Monday, December 15, 2008

From last year...

I had to laugh. When I went to my library conference a few weeks ago, I went to a readers advisory workshop (how to help people find "the right" book) on the Gen X, Gen Y readers and how to help them find books. When I go to these they always give out a big list of authors that are proven winners with this crowd. I was at a concert a few days ago and the friend I went with started asking me if I had read any of the "new, cutting edge" authors. Right down my booklist we went. Every single author that he was named was on my list. (He did miss Dostoevsky though.)

Yesterday, I had a new staff member (who reads a lot) start. She is in her early 30's. As I listened to her recommend books to an 80-year-old, she was also recommending right off the list.

Here is the list...
Arthur Rimbaud
Bret Easton Ellis
Charles Bukowski
Chuck Palahniuk
Dave Eggers
David Foster Wallace
David Mitchell
David Sedaris
Douglas Coupland
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Haruki Murakami
Hunter S. Thompson
Kelly Link
Linda Barry
Mark Danielewski
Michelle Tea
Nick Flynn
William Burroughs

And some "Street fiction" to go along with it...
Donald Goines
Iceberg Slim
Roy Glenn
Sister Souljah
T.N. Baker
Vickie M Stringer

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The authors I recognize off that list are not what I would recommend for a granny.

A Librarian said...

I know. Bless her heart, she still has a lot to learn. Reader's advisory is more about figuring out what someone else will like, instead of recommending the things you like.