MysteryLady's blog

Trends

A recent article in Library Journal discussed trends in the circulation of library materials.  65% of items circulated are from the Fiction area, with Mysteries being the top circulating subgenre within Fiction.  The popularity of mysteries is no surprise to those of us who read them.  Readers continue to be drawn to the varied types of mysteries being published today.

Weeding

Yes, this really is a blog about mystery fiction and not about gardening.  Weeding is what I have been working on since the beginning of the year and it involves a thorough reivew and evaluation of all the books in WPPL's mystery collection.  All of us who select books for the library must weed our sections each year and it is not an easy task.  It is difficult to discard a book for any reason - ask anyone who has boxes of textbooks in their attic.

Mystery Awards

Each year a number of organizations and associations honor mystery writers for their outstanding work.  Below are the major awards, presented in 2012 for works published in 2011.  The winning titles are listed, along with their location at WPPL (MYS or FIC).  For a complete list of awards, nominees, and winners, visit http://stopyourekillingme.com/.

Bouchercon 2012

What an unbelievable experience it was for me to be able to attend the World Mystery Convention that was held here, in Cleveland, in October.  The four-day event featured over 1500 attendees, including over 500 published mystery authors and guests of honor Les Roberts, Robin Cook, John Connolly, Elizabeth George, and Mary Higgins Clark.  Among the rest of the attendees were aspiring authors, bloggers, journalists, publishers, and librarians, but mostly just, fans of the mystery/crime genre.

Up and Coming Mystery Authors

I mentioned in an earlier post that many of our fiction and mystery titles are by authors so popular that we have them on Standing Order.  This means that our book vendor automatically ships us a designated number of copies of new releases by these writers.  Tops among the mystery authors on Standing Order, both in number of copies ordered and in high circulation figures are: Carol Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Diane Mott Davidson, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, J. A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, and J. D. Robb.

From Book to Big and Small Screen

Recently there have been several blockbuster novels made into blockbuster movies, including the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games series, Twilight series, James Patterson's Alex Cross (partly filmed in Cleveland!), and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.  Many of the movie premieres were characterized by long lines and midnight showings.  Our copies of the books were always checked out, with long waiting lists.