Special Topics Paper – Exploring Cozy Mysteries

Greetings Earthkind!

For my special topics paper, I decided to explore cozy mysteries.

Cozy mysteries are a subgenre within Gentle Reads. Even though there is death, there are no depictions of violence or sex, and there is no profanity. I found that cozies tend to come in series that center around a specific profession or hobby. I also found that readers of cozies are typically women, but they range in age. I discussed their rise in popularity, and I discussed potential ways a librarian could promote them through displays and lists.

Cozy mysteries are an interesting genre to say the least, and no matter the subject, they might best be enjoyed by their reader in whatever reading setting they find most comfortable.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this brief summary, and until next time, Happy Reading!

Prompt Response – Week 6

Greetings Earthkind!

As part of this class, we are required to publish a weekly response to a prompt given by our professor. This is my third prompt response!

Prompt

For this week’s prompt, I would like you to think of an innovative way to promote romance, gentle reads or horror at your local library (pick one, just one!). What would be most effective? A catchy display? Some passive programming? In what ways could you incorporate integrated advisory? Pretend you’re pitching an idea to your boss and write at least a paragraph in your prompt response.

Response

Usually, when I pitch ideas to my boss, I tend to talk about it in person to her and then follow up with an email after I gauge her interest. In the email, I would restate my idea and then try to do as much as I can to show her that I’ve thought through my idea but am open to suggestions.

At our branch recently, our Adult Reference Librarian put together a successful Suspense Thrillers versus Cozy Mystery display. This display had a couple of signs with lists of cozy mysteries and suspense thriller novels and authors.

After putting the display up, I added the titles onto our Pinterest page and posted about it on our Facebook page.

This display was actually why I started reading cozy mysteries in the first place, and according to our librarian, circulation of cozy mysteries picked up significantly afterwards.

Anyway, my idea is inspired by that display.

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Spring is rapidly approaching, and with spring comes warmer weather and rain. Either way, gentle reads are perfect for any season.

This display would be located in the corner of our library that has a couple of big comfy chairs in front of it. It would have a main sign indicating the idea of the display, and there would be a couple of other signs and lists to accompany it as well.

I would put together a list of gentle reads that we have in our system (not just the ones on display), and I would also design a bookmark with a list on it as well.

On the bookmark and list, I would indicate which ones we have in audiobook, ebook, and e-audiobook formats as well.

There would also be a sign over the display to highlight the audiobook options. It would probably say something like, “Want to enjoy a gentle read on the go? Check out an audiobook!”

Lastly, I would promote the display on our Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter pages, and hopefully by that time, we will have a library blog where we can write about it, too.

To me, gentle reads are winter books, but I hope that this display would show that they’re enjoyable any season.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this response, and until next time, Happy Reading!

Gentle Reads Annotation

Greetings Earthkind!

As part of this Readers’ Advisory class, I am required to read and annotate five books from five different genres.

This week, I am annotating a book from the Gentle Reads genre. I believe this book just barely fits in the genre, though I do believe it fits. Were I more familiar with this author and had I more time, I probably would have chosen a book that better represents the genre.

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Author: Elaine Viets

Title: Checked Out: A Dead-End Job Mystery

Genre: Gentle Reads, Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: 5 May 2015

Number of Pages: 276 (I read a hardcover version from the library)

Geographical Setting: Florida. Fort Lauderdale, Flora Park

Time Period: Modern-Day (Snapchat and Facebook are referenced at one point)

Series (If applicable): #14 of A Dead-End Job Mystery Series

Plot Summary: Private Investigators Helen and Phil Hawthorne have their hands full of cases. First, they are hired to investigate a 21-year-old’s missing ruby necklace. Then, Helen is hired by the daughter of a late wealthy man to find a missing million-dollar painting that had likely been inside of a book that was donated to the Flora Park Library along with three hundred other boxes from his estate.

Helen is hired as a volunteer for the library, which causes quite a stir in this wealthy, status-is-everything town so she can search the collection of donated items. Along the way, Helen learns the library could have a ghost that is inspiring panic from the library board.

When a dead body appears, Helen is determined to solve the mystery of their death and find the missing painting.

Subject Headings: (Some pulled from the NoveList Plus listing) Women Detectives; Murder Investigation; Undercover Operations; Private Investigators; Husband and Wife; Hawthorne, Helen; Theft Ring; Library

Appeal: This is a very genteel novel that is formal and leisurely, with a bit of fun and mystery mixed in. The characters and the smallness of the two communities are the main focus.

3 terms that best describe this book: Library; Mystery; Theft

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

• Jenn McKinlay
  • Library Lover’s Mysteries
  • Writes cozy mysteries and gentle reads that take place in small communities and libraries and that feature a female amateur sleuth as the main character.
• Miranda James
  • Cat in the Stacks Mysteries
  • Southern Ladies Mysteries
  • Writes cozy mysteries that take place in small, wealthy, southern communities. The main characters accidentally become involved in helping to solve murder cases while still having to go about their regular lives and jobs.
• Mary Daheim
  • Emma Lord Mysteries
  • Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries
  • Her cozy mysteries feature female characters with a sense of humor, much like Helen. She focuses on scene setting, day-to-day life, and characters.

My Personal Thoughts:

To be honest, I wasn’t as much of a fan of this book as some of the other cozy mysteries I’ve read. It’s fairly formal and reminds me of “the old days,” but it wasn’t as leisurely as I would have liked it.

The author used elements of suspense, such as shorter chapters, to drive the story forward, and I didn’t get to “enjoy” the different settings much. That’s not to say that the suspenseful elements weren’t useful or good; they just weren’t what I was expecting.

I love Helen, who is strong, funny, and very much someone I would love to be like “when I grow up,” and I can definitely agree with her about being a Page.

I really loved this line, “‘Exactly what are you doing next, Ms. Hawthorne?’ ‘Going to talk to someone pleasant,’ Helen said. ‘Good afternoon.'”

One of the officers was a little stereotypical and hard to believe, and I would like to have seen more from him.

I also would have liked to see more of Paris, the library cat.

Additionally, the inclusion of an epilogue was a nice touch that I hadn’t seen in a cozy mystery before.

All of that said, I would still read more from this series, and I believe my judgments come from reading too many other cozy mysteries that I love dearly, which are set in libraries.

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Thanks for taking time to read this review, and until next time, Happy Reading!

Five Books for Five Genres

Greetings Earthkind!

In my post “Five Genres,” I told you about our task to read five books from five different genres this semester.

Well, I’ve picked four out of the five books I will read. Here they are, in the order they will appear on this blog:

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1. Gentle Reads

I will be reading Checked Out: A Dead-End Job Mystery by Elaine Viets.

2. Science Fiction

I will be reading Star Wars: Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells.

3. Historical Fiction

I will be reading The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini.

4. Nonfiction

I will be reading The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.

5. Urban Fiction

I will be reading ???? Not sure yet; still looking. Do you have any recommendations?

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Thanks for taking the time to read through these, and until next post, Happy Reading!

Kirkus-Style Review

Murder Past Due (Cat in the Stacks Mysteries Book 1)

by Miranda James

Series Website

Goodreads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

“KIRKUS” REVIEW

With its leisurely pace, Miranda James’s first novel in her Cat in the Stacks Mystery series, Murder Past Due, captivates readers while they, Charlie the librarian, and Diesel the cat get wrapped up in murder.

This book centers on Charlie Harris, a librarian who has returned to his small hometown of Athena, Mississippi to work part-time as an archival librarian for the local college. He has inherited his aunt’s boarding home after her and his wife’s passing. Charlie and his very large Maine Coon cat Diesel are quite fine to leave well enough alone when Charlie’s school-time bully-turned famous author returns to Athena. But when this memorable bully, who appears to have many enemies, comes to withdrawn Charlie asking for guidance in regards to being related to one of Charlie’s boarders, Charlie gets swept up into the drama. When someone ends up dead, Charlie starts to investigate to clear the name of someone he cares for. All of the characters are strongly written, including lovable Diesel, and this novel appears to comment on the state of publishing while criticizing one of the world’s top-selling authors.

The pacing of this debut novel under Dean James’s pseudonym is slow compared to her later outings, but it sets the reader up for a cozy mystery that’s too good to put down.

Pub Date: August 3rd, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-425-23603-1

Page count: 304pp

Publisher: Berkley

Review Posted Online: January 12th, 2016

 

Secret Shopper

Greetings Earthkind!

For this week’s assignment, our task was to go into a library where we are not known and ask for a good book. The summary of my assignment is below:

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My husband and I went into a library within the system where I work. My cover was nearly blown as soon as I walked in the door. Even though this library is on the complete other side of the city, a patron who is a regular at the library where I work was sitting at a computer directly behind the reference desk and reference librarian.

After browsing the stacks for about half an hour, I managed to gather the courage to go talk to the librarian.

We had a rather short conversation about how I liked Percy Jackson and Harry Potter and how I was looking for read-alike options that were geared towards adults.

He then suggested I browse the science fiction and fantasy section, even though I told him those books were always too descriptive and wordy for my tastes, and I asked if he knew of any books that might be more about the characters and less about the scenery. He said he didn’t know of any, but I was more than welcome to browse the shelves (“I’ll give you until 6 o’clock, no more than that though”).

I did leave with two Star Wars books and a cozy mystery, but I didn’t really find what I was looking for.

I can’t blame the librarian. I’m but one patron in a library filled with patrons and not enough staff. Plus, it’s hard to be put in the spotlight like that.

I would still go back to that library and librarian, and I did leave with three good-seeming books (I picked up a cozy mystery, too).

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Thanks for taking the time to read through my experience. Happy Reading!

My Reading Profile

Greetings Earthkind!

Welcome to Earth Lib Perspectives: An Earth-Based Alien’s View on Books. This blog has been created for a graduate course in Readers’ Advisory, and most of the initial posts will be for that class. All posts related to the class will have the S524 “tag ” and “category,” should you find yourself wanting to view only class-related materials.

Before I can dive into responding to class prompts and annotating reviews, I must provide a Reading Profile.

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Reading Profile

My reading tastes haven’t changed much over time, and if there’s such a thing as a person re-reading books out of comfort and the will to discover more about a story, I would fall into that category.

Most of my favorite reads are books that are geared towards a younger audience; I don’t even think most of them fall into the “Young Adult” category. I think I tend to read them more because they are less-“heavy” than books geared towards adults. I usually read either to learn or to escape, and I find escaping easier and more comfortable when reading books geared towards younger children.

Besides those, I tend to read nonfiction and cozy mysteries.

Favorites

My favorite books include:

• The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
• The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott
• The Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan
• The Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Cat in the Stacks series by Miranda James
• The Bookmobile Cat Mystery series by Laurie Cass

Reading Goals

I try to set reading goals every year. In 2014, I read 37 books. In 2015, I read 52 books. For 2016, however, I’ve set my goal at a low 25 because I will be in grad school spring, summer, and fall, and I may not get too much reading done.

I would love to read more nonfiction this year (hopefully more autobiographies and biographies), and I would love to continue to explore the cozy mystery genre, as it is new to me. Additionally, I hope to read more “classics” this year, since my school didn’t require me to read them (so I read other things instead).

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Thanks for taking the time to read through my reading profile!

Take care until next time, Earthkind, and happy reading!