In Defense of Dirty YA Books

Brilliant explanation of one of the conundrums in YA literature by Mike Mullen, the author of Ashfall, a brilliant book which reminded me of McCarthy's The Road. That is, why is violence in our society seen as OK, but even a whiff of something sexual will stop the gatekeepers (parents and librarians) from buying/recommending the title?

Libraries in the Middle and Starting to Advocate

ALA, Authors Guild, 3M Weigh In on Penguin Over-Drive Dispute

I've read a lot about the current state of affairs affecting the availability of audiobooks to library patrons and this one  most clearly explains it for me.

I especially like that they have given a word to the intentional obstacles publishers have in place to make borrowing their books from the library more difficult: friction.

Their greatest fear: frictionless borrowing of library books will send people to the library for books rather than to the bookstores.

ALA Press Release | American Library Association

ALA Press Release | American Library Association

2012 Nominees for Edgar Award Announced

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 203rd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2011. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 66th Gala Banquet, April 26, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.






BEST NOVEL

The Ranger by Ace Atkins (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Gone by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur Books)

1222 by Anne Holt (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)

Field Gray by Philip Kerr (Penguin Group USA - G.P. Putnam’s Sons – Marion Wood Books)



BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Red on Red by Edward Conlon (Random House Publishing Group – Spiegel & Grau)

Last to Fold by David Duffy (Thomas Dunne Books)

All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen (The Permanent Press)

Bent Road by Lori Roy (Penguin Group USA - Dutton)

Purgatory Chasm by Steve Ulfelder (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)



BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Hachette Book Group – Orbit Books)

The Faces of Angels by Lucretia Grindle (Felony & Mayhem Press)

The Dog Sox by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Mystery Books)

Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper Paperbacks)

Vienna Twilight by Frank Tallis (Random House Trade Paperbacks)





BEST FACT CRIME

The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins (Crown Publishing)

The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T.J. English (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

by Candice Millard (Random House - Doubleday)

Girl, Wanted: The Chase for Sarah Pender by Steve Miller (Penguin Group USA - Berkley)

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial

Imposter by Mark Seal (Penguin Group USA - Viking)



BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets

Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of our Time

by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer & John-Henri Holmberg (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making by John Curran (HarperCollins)

On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press)

Detecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective Film by Philippa Gates (SUNY Press)

Scripting Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds and Marnie

by Walter Raubicheck and Walter Srebnick (University of Illinois Press)



BEST SHORT STORY

"Marley’s Revolution" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by John C. Boland (Dell Magazines)

"Tomorrow’s Dead" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by David Dean (Dell Magazines)

"The Adakian Eagle” – Down These Strange Streets

by Bradley Denton (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books)

"Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" – Down These Strange Streets

by Diana Gabaldon (Penguin Group USA – Ace Books)

"The Case of Death and Honey" – A Study in Sherlock by Neil Gaiman

(Random House Publishing Group – Bantam Books)

“The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by

Peter Turnbull (Dell Magazines)



BEST JUVENILE

Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams – Amulet Books)

It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney Book Group – Disney Hyperion)

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)

The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA)



BEST YOUNG ADULT

Shelter by Harlan Coben (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Random House Children’s Books – Knopf BFYR)

The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

(Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group – Roaring Creek Press)

Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (Egmont USA)





BEST PLAY

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club by Jeffrey Hatcher

(Arizona Theatre Company, Phoenix, AZ)

The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland, OH)



BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Innocence” – Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS Productions)

“The Life Inside” – Justified, Teleplay by Benjamin Cavell

(FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television)

“Part 1” – Whitechapel, Teleplay by Ben Court & Caroline Ip (BBC America)

“Pilot” – Homeland, Teleplay by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff (Showtime)

“Mask” – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Speed Weed (Wolf Films/Universal Media Studios)



ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"A Good Man of Business" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

by David Ingram (Dell Magazines)



GRAND MASTER

Martha Grimes



RAVEN AWARDS

M is for Mystery Bookstore, San Mateo, CA

Molly Weston, Meritorious Mysteries



ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post/Hearst Media News Group



THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 25, 2012)

Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)

Come and Find Me by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick (Minotaur Books)

Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry (Crown Publishing Group)

Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)



# # # #

The EDGAR (and logo) are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the Mystery Writers of America, Inc.

POTATO PEEL SOCIETY Closer to Screen

Kate Winslet AND Kenneth Branagh--awesome!

POTATO PEEL SOCIETY Closer to Screen

When the Internet ate my son's manga magazine - Publishing News - Salon.com

When the Internet ate my son's manga magazine - Publishing News - Salon.com

This is something we might be able to use when Phyllis C. comes looking for the newest Shonen Jump----although I doubt she'll be able to comprehend it. Nor will she be happy about it....

WNPL named a best place to work

Warren-Newport was named one of the best places to work in Chicagoland by the Tribune!  Wow!

Writers Choose Their Faves of 2011

Another list of best books! This one is composed of selected writers choosing their favorite titles of 2011. What a great list!

RT Convention 2012

Get ready for the RT 2012 convention in Rosemont!  It looks like it's going to be a big party!  Note there's a teen day as well -- Ellen, do you think there's anyone who might want to go?  RT Librarian Info will take you to the librarian track sessions, but check out all the other goings-on too (like "pimping your badge")!

What bookstores expect from authors these days

Just doing a reading apparently won't cut it any more when authors visit bookstores! See the article:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576617400185035920.html

Penguin Does an About Face on ebook rentals

Penguin changes its mind and decides NOT to lend their e-books to library users. This is NOT progress.

Nook vs. Kindle (again!)

This article says that Barnes & Noble is going to offer Wi-Fi downloading of library books to the Nook next year! Hooray!

National Book Award Winners for 2011

Last night in NYC, the National Book Award was bestowed upon this years winners. I've read just one of them.....

PW: Could Amazon's Lending Library End in Court?

Looks like Amazon might have "stepped in it" by offering titles for loan without checking first with their publishing houses.

Stay tuned, this is just starting to get interesting.

Crime/Mystery Fiction Readers’ Advisory Talk


By Becky Siegel Spratford

• Becky’s blog is loaded with lots of helpful links which are listed at the end of this document. Here is the blog link (Hit control click to open link)

http://raforall.blogspot.com/2011/09/ra-for-all-roadshow-crime-fiction.html



• Traditional Mystery vs. Crime Fiction

--Traditional mystery: a murder is committed, you usually don’t know who the killer is; an investigator provides clues for the reader to solve the puzzle; killer usually brought to justice

--Crime fiction: Crime committed, investigation launched (usually not a traditional police detective), almost always know who the killer is; killer not always brought to justice, especially in modern crime novels



• Some classic authors

--Edgar Allen Poe

--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)

--G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown)

--Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot)

--Dorothy Sayers (Lord Peter Whimsey)

--Ellery Queen (a joint pseudonym for the cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, as well as the name of the primary detective-hero they created)



• Post-World War II brings darker fiction

-- Dashiell Hammett (Sam Spade)

--Raymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe)

--Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer)

--Ross MacDonald (Lew Archer)



• Police Procedural subgenre also emerges

--Hillary Waugh (Hillary is a man)

--J.J. Marric

--Ed McBain



• 1970s and 1980s: Women and Minorities emerge as authors and in stories; more focus on social issues

--Marcia Miller

--Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone mysteriers)

--Gar Anthony Haywood

--Joseph Hansen and Richard Stevenson

--Sara Paretsky (V.I. Warshawski)



• Genres we will consider

--Mystery

--Suspense and Romantic Suspense

--Thriller

--Adventure

--Psychological Suspense

--Nonfiction: True Crimes



• Appeal of Crime Fiction

--Fast paced and engrossing often because of the compressed time frame

--Also medium or slower paced (ex. Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series meanders)

--Identification with the investigator, but other characters can range from stereotypical to eccentric and unique; series characters also common

--Often multiple points of view with the hero and villain

--Investigative elements are key

--Plots can range from story-centered to character-centered, but all require plot twists and a resolved if not closed ending

--Can contain violence and strong language, but there have never been more “cozy’’ options

----The setting can range from ancient times (Steven Saylor’s Gordianus the Finder) to the future (J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas)

--Readers may crave a certain frame

--The tone, style and language run the gamut

--Series are a huge appeal factor



• The RA Conversation for Crime/Mystery Fiction Readers

--Type of investigator

--Subgenre considerations – Historical (time and place) and Cozy are big

--Level of violence

--Tone, style, language, frame

--Character vs. plot

--TV or Movie comparisons

--Fiction vs. Nonfiction

--Format preferences



• Appeal of Mystery

--Puzzles with clues provided

--Crime, generally murder, solved by investigator

--Battle of wits (investigator vs. villain, investigator vs. reader)

--Good vs. evil

--Series characters

--Stories are intricately plotted

--Full spectrum of pacing

--Resolved, if not always closed, ending

--Judge a book by its cover—darker the artwork, darker the story



• Mystery Subgenres

--Amateur detective (including but not limited to Cozies)

--Classics

--Historical

--International (Scandanavian, European, Korean, Brittish, etc.)

--Police Procedural

--Police Detective

--Private Investigator

--Humorous



• Key Mystery Authors

--Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch series and Lincoln Lawyer series)

--Diane Mott Davidson (Queen of culinary mystery series with recipes, cooking, amateur detective)

--Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander series—Nordic Noir, violent, dark suspense, comments on what’s wrong with Swedish Society)

--Louise Penny (Chief Inspector Gamache novels set in Quebec, intricately plotted, set between urban and country; a PI you love)

--Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs series—captivating, popular time period between the two world wars; Maisie strong-willed, intelligent, rises above class structure)



• Mystery: Other Authors to Know

--Nevada Barr (Set in American Parks system)

--Janet Evanovich (Sexy, fun)

--Donna Leon (Commissario Guido Brunetti)

--P.D. James (English female author-- Commander Adam Dalgliesh)

--Anne Perry (Historical mysteries)

--Elizabeth Peters (Egyptologists)

--Peter Robinson (British author, Inspector Alan Banks)

--C.J. Box (Joe Pickett series, set out west)

--Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot)

--Dashiell Hammett (Sam Spade)

--Robert Parker (Spenser series set in Boston)

--Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe mysteries)



• Mystery Trends and Resources

--Special Interests (ex.: Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce is an 11-year-old English girl interested in chemistry)

--More development of the main character

--Cozy and Humorous Mysteries are huge and not much actual mystery (Intelligent cozies—a new sub-genre?

--Historical (especially World War I to 1960)

--Paranormal



• Suspense: Mystery’s Stepsister

--A plot in which tension builds; menacing atmosphere permeates throughout (prologue)

--Multiple points of view: hero and villain

--Compressed time frame

--Protagonist in peril

--Twists

--Fast paced, resourceful heroes

--Good vs. Evil

--Closed happy ending



• Suspense subgenres

--Not really subgenres but nuances

--Soft suspense –ex. Mary Higgins Clark

--Harder-edged suspense –ex. James Patterson, Jeffrey Deaver, John Sandford

--Romantic Suspense



• Suspense Authors

--Lee Child (Jack Reacher series—conspiracies, outsider, fast-paced)

--Harlan Coben (sure bet, fast-paced)

--Lisa Gardner (used to write romance suspense under another name—great standby author, natural dialogue)

--Tess Gerritsen (Rizzoli & Isles series, forensic scientist)

--Karin Slaughter (set in Georgia—great backstories; examines “why do people do this’’)



Romantic Suspense authors

--Christine Feehan (Paranormal)

--Iris Johansen (Eve Duncan series)

--Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle (one author, three names! Krentz does contemporary romantic suspense; Quick does historical romantic suspense; Castle writes stories of futuristic/paranormal romantic-suspense)

--J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts (hardcover Nora Roberts are romantic suspense; Robb writes futuristic science fiction police procedurals, part of the In Death series)

--Lauren Willig (Pink Carnation series--Historical setting)

--Sandra Brown (many stand-alone romantic suspense novels)

--Linda Howard (many stand-alone romantic suspense novels)

--Karen Robards (many stand-alone romantic suspense novels)

--Catherine Coulter (FBI Series)

--Suzanne Brockman (Tall, dark and dangerous series)

• Suspense: Other Authors to Know

--Mary Higgins Clark (stand-alone titles)

--James Patterson (American psychologist Alex Cross)

--Jeffrey Deaver (new James Bond novels, Quadriplegic forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme series, etc.)

--John Sandford (Prey series, Virgil Flowers series, among others)

--Tami Hoag (Single-title suspense novels)

--Julie Garwood (Single-title suspense novels)

--Erica Spindler (Single-title suspense novels)

--Tana French (Dublin Murder Squad series)

--Kate Atkinson (Jackson Brodie series)

--Stieg Larsson (Dragon Tattoo series)

--John Hart (Single-title suspense novels)



• Suspense Trends and Resources

--Stalking, Stalking, Stalking

--More graphic and bloody

--Lots of views into the “bad guy’s’’ mind

--Used to only be stand alone; now lots of series

--Supernatural and Literary options on the rise

--More investigative; blurring into Mystery

--Established Romantic Suspense moving to Suspense while new Romantic Suspense coming from Romance





• Thrillers Subgenres

--Legal Thriller

--Medical Forensic Thriller

--Techno Thriller

--Espionage/Terrorism Thriller

--Crime/Caper Thriller

--Conspiracy Thriller

--Financial /Corporate Thriller

--Bio/Eco Thriller

--Political Thriller

--Supernatural Thriller



• Key Thriller Authors

--David Baldacci (conspiracy, political, financial; Camel Club series and stand-alone novels)

--Linda A. Fairstein (law and order crime novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper)

--Mira Grant (political thriller with zombies)

--Carl Hiaasen (Crime capers in Florida—humorous, not a series)

--Daniel Silva (Novels feature Gabriel Allon, art restorer, spy and assassin)



• Thriller: Other Authors to Know

--Robin Cook (medical and public health issues)

--John Grisham (legal thrillers)

--John LeCarre (spy thrillers)

--Alan Furst (spy thrillers: Night Soldiers series and stand-alone titles)

--Lisa Scottoline (legal dramas)

--Brad Meltzer (political thriller)

--Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger series)

--Continued Series: i.e. Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series written by Eric Van Lustrade, Ian Fleming’s James Bond written by Sebastian Faulks and Jeffrey Deaver



• Thrillers Trends and Resources

--Terrorism

--TV Shows (all of those legal dramas)

--Ancient conspiracies catching up to contemporary

--Lots of Nonfiction crossovers to think about



• Adventure

--Traditional Adventure will not be as appealing to your Mystery readers, but genre is changing

--Adventure can be more over-the-top than other genres—solves crime and saves world

--Exotic locales or military settings

--Not much characterization; fast paced and action oriented with a happy ending

--“Clues’’ not always there; outrageous solutions

--Sea-faring Adventure does not fit Crime appeals



• Adventure Authors who may appeal to Crime Fiction readers:

--Dan Brown (Robert Langdon series)

--Clive Cussler (Dirk Pitt series)

--Jack DuBrul (techno thrillers; Phillip Mercer series)

--WEB Griffin (now with son; The Presidential Agent Series (contemporary counterterrorism, OSS Honor Bound Series, among others)

--Jack Higgins (Spy thrillers with character Sean Dillon, among many others)

--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast novels -- techno and horror thrillers)

--Matthew Reilly (Shane Schofield series, among others)

--James Rollins (Sigma Force series with Commander Grayson Pierce)



• Adventure Trends

--Thriller is slowly absorbing traditional adventure, which is increasing its crossover appeal with crime fiction fans

--More women readers

--True Adventure



• Psychological Suspense

--Mix of Mystery, Thriller and Horror

--Tension derived from mental fears

--Produces a chill and plays with our minds

--Claustrophobic worlds; unease

--Literary Style; lots of twists

--Character and mood at forefront

--Endings unresolved and could be unhappy



• Psychological Suspense Authors

--Peter Abrahams (many stand-alone titles as well as a Youth mystery series called Echo Falls)

--Carol Goodman (Arcadia Falls)

--Jeff Lindsay (Dexter)

--Ruth Rendell (many stand-alone novels and police procedurals starring her most iconic creation, Chief Inspector Wexford,)

--Gillian Flynn (Dark Places)

--S.J. Watson (Before I Go to Sleep)

--Alfred Hitchcock

--Thomas H. Cook (Many stand-alone books)

--Frances Fyfield

--Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train, among others)

--Dean Koontz (many stand-alone novels)

--Thomas Harris (Silence of the Lambs)

--Val McDermid (Scottish crime writer known for her Dr. Tony Hill series)

--Minette Walters (British author, stand-alone books)



• Single Psychological Thrillers of note:

--Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

--Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon

--A Simple Plan by Scott Smith

--The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters



• Psychological Suspense Tips & Trends

--Used to be only standalone; now lots of series

--More twisted and violent

--“Hero’’ is not all good like in suspense; has dark issues

--Many traditional mystery writers and literary fiction authors are exploring this genre

--Some sources classify it as psychological horror



• Nonfiction True Crime for crime fans

--May be more appealing to some fans – Truth

--Killer caught and brought to justice

--Date quickly

--No detail spared

--Safe exploration of dark side of humanity

--Readalikes for authors and specific titles

--In Cold Blood by Capote started the narrative nonfiction genre



• True Crime Authors of Note

--Ann Rule (The Stranger Beside Me)

--John Douglas (Mind Hunter)

--Diane Fanning (Into the Water)

--Joe McGinniss (Never Enough)

--Robert Graysmith (Zodiac)

--Vincent Bugliosi (Helter Skelter)

--James B. Stewart (Blind eye : how the medical establishment let a doctor get away with murder)

--James Swanson (Manhunt : the Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer)

--Erik Larson (Devil in the White City)



• True Crime Types

--Forensic, journalistic, biographical/autobiographical/ famous/infamous

--FBI, Police, Reporters, Lawyers, Mafia

--Appeal: old books as good as new ones, maybe better



• True Crime Trends

--Whole Collection RA

--Readalikes for titles and authors

--Compilations



• Awards

--Edgar and Dagger for True Crime



• Audio and Graphic Novels

--Mystery and Suspense work well on audio; tension builds slower; can’t skip ahead as easily

--Patrons will cross genres more with audio

--Some of the best readers ply trade here

--Don’t forget that superheroes fight crime

--Frank Miller and Alan Moore do more sophisticated Graphic Novels for crime fans



• Crime Fiction Collection Development

--Take pulse of your collection at least once a year

--What are your most popular titles/authors?

--Where are you lacking?

--What are the trends?

--Keep shelves neat and clean

--Replace classic and popular titles

--Weed



• Merge crime collections

--More space

--Patron displeasure/education

--Clearer catalog records and stickering



• Display ideas

--Overlooked Stars (Use Overbooked web site, listed below)

--Show off new popular subgenres (Use Stop You’re Killing Me web site listed below)

--Crime stories not from the mystery section

--Sure bets (by title or author)

--Use face out options whenever available

--Post series lists for most popular authors

--Consider special paperback shelving, not just spinners



• Sure Bet Investigative Tales

--Erik Larson: Devil and the White City

--Ann Rule: The Stranger Beside Me

--Michael Connelly: The Black Echo

--Harlen Coben: Tell No One

--Ruth Rendell: 13 Steps Down

--Mary Higgins Clark: One the Street Where You Live

--PD James: A Taste for Death

--Diane Mott Davidson: Dying for Chocolate

--Nevada Barr: Choose by location preference

--Louise Penny: Still Life



Becky's Favorite Crime Fiction Resources: (hit control click to open link)

Books

• Caught Up in Crime: A Reader's Guide to the Criminous in Fiction by Gary Warren Niebur (LU, 2009)

• Read On...Crime Fiction by Barry Trott (LU, 2007)

Web

• Everything tagged "Crime Fiction" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)

• All Readers-- to check the levels of sex and violence

• The Berwyn Public Library's Suggested Reading Lists

• Booklists' May 2010 Crime Fiction Webinar

• Best Crime Novels of the 2000s

• Crime Time (Homepage and Database of British Magazine), including their Crime Scene series in partnership with the International Association of Crime Writers.

• Overbooked's Crime Fiction Section

• 10 Best Modern European Crime Writers

• The Rap Sheet: An Award winning blog that covers all things Crime Fiction from books to TV to movies, old and new.

• Criminal Element: A blog which has stories, reviews and crime info. Updated daily.

• From 2009 this interesting round table discussion on the State of Crime Fiction from the Huffington Post

• Daily Beast articles by Sarah Weinman, crime fiction book expert

• The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers (blog)

• Nordic Bookblog: All things Nordic Noir in one place (also search RA for All for specific mentions of the very popular Nordic Noir trend)

Becky's Favorite Mystery Resources:



Books

• The Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery, Second Edition by John Charles et al. (ALA Editions, 2011)

• Make Mine a Mystery II: A Reader’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Gary Warren Niebuhr (LU, 2011)

• Murder in Retrospect: A Selectvie Guide to Historical Mystery Fiction by Michael Burgess and Jill H. Vassilakos (LU, 2005)

Web

• Everything tagged "Mystery" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)

• Stop You're Killing Me-- just go there; you'll be glad you did.

• DorothyL mailing list for writers and readers

• The Gumshoe Site

• Historical Mysteries

• Mystery Net: An online resource for mystery lovers

• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews

• Mystery Readers International

• And just for fun...Murder by Toaster a Fiction-L list of surprisingly lethal weapons

Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, and Psychological Suspense Resources:



Books

• Blood, Bedlam, Bullets, and Badguys: A Reader’s Guide to Adventure/Suspense Fiction by Michael Gannon (LU, 2004)





Web

• Everything tagged Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, or Psychological Suspense here on RA for All: click on each genre for a specific list (includes original book reviews with readalike options).

• Becky's Psychological Suspense Handout (pdf of a tri-fold brochure)

• International Thriller Writers-- covers suspense, adventure, mystery, and even some horror.

• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews

• NPR's Top 100 Killer Thrillers

• 100 Greatest Adventure Stories of All Time from National Geographic

True Crime Resources:



Books

• The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction by Neal Wyatt. (ALA Editions, 2007)

• The Real Story: A Guide to Nonfiction Reading Interests by Sarah Statz Cords (includes fiction read-a-likes.) (LU, 2006)

Web

• Overbooked’s True Crime Reading List

• Book Browse’s Recent True Crime List

• Popular True Crime Books via GoodReads

• 25 Best True Crime Books

• True Crime Book Reviews

• Top 50 true crime blogs

• Queen of True Crime, Ann Rule's homepage

Awards for Crime Fiction Books in All Genres Mentioned Above:

Award lists, both the winners and nominees, are a great way to identify popular and critically acclaimed novels and authors for your crime fiction fans. Many of these awards include a category for best debut. This is an excellent resource for your readers who claim they have already read "everything."

• RUSA's Reading List-- highlights outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.

• Agatha Award–Malice Domestic Convention

• Macavity Awards–Mystery Readers International and given annually at Bouchercon

• Anthony Awards–awarded at Bouchercon by vote of members of convention

• Edgar Awards–Mystery Writers of America

• Shamus Awards–Private Eye Writers of America

• Daggers–awarded by Crime Writers Association of Britain

• Mary Higgins Clark Award-- for books most like Clark's

• International Thriller Writers Annual Awards

• Shirley Jackson Award-- "for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic."

• Black Quill Awards-- "honor those works of dark genre literature – horror, suspense, and thrillers"

Becky's 5 RA Resources You Cannot Live Without:



• Amazon: Plot summaries, possible read alikes, but most importantly, customer comments! 5 star and 1 star reviews are the most helpful.

• NoveList: EBSCO Database: subscription required, check your local library.

• Kent District Public Library’s What’s Next: Easy to retrieve and print lists of books in series order. Makes patrons happy. Brings them back!

• Gnooks: When you are desperate…distract them.

• RA for ALL: where you are right now

Amazon Picks Top Ten Books of 2011

Amazon Unveils Best Books of 2011 List, and Names "The Art of Fielding" Best Book of the Year



SEATTLE, Nov 08, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --



Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced its picks for Best Books of 2011. This annual feature includes the Editors' Picks for the Top 100 Books of the Year and Top 10 lists in more than two dozen categories, from Literature & Fiction to Children's Picture Books to the new category Kindle Singles. To see all of the Best Books of 2011, or to download any of the picks to your Kindle, visit www.amazon.com/bestbooks2011.





"Well-known authors like Haruki Murakami and Jeffrey Eugenides really delivered this year, but 2011 was also a time for notable debuts," said Chris Schluep, Senior Editor of Books at Amazon.com. "There are three first-time novelists among our top 10 picks, led by our choice of Chad Harbach's 'The Art of Fielding' as Best Book of the Year. We welcome the opportunity to introduce our customers to voices that will entertain and inform for years to come, and with choices from literary masterworks to genre fiction to nonfiction, there's something for everyone."



The Best Books of 2011 Store is live now on Amazon.com. The Best Book of the Year, "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach, was an Amazon spotlight pick for September's Best Book of the Month. In a year of wonderful debuts, our editors singled out Harbach's first novel for its depth and confidence, superior narrative and style, unique publishing story, and ability to transcend that story and just be a great read.



Here's a look at the Top 10 editors' picks for the year:



1. "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach: "The Art of Fielding" is the veritable baseball book that's actually about much more than baseball, and it's on par with the work of Bernard Malamud and David James Duncan. It's rare to see a debut so confident, intimate, unpredictable and wholly memorable.



2. "1Q84" by Haruki Murakami: Murakami has created a sensation: a nearly 950-page novel that is ordered and scrupulous, and reads like a meditation. "1Q84" is the story of two people living in parallel, who we know must meet each other eventually, and their twisting arcs drive this magnum opus by one of the world's finest novelists.



3. "What It Is Like to Go to War" by Karl Marlantes: The veteran marine and best-selling author of "Matterhorn" draws on his brutal experiences in foreign jungles to look at the nature of combat with unflinching honesty. Balancing novelistic descriptions of fear, power games and courage with a thoughtful prescription for our soldiers' well being, Marlantes lifts the bar for understanding the experience of war.



4. "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larsen:Master storyteller Larsen describes the life of America's first and only ambassador to Nazi Germany, along with the scandalous adventures of the ambassador's carefree daughter. "In the Garden of the Beasts" is an historical portrait that is as entertaining as it is important, and it reads like the best of political thrillers.



5. "The Marriage Plot" by Jeffrey Eugenides: Eugenides' third novel, and his first after the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Middlesex," describes the lives of three college seniors at Brown in the early 1980s. It is a thoughtful, andat times disarming, novel about life, love and discovery, set during a time when so much of life seemed filled with deep portent.



6. "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor: With this young adult novel, National Book Award finalist Taylor has created a magical world that will sweep up even the most jaded of readers. The story of 17-year-old Kalou is an enchanting tale of magic, star-crossed love and difficult choices with heartbreaking repercussions that could make it the next hot YA sensation.



7. "Before I Go to Sleep" by S.J. Watson: Suspenseful from start to finish, Watson's "Before I Go to Sleep" -- the story of Christine, who wakes up every day not knowing who she is -- presents profound questions about identity and is one of the best literary thrillers of the past few years. Compelling, immersive and chilling.



8. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson: Few in history have transformed their time like Steve Jobs has. In this timely book, Isaacson paints a vivid, compelling portrait that pulls no punches -- the end result is satisfying, complete, and gives insight into a man who managed to turn his contradictions into potent strengths.



9. "Lost in Shangri-La" by Michael Zuckoff: A riveting story of survival and deliverance from a notorious valley in the New Guinea jungle, Zuckoff's "Lost in Shangri-La"deserves its place among the great survival stories of World War II.



10. "The Tiger's Wife" by Téa Obreht: Croatian native Obreht tells the story of a young doctor seeking answers around her grandfather's death, delving into a land of storytelling, mythology, and conflict in her extraordinary debut.

Cook Library's Own Susie Pasini

Libertyville Patch talked to Susie about Cook Library's Library's goal to become a library without walls!

How to Load up your EReader with Books for Free

Lifehacker, a website for geeks, had a good post steering folks toward the public library and away from Amazon's newest 'deal.'

Nothing new here, but another perspective from outside library land.

Breakdown of Titles in Kindle Lending Library

 Kindle's announcement about lending their titles to Kindle owners for one month sounds like a great deal, but here is a site which breaks down those free titles into categories.

Something our patrons might be interested in knowing.

BTW, these titles are only available on the Kindle devices, NOT to those running the Kindle app on another device.

Kindle Launches Lending Library!

 Kindle Launches Lending Library

For those who are Amazon Premium members (costs $79 a year), Amazon will now lend up to 5000 Kindle titles!

Whoa---now they're in direct competition with libraries.

Your thoughts??