Week 6

Assignment 1

Stop, You're Killing Me is the blog that I've been following. I picked this blog because Mysteries are a genre that I don't read, at all, so I figured this would at least get me familiar with the authors and any new books that were coming out. The links I use most on the blog are the New Additions, Book Reviews, and Read-Alikes. The New Additions and Book review links have kept me in the loop with new mysteries and I've used the Read-Alikes link (instead of Novelist) to help a customer with readers advisory. The only negative thing I could say about the site is the way it looks, it's kind of drab and boring.

Assignment 2

This chart turned out to be very informative once I figured out how how to use Prezi. It would be helpful if there was a way to see this in one chart without having to use a magnifying glass. I was familiar with most of the genres but the real eye opener was the amount of subgenres in Urban Fiction and Romance. These are two genres I'm not that familiar with so seeing the different subgenres was extremely informative.


Assignment 3

So the three subgenres that I picked were Urban Fiction: Literary, Romance: Military, and Thriller: Cypher.

Literary Urban Fiction authors include Sapphire, Walter Dean Myers, and Walter Mosley. Appeal characteristics of this African American subgenre are character driven plots, gritty story telling, and an atmospheric tone.

When searching for Military Romances I seemed to find most of the titles in the series romances (Harlequin, Silhouette, Love Inspired, etc). Authors like Merline Lovelace, Rogenna Brewer, and Catherine Mann all write in this genre. Most of these titles are contemporary fiction with modern day knights in shining armor.

Authors in the Thriller / Cypher subgenre include Dan Brown, Brad Meltzer, and Steve Berry. These fast-paced, suspenseful, titles usually has a main character who must figure out the cypher or puzzle to save the day.

Mashups:

The first book I found was Havoc after dark: tales of terror. You could consider this title as Urban Fiction / Horror. This is a book of short horror stories that are set in urban areas. One of the stories is about an African American woman in New Orleans who is turned into a werewolf. 

The second book I found was My Beautiful Enemy by Sherry Thomas. While it is considered a Romance I could make the case for a Romance / Spy / Espionage mashup. The main character is a spy, who on one of her missions, falls in love with a strange man she only knows as "the Persian".

Week 5

Assignment 1& 2

I'm combining assignment 1 and 2 because Early Word was one of the resources that I chose.

So, things I like about Early Word:

• The "Titles To Know" posts. These post will give you the books Early Word thinks will be popular that week.
• Best Books categories links on the left side of the page.
• Live author chats. I'm just waiting for an author I really like.
• Movie Trailers! While it's good to know what movies are coming out so you can keep the book in mind for customers, I've seen a few trailers for movies that I was waiting for that I didn't know were out.
• Best Seller / Award Winner links. Nice to have them in one place.

What I probably wouldn't use:

• The Best Books spreadsheets. They are way too busy to use. I get a headache just trying to look at them. 

Assignment 3

The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman

The Magician's Land is Lev Grossman's third book in the magicians trilogy. This fast paced fantasy fiction will appeal to adults and young adults who enjoy a gritty fantasy set in a magical world. Fans of Gaiman's Neverwhere and Raymond Feist's Shards of a Broken Crown are sure to enjoy this book. Those who read the first two books in this series will be anxiously awaiting this trilogy's conclusion.

This book is scheduled to be released on August 5th, 2014.