Hello and welcome to Episode Forty Seven of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I’m your host, Hannah!
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The English Language Transcript can be found below
But as always we start with Reader’s Advisory!
The Reader’s Advisory for Episode Forty Seven is Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris. If you like the sound of Gentlemen & Players you should also check out: The Drama Teacher by Koren Zailckas, For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing, and The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring.
Bonus segment my personal favorite Goodreads list Gentlemen & Players is on is Chess Themed Fiction
Happy Reading Everyone
Today’s Library Tidbit is about keeping track of your reading and book journaling!
For those of us that read, keeping track of books you’ve read is an important step. There are multiple reasons why someone would keep track of their reading, from simply remembering which books they’ve read, to knowing where in a series they left off, to noting authors they like or don’t like. But how to keep track of this information? How to know how much information to keep track of? Where to even start?
Well, there are no good answers to these questions because it’s very subjective! There are online resources you can use to keep track of your reading, Goodreads and Storygraph, even an excel spreadsheet for those of you who like to program your own. You can also use good old pen and paper. The upside to using an online resource is that you can search quickly to figure out where in a series you are, what the next book is, and also if you have or have not read a title. The downside to online resources is that often they cannot be personalized.
Someone who keeps track of their reading using a journal is more easily able to add their own thoughts and feelings, even draw images or create collages that connect thoughts, opinions, and feelings about a book. It all depends on the reader!
The library can also keep track of your library reading history, but only if you ask us! For privacy reasons the library does not automatically keep track of items that you have had checked out. However, a lot of readers find the convenience of being able to see which library items they’ve checked out to be more important for them than the privacy of not having records available to subpoena or warrant. If you are interested in keeping track of your library item history then talk to a library staff member and they can turn that on for you. It will not be able to know which items you have already returned to the library, but it will keep track of items from that day until you turn it off.
I personally, need to keep track of what titles I’ve read. Like most readers, I read a lot, and I read series. Nothing is worse than when you find out a new book in a series is coming out but you’re not sure where you left off. Reading through book summaries trying to figure out where you stopped, trying to remember if you stopped reading this series for a reason, or even reading the series starting over from book one, all take more time and energy than having a track record of what you’ve already read.
Over the years the library has seen plenty of different ways readers keep track of their reading. Our least favorite, and one we will ask that you do not do, is when readers physically mark books with their own private secret code, so that if they pick it up again, they know if they have or have not read it. We do not like when patrons put marks in our books, but also having a personal mark lets us know just how many books a reader has marked up and we will grab them as evidence when asking you to stop marking in our books.
We have also seen readers come in with notebooks, separated by author, with series written down in order and check marks next to titles already read. This is a great resource for readers who like to read specific authors, especially if those authors have several different series to keep track of! The only down side is when those little notebooks get left behind at the library.
I personally use a paper and pen journal to keep track of my thoughts about titles. I don’t write down a lot of information about each title, but enough that if I need to go back and see what my initial thoughts on a title were I can do that! I can also keep track of my opinions on a series as I read through the books to see if I want to pick up the next one or not.
The most intriguing, for me, way that I have seen people journal about books is in a bullet or art style journal. Where they collect headshots of people they would like to see play characters in any potential tv show or movie, or draw abstract artwork that invokes the same feelings that they themselves got from reading the title. Bullet or art style journals also free a reader from writing in linear lines or from making all the information about a book roughly the same size. Playing with the size of information can allow a reader to journal about a book and visually show what opinions or thoughts are more important to them.
In addition to journaling for personal use, some people like to review to inform other people about books. These reviews can be informal and opinion based to formal professional reviews with style guidelines. I have found it interesting over the years to learn how to give different types of professional reviews. I find that learning that side of the book world has helped me understand narratives and genres better.
No matter the reason or how you book journal we hope you are enjoying your reading experiences! If you find during your journaling that you have hit a clump of titles that you just do not like, happens to everyone, talk to a library staff member about getting professionally book matched.
And now it’s time for Book Traveler, with Victor:
Welcome to a new edition of Book Traveler. My name is Victor and I am a librarian here at the Largo Public Library. Today I am going to talk to you about a book that we have in the Spanish collection, titled We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sánchez
Summary: Pulga has his dreams. Chico has his grief. Pequeña has her pride.
And these three teens have one another. But none of them have illusions about the town they’ve grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run: from their country, from their families, from their beloved home.
Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life–if they are lucky enough to survive the journey. With nothing but the bags on their backs and desperation drumming through their hearts, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña know there is no turning back, despite the unknown that awaits them. And the darkness that seems to follow wherever they go.
In this striking portrait of lives torn apart, the plight of migrants at the U.S. southern border is brought to light through poignant, vivid storytelling. An epic journey of danger, resilience, heartache, and hope.
Opinion: This harrowing story is inspired by current events such as the thousands of women, men, and children from Central America seeking refuge in the United States. When the novel begins, teenagers Pulga, Chico and Pequeña live in a very violent city in Guatemala. Pulga is 15 years old and dreams of becoming a musician like his father and is already planning his escape. Chico, a shy boy going through a difficult time, comes to live with Pulga’s family after the murder of his mother, who was shot when he was 11 years old. Pequeña is a 17-year-old girl who was impregnated by Rey, a member of a gang. After Pulga and Chico see the murder of a local shoe salesman by Rey’s gang, they know that reporting the murder means their imminent death, but what they didn’t know is that keeping quiet means they were destined to join the gang. After Pequeña gives birth to her child, Rey tells her that she will become his wife, something she swears will never happen. Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña then decide to leave Guatemala, leaving their family behind and Pequeña’s newborn. Their journey is more terrifying than they could have imagined. They spend days without food, hiding from kidnappers, walking for miles, sometimes through the desert, until they meet trains headed for the United States, where they join men, women and children clinging to their lives. It is a thought-provoking book about the horrors so many families go through trying to reach safety and escape violence.
Outro: That’s all for today. Until the next edition of Book Traveler. Bye.
Thanks everyone for listening some upcoming library events to keep track of:
April 4th Book Page Butterflies at 6 pm in the Adult Program Room
-Registration is Required
April 6th Adult Sign Language – Intermediate at 7 pm in Jenkins Room A
April 7th Getting to Know Your MacBook at 3 pm in the Adult Program Room
-Registration is Required
April 12th English Conversation Club at 6 pm in the ELL Classroom
April 14th Butterfly Garden Grand Opening at 6:30 pm in the Jenkins Wing
April 18th Faux Fused Glass Pendant at 6 pm in Jenkins Room B
-Registration is Required
April 20th Exploring Community Resources at 2 pm in the Adult Program Room
-Registration is Required
April 26th Find Your Next Read! Learn Library Databases at 3 pm in Jenkins Room C
-Registration is Required
April 27th Into to Zelle, Venmo & ApplyPay at 2 pm in the Adult Program Room
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
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