Fall Gratification

The rain is here. It isn't phasing me one bit. Not that I like getting drenched, but for some reason I don't mind it this year. Plus we have been having some bad ass unpredictable storms that make the season feel exciting.

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I do a lot of reader's advisory at my branches. Many of the queries are subjects that I can speak to well, like Juvenile fiction for boys and girls. I can totally help a kid or their parent find that kid their next book. YA fiction? Yup, got that one. Occasionally someone wants adult fiction though and often I am not helpful (enough). I don't have a lot of time for reading outside of YA and J and I rely heavily on the recommendations of friends and colleagues when I do. I seem to read more non-fiction than fiction in the adult arena as well, which is terribly unhelpful in adult reader's advisory.

A woman came in yesterday asking for a non-violent, "well written" mystery. Everyone's definition of "well written" is different and I was trying to tease some more info out of her, but she kept saying "I don't usually read mysteries," and I am thinking "but what doooo you read?" Finally I got her to tell me of a mystery author that she had read everything by (I know, right?) and found her some read alike authors using our LibraryThing app on the catalog. I felt lame at that point, but she seemed happy--but one can never tell. We don't have a survey that shows up at your home after an encounter and gauges your satisfaction with our service. We just have to hope the person comes back at the right moment and tells us.

And right after that, a woman came up and thanked me for helping her the week before. She was looking for some books by Virginia Woolf and I had found her one book and one book on CD. She told me that she found VW's "stream of consciousness" style to be cumbersome and asked me what I thought of her writing. I hadn't read VW since college and a lot of what we dealt with in her writing were snippets in class. In small doses Woolf is inspiring (or depressing) and beautiful, but when you read the whole, it could become a chore. I related it to certain musical artists, where you didn't enjoy their music, per say, but you did enjoy the works that came later by other artists who were influenced by the earlier one. Yup, I was feeling pretty intelligent. Probably one of the most stimulating conversations I have had with a patron since I started at SPL (outside of Intellectual Freedom).

I think my head is back to its normal size now.

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Not a lot going on at home right now. Dr. T and I are settling in to domestic bliss. The Boy's football games have moved days so I only have one more I can go to later in the month. This makes our weekends much more laid back, as much as I would like to be there to see him play. It is dark and rainy out so I am not doing much gardening, although I think I will have a second crop of potatoes in my planter. It is so easy to grow potatoes that I think I will continue doing it throughout the year to supplement our potato addiction.

I will be in another wedding. Sister U is getting married next September and it is fun to watch her and her beau plan. They have a blog where they throw up all of their ideas, both serious and silly. I kind of hope they get the comic book hero cake though.

Acronyms and Spinning the System

Finally got caught up on sleep today. It should have been yesterday, but I went to WASHYARG (Washington Young Adult Readers Advisory Group) in the wee hours yesterday morning. I was a little disappointed at the pickings this time. Many of the reviews were on books that hit our library shelves 6 months ago and the new book options were unknowns. Where was Wintergirls, or Highway to Hell or any other new ones. The only good books I saw were ones I read months ago; Kisses and Lies and Wild Magic (both of which I enjoyed immensely). I am reading the ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Wintergirls by LH Anderson now. It is disturbing--I will say why later on my goodreads).

Tonight I am representing the library at Sound Off at the EMP. I am tabling (another piece of library jargon that means standing behind a table, talking to people and showing off flyers for our programs and services) and am going to totally enjoy the teen bands playing. I am really glad I am not tired going into this. I am taking my camera and will hopefully get some good shots, and also will take notes to create a blog post for Push To Talk. I tried to dress casually cool for this, but I think I got a FAIL on that. I always wait too long to get dressed and end up having to live with what I throw on. Teens don't like it when you try to be like them; that makes you a poser, to use an 80's term. Hopefully it will be dark.

Books and Other News...

With everything else that has been going on, I forgot to be excited about Kirsten Miller's new book:


I was lucky enough to be one of the first holds on this one, even though it is coming out tomorrow and I put the hold on it today. If you liked Kiki Strike: inside the Shadow City, you should really check out this one, too. I will post more about it later, after I have actually read it ;) (notice that I said "check out" and that the link goes to the library catalog...)

In other news, I did not get the job that I interviewed for last week. I am not very upset about it, because I got good feedback on the interview and I still have my position to apply for--which is the one I want anyway. Also, I heard that one of the other people that applied was very qualified--so much so that they would have been crazy to pass her up. Ach well, das tut mir leid.