Doing proper readers' advisory when working in the library, means not favouring your personal preferences when recommending books to our patrons. We are taught to categorize the books by the appeal factors, such as genre, character, setting, pace, etc.
Well, this is a blog. This is my post. (My apologies to Susan, my tutor for the reader's advisory course.)
I am so excited about these two books that I just read, I had to share. They were picked for totally different reasons, one is a non-fiction and the other fiction. One I read in book format, the other in audiobook format. However, you'll find that they do share one common element.
I listened to The Element - Why Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. with Lou Aronica in audiobook format on both my MP3 player. I was enthralled with the topic. More importantly, his voice and manner of speaking to the listener, made me look forward to plugging those earbuds in to start my housework.
The product description summarizes this well, "The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. The Element draws on the stories of a wide range of people, from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons; from Meg Ryan to Gillian Lynne, who choreographed the Broadway productions of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera; and from writer Arianna Huffington to renowned physicist Richard Feynman and others, including business leaders and athletes. It explores the components of this new paradigm: The diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities."
"The Element shows the vital need to enhance creativity and innovation by thinking differently about human resources and imagination. It is also an essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities to meet the challenges of living and succeeding in the twenty-first century. "
I will read this book again and again. I also wish that every person working with the education system would listen to the message and then instill in all children the knowledge that they have a special purpose and success will come to those who pursue it with heart, regardless of the perceived obstacles.
I kept coming across Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant while straightening up the adult fiction shelves. It called to me with its childish drawing of a Tortoise and a flaming paper castle. The fact that it had a maple leaf sticker on the spine, telling me it was a Canadian work, further hooked me.
What a delightful, unique read this was. It made me smile and warmed my heart (which needs all the warming it can take at this point in the winter). Afterward, I read a couple reviews and publicity material and was disheartened referred to the female protagonist as an "IQ-challenged" woman....
Audrey (or Oddly as she is referred to by those that love her) is beyond that simple label or definition.
I preferred
this review by Diane Baker Mason for the Globe and Mail that seemed to capture everything I needed to say about this book, in words more eloquent than mine.
She says this " Audrey might have been told by her school at one point that she had a 'low IQ', but that's not credible. She's brilliant. She's hilarious. I could read about her all day."
From the back cover of the book, Lisa Moore, author of Alligator, has a statement of praise that includes:
"This book is astoundingly unique. A novel about fathers and daughters, love and loss, the wisdom that accumulates over the ages, and that ancient instinct to come home. Joyful. A tortoise de force."
Jessica Grant won the First Novel award in April 2010 for this novel.
I didn't intentionally decide to read two books that, for me, had an underlying theme about society's misconceptions of intelligence. But now thinking about these two books, I am reminded of something that a Facebook buddy posted, "Success has more to do with your 'I CAN', than your 'I.Q.'"
