Dallin's Readers' Advisory Blog

  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. ...

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...

    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...