Check it Out - Online Booktalks!

I actually enjoyed making these booktalks this week.  It was a great learning experience!  My opinions on booktalking that I expressed in earlier weeks haven't changed; however, it certainly is a lot easier to give booktalks on books that you have loved.  I'm still not convinced that you shouldn't booktalk books when you've only read a summary, but the preparation process was a lot shorter for the books that I've read more recently and stick in my head more.  I suppose it's still a time saver not to read the whole book, but with the time investment it takes to successfully booktalk a book that you're not familiar with, I can certainly understand that it might just be easier to read it.  

Other than that, I was surprised at how little time it took to rehearse the booktalks, especially because I'm not a particularly comfortable public speaker.  I can do it, and I actually really enjoy it once I've started, but it simply makes me more nervous than the average person.  I really thought it would take longer to get it on camera, but I discovered that the longest time investment was determining the best way to record and publish them, rather than actually doing the talks themselves.  I do think it's a bit easier to do them extemporaneously, rather than rehearsed like these were, since there's less pressure to get them perfect and you can count on your audience to be a lot more responsive than a computer screen.  

All in all, it was a fun experience, and I'm seriously considering making this a regular habit!  

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Here are my three booktalks for this week's assignment, or it's embedded below!  Enjoy!