone love is the eldest, George, and yet he is the one that comes to her rescue after she’s fallen from a tree onto the roof of a local abandoned farmhouse trying to save a cat.  The relationship sparked on the roof grows throughout the novel through a failed house party at Aubrey Hall, trepidation surrounding the well-being of Edward Rokesby fighting in the Americas, and an impromptu “season” in London in which George finds himself terribly jealous and helpless in the machinations of his mother and his militarized government.

Quinn’s novel exhibits several characteristics of the Romance novel in its equal distribution of the narrative between the hero and the heroine (Saricks, 2009), the “spirited” character of Billie Bridgerton who typifies Romance’s “bright, independent, strong” heroine (Saricks, 2009), and the historical setting of the English “ton” with its house parties and grand seasonal balls (Saricks, 2009).  This last is most interesting because Quinn writes a character in Billie who in many ways rejects the idea of having a “season” in London for various reasons, but in order to satisfy the readers expectation of a pattern and optimistic resolution, not to mention the characteristic of Romances that involves characters coming to “understand themselves and their relationships with each other” better (Saricks, 2009), the last part of the novel is dedicated to Billie’s “debut” at a ball and her desire to be escorted there by formerly detested George Rokesby.

Read-Alikes:

The Season by Sarah MacLean

Like Quinn’s heroine, Billie Bridgerton, MacLean’s Alexandra Stafford resists society life for pursuits that she feels are more useful, for example, solving the suspected murder of the Earl of Blackmoor.  Fast-paced dialogue and the finding of love in familiar but unexpected places also ties The Season closely to Because of Miss Bridgerton.

By Winter’s Light by Stephanie Laurens

With its large cast of characters from the Cynster family and banter-filled dialogue, this historical romance promises readers a similar experience to Quinn’s novel concerning the Rokesby and Bridgerton families.  Set in Australia, By Winter’s Light promises much of the pomp and circumstance of English high-society as preparations are made for the holiday celebrations and a Cynster suitor attempts to prove his genuineness to governess Claire Meadows.

Persuasion by Brenda Joyce

With perhaps more of a reason to dislike Simon, Earl of St. Just, than Billie Bridgerton has for disliking George Rokesby, Amelia Greystone nevertheless finds herself in a neighborly relationship, much like the Bridgertons and Rokesbys, with Simon that tests her resolve to keep her distance.  With likeable characters as in Because of Miss Bridgerton, Joyce weaves a historical romance with a more pronounced element of espionage that leaves the story, like Quinn’s, with something more than just a foregone conclusion. 

Work Cited:

Saricks, J. (2009). The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.