Week 2: Appeal Factors

Assignment 1:
NoveList Appeal Factors

Between the 8 elements of appeal, four areas by Saricks and doorway method by Nancy Pearl, I have to say that Saricks's method seems most approachable to me. When thinking of adrenaline, intellect, emotion, and landscape, I can think of books that would fall under each of these categories. I can also think of books that would overlap in some of these categories: emotion and landscape would go together for many books and adrenaline and intellect would also go together for many books. I like the idea of reader's advisory being simplified into these four easy categories. Also, Saricks's areas helped me realize that I read for setting and characterization, rather than plot. I definitely read for emotion and landscape--I like it when books have beautiful writing and make me feel something, which you will probably see in the recommendations I have picked!

Assignment 2:
Book Recommendations

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
At a warm and sleepy resort in the Grand Isle in the late 1800s, a restless love blooms between Edna Pontellier and Robert LeBrun. Edna is a wife and mother itching for greater life fulfillment, while Robert is a young single man with the rest of his life ahead of him. Kate Chopin sweeps the reader into their summer romance with gentle interactions between Edna and Robert, all the while illustrating their true passions through the hazy beach setting: the sea reflects their waves of tumultuous emotion while the hot summer air illustrates their stifled passion. Chopin's naturalist writing and lyrical style make this short classic novel as pleasurable and ephemeral as the summer itself.


Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Sixteen-year-old Scarlett O'Hara is living a picture-perfect life in the antebellum south. Fancy dresses, servants at her beck and call, barbecues on the weekend and dozens of men begging for her hand in marriage. But Scarlett only wants one man: Ashley Wilkes, who is destined to marry another woman. When the Civil War erupts and Ashley leaves to be a general, Scarlett finds herself stuck in Atlanta with Ashley's wife. Both women eagerly await Ashley's return, although Scarlett must keep her love for him a secret. The only person who seems to know is Rhett Butler, the antagonizing blockade runner who sees past Scarlett's southern belle exterior and calls her out on her more unladylike conduct. As the war ends and the South struggles to find its bearings in an economic downtown, Scarlett is determined to redeem her home, her family's honor, and her love for Ashley. This epic historical novel follows Scarlett's life as she grows into adulthood and gives readers a rich portrayal of the Civil War.

Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert's classic novel Madame Bovary uses naturalism and literary realism to portray the story of Emma Bovary, a woman stuck in an undesirable marriage with a penchant for greater passion and affairs. Flaubert is well-known for his use of style as a writer, and Madame Bovary is a perfect example of a story written more for style and characterization than plot. Each sentence of Flaubert's novel is perfectly crafted and so beautiful it could stand on its own and tell a story all by itself. Flaubert uses his rich style to evoke Emma Bovary's blooming passion for her lovers and underlying frustration for her marriage and motherhood. Widely regarded as a controversial, early feminist text, this novel flows seamlessly through Emma Bovary's life and makes for an engaging, emotional read.