Adult Readers Advisory: "The Camel Club" by David Baldacci

The Camel Club
By David Baldacci

Synopsis

The Camel Club, a group of misfit conspiracy theorists in Washington D.C., stumble upon a complex and tangled plot that reaches all the way to the White House. When Camel Club leader Oliver Stone (not his real name) and his friends witness a murder, they discover that it’s just part of a plan that puts the nation’s safety and security at risk. The Camel Club teams up with Secret Service agent Alex Ford to uncover the plot - and save the country.

Thriller Elements

Pacing: “The Camel Club” is densely written, with many threads of plots working independently and an impressive attention to detail. However, chapters are short and almost always end on a cliffhanger, driving the pace of the book. Plotline slowly but surely come together into an explosive confrontation. The book does have a strong political message, and Baldacci occasionally pauses the action in order to make a political point.

Frame & Setting: It’s obvious that Baldacci is from the Washington D.C. area, because “The Camel Club” is immersed in the characters, motives, and setting of the nation’s capital. The book also goes into great detail about the lives of secret service agents, politicians, terrorist cells, and, of course, conspiracy theorists. It’s well-researched and has a definite political thriller feel.

Story Line: “The Camel Club” has twists and turns galore, and it does get complicated, especially because there are some characters that have aliases. It’s like watching a complex puzzle slowly come together. The story focuses on a fictional post-9/11 world where there have been terrorist attacks on American soil and, while some of those aspects feel topical even 10 years later, some of the portrayals of terrorists feel less-than-modern.

Characterization: Oliver Stone and Alex Ford are sympathetic and heroic characters, and they play nicely off each other; they are both out for justice and come down firmly on the side of good, but they go about their mission in very different ways. Oliver Stone is also especially interesting because the reader gets only glimpses of his complex and morally ambiguous past. The rest of the Camel Club members are colorful and entertaining, and many of the rest of the characters are enigmas, with little indication of where their loyalties truly lie.

Tone & Mood: “The Camel Club” is violent - the book racks up the body count - and things sometimes feel bleak, especially for the main characters. The book ends on a positive note, but things are far from happy and resolved.

Style & Language: Baldacci’s writing style is not particularly notable; this is, in many ways, a boilerplate political thriller. However he deftly uses political and law enforcement jargon to great effect throughout “The Camel Club.”

Read-Alikes

Readers may enjoy the next book in the Camel Club series, “The Collectors,” and other of Baldacci’s works, such as “Split Second,” which follows a Secret Service agent and an ex-Secret Service agent searching for an abducted presidential candidate, or legal thriller “True Blue.”
Other authors to check out are: Harlan Coben (“Deal Breaker,” “Hold Tight”), James Grippando (“The Pardon,” “Intent to Kill”), Kyle Mills (“Rising Phoenix”), Jeffrey Deaver (“The Bone Collector”), and James Patterson (Alex Cross and Michael Bennett series).

Jenny’s Take

It took me a long time to get into “The Camel Club.” The book had a lot of disparate plot threads, with people all doing their own things that were apparently unrelated to each other. When the pieces finally started to materialize, things got more interesting and the conclusion ended up pretty, well, thrilling, but, for my taste, it took way too long to get to the “good parts.”

I also felt like “The Camel Club” was pretty heavy, and heavy-handed, on the political messages. I found myself wishing that he had left a bit more to the readers’ imagination, rather than making his characters mouthpieces for a political message.

There were also some intriguing characters, but many, especially the leads, felt distant. I like to get to know characters in the books I read! Thankfully, the chapters were short so I didn’t have to spend a long time reading about people who I didn’t find as interesting.

“The Camel Club” was not a favorite of mine, but I can definitely understand the appeal to those who like thrillers! This is a good book for thriller readers, but not a great first title for people crossing over into this genre from others, especially people who like to get to know the characters.

Adult Readers Advisory: Week 3 Prompt (Part 2)

Second, after you get a chance to do the readings and explore Mary Chelton's list of tools, I want to hear about how you find books to read. It could be a site or a resource you've just discovered or one you've used for years, one you use for yourself or for your patrons or family and friends.

I tend to rely a lot on friends and family to recommend books. This has only expanded since I started working at the library - I've found several coworkers with similar reading tastes, and we're always exchanging book recommendations. I use GoodReads for this purpose, too. I follow a lot of people - friends, colleagues, and fellow students - and when I see that someone read and enjoyed something that looks at all interesting, I'll consider reading it. There's no substitute for finding a friend who shares your reading tastes and with whom you can throw book recommendations back and forth!

Since one of my favorite genres is romance, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books as one of my favorite sites. I have found that review journals and selection tools don't always reflect the nuances of romance subgenres, and romance is a misunderstood and oft-mocked genre. The writers and community at SBTB understand and appreciate romance. The site feels like a place to get together with a bunch of friends to chat about romance novels, and it has an smart, feminist voice that I love. It is hard to recommend to patrons because of the name of the site, but I've recommended it to several friends who like romance.

Adult Readers Advisory: Week 3 Prompt

My library doesn’t have NoveList, so I used a combination of other sources to answer the questions on this prompt.

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next! 

Laurell K. Hamilton’s website has a great list of her series books in order! The fourth book is “The Lunatic Café.” GoodReads is also a good resource for series information.

I read a lot of series, so I’ve found a lot of resources to figure out which book is next. Usually authors’ websites have it listed, and lot of them have extra goodies, too. GoodReads also lists series information, though it’s not always as intuitive to find as the authors’ websites.

2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.

Since you liked Kingsolver’s grasp on language, you might enjoy her “Animal Dreams” and “Bean Trees,” both of which have a stronger focus on plot. I would also suggest trying “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” by Anne Tyler. It is written in language that you may find appealing, with a strong focus on characters as well. You might also enjoy “Cold Sassy Tree” by Olive Ann Burns, which has a similar setting to “Prodigal Summer” but is more story-driven.

I looked up “Prodigal Summer” in The Readers Advisor Online Database. I read a little bit about Kingsolver’s other books, and thought “Animal Dreams” and “Bean Trees,” which include an appeal element of plot, might be a good choice. In the “Related Reads” section, “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” was mentioned, and it has, as one of its appeal elements, language, along with characters. “Cold Sassy Tree” was also mentioned in the “Related Reads” section, and although it doesn’t have language as an appeal factor, it appears to be more story-driven. 

3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!

A few historical fiction books set in Japan are “The Gift of Rain,” by Tan Twang Eng, set in 1939; “The Typist” by Michael Knight, set immediately after World War II in occupied Japan; “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet,” by David Mitchell, set in 1799; “The Commoner,” by John Burnham Schwartz, set in 1959; “The Great Fire” by Shirley Hazzard, set in 1947; and “The Snow Fox,” by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, set in the 12th century.

I used The Readers Advisor Online Database to look for historical fiction under several subgenres, taking place in Asia. I then filtered my search by place to find books that take place in Japan. I focused mostly on books that had setting as an appeal element as well. 

4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?

Some books that you may enjoy are “A Share in Death” by Deborah Crombie and “The Man with a Load of Mischief” by Martha Grimes.

John Sandford writes thrillers, while Elizabeth George writes more detective mysteries that are a bit softer. The Readers Advisor Online Database suggests Deborah Crombie and Martha Grimes. Grimes’ Andi Oliver series sounded a bit grittier, but her British-based Richard Jury/Melrose Plant series sounded similar to the George book. 

5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?

Your husband might enjoy “The Reapers are the Angels” by Alden Bell, “Carrion” by Gary Brandner, “Allison Hewitt is Trapped” by Madeleine Roux, “Dead Heat” by Del Stone, and “Dust” by Joan Frances Turner.

First, I browsed Zombies in the Topic or Theme section of The Readers Advisor Online Database. Then, I narrowed my search, looking for just subgenres of “golems, mummies, zombies” and “comic horror.” Then, I began looking through to find books that were pretty straightforward zombie apocalypse stories, since that is what “The Walking Dead” and “World War Z” are. 

Click here for Part 2 of my response to the prompt.

Publisher's Weekly Releases Hot & Cold Categories

A coworker directed my attention to this article from Publisher's Weekly, about the "hot & cold" categories of 2014. It shows what print books people bought, broken down by genre.

A few notable stats:

• Adult Nonfiction was up slightly, by 1 percent, with big booms for self-help, religion/bibles, and biography/autobiography/memoirs. I've seen a lot of great nonfiction on the shelves of our library, so I'm not surprised to see the section get a boost.
• Adult Fiction was down by a decent chunk, by 8 percent. I am kind of hoping that this means that people are checking more things out from the library, rather than buying books, but I'm not sure that's the case. My gut tells me that e-books have taken a chunk from the print book market, and I'm not surprised - it's nice to be able to buy books at home in your pajamas and start reading them instantly!
• Graphic novels and Westerns grew in Adult Fiction! There is generally a strong core of Western readers, and I hope this means that they'll get more of their books to read. It's not a genre I've really read (yet) but in the film world, I keep seeing Westerns getting almost-going again. Maybe we're on the cusp of a revival. As for graphic novels, I love 'em, so I'm thrilled. It's really a diverse format that tells a lot of different stories, and it's getting more diverse, so between that and a lot of graphic novel-related movies and TV shows, I'm not surprised it's so popular.
• Down most in Adult Fiction are occult/psychological/horror (down 26 percent), religion (15 percent), and action/adventure (15 percent). I'm not super surprised by occult/horror/psychological or action/adventure, but religion (specifically Christian fiction) does well in my neck of the woods so I'm a little surprised it's taken a dive. I'll definitely be watching circulation in that category! 

I'm also really interested in what will be popular in the future, and for that, I like to keep a close eye on what the kids and teens are reading. While certainly reading styles shift over time - I wasn't reading romance five years ago, much less in high school, for example - people don't just change everything they read when they turn 18. Books bought for children and teens was up by a good chunk (16 percent for nonfiction and 12 percent for fiction), which thrills me anyway, and look at how much science fiction/fantasy/magic grew - by 38 percent. PW notes that the section is "home to such 2014 blockbusters as the Divergent trilogy, the Frozen franchise, and the novels of James Dashner and Rick Riordan," but these popular series and franchises are getting kids (and adults) interested in speculative fiction. I wouldn't be surprised if these grow in popularity in the next ten years because of these popular series.

Of course, all of these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. There could have been particularly good or particularly bad years in any of these genres, and without the numbers from the last few years, it's impossible to declare a trend. But it is definitely worth keeping an eye on these types of figures and seeing where the publishing industry may be going next ... and it's another insight into what readers are looking for!

Adult Readers Advisory: Reading Profile

I like to call myself an omnivorous reader! I try to read a little bit of everything and, most of the time, I succeed! However, there are a few genres that I enjoy more than others.

• Romance: It's a fun genre with a surprising amount of diversity, and romance novels being written nowadays are fun, sexy, and, often, feminist. They are also a great way to unwind, and, especially when things are stressful, it's nice to know that the main characters in the book are going to get their Happily Every After. I tend toward historical romances, although I have read and enjoyed some contemporary romances and a few paranormal romances.
• Current Favorite Romance Novels
• "Devil in Winter" by Lisa Kleypas
• "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton" by Julia Quinn
• "Thief of Shadows" by Elizabeth Hoyt
• "Three Weeks with Lady X" by Eloisa James
• Graphic Novels: It's not really a genre, but a format, but I really enjoy the way that art and storytelling compliment each other in the graphic novel style, especially when the art is stylized in some way that compliments the story being told. I tend to read supernatural and horror stories, but I have also read love stories, historical fiction, science fiction, and realistic fiction in the graphic novel format, and I've read a few graphic novel adaptations of books.
• Current Favorite Graphic Novels
• "Chew" series by John Layman
• "Preacher" series by Garth Ennis
• "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang
• "Laika" by Nick Abadzis
• Science Fiction: I really got into science fiction through my childhood love of "Star Wars," but I enjoy a variety of Science Fiction, mostly "lighter" sci-fi that might even be called "science fantasy" by some. I love seeing peoples' visions of the future, the past, other worlds, and worlds that never were.
• Current Favorite Science Fiction Novels:
• "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis
• "The Last Universe" by William Sleator
• "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series by Douglas Adams
• "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
• "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle
• "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown.

A few other favorite books that don't quite fit into these categories are:

• "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
• "Code Name Verity" & "Rose Under Fire" by Elizabeth Wein
• "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman
• "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith
• "Size 12" series by Meg Cabot

See what I mean by "omnivorous reader"?