The Simpletons Book Blog

One method that the library markets our fiction section is by having books stands on the shelf to display any number of books. These are simple book stands that hold the book up so that the cover is facing outward. This gives the patron the chance to see a book and get them to possibly pick it up and read it. The goal of this is to have the patron see the cover of the book, be interested, and check the book out. This helps display everyday fiction books on the shelves and it has been shown to increase circulation of some books by using this method. Another method that has been shown to increase circulation for fiction books is having book displays. This would be done with something certain going on, such as romance books of all kinds being displayed in February. The displays would say what genre they are offering and give the reader a chance to see some books that they might be interested in based on what the display is currently showing. This would be beneficial to include some genr...

When it comes to LGBTQIA+ books and other materials,  I would love to keep the collections together. This would be the best decision because it creates normalcy with the materials. These materials would be considered normal when acclimated to the shelf with all the other materials making it something that exists rather than making it seem separate. It would create an environment where others see these materials more often and understand that it is part of life and that there is not much difference between themselves and others. With the books on the shelf, it may encourage others to diversify their reading materials and make those who are uncomfortable making it public who they are and what they are looking for. Some people still feel shame wanting to read materials about people like themselves, and including them on the shelf would certainly help with the normalcy of it and make it so that they aren’t going to an obvious section of the library dedicated to LGBTQIA+ stuff for being...

Author: Jessica Goodman Title: The Counselors Genre: Young Adult Publication Date: May 31, 2022 Number of Pages: 368 Geographical Setting: Rural, wooded area, Roxwood town, Camp Alpine Lake Time Period: Current day and year, 2020s, summertime Series (If applicable): N/A Plot Summary: Living in Roxwood in the middle of nowhere is our main character, Goldie Easton. Having suffered from some consequences during the school year, she looks forward to seeing her friends Ava and Imogen coming into town and working together as counselors at the local bougie camp, Camp Alpine Lake. Ready to take the summer by storm, they prepare for the campers' arrival, only for the death of a local at the camp to spook all the staff. With so many secrets being held by everyone that she knows, Goldie goes out looking for answers, and she is going to find some secrets that she didn’t wish she had found, along with almost sharing secrets that she never wished to. Subject Headings: Young A...

For libraries, we should always be promoting all kinds of books and materials to patrons because we want to encourage patrons to read and use the library in all the ways that libraries provide for them. Everyone has preferences to what they want to read to do in their free time, and we should not put them down or make them feel bad for enjoying what they like. The library supporting readers who like graphic novels is certainly more important then not since it encourages those readers to keep reading books that they like, and it encourages them to continue to visit the library in the future. With encouragement, they may be able to create a group for people to visit and read graphic novels together and share their favorites with each other, which helps to create lifelong connections with other people. The same can be said about young adult books. If we create a space that welcomes all different kinds of readers, we can have more diverse groups of people who visit the library regularly an...

The Readers’ Advisory Matrix for Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves & Other Female Villains, by Jany Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple 1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum? › Highly narrative (reads like fiction) - A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose) - Highly fact-based (has few or no narrative moments) 2. What is the subject of the book?      Bad women throughout history or had done criminal things, most commonly for their own gain. 3. What type of book is it?      A history of criminal women in a narrative format 4. Articulate appeal What is the pacing of the book? Short, quick read, episodic format for each character read. Describe the characters of the book. Each person introduced is a bad girl, and we follow the two authors as they talk about the book and each character and a short blurb on their opinion. How does the story feel? Quick, to the point, but also engaging th...

  Author: Carissa Broadbent Title: Daughter of No Worlds Genre: Fantasy Publication Date: January 8, 2020 Number of Pages: 518 Geographical Setting: Time Period: Series (If applicable): The War of Lost Hearts Plot Summary: Tisaanah, a girl forcibly removed from her home at a young age in the middle of the night, and forced into slavery, wants to help those that she had been taken from. All she wants to do is free them with the help of the Order, being that they are a highly powerful organization of magic wielders. Maxantarius Farlione wants nothing to do with her but is forced to take her on. With the dynamic between two opposing forces, we see how each grows and pushes each other to their limits. Subject Headings: Fantasy Fiction, Slavery, Magic, Women Heroes Appeal: Story Line – This story goes into such depth that helps build the characterization of the characters well and makes it clear how they have come to have their motivations throughout the book. Bui...

Something that is appealing about ebooks and audiobooks is that you can easily bring ebooks anywhere. All you need is a tablet or phone to read on to be able to read your books from anywhere. There is also less risk of losing, misplacing, or ruining a book, and lots of systems automatically send your book back on the due date, so you don’t have to worry about returning the book. As for audiobooks, they are more convenient for reading at times when you are cleaning your home, doing any chores, or working on your favorite hobby. EAudiobooks are great since you can download them onto your phone and listen anywhere on a trip. And the same applies to them automatically returning once the due date comes up. These are great benefits for those who love using the library and can’t find time to visit or forget when materials need to be returned. Although it is not the same as holding a physical book, it doesn’t necessarily change the book's content or the genre. Although readers can change...

The book that I had read for the club that I participated in was The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher. This book was something that felt like reading a history book of recent events. It was a long read and was a struggle to get through, though I was able to finish the book in time for the book club. It was also interesting as to how everyone interacted with each other. The conversation felt very productive since everyone felt familiar with each other since they had been meeting for a while, and I am very new to the group. Who is asking the questions, is there a leader or do people take turns? There was a librarian leader to help lead and guide the discussion, but mainly she had included her thoughts and guided the conversation to keep it on track with the book, as well as letting others talk about their real-life experiences with technology and the platforms trying to garner are use time on them. Mainly, we answered her ...

For my special topics paper, I decided to do a deep dive into romance throughout history to get a better understanding of where the romance genre has been, where we are now, and how we got from then to now. I mostly wanted to stay within a certain range and thought it best not to go too far, so I decided to go only so far as the 1900s for my research. Here's a bit of an idea of where we went from the 1900s to now. In the 1920s, we had a surge of regency books, where Jane Austin made a comeback 100 years after her stories, but that didn't have as much detail about the time period since they were written during that period, but we had several other authors who wrote books with more details about that time period in their writing. We also had romance books covering some scandalous topics, such as premarital consummation and abortions. Moving into the 1950s and 1960s, we started to see many romance books portraying financially responsible women who have jobs and want a compassionat...

Author: Douglas Adams Title: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Genre: Science Fiction Publication Date: October 12, 1979 Number of Pages: 224 Geographical Setting: England, Space Time Period: 2000’s, considered the future from the year written Series (If applicable): The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Plot Summary: All Arthur Dent wanted to do was to keep his house from being destroyed for a bypass, and suddenly things started to change and become super weird all around him. At least he has his good friend Ford Prefect to keep him company during this whole mess. With the start of Arthur’s amazing adventure, we learn so much about the universe, and that is all thanks to the book that Ford keeps on him, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Subject Headings: Science fiction, Humor, Fantasy, Comedy Appeal: Language/Style – The story has lots of witty banter between characters, as well as many humorous turns of phrase, meant to make the reader chuckle when rea...

From the article, “Why the Banning of ‘A Birthday Cake for George Washington’ Really Matters,” we get a glimpse into understanding what happens with children’s books, particularly how part of the process is done. By reading, we learn that many children’s books are created with an author writing the story and an artist who draws the images for the book. Based on information from the Author, Ramin Ganeshram, many people had gone for how they looked and that they took away their “status as a person of color and glossed over the fact that the illustrator and editor are both African American” (Bloom, 2016, para. 28). Many people attacked the creator of the book for the art being too happy with the slaves smiling while working, and that it made the slaves look happy to be enslaved and to work for their master. The goal of the book was to try and show how although they were enslaved, there was status involved within the enslavement, and that the main character of the book, the historical fi...

Author: Ali Hazelwood Title: The Love Hypothesis Genre: Romance Publication Date: September 14, 2021 Number of Pages: 384 Geographical Setting: Stanford California and Boston, Massachusetts Time Period: Current time period, in the present Series (If applicable): The Love Hypothesis Plot Summary: Olive Smith is in her graduate Ph.D. program at Stanford and happens to be someone who wants what’s best for her friend, going so far as to say that she is on a date so that her best friend, Anh, can get together with Jeremy, who Olive went on a few dates with. The problem is that Anh just so happens to be at the lab when Olive is pretending to be on a date, so what is her solution? Kissing the first person she sees. And who happens to be said person? Dr. Adam Carlsen, who is notoriously known for being a tough person. Now in this predicament, there is only one solution that can save them both. They must continue the ruse and pretend to date. Subject Headings: Biologists, Sc...