Week 5: Early Word, Etc.

Assignment 1:

I’ve been monitoring The Daily Beast, although I find I often get caught up in the news stories before making it to the books section of the website.  When I do eventually meander to the books section, I find a lot of smart, sometimes “off the beaten path” reads which don’t necessarily show up on People or NYTB lists. All in all, I would say the site is really good for information – not necessarily the information I’m seeking when I go to the site – but always interesting.  Also, it has really good author interviews. It’s a fun site.

 

Assignment 2:

At PE, we have a lot of customers looking for popular fiction, NYTB, hot titles list. Many are self-sufficient and usually just come up to the desk for help finding a certain title or placing a hold. Our staff recommends are incredibly popular. Sometimes, I get the “can you recommend a good book” or read-alike questions.

I must say I’ve been a little skittish of Early Word – not sure why. I get the condensed newsletter, but when it shows up in my email it just looks really busy and scattered – I’m never sure where to start. But poking around on the site did endear me to it a little more. New and fun discoveries: links to Nancy Pearl information, Season Previews and Best Books. I’m always finding something interesting in the central news section, too (Tim Burton set to direct Miss Peregrine’s!  New book: Difficult Men!) Always something. All of these resources I will probably continue to use.

 

Assignment 3:

The Astronaut Wives’ Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel. Many wives of famous men are now getting their due (fabulous!), including Hadley Richardson Hemingway (The Paris Wife), Anne Lindbergh (The Aviator’s Wife), Zelda Fitzgerald (Z) and now the wives of pioneer astronauts in the late 1950s. For fans of the first three books, this would be a great read-alike, although this is a true story, not a work of historical fiction. Pacing is not fast – readers have time to learn about the women and appreciate the complexities of their lives. Characters are three-dimensional – one learns about their backgrounds, relationships and emotions, and it brings to life the women behind the publicity photos. The language, as one reviewer writes, is “breezy”, making it a good summer read, but the material can be poignant. Koppel also brings the setting to life by conveying how innovative and in many ways scary the whole field of space exploration was, and provides details about what it was really like behind the scenes for these wives. This book’s overall tone is on the light side, drawing readers in to a time in history, but also provides depth and moments of sadness and frustration. Readers will learn a lot about the complexities of the space program and what these women experienced.  

Why is it expected to be popular? People in recent years have been fascinated with bygone eras (Mad Men, Downton Abbey, etc), with psychologically-deep characters, and this book fits right in. It will appeal to fans of those television shows, as well as readers of the above-mentioned books, readers of biographies and historical fiction. It could also appeal to anyone interested in the early days of space exploration.