Non-fiction isn't boring (week #8)

I'm not a person that rushes to read Non-Fiction to be honest because I have always felt them to be boring and boggled down by facts. However, there are some non-fiction that I have found to be beneficial. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, from reading the two articles about non-fiction, I have come to realize that I have treated non-fiction like a bad child. I never noticed until reading these that during a RA interview with a patron, I default to Fiction. But now, I will start to ask all the patrons' interests, and I might find a non-fiction option that suits their needs.


I think these articles have enlightened me to the fact: non-fiction can be just as enjoyable as fiction. Also, as Catherine Ross suggests in her article, "Reading Non-Fiction for Pleasure...," start thinking about non-fiction in terms of appeal factors which we talked about in week #3. Also, Ross gives the warning of being aware of the nonfiction counterparts of popular fiction genres.
From reading "Borderlands: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Reader's Advisory,"  Jennifer Brannen stresses that non-fiction and fiction are very interchangeable, and that the appeal factor crosses freely between them.

John Green (week #7 part 3)

So being a part of the Tumblr community myself, I chose to follow John Green's tumblr page. I have not read any of his books, even though he has definitely grown a popular author over the years, especially with A Fault in Our Stars book-turned-movie and Paper Towns soon coming out as a movie.  His tumblr page is for those who like John Green, not just as an author but also as an individual. I think he tries to not only post things that have to do or relate to his books or subjects he covers, he also makes it fun for his viewers. And yes, I do think his tumblr blog is successful!

Trends among YA novels (week #7 part 4)

I think I mentioned this before in my first week #7 post, but by looking at the teen imprint sites, LB Teen and Teens at Random, the trend I see or the trend I see forthcoming is a focus on Science Fiction and Fantasy genre-related books. I am honestly not surprised because as I said before, this whole post-apocalyptic/dystopia (Sci-Fi) craze among YA novels and readers has taken off since the Hunger Games was published. So most books that have anything to deal with after the end of the world or post end of the world societies, those books will be popular. As far as fantasy is concerned, it has always been a reoccurring trend among YA novels.

Also, the YA novels have been pretty dark these past few years, touching on heavy subjects which isn't a bad thing. Teens and Young Adults are exposed and experience a lot more and they are a group that is constantly investigated by older adults.

YA is not just for YA (week #7 part 2)

It's no surprise to me that there are more grown-ups that want to read YA novels. From Harry Potter to Twilight, to the Hunger Games, there has been an increase adults have frequented more YA books in recent years. According to Molly Driscoll, in her article "Whose Buying Teen Books," the appeal of these books might come from the less complex writing style and also these books offer a literary escape from the reality of life and an escape from adult fiction. Most adult novels are very serious and are bogged with complex dramatics and tragedy.

Week #7: Craze about the end of the world

Looking back at the last couple of years, there has definitely been an increase in interest in living in an apocalyptic/dystopian world, and when looking at the flowchart, I was not surprised to see that it was centered around those who have followed the Hunger Games series. The flow chart does a great job of breaking down the different plot devices that can catch a reader's attention (i.e., apocalypse due to an environmental disaster v.s. a war or living under an authoritarian government). Now this specific genre has become more popular because of the Hunger Games series movies and also the Divergent series movies. And also the Maze Runner movie too! Could be pure coincidence that these are becoming popular now or maybe it's a sign?

Subgenres

I am familiar with most of the subgenres on the Prezi link but ones that I am not dying to read I have chosen: magic realism and occult. The authors/titles that are associated with Magic Realism, are any title of Neil Gaiman and any title of Alice Hoffman. These authors are definitely the front runners for Magic Realism. Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicle series are horror writers for sure.