SLCLS Genre Study discussion

Has anyone else had their genre study meeting yet? We had out first one yesterday. It was really pretty fun to sit around with other staff and discuss books. We had some interesting ideas on how to help patrons with their genre requests and some new book ideas. It is nice to learn what everyone enjoys reading so we have some ideas when a tough question comes up.

I'm glad it went well! Ours is scheduled for the 26th, so let me know if you have any advice!

In our discussion meeting we talked about kids mysteries and that usually kids mysteries don't have a murder at the center of the mystery like the adult books do. Instead, the mystery is often about an event in the past, a treasure hunt, finding a lost parent or finding out who their parents are. --Laurina @ Magna

At Sandy we had a discussion of what makes a mystery a mystery and talked about the mystery books we've been reading. We had treats too, always the best part!

trish please take note of natalie's comment regarding our next genre study mtg :D

Chocolate makes any meeting better. So do doughnuts. I know this. Trust me.

KEA had are first one today, and I thought it went pretty well. Most of the staff read a book to share- we even had a graphic novel to discuss. For the next one, we are going to all read a kids or teen mystery.

Jennifer wrote: "KEA had are first one today, and I thought it went pretty well. Most of the staff read a book to share- we even had a graphic novel to discuss. For the next one, we are going to all read a kids o..."

I like the idea of having everyone read a kids or teen mystery-that is great!

We are having our first DRA mystery discussion today and as I was preparing (I got caught up in the history of mystery fiction), I ran across the "Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction". Priceless!
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/tri... If this link doesn't work, just Google Father Knox's Decalogue: The Ten Rules of Golden Age Detective Fiction. Enjoy!

Danette wrote: "We are having our first DRA mystery discussion today and as I was preparing (I got caught up in the history of mystery fiction), I ran across the "Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction". Pric..."
Funny!

Natalie wrote: "Chocolate makes any meeting better. So do doughnuts. I know this. Trust me."

I do think Natalie's chocolate idea was a stroke of genius. It is a good bribe to make even more time to read for our next meeting.

Danette that was hilarious. I wonder why the no chinaman rule?
Jamie who am I to argue with best practices? Chocolate treats it is

Trish wrote: "I wonder why the no chinaman rule?"

"No Chinaman must figure in the story... I only offer it as a fact of observation that, if you are turning over the pages of a book and come across some mention of 'the slit-like eyes of Chin Loo', you had best put it down at once; it is bad." - Ronald A. Knox

Essentially, there must not be a character who is obviously the criminal, and the criminal must not be a caricature of evil, but instead have a comprehensible, real-world motivation for having committed the crime.

I think that many of the early pulp fiction detective stories has an "evil" person of Chinese descent and it became a cliche and therefore should be avoided. Some say that Charlie Chan was an attempt to move away from the cliche since he was the good guy. Definitely a stereotype and not politically correct now.

From TVTropes.org—Fair Play Whodunnit:

"Note that this was not a case of racism (though the now-offensive but generally obsolete term 'Chinaman' is a case of Values Dissonance), but a reaction against the clichéd Yellow Peril villains prevalent in dodgy crime fiction at the time. The modern American equivalent would also include a Middle Eastern character or a Scary Black Man..."

Ross Thomas' character Artie Wu in 'Chinaman's Chance' is one of my favorite characters. So much for putting down a book with a chinaman in it.

WHI-I think my favorite mystery will always be Sherlock Holmes, but one of my favorite classics that has a bit of mystery in it as well is The Scarlet Pimpernel. I like how the main character, Marguerite, is torn between love of saving her brother or betraying a man who is saving many (the Scarlet Pimpernel. During the book, you see her motive to try and solve the mystery of who the elusive man is until he takes a sudden plot twist that sends the reader for a loop and her motive changes. I can't tell you the twist, since that's half the fun. You see a bad guy, but which one really is the bad guy is the best part of all. I do see in it the elements of a mystery, though.

Kira wrote: "WHI-I think my favorite mystery will always be Sherlock Holmes, but one of my favorite classics that has a bit of mystery in it as well is The Scarlet Pimpernel. I like how the main character, Marg..."

Hey Kira! I haven't read the book, but I absolutely love the play. Do you know if they are similar?