People always come to me saying “You
should read this book.” They probably do it to everyone, but it happens more
when you’re a librarian. It is part of the librarians “should read every book
there is” mystique. But, I’ve reached the age where I no longer am willing to
do the things I “should” do. Occasionally, people will even say “You have to
read this book,” which is the kiss of death. Because, on general principle, I no
longer do things I’m told I “have” to do.
The problem with making book
recommendations is that reading tastes vary. And if you recommend a beloved book
to someone, and they hate it, it feels like a personal affront. Rejecting my
reading tastes is a lot like rejecting my dog – it’s personal – it feels like a
declaration of war. Because, even though
I can allow for individual tastes –we all know that those people with different
tastes are totally and utterly wrong.
This past week, the 5th grade
book club was discussing one of my favorite fantasies, Savvy by Ingrid Law. I was
devastated to learn that several of them didn’t like the book. I had to
restrain myself from going all adult on them and saying – “What, you didn’t
like this book! What were you thinking?” So, why didn’t some of the kids like Savvy? The reasons ranged from the fact
that no one died in the first chapter, to it being too slow, to it being a fantasy.
Now, I’m all for fantasies where characters die, preferably the nasty awful
ones. But occasionally, even I can read something cute and charming. I wanted
to say – buck up and read it! But the point is to be enticing – so I didn’t.
Suggesting a book to someone is a delicate
art. When people ask for book suggestions at the library, I rarely offer my
favorites – to have them rejected would be too hard to bear. There are always a few books I loved that are
fairly universally liked – like A Man
Called Ove (by Fredrik Backman) or Crossing
to Safety (by Wallace Stegner) or Angry
Housewives Eating Bonbons (by Lorna Landvik). There are some, like Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down that need to be
recommended with a caveat – great book, if you can filter out all the swearing.
There are some that I would only dare recommend to friends, like Christopher
Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel according to
Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, which is highly irreverent and some might
find offensive. There are a few that might reveal too much about me, like the
YA fantasy by Michelle Knudsen called Evil
Librarian.
And there are some that are offensive,
irreverent, revealing, and so quirky some people just find them confusing –
like Good Omens: The Nice
and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Which is why it’s the
Fantasy/Sci Fi Book Discussion selection for February. But if you don’t like
the book, don’t come to the discussion, which will be Wednesday, Feb. 18th at 6:30 pm. I couldn’t bear to hear that you don’t love
Pratchett and Gaiman’s take on the apocalypse. And my displeasure might trigger the
apocalypse.
