Still Exercise 52- Pt. 3

A customer tells you that he's read every book written by Dean Koontz and asks you to find an author who writes similar books. Using two of the sites listed above, find three new authors to recommend to your customer. Post the sites you used and the results in your blog.

Dean Koontz is renowned for his suspense novels and there are many authors like him. I used What Do I Read Next and Novelist's Read-alikes to find suggestions. Other authors the patron might enjoy include Clive Cussler, W.E.B. Griffin and John Saul.

A customer has read Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. She would like to read the other books in the series in order. Using one of the above resources, post the series title, the order of the books in the series, and the resource you used.

This one took an extra step to find b/c it does not specify if the series is for adults, teens or children. I used Mid-Continent Public Library's series finder. I searched by author and found the series Song of the Lioness which is comprised of four books:
Alanna: the first adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman who Rides like a Man, and Lioness Rampart.

#52 What to Read- Pt. 2

Using one of the resources listed above find two books suitable for a fourth grade girl interested in animals and another two books for her thirteen year old brother who is interested in ghost stories. Post which resource you used and the books you located.

I used Novelist Plus because it allows you to search by subjects, age level and other terms. This comes in handy because patrons do not always have a specific title or author in mind. I used their advanced search which allows me to search by subject (animals), determine age and grade level (older kids + 4th grade) and choose what types of titles to pull (books, series and reading lists). I found a number of options but I chose A Dog's Life: the autobiography of a stray and Urchin of the Riding Stars which borders on Fantasy Fiction.
For the teenager, I used Ghosts as my subject search and chose The Restless Dead that is short stories and Restless: a ghost's story.

Books, Readers and Beyond: #52 What to Read Pt. 1

I am back exploring the infinite where cyberspace and libraries coexist. For this exercise, I played around with Reader Advisories.
I am a huge fan of Novelist, an online database that helps find books by author, title, genre, etc. I used it frequently to find new stuff to read. For this exercise, comparing databases and what they retrieve, I used Steve Martin's Shopgirl as my test subject....
In Novelist Plus, the top three results were Shopgirl (tsk tsk), Undead and Unemployed and Wolves in Chic Clothing. On my current reading list is Undead and Unemployed, which is the book preceding Undead and Unemployed. However, I don't see a direct resemblance between Shopgirl and the latter.
My second test involves What Should I read Next? The results were odd because it retrieved graphic novels. I enjoy graphic novel but I don't see any correlation between Shopgirl and graphic novels unless it was made into a comic book, in which case I would be thrilled! It was not a complete failure as I have found a book within these results that caters to my taste: The Dictionary of Failed Relationships.
Finally, I tested Library Booklists and Bibliographies with the same novel. This site appears to be the more difficult of the three to navigate but I like how titles are divided by themes and the themes are divided into more themes! Searching Steve Martin's name brought me to a list of Humor lists but not all links worked. I tried Dark Comedy, Contemporary Humor and a third that were not accessible. The general Humorous fiction did work and a few titles suggested included Jennifer Crusie whose novel I have read and enjoyed.
All in all, these sites are very entertaining and more engaging for the users. I think using these sources for patrons to use will allow them to get a better variety and a higher exposure to lesser known authors.

Post #45: Making your own video!

I am excited to finally learn a bit about making videos. Although, this is probably one of the easier options from iHCPL, I think Animoto makes the whole concept of creating videos less intimidating.
I hope to go on a bike ride soon and get some real footage and make personal music videos.

p.s. no fatties

I am pretty observant with others' conversations. I am not trying to be nosy, I just have a natural reception to what others say. Of course though when I need to be, I can't pay attention to save my life. Yesterday morning, I was preparing my coffee in my work's lounge. There were two coworkers in there with me and lady #1 is preparing a cheese sandwich. Lady #2 is stirring in hot water into her oatmeal but does not take her eyes off Lady #1's sandwich.
Lady #1: "WOuld you like a piece of my sandwich?"
Lady #2: "No thank you, I don't eat anything with fat in it?"
I am the last person to judge anyone based on their appearance, but seriously, how much can you avoid fat in your diet? I also wanted to chime in, "Really? B/c it doesn't look like you don't eat fat." But of course, that is just me without my morning caffeine. I pretty much obliterated any chance of diet in my life. I stopped caring and if I crave something sweet or greasy, I allow myself to do so. So I will probably gain a good 30 pounds this year.

Near brush with death..or so it felt like it

Considering today is New Year's Eve, I had a hard time motivating myself to get ready for work. I was fortunate last year to spend my holidays in England; however, starting a new job, I have to accrue vacation time.
I am trying to cut down on my carbs but this morning I decided to treat myself to a bowl of Ramen noodles and toast bread. I ran out of my favorite flavor (Creamy Chicken) so I settled for my second choice of Oriental flavor. I realized that I was short on time so I tried to speed up my eating. I made little "tacos" with the bread and as I inserted it into my mouth, the crust of the bread lodged into my throat. I thought if I swallowed harder, it would make its way down but to my dismay, it was going down the wrong pipe.
I started coughing. I thought, should I cough into my bowl of soup or on the table. I opted to purge my partly chewed breakfast onto a napkin. I then noticed that drips of blood were splattering on the napkin. I started to freak and I couldn't breathe. I tried yelling for my mom and I began to bang on the table to get her attention. I still made it to work, busted capillaries and all. I look like the weeping mother from I Am Legend. I am now sore and my eyes hurt when I blink.
Happy new year to me!!! I am thankful that it did not happen while I was driving seeing that I tend to eat my breakfast while on my way to work.
Lesson well learned.

Endings

I came to work today and not even 30 minutes pass when my mother calls and tells me my aunt passed away. I feel overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow. I could have gone this past Sunday to see her but I chose not to b/c I was tired. I spent Sunday morning working in our yard and I made plans to see her this weekend. When I spoke to my mother, I began to cry. I am not sure if I am crying b/c I feel guilty or it hurts to hear my mother cry. I regret not being able to speak to her one last time. I didn't even care much when my grandmother passed away seeing that I was never really close to her. I wasn't close to my aunt either but she is probably the only aunt I have fond memories of. When I was little, my mother and I would stay with her and my aunt would make me snacks and I would sleep with her. She is now in a better and less painful place; I hope she left peacefully and I hope she left knowing that I do care for her.