Week 5: Building Knowledge Base (Part II)

Assignment 1: Since Week 1, I have started checking Locus Online each week. At first I found the site a little overwhelming because there is just so much information on the homepage. After several weeks, however, I've gotten into a groove and figured out the sections I find most helpful - after a briefly scanning the latest blog posts, I check the New Books section to see titles that are forthcoming and then check the week's best sellers. I love that they include cover photos and I already notice that I'm retaining new titles as I scan our new books shelf in the branch.

Assignment 2: In my branch, many customers want New York Times bestsellers and "whatever is the latest book by" fill-in-the-blank commercial fiction author (think Patterson, Evanovich, Child, etc.). I've never worked at a branch where the NYT list on the counter is consulted so often by customers. There are also regular customers who come in with handwritten lists of books they've heard about on NPR or with clippings they've torn from magazines with recommendations. Referencing Early Word for the last few weeks has helped prepare me for these kinds of titles and when customers ask for a particular title it rings a bell.

I had never looked at the IndieBound site before working on this assignment. While some of the titles on the Indie Best Sellers lists overlap with other lists of popular titles, there is a great mix of genres and audiences to be had when looking at the Indie Next lists. For those who are interested in more literary fiction or some fresh faces, this is a great resource.

Assignment 3:

Alive by Scott Sigler

Alive is a fast-paced, thriller that will appeal to teen readers who enjoyed The Maze Runner and other dystopian adventure novels. Main character M. Savage is a brave, resourceful girl that readers will root for as she races to solve the mystery of her missing memory and the strange, new environment she has just woken up to. Sigler may also attract crossover adult readers who enjoy reading YA novels or those who have read his other works including the popular Infected trilogy.