Dallin's Readers' Advisory Blog

  1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?      A mix: combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose 2. What is the subject of the book?     Literally, the underground: tombs and catacombs, underground cities, escape routes and secret passages, root systems and fungal networks, divers and dark matter scientists, etc. Macfarlane explores the underground as a place in which humans have always hidden treasures, stored secrets, and mined/exploited resources. He uses this exploration to develop insights into the four billion-year history of Earth, as well as the impact and future of humanity. 3. What type of book is it?     Science/nature, with a lot of narrative and biographical elements. 4. Articulate appeal: What is the pacing of the book?     Most sections are leisurely, lyrical, and immersive, but there are some fast-paced sections that are mainly focused on facts. Some of the scientific information takes a while to grasp, but it's never super slow or d

Author:  Cormac McCarthy Title:  Stella Maris Genre:   Literary Fiction Publication Date:   December 6, 2022 Number of Pages:  208 Geographical Setting:  A psychiatric care facility (Stella Maris) in Black River Falls, Wisconsin Time Period: 1972 Plot Summary:  Content warning: suicidal ideation, mental illness, incestuous relationships. This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. It is the second volume of a two-volume work (the first being The Passenger ), and it was the final book McCarthy published before his death. I won't try to summarize the plots of both novels, because even though they are connected thematically and focus on the same characters, Stella Maris  is its own distinct story. It is told entirely through dialogue, comprised of conversations between the protagonist, Alicia Western, and her psychiatrist. Alicia is a young mathematical and musical prodigy who is jaded and cynical about the meaning of life. She voluntarily checks herself into the Ste

I didn't get into audiobooks until around 2019, when I listened to Anna Karenina on CD. Since it was a literal CD, I didn't have the option to listen at double speed, so it was a very long process, but I found that I hugely enjoyed listening to a narrator. I actually think I felt more immersed in the story than I would have if I'd just been reading. For me, it can sometimes feel like a chore to pick up a physical book and start reading, and it's very easy for me to get distracted and let my mind wander. But with audiobooks, the fact that I just have to listen makes it much easier. Also, I am generally okay with most narrators. Rarely is a narrator so obnoxious that I can't stand to keep listening (though it has happened a couple times). When it comes to Ebooks, on the other hand, I still haven't learned to love them. I have no ethical qualms; I just don't like reading books on a screen. I spend so much time looking at screens already, that I feel like books

  Author:  Jack Schaefer Title:  Shane Genre:   Western Publication Date:   1949 Number of Pages: 214 Geographical Setting: Wyoming Time Period: 1889 Plot Summary: The storyline and tropes of Shane are likely to ring familiar with many readers. Told from the perspective of a young boy named Bob Starrett, the book begins with a mysterious stranger (Shane) appearing on horseback in a small Wyoming farm town. Joe and Marian Starrett (Bob's parents), show hospitality to Shane out of kindness and generosity, but also out of curiosity as to the kind of man Shane might be. We learn hints about his past as a dangerously skilled gunslinger from the speculation of Bob's father, as well as Bob's inspection of Shane's belongings. It happens to be a time of high tension between the small-scale farmers (who have unofficially elected Joe Starrett as their leader), and a large-scale rancher who persists in trying to take over their land. Thus, the Starrett family feels safer keeping Sh

  Author:  Min Jin Lee Title:  Pachinko Genre:  Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction Publication Date:  February 7, 2017 Number of Pages:  490 Geographical Setting:  Korea, Japan Time Period:  1910-1989 Plot Summary:  The novel covers four generations of one Korean family, following an ensemble of characters while most closely sticking to the story of Sunja. Sunja is born to a loving, physically disabled father (who dies when she is thirteen) and a poor but highly resourceful mother who runs a small boarding house in a Korean fishing town. For all of Sunja's childhood, Korea has been colonized by Japan, and as a Korean, she experiences discrimination and prejudice from a young age.  One day, an older Japanese man rescues Sunja from a group of Japanese boys who are harassing her, and she and this man develop a secret relationship. Shortly after she becomes pregnant with his son, he reveals to her that he has a wife and children in Japan. Shocked and hurt, Sunja refuses to see him ag

My brother and sister-in-law started a little book club with a few of our friends last year, and so far we've successfully made it through five books. I actually ran my own book club in 2022, and it was super fun, but it fizzled out after four books, so it feels like a big milestone that my brother's book club has lasted longer. There are only eight of us in the club, and most of us have consistently participated. We rotate the person who chooses each month by the order of our birthdays, which definitely has caused some confusion. It took a couple meetings to decide whether we'd start with the person with the nearest birthday, or the person whose birthday is earliest in the year. We also struggle to remember each other's birthdays. There are much better ways to keep a consistent order, so this has been a good learning experience.  When my brother started the book club, we had no limitations regarding content, genre, or length. Our first book was Desert Solitaire by Edw

In my paper, I explore the way certain types of titles (such as the infamous "Blank of Blank and Blank" format) become trendy, and the reasons behind such trends. It turns out, there's basically no scholarly research or data on this, so it's hard to develop a clear theory. However, I ended up arguing that there is no perfect formula for developing a trendy title, and no way of predicting what trends will emerge. Rather, the best way to understand trends in titling is to understand appeals. Readers come to associate the words, phrases and structures in specific types of titles with specific types of stories. A familiar type of title promises to the reader that the book will deliver on certain appeals. As more novels with similar titles become popular, the power of that type of title increases as a sort of advertisement to readers. First, I go through some common perspectives about what makes a title strong, and what kinds of titles are most popular, and examine th