Book List

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I've been seeing tons of direct and not so direct requests everywhere on my plethora* of social media accounts recently for book recommendations. Now I know that the majority of the askers do not actually share my taste in literature but I have personally discovered great new literary loves in several ways over the years, so I will be giving my personal recommendations today; this is not a reading list designed to coddle the masses. I've already outlined my favorite series, and I must remedy the fact the I neglected to include Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series at the time, so I will be focusing more on stand alone novels this go round. Let the top** 20 recommendations commence:

1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
3. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
4. The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (These two are the beginning of the Discworld series, but the rest of the books almost all stand alone.)
5. Black Swan Rising by Lee Carol (This is also the start of a series, but I was not as enamored with the sequel.)
6. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
7. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
8. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (Also the first in a series, the sequel is not due out until this year.)
9. One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy by Stephen Tunney
10. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
11. Eating the Cheshire Cat by Helen Ellis
12. The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
13. In the Woods by Tana French
14. Macbeth by William Shakespeare (I recommend the No Fear versions for all Shakespeare reading.)
15. From Russian With Love by Ian Fleming (Clearly part of the James Bond canon, but the books all stand alone.)
16. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
17. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
18. Having Our Say by Sarah L. Delany & A. Elizabeth Delany
19. Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain
20. Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason (This is actually the third book in a series, but I found it stood alone just fine and I haven't managed to read the prequels or sequels yet.)

Have you read any on the list? What should I read next?

*Fun Fact: This was my first favorite "big word". I am certain that I wedged it into inappropriate sentences far too often in middle school.

**More likely the first 20 that pop into my head. I've read so much I often forget titles but never plots!

Librarian Love Letter

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I need to say a big, heartfelt thank you to some of the hardest working & most patient people I know: Librarians.

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"Google can bring back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring back the right one."

-- Neil Gaiman

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I'm sure the things I'm about to say can apply to all of these amazing men and women across the country; I happen to witness my local librarians at work on a remarkably frequent basis. I basically live at our library. Between the internet, books, magazines and movies it's pretty much like heaven on earth to me. Maybe that's why the librarians have become equated with angels in my mind. My local library branch happens to be the largest and busiest in our county, too; extra work for these saints in disguise. Before I start listing all of their wonderful merits let me just say that I work in customer service and I fancy that I'm rather adept at my job; however, I would never ever have the patience or the good grace necessary to work at the library!

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Dear Librarians (specifically you wonderful specimens of the Tuckahoe Branch Library!),

Thank you for always sounding so upbeat. I have only ever needed to ask for personal assistance once, but I overhear so many conversations that would have reduced my tone of voice to pure exasperation, asperity, and rudeness and never once do you all falter in that polite and kind tone of voice.

Thank you for not only being librarians, wonderful people who are excellent resources of my favorite thing on earth, books, but for also being educators and technical help to the multitudes that utilize the public library system. I wish I heard more people using the library to find book recommendations or research material; I'm certain you all do too. Instead, I often hear you dispensing advice on how to upload a photo, scan a document, open an email account, or print pages. You do this with a patience I could never possess. I would say it is my generation that causes me to scoff at the technological ignorance you all are forced to remedy on a daily basis, but I know for every Boomer requiring your aid their is a twenty-something or a high school student just as needy of guidance.

Thank you for providing such great customer service. You all continue to smile even when faced with an irate public who is whining over ten cents lost to the printer because they didn't read their screen closely enough. You give directions to other buildings when people are lost. You patiently explain (again and again) how the book queue works and why someone can't jump the line. And on top of everything else, you still help people with what you intended from your career: finding books! (You also do all the re-shelving, which I know helps keep things organized better, but is still very time consuming.)

Thank you for functioning as a pseudo-babysitter to packs of un/under-supervised children. I know having to shush a gaggle of six-year-olds repeatedly has got to wear on your nerves!

So thank you for all that you do. I have so much respect for your profession and you as people. I hope that more people realize what wonderful assets you truly are to the community and the world and start radiating a bit more appreciation in your direction!

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“Librarians, Dusty, possess a vast store of politeness. These are people who get asked regularly the dumbest questions on God's green earth. These people tolerate every kind of crank and eccentric and mouth breather there is.” 

--Garrison Keillor

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Image via Fred Flare

So stop by your local library. Check out some books or movies. While you're there say "thank you" to the librarians. And while you're at it, if you've been looking for a worthy cause to donate to, consider donating to your public libraries!