PLA 2010
Books: The Top 5 of the Top 5
With your hosts:
Kaite Mediatore Stover on Horror
Neil Hollands on Fantasy
Rebecca Vnuk on Women’s Fiction
Barry Trott on Crime/Mystery
David Wright on Humor
Why the Top 5 of the Top 5?
• Sometimes, we just need quick answers for
patrons who want “a good book”.
• Having a brain full of books in different
genres makes the RA experience a lot less
indimidating!
• See Public Libraries Article, “Jack of All
Trades Reader’s Advisory”, Jan/Feb 2010
issue.
Today’s Categories Are…
Of course, there are any number of genres
we could have decided on as the “top 5”.
It’s our party, so we say:
Fantasy
Horror
Women’s Fic
Crime
Humor
Check in with us at the next PLA to see if we’ve changed our minds at that time.
OK. We’ve lied a little…We really can’t shove
125 books at you in 75 minutes…but you can
get all the info from us online, we swear.
What we can feature today in each genre:
– 5up-and-comers
– 5 trends
– Our favorites
• Handouts have the additional info:
– Classics, Must-Know Books
Go to:
http://shelfrenewal.com
/pla2010presentation/
For the full and complete
powerpoints/booklists!
Blood
is the New Black:
Horror gets Hip
Kaite Mediatore Stover
Up and Comers
Fantasy: Neil Hollands
Up-and-Coming Fantasy Authors
Women’s Fiction: Rebecca Vnuk
Up-and-comers in Women’s Fiction
Crime: Barry Trott
Up-and-Coming crime
fiction writers
David Wright
Seattle Public Library
226 Cloudy Days Per Year
81 Partly Cloudy Days Per Year
Unemployment Rate 9.2%
9 Cups of Coffee per day
David Wright
Seattle Public Library
226 Cloudy Days Per Year
81 Partly Cloudy Days Per Year
Unemployment Rate 9.2%
9 Cups of Coffee per day
Humor
Mysterious Trends:
Speculative Crime Fiction
Historical mysteries
Contemporary Cozies
Foreign Crime
Police Procedurals
Women’s Fic Trends: Crafty Women
Humorous Women’s Fic
Chick Lit Grows Up: Bridget gets
married, has a baby, gets widowed…
Issue-Driven
Ensemble Fiction
Trends in Fantasy:
Urban /paranormal fantasy
Darker epic fantasy
Young adult fantasy
Cross-genre/interstitial work
Series launches
Horrific Trends:
• Comic Horror: Dark and dry wit; just add ‘zombie’ and it’s
funnier and scarier
• Women as Evil Protagonists: Hell really hath no fury like a
woman mildly annoyed with a razor sharp knife and a syringe
• Your environment is trying to kill you: Cell phones, the family
dog, germs, computer games, etc.
• Bloody fingers in other genres: Cross over into
thrillers/mysteries/literary fiction
• Blood is the new Black: a timeless quality to horror: Everything
old is new and scary again
Kaite’s Favorites
Neil’s Favorites
Rebecca’s Favorites
Barry’s Favorites
David’s Favorites