Reading Advisory

Even though it's a couple of weeks before the 50 Book Challenge, I wanted to call your attention to the recommended links to the left of the page and then talk a bit about reading advisory and what the Tewksbury Public Library can do to assist you.

To the left are some categories of popular fiction. Each category has a few websites of interest to readers who enjoy that type of book, or which will introduce new readers to the books of the genre. Because this is a living, growing project, there will be more additions as the year moves along.

Leave a comment to let me know which categories of fiction you like to read and any special reading websites you visit regularly.

Reading Advisory. Do you know how we get weather advisories from the news or weather websites?  Reading Advisory is similar--we try to be more accurate! We'll try to match you with a book you'll enjoy (not just one that we enjoyed!). We'll post reviews and appeal factors for some books you may want to consider reading or recommending to your friends.

What are appeal factors? Appeal factors are words and phrases that evoke a specific feeling in the reader. Phrases like "fast paced" and "seat of your chair" are often used to describe adventure novels or thrillers.  Words like "languid" or "introspective" are often used to describe literary fiction. "Intrigue" is often a word used to describe the plot of mysteries."Literary" and "Lyrical" are used to describe writing style in any number of genres.

Since we don't have a special department to advise readers, we make lots of book lists, displays and websites available to help you. We also all read pretty extensively. Some of the staff read more of one kind of book than another, and you can start a conversation with us at any time. We LOVE to talk about what we've been reading! I suggest you stop at the Front Desk to start your conversation about books. Library clerks not only read many books, they see lots of popular titles and authors pass through the circulation area every day. Most of the Library Clerks read mysteries, suspense/thrillers and literary fiction.

Our Librarians also read in many areas. Check with the Reference Librarian, Freyja, to talk about non-fiction books. Check with the Children's Librarian, Noelle, to talk about literary novels, teen books, fantasy novels and children's novels. Our Technical Services Librarian, Robert, reads lots of teen novels--plus he selects them for the library, so he knows what is what! I, Diane, your Library Director, read romance, science fiction, graphic novels (adult ones) and poetry.

There are many ways in which we serve you and many ways in which we'd like to serve you better. Please comment with suggestions for us.

My next post will start us off with a review of a teen book I just finished. Have a great holiday season!