Catinthestacks Readers' Advisory

This is a readers' advisory blog. To learn more about RA, please check out my introductory post: Introduction About me: I'm a student in Wayne State University's School of Library and Information Science. I'm training to be a reference librarian and I'm very interested in readers' advisory, particularly virtual readers' advisory. I also like cats.

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A masterpost of YA books (and a few crossover MG titles) to be released in April 2014.  Check out this month’s new releases below.  Feel free to use this as a guide to this month’s releases - but please do not repost it in its entirety elsewhere.  If you found this masterpost helpful, a like, reblog, or link back to Paperback’d would be much appreciated! If you know of a YA book to be released this month that isn’t on the list, drop me a message and I’ll update it!

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What does your bookcase look like? Do you read all of the books you write about?

The first question is difficult to answer! I have several bookcases in various states of disarray. At one point my large bookcase had an organizational system, but I started double shelving books and now it looks a little shabby - the added weight has also contributed to shelves sagging. You can actually catch a glimpse of the bookcase (and more than a glimpse of one of my cats) in my user picture. My other bookcases don’t really have an organizational system. I know, I’m a shame to my chosen profession.

As for question two, so far I have read all of the books I have recommended in posts. I have not read all of the books I’ve suggested, though. I had an anonymous question the other day and I have only read about half of the books from that bit of readers advisory. However, I did research the other suggestions to try and make my response as accurate as possible.

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Via http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us/

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hi. i just finished reading the great gatsby and i loved it. can you suggest something similar?

Hello, Anon!

I’m not sure what sparked your interest in The Great Gatsby, but I have some suggestions based on different factors.

If you were a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing, he wrote other books with similar tones and themes (flappers, love, and the Jazz Age), notably: The Beautiful and the Damned; This Side of Paradise; and Tender is the Night.

If you enjoyed reading about the 1920s, I cannot laud Joshua’ Zeitz’s Flapper enough. Another strong contender for US 1920s history is Anything Goes by Lucy Moore.

If you liked the questioning of social class, you might enjoy Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter.

Finally, if you’re interested in epic and tragic romance, you might enjoy Wurthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask for additional guidance in finding your perfect book.

Thank you!

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Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi takes the reader back in time to the Roaring 20s. Spirits may be illegal, but spirits remain high in the face of the obsession with spiritualism that has swept the US and much of Western Europe. A Harvard University psychology professor and his student, Martin Finch, find themselves swept up in defrauding the spiritualism of the day with incentive from Scientific American. The magazine hopes to find out if the claim of the spiritualists is true, and they have promised a handsome reward to the first medium who can prove they have contact with the other side. The protagonist and his mentor are hired by the magazine to ensure no fraud will win the handsome prize. However, an investigation in Philadelphia threatens to turn Finch's world upside down - but not without a surprise visit from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This fictional book based on actual events is filled with mystery, seances, and chilly atmosphere all set during a decade of decadence for the rich. Inamorata is excellent for dark nights or for some interesting reading before pulling out the Ouija board with a group of friends.

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It's the library!

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Are you missing Harry Potter?  Here are some books that will help see you through until J.K. Rowling maybe possibly hopefully releases another book in the series (even though she said long ago she would not).

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (fiction) by Susanna Clarke is Harry Potter meets Jane Austen and a volume of British history. Clarke has created a vast magical world with complex magic, worrisome magical creatures, mystery, and danger. The book feels like a story wrapped in a history and even features slightly modified historical footnotes on the magical history of Britain.

Lev Grossman's The Magicians is Harry Potter grown up and disillusioned. There's lots of interesting magical abilities and applications, a magical school, and egotism. The story is entertaining and there are a few laugh out loud lines peppered throughout the text. This book has a bonus if you miss the wonder of Narnia but wish it had been creepier.

If you would like to keep your reading in the realm of Young Adult literature, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy will keep your mind full of epic adventure, scientifically informed magic (or magically informed science?), strange worlds, powerful and dark organizations, scientific exploration, and even a touch of romance. Another highlight of finishing the series is that you'll be able to discuss with others what your shape your daemon takes.

A final, but certainly not lesser, consideration for your Harry Potter deprived life is Sorcery & Cecelia -or- The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. This young adult novel takes place in Regency England and again uses the winning combination of Austen-esque writing and magic. This book has romance, mystery, magic, and two cousins navigating the complex world of being a young lady marriageable age in Regency England. However, both of our heroines are spunky, clever, and brave, ensuring things never become stuffy.

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Yesterday I took some pictures of my friend Anna while she went for a walk into the woods with her book and her 2 dogs

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Lucy Fisher's life is crumbling. She comes home from a Hawaiian vacation with her friends to find all of her things on her front lawn. She can't get in touch with her fiancee because he's changed his number. To make matters worse, all of the locks on her house have been changed. Lucy decides to make a change by moving, but instead change finds her in the form of a bus ending her life and beginning her afterlife. Lucy finds herself in ghost school, and eventually gets an assignment - an assignment that guarantee her spot in the next level of the afterlife should she complete it. However, that assignment is shadowing her ex-fiancee and his new girlfriend. In doing so she may be able to determine what caused the drastic shift in her life before her untimely demise. Helping Lucy in her pursuit are her still living dog and her deceased (and highly spirited) grandmother.

This fiction book is a fun, generally light read. There are some sad parts, but they do not detract from the pleasure of the book. If you're in the mood for paranormal shenanigans, a little revenge, and a lot of understanding circumstances from another person's perspective, you may enjoy Spooky Little Girl.

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Perhaps the most hilarious of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, Right Ho, Jeeves is an excellent introduction to the world of Bertie Wooster and his faithful valet Reginald Jeeves (did you ever wonder how the search engine "Ask Jeeves" received its moniker? Now you know!) - a world full of meddling aunts, sprawling estates, the mishaps of the upper class, genius chefs prone to rage, quick engagements, quickly broken engagements, and the notorious newt-loving Gussie Fink-Nottle's long and outstanding award speech. There is no going wrong with a Jeeves and Wooster book, but Right Ho, Jeeves has long been a favorite among the comedy series.

If you're in need of a fast read and you don't mind the stares that come with laughing aloud during public reading, this book could brighten your train commute to work, the moment you have between classes, or it could bring some lively entertainment to your lazy Sunday.

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