Dallin's Readers' Advisory Blog

    It's hard not to have a strong opinion about fake memoirs, and the issues of appropriated and misrepresented identity overall. Conversations about these issues can quickly become confrontational and divisive, and so I was pleasantly surprised by the New Yorker article by Louis Menand. It maintained a tone of curiosity, and it never seemed to be virtue-signaling or broadly condemning any viewpoint or group. At the same time, it did not seem like Menand was trying too hard to be neutral or inoffensive. He frankly criticizes the era of dishonest discourse ushered in by Donald Trump. He addresses the obvious ethical problems associated with literary "hoaxes," but he also explains the arguments in defense of hoaxes. It never feels as though he is pointing a finger. I mention this, because I think that this article is a good example of the correct way to talk about these issues, especially for those of us who will need to do so as readers' advisors and library workers. ...

Author: Ira Levin Title: A Kiss Before Dying Genre: Mystery, Suspense Publication Date: June 1953 Number of Pages: 244 Geographical Setting: United States (Iowa/New York) Time Period: Early 1950s (contemporary to Levin) Plot Summary:      The book opens with our protagonist—a young man recently honorably discharged from service in World War II—discovering that his girlfriend, Dorothy, is pregnant. This is the worst news he could receive, as he knows that her extremely wealthy father (the owner of a copper mine) will disapprove of a child conceived out of wedlock and a hasty marriage. Thus, our protagonist is unlikely to be the beneficiary of any of Dorothy's father's fortune, which he's been eyeing since before he even met Dorothy. To make matters worse, Dorothy insists that the two of them get married despite her father's inevitable outrage, as she has zero interest in his money.   I nwardly, our protagonist curses, broods, and begins to strategize a way that h...

     We have a pretty big collection of movies at the library where I work, and my coworkers and I agree that a shockingly high percentage of these are horror movies––especially the new ones we receive. The same is true for the teen fiction collection, though to a slightly lesser extent. Romance still probably makes up the highest percentage of  our teen/YA collection. It's clear that both genres are quite popular right now. Horror might just be particularly popular in our community, but romance is huge everywhere as far as I can tell. So, it seems like an ideal time to promote both of these genres.     My  idea might be super obvious, but I think a "Book to Film" display would work quite well for both. Popular novels could be displayed beside their film/series adaptations. And, it would be fun if the display was black on one side and pink on the other (here is where we play off of the Barbenheimer aesthetic, haha), and on the black side, horror books ...

Author: Sophie Kinsella Title: Can You Keep a Secret Genre: Romance, Comedy Publication Date: March 1, 2003 Number of Pages: 368 Geographical Setting: London, England Time Period: Contemporary Plot Summary:      Like anyone else, Emma has a few secrets. The novel begins with her disastrous first business trip as a marketing assistant, in which she spills an energy drink all over one of her company’s top clients and confesses that she may not be the marketing expert she pretends to be. On her flight home, she reveals that another of her secrets is a fear of flying. She has a panic attack during some severe turbulence, and blurts out all of her most intimate and humiliating secrets to the stranger sitting beside her, thinking he’ll be the last person she ever speaks to. She even admits to feeling unhappy in her current relationship.      But the turbulence subsides, and she survives. She meets her boyfriend at the airport (he is perfect in every way, accor...

It's hard for me to call any part of the literary industry "fair." While writers and publishers are making a lot of admirable effort to reduce inequalities that have long existed in publishing, I still don't think a fair process exists to ensure that all writers and books have equal opportunities for success. Currently, there is a huge and important push for more representation and opportunity for authors of color, queer authors, and women. But, the publishing houses are ultimately businesses that need to make a profit, and therefore they are largely ruled by trends and popular demand. So, books on topics that are currently popular and likely to please a broad audience right now will be given more publicity than others. Librarians generally do an awesome job of making sure to have variety and diversity in their collections, but if they depend on review sources and popular publications in order to make decisions about books, they will have a harder time knowing whether...

A bold, imaginative sci-fi novel that paints a thought-provoking and startlingly believable picture of the first contact between humans and a mysterious, extraterrestrial species, weaving complex science into an accessible, gripping story that consistently delights with its strange surprises. With The Three-Body Problem , Liu has accomplished an impressive feat: successfully combining elements of gritty historical realism, hard science fiction, offbeat humor, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. His characters are clearly flawed but instantly likable, and even as the novel candidly examines human brutality (specifically through scenes set during China’s Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s) and dives into existential pessimism regarding the future of our species, there remains a lightheartedness in the language that reminds the reader to be hopeful and notice the good in others. Translated into English from its original Chinese, Liu’s storytelling style will likely feel unfamiliar at t...

I asked two librarians for a recommendation for a great romance novel. Both were friendly, engaged, and interested in helping me. I was glad to see that they seemed totally unfazed by my question, since I was nervous beforehand that they might not be in the mood, or that they might be in the middle of other things and caught off guard by my question. They did not act that way at all, and it made the interaction pleasant from the beginning. I told these librarians that I had read basically zero romance novels, and that it’s generally not my cup of tea, but I’m trying to broaden my horizons. I was surprised then that they did not ask me many follow-up questions. As a result, I didn’t provide details about my specific interests. The only specific question they initially asked me was if I liked vampires. I said “I probably could like vampires,” but then another patron approached the librarian, so she was unable to talk with me for a couple minutes. The other librarian gave me one specific ...