At first I was a little disappointed by Street Fiction, the reviews were mostly by fans instead of critics, the first page under each sub genre seemed disorganized and thrown together, and the direct easy link to Amazon put me off. But...I like Amazon, they have free shipping. And I am supposed to be working, not just reading for fun, so I poked around a little more. The site it better organized that I'd first realized, maybe because it is so stripped down, which does make is accessible.  I like the tabs for places and topics, they have a detailed breakdown of sub sub genres that is easy to search. I think I'll be able to help with more detailed and specific requests from customers using those tabs.  The Librarian's Resources tab also looked interesting, I'll read more there later.

I am enjoying Goodreads a little too much.  If I hadn't, I might be a little more caught up here with these assignments.  I particularly like the "to read" shelf" since I often say to myself "oh I want to read that!" or get a recommendation from someone and say "Yes, I'll read that next! Can't wait." But then when I am at the library looking for something to read, searching the shelves, I often as not draw a blank. Sorta like opening the refrigerator and thinking "What am I hungry for? Why did I come in the kitchen?" So this will help me with that, help me remember all my good intentions to read new authors and try new genres, which will not only be entertaining, but also help with readers advisory.

On Goodreads I pointed out "The Wide Sargasso Sea" to Bryce Rumbles and Randalee Gross for totally different reasons; there being a lot of reasons to recommend it, I found it easy to find people who I thought would like it.  Bryce has enjoyed dark brooding crime books which involve madness, so I think he'll like it.  Randalee likes classics and although this is a little young to be called a classic maybe, I think anyone who liked the Bronte's will want to have a look at this one.  Sorta Bronte fan fiction. Randalee also like Marbles which was about a woman with mental illness so there is that. Finally, she also lived in Africa for awhile so I thought she might enjoy the exotic location.

Stephen King's Dr Sleep is one that I am particularly anticipating. I read a lot of Stephen King when I was young but gradually lost interest, so to read about a young character that I liked when I was young, and revisit after years when we are both older will be like catching up with an old friend. Yet somehow I suspect that he will have, unfairly, aged not quite as much as I have. Maybe I don't want to see him again after all. But many will, any horror or suspence fan, readers who like action and modern settings with well drawn characters and just the right ammount of character development.  Not so much as to be introspective, but enough to make you care, both about the ones running from the ax weilding maniac, and the ax weilding maniac himself.

I enjoyed the cover quizzes, although I didn't do all that well: I got 15/24 on the adult covers, 11/20 on the children's and a miserable 6 of the genre.

To the third customer I'd reccomend "The Murder of King Tut" by James Patterson.  I think he'd like the pace, intensity and that it is a true story about a powerful ruler in an exotic setting.

To customer two "Have you read Laurell Hamilton yet? If Twilight irritated you, I think you will love Anita Blake, Hamiltons heroine. She is tough, sarcastic, no nonsense, jaded and funny. I recommend that you start with "Guilty Pleasures" which is the first in the series, and be assured that it just get better from there. It has everything that is attractive about Twilight, vampires, werewolves, strong female lead, mystery and action, and a little romance, but the writing is clearer, cleaner and it is definately written for adults, not pre teens."

To the customer in conversation one, I'd reccomend "The First Day of the Rest of My Life" by Cathy Lamb.  It looks like it has the same introspective feel and a similar theme of self re examination. It was also reccomended by The Three Tomatoes Book Club, so I assume it would be a good book club selection. Finally, the author is a New York Time's bestseller and the customer mentioned that she like popular books.

In Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series, 1830's New Orleans is vividly detailed.  Evenly paced, her complex characters unfold around plots that explore human motives, love, power and fear, played across all strata of the city's society.  Her settings are richly detailed, illustrating the complexities  of class and culture through descriptions of dress and manners.  Within the maze of who can politely speak to whom, where they can do it, and under what circumstances, maids, slaves, heiresses, drunks and policemen nurture friendships that sustain her protagonists through murders, kidnapping, voodoo assassinations and poorly considered love affairs. Although she writes of a society that maintains a proper veener, her characters are very human, and topics such as religious hypocrisy and same sex relationships are dealt with frankly.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin is another favorite for many of the same reasons, the historical details are well researched and colorful.  Through the 20 books of the series, even the minor characters develop and evolve, some maturing and blooming into heroes that you love and root for, some simply proving hysterically again and again that some knuckleheads will never change.  Set predominately in the man's world of the 19th century British navy, he manages to almost entirely avoid the topic of same sex relationships, preferring to explore the topics of friendship, loyalty and swashbuckling.  At the end of the last book I still managed to be disappointed that he hadn't written more.