Chase Talks About Oprah's Book Club

I was working as the head of the Circulation Department at a medium-sized library during the reign of Oprah's Book Club. We could always tell when Oprah's show was over because the calls would start to come in. "I saw a book today on Oprah, and I was wondering if you could get it," they'd say. The next caller would ask, "Do you know that book they had on Oprah today?" We'd respond, "Yes, someone called five minutes ago and requested it before you. Would you like us to put it on hold for you." Silence. "Umm, how long do you think it would take?" "Oh, I'd say about three weeks or so." Then our next move would be to call down to Tech Services, "Oprah announced another one. We might want to order multiple copies."

Eventually, we created a shelf dedicated to Oprah's selections right where we displayed our new books. Some of the books we had already had previously to her announcement, and those copies did not have her book club selection logo on them. To make it easier for my pages to recognize those books, I created an Oprah spine label using a photo of her head (similar to the one above.) It amused me especially when there were multiple books on the shelf displaying an entire row of Oprah heads. The picture I used wasn't all that flattering either. I also took pleasure in having our Tech Services department call me requesting more Oprah heads. In job interviews, I'm tempted to tell them that one of my greatest accomplishments in my library career was those spine labels.

Regardless of how much fun I had making fun of Oprah's head, her book club brought a lot of people into the library looking for her suggestions. However, the cloud inside that silver lining was that Oprah's idea of a great book didn't necessarily gel with that of small town library patrons. Oprah liked books that gave her enlightenment - or - as she would say her "a-ha moment." Our library patrons wanted a good story, which I'm sure the books had, but they weren't necessarily looking for the same deep moving experience that Oprah was. Her "a-ha moment" was sometimes their "uh-what moment." I'm not suggesting that the majority of her books were misses with our patrons. Still, the strongest reactions were from the books they didn't like, and those tended to be the stories that were not so straight forward.

On the other hand, the books that Oprah suggested that were not a part of her book club were bigger hits with our patrons. Those books were usually the self-help type of books where she'd have the author/expert on to talk about problems that many people across the country experienced. Books on decorating, cooking healthy, organization, etc. Again, we would know when Oprah was over because the calls came in. If the patron did not remember the name or author, it was harder for us to track down in this case. Thankfully, they started putting "books mentioned on the show" on her website. Similarly, the people that Oprah endorsed and brought into her family like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate Berkus, were also big hits with our patrons. When Oprah endorsed the self-help book The Secret, people skipped calling and came right on in to the library to get it. I believe that one even inspired a vision board making program at our library.

I do love Oprah though. The book publishing industry loves Oprah. Even if she missed the mark on some occasions, her influence brought a lot of attention to reading and in turn to public libraries.

Chase Talks About the Mystery of "Grist Mill Road"

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates

Synopsis:

A twelve-year-old Patrick sat back and watched as his friend, Matthew, fired 49 rounds from a BB gun at a young girl, Hannah, who was bound to a tree less than a hundred miles north of New York City in the summer of 1982.

This senseless, childhood crime ties these three people together 26 years later in traumatic memories in this whydunit. Patrick and Hannah are now married after reconnecting as adults with the promise to never speak of that day. Patrick spends his days blogging about a fantasy restaurant and its menu while Hannah is now a crime reporter. The appearance of Matthew just as Patrick hits a low point in his life fuels his fear of Hannah finding out about having not stepped in to stop her shooting and losing her to his one-time friend.

Each person is hiding a piece of that day as they tell their stories from that day. The rising tension finds the three back in that spot of their shared childhood for a chilling confrontation.

Mystery Elements in Grist Mill Road:

·      The book involves many faceted layers about the plot and its characters that come together until the crime reaches its conclusion.

·      Characters’ personal lives as delved into deeply along with those of secondary characters.

·      The setting in the New York mountains and surrounding woods is filled with geographic details. The reader gets a sense of the surroundings.

·      There’s a strong sinister tone in the adults’ memories of their shared childhood moment.

·      Characters sometimes converse through texts and e-mails.

·      The pace is helped by the appeal of the characters and what has and will happen to them.

Read-Alikes:

·      See What I’ve Done by Sarah Schmidt

o   Character-driven

o   Multiple perspectives

o   Compelling

·      All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

o   Unreliable narrator

o   Character-driven

o   Disturbing crime

·      Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

o   Character-drive

o   Multiple perspectives

o   Disturbing crime (against teens)

Chase Talks About Integrated Advisory & the Horror Genre

Typically, the horror genre gets shelved in the mystery/fantasy section, so it’s not always easy to browse the shelves to find a good scary book. October is always a great time to spotlight a library’s horror fiction collection. A fun way to promote this collection, as well as particular books within it, would be to have a promotion called “Capture the Cereal Killer Books.” Essentially, the library would pair up horror novels with popular brands of cereals. Examples:

·      Cap’n Crunch pairs with horror novels that take place at sea such as The Terror by Dan Simmons.

·      Rice Krispies’ Snap, Crackle, Pop characters translates well into stories about creepy children. A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli involves conjoined triplets who have separate bodies but share a brain along with other oddities.

·      Fred Flintstone is the spokes-caveman for Fruity Pebbles and Coco Pebbles. The horror novel The Descent by Jeff Long explores the horrors of subterranean creatures living deep in caves. Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten brings a paleontologist face to face with a prehistoric creature deep under the sea.

·      Count Chocula/Frankenberry are naturally perfect for this promotion using classic and contemporary monster stories like Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Some themes and cereals may be a stretch, but the main point is to call attention to them. The book selections can either be set up in a specific display with their respective cereal boxes and signage, or they can be left on the shelves with prominent, representing bookmarks sticking out of the top so patrons know the areas to find the horror genre. This would be a month-long promotion and have different type of incentives that would fit various library budgets. For instance, participants could receive small boxes of cereal as they check out one of the titles, or the library could offer up a prize of horror books and movies to patrons who read the most. However, this reading program could tie into a larger program such as breakfast with a local horror writer hosted by the library for participants who read a designated number of “cereal killer” books. An alternate to a horror writer could be breakfast with ghost hunters who talk about their experiences, which have been some of the most successful programs at the library where I once worked.