Welcome to Week 11 and Prompt

Image by Alfred Hermida

Hope you all had a great spring break and were able to relax and have some fun. I did a LOT of reading - I fell for Mira Grant's Feed, a zombie novel, and decided to read everything else she has written. She writes urban fantasy and horror (urban fantasy under the name Seanan McGuire, and horror under Mira Grant). I don't read a lot of urban fantasy anymore because it all seems the same - but hers is quite different and enjoyable. A fresh take on the genre, which is always fun. A great choice to lead into this week's discussion of landscape genres! I'm looking forward to reading your annotations.

This week we are also talking about ebooks and audiobooks. Ebooks are here and whether we like them or not, we need to support our patrons who do. Since you guys are taking an online course I have to assume that you enjoy technology more than the average bear; but if you still don't like ebooks I hope you decide to give them a try. They may not be for you - but I've yet to meet a voracious reader who tried them and didn't like them. Maybe you don't like them the same way you like your physical books, but just for convenience or travel or to read at night without a light, etc. I love ebooks for things like the aforementioned urban fantasy - books I enjoyed but probably won't read again. I have too many books that I have to move as it is!

Audiobooks are a great way to get me to do chores. I tend to listen to audiobooks of books I have read a long time ago and forgotten a lot of, as I don't comprehend as well when I listen as when I read. There are a lot of people who do most of their reading through audiobooks. These patrons will often have favorite narrators, who will greatly influence their choice of books. A good thing to pay attention to for readers advisors.

Please do the readings this week - I am posting a couple of extra things in Oncourse resources. First, some research I did on romance readers and ebooks; both the PowerPoint and my lecture notes, since I can't lecture at you over the internet. Also the 2013 report on ebook usage - very interesting stuff if you think you will have anything ever to do with ebooks.

Due by the end of this week:

Prompt Response
Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and Western Annotations

Now that specter of the midterm assignment has passed, I would like to remind you that you are soon going to need to start working on your end of semester assignment if you haven't already. Remember, you have two options, but both require time and planning. Take a look at the assignments again and start thinking!

Week 11 Prompt 

Ebooks and audiobooks are a part of our landscape. What does the change in medium mean for appeal factors? If you can't hold a book and feel the physical weight of it in your hands, how does that affect your knowledge of the genre? How about readers being able to change the font, line spacing, and color of text - how does that affect pacing and tone? How about audiobooks? Track length, narrator choice, is there music?  For this week, I want you to think about how ebooks and audiobooks affect appeal factors - also think about appeals that are unique to both mediums. Please feel free to use your own experience and that of your (anonymous of course) patrons. I look forward to reading these!