This has been a very enjoyable training exercise. I've enjoyed learning to blog and may continue that -- I have some ideas up my sleeve, not particularly library-related, but sort of (my last blog here, about the name of this blog, is a hint ...).
I always enjoyed the guidance we get with these training opportunities -- there are some very smart people running this affair -- and I appreciate that they will change deadlines and fine-tune assignments as needed.
I've learned how to find RA sites in unfamiliar genres; how to find and review book trailers (whether they're actually useful or draw in new readers is another question); and I've found through their blogs and Goodreads friendship that many of my coworkers have similar or interestingly contrasting taste in reading.
And it's becoming obvious who to ask for help in what genres!
So thank to everyone who initiated this training -- see you in cyberspace!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Stoddard's Palm Garden
Some of my readers have been curious about where the title of this blog came from -- "Stoddard's Palm Garden"? What's that? They clamour for an answer, and so I will explain.
James W. Stoddard was a Catonsvillian of the turn of the last century, who ran the Terminal Hotel, located at 1600 Frederick Road, just next to the terminus of the streetcar line that ran from Towson through Baltimore and ended in Catonsville, from 1898 to November, 1963. From about 1898, when he took the venture over from Thomas Litchfield, until about 1925, he owned or managed the hotel, and established an outdoor palm garden in time for the Fourth of July celebration in 1900.
The building itself, with additions, survives as Matthew's 1600. According to info in online version of the Baltimore County Department of Assessments and Taxation, the primary structure was built in 1903 ... but the dates for buildings of this era can be off by years in either direction.
While under Stoddard's care, the Terminal Hotel and Stoddard's Palm Garden hosted jousting tournaments, with a 20-dollar prize for the jouster who lanced the most rings, with $15 for second, $10 for third and $5 for fourth.
Jousting for dangling rings is the Official Maryland State Sport, as you may know, and the ground it takes to run through the arches means the field must currently be over a hundred yards long, though of course jousters in 1904 were probably not adhering to the Official Rules that were laid down in 1950. More information may be had here, at the official site of the Maryland Jousting Tournament Association.
One envisions a jousting field set up on the grassy slope which is now Matthews' paved parking lot. There was certainly a large amount of land between the Hotel and the house next door, where Stoddard lived at the time of the 1920, 1930 and 1940 Federal Census. After the completion of the electric railway between Catonsville and Ellicott City in 1898, an auction of "THIRTY EIGHT HEAD OF FINE YOUNG MULES AND SIX GOOD HORSES" was held on the property on December 14, 1898. That's a lot of livestock!
Ralph Heidelbach's compendium of booklets, held in the Catonsville Room of the Baltimore County Public Library under the title Catonsville, contains a drawing he did in the mid-1980s of the Palm Garden as he remembered it from his youth. I include that drawing here, and will add a version based on a current photograph of the site. Guess I'd better draw that up -- for now, here's Heidelbach's version:
Transcriptions of various Terminal Hotel-related articles and ads in the Baltimore Sun:
A July 13, 1886 ad:
TERMINUS HOTEL, CATONSVILLE, MD., Is now refitted and ready for the reception of visitors. Catonsville is noted as a Summer Resort and its healthy location and beautiful shady walks. Every accommodation guaranteed. Wines, Liquors and Cigars of the best brands. Meals at all hours at moderate charges. THOS. LITCHFIELD, Proprietor.
August 20, 1889:
WANTED -- A Young Boy, about 16 years of age to HELP IN A BAR and make himself generally useful. THOMAS LITCHFIELD, Terminus Hotel, Catonsville, Md.
June 17, 1898:
Sudden Death of Mr. Thomas Litchfield, A Well-Known Catonsville Contractor
Mr. Thomas Litchfield, a well-known contractor of Catonsville, died suddenly of acute diarrhoea yesterday at "Castle Thunder," his home, on Frederick Avenue.
Mr. Litchfield was fifty-seven years of age and was the son of the late H. Litchfield, a well-known Englishman. He was born in England in 1840, came to this country in 1872 and settled in New York, where he was superintendent in the Page Rolling Mills. In 1877 he removed to Baltimore, where he conducted a restaurant. In 1885 he moved to Catonsville, where he opened the old Terminus Hotel, which he conducted until last November, when he engaged in general contracting work.
On July 16, 1872, while in England, he was married to Miss Martha Ann Jenkins, daughter of J. Jenkins, of England, who survives him, with two children, Harry Litchfield and Mrs. Harry Johnson.
In 1907 James Stoddard attending a hearing at the Towson District Court, regarding his "saloon," probably in the Terminus Hotel. My guess is this was a liquor board hearing, wherein Stoddard and about 20 others defended their claims for liquor licenses.
Things seemed to go well and smoothly for James Stoddard and his Hotel -- usually called the "Old Terminus Hotel" but sometimes "The Terminal Hotel" or "Stoddard's" -- until Prohibition took effect in January 1920.
In the December 2, 1922 Sun:
Catonsville Hotel Raided by Local Dry Agents
Terminal Hostelry Owner Summoned Before Commissioner Supplee
Raiding the Terminal Hotel and Garden, Frederick and Montrose avenues, Catonsville, yesterday afternoon, prohibition agents from the office of Edmund Budnitz, Maryland director, seized a large quantity of alleged illicit liquors, some of which was said to be of rare vintage.
Sidney J. Reinach, proprietor, and James Bropenberg, bartender, were summoned to appear today before J. Frank Supplee, Jr., United States Commissioner, to answer charges of violation of the dry law.
The seizures, consisting of 75 bottles of alleged rare wines and other liquors, and 1,000 bottles of what is supposed to be homebrew beer, were discovered secreted in trunks and cupboards scattered about the establishment, it was said by John M. Barton, who led the raid. With Barton were Agents R. E. Beall, E. Frank Ely, Jesse H. Bratten, Wilton L. Stevens and Robert Barnes.
More to come -- this post is a Work In Progress
James W. Stoddard was a Catonsvillian of the turn of the last century, who ran the Terminal Hotel, located at 1600 Frederick Road, just next to the terminus of the streetcar line that ran from Towson through Baltimore and ended in Catonsville, from 1898 to November, 1963. From about 1898, when he took the venture over from Thomas Litchfield, until about 1925, he owned or managed the hotel, and established an outdoor palm garden in time for the Fourth of July celebration in 1900.
The building itself, with additions, survives as Matthew's 1600. According to info in online version of the Baltimore County Department of Assessments and Taxation, the primary structure was built in 1903 ... but the dates for buildings of this era can be off by years in either direction.
While under Stoddard's care, the Terminal Hotel and Stoddard's Palm Garden hosted jousting tournaments, with a 20-dollar prize for the jouster who lanced the most rings, with $15 for second, $10 for third and $5 for fourth.
Jousting for dangling rings is the Official Maryland State Sport, as you may know, and the ground it takes to run through the arches means the field must currently be over a hundred yards long, though of course jousters in 1904 were probably not adhering to the Official Rules that were laid down in 1950. More information may be had here, at the official site of the Maryland Jousting Tournament Association.
One envisions a jousting field set up on the grassy slope which is now Matthews' paved parking lot. There was certainly a large amount of land between the Hotel and the house next door, where Stoddard lived at the time of the 1920, 1930 and 1940 Federal Census. After the completion of the electric railway between Catonsville and Ellicott City in 1898, an auction of "THIRTY EIGHT HEAD OF FINE YOUNG MULES AND SIX GOOD HORSES" was held on the property on December 14, 1898. That's a lot of livestock!
Ralph Heidelbach's compendium of booklets, held in the Catonsville Room of the Baltimore County Public Library under the title Catonsville, contains a drawing he did in the mid-1980s of the Palm Garden as he remembered it from his youth. I include that drawing here, and will add a version based on a current photograph of the site. Guess I'd better draw that up -- for now, here's Heidelbach's version:
 |
| H. Ralph Heidelbach's drawing, ca 1984 |
A July 13, 1886 ad:
TERMINUS HOTEL, CATONSVILLE, MD., Is now refitted and ready for the reception of visitors. Catonsville is noted as a Summer Resort and its healthy location and beautiful shady walks. Every accommodation guaranteed. Wines, Liquors and Cigars of the best brands. Meals at all hours at moderate charges. THOS. LITCHFIELD, Proprietor.
***
August 20, 1889:
WANTED -- A Young Boy, about 16 years of age to HELP IN A BAR and make himself generally useful. THOMAS LITCHFIELD, Terminus Hotel, Catonsville, Md.
***
June 17, 1898:
Sudden Death of Mr. Thomas Litchfield, A Well-Known Catonsville Contractor
Mr. Thomas Litchfield, a well-known contractor of Catonsville, died suddenly of acute diarrhoea yesterday at "Castle Thunder," his home, on Frederick Avenue.
Mr. Litchfield was fifty-seven years of age and was the son of the late H. Litchfield, a well-known Englishman. He was born in England in 1840, came to this country in 1872 and settled in New York, where he was superintendent in the Page Rolling Mills. In 1877 he removed to Baltimore, where he conducted a restaurant. In 1885 he moved to Catonsville, where he opened the old Terminus Hotel, which he conducted until last November, when he engaged in general contracting work.
On July 16, 1872, while in England, he was married to Miss Martha Ann Jenkins, daughter of J. Jenkins, of England, who survives him, with two children, Harry Litchfield and Mrs. Harry Johnson.
***
Stoddard took over the Terminus/Terminal Hotel in 1898 and spent over $1,200 refurbishing it, for a reopening in 1899.
In 1907 James Stoddard attending a hearing at the Towson District Court, regarding his "saloon," probably in the Terminus Hotel. My guess is this was a liquor board hearing, wherein Stoddard and about 20 others defended their claims for liquor licenses.
***
Things seemed to go well and smoothly for James Stoddard and his Hotel -- usually called the "Old Terminus Hotel" but sometimes "The Terminal Hotel" or "Stoddard's" -- until Prohibition took effect in January 1920.
***
In the December 2, 1922 Sun:
Catonsville Hotel Raided by Local Dry Agents
Terminal Hostelry Owner Summoned Before Commissioner Supplee
Raiding the Terminal Hotel and Garden, Frederick and Montrose avenues, Catonsville, yesterday afternoon, prohibition agents from the office of Edmund Budnitz, Maryland director, seized a large quantity of alleged illicit liquors, some of which was said to be of rare vintage.
Sidney J. Reinach, proprietor, and James Bropenberg, bartender, were summoned to appear today before J. Frank Supplee, Jr., United States Commissioner, to answer charges of violation of the dry law.
The seizures, consisting of 75 bottles of alleged rare wines and other liquors, and 1,000 bottles of what is supposed to be homebrew beer, were discovered secreted in trunks and cupboards scattered about the establishment, it was said by John M. Barton, who led the raid. With Barton were Agents R. E. Beall, E. Frank Ely, Jesse H. Bratten, Wilton L. Stevens and Robert Barnes.
***
More to come -- this post is a Work In Progress
Monday, June 17, 2013
Week Nine, Assignments One and Two
Assignment One: Done. Interesting articles. Most of the trailers I've seen have been on TV, not on the Internet (I don't click ads as a rule, except by accident) and I usually don't watch ads on TV -- sometimes I don't find the remote in time to fast-forward past them.
The trailers I've seen weren't nearly so objectionable as the ones these writers are reacting against -- though the production values are usually pretty low, about what you expect from a high-budget local-TV commercial. There are exceptions, though, which I'll talk about a big, below.
Assignment Two: I watched the Official Trailer for Stephen King's latest, Joyland ... but sadly, it was in Polish. So apart from commenting on the production values (decent-budget TV-commercial-quality), I don't have much to go on there. Stock shots of an amusement park, with proper "fun/scary" sound effects, followed by Polish voice over probably saying "Joyland, the latest horror-thriller from the master of horror-thrillers, horror-thriller-master Stephen King. Available in WalMarts in Warsaw, Lodz, and Gdansk. For everywhere else, there's Amazon." It seemed like an adequate trailer. I give this one a five on a ten-point scale.
The trailer for James Patterson's Maximum Ride looked good, at least in the small window on a 13.2-inch monitor, lots of CGI of wing-sprouting angel-creatures soaring around a Gotham-like cityscape, but not movie-quality. The "acting" consisted of meaningful glances between angel-like things but they were mostly flying, not emoting. I give this one a six.
The last I watched was for John Green's hyper popular The Fault of Our Stars and it made so little an impression I don't remember a thing about it. Wait, I'm gonna go look again, brb.
Okay, teen-actors on a playground, "sensitive" music and quotes go by, and a heart monitor beeps. A tragic teen love story? Gee, there's never been anything like that, EVER!
I know, that's heretical, and I really will read it one day -- it can't be bad, if my daughter loves it so much, at least that's been my experience with most books she loves (except Twilight, and that was just a phase). The trailer was quick and evocative, though it didn't really make the book look too appealing to a Green-novice (I was just going to say "Greenovice" but didn't want to confuse anyone unnecessarily).
Whether book trailers are of any use is probably not debatable -- it's a "modern" form of advertising, and books have been advertised by their publishers since Daniel Defoe's time, if not before. How effective they are -- whether they're worth the expense to the publisher -- is between the publisher and his bottom line. My guess is that they MUST help fuel sales, or we wouldn't be seeing them, especially for books by new authors.
And not very useful for RA, I think.
The trailers I've seen weren't nearly so objectionable as the ones these writers are reacting against -- though the production values are usually pretty low, about what you expect from a high-budget local-TV commercial. There are exceptions, though, which I'll talk about a big, below.
Assignment Two: I watched the Official Trailer for Stephen King's latest, Joyland ... but sadly, it was in Polish. So apart from commenting on the production values (decent-budget TV-commercial-quality), I don't have much to go on there. Stock shots of an amusement park, with proper "fun/scary" sound effects, followed by Polish voice over probably saying "Joyland, the latest horror-thriller from the master of horror-thrillers, horror-thriller-master Stephen King. Available in WalMarts in Warsaw, Lodz, and Gdansk. For everywhere else, there's Amazon." It seemed like an adequate trailer. I give this one a five on a ten-point scale.
The trailer for James Patterson's Maximum Ride looked good, at least in the small window on a 13.2-inch monitor, lots of CGI of wing-sprouting angel-creatures soaring around a Gotham-like cityscape, but not movie-quality. The "acting" consisted of meaningful glances between angel-like things but they were mostly flying, not emoting. I give this one a six.
The last I watched was for John Green's hyper popular The Fault of Our Stars and it made so little an impression I don't remember a thing about it. Wait, I'm gonna go look again, brb.
***
Okay, teen-actors on a playground, "sensitive" music and quotes go by, and a heart monitor beeps. A tragic teen love story? Gee, there's never been anything like that, EVER!
I know, that's heretical, and I really will read it one day -- it can't be bad, if my daughter loves it so much, at least that's been my experience with most books she loves (except Twilight, and that was just a phase). The trailer was quick and evocative, though it didn't really make the book look too appealing to a Green-novice (I was just going to say "Greenovice" but didn't want to confuse anyone unnecessarily).
Whether book trailers are of any use is probably not debatable -- it's a "modern" form of advertising, and books have been advertised by their publishers since Daniel Defoe's time, if not before. How effective they are -- whether they're worth the expense to the publisher -- is between the publisher and his bottom line. My guess is that they MUST help fuel sales, or we wouldn't be seeing them, especially for books by new authors.
And not very useful for RA, I think.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Week Eight, Assignment Four: Two nonfiction booktalks
Eight Men Out, Eliot Asinof, 1963. That the 1919 World Series was thrown by the Chicago White Sox was not unique -- sports was rift with betting and criminal influence, both before and since. What made the "Black Sox Scandal" so noteworthy is the way the baseball club owners instituted a higher authority -- the National Baseball Commission -- and handled the problem from the inside out, and from the top down. Eight Chicago players were initially placed on a makeshift "ineligible" list (with the promise to be reinstated if found not guilty of their accusations), and eventually indicted on various conspiracy charges. All eight were acquitted. All eight were never allowed to play professional baseball again.
Appeal factors such as characterization, setting and detail are all pronounced in Asinof's book. The team roster comes to life and the motivations for the players to do what they were accused of doing (remember, they were acquitted so you can't legally say they did anything illegal!) are clear: they played baseball for a man (Charles Comiskey) who was so notoriously cheap that one story behind the name "The Black Sox" predates the gambling scandal and instead refers to Comiskey's making his underpaid players pay for their own uniform laundering -- and in protest, they played until the white-with-black-pinstripe uniforms were almost completely black with grime.
The best baseball club in the world worked for fame and fortune for a man who wouldn't share the fortune he was making off of them. Wouldn't that gambler's money be pretty durn tempting to men who'd been cheated out of promised bonuses and benefits?
Asinof, writing 40 years after the facts, and while some of the principals were still living (four of The Eight were still alive when the book was published), relied almost entirely on newspaper accounts and other researches -- his introduction says that he met with some of the 1919 team but no one would talk to him about the World Series. Why not? What would so stigmatize the players that they felt they couldn't speak to a reporter about the event that forever changed their lives?
This topic, and the history of Christianity, has long fascinated me, probably contributing to my heretical bend. Ehrman started his career as an Evangelical Christian, out to prove that the Bible was actually and literally written by "God" and therefore inviolate by us mere humans, but his open-eyed researches have lead him to other conclusions. I think this is what I like so much about his work: it's the former smoker who makes the most convincing anti-smoking crusader, after all. Plus his research seems (to a non-specialist) fair, balanced, and thorough.
This is not to say Ehrman is anti-Christian, at all. He's just become much more scholarly than he originally intended, and has some interesting and, to some, controversial conclusions about the earliest versions of Christianity -- which he calls proto-orthodox Christianity.
This book would be a natural to recommend to those who are intrigued by the religious aspects of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series -- but unlike Brown, Ehrman's books, shorter on story-line, are much longer on research and detail. (In fact, Ehrman wrote one of the [many] books that debunked some of Brown's conspiracy theories, namely Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code, 2006.)
Week Eight, Assignment Three: Four nonfiction recommendations
"Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres ... list Dewey call numbers for those genres .... Choose and recommend a book for someone who normally doesn't read nonfiction."
In a surprise move, Bryce chooses the genres of Sports (790s, generally), Faith (200s) ... and then resorts to the old faithfuls of History (900s) and Biography/Memoirs (which SLRC's video divides into two separate genres -- I disagree. They live, in BCPL at least, in B or, in Dewey terms, the 920s, with some in other sections throughout the collection, depending on a myriad of reasons best understood by cataloguers -- as an example, if 51% of a biography is about the subjects fight against heroin addiction, you might find it in the "substance abuse" section, in the 616s).
In Sports -- and people who know me know I'm not a fan at all, really, but I do have an historical appreciation for Sports and can fake it when some jock wants to talk about how The Ravens, Orioles, Blackhawks, Lakers, or Pomona College Sagehens did last night -- I'd recommend Eliot Asinof's book on the Chicago "Black Sox" Scandal of 1919, Eight Men Out (796.357 A). A detailed "book talk" will follow.
In Faith -- and people who know me know I'm not a fan at all, really, but I do have an historical appreciation for Faith and can fake it when someone want to talk about the Torah, the Bible, the Lotus Sutra, or the Book of Mormon -- I'd recommend Bart D. Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus (225 E).
History is my "thing," I enjoy it a lot, and despite its somewhat dry reputation, there has been a lot of good narrative nonfiction in the discipline ever since Tacitus' time. Fiction readers might be intrigued by Simon Winchester's A Crack in the Edge of the World, about the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 (979.461 W), among literally thousands of others.
Memoirs and biographies are just "personal" histories, so semi-obviously a history nerd is going to enjoy them, too. Truman, by David McCullough, tells in vibrant terms the story of "Give 'Em Hell Harry," the President perhaps best known for nuking Japan and firing General MacArthur for insubordination (Biography [or 920] TRUMAN).
In a surprise move, Bryce chooses the genres of Sports (790s, generally), Faith (200s) ... and then resorts to the old faithfuls of History (900s) and Biography/Memoirs (which SLRC's video divides into two separate genres -- I disagree. They live, in BCPL at least, in B or, in Dewey terms, the 920s, with some in other sections throughout the collection, depending on a myriad of reasons best understood by cataloguers -- as an example, if 51% of a biography is about the subjects fight against heroin addiction, you might find it in the "substance abuse" section, in the 616s).
Monday, June 10, 2013
Week Eight, Assignment Two: View a SRLC video.
Done. Good job, State Library Resources Center! I sort of disagree that Biography and Memoir are two separate genres, though -- more like two sides of the same coin, one written in the third person, and presumably without an "agenda," the other usually in the first person, and generally with an "agenda" (those that say the loudest that they HAVE no agenda are those with the most profound ones).
Week Eight: Nonfiction
Or, as Cole Porter and Peter Bogdanovich might say, "At Long Last, Love."
I'm a big-time reader of non-fiction. Not that there's anything wrong with fiction, I enjoy it, too, but I read far more non-fiction, always have, always will.
For the first part of this assignment, we read articles by Jennifer Brannen, "Borderlands: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Readers' Advisory," and Catherine Sheldrick Ross, "Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?" Brannen's was a good opinion piece, based on experience and principle, but I found more value to Ross's article, if only because hers is based on interviews and her own personal research. (To be fair, the articles are two different approaches to the same general subject -- one is opinion-based, and the other research-based).
The assignment doesn't specify that we're to respond on our blog to the articles, but I wanted to. One of the quotes in Ross's article reminded me of a dialogue in the 2004 film, Sideways. The writer, played by Paul Giametti, has been asked by his best friend's father-in-law-to-be about his book:
Miles (Giametti): It's... it's a novel. Fiction. Yes. Although there is quite a bit from my own life... so I suppose that, technically some of it is nonfiction.
I'm a big-time reader of non-fiction. Not that there's anything wrong with fiction, I enjoy it, too, but I read far more non-fiction, always have, always will.
For the first part of this assignment, we read articles by Jennifer Brannen, "Borderlands: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Readers' Advisory," and Catherine Sheldrick Ross, "Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?" Brannen's was a good opinion piece, based on experience and principle, but I found more value to Ross's article, if only because hers is based on interviews and her own personal research. (To be fair, the articles are two different approaches to the same general subject -- one is opinion-based, and the other research-based).
The assignment doesn't specify that we're to respond on our blog to the articles, but I wanted to. One of the quotes in Ross's article reminded me of a dialogue in the 2004 film, Sideways. The writer, played by Paul Giametti, has been asked by his best friend's father-in-law-to-be about his book:
Miles (Giametti): It's... it's a novel. Fiction. Yes. Although there is quite a bit from my own life... so I suppose that, technically some of it is nonfiction.
Mike (played by Shaun Duke): Good, I like nonfiction. There is so much to know about this world. I think you read something somebody just invented, waste of time.
Miles: That's an interesting perspective.
Miles: That's an interesting perspective.
Week Seven, Assignment Four: Trends in YA (at least according to the publishers)
"Choose any two ... spend some time ... blog about trends."
I chose Harlequin Teens and Teens at Random, the former because I think Harlequin really is the Little Publisher That Almost Could, If Only They Paid Better, and the latter because the title is amusing.
Harlequin Teens seems to have its exploitative finger on the pulse of what adults who read the trade papers think teens will buy, with an overlay of the patented Harlequin romance. There's teen cyberpunk romance, teen steampunk romance, teen horror romance -- you name it, throw in a romantic subplot, and Harlequin will sell it to you! Good job of following the trends rather than establishing them, Harlequin! Can't really fault them for this, though -- it's a business plan that works. Just ask Hollywood.
Teens at Random looks pretty much like Random House's other themed pages, but with lighter, more teen-friendly typefaces. As one of the biggest publishers around, Random House doesn't seem to rest on their laurels but offers newer more innovative works than a second-tier publisher like Harlequin can. A well-done and inviting site, with book-trailers and everything -- as you'd expect from Random House.
Trendspotting? Harlequin is sure the kids will want what they've been buying, and Random is pushing Tess Gratton (The Lost Sun: two holds at this writing) and Tom McNeal's Far, Far Away, which has four holds.
I chose Harlequin Teens and Teens at Random, the former because I think Harlequin really is the Little Publisher That Almost Could, If Only They Paid Better, and the latter because the title is amusing.
Harlequin Teens seems to have its exploitative finger on the pulse of what adults who read the trade papers think teens will buy, with an overlay of the patented Harlequin romance. There's teen cyberpunk romance, teen steampunk romance, teen horror romance -- you name it, throw in a romantic subplot, and Harlequin will sell it to you! Good job of following the trends rather than establishing them, Harlequin! Can't really fault them for this, though -- it's a business plan that works. Just ask Hollywood.
Teens at Random looks pretty much like Random House's other themed pages, but with lighter, more teen-friendly typefaces. As one of the biggest publishers around, Random House doesn't seem to rest on their laurels but offers newer more innovative works than a second-tier publisher like Harlequin can. A well-done and inviting site, with book-trailers and everything -- as you'd expect from Random House.
Trendspotting? Harlequin is sure the kids will want what they've been buying, and Random is pushing Tess Gratton (The Lost Sun: two holds at this writing) and Tom McNeal's Far, Far Away, which has four holds.
Week Seven, Assignment Three: Comment on a pair o' Blogs
"Choose any two of the following blogs/websites. Follow them for a week and post comments."
I chose John Green's fansite/blog/vlog Books, and his Tumblr, and Shannon Hale's Squeetus Blog.
John Green, author of the hyper-popular The Fault of Our Stars, has a very entertaining vlog/blog in Books, with loads of updates on his fresh-born daughter Alice, born June 3. This is apparently put together by one Hank, who looks like the famous cowdog of the same moniker. (Hank actually looks more like Stephen Merchant but with a name like "Hank," you gotta throw in a cowdog reference.) There's some good content here, even some interviews with Green.
Of course anything remotely "official" to the current most-popular YA author will be successful -- that's kind of the nature of the beast -- but both these sites are, I think -- the second slightly less so, but that's probably a generational thing: I think Tumblr is silly.
Shannon Hale's blog is very entertaining. I especially enjoyed her self-deprecating responses to the successful author's never-ending question, "will there be a sequel to Princess Academy?" She facetiously responds that, beyond the "real" sequel, Palace of Stone, a whole cottage industry will be springing up, her "new" sequels illustrated with cover art for the first slew, which will include Vampires in Love, Laser Eyes, and Revenge of the Mountain Goat. I suppose these would be even funnier if I'd read Princess Academy.
I chose John Green's fansite/blog/vlog Books, and his Tumblr, and Shannon Hale's Squeetus Blog.
John Green, author of the hyper-popular The Fault of Our Stars, has a very entertaining vlog/blog in Books, with loads of updates on his fresh-born daughter Alice, born June 3. This is apparently put together by one Hank, who looks like the famous cowdog of the same moniker. (Hank actually looks more like Stephen Merchant but with a name like "Hank," you gotta throw in a cowdog reference.) There's some good content here, even some interviews with Green.
 |
| Hank the Cowdog |
 |
| Stephen Merchant, friend of Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington |
Shannon Hale's blog is very entertaining. I especially enjoyed her self-deprecating responses to the successful author's never-ending question, "will there be a sequel to Princess Academy?" She facetiously responds that, beyond the "real" sequel, Palace of Stone, a whole cottage industry will be springing up, her "new" sequels illustrated with cover art for the first slew, which will include Vampires in Love, Laser Eyes, and Revenge of the Mountain Goat. I suppose these would be even funnier if I'd read Princess Academy.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Week Seven: Not Just For Teens
Assignment One: Review a flowchart
Consider it reviewed. A little snarky, a little sarcastic, and librarians like that. Humorous, with good info: librarians like that, too!
Assignment Two: Read a couple of articles, comment on my blog, review and comment on two others' blogs about their comments on these articles.
I read "'New Adult': Needless Marketing-speak or Valued Subgenre?", from Publisher's Weekly, Dec 14, 2012. In answer to the title, I think "New Adult" is both. It defines a particular subgenre of Young Adult fiction -- that which depicts, models or contemplates the notion of "becoming an adult" -- whereas most YA fiction seems more concerned (at least according to the other article I read) with vampires, zombies, and dystopias.
Of course this is unfair to YA fiction: I enjoy it quite a lot and there's far more to it than just the "dark" themes the second article alludes to. That article is "YA Comes of Age," also from Publisher's Weekly, dated October 3, 2011. The article is a bit dated, having come out after the huge popularity of Twilight and just as The Hunger Games and its dystopian brethren were ruling the sales charts. YA is still in "dark and dystopian" mode, due to these and other influences, and probably will be for some time -- the kids just seem to love that stuff, it's a product of the Age we live in (and meshes nicely with the Goth, emo and other subcultures that parents wish would just go away ...).
YA is a broad and deep genre, more than just these facets, but these are still the seemingly most popular ones. I think it will be quite a while before we see anything analogous to Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and the Little House books (which were the YA lit of their generation, before YA existed).
I left comments on Doug B and Rebecca B's blogs.
Assignments Three and Four will take a little more time.
Consider it reviewed. A little snarky, a little sarcastic, and librarians like that. Humorous, with good info: librarians like that, too!
Assignment Two: Read a couple of articles, comment on my blog, review and comment on two others' blogs about their comments on these articles.
I read "'New Adult': Needless Marketing-speak or Valued Subgenre?", from Publisher's Weekly, Dec 14, 2012. In answer to the title, I think "New Adult" is both. It defines a particular subgenre of Young Adult fiction -- that which depicts, models or contemplates the notion of "becoming an adult" -- whereas most YA fiction seems more concerned (at least according to the other article I read) with vampires, zombies, and dystopias.
Of course this is unfair to YA fiction: I enjoy it quite a lot and there's far more to it than just the "dark" themes the second article alludes to. That article is "YA Comes of Age," also from Publisher's Weekly, dated October 3, 2011. The article is a bit dated, having come out after the huge popularity of Twilight and just as The Hunger Games and its dystopian brethren were ruling the sales charts. YA is still in "dark and dystopian" mode, due to these and other influences, and probably will be for some time -- the kids just seem to love that stuff, it's a product of the Age we live in (and meshes nicely with the Goth, emo and other subcultures that parents wish would just go away ...).
YA is a broad and deep genre, more than just these facets, but these are still the seemingly most popular ones. I think it will be quite a while before we see anything analogous to Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and the Little House books (which were the YA lit of their generation, before YA existed).
I left comments on Doug B and Rebecca B's blogs.
Assignments Three and Four will take a little more time.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Week Six, Assignment Three: Pick Three subgenres with which I am unfamiliar
My three subgenres are "Swords and sorcery," of the Fantasy genre; "Paranormal," part of Horror; and "Pioneer families," from Westerns. I read at least a little in each of these genres but nothing in any of the subgenres.
In attempting to find fan sites for each of these, I Googled "[subgenre] fan sites" or if I got too few hits, "[subgenre] fan". For "Sword and sorcery fan sites," I got way too many hints for usability. Changing "fan sites" into "fansites" helped a little.
I found a good fansite (or fan site) for the Red Sonja character (so memorably and miserably played by Brigitte Nielsen way back in '85), http://www.boomvavavoom.com/redsonja1.html, that goes into nearly all imaginable Red Sonja incarnations. (Pun intended).
Finding more general fan sites (or fansites) was more difficult. This particular subgenre is rift with fan-boys and cosplayers so those things need to be filtered out. I realized that to do this more efficiently, I needed to be in a reading site. Hmmm, if only there was a place where readers of all genres might share their reviews, one that was easily searched by subjects or "tags," if you will. If only someone would come up with something like that ....
So I went to the old reliable Goodreads.
Sadly (?), Goodreads doesn't use the phrase "Sword and sorcery." Instead thtere are slightly broader subgenres of fantasy such as High, Low, Dark and Epic. All of these contain some elements of what Herzberg called "Sword and sorcery," so I'm going with Epic, which seems closest (the only Fantasy I've read religiously is Tolkien, which also fits into several of these subgenres).
Also sadly, Goodreads method of using tags is voluntary to the point that many people may not use them at all (depending on how they use their Goodreads account). And there's just not anything there I can find that leads outside Goodreads itself into the wild and wooly world of Fan Sites.
Second attempt: Following a suggestion from a colleague, I'm going in by individual author's name. Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, is probably the single biggest purveyor if Sword and Sorcerism, and Googling "Robert E. Howard fan site" gave me what seems to be the be-all and end-all, the Alpha and the Omega if you will, of Conan-related sites: The Newcomer's Guide to Robert E. Howard. But it's not really a fansite (it IS, but not in the way the assignment expects a fan site to be.)
Perhaps more what was in mind is REHupa, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association. A warning: both the Newcomer's Guide and REHupa are like gateway drugs into the weird and semi-dark world of Robert E. Howard and The Hyborian Age. Another example: an ad-ridden Angelfire site (open at your own risk), by a certain Joe Marek.
I'm done with "Sword and Sorcery."
In attempting to find fan sites for each of these, I Googled "[subgenre] fan sites" or if I got too few hits, "[subgenre] fan". For "Sword and sorcery fan sites," I got way too many hints for usability. Changing "fan sites" into "fansites" helped a little.
I found a good fansite (or fan site) for the Red Sonja character (so memorably and miserably played by Brigitte Nielsen way back in '85), http://www.boomvavavoom.com/redsonja1.html, that goes into nearly all imaginable Red Sonja incarnations. (Pun intended).
Finding more general fan sites (or fansites) was more difficult. This particular subgenre is rift with fan-boys and cosplayers so those things need to be filtered out. I realized that to do this more efficiently, I needed to be in a reading site. Hmmm, if only there was a place where readers of all genres might share their reviews, one that was easily searched by subjects or "tags," if you will. If only someone would come up with something like that ....
So I went to the old reliable Goodreads.
Sadly (?), Goodreads doesn't use the phrase "Sword and sorcery." Instead thtere are slightly broader subgenres of fantasy such as High, Low, Dark and Epic. All of these contain some elements of what Herzberg called "Sword and sorcery," so I'm going with Epic, which seems closest (the only Fantasy I've read religiously is Tolkien, which also fits into several of these subgenres).
Also sadly, Goodreads method of using tags is voluntary to the point that many people may not use them at all (depending on how they use their Goodreads account). And there's just not anything there I can find that leads outside Goodreads itself into the wild and wooly world of Fan Sites.
Second attempt: Following a suggestion from a colleague, I'm going in by individual author's name. Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, is probably the single biggest purveyor if Sword and Sorcerism, and Googling "Robert E. Howard fan site" gave me what seems to be the be-all and end-all, the Alpha and the Omega if you will, of Conan-related sites: The Newcomer's Guide to Robert E. Howard. But it's not really a fansite (it IS, but not in the way the assignment expects a fan site to be.)
 |
| I am no longer Conan. I am no longer The Terminator. |
Perhaps more what was in mind is REHupa, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association. A warning: both the Newcomer's Guide and REHupa are like gateway drugs into the weird and semi-dark world of Robert E. Howard and The Hyborian Age. Another example: an ad-ridden Angelfire site (open at your own risk), by a certain Joe Marek.
I'm done with "Sword and Sorcery."
*****
Paranormal Horror. This oughta be somewhat easier -- the subgenre itself seems more current and popular (though again, as a non-reader of any of these subgenres ... what do I know, apart from what I've learned professionally?). We'll see ....
***
[moments later ....]
Most of the subgenres I looked into are not widely used as such. On Goodreads, there's a genre of Horror, but no subgenre of Paranormal Horror, Under Paranormal, there's no Paranormal Horror. Grrrr .....
*****
Westerns -> Pioneer families? Should I even bother looking?
*****
Part Three, Subsection B
Three authors in each sub-genre (and a representative title or two)
The Godfather of Sword and Sorcery, as I stated above, is Robert E. Howard, who published the first Conan story, "People of the Dark" in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, a pulp magazine of the time, June 1932.
Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser was published in 1939 and seems to have begun the tradition of Making the Place Names All But Unpronounceable.
Charles Saunders published Imaro in 1981, which is noteworthy as the first S & S to feature a black protagonist.
Appeal factors for Sword and Sorcery include simple characters (usually savage and primitive and somewhat Rousseauan), exotic setting (otherworldly but not too alien), and action-packed plots. The plot and setting seem paramount.
Paranormal horror is typified by the vampire novel -- and as we all know, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) was both the first and (arguably) the best of the lot, combining a modern (at the time of publication!) setting, an ancient villain, and romantic, Byronic plotting. The most important single factor is probably the setting (as the characters, apart from the Count himself, are fairly one-dimensional, and the plot is pretty predictable).
Anne Rice worked major miracles with the classic vampire with her Vampire Chronicles, beginning with Interview With the Vampire (1976), adding strong characters and more complex plotting, along with wonderfully realized backstories and histories for all the major players, and the whole realm of the Undead.
Then along came Stephanie Meyer, who somehow caught the apparently vapid imagination of a generation with her retrograde Twilight series. Again, the drippy and dripping setting of Washington State's forested regions are a major attraction, along with a romantic plot, with a little sappy teen romance and terrible characterization.
The movies? Let's just say Kristen Stewart does a more than capable job playing the undead Bella. Oh, you say she's not undead? My mistake.
Of course the king of Paranormal horror is ... naw, that's a too-easy pun. It's Stephen King. His Carrie (1976) put him on the map and he had a good run through The Shining, The Dead Zone, and The Stand. Then, as each little piece of dreck with his name on it continued to earn major profits for his publishers, his writing went more and more astray until he has become a self-indulgent, self-important word-spewer. If an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters typed for an infinite number of years, eventually they'd come up with Shakespeare -- is that how it goes? If you took a hundred monkeys and set them typing for a week, you'd get a Stephen King novel, circa 1990. His short stores, generally better written (disclaimer: IMHO), might take a year each.
King's appeal factors include violent and bloody action and wonderfully creepy settings.
I do look forward to Doctor Sleep, as I said in a previous post, but I'm prepared to be disappointed.
The subgenre of Pioneer Families was pretty much begun by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Her A Lantern in Hand (1928) preceded Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods by three years, though Wilder's book is more firmly rooted in reality -- her family really were Minnesota (and elsewhere) pioneers, and Aldrich was at least one generation removed from "Pioneer Life." Setting in a foreign, "untamed" (meaning by European-based civilizations) land is the major appeal, along with the descriptions of pioneer privations and the resulting feeling in the reader of "well, my life is rough, but at least we've just about got this bed-bug-thing licked."
There's a whole sub-subgenre of Pioneer Families, Mormon Pioneer Families, typified by Gerald Lund's many books. Fire of the Covenant (1999) is one. These appeal to the reader for the same reasons as above, but with the added aegis of that sect's reputation for adherence to its rather strict rules of governance and, to a "Gentile," or outsider, its unusual belief system.
Part Three, Subsection C
Mashups
Some books may fit into one of more subgenres. Describe two titles, not identified by Herzberg, and rationalize your choices.
I read Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith (2010 -- he also wrote what may the kick-off title of this sub-sub-subgenre of "literary zombie fiction," Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, usually credited to Jane Austen and Grahame-Smith, and catalogued in most public libraries under Austen) when it was first published, and enjoyed it immensely. Being a huge 16th-President fan, I could easily see where Lincoln's life story ended and the fantasy-horror elements began. It's a great story, fairly well-told and not badly written. It combines Lincoln's actual life with the zombie idea in a way that's both entertaining and satisfying. It's really a mashup of biography, pioneer history, horror, alternative history, and ... well, there must be at least one more thing there ... but I'll let you figure it out. It's much more fun than the movie adaptation.
Also in the vein of Presidential mockrography is The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: the Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President, by George Prendle (2007). This is pure nonsense, a highly fictionalised and humorified biography of one of our least remarkable presidents -- when this came out, there hadn't been a "real" biography of Filllmore in about fifty years -- since then, there's at least one legitimate one, which is not nearly as fun as this. Prendle takes the basic facts of Fillmore life and makes him into a Paul Bunyan/Davy Crockett-esque, larger-than-life figure, which is pretty much the opposite of what the real 13th President was like, apparently. Its subgenre must me something like "humorous biography/tall tale." I recommend it whenever I get the chance. But please, kids, do not cite it in a serious research paper.
Whew! On to Week Seven! Glory be.
*****
Part Three, Subsection B
Three authors in each sub-genre (and a representative title or two)
The Godfather of Sword and Sorcery, as I stated above, is Robert E. Howard, who published the first Conan story, "People of the Dark" in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, a pulp magazine of the time, June 1932.
Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser was published in 1939 and seems to have begun the tradition of Making the Place Names All But Unpronounceable.
Charles Saunders published Imaro in 1981, which is noteworthy as the first S & S to feature a black protagonist.
Appeal factors for Sword and Sorcery include simple characters (usually savage and primitive and somewhat Rousseauan), exotic setting (otherworldly but not too alien), and action-packed plots. The plot and setting seem paramount.
***
Paranormal horror is typified by the vampire novel -- and as we all know, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) was both the first and (arguably) the best of the lot, combining a modern (at the time of publication!) setting, an ancient villain, and romantic, Byronic plotting. The most important single factor is probably the setting (as the characters, apart from the Count himself, are fairly one-dimensional, and the plot is pretty predictable).
Anne Rice worked major miracles with the classic vampire with her Vampire Chronicles, beginning with Interview With the Vampire (1976), adding strong characters and more complex plotting, along with wonderfully realized backstories and histories for all the major players, and the whole realm of the Undead.
Then along came Stephanie Meyer, who somehow caught the apparently vapid imagination of a generation with her retrograde Twilight series. Again, the drippy and dripping setting of Washington State's forested regions are a major attraction, along with a romantic plot, with a little sappy teen romance and terrible characterization.
The movies? Let's just say Kristen Stewart does a more than capable job playing the undead Bella. Oh, you say she's not undead? My mistake.
 |
| Leave me alone, I'm trying to act! |
Of course the king of Paranormal horror is ... naw, that's a too-easy pun. It's Stephen King. His Carrie (1976) put him on the map and he had a good run through The Shining, The Dead Zone, and The Stand. Then, as each little piece of dreck with his name on it continued to earn major profits for his publishers, his writing went more and more astray until he has become a self-indulgent, self-important word-spewer. If an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters typed for an infinite number of years, eventually they'd come up with Shakespeare -- is that how it goes? If you took a hundred monkeys and set them typing for a week, you'd get a Stephen King novel, circa 1990. His short stores, generally better written (disclaimer: IMHO), might take a year each.
King's appeal factors include violent and bloody action and wonderfully creepy settings.
I do look forward to Doctor Sleep, as I said in a previous post, but I'm prepared to be disappointed.
***
The subgenre of Pioneer Families was pretty much begun by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Her A Lantern in Hand (1928) preceded Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods by three years, though Wilder's book is more firmly rooted in reality -- her family really were Minnesota (and elsewhere) pioneers, and Aldrich was at least one generation removed from "Pioneer Life." Setting in a foreign, "untamed" (meaning by European-based civilizations) land is the major appeal, along with the descriptions of pioneer privations and the resulting feeling in the reader of "well, my life is rough, but at least we've just about got this bed-bug-thing licked."
There's a whole sub-subgenre of Pioneer Families, Mormon Pioneer Families, typified by Gerald Lund's many books. Fire of the Covenant (1999) is one. These appeal to the reader for the same reasons as above, but with the added aegis of that sect's reputation for adherence to its rather strict rules of governance and, to a "Gentile," or outsider, its unusual belief system.
*****
Part Three, Subsection C
Mashups
Some books may fit into one of more subgenres. Describe two titles, not identified by Herzberg, and rationalize your choices.
I read Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith (2010 -- he also wrote what may the kick-off title of this sub-sub-subgenre of "literary zombie fiction," Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, usually credited to Jane Austen and Grahame-Smith, and catalogued in most public libraries under Austen) when it was first published, and enjoyed it immensely. Being a huge 16th-President fan, I could easily see where Lincoln's life story ended and the fantasy-horror elements began. It's a great story, fairly well-told and not badly written. It combines Lincoln's actual life with the zombie idea in a way that's both entertaining and satisfying. It's really a mashup of biography, pioneer history, horror, alternative history, and ... well, there must be at least one more thing there ... but I'll let you figure it out. It's much more fun than the movie adaptation.
*****
Whew! On to Week Seven! Glory be.
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