Week 3: the Reader's Services Conversation

Assignment 3: What is the patron looking for?

Conversation 1:
         The patron enjoyed reading Eat, Pray, Love because of the author's description of her inner thoughts and the journeys she is taking:  the personal journey of self-discovery and the actual journey to the three countries she visits.  The patron found the tone of the book to be "lovely", but more than a light weight story.  She is also looking for a book club book.
          I would suggest Animal, Vegetable, Miracle as a memoir that follows the author, Barbara Kingsolver, and her family as they try to live for a year as self-sufficient on their farm.    I think that the book has an introspective nature similar to Eat, Pray, Love.  If the patron would like a  memoir involving more physical challenges and one that involves traveling, NoveList suggests Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed.  The author of this memoir walks the Pacific Coast Trail after her mother's death and her own divorce, like the author of Eat, Pray, Love is dealing with her divorce.  Wild was an Oprah book club choice, so that title may work for the patron's books club.

Conversation 2:
        This customer likes vampire books, but not vampire stories like the Twilight series.  It sounds like she might like some romance that is not teen romance, and would like a faster paced book. 
         Adult vampire series include authors like Anne Rice, whose vampire books are very atmospheric but may be slower paced, and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake vampire hunter series is  fast-paced and more erotic.  If the customer wants something lighter, but also fast-paced, then Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse mysteries might be a good recommendation.

Conversation 3:
         River of Doubt is a literary nonfiction title described by the customer as a fast-paced adventure, survival story and mystery involving Teddy Roosevelt. 
         Many of these factors are also present in The Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by the same author.   Both books are about a murder mystery in the life of a president.  If the customer likes the historical mystery facets of River of Doubt, then I would suggest The Devil in the White City: Murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America, which is about murders during the 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition