Secret Shopper Assignment

So, being a SLIS student and all (Secret Librarian Interrogator/Student), I went on a mission: to investigate the readers' advisory skills of my local public library.

 Since I felt I may have been overly judgmental/harsh towards the branches of the Indianapolis Public Library in a recent class discussion, I decided to visit the branch nearest my house (The Garfield Park Branch).

I haven't been to this branch since I was a child, which is part of why I felt I should go check out the library and see if/how they've changed. The pros: they now have a computer room, the librarian was friendly, and they had a lot of current books that I liked. The cons: the building is still inky dinky and as such their collection is relatively small.

So, here's how it went down:

I walk into the building feeling quite conspicuous. I had just left an interview (to be a librarian, YAY!) and as such was dressed up quite a bit more than the rest of the patrons (I had my fancy shmancy Guess jacket on that I only wear for special occasions). Anyways, I casually walk around getting a layout of the shelving system and see that their fiction books all run along the outside wall to the right when you walk in. After about a minute I walked up to the desk and (in my most timid voice) stated that I haven't been here since I was a child and how should I go about signing up for a library card. She asked for my name and looked to see if I was still in the system (I wasn't, it has been a very long time). The staff member then stated I just needed a picture id with my current address. I was slightly interested in the fact that she seemed taken aback when I pulled out my drivers license and said, "Okay...?" So she asks to see my id and hands me a surprisingly simple form to fill out while she plugs in my info. I hand her the form, she finalizes stuff, and gives me my card (and it has a keyring card too! So awesome!)

As she was handing me the final information on checking out policies and such, I casually said that I was getting really tired of reading series books and could she possibly help me find something to read. I said that I had read the Anita Blake books and Sookie Stackhouse books but didn't want a series. The woman stated that she was unfamiliar with those books and  immediately started looking around and said, "Uh, let me see where the librarian is." Finally she sees someone whom I'm assuming is either A) the librarian they had on staff or B) someone in a higher position, and tells her I need help locating a book.

The woman agreed instantly with no trace of reservation or annoyance. I definitely felt welcomed by this woman. She asked me what books I liked to read and I said that I had read the Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse books but I was tired of huge series and wanted something that didn't require such a long commitment on my part. She neither belittled my reading preferences or attempted to get me to read something else. In fact, she said that she was familiar with those books,  and immediately started walking me towards the fiction section. She walked me towards Heather Graham and asked if I'd ever read her. I hadn't and she explained that she had some paranormal elements but wasn't a huge series. I told her I kind of wanted something more light-hearted and funny. She then recommended a series I have read by Lyndsay Sands in which each book can stand on its own

I think she thought we were done so she started to walk away right as I started to ask another question. I feel like if she'd just asked me if there was anything else I needed we might have avoided that situation. She didn't seem annoyed to be coming back to answer my questions, but I definitely felt bad pulling her back a couple of times. I told her I also like young adult fiction and asked if they had a Teen area. She walked me over to the area and I asked if they had any Libba Bray books and if there were any newer authors she would recommend. She pointed me to a couple of books that looked interesting and found one of the Libba Bray books I've been wanting to read (Beauty Queens).

Overall, I felt like the transaction went okay. Maybe not great, but okay. She didn't use any RA sources, but with a collection that small I think she was familiar enough to walk me around herself. They did have one Read-A-Like bookmark in the teen section for Steampunk novels, but that was all I saw and she didn't show it to me or ask me if I was interested in Steampunk (which I am, thank you very much. I'm wanting to read The Friday Society and The Girl in the Steel Corset), but unfortunately they were both checked out.But hey, I now have: a library card, access to NoveList, and walked out of the library with six books in tow.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

 ROMANTIC SUSPENSE PICK:

NAKED IN DEATH
BY J.D. Robb

Published: 1995

Pages: 306

Setting: New York City

Time Period: Future (2058)

Synopsis: A New York Police Homicide Detective, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, is on the tail of a serial killer who is killing prostitutes in very personal and graphic ways. The killer leaves notes at each crime scene stating that there will be six victims in total. Eve has to stop him before he succeeds, even if it ends up being the extremely wealthy and oh-so-handsome primary suspect, Roarke.

X 7

 

Forget-Me-Not Review: 

*7 Forget-Me-Nots: Great story but didn't make me think too hard or have bouts of intense emotion. I will remember my favorite scenes but not necessarily anything else.

 

Characters: Not all the characters, just the ones I actually cared about:

• Eve, Main Character: Sassy, determined, and her affinity for "real" coffee made me instantly like her. Not to mention she kicks, like, some serious booty.
• Roarke, Primary Suspect/Main Love Interest: He's funny, loyal, and I started to fall in love with him when he gave her coffee. It was a done deal when he fessed up to carrying around her button.
• The Killer: Serial killers are like sharks. Even though the chance of you getting killed by one are very slim, they still manage to haunt your nightmares and give you phobias. Also, his MO made me wince, just saying.
• Summerset, Roarke's Butler: Can we say Snob? His hoity-toity attitude irked me. I found him irksome. 
• Feeney, Eve's Partner: Best. Partner. Ever. His laying into Roarke and letting him know exactly what a jerk he was being makes him a definite candidate for partner-of-the-year.
• Mira, Department Shrink: I liked Mira just because she's a shrink. What can I say? Sweets has made me have a soft spot for shrinks (Sweets is a character in the Fox television show, Bones). 
• Mavis, Eve's Best Friend: Quirky, fun-spirited, and has the best interest for Eve's libido in mind. In fact, the more I think of the secondary characters, the more I'm thinking this has major Bones elements as well since Mavis sort of reminds me of Angela.
• Charles: Awesome. How I can feel such fondness for a male prostitute I do not know, but the second he called Eve 'Lieutenant Sugar' he became a "Please don't let anything happen to him" character. 

  I really enjoyed the fast pacing of the book and the characters. It took me back at first with the futuristic setting but I quickly thought "Okay, so...The Fifth Element meets Law & Order: SVU. 'Kay. Got it." Robb does a good job of foreshadowing and gives snippets of information here and there to keep the reader guessing. It's always creepy when the point-of-view shifts to that of the villain (creepy in a good way) and Robb plays on that. We also get inside Roarke's head a couple of times: another aspect I loved about the book. I love knowing what the guy is thinking when the story is primarily set from the heroine's point-of-view. Probably because in real life you never know what the opposite sex is thinking. An aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the fact that it is the woman who has more reservations about having a relationship. In fact, my favorite scene in the entire book was the 'morning after' scene: 

 

"Roarke, what's going on here?"

"Lieutenant." He leaned forward, touched his lips to hers. "Indications are we're having a romance." Then he laughed, kissed her again hard and quick. "I believe I could have held a gun to your head and you wouldn't have looked as terrified" (Robb, 165). 

 

Definitely read this book if: 

• You want a homicide detective novel that features a kick butt heroine, a swoon-worthy male lead, and awesome secondary characters
• You like (or at least don't mind): graphic sex and murder scenes, rape victim stories, and NYC in the future
• You have trouble spelling 'Lieutenant'. But maybe that's just me...

Characteristics that fit the genre:
Tone/Mood: uneasy, suspenseful, brooding
Frame/Setting: futuristic setting, New York City
Storyline: suspense, explicit romance, graphic details
Style/Language: strong language, witty dialogue, explicit sexual descriptions
Characters: heroine is strong, smart, independent, point-of-view is mainly through the heroine but with alters to show the hero's and villain's points-of-view.
Pacing: fast, plot twists, and full of danger

Appeal:

1. Homicide detective profession. Is like reading a Law & Order: SVU episode. 
2. Fast paced plot that creates a sense of urgency.
3. Witty dialogue that contrasts against graphic details of crime scenes. 


Author read-a-likes:

Suzanne Brockmann (NoveList)
Julie Garwood (NoveList)
Linda Howard (NoveList)
Tami Hoag (NoveList)
Catherine Coulter (NoveList)

 Book read-a-likes:
Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood (NoveList)
Veil of Night by Linda Howard (NoveList)
All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz (Novelist)
Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz (NoveList)
The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick (NoveList)

An Intro

Books are dangerous. They don't tell you this in school, but they are. A single book can make you smile, laugh, scream, or weep all within the span of a few hours. And you know what else they forget to mention? Those books stay with you forever. Seriously.

This blog is named The-Forget-Me-Not for a few reasons. The first (obvious one) is that a good story lasts with us forever. The books that have made me giggle ceaselessly or even sob uncontrollably can run through my mind years later without me even having to re-pick up the book.

The second reason is that the Forget-Me-Not is the state flower of Alaska, my home state. I haven't been to Alaska in probably 16 years and I still remember snippets here and there from my childhood.

 Forget-Me-Not. It's almost like a dare. And with that name, who can forget the Forget-Me-Not? Who can win that challenge? In the same manner, books dare us to forget them. They dare us to not laugh out loud in the middle of the psychology class you should be taking notes in. They dare us not to frantically run around the house searching for a box of kleenex as our eyes and noses leak all over the place. And mostly, they dare us to not remember them.

With this blog, I hope to pick up the gauntlet and accept the challenge. I will share the books that I have read, am reading, or will read sometime in the future. They will then be judged on whether or not I feel I will be able to forget them on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being, "Oh geez, I'll never forget this... it's The Diary of Anne Frank all over again, and 10 being, "Wait, what was that book called again?".