On my way back from a conference in Chicago I stopped at a small public library in northwest Indiana. The reference desk was towards the front of the building across from the circulation desk and seemed to get a lot of traffic. The librarian was seated behind the desk and appeared to be in her mid to late 50's and reminded me of what people usually think of when they think librarian. She was helping a patron and another waited in line for her assistance.
I looked around the library and waited a few minutes until she was free. I approached the desk and she made eye contact with me and asked if she could help me. I explained to her that I was looking for a good book to read and that I was a little intimidated by the amount of authors and books and I needed a little guidance to find something that I might enjoy.
After explaining to her I needed help finding a good book, she said "Let's see what we can do" and asked what types of books I had enjoyed in the past. I told her that I had been mostly a non-fiction reader but I had just started reading fiction and I would like another fiction book to read. She asked what types of books I had enjoyed in the past again and I told her that I had just finished Marine One by James Huston and I really liked it but I wasn't sure about his other books.
After telling her I enjoyed Marine One she said she wasn't really familiar with that author and started looking in their catalog for him. She asked what I liked about the book and I told her it was a political thriller and I liked the political aspects of the book. She told me the other books the library had by the Huston and I said that I would like to try a different author.
Once I told her that I wanted to try a different author she continued to work in their catalog and did not find the information that she wanted. She then pulled a book out from behind the desk and started looking through a book. I couldn't tell what book it was so I asked what she was looking at and she said a book of genres and authors. She didn't find what she was looking for in the book so we went out to the stacks and she started to point out some authors that she knew of that she thought I might enjoy.
We walked into the stacks and she said that she thought of two authors that might work for political thrillers. As we were walking she said that her favorite genre was fantasy and she wasn't very familiar with the type of book that I was looking for but she said a lot of the books she had seen were military or military/political but we would probably be able to look at the titles and covers and get a good idea of the book.
She took me to books by Vince Flynn and we looked at a few of the books. She then took me to books by Tom Clancy and Stephen Coonts. She said that would give me a good start and to come and see her at the desk if I needed anything else. I told her I would start looking and I thanked her for her help.
Overall, I was pleased with the session. I had read and heard of a few other secret shopper experiences that were pretty bad. She spent about 10 minutes of her time helping me. She also seemed more than happy to help me and she didn't just sit behind the desk. She got up and took me into the stacks and pointed out some authors that might fit what I was looking for. She also told me to let her know if I had other questions or needed additional help and that made me feel more comfortable approaching her again if I had other questions.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Kirkus Review
Title: From a Buick 8
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner (September 24th, 2002)
Pages: 356
ISBN: 0743228472
Genre: Horror
In his second book about an “evil” car (Christine), Steven King tells the story of a Pennsylvania State Police Troop and their experience with an abandoned old Buick.
The Pennsylvania State Police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret from the rest of the world since 1979. Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox respond to a call from a gas station not far from their barracks about an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. After arriving on the scene both troopers realize something isn’t right about this car. The driver has disappeared and the car is towed to the barracks. Just a few hours later Trooper Ennis Rafferty disappears.
The troop hides the car back in shed B for over 20 years. Through that time the troop experiences the power of the car but over the years the strange activity is less frequent. That is, until Trooper Curtis Wilcox is killed in a gruesome auto accident during a routine traffic stop and his son begins to hang around the barracks. He discovers what is hiding in shed B and stirs up the old Buick.
The 356 pages of this book seemed to be mostly filler. The book, good in parts, is a mediocre story of gloom and despair with an unsatisfying ending.
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner (September 24th, 2002)
Pages: 356
ISBN: 0743228472
Genre: Horror
In his second book about an “evil” car (Christine), Steven King tells the story of a Pennsylvania State Police Troop and their experience with an abandoned old Buick.
The Pennsylvania State Police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret from the rest of the world since 1979. Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox respond to a call from a gas station not far from their barracks about an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. After arriving on the scene both troopers realize something isn’t right about this car. The driver has disappeared and the car is towed to the barracks. Just a few hours later Trooper Ennis Rafferty disappears.
The troop hides the car back in shed B for over 20 years. Through that time the troop experiences the power of the car but over the years the strange activity is less frequent. That is, until Trooper Curtis Wilcox is killed in a gruesome auto accident during a routine traffic stop and his son begins to hang around the barracks. He discovers what is hiding in shed B and stirs up the old Buick.
The 356 pages of this book seemed to be mostly filler. The book, good in parts, is a mediocre story of gloom and despair with an unsatisfying ending.
Annotation #6 - W.A.R.
Title: W.A.R. - The unauthorized biography of William Axl Rose
Author: Mick Wall
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st Edition (February 5th, 2008)
Pages: 368
ISBN: 0312377673
Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography
I love Guns N Roses and I don't care who knows! As soon as I saw this book I had to have it and I actually buy very few books. William Bailey aka Axl Rose is from Lafayette, Indiana as is another original member of GNR, Jeff Isabel aka Izzy Stradlin. I grew up listening to their music and I have always followed the band. A band that was at one time labeled "The Most Dangerous Band in the World". Fights, arrests, death, drugs, and sex are all covered in this book. It is the story of a young boy in Indiana that becomes the biggest rock star in the world.
The author is Mick Wall, he has been a rock journalist since 1977 and did have unprecedented access to the band at the peak of their fame. He has written other books about Guns and Roses and other bands of the same era. There was a falling out between Axl Rose and Wall was mentioned in the song "Get in the ring".
This book is as much about the band as it was about Axl but it does have sections devoted to the infamous front man. The book mostly covers the formation of the original lineup to the breakup of Axl and Slash which for all purposes ended Guns and Roses. Rose actually owns the Guns and Roses name and has continued on after a reclusive six years after the initial split of Slash from the band. He has continues to play with others under the name Guns and Roses. This book was published just before Axl's much hyped and overdue album "Chinese Democracy" was released and includes some information about the album. An album that took over 15 years and 13 million dollars to make!
This is a good book if you do not already know much about the band. There is not a lot of new information in this book and almost all of the information is pulled from the sources listed at the back of the book. What is new is the biased opinions and comments of the author throughout the book that become old very quickly. If you followed the band or Axl you would probably know most of this information from previous stories, articles or books.
Once upon a time, Axl Rose was the biggest rock star in the world. Now he is a seen as a reclusive figure that shut himself out from the world in his mansion and rarely comes out or is seen in public for long periods of time. It is said that he is bi-polar and he has been prescribed medicine for his mental disorders. Axl Rose is a person that hast turned into more of a myth than a person. A lot of people close to Axl have said "Axl likes to do what he likes to do no matter what time of the day or night it is". When the author asked one person during the band's peak how that made him different from any other rock star, they said "You'll find out". That is what this book attempts to explain.
Annotation #5 - Hondo
Title: Hondo
Author: Louis L’Amour
Publisher: Bantam (1953)
Pages: 178
ISBN: 1582880638
Genre: Western
It’s the 1870’s and Hondo Lane is a scout for the US Army. He is scouting the Apaches led by Chief Vittoro in southeastern Arizona. Hondo is a mystery man and a loner, traveling alone except for his mangy wild dog, Sam. While out on a scouting mission he comes across a ranch in a small valley. It is here Hondo meets Angie Lowe and her six year old son, Johnny. Hondo can tell that the man of the ranch has been gone for long time even though Angie tries to conceal the fact. Hondo stays the night and does a few small jobs around the ranch before heading back to the fort for his duties.
During Hondo’s stay Angie is drawn to his strength and Johnny looks up to him because his father has been missing in his life. When Hondo returns to the fort he has a run in with Ed Lowe. Not long after the run in Hondo discovers that Ed is Angie’s husband and he is a no good gambler that has all but deserted his family at the ranch. With an Indian war on the horizon Hondo decides to ride back to the ranch to check on Angie and Johnny.
On his journey back to the ranch Hondo comes across Ed Lowe. At first Hondo saves Ed’s life during an Indian attack and then Ed turns on Hondo and Hondo is forced to kill him. He is then captured by the Apache, tortured, and then through an odd twist of fate is reunited with Angie and Johnny after Vittoro learns of the time Hondo has spent living with other Apaches. Hondo learns when he was gone that Chief Vittoro has made Johnny his blood brother and how Hondo must help raise the boy in the ways of the Apache. Hondo and the Apache know a war is imminent forcing Hondo to decide what to do.
To me this is a classic western. The unsettled western frontier, good guys, bad guys and lots of gun play. We have Hondo who is a tough and honest man, Angie who is a good hardworking woman, a no good gambling husband and as always, there are dangerous Indians. There is no gray area for the characters in the book. They are clearly good or bad. Of course, the good guys win and the bad guys die.
I have read a lot of comments about Louis L’Amour’s writing talent or lack of talent. From what I have read about him this is his first full length novel. This book was made into a movie by the same name starring John Wayne. The plot was very straightforward and he wasted no words telling the story.
The story was full of action and fast paced. There was a lot of gun play and death but no graphic details. The romance between Angie and Hondo could appeal to fans of that genre but women may find this story offensive because it is implied a woman needs a man to survive. Native Americans may find also be offended because they are portrayed as savages, however, the story also shows the Apache as very noble and brave.
This book was a quick read and kept my attention. It had everything I think a western fan would want in this genre. When I think westerns, I think of John Wayne. The cover of the book had a quote from him and he says “Best western novel I have ever read” and when it comes to westerns I don't want to argue with the Duke.
Author: Louis L’Amour
Publisher: Bantam (1953)
Pages: 178
ISBN: 1582880638
Genre: Western
It’s the 1870’s and Hondo Lane is a scout for the US Army. He is scouting the Apaches led by Chief Vittoro in southeastern Arizona. Hondo is a mystery man and a loner, traveling alone except for his mangy wild dog, Sam. While out on a scouting mission he comes across a ranch in a small valley. It is here Hondo meets Angie Lowe and her six year old son, Johnny. Hondo can tell that the man of the ranch has been gone for long time even though Angie tries to conceal the fact. Hondo stays the night and does a few small jobs around the ranch before heading back to the fort for his duties.
During Hondo’s stay Angie is drawn to his strength and Johnny looks up to him because his father has been missing in his life. When Hondo returns to the fort he has a run in with Ed Lowe. Not long after the run in Hondo discovers that Ed is Angie’s husband and he is a no good gambler that has all but deserted his family at the ranch. With an Indian war on the horizon Hondo decides to ride back to the ranch to check on Angie and Johnny.
On his journey back to the ranch Hondo comes across Ed Lowe. At first Hondo saves Ed’s life during an Indian attack and then Ed turns on Hondo and Hondo is forced to kill him. He is then captured by the Apache, tortured, and then through an odd twist of fate is reunited with Angie and Johnny after Vittoro learns of the time Hondo has spent living with other Apaches. Hondo learns when he was gone that Chief Vittoro has made Johnny his blood brother and how Hondo must help raise the boy in the ways of the Apache. Hondo and the Apache know a war is imminent forcing Hondo to decide what to do.
To me this is a classic western. The unsettled western frontier, good guys, bad guys and lots of gun play. We have Hondo who is a tough and honest man, Angie who is a good hardworking woman, a no good gambling husband and as always, there are dangerous Indians. There is no gray area for the characters in the book. They are clearly good or bad. Of course, the good guys win and the bad guys die.
I have read a lot of comments about Louis L’Amour’s writing talent or lack of talent. From what I have read about him this is his first full length novel. This book was made into a movie by the same name starring John Wayne. The plot was very straightforward and he wasted no words telling the story.
The story was full of action and fast paced. There was a lot of gun play and death but no graphic details. The romance between Angie and Hondo could appeal to fans of that genre but women may find this story offensive because it is implied a woman needs a man to survive. Native Americans may find also be offended because they are portrayed as savages, however, the story also shows the Apache as very noble and brave.
This book was a quick read and kept my attention. It had everything I think a western fan would want in this genre. When I think westerns, I think of John Wayne. The cover of the book had a quote from him and he says “Best western novel I have ever read” and when it comes to westerns I don't want to argue with the Duke.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Annotation #4 - Postmortem
Title: Postmortem
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: Macmillan (January 9th, 1990)
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780733477154
Genre: Mystery
A ringing phone wakes Dr. Kay Scarpetta in the middle of the night. She picks up the phone and Detective Pete Marino tells her there has been a murder and she is needed at the crime scene. It looks to be the latest in a series of unsolved murders in the Richmond, Virginia area. Dr. Scarpetta immediately leaves to meet Detective Marion at the scene of crime. The killer leaves very little behind and victims seem to be picked at random but one thing is the same. All of the victims have been brutally strangled.
Dr. Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia and she is one of only a few female chief medical examiners in the nation. She has a tense working relationship with local law enforcement and an even worse relationship with her boss. Dr. Scarpetta is very intelligent and strong willed. Her investigation of the case leads her to work with the police, FBI, lawyers, politicians, and newspaper reporters. Her high profile involvement in the case eventually puts her life in danger.
Not only does Dr. Scarpetta have a very demanding job, her ten-year-old niece is staying with her as well. She is a precocious ten-year-old who happens to be a computer whiz. This makes things much more complicated for Dr. Scarpetta with an already demanding workload and a serial killer on the streets. All of this does not stop her from becoming romantically involved with a local commonwealth attorney.
Even though this book is somewhat dated (1990), I thought it was an exciting story and an interesting mystery. This book had medical/biology jargon which was dated. For example, DNA testing was mentioned in the book and it was “new and had only gone to trial a couple of times in Virginia”. Of course the technology was also dated. Very few computers were around and very little information was available electronically. There was a lot of time in the book used to describe databases and computer networks. One thing that I thought was a little funny was the amount of smoking talked about in the book. Everyone was smoking in everyone’s office. I’m not sure why this caught me off guard considering when the story took place and the location but it did.
This is the first book of the Scarpetta series. There are 17 books in the series to date. I’ve never read books in a series but I do think the characters in the book were interesting and I would like to see what happens to them in the other books. Especially, the mouthy 10 year old niece! I do admit that someone I work with had read many of the books in this series and I had to ask what happens to her. I can see how people get attached to characters and continue to read about them.
I would like to read some more of the books in this series. I think this book’s best quality was the CSI like quality of the story. It did include very graphic descriptions of the murders and many autopsies, but I felt it added to the story. The strong female main character also made the story more interesting and could be something other readers would enjoy. The medical/technical details were dated but only because of the age of the book. This would improve with later books in the series. The story and the characters were very good. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good mystery with medical/technical investigation.
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: Macmillan (January 9th, 1990)
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780733477154
Genre: Mystery
A ringing phone wakes Dr. Kay Scarpetta in the middle of the night. She picks up the phone and Detective Pete Marino tells her there has been a murder and she is needed at the crime scene. It looks to be the latest in a series of unsolved murders in the Richmond, Virginia area. Dr. Scarpetta immediately leaves to meet Detective Marion at the scene of crime. The killer leaves very little behind and victims seem to be picked at random but one thing is the same. All of the victims have been brutally strangled.
Dr. Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia and she is one of only a few female chief medical examiners in the nation. She has a tense working relationship with local law enforcement and an even worse relationship with her boss. Dr. Scarpetta is very intelligent and strong willed. Her investigation of the case leads her to work with the police, FBI, lawyers, politicians, and newspaper reporters. Her high profile involvement in the case eventually puts her life in danger.
Not only does Dr. Scarpetta have a very demanding job, her ten-year-old niece is staying with her as well. She is a precocious ten-year-old who happens to be a computer whiz. This makes things much more complicated for Dr. Scarpetta with an already demanding workload and a serial killer on the streets. All of this does not stop her from becoming romantically involved with a local commonwealth attorney.
Even though this book is somewhat dated (1990), I thought it was an exciting story and an interesting mystery. This book had medical/biology jargon which was dated. For example, DNA testing was mentioned in the book and it was “new and had only gone to trial a couple of times in Virginia”. Of course the technology was also dated. Very few computers were around and very little information was available electronically. There was a lot of time in the book used to describe databases and computer networks. One thing that I thought was a little funny was the amount of smoking talked about in the book. Everyone was smoking in everyone’s office. I’m not sure why this caught me off guard considering when the story took place and the location but it did.
This is the first book of the Scarpetta series. There are 17 books in the series to date. I’ve never read books in a series but I do think the characters in the book were interesting and I would like to see what happens to them in the other books. Especially, the mouthy 10 year old niece! I do admit that someone I work with had read many of the books in this series and I had to ask what happens to her. I can see how people get attached to characters and continue to read about them.
I would like to read some more of the books in this series. I think this book’s best quality was the CSI like quality of the story. It did include very graphic descriptions of the murders and many autopsies, but I felt it added to the story. The strong female main character also made the story more interesting and could be something other readers would enjoy. The medical/technical details were dated but only because of the age of the book. This would improve with later books in the series. The story and the characters were very good. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good mystery with medical/technical investigation.
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