W9A2 - Be More Bookish Blog Feedback - BMB is a good idea, and even better that it's self-paced.  The blog itself could use a new fresh look (new colors/fonts/background), and just a few things were outdated, but the main idea of those specific assignment was still valid.  I think the whole training could have been a little shorter.  My attention span faded around week 7, which incidentally was just way too long.  Reading articles and following multiple teen blogs for a week and then "write your thoughts" is a very passive assignment.  Week 7 should be a shorter, with a more specific focus.  Maybe since I'm not a big teen book reader... it just seemed to drag on and on.  The most memorable things that I learned from BMB: the many types of less-common genres, earlybird.com - a great source for hot-off-the-presses info for librarians, publishers' websites - tons of useful info, and how to use narrative nonfiction as a crossover from fiction.  Do I feel better about a person approaching me to recommend a book?  I don't really think so, and it would be unwise to think that this blog could change a persons comfort level about readers' advisory.  RA is skill that can only truly be built by experience; by doing it over and over.  That being said, I did learn from BMB, but it's time to close the curtain on this blog and move on to the next big thing:).  Happy reading!  Til we meet again...

W9A1 - Book Trailers - I didn't know book trailers existed, like many people, apparently, so I googled "book trailers" to see what comes up.  I found that there are an extensive amount of homemade trailers that are horrible, low-budget, lengthy, lame clips.  On the other hand, many good ones are out there that have been produced by the popular publishing companies, such as Knopf, and Harper Collins, etc.  After watching a few of these, I could see where good book trailers would make someone want to read the book (despite the discouraging article we just read). One good point in the article is that many readers may not know about them, and the good ones aren't really publicized. You have to know that they're out there, and where to go to find them - unless you frequent publishing sites, which general readers wouldn't do too often.  The first things that pop up on a google search will be all the crappy homemade $5 book trailers, not the ones that are actually produced with a real budget.  I'm not sure if I would use them for readers' advisory, only because I'd have to google to see if one exists for that particular movie, and you really can't turn the volume up in the library, then they're only like a 30 seconds long...  Naa.  I may tell them that book trailers exist, and to check them out on their own time... maybe.

W8A3 and 4 - Nonfiction Genres - The task here is to chose a good narrative nonfiction book in four of the sixteen nonfiction genres.  I chose travel (early 900s), food (641s), crime (mid 300s), and biography.  For travel, I would recommend "The Lost City of Z" by  David Grann because of the thrill and suspenseful story of a mans' dangerous journey to find a lost city in the thick of the Amazon rainforest.  I'm currently reading this book, and although he tends to drift away from the action sometimes, it's not just a bunch of boring facts that reads like an encyclopedia.
For a food book, hmmm... where do I begin?  I love the whole section.  I have dreams of me and a large slice of deluxe pizza skipping through the meadow...  Anyway, here's my newfound discovery.  I'm just now realizing that I haven't actually read any narrative nonfiction about food.  How is this possible?  I live in the 641s.  Nonetheless, I'm choosing "International Night" by Mark Kurlansky because it looks like something I would read.  It's about a father and daughter who share their tradition of preparing recipes from various regions, and the book includes over 250 recipes.  So the book is a good crossover from fiction because it shares a story, but also includes the "how-to" nonfiction part.
My third narrative nonfiction choice - crime - seems to have many choices of books.  One that stands out to me is "A Death in Belmont" by Sebastian Junger.  A murder in Belmont, Massachusetts has occurred at the same time as the Boston Strangler serial murders.  Two visitors were present at the home at the time of the murder; one man is convicted, but the other confesses to doing it.  It is said to be "one of the first and most controversial serial murder cases in America."  Sounds interesting to me!  I'd read it if I weren't interested in nonfiction books.  Lastly, (this is a long assignment), biography.  Let's do "Billy Graham: An Oral and Narrative Biography" by Deborah Strober.  This book traces Graham's career, development, and accomplishments as told through the eyes of family, friends, and colleagues.  Someone who's interested in the lives of traditional christian role models would appreciate this book.
I personally enjoy reading nonfiction.  I love the stimulation and ever-increasing knowledge that is available in this section.  This assignment has actually opened my eyes to the narrative nonfiction genre.  Now I know a good way to introduce fiction lovers to the world of nonfiction without them thinking they have to read what they probably consider a "dry book" filled with a bunch of humdrum facts.  P.S.  - Second assignment - It's hard to write a 1-2 paragraph on narrative nonfiction books when I haven't read any of them, but I get the gist of what I needed to learn here, so am I off the hook ;0) ?