readers advisory for all discussion

EDIT
okay, so i am just going to explain this at the top, because i did a bad job of it earlier. mea culpa. if you would like to contribute some lists here, it would be most welcome! it is very easy - just go to "bookshelves" and add a title. you will have to group your submissions in some thematic way, so after you add a title, you will create a shelf for them - something that is descriptive of the contents, like "gothic romance" or "famous people as vampires" or something. then, in the "why we're reading this" box, just give a brief annotation - 1-3 sentences is perfect - just something that gives a quick sense of what the book is "like", in terms of pacing, tone characters, setting. if you need an example of what is useful, you can check out dana's gay fiction shelf, or my wuthering heights shelf, and choose a book and hit "view", and the little annotation will pop up. it isn't hard, and it can become quite addictive. i am available for questions whenever.




another service that readers' advisors provide, besides suggesting particular books for particular needs, is compiling lists. and i know that goodreads.com has listopia, which is a fine starting point, but is a less comprehensive resource than it could be. i, personally, do not find it very user-friendly. i tried searching it yesterday to find some jewish immigrant fiction for a customer, and there were a ton of books listed under "jewish", but without being annotated, it is just a list of books. if i had ample time i could go though and read synopses and reviews to see what would be appropriate for each customer, but the reality is that most people are impatient in a bookstore/library setting. listopia is a great idea for a goodreads.com community project, and it is an excellent place for browsing, but professional work demands something more detailed and more precise. so i am going to start it off, and see if we can't get some good, annotated lists made that may be of use to both readers and workers.

here's hoping.

oh, i could do that, but then i wouldn't have the joy of listmaking in here!! and then i will fail!! but, i am working on one now that you will probably have fun with! stay tuned...

wait - to prevent things getting muddled, i just want to work on one list first,as a group, just to get a sense of it, yeah? i am trying but it is taking sooo long and i have to go out so i may have to truncate it and hope that people can fill in the gaps for me while i am out. but then after that, we can totally have a list free-for-all! but i want to all hold hands when crossing the street at the outset. this is going to require several folders, i think. but hang on - i am scurrying!

i think i am going to have an organizational problem here, but we can fix the cosmetics later. for now, we are going to start with an easy list. dear jane austen. jane austen has many fans. people have been adapting, retelling, finishing, prequeling, adding monsters to, and otherwise meddling with her books for years. and if you look on listopia, there are tons of lists for this very thing. but i know for a fact that there are different levels of quality to these modern austens. i have two customers where i work who come to me for the new books in this "genre." and one of them is very opinionated about which ones are "good" and which ones are "bad", and the other will only read books related to pride and prejudice. so i keep lists for them, but not being a fan myself, i have no way to judge quality. so we are going to do it together. and we are not going to say "this one is bad" or "this one is good" because that is subjective, and we leave that to the customers. we are shiny-badged RA-kids in training and we are going to annotate using facts about the book that will imply the quality. such as "this erotic retelling of P&P casts mr darcy as a zombie come back from the dead to buy a house" or whatever. short, pithy, getting-to-the point annotations.

so to start, i will share my list from my work-notebook with you, and we will have some annotating fun. feel free to chime in if i have missed any...

Marsha Altman she has five
Joan Aiken she has six (i can type all the titles out later, if it is helpful)
Pamela Aidan she has four
Linda Berdoll she has two
Pemberley Ranch
Rebecca Ann Collins she has about ten
Amanda Grange she has seven, i think
Regina Jeffers she has about eight

(you see why we need annotated lists??)

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen LP
Syrie James has six
Kara Louise 7, one POV of mr darcy's dog.
Pemberley Manor
The Darcys Give a Ball: A Gentle Joke, Jane Austen Style
Jane Odiwe she has four
Mary Lydon Simonsenhas five
okay, i am going to have to truncate this - i am not even halfway finished, but there are too many, and it has taken me too long to do just what i have. so - to begin - if anyone has any other titles to add, go ahead and list them, and then we can all work on the annotations together, and then we can all sprout off into making our own lists as strong and confident RA providers.

sorry this is such a mess - i will try to make it better. *worst*

yay - lists! this is kinda like my thematic fanfic rec group!

i have more than 40 more!! but i don't wanna be late!! someone else can list some, if they know more... (i am terrible at this, i am so sorry)

yeah - those count - even modern-retelling like Bridget Jones's Diary can be counted or things like The Jane Austen Book Club - go nuts - list all the ones you can think of, and then we will roll up our sleeves and make the list useful with annotations.

What about something like Shades of Milk and Honey? I haven't read it - just heard about it when it was nominated for a Nebula Award. It's described as follows: "exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality."

sounds like it fits - and a new one for my list!

okay, i have a few more minutes:

The Other Mr. Darcy: Did you know Mr. Darcy had an American cousin?
The Darcy Cousins
Improper Suitor

Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A tale of a gentleman and an officer

Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy

You could use the group's bookshelves. Just create a custom shelf for each list. When you add or edit a book entry, you can put the annotations in the box that asks "why this book?" To display the annotations on a book, click on the word about.

This is a good idea Karen. I will refer back to this list if ever a customer asks for Jane Austen inspired fiction. I have had one before but didn't know what to say. I love lists.

Deborah wrote: "You could use the group's bookshelves. Just create a custom shelf for each list. When you add or edit a book entry, you can put the annotations in the box that asks "why this book?" To display the ..."

this is genius. i will take care of this tomorrow. thank you for the tip. and thanks, jasmine, for getting all those authors typed out!

Would it be possible for everyone to be able to make bookshelves? I went there and wasn't able to make any.

okay I deleted my previous comments to streamline the topic. here's my list, I'll add the other suggested books tomorrow at some point.


Susan Adriani
• The Truth About Mr. Darcy previously published as Affinity and Affection
Pamela Aidan
• Duty and Desire
• An Assembly Such as This
• Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour
• These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
Joan Aiken
• Lady Catherine's Necklace
• Jane Fairfax: The Secret Story of the Second Heroine in Jane Austen's Emma
Marsha Altman
• Mr. Darcy's Great Escape
• The Road to Pemberley: An Anthology of New Pride and Prejudice Stories
• The Plight of the Darcy Brothers
• Manner of Devotion: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
• The Darcys & the Bingleys
Joan Austen-Leigh
• Later Days at Highbury
• A Visit to Highbury/Another View of Emma
Janet Aylmer
• Darcy's Story
• In the Footsteps of Jane Austen; Through Bath to Lyncombe and Widcombe
Elizabeth Aston
• The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy: A Novel
• The True Darcy Spirit
• The Darcy Connection
• Mr. Darcy's Daughters
• Mr. Darcy's Dream
Ted Bader
• Virtue and Vanity
• Desire and Duty : A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Julia Barrett
• Presumption
• The Third Sister
Carrie Bebris
• The Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma's Match
• The Matters at Mansfield: Or, the Crawford Affair
• North by Northanger
Linda Berdoll
• Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley
• Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife
• Darcy & Elizabeth
Rachel Billington
• Emma & Knightley: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Emma
• Perfect Happiness
D.A. Bonavia-Hunt
• Pemberley Shades: A Lightly Gothic Tale of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy
Sybil G. Brinton
• Old Friends and New Fancies
Paula Marantz Cohen
• Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death and the Sats
• Jane Austen in Boca
Gwyn Cready
• Seducing Mr. Darcy
Rebecca Ann Collins
• The Pemberley Chronicles
• The Women of Pemberley
• Mr. Darcy's Daughter
• Postscript from Pemberley
J. Marie Croft
• Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge
Jane Dawkins
• Letters from Pemberley
• More Letters from Pemberley
P O Dixon
• To Have His Cake (and Eat It Too) ~ Mr. Darcy's Tale
Anne Fafoutakis
• Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy and Other Stories
Marjorie Fasman
• The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy
Kate Fenton
• Lions and Liquorice
Helen Fielding
• Bridget Jones's Diary
Michael Ford
• Jane Goes Batty
• Jane Bites Back
Jane Gillespie
• Aunt Celia
Amanda Grange
• Mr. Darcy's Diary
• Mr. Darcy, Vampyre
• A Darcy Christmas
Seth Grahame-Smith
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Ann Hassell
• Pride and Prejudice's Vampires: Vampire Adaptation for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Regency Historical Romance/Satire
Ann Herendeen
• Pride/Prejudice
Steve Hockensmith
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After
Regina Jeffers
• Captain Wentworth's Persuasion: Jane Austen's Classic Retold Through His Eyes
• Darcy's Temptation: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
• The Phantom of Pemberley
• Darcy's Passions
• Vampire Darcy's Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation
Kara Louise
• Only Mr. Darcy Will Do
• Assumed Engagement
• Assumed Obligation
Sharon Lathan
• In the Arms of Mr. Darcy
• Trouble with Mr. Darcy: Pride and Prejudice continues...
• Loving Mr. Darcy
• My Dearest Mr. Darcy
Mary Anne Mushatt
• Darcy and the Duchess
Melissa Nathan
• Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field
Elizabeth Newark
• Darcys Give a Ball
• Consequence: Or Whatever Became of Charlotte Lucas
Kathryn L. Nelson
• Pemberley Manor
Jane Odiwe
• Willoughby's Return: A Tale of Almost Irresistible Temptation
• Mr. Darcy's Secret
Victoria Park
• Pride and Prejudice II: The Sequel
Beth Pattillo
• Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart: A Novel
• Jane Austen Ruined My Life
Michelle Pillow
• Pride and Prejudice: The Wild and Wanton Edition
C. Allyn Pierson
• And This Our Life: Chronicles of the Darcy Family: Book 1
• Mr. Darcy's Little Sister
Abigail Reynolds
• The Last Man in the World
• Without Reserve: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
• From Lambton to Longbourn: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
• Pemberley by the Sea
Juliette Shapiro
• Fitzwilliam Darcy's Memoirs: An Insight into Jane Austen's Hero
• Mr. Darcy's Decision
• Ask Jane Austen
• Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Maya Slater
• The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy: A Novel
Mary Street
• The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy
Emma Tennant
• Emma in Love
• Pemberley
• An Unequal Marriage: Or Pride and Prejudice Twenty Years Later
Enid Wilson
• Really Angelic: Pride and Prejudice with a steamy paranormal twist
• Fire and Cross: Pride and Prejudice with a steamy mysterious twist
• My Darcy Mutates...: A Collection of Pride and Prejudice-inspired steamy short stories
Karen Wasylowski
• Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A tale of a gentleman and an officer
Genevieve Rose Wimer
• Honour and Humility
Ben H. Winters
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I am trying to do really good at this since I will be no help at the next part.

i have not given up on this list. i have created a bookshelf for when the annotations begin. i just got swamped. but it can rest for awhile...

Jane and the Damned

okay. so we have a lot to work with here. but at this point, it is just a list of titles - it does no one any good. this is why i keep stressing the importance of giving a little meat around the bone of the titles when you suggest them - unless someone knows a little bit about why the title is appropriate, they will not know if the recommendation is going to suit their tastes/mood.

in this list, there are jane austen retellings, jane austen and monsters, modern day janes, historical "but then what happened" books...

so i am going to begin annotating. i have not read any of these books, but it is not necessary to have read any of them in order to do this. for a project like this, opinions are irrelevant. we are just trying to hash out what kind of books these are - we are not judging their quality. i am going to do this by reading reviews both on and off goodreads.com.

i will be at the "jane austen etcs" bookshelf if anyone needs me...

good luck karen, after you do some I might help. I don't understand what I'm suppose to do.

i am the slowest at this...

i have only finished two. but i have until 11.
if you go to our bookshelves, there is a shelf called "jane austen etcs". you have to click "view", and the text appears under "why we're reading this." it is less elegant than my wildest dreams, but it should be okay.

Jasmine, thanks so much for adding my book to the list. I'd like to let everyone here know, though, that The Truth About Mr. Darcy is not a new story, but a re-release of Affinity and Affection. When A&A (which was previously self-published) was picked up by Sourcebooks, they insisted on changing the title. There are a few alterations to the new text in TTAMD, but they aren't significant changes - nothing that will alter the plot.

I just didn't want there to be any confusion.

Best,
Susan

i made a list for wuthering heights retellings.

is that one of the brontes?

yeah, emily.

so, anyone can make lists, if they want to. just name whatever list you decide to do clearly, and annotate it with as much as you think is useful - check out the ones dana and i have done if you need guidance, or just ask me here or PM if you want... all lists are useful!

do lists have to be really specific or could they be general like "british literature"

I want to make the group less sleepy but I don't really have time to read reviews and stuff cause my internet at home won't work.

you probably want to make it a little more specific, because dickens is way different than hornby.

maybe "contemporary british lit", even though that is way broad. or "funny british lit" or something a little more pared down.

dana is going to get mad here because of all the variety in gay fiction, but it is more of a niche genre than british, which is regional. while i do recognize that joe keegan is way different than "frat boys," i still think for now, gay fiction is a specific enough shelf.

well I'm not sitting around reading dickens. maybe I will try something like main stream contemporary british literature, cause then a lot of the books I'll know and the ones I don't know I will probably end up wanting to read. i will try. if I fail I will edit.

okay I did one can you check my work when you get a second karen? I don't know if I did it right.

dude - did you write all that? in the "why we're reading this" section?? that's wayyy too much work. the annotations only need to be 1-3 sentences - just as a quick skeleton-outline for people who need to know what people would get out of the book. for example, "this fast-paced book deals with suicide in a comical way that manages to be touching at the same time." or something. that is just quick and dirty without any research for a book i haven't read. so something like that, but more accurate.

so make it much shorter. I can do that.

I did do research. I looked at my review and caris' review.

fixed it, sorry.

I thought the same rules about more detail is better applied

nono - i meant i hadn't done any research! before writing that thing i wrote.

basically, here, you are writing a blurb for the book. something someone can access quickly and go, okay - "funny, suicide, british - got it" and use that to talk about the book even if they hadn't read it. these things are usually what you find on bookmarks at libraries, to give you a sense of the length of them. one bookmark will say, "if you liked the da vinci code, try these"and will give a list of five books and their corresponding annotations. just quick quick stuff.

the "more information is better" thing really is for when you are requesting a book - to refine it and streamline it so the person suggesting a book to you knows what to work with.

for example, i had a woman once who wanted a "good historical book that was long." so i gave her Half of a Yellow Sun. and she turned it over, and said "oh, she's black." now, if she had said, "oh, and i am also racist", then i would have known not to give her that book. or any book.

the more you know...

lol. okay i can do that.

I thought you were reading reviews and stuff.

okay I did a bunch and I get what you meant by variety.

I'm taking a break now.

i read reviews when i actually do them, but for that hornby one, i was just doing it off the top of my head. reviews are very helpful for this kind of work, both on here and other places. and publisher's websites are also a good place for information.

oh, those are good! just don't forget to put them on the brit-shelf. or wait- i think i can do these (twss). but for the future, and for other people - it doesn't automatically save them, you have to add each book you select to your shelf.

oh, you did. weird. i thought it would show up on the page where you can view the annotation. disregard, jazz.

but it is good advice for anyone else ♥

karen wrote: "oh, those are good! just don't forget to put them on the brit-shelf. or wait- i think i can do these (twss). but for the future, and for other people - it doesn't automatically save them, you have ..."

yay. I got an A!

Question: Are we only working on adding books if we think they're good to recommend? Or also adding books we'd prefer people not read? I was going to add one I thought was terrible, and tend to steer people away from, to the Austen etc shelf but I thought I'd ask first....

Baby steps :)

the lists aren't really meant to be quality-judgments, just a collection of what is available, with quick-reference: who what where when type of facts...i disliked a lot of the books i added to the YA problems literature, but someone must like them ,right?? or they wouldn't keep selling/circulating...i think for our purposes, neutral is better.

karen wrote: "the lists aren't really meant to be quality-judgments, just a collection of what is available, with quick-reference: who what where when type of facts...i disliked a lot of the books i added to the..."

OK, I can keep my opinion out of the description.

Me again, I added [Mr. Darcy's Daughters] to the Austen etc list - just let me know if it reads right for RA :)

yes!! that is excellent!! thank you!!

Yay! :)

i found more austens and even though no one seems into making an austen list here, i will add them, because then my brain can feel calm again:

Wickham's Diary
What Would Mr Darcy Do?
The Trouble with Mr. Darcy

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent A kind of fantastical reworking of Pride & Prejudice and Wuthering Heights with magicians. He doesn't actually pull it off but valiant effort.

Probably not what you meant by lists but it's Austen/Bronte and it's definitely not tax forms.

I am so sorry, I cannot find where to post this. I was wondering what the group read turned out to be? I voted and everything and I'm thinking the two weeks have passed but I cannot find a topic which talks about what won...! Sorry, I'm a little new to the whole group thing. :)

i started a new folder for it called "group read"

Three Men in a Boat won. i will be posting some things there later to help people start thinking about our goals...

Bah. I figured out to click polls right after I posted this! Thanks for the help, I am excited to start it soon. :)

just because we already have this handy austen list at the side here, i am going to add this one:

Manner of Devotion: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice