Reader's Advisory is a Two Way Street

The best part of my job, hands down, is helping people find books to read. I really love promoting books that I think this or that particular person would enjoy. And it's much, much easier if I've read the book(s) but my own reading time is less & less these days (and no, I haven't read every book in the library. Wouldn't even want to. Doesn't make them all bad books, they're just not all up my alley).

What's a librarian to do? Well, for one I read reviews, get email notices, and listen to author interviews on television & NPR. But an even better way is to talk face-to-face (what a novel idea in this technological age!) with folks about books. What they're reading & more importantly, what they're enjoying. Which is how I got turned on to Harlan Coben (thanks, John, for telling me "you have to read them--and in order"). Which is what I'm doing now....well, book 3 is waiting for me to finish Tuesday night's book discussion title (I'm leading it so I really ought to get through it).

So, if you're reading this (I have my doubts that very many people do), let me know a good title that I should read myself or recommend to others. I can use all the help I can get!

Library Week

As usual, I'm keeping my celebration of Library Week low-key. But in honor of libraries everywhere, I'm sharing some of my favorite library quotes:

"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life." ~Henry Ward Beecher

"What is more important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is the fact that it exists." ~Archibald MacLeish, "The Premise of Meaning," American Scholar, 5 June 1972

"Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest." ~Lady Bird Johnson

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." ~Jorge Luis Borges

"A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone." ~Jo Godwin

"Libraries are the one American institution you shouldn't rip off." ~Barbara Kingsolver, "Animal Dreams"

"Librarians are almost always very helpful and often almost absurdly knowledgeable. Their skills are probably very underestimated and largely underemployed." ~Charles Medawar
(OK, I threw that one in for very personal reasons!)

and the one quote that probably resonates more today than the others:

"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” ~Whole Earth Catalog

If you want to read about libraries (well, who wouldn't?), I suggest Jo Dereske's Miss Zukas mystery series, The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr, & Quiet, Please by Scott Douglas. They give a good depiction on life inside a library.

Food Glorious Food

The main attraction Tuesday night was Nancy Pickard, but my mother's recipe for the Bean Bake might have come in a close second.

For those who asked for the recipe, here it is:

8 slices bacon

4 large onions, sliced & ringed

1 C. brown sugar

1/2 t. garlic powder

1 t. salt

1/2 C. vinegar

1 t. dry mustard

1 can baby lima beans

1 can butter beans

1 can green beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can baked beans

Fry bacon & set aside. Put onion rings, brown sugar, vinegar, & seasonings in (large) pan with bacon grease. Cover & cook 20 minutes.

Drain liquid from butter, lima, green, & kidney beans. Combine with baked beans & onion in a large casserole dish. Cook in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until heated through. Sprinkle bacon over the top & serve.

This makes a large amount--I tripled the recipe for Tuesday night. My usual MO for it is to combine all the ingredients & heat in a crockpot for several hours. That way I can do the prep work the day before & heat it the day I'm serving it.

Dinner with Nancy

Can there be a more gracious author than Nancy Pickard? I really don't think so--and I suspect there are another 50-some people who agree with me.

The icing on the cake for Tuesday night's gathering was Nancy's presentation over The Virgin of Small Plains, the 2009 Kansas Reads pick. Yes, the food was good, but Nancy was definitely the draw for the nearly 60 persons who packed our meeting room. Nearly all in attendance had previously read the book and no doubt some wanted to see just what the woman who came up with that story looked and sounded like! (I still don't understand those who find the book "grisly" or"graphic", which no doubt says more about me than it does them). I'm sure that even if Nancy didn't live up to their mental image (she does rather look like a writer of gentle, refined fiction--not that her books aren't refined!), they went away as fans.

As one who has been reading Nancy's books since Generous Death--and I've never forgotten how Jenny Cain stopped the bad guy!--I'm thrilled to have served with her on the Kansas Reads committee and have her in my email address book. For those who still haven't been introduced to her writing, do it now! Although you may have to wait until her books come back in.

Kansas Reads "The Virgin of Small Plains"

The Pittsburg Public Library kicked off its observance of “Kansas Reads The Virgin of Small Plains” on Monday, February 2nd. Nearly thirty attendees enjoyed a lunch of either vegetable beef or Mexican bean soups (or both!) before hearing from Kaite Stover, Head of Reader’s Services at KCPL, about the importance of reading Nancy Pickard’s award-winning book. Thanks to the extreme generosity of the local Friends group, complimentary copies of The Virgin of Small Plains are available to 125 lucky readers. Well, that number is much lower now, since those in attendance quickly snatched up their own copy after hearing Kaite talk up the book. Hopefully those copies will be passed around to friends and family.

And they’ll want to be prepared for our next event, Nancy Pickard’s visit on the 17th. A picnic supper—to pay homage to the Memorial Day events in VOSP—will be served before Nancy takes center stage. Those who have heard Nancy speak before at our library are eager to see her again and are promising to bring their friends. Let’s hope Nancy will be ready for their many questions.

A New Year

Even for confirmed readers like myself, books tend to take a back seat during the holidays. And they certainly did in 2008. But now I'm getting back on track (or so I hope).

I saw a most excellent resolution in the Joplin Globe, which I have adopted as my own, and that is to read one book a week. I nearly did that last year (ended up with 50, despite my November-December slide) so I think I may be able to do it (and of course, that also means keeping track of those titles, but I'm getting much better at doing that).

So far I'm on track, having started book #3 this week. And I also have a favorite book of the year (so far): American Thighs by Jill Connor Browne. It's the latest in the Sweet Potato Queens series of books & this is one I can certainly relate to since it's all about aging. It had me doubled over in laughter and it's been a long time since anything has had that effect on me.

However, let me be perfectly frank--Browne is not a genteel Southern lady. Bawdy, earthy, and coarse more aptly describe her writing. Which I guess tells you a little bit about my tastes.

But I feel good about my goal and will do my best. Hope you will, too.

The Votes Are In

...and the readers have spoken!

Final tally for the five books by McCain: 78 (up one from October & I can say with great certainty that it checked out Saturday after the pre-election display went up on Friday).

Count for the four Obama books: 128 (an increase of 3 from last month & again, one of those went off the display on Monday).

And I should add this caveat: apparently one of the Obama books was checked out in August & has yet to be returned, something I just discovered this week. Which means that Obama's "win" is even more significant in that he was running at more of a disadvantage than first thought.

Not as historic as the real election, but I wanted to make sure that my "reporting" was truthful, fair, and balanced. And I should also note that Amazon reports that Obama's two books have made it to their top 25 Best Sellers since the election was called overnight. Guess the rest of the nation is following the lead of our readers.

And with less election news on TV, it will be back to the books for me!

Vote!

Another interesting story, courtesy of Shelf Awareness:

An amusing note on election day: Jessica James, author of historical nonfiction, polled visitors of her website about "the literary character they think best exemplifies the qualities of a U.S. president." The landslide winner, with 56% of the vote, was Atticus Finch of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.Second, with 15% of the vote, was Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice--who would not qualify because of his foreign birth, but no matter. Third place was a character from one of James's own novels: Colonel Alexander Hunter from Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia.

Atticus would certainly get my vote!

Stay tuned for the final circulation tally tomorrow!