Please ask the librarian!!

Secret Shopper in the Library with a Candlestick 

Shh. Don't tell them I don't have a card for their library. 
I was excited about being a Secret Shopper in a strange library. I drove up to Lebanon Public Library in Boone County. It's of similar size to my town library but is very differently set up. It's also a gorgeous expansion of an early 20th century Carnegie library. I'm a sucker for good architecture so I've wanted an excuse to slink around there. I liked the shelving because nothing was too high for my average height self to read. Like my town, they had a good size collection of large print fiction. I also liked that they had categorized their fiction into general fiction, inspirational, western, mystery, science fiction/fantasy and what seemed to be an adventure/thriller section. I found it humorous that Harlequin-size romances were tucked into wall shelves hidden behind the circulating nonfiction stacks. Graphic novels were much easier to find!

I browsed for a while then went to the circulation desk and asked the young gal working there if there was a librarian that could help me find a good book. I told her the last thing I read was Jan Karon's Mitford series and I'd kinda liked that. She looked slightly stymied, then said let me see if someone else can help you. She got one of the librarians out of the office behind the circ desk. 

I repeated my request to this librarian who was probably 5-8 years older than me. I probably gave her too much to go on because I added that I liked the small town cast of characters. I also mentioned I liked the literary tie in that Karon used with pulling Coleridge quotes into her stories. She thought for a moment and then asked me if I'd read Phillip Gulley. I said no. She explained that he was a Quaker or Friends minister that was an Indiana author and wrote about a small town. She said it had a humor and I asked if it was at the expense of the small town people or respectful? She said it was respectful. I said that sounded interesting. She took me back over to inspirational fiction and pulled the entire Phillip Gulley set off the shelf. She wanted to find the 1st of the series for me so she went over to one of the nearby deep window sills and checked through for the earliest copyright. She pointed out, with a bit of pride, that one of the books was signed by the author. As I thanked her for her help, she stopped and told me that Gulley had spoken to a small to mid-sized library conference "before he got big," and she'd enjoyed him. I thought that was cool.

I would say from reading one chapter and glancing through the 1st book that she hit a nail on the head with a read-alike for Karon's series. Gulley's main character describes his leaving of his 12 year pastorate as "a medical leave. I was sick of them and they were sick of me." A little more self-depreciating than the introspective Vicar, Tim, of Mitford, but I could see where the series has great potential as a read alike. Good enough that I'll check with my mom to check with her fellow Mitford fans.

Reflecting on the experience, I would say I gave her too much to start with. I had no clue that anything similar existed--or that there was a nearly local writer who'd written one! She gave me only the one idea, though it was so close to the series I liked, it was a home run. She did not use any RA tools, but I was happy to find out a new author.

Gulley, Phillip. Home to Harmony

Oh, the circulation desk had a very clever industrial "warning" style sign that suggested that the staff liked helping people. I liked the cleverness.

Librarians slaying the dragons of tweendom:

I've asked librarians for help in the past, usually because my most voracious reading child is not much for picking out her own books in the library, is reluctant to ask for help and she doesn't always like the same books I did or do. She wouldn't touch my Hardy Boys with a duster, let alone read them when she was that age. (Sigh. I still love Frank and Joe). She didn't like the O'Keefe clan from A Wrinkle in Time. (What's not to like about a family that time travels and a mom that cooks dinner on a bunsen burner?) She wasn't that impressed with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, either. I've asked librarians for books on her behalf many times in the past. 

My most recent venture in book shopping for my daughter was asking for books about dragons. The catch was they had to be dragons that were friends and allies, not dragons like St. George would have killed. She's an advanced reader so we are caught in the limbo of kids and tweens books might not be enough of a challenge, but YA might be a little accelerated in content. Between my own browsing, 3 children's librarians (only 1 read fantasy herself) and the teen librarian (it must have been shift-change on a really slow day!) we ended up with a stack for her to pick through. We also had some listings of some YA books that were Young Sherlock Holmes because the teen librarian found out my daughter liked the BBC series Sherlock. The most highly recommended dragon book was a hit. She's currently reading the second book in the series.
 

 

 

A Thriller for Today

Adrenaline Genre:
Thriller with a Healthy Dash of Suspense

Title: Hong Kong
Author: Stephen Coonts
Genre: Political Thriller
Publication Date: 2000
Number of Pages: 350 pgs.
Geographical Setting: Hong Kong, China after repatriation to Mainland China.
Time Period: present day/near future
Series: Jake Grafton

Annotation:
Two intertwined murders, an investigation into the actions of the U.S. Consul General and his wife's invitation to speak at a professional conference bring Rear Admiral Jake Grafton to Hong Kong. In a city torn between it's colonial past communist present, and a revolutionary desire to return fully to capitalism, Grafton discovers all is not what it seems and many motives intertwine. Coonts explores family dedication, the trust between husbands and wives, and technology bordering on science fiction in weaving a complex, political thriller with it's share of hardware and heroism.

Plot Summary:
The story opens with CIA’s thief-on-call, Tommy Carmellini, carefully searching of the just-murdered China Bob Chan’s office for a tape recorder planted by another agent. Unraveling the reason for Chan’s murderer and the murderer of a CIA agent are only one small thread of the plot. The main focus and major point of view comes through Rear Admiral Jake Grafton. He is sent to Hong Kong to investigate some suspicious actions of his former flight team member, the U.S. Consul-General, Virgil “Tiger” Cole. Jake’s wife Callie was invited to speak at a conference in Hong Kong and accompanies him there, as convenient cover story. In Hong Kong, society is not all what China wants the western world to see. Bank failures in Japan and Chinese government-created insolvency factor into the failure of the local office of a major transnational bank. This triggers large public demonstrations in classic “run on the bank” style panic. An Aussie media mogul’s heir, ex-pat, newspaper publisher, Rip Buckingham lends a reporters voice to the narrative by keeping the outside world aware of the situations in Hong Kong. The ill-equipped local governor (Sun Siu Ki) cracks down on the demonstration with military and police force. Jake’s wife serves as the damsel in distress needing rescue after local black market businessman Sony Wong kidnaps her and the rebel leader for ransom. A well-funded, cyber-warfare savvy rebel group with a charismatic leader (Wu Tai Kwong, the Tiananmen tank man in this fictional account and Lin Pe’s son) escalates things to the next level in a series of high tech attacks that includes infrastructure attacks and futuristic battle bots worthy of Stark Industries. Most characters are well-drawn, including Buckingham’s wife (Sue Lin), a Hong Kong native, and her elderly mother Lin Pe (owner of a fortune cookie company). Some un-telegraphed interrelationships make for intricate final twists as the rebels, the robots and the Chinese army, confront each other in Kowloon.

Subject Headings: Hong Kong, China, Conspiracy, Jake Grafton (fiction)
Appeal: Rapid Pace, Foreign setting, Suspenseful (last one from NoveList)

3 terms that best describe this book:
•    Multiple Points of View
•    Action-oriented
•    Plot Driven (from NoveList)

Similar Fiction Books:
•    Clancy, Tom, Patriot Games. Similarity includes the foreigner plunged into action on foreign soil trying to “do the right thing,” pacing, government operatives as heroes, and the complexities of relationships with foreign cultures and politics.
•    Brown, Dan, The Lost Symbol. Similar in the suspense, detail, pacing, intrigue and character interrelationships.
•    Deaver. Jeffery, The Twelfth Card. Similar in suspense, pacing, need to rescue a kidnapped person, and complex puzzle of characters’ interrelationships.

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
•    Shipp, S. (1995) Hong Kong, China : a political history of the British Crown Colony's transfer to Chinese rule. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
•    Tripp, H. & M. (2000) Culture Shock!: Success Secrets to Maximize Business in Hong Kong. Portland, Or.: Graphic Arts Center Pub. Co.
•    Fodor’s, (2011) Fodor’s Hong Kong, Including Macau (travel guide)

Jewels Introduced

Wearer of many hats. Hats and more splendid hats!

Wife. Mom. Christian. Dog Owner.  Book Lover. Horse Lover. Designer. Gardener. Writer. Homework Cop. Grad. Student. Perfectionist. Procrastinator. (The last two I’m working on while my kids are working towards not needing so much homework oversight). My nickname is Jewels and books have been a lifelong interest. If you happened on this page and aren't in my Readers' Advisory class at IUPUI: I'm studying Library Science at IUPUI.

My husband and I were married in 1997. He’s an IT guy and knows more about relational databases than a shelf of textbooks can hold. He speaks Windows, I prefer to speak MacOS. My kids are 7 and 11 and very creative. Occasionally the experiments—well, let’s just say my life is never ever dull. One item on both of their minor special needs list is “sensory seeking.” Our dog is a grey Cairn Terrier (think Toto) named Pixel. Cats are his sworn, mortal enemy. (Fences make good neighbors if a terrier is in your life!) He’s a hunter with 4 notches on his collar (no cats). I have an established technique for rescuing sparrows when they’ve a run into a downspout to escape the dog. Did I mention my life is never, ever dull?

My bachelors and first career were in graphic design. I worked with print publications and direct mail for corporations, professional associations and business to business clients. I’ve owned my own freelance design business at points.

Children were definitely life changing additions! Mine are both adopted. Birthparents are the bravest people in the world. Having the otherwise silent 2 year old dismantle my office and throw things pretty much said it was time for me to drop that business. So career 2.0 contained the stay-at-home mom, childcare provider/teacher, and school volunteer hats.

Career 3.0 is beginning with working in the library and going to IUPUI for my MLS. I prefer the made up word “book-a-tic” to the real Latin-derived “bibliophile.” It’s just more fun to say: “book-A-tic.”

Things which appeal to me in books:

I prefer to go somewhere in space, time or the imagination. I love a well-turned phrase and abhor poor writing. I like books with plots and histories (real or imagined) and well-drawn characters. I love stories that make me think or reflect or that just keep me turning pages to find out what happens. So genre-wise, I can find a fun read nearly anywhere. My favorites span a fairly wide gamut but I do tend to prefer books which avoid themes like violent victimization of women, super gross-out scariness, constant cursing or raunchy sex.

I prefer good always winning over evil in stories. If it has a map of some imagined world on the endpapers or frontispiece, there is a really good chance I’m in. If there is a puzzle, a connection to real history, a quest, time travel, space ships, spies or detectives, I’m also all in. If it’s a gentle read that’s a tear jerker, fiction or non-fiction, I like those too but in smaller doses. Well-written Christian fiction is a fairly safe bet for me.

A smattering of some favorites in no particular order:
•    The Amber Room, T. Davis Bunn
•    This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti
•    Mitford Series, Jan Karon
•    Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien,
•    Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis,
•    Pendragon Cycle, Stephen Lawhead
•    The Once and Future King, T.H. White
•    A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeline L’Engle
•    Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, James Patterson
•    Wind, Sand and Stars, Antoine de Saint Exuprey
•    West with the Night, Beryl Markam
•    The Willoughbys, Lowis Lowery
•    The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
•    Jack Ryan series, Tom Clancy
•    Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
•    Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
•    Poirot mysteries, Agatha Christie
•    Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle

Early 20th century juvenile fiction series have a special place in my heart. Everything I know about falconry I learned from the Hardy Boys’ pal, Chet Morton, who had a different hobby in nearly every volume of their series. The early editions of the books are generally the best written and the funniest. Many of the Stratemeyer Syndicate series are special faves of mine: Ruth Fielding, Cherry Ames, Nancy Drew, The X Bar X Boys, the original Tom Swift.