Military / Nonfiction Adventure – June 14

The Southeastern Mass. Reader’s Advisory Roundtable (SE-RART) meets Thursday, June 14, 10 am-12 pm, at the Queset House, Ames Free Library, 51 Main St, North Easton, to finish out our 2017-18 Action/Adventure genre study with a discussion of Military Adventure and Nonfiction Adventure.

For the June meeting, the benchmark title is Ice Station, a novel by Matthew Reilly – first in the Shane Schofield series. Please choose another title from either the Military Adventure or Nonfiction Adventure subgenre as your second title. (See suggestions of authors below.)

As always, please don’t stay away from the meeting if you can’t finish two novels in time; if you need to, you can follow the “Read a Book in Ten Minutes” guidelines!

Short, additional readings for discussion at the June meeting will be emailed to registered participants. Please register for the June meeting on the MLS Web site , and let us know if you don’t receive the email with the supplemental readings by June 1st.

Even if you don’t get to read your two books completely, please be prepared to talk briefly about each of them in terms of reader’s advisory appeal factors, as laid out by RA-guru Joyce Saricks:

• Pacing (e.g. breakneck, unhurried, densely written)
• Characterization (e.g. quirky, well developed, ensemble cast)
• Plot/Storyline (e.g. action-oriented, sensual, domestic, sexually explicit)
• Tone/Mood (e.g. gritty, heartwarming, political)
• Style/Language (e.g. sophisticated, homespun, frank)
• Frame/Setting (e.g. urban, rural, world-building, time-frame)

If you’re looking for ideas for your second title, we have put together lists of possible authors.

MILITARY ADVENTURE FICTION AUTHOR POSSIBILITIES

Ted Bell
Dale Brown
Tom Clancy
W.E.B. Griffin
Joshua Hood
Richard Marcinko
Scott McEwen
David Poyer
Douglas Reeman
David L. Robbins
Patrick Robinson
Leonard B. Scott

NONFICTION ADVENTURE TITLE POSSIBILITIES
(Stay with the military theme or not, your choice!)

Delta Force: the Army’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit by Charlie Beckwith
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden
Adrift: Lost at Sea by Stephen Callahan
Cutthroats by Robert Dick
Kill Bin Laden by Dalton Fury
A Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Sinai Surgeon by Robert Letts
No Hero by Mark Owen
Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
I am a Seal Team Six Warrior by Howard Wasdin

If you want to post information about your second title before the meeting, you can!

Adventure Genre Discussion – Political Thrillers & Espionage

Political Thrillers & Espionage

The Southeastern Mass. Reader’s Advisory Roundtable (SE-RART) met Tuesday, April 3, at the John Curtis Free Library to discuss two subgenres of Adventure: Political Thrillers and Espionage.

The benchmark title was The Camel Club by David Baldacci, first in a five-book series featuring Oliver Stone.

We talked about the following supplemental readings, focusing on key elements and appeal factors for Political Thrillers and Espionage:

• Hannon, Michael. Blood, Bedlam, Bullets, and Bad Guys. Chapter 1, pp. 1-2
• Hannon, Michael. Blood, Bedlam, Bullets, and Bad Guys. Chapter 9, pp. 185-86
• McArdle, Megan M. The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Blends, pp. xix-3}
• Saricks, Joyce. The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, 2nd ed., pp. 71-87

Key elements

Political Thrillers

• Often convoluted, plot involves the government and secrets worth killing for
• Pacing is fast, compelling; storyline often cinematic
• Identifiable hero, usually a strong, handsome, and an extremely capable leader

Espionage

• Plots usually center around international espionage activities, secrecy
• Often feature exotic locales and/or have dark, mysterious tone/atmosphere
• Traditional/classic spy novels may appeal to intellect as well as adrenaline readers

“The size and diversity of the Thriller genre make it difficult to define in a straightforward fashion. Basically this genre focuses on a particular profession – espionage, medicine, or the law, for example – and tells an action-packed story that reveals the intricacies of that profession and the potential dangers faced by those involved in it. The details supplied, their authenticity and their scope, are key to reader satisfaction. Although important to a good story, the character of the hero is generally secondary to the action and detail. Readers can easily distinguish the good from the bad among these stereotypical characters”   – Joyce Saricks, The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, 2nd ed. (Chapter 5: Thrillers)

We talked about whether historical adventure had to be about war, and decided that, although it often may be set during times of war, it didn’t need to be, but there needed to be some sort of danger, a visible enemy, and some amount of fighting involved.

We discussed The Camel Club by David Baldacci, our benchmark title, in reader’s advisory terms:

• Stakes are high for hero (ensemble) – life and death
• Frame of Washington, DC and environs, adds to sense of realism
• Storyline cinematic, premise plausible enough to make sense
• Camel Club characters are quirky outsiders, on the fringe
• Terrorist characters given some backstory and nuance, but still bad guys
• Clues are given, but reader knows more than main characters (suspense)
• Ends justify the means – common theme in Adventure fiction
• Characters are developed for series, two strong women characters

Second titles will be posted soon; it’s OK to submit yours still, if you forgot!

Second titles we learned about in terms of reader’s advisory appeal factors – frame, tone, pacing, plot/storyline, characters – included a female adventure author we didn’t have on our earlier list – K. J. Howe:

The Freedom Broker by K.J. Howe
The World at Night by Alan Furst
A Hero of France by Alan Furst
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
A Divided Spy by Charles Cumming
Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn
The Singularity Race by Mark de Castrique

Please register online for the Thursday, June 14th meeting, 10am-12pm, at the Queset House (beside the Ames Free Library) in Easton to talk about Military Thrillers and Nonfiction Adventure. The benchmark title will be Ice Station by Matthew Reilly.

New members are always welcome to jump in at any point in the year, even the very last meeting of the 2017-18 season. We will also discuss possible genres for next year’s genre study, so feel free to bring or send your input!

By the way, the next RUSA Codes Convo is on Tuesday, April 24. It’s a LOT of email in one day, but there’s usually a ton of useful RA tips shared:

CODES Conversations: RA 101
April 24, 2018 10am-6pm EST
What are the key ideas, practices and sources everyone should be learning
about as they begin to do readers’ advisory work? Join us and special guest
moderators Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt and bring your questions, suggestions
and advice!

CODES Conversations are focused electronic conversations on issues facing
collection development and readers’ advisory librarians—or anyone interested
in those areas. The conversations are open to all who wish to participate (or
lurk)!

More info

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