I'm a couple weeks late on this one, but I've officially started my final semester of library school at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's School of Information Studies! Even better than that, this last "semester" is really only one class. That's right, folks! Just one measly, tiny, minuscule class separates me from my Master's Degree in Library and Information Science!

My final college class that I will *ever* take is Electronic Publication and Web Design (INFOST 685). Not only do I expect this class to be extremely beneficial professionally, I know the skills I learn in it will also be useful in my personal life – including on this blog! In the class we'll be working with Adobe Creative Cloud programs and learning some coding to eventually create our own website by the end of the class – one that doesn't use a cheating drag-and-drop template like the one I'm currently using! ;)

While I'm working on getting back into the swing of graduate school again, I also just moved into my new house over the weekend and am currently living out of boxes as things get unpacked. That, on top of work and planning my wedding next summer has kept – and will continue to keep – me pretty busy! Oh, here I go again with the excuses for not blogging more! But don't fret, I'll also have another big excuse for being busy to share early next week ... stay tuned!

Well here we are – the end of the semester and the last of my weekly book reviews for my readers' advisory class. Out of all the genres we covered, I've read more of the nonfiction titles mentioned in the class than any of the other genre books we could choose from to review. I was a journalism major in undergrad and have always loved narrative nonfiction, so it's no real surprise that I've read a lot of it.

It's easy to identify what is nonfiction in comparison to fiction, however, how to distinguish nonfiction titles from each other is much more tricky. The narrative context plays a large role. Is the book written like a novel or does it read more like interesting facts presented as research? Can an "Average Joe" (or Jane) read it easily, or does there need to be more of a specialized education to understand the material? I think the easiest way to start to narrow down what sort of nonfiction book a person is looking to read is the subject, followed by time period and/or setting. The type of nonfiction (biography, memoir, essays, letters, etc.) also plays a large role. Pacing, characterization, story line and setting are all additional determining factors for suggesting nonfiction to a reader, just as they are for fiction.

This week's assigned nonfiction title was The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, which I really enjoyed. It was rather scary though (much more of a "horror" pick for me than World War Z!) as it alluded to the likelihood of human beings causing the world's next major extinction. While I still really enjoyed the book, I found myself thinking that the pacing was a little slower than I would normally prefer, and the narrative context was a bit more scientific at times than I would have liked. However, these elements did not at all make me dislike the book. 

For the nonfiction book of my choosing, I selected Erik Larson's The Devil in White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Not only does the title sound intriguing, word on the street is that professional actor/dreamboat Leonardo DiCaprio and film genius Martin Scorsese will be reuniting for a film adaptation of the story, set to release in 2017. So naturally, I had to read the book before the movie comes out. Below is my review.

In addition to having a similar title, Joel Engel’s book L.A. '56: A Devil in the City of Angels hits on a lot of the same areas of interest as Larson’s 2002 work. Another telling of a true crime story occurring in America’s past, L.A. ’56 details Detective Danny Galindo’s quest to track down a serial rapist terrorizing the city’s young women. Detailing Los Angeles’ contentious racial relations during this historic time of segregation, L.A. ’56 is another real-life and historic thriller to be quickly read and enjoyed. Truman Capote's well-known work In Cold Blood also comes to mind as a gripping read-alike.

Out of all the genres covered in my readers' advisory class, it looks like we've saved the best genres – or at least, my favorites – for last. This week we covered mainstream fiction, which is definitely my most-read genre. To me, mainstream fiction can be determined based on how you would describe the book to another person. Some books you can clearly say, "Well it's a mystery about _____," or "It's a really exciting thriller about ____." When it comes to mainstream fiction, there isn't necessarily an easy label to describe it with like there is for genre fiction.

Mainstream fiction is more about the story itself, whereas genre fiction is about the type of story that it is, if that makes sense. Whereas I think literary fiction tends to be a bit more lofty and reminds many people of the books they've read in high school English classes, mainstream fiction generally does not require as much literature analysis, it can just be read and enjoyed for what it is while still having substance. 

This week our assigned novel was All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which I absolutely loved. It had been on my to-read list for quite a while and this course finally got it pushed up a few places. I listened to the book on audio in the car and thought it was extremely well done. I'm a bit of a Francophile, so anything set it France or includes French generally gets two thumbs up from me. That, and the Museum of Natural History in Paris (where the beginning of the story takes place) is hands down my favorite museum I've ever been to. I find books and movies about WWII also tend to be pretty incredible since it was such a fascinating and devastating time in history, so there's lots for the author to work with. This book was great because it also appeals to readers of historical fiction. It checked all the boxes for me as far as character, setting, language and plot, and was the only assigned book for that class that I gave as five stars from this class (although many of them did get four). 

The mainstream fiction title of my choosing for the week was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. While I'm not always a huge fan of dystopian fiction, as I think it's been a little bit overdone as of late, I loved that this book was written in more of that literary fiction style. Below is my review.

Science fiction is a really interesting genre to me because I always sort of discounted it as not being "for me," but every Sci-Fi book I've read I've actually enjoyed. Maybe Sci-Fi is for me, I just didn't know it before. A few of the reading stepping stones I took in my readers' advisory course that made me realize I like Sci-Fi were John Scalzi's 2005 book Old Man's War and the 1979 classic, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy​ by Douglas Adams.

Old Man's War was the required reading for the course's Sci-Fi week, and while I initially approached it thinking, "Oh boy, a story about an old man in space ... I can hardly contain my excitement ..." I actually thought it was quite good! In particular, the humor of the book and the way it portrayed the humanity of the characters – even those who were not really "humans" – was impeccable. Overall, it was just a really well written novel with a neat concept, and one of my favorites that I've read for this class so far.

And for the Sci-Fi book of my choosing this week, I could not pass up one of the most canonical titles of the genre. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is hands down one of the funniest – if not the funniest – books I've ever read. Below is my review.

Another canonical and hilarious science fiction book is Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. Similar to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this book is also a story of global destruction dripping with deadpan humor and irony, although it is a bit heavier in content. This book is another great example of a Sci-Fi “oldie, but goodie,” originally published in 1963.

Horror week in my readers' advisory class was an interesting one. I’m not one to be particularly attracted to horror generally speaking, however, once in a while it strikes me – maybe only when the moon is full? This week I found myself thinking a lot about the horror genre as it pertains to films. Many a horror book finds its way to the big screen, and generally it involves some sort of supernatural element, particularly hauntings and possessions as of late. Horror movies nowadays seem to be moving away from the psycho serial killer thing that makes up most of the classics like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween. Interestingly, the non-supernatural element that makes up canonical horror films like those listed above does not pertain to horror books, where by definition there is almost always a supernatural occurrence.

This week the assigned class horror title was World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War​ by Max Brooks, and frankly, I did not enjoy it. It was a cool concept for a book, but not for me. I listened to WWZ on audiobook, and since the book follows a whole range of global characters, the narrator changed with each person in the book, which was really neat. However, I found the book difficult to enjoy because none of the different characters or subplots really related to each other, other than the fact that they all took place after the zombie outbreak. As far as recommending this book to someone, they would definitely have to be interested in zombies to like it. A person looking for a general horror book without much interest in zombies or post-apocalyptic material would probably not enjoy this one very much. 

The horror title I chose to read for this week was Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I personally found this one more of a supernatural thriller than a horror book, and enjoyed it quite a lot as seen in the review below. 

The next genre covered in my readers' advisory course was the one that really got me into reading. I mean, I always liked to read, but once Harry Potter hit the scene it became one of my favorite pastimes. I grew up with Harry & Co., and while waiting for the last book to come out in 8th grade, I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to kill some time, and earlier this year finished reading all of the Game of Thrones books that have been released, so far *cough cough*. I plan to get around to the Outlander series eventually too, so I'm definitely not a stranger to big, long book series that tend to make up much of this genre!

The required class book for this week was Hounded, the first book in author Kevin Hearne's series, the Iron Druid Chronicles. While I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if I were browsing for a new book to read myself based on the cover art or book description, I found myself quite enjoying it. It has a lot of Irish folklore blended in with the usual fantastical creatures like werewolves and vampires, though not in the traditional sense. There's also some really tremendous humor in the book – particularly from the mouth of a snarky Irish wolfhound named Oberon, who can communicate with his druidic owner and the series main character, Atticus O'Sullivan. While I would read the next book in the series, I won’t be going out of my way to see what happens next. Considering all of the other great books out there I don’t feel obligated or particularly excited read the next one (at least not anytime soon).

My selected fantasy title for the week was the tremendous Neil Gaiman's, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, published in 2013 and reviewed below.

One of the genres I was most looking forward to covering for my readers' advisory course was women's fiction – although I do have a bit of an issue with the name and definition of the genre itself. "Women's fiction," as it is so called, is that of books dealing with *traditionally* women's themes: love, loss, divorce, raising a family, etc. But ... umm, hello? With the massive exception of actually growing and giving birth to another human being – are these not all also important parts of men's lives too? Or at least, shouldn't they be? I, and many of my classmates, would say an emphatic yes.

I think the name of the genre also puts women in a bit of a box by telling them (and in turn, telling men) what should and should not be a woman's interests, experiences, etc. Another big issue for me is that by labeling the genre as belonging to women, many men are deterred from reading it. There is no "men's fiction," why should there be a "women's fiction?" While I agree that these types of books definitely belong in their own genre, perhaps a better name for it would be something involving “family” or “relationships," don't you think? 

I find myself most drawn to issue-driven women’s fiction, and am not *generally* a big fan of chick lit. There’s something therapeutic about issue-driven books for me. I like reading dramatic stories about other people’s lives that I can either distract myself with, or connect with on a personal level. For this week’s assigned book, Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston, I found it just OK. I thought the concept and content was excellent (infertility and miscarriages are such a taboo topic and need to be talked about more). I also liked that the characters were portrayed as real humans who make mistakes and have complicated relationships.

That being said, I never found myself personally connecting with the characters. I wanted to slap almost every character at one point or another, and not just out of passionate reader’s distaste. Usually, character is the big draw for me when reading/enjoying books, but the plot of this one was more appealing. Maybe that’s why this book just sort of fell a little flat for me. However, someone who has personally experience infertility (or infidelity, I suppose) could definitely find this book very relatable! The other book I chose to read this week was The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center, reviewed below.

In addition to all of the different book reviews I am required to write for my readers' advisory course this semester, I also have to produce two book talk videos of titles from a genre of my choosing. For the first of my book talk videos, I chose the historical fiction bestseller, The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

When I first signed up for my readers' advisory class, the genre I was looking forward to reading the absolute least (well, besides maybe western) was hands down romance. Now, anyone who knows me is well aware that I am an emotional person and can cry over just about anything. That being said, I'm not really into all that mushy gushy stuff, so I had just sort of dismissed the genre for that reason. But in reality, most romance books are much more steamy than they are lovey dovey. And while I can definitely appreciate a good sex scene in my novels, I find it a bit overwhelming when they are practically the entire premise of the book. But now that I've learned a little bit more about the different types of romance novels out there, it turns out some of them might not be so bad!

The required romance novel for the entire class to read was Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan – a regency romance set in 1841 England filled with a whiny male lead and way too many petticoats for my liking. While it was refreshing (and a little unexpected) to find so many Feminist themes in this book, it was my most disliked out of any that I had read for the class thus far. After all, you (or at least I) can only read about someone's pants stiffening so many times before it starts to get a little old ...

Hopefully there aren't upcoming titles for this class that I like even less, because that would be a pretty difficult feat to accomplish. Lesson learned: Regency romances are not for me! All that being said, I was surprised to find myself actually quite enjoying the contemporary romance novel I picked to read this week, called Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey. Below is my review.

If you enjoy light reads like Yours to Keep, be sure to check out the other books in Stacey's Kowalski Family series. Looking for another contemporary romance filled with family drama, humor and a fake boyfriend? Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins follows the story of 30-year-old Grace Emerson, a history teacher who was dumped by her fiancé for her sister two weeks before their wedding. Desperate for something to say when people keep questioning her about her love life, Grace invents a new boyfriend of her own … one who just happens to look a heck of a lot like her new neighbor that she may or may not have called the cops on and beaten with a hockey stick.

Overall, this week of class gave me a newfound appreciation for the romance genre and the millions of people who read it. Fun fact:  Romance books generally outsell all other fiction genres, making up approximately 13% of the fiction sales market! Who knew?!

Western week in my readers' advisory course was certainly an interesting one. I am not – nor have I ever been – a fan of westerns. I went into the week knowing that, and I came out of the week believing that even more strongly (haha). Considered a small and somewhat dying genre, the westerns being written today are embracing the idea of the genre-blend – incorporating elements like mystery, romance and the super natural from their respective genres and tying it into a more traditional western plot. Not only does it spice up life in the Great American West, it also makes non-western readers (me!) more likely to give the genre a shot. Based on my impressions from this weeks' readings, it looks like next time I will have to rely heavily on a good genre-blend if I'm to make it through another western ...

For this week's assigned title, the class read Doc by Mary Doria Russell, a novel about the famed dentist-turned-gunslinger, Doc Holliday. While a few members of the class with great interest in the OK Corral and Holliday's life raved about this book, I found myself agreeing with others who found it slow and hard to get through. It's well-written and thoroughly researched, but if you're not into westerns or the beginning of popular American dentistry – don't bother.

The book that I opted to read this week is a classic western: Hondo by Louis L'Amour. Again, I found myself struggling to get through it because of its slow pacing, but readers of the genre claim it is one of the best. It's definitely a "must-read" selection as far as westerns go, but nothing I would naturally recommend to the casual reader. Below is my review of the acclaimed Hondo – a great book, but one that I did not personally enjoy.