RA Lab-Persons 1 and 2

Pull up a chair, the owl is in.


 
(Because this is going to be long, I am posting in two, maybe three parts.)

Before I get into my lab project, let me just that this was a really good class. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when it first started ( especially when it came to reading out of my comfort zone and doing the big project, like the Secret Shopper and the two major papers) but overall it was really good. I felt I have learned a lot of this course, giving me more of an understanding about what I like ( and what I could like in the future, or at least this summer), plus I think it might be a bit of a help in my job.

So for this final project, I wasn't sure how to approach this. I knew my mom would be the easiest because we read a lot, our taste in books are pretty similar ( and we sometimes read the same books) but where to find four other people? I was debating about asking library users at work, but I mainly work with children ( who most of the time know what they want, plus this is an advisory course for adults) and rarely adults ( unless of course it's parents, who are mainly looking for items for their kids, not them because they can ask the reference people.) So I decided to seek out strangers via Shelfari . It's a social cataloging website where users can create virtual “ bookshelves” of books they are reading ( or have read) plus rate and review for others to read ( very similar to GoodReads). I actually have an account after learning about this site at a library meeting ( have about 1,200 books that I have read, plan to read, or own. I think I mentioned in the prompt for the third week of class that this is one of my favorite websites to go when looking for books to read.) Anyway, I went on one of the message boards and posted a request to anyone interested in finding new books to read. I posted a few questions to get a response. The questions I posted were:

• What are your interests?
  
  
• What type of books do you like to read?
  
  
• Favorite books
  
  
• Last book that you read

Surprisingly, I got about eight responses ( and various states and countries.I'm only showing four, but I did do everyone that posted). I also browsed their “bookshelves” to get a better idea of who they were ( and some background information.) For most of my RA searches, I pretty much relied on Novelist( and based my search on a few books ( particularly what they last read). I probably could have probed more, asking about details about why they like the book, but my RA skills that I have gained from this course are still new, so I wanted to this to be simple.

Person 1

The first person was my mom, and I'll be quite honest, there wasn't much of an interview. Her tastes in books are very similar to mine ( romance, easy reads, cookbooks, and cozy mysteries, which I got her hooked on after reading a few of the Coffeehouse Mysteries). We also at times read the same books ( like the Harry Potter series, A Series of Unfortunate Events series, Sookie Stackhouse series, Audora Teagarden series ( which is an early mystery series by Charlene Harris) and the Jaine Austen Mysteries by Laura Levine.) For a while she was doing a bunch of MaryJanice Davidson books ( like the Undead and Unwed series and something with a mermaid named Fred) and the Darynda Jones First Grave on the Right series (all of these she enjoyed and said I would like them. I said I read Undead and Unwed series a long time, and haven't got to the new ones yet.) She's now back into the cozy mysteries, currently reading Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman, which is the first book in a mystery series that takes place in the Pacific Northwest.) She prefers humorous books, but does read Mary Higgins Clark and Iris Johansen, and doesn't read want a lot of violence or sex ( although she does read erotica/suspense and bought all three 50 Shades of Grey books because she didn't want to be waiting for the book).

I went on Novelist and used Haunting Jordan (and also some of the MaryJanice Davidson books) for my search. For Haunting Jordan , I got a few of the Aunt Dimity mysteries ( which my mom has read and is waiting for the new one), a few books from Bailey Ruth Raeburn series ( which are similar to Aunt Dimity and another series my mom favors, Victoria Laurie's Ghost Hunter mysteries, and said she'll get int in the summer) and Stephen King's Joyland ( which she said maybe but probably not because she is not a Stephen King fan.) For the MaryJanice Davidson books (and I search by author) and I got Darynda Jones ( who she's read but saw Sixth Grave on the Edge comes out this summer, plus Jones has a new series for teens), Kimberly Raye, Julie Kenner ( both who have similar writing styles to Davidson) and Richelle Mead , author of Vampire Academy and other paranormal/vampire books for teens ( my mom said maybe to Raye and Kenner, was not interested in Mead.) She then saw that there were a few more books in the Undead and Unwed ( including an new one called Undead and Unwary coming out later this summer.)

This one was really easy to do since our tastes are pretty similar ( and I know what she likes and what she doesn't). I figure eventually she'll get around to my recommendations ( or perhaps recommend something for me.) I was considering my dad, but he is not a big reader ( he does read the  Fire and Ice series because he watches Game of Thrones from time to time, also like James Bond and is currently reading a book by Charles Krauthammer).

Person 2

We'll just call my first person from Shelfari J. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts and loves anything really loves science fiction and fanasty. Browsing her shelf I saw she had a lot Margaret Atwood ( she listed Oryx and Crake as one her favorites and a few teen paranormal books. She is interested in travel, mythology, writing, and science. Her last reads were Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi and Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin .

I used her last two reads on Novelist. For Winter's Tale, my recommendations were Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami , Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, Neverwhere by Neil Gailman (and I saw on her stuff a few Gaiman books), and The Passage by Justin Cronin ( which is gritty like Winter's Tale, but a bit more gruesome. Some of the teen paranormal books look a little gruesome, so J might like it. With the Oyeyemi novel, I only got three books, The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martel (which is it is a collection of four stories) Troll Garden by Willa Cather( which is another collection of short stories) and The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer ( which sound like Benjamin Button because it is about a man aging in reverse.) I posted what I found on her Shelfari post, and she replied that she's been wanting to try Murakami, plans to read Cloud Altas, and that she'd read Neverwhere (and saw it was on her shelf). She said she also read Passage but did not finish it.

It was great that she replied back. I wasn't sure if one goes get one ( or even right away.) Finding the books were easy ( actually the Oyeyemi was hard to do). I hoping the other people who responded via Shelfari will answer back, too.

Look for part 2 (and maybe part 3 if needed) to come.