are we hibernating??

[karen, future RA queen]

man, i invited a couple hundred new people to this group, and everyone is being quiet as mice. do none of you have any book requests??

i can see i am going to need some incentives.

so i have some books. i have three books here, that i will send as a group or individually, depending on which one/s of you responds first. two are advanced reader's copies and one is a regular book.

but - aha - a catch!! this offer is only available to those who have made contributions to the group.

d'oh!

i will do this periodically, so this is your golden ring-reward for your participation.


what could be better??

here's what i have right now:

Mr. Chartwell

West of HereWest of Here

The Jinx

i would do all sorts of RA stuff here to advertise them, but if you guys are going to be quiet, so am i.... (holding my breath until i turn blue)

[Dave]

I'd like to contribute more, but I have 42 books either on my to-read or to-but list, so I don't really need any new recommendations right now.

Also, I haven't given many solicited recommendations because this group has made me realize that my reading has been relatively narrow. I haven't read any gay fiction (unless you count A Separate Peace) nor any books about Asian adoptions.

I think these two reasons apply to a lot of people on GR. I could give more unsolicited recommendation, but that's not really why you started the group. You're more looking for things that will help you hone your RA skills. Am I right?

[karen, future RA queen]

yeah - i ain't sore - i'm just looking for a way to get this group more active. i will quietly continue to make lists until someone needs me/us...

[karen, future RA queen]

well, there is indirect RA stuff like displays, annotated bookmarks (these are also good for shy folk who don't want to approach "the help")- usually these will be themed, like "if you like the girl with the dragon tattoo, check ut these other scandinavian mysteries" or something like that. min at the store are more small press publisher-base, or just things people may not come across displayed at other stores.

i am hoping the "unsolicited recommendation" section of this group will serve a similar function.

i just need to brainstorm. if my milkshake isn't bringing all the nerds to the yard, i am just going to have to think of something more clever.

and dave - my RA skills are pretty good - this was more intended to offer an alternative for "information professionals" - another place to access RA materials. and to teach regular people that RA is something they are entitled to, as readers, and how they can better ask for it and help other people.i am interested in all aspects of RA work being done here.

anything goes.

[smetchie]

Great question! I've been trying to come up with a request since I joined. I love all the links and resources here. I've found books I want to read in some of the request threads. But I didn't know I wanted to read them until I saw them. Apparently I don't walk around with a burning desire to read a particular kind of book.
(I need this type of service for clothes!)

[Kathrina]

Karen, I would like to hear your take on how to recommend books you haven't actually read. This happens a lot to readers' advisors, I would think, as people request recommendations for genres you don't usually read, but a good RA still knows what direction to point, even if they haven't gone that way themselves. Also, does an RA admit they haven't read it, or bluff? Does the advice lose its glimmer if you admit you haven't read it?

[karen, future RA queen]

this is an excellent question, and deserves more thoughtful a response than i am able to give right now (shh, i am working!!). but i will have time tomorrow morning, and i will give up the secrets.

[karen, future RA queen]

as far as whether the suggestion loses "glimmer" (great word choice, by the way) if you admit you haven't read it, this really depends on the person who is asking. on the one hand, why should my opinion (bookseller/librarian/stranger) have any weight at all, because the customer doesn't know me or my tastes, and we are unlikely to have the same book-preferences, so to be trusted blindly when people only want to read something that you have read is a weird burden/responsibility. but there are definitely situations like that, where i will say, " well, i haven't read it, but greg has, and he really liked it,", and they will be like "noooo nooo - give me something you have read", so it shouldn't make a difference, but sometimes it does.

usually, as long as you can intelligently discuss the book's content, it isn't necessary to have read it. there are books i have read about which i remember very little, and there are books like The Alchemist that i have never read, but i can give a pretty spot-on summary of.

the easiest way to do this (and this applies to people working in the field, not necessarily people on here, where this would be more difficult) - when a book comes in that is unfamiliar (and when you work with books long enough, there will be fewer of these), take a second to look at it, register the blurbs, the cover art, the publisher and the imprint, who wrote the forward if there is one, etc. stephen king blurbs mean nothing, because he does so many of them. but you need to ask: who are these blurbs from?? are they other authors from the same publisher who have been requested to help out a weak title by using their names? are they celebrities or are they respected writers? are they from major review journals? little things like that. the publisher and imprint should also tell you something about the contents of the book; ecco is the "literary" division of harpercollins, black lizard is random house's crime fiction list, etc. there are clues all over the cover of a book. if a book is in translation, it may appeal to people looking for authentic voices from a particular region. if you are in a retail/library setting, looking at sales/circulation figures is another way to see if there is any heat on a title. flip through the book a little and you can instantly see if it has a lot of dialogue (which will identify it as a fast-paced book) or more long descriptive passages (which will slow down the pacing). you can tell right off the bat if it is historical, what tense and person it is in, if it seems to have a lot of sex or cursing, or violence just by giving the book a quick skim. people don't want to know the endings of books before they buy them, so you don't need to know everything about a book to sell it, but some of the gentler customers don't want there to be a beheading on page three. you can tell the tone without too much trouble, too - whether it is funny or dark or melodramatic - you can see right away if this is an epistolary novel or something that is written as a series of haikus, you can see how long the chapters are - all of these will give you clues to the pacing, which is important to people who say they want something "weighty" or "fun".

it helps to have a really good memory.

other than that, and here the internet community we have formed together can tune back in: reading reviews, reading publisher catalogs, conversations with other readers, listening to customers/patrons talking, and for goodness' sake - goodreads.com. i read your reviews. i store away the knowledge like a squirrel with nuts. i use it with my customers: "well, my friend said had a strong female protagonist" etc.especially for fantasy and romance titles, about which i know very little. but i will pop onto here to see what you people think of books, if it is something i know nothing about.

but there are other reading lists, listservs, online RA resources - just idly glancing through these sometimes help, and you remember, "oh - this title was on a list for "best novels about abraham lincoln" or something that will function as starting points to talk about novels, even if you haven't read them. i will frequently go to the "what's the name of that book" group here on goodreads.com when i have idle time, because you learn a lot about book's contents that way, sometimes the entire plot!

and always read, read, read...

there are probably more tips that i am forgetting right now, but is that a good start?

[Jasmine]

I'm feeling bad that I have so many recommendations and no finished books.

I am hiding till I am less ashamed.

[Kathrina]

Karen, you are a blessing to readers' advisory. I'm sick of hearing people make blase comments about how B&N is a fine place to buy a book, but if you want a knowledgeable bookseller you have to go to an independent. Great booksellers are everywhere books are. Customers who appreciate great booksellers are far more rare.

[Jasmine]

I am a great bookseller. however there are a lot of crappy booksellers here that will recommend people who ask for recommendations even for the kind of books they read ask someone else. I mean there is one guy writing a disertation on philosophy that asks me to recommend books on philosophy to customers. I can do that, but I don't do it as well as he would. in short some employees suck

[Greg]

A woman asked me to recommend which lesbian sex guide was the best one over the phone this week. I think she should have known from my voice that she was probably not asking someone who would have a valid opinion about the books.

[Jasmine]

you should have given her the new gay kamma sutra. then been like oops that's what I would have bought