Books That Made US

The Books That Made Us by Carl Reinecke has been published as a detailed companion to the ABC television program of the same name. The author provides a history of Australian book publishing in relation to events occurring in Australian history and culture. It is also a study of how Australians observe themselves through time.

Starting with the works relating to convicts, settlers in the bush and then those living in the cities, the author first looks at works of authors including Marcus Clarke, Henry Lawson, Rolf Bolderwood (Thomas Alexander Browne), then Miles Franklin, Joseph Furphy and Henry Handel Richardson (Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson). He looks at the way Federation, the White Australia Policy and World War I were reflected and affected  attitudes to Australian literature. The  challenges for Australian authors to have their work published and accepted in Austalia and overseas at this time are also discussed.

Post World War I authors discussed in the book  include Nettie Palmer, Katherine Susannah Prichard, M Barnard Eldershaw (Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw), Christina Stead and Xavier Herbert as well as Max Harris, Eleanor Dark, Dymphna Cusak and Florence James, Ruth Park and Frank Hardy in the 1940s. 

Political attitudes in Australia, in various time frames, and their impact on Australian literature form one of the themes of the book, especially in regard to censorship plus the types of characters portrayed in Australian books. The extent of government funding and support available for literary endeavours is also a theme.

Other authors discussed include Patrick White, Nino Culotta (John O'Grady), George Johnstone, Thomas Keneally, Thea Astley, Frank Moorhouse, David Malouf, Helen Garner, Gerald Murnane, Peter Carey, Tim Winton, Andrew McGahan, Kim Scott, Kate Grenville, Alexis Wright, Christos Tsiolkas, Michelle de Krester, Richard Flanagan and Melissa Lucashenko.

In the conclusion, Carl Reinecke states " This book, in examining the stories of a selection of Australian novels, has attempted to chart something of Australia's history. Looking back at Australian fiction and culture from the crossroads of today, new perspectives and narratives emerge. These viewpoints can help us to think again about the broader conflicts and ideas that have defined the history of Australian society..." (p308) This book does not set out to be a comprehensive study of Australian literature but it does help show the growth and role of literature in the understanding of Australian history and culture as well as how attitudes at a particular time impacted upon literature and are reflected in some books.

Why Women Read Fiction: the stories of our lives

English academic, Helen Taylor, has written this account of the reasons why women enjoy reading and why they tend to read fiction as opposed to non-fiction books.

Having worked in public libraries for many years the theory proposed in this book that women generally tend to read fiction rather than non-fiction is correct for many readers. Women and men also tend to read different genres of fiction or, more precisely, men do not read certain genres. Some prople of course read all types of books depending on their mood.

Topics included in the book include reasons why women like to read;  real books versus e-books; the influence of reading as a child and / or teenager on adult reading; how women choose reading material; romance and erotica written by women for women; crime novels preferred by women as opposed to crime novels read by men; science fiction and fantasy; the effects of literary blogs on women's choice of reading material; the opinions of women writers on their reading and readers; book clubs and literary festivals; sites in England associated with literature; bookshops and libraries; under representation of women in nominations for book awards; attitudes towards men's writing and women's writing.

The author also looks at the two book titles that most frequently appear on lists of the most popular titles read by women - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Both of these books, as well as becoming films and television programs, have many spin-offs either based on the titles, characters within the novels, parodies etc. These include the Bridget Jones Diary series and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Information gathered for this book was based on a survey undertaken by the author as to how and why women read books and what they read.Quotes from respondants to the survey questions are used to illustrate theories.

COVID-19 Musings - Books and Reading

Week 15 of the State Library of Victoria #SLV Memory Bank asks how people in Melbourne are filling in their time during our second Lockdown.

Lockdown Content:

Whether your preferred content amplifies the outside world or diverts you from it, we'd love to know what's got your attention.

This week: tell us about the books you're reading and sites you're bookmarking, the shows you're binge-watching and music playlists you're creating, the podcasts you're queueing and online festivals you're attending.

An earlier post, Stay at Home, listed many of my activities including online jigsaw puzzles, doing Future Learn courses and, of course reading and book related activities.

This lockdown as a result of COVID-19 restrictions has provided me with more time for reading. 

Libraries still worked to provide services to members, although it was not possible to be open to the public, by promoting their online services as well as finding new ways to continue activities online including activities and sessions for children and adults.

 

Author Talks

Libraries are not the only organisations to be making author talks available online.

Since the beginning of April Dymocks has set up a collection of author talks - Chapter One.

There is now a wide range of author talks and virtual book launches that can be watched via Youtube or Facebook. (I have found that on my computer the sound is sometimes out of sync with the video on Facebook but watching the same clip on Youtube was OK.)

Better Reading also has made a number of author talks available online on Facebook plus some podcasts.

There is also a weekly session - What are You Reading? - where recent books are discussed and readers provide titles of books that they are reading.

Courses

During June Dervla McTiernan is running a series of workshops - #Writing  Studio - each Friday on Facebook for Better Reading.

Each session runs for half an hour covering the topics: Session One Ideas, Session 2 Characters, Session Three Structure & Outlining and Session Four Self Editing - Getting Published. Worksheets for each session are available from Better Reading as well as Delvra McTiernan's website.

During the past couple of months I have also participated in some literature based online courses on Future Learn:

Shakespeare in Print and Performance (Kings College London),

Penshurst Place and the Sidney Family of Writers (Lancaster University) and

Understanding English Dictionaries (Coventry University).

Consequently I have enjoyed having the time to explore more about books and reading.

See also all posts relating to COVID-19 including

COVID-19 Musings - Libraries

COVID-19 Musings - Stay at Home

Future Learn website

Assessing library displays

The final display for Front Line was to be tried and assessed over a period of three weeks. Each Monday the display shelves were filled with selected books and a note was kept of the titles on display. Over the week, when books were borrowed, additional books were added by staff but notes of items added to the display were not kept. The sample used for the assessment was therefore the original books on display at the beginning of each week.

The books chosen were those that may be of interest to older users of the library - Baby Boomers and older.

Depending on the size of the books there were usually twelve or thirteen titles in a display.

Nine (9) of the original books in Display no. 1 were borrowed during the week. The books in this display were  only non-fiction titles.

Eight (8) of the original books in Display no. 2 were borrowed during the week. The books in this display were primarily non-fiction with a few fiction titles.

Eleven (11) of the original books in Display no. 3 were borrowed during the week. The books on display were a mixture of fiction and non-fiction titles.

The types of books borrowed from the display can be divided into the following categories:

·     using computers, the Internet including Picasa, Office 2010 and digital photography (7)

·     recreation books (8) including playing golf and fishing and also knitting (2 each) as well as genealogy and writing a memoir (2)

·    lifestyle books (5) including health, aging and finance (one each) plus two travel books

·    fiction titles (7) (mixture of large print and general fiction) plus one memoir made up the rest of the books

A check of the borrower information for items borrowed showed that the items were primarily borrowed by members of the target group.

The experiment was continued into a fourth week but this time only three rows of shelves were used as it was considered that the bottom shelf was too low. The display was extended to end of an adjoining bay as well. The end of one bay contained nine (9) non-fiction books while the end of the other bay held nine (9) fiction titles. Hopefully these two bays will routinely be used to display a mixture of fiction and non-fiction items of interest to older readers.

Displaying selected titles from the general non-fiction collection in an area where fiction books are primarily located would appear, from this experiment, to be a useful way of broadening selection choices for library users.

Experimenting with displays

The final execise in Front Line was to prepare a display for a catagory of library users. This display was prepared generally for Baby Boomers (and older readers).

 

The First Display showing general location within the library. 

The books were displayed at the end of a bay in the Large Print section of the library.

It was in an area passed by people (including grandparents) taking children to the Children's area.

It was also close to the Non-Fiction section.

Second and third versions of the display.

Books were on display for three weeks.

Many of the books in these displays were non-fiction to highlight a number of library collections.

The focus was on recreational reading.

 For the final experiment the fourth shelf was removed 

so only three shelves were used.
Displays were on the end of two bays - one fiction and one non-fiction.
In future I would be inclined to have a
 mixture of fiction and non-fiction in each display.

Displaying books in libraries

The display of books and items in public library collections not only provides library users the opportunity to discover the range of collections and items held in the library but also the opportunity to extend their use of the library by expanding the range of material or authors they normally borrow.

The Front Line course encourages librarians to look at the range of material in their collections, discover links between collection items and promote items in an interesting and eye-catching way. The emphasis of the exercise is books but the same principles could be extended to other collection media.

One exercise encourages the librarian to take a selection of books, from different collections within the library, that may be linked by a theme and then display the collection in a prominent space in the library. Over a week the uptake of books in the display is recorded noting additional browsing of books in the display area as well as the borrowing of the material.

One experiment was selecting books from different parts of the non-fiction collection including the music scores plus a small selection of fiction. The link in this exercise was the covers - primarily red and white with a little black on some. The result was a dramatic display which caught the attention of patrons when they entered the library. As it was in the non-fiction area it may have encouraged some patrons to explore a little further into the building that they might normally do.

Thinking laterally a variety of theme related displays could be created using books from different collections to entice readers to try something new. Although fiction books in libraries are often classified in broad genres, each genre can usually be subdivided with patrons normally reading different sub genres of books. Crime fiction is one example. Crime fiction can be police procedurals with the plot unfolding with the investigation of the crime. A popular sub genre has been detective based - private or amateur detectives as well as those in the police force who may not follow strict procedures. Contemporary crime fiction is often based around the work of pathologists and other medical or scientific investigative staff. Another trend in contemporary crime writing is the story being revealed by providing viewpoints from a variety of characters - often the perpetrator, the victim, other suspects as well as the person solving the crime. Crime novels can be graphically violent with suspense a key element. In contrast another sub genre has been referred to a 'cozies' where violence is minimised and the writing tends on the humorous. In most crime novels the plot is usually the focal point of the book with the development of the characters being a minor aspect. It may be a stand alone book or form part of a series. Series of crime books usually place more emphasis on the characters in the book and in some the crime is the vehicle for continuing the story of the main characters. Crime fiction can also be subdivided by the country or part of the world where it was written - Australian crime fiction, Scandinavian crime fiction, British crime fiction. Crime novels gained popularity in the nineteenth century and to some extent can also be sub divided according to the period in which it was written.

Part of the course has been not just been to investigate the type of books people consider a good read but the reasons why patrons choose books. A patron may choose crime novels because of the suspense but there can also be suspense in some historical novels, or science fiction or fantasy titles.

We know that crime fiction is a popular genre and the library has many books in the category in the spinners devoted to paperback crime fiction, crime fiction shelved on the A-Z Adult Fiction shelves as well as many crime titles in the Bestsellers section. However in the non-fiction there is also a section for 'true' crime and a selection of books from all these areas could be used as well as books in the the literature section on crime writing, including novelists and also books about films with a crime theme.

Similarly romance books are located in the spinners devoted to paperback romance fiction, romance fiction shelved on the A-Z Adult Fiction shelves as well as many romance titles in the Bestsellers section. In the non- fiction collection many biographies and some books in the history section may be of interest to readers of romance. Books have also been written about writing romance novels as well as romance themes in books on film and music.

One of the aims of this course has been to encourage librarians to consider the way in which they display the material held in the library, including linking material from different collections within the library, thereby encouraging readers to experiment and discover new forms of reading material and / or different authors.

What should I read next?

One of the questions in the revision quiz for module 2 of Front Line is 'How would you reply when a borrower asks: What should I read next?'

Eight options are provided :

• Recommend the book that you last read
• Recommend the latest bestseller
• Ask what author they like best
• Point out the display of new books
• Ask what kind of read they prefer
• Tell them they will find something good in the new promotion
• Give them something from returned today (trolley)
• Ask the next person in the queue what they would recommend

Generally you would begin by asking them about the type of books they prefer to read but after that there would be a variety of options depending on their response.

If the initial response is, for example, crime books then it would be logical to ask about the authors they prefer to read and then suggest authors who write similar books. Showing a borrower how to use Library Thing via the library catalogue may help them to explore the books of other authors. Who else writes like ...? (in print form or online version) may also be a useful tool. 

It could well be that there is a promotional display of books in the library that may be relevant in which case you could suggest that they might like to look at some of the books in the display. However if the display was of romance novels it is unlikely that a reader of crime would be interested.

New book displays and recently returned trolleys provide good browsing points for readers looking for something different to read if they are prepared to browse.

Asking the next person in the queue what they would recommend is problematic as the likelihood of the readers having similar tastes is not great and if there is a queue you want to move things along as quickly as possible. Recommending the book that you last read might work only if the book was similar to the tsaste of the reader.

The reader may already have read most of the books by an author or group of authors who write similar books so it would be necessary to establish what they like about books written by the author(s) and then try to find a different book that they might like to read.

Authors of books, of course, do not not always stick to one genre. Ken Follett, for example, is known for writing contemporary suspense fiction however in 1986 he wrote a book set in medieval England - Pillars of the Earth - which introduced him to a wider / different audience. The works of some authors are hard to categorise for example the Outlander series of books of Diana Gabaldon - are they fantasy, historical fiction, romance? - they contain all three elements.

Genres may contain many subcategories. Which subcategory does the author prefer? It may be possible to suggest books with similar subcategories in a different genre. If they enjoy historical romances is it the romance that primarily attracts them or the historical aspects of the books? If the reader likes suspence crime they may like to try an adventure or even a science fiction book. Humour is a component of many books and a reader of humourous crime books may decide to try a humourous fantasy or science fiction book. Readers of fiction may also be encourage to try books in the non-fiction section on a topic that formed part of a novel.

In short there would appear to be no simple answer to this question apart from working with the reader to explore other options that would hopefully lead them to discovering other good books to read.

The modern library

In this book Carmen Callil and Colm Toibin have collated a list of what they consider to be the 200 best novels in English since 1950. The book is divided into a number of sections. A list of titles in order of publication from 1950 to 2000 is followed by the list of books by author together with a summary of the plot of the book (or in a few cases, series of books) and reasons why the book was chosen. In the footer at the bottom of each page brief biographical details of the author are provided and mention is made of other works by the author that may interest the reader.

At the end of the book additional reading lists are provided: 20 of the best autobiographies & memoirs written since 1950; 20 of the best literary biographies written since 1950; 20 of the best collections of poetry written since 1950; autobiographies and memoirs by novelists chosen in the book;  literary biographies of novelists chosen in the book and lists of literary prize winners up to 2010 - Booker Prize, CNA Award, Commonwealth Prize, Governor General's Literary Award, Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year, Miles Franklin Award, Montana New Zealand Book Award, National Book Award, Nobel Prize in Literature, Prix Femina Etranger, Prix Medicis Etranger, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year, Whitbread Novel of the Year and Whitbread First Novel Award.

The compilers present an interesting selection of books with the primary criteria being books written in English that people want to read. Authors from a wide range of countries are represented including England, Ireland, Scotland, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, India, Pakistan, the Caribbean and Hong Kong.

As well as being an overview of fiction written in the second half of the twentieth century the book is a great way to create a list of what to read next.

Choosing books to read - summary of responses

The first exercise in the Front Line program required short interviews with at least five library users in different age groups. I spoke to nine people - a child aged 11, two teenage boys, one younger adult in the 18-30 year group, two older men in their 70s and two older women one in her 50s and one in her 70s. The people chosen largely depended on who was in the library on an afternoon when I had the opportunity to talk briefly to people in between answering phone calls and general library enquiries. The selection of people to talk to was random and often occurred when I was taking books out to the returns trolley and there was a moment for a chat about how a person selected their books.

Recommendations from friends and family were common responses from most in the sample. This was a main method used by the younger readers. One older reader had belonged to a book-club but was not keen on the books selected. Reading the blurb was also a common response. A younger reader said he sometimes looked for books he had seen in bookshops.
Older readers, in particular often had definite tastes in types of books read – fantasy, westerns, crime etc. One reader chose only large print books. Another preferred books written by female authors and Australian or British authors rather than American. Another said she normally chose familiar authors. One of the teenagers deliberately chooses books for recreational reading that are different from those he has to read for school.

However some of the older readers regularly select their books from the Best Sellers display, return trolleys and displays at the end of the bays of books. A comment frequently made was that using a library enabled them to try different books and if they didn’t like them they did not have to read them.

The effect of the media and outside resources was also mentioned but was not a major factor. One of the students mentioned that he did not read a book if he had seen the movie. The internet will increasingly sway some readers' choice of books as indicated by my chat with the reader in the 18 to 30 age group who sometimes uses Amazon or GoodReads for recommendations when looking for new reading material.
This was a very small sample of library users and therefore it is not possible to generalise about the responses. However I found the range of responses provided interesting with some core threads appearing in most responses. Even this small sample provides a snapshot of how some of our library users select their books.

Choosing books to read

As part of the Front Line program for information service librarians we are asked to to conduct brief interviews with library users asking them how they choose books to read. This, of course, prompted the question how do I choose books? Working in a public library obviously provides me with access to a wide range of reading material including new books entering the library collection. Obviously I cannot read them all so what causes me to select a book to read?

There are lots of ways to find out about books. Each weekend I read the Saturday and Sunday Age and note any titles or authors I might want to investigate. Book shops such as Readings and Readers Feast provide short reviews of a range of books available at their stores several times a year and I find these useful for introducing me to authors or topics I may not have previously considered. Television programs such as The First Tuesday Book Club and interviews on radio can lead me to wanting to read a particular book. Displays of books in book shops promote latest books by authors prompting me to sometimes place a reservation for a book. Films and television programs can encourage me to read a book. A recent example is reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret after seeing the film Hugo. Working in a library the patrons often recommend authors and/or titles of books they have enjoyed reading and some of the recommendations have led to books that I then read.

Books can be chosen on impulse. In the library I might pick up a book and borrow it after reading the blurb. However there are certain authors that I read whatever they publish. For other authors I may just read one or two books in a series. I try to read a wide range of books. Some I read because I know that they are popular and want to find out why. Books by Matthew Reilly that I tried recently is one example. I am also trying to catch up on a range of Australian publications. I recently read the books on the short list to establish the most popular book recently published in Victoria. A number of lists are available at present promoting Australian authors so I have many more authors to investigate. I also want to catch up on books written for young people. When I worked as a children's librarian many years ago I enjoyed reading books books written for children and teenagers. I need to catch up on some of the more recent material.

My reading patterns, particularly when choosing fiction, can depend on my mood. There are times when I will read a really novel in which I become totally involved in the plot and characters causing me to thinks about a range of issues and scenarios. At other times I just want some light reading to escape what is going on in the world and then Janet Evanovich's books may be chosen. I enjoy reading fantasy and also some crime novels provided that they are not too graphic in their depiction of violence. Some books can just be too intense.

Projects and other interests also affect my selection of reading material. When I was indexing the names on the 1891 Woman's Petition I read many books on the suffrage movement, particularly in Australia but also in Britain and New Zealand. My family history research causes me to select books about the countries where family members lived such as India during the time of the Raj, early convicts in Australia  or England during the Industrial Revolution, particularly the transitions in the woollen and cotton industry.

It is great having access to a wide range of books but sometimes I retreat to reading my comfort books - books that I have in my own collection that can be read again and again and enjoyed. Books by Jane Austen being one example.