SLCLS Genre Study discussion

I think that Reader's Advisory is one of the most fun things about working at a library. Having a chance to connect with someone over books- that's the reason we are all here, right? The other day, I helped a African American teenage boy find the perfect book for him -This Dark Endeavor- and it was so fun to see him get excited and feel that connection with someone that normally wouldn't happen (me being a white lady pushing middle age). What about you? Any good RA stories- successful or not?

A couple of years ago a mom asked me for an audiobook that her whole family could enjoy on a road trip- kids' ages ranging from 4 or 5 to young teens. I suggested The Great Brain, and a couple of weeks later she came back to tell me how much they had all enjoyed it (including her husband) and to get the others in the series.
I also had a more recent win with a guy who came in with his kids (they were looking for something, he wasn't) and for a reason I can't remember he mentioned playing Joust as a kid. I told him I had just finished Ready Player One, in which that game plays a major part. He came back a few days later to tell me he had read it and loved it, and that it was the first book he had read in years.
I love it when people come back to tell me whether or not a suggestion was a good one, and it so seldom happens!

I agree that RA can be one of the best parts of working in a library, but it can also be so challenging! I remember an instance that I had with a lady: she came in with a book and started telling me how dirty and explicit it was and how she was shocked such things were in a library...then told me how much she loved it and asked for similar books. After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I found her some more "adult reading" materials and she always comes in and says Hi now. RA is great...

I just had a elementary-school-aged girl come into the library today. She asked if I could show her where the "true" books were in the "fiction" section. After talking to her for a while (and figuring out what she really wanted) she left with The Mysterious Howling and seemed pretty happy that there were two more on the shelves waiting for when she finished book one.