Brandy's Reads

I've read a few non-fiction books lately and I also keep re-reading Furiously Happy  by Jenny Lawson. I don't mean that I re-read it in its entirety all the time, but I re-read certain passages or I pick it up and just randomly turn to a part and read from there. Sometimes... it's just what I needed. It's weird how that works. So I chose to use that book for the matrix for the prompt this week. Here we have it:

Title:  Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? Author:   Mindy Kaling Publisher: Crown Archetype Publication Date: November 1, 2011 Page Count: 222 Genre:  Nonfiction Time Period:  Present Day Location:  N/A Mindy Kaling has written a witty and self-deprecating memoir about what it was like growing up as a chubby Indian girl in California and eventually coming to the realization that being yourself is better than pretending to be someone else. She engages us with stories of making it (and not making it) in the industry and makes us laugh with tales of dating and growing up. At times you will feel like you're sitting with your best friend having a conversation while at others you will feel like you are reading stories from who great up in LA. Either way, you are in for an enjoyable read. Women comedians Celebrities Comedians Adult Books for Young Adults Pacing Fast-Paced Tone Self-deprecating Writing Style Candid Conver...

The expanding horizon of formats for materials available to readers only help to broaden the scope of what they choose from. Obviously there are pros and cons and you will always have your naysayers on one side or the other. I could digress, but I won't.  With audiobooks, a major appeal factor I have found that isn't present in print or ebook form is narrator. This one is a huge factor me. I'm a recent(ish) audiobook listener and I will same listen to dozens of audiobooks before choosing. (Sidenote: I was also super excited when I learned of Audible's return policy. I did not know you could return  an audiobook for any reason!) As Mediatore states, some things to consider when thinking about factors of audiobooks are the following: Narrator's pacing vs. the pacing of the novel Characterization - How does the narrator interpret and differentiate between characters? Frame - How does the audio set the tone, mood, and atmosphere? What are the audible extras? (3...

Running since August 2012, there is a lunch book group that meets at our local bookstore/cafe, Three Sisters Books & Gifts , (the cafe is called The Bookmark.) They meet at noon on the last Tuesday of each month. I attended the meeting on February 26, 2019.  For this meeting, the group read Before We Were Yours  by Lisa Wingate. There were three members present and two of the three had read the book. One mentioned she did not get to it and a fourth member was not coming because she had not read the book either (she did not get it in time from the library). All three ordered lunch and settled in to discuss the book. The one who did not read it said that she was interested in reading it in the future, but that she wasn't concerned with spoilers for this one because she knew it was based on historical facts. However, the other two did refrain from talking about everything in order to save her from knowing how a few things turned out for some fictional characters. ...

Teens. Working with this age group seems to come with an all or nothing attitude. There is no ambivalence allowed. They are at in between space in their lives, discovering their independence and who they are. They come from varying backgrounds and home lives, some have friends that come with them, and some come to make friends. I love working with teens. I decided to keep this paper focused on general teen advisory rather than diving into one of the many holes I could have gone down. In 2015, the Institute of Museum and Library Services reported that there were 7.2 million attendees at teen/young adult programs. That means that there were 7.2 chances to interact with teens/young adults. To get to know them, to provide a library service to them, to recommend a book to them. While there are similarities, of course, between providing Teen RA and Adult RA, there are differences. Teens generally will need to be approached first, but with open ended conversation (while this is not a...