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A review by jenbsbooks
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by Matt Eversmann, James Patterson
3.5
This is one that I heard good reviews on - one I put on hold without even really looking at what it was about. Silly me, as I started, I hadn't realized this was non-fiction! With the multiple narrators and first person (present tense - why all present tense, most talking about memories seems like past tense would be more natural) it was reminiscent of [book:The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11|43821581], although a much lighter topic here.
I liked this ... but it was rather repetitive. Not too surprising, as different people in similar situations may have similar experiences. So much emphasis on buying local, supporting the local businesses. I admit, I'm an Amazon gal ... it's just so easy and the best prices. If this book was trying to make me feel a little bad, it was successful, but I also am cheap and don't drive much. Several situation with book banning/limitations/challenges ... so we know how librarians feel (we heard it four or five, or more, time here). I thought the middle grade story "Ban this Book" really got the point across in a clever and creative way, even if it didn't address LGBTQ and race concerns as much.
It was fun to recognize many of the titles mentioned, loved and recommended. Books that are on my TBR (All American Boys). I cringe a little whenever I hear ANYONE say "you'll love this, I guarantee it" as some librarians/booksellers seemed to do, and is said sometimes on the FB groups. I would never dare say that, no matter how much I loved something. I know people are so different, you can guess, and say "I loved this, and I think you'll like it too" ...
I must admit - I'm a Table of Contents snob. I like to have all the information easily accessible. I like to be able to move between formats, from audio to Kindle to physical book (I had the first two from the library with this one). There were five sections ... they had headers, but they weren't helpful at all, just general "book" statements (1.To be a bookseller, you have to play detective 2. I could talk about books forever 3. I can't imagine what people do without books in their lives 4. It doesn't matter what you like to read, as long as you love to read 5. Just one more chapter please, just one more chapter). There were individual sections/headers in each part, and even though I don't really know these people (other than Judy Blume) I think I would have appreciated a list for the contents (Chapter 1: Alexis Sky - Bookseller Chapter 2: Lorrie Roussin - Middle School Librarian ...) If I wanted to go back and re-read the Judy Blume chapter, or the one about the prison librarian ... I'd have to flip through the whole book and search to try and find it.
There was a lot of talk about Covid and the pandemic ... I recently set up a Little Free Library in front of my home, and talking to other Stewards in a FB group, it's been interesting to hear how the little libraries handled Covid (were they more popular because everything else was closed, or were people, both "customers" and "librarians" too nervous? Were wipes and sanitizer added/used at the little libraries?) I think a collection of stories about "books during Covid" would be interesting! How many authors made digital offerings free, how libraries/bookstores handled it (quite a bit was talked about here, mixed in with everything else).
James Patterson gets some good press from the interviewees ... coincidence? Irony? :) It was fun getting a peek at some of the booksellers contacts with authors, and the positive experiences. I know many get uber excited about having a signed copy ... am I the only one who wouldn't really care about that?
ARC - I think I've always said "ark" in my head, here it was pronounced letter by letter ... A, R, C (benefit of an audiobook). The name Carnegie came up a few times ... all but the last time (male narrator) were pronounced with the American pronunciation (Car-nu-gee) but that last one was the original Car-NEG-e. The word "route" was pronounced "rowt" ... which is how I tend to say it, but it's "root" 98% (a percentage I just made up but seems correct) of the time.
So I liked this, didn't love it. I'll remember parts and pieces. I actually stopped and switched to a novel a couple of times ... more because I could than because I was bored. Easy to stop and start because it's not a continual story, just little peeks into some book lives.
I liked this ... but it was rather repetitive. Not too surprising, as different people in similar situations may have similar experiences. So much emphasis on buying local, supporting the local businesses. I admit, I'm an Amazon gal ... it's just so easy and the best prices. If this book was trying to make me feel a little bad, it was successful, but I also am cheap and don't drive much. Several situation with book banning/limitations/challenges ... so we know how librarians feel (we heard it four or five, or more, time here). I thought the middle grade story "Ban this Book" really got the point across in a clever and creative way, even if it didn't address LGBTQ and race concerns as much.
It was fun to recognize many of the titles mentioned, loved and recommended. Books that are on my TBR (All American Boys). I cringe a little whenever I hear ANYONE say "you'll love this, I guarantee it" as some librarians/booksellers seemed to do, and is said sometimes on the FB groups. I would never dare say that, no matter how much I loved something. I know people are so different, you can guess, and say "I loved this, and I think you'll like it too" ...
I must admit - I'm a Table of Contents snob. I like to have all the information easily accessible. I like to be able to move between formats, from audio to Kindle to physical book (I had the first two from the library with this one). There were five sections ... they had headers, but they weren't helpful at all, just general "book" statements (1.To be a bookseller, you have to play detective 2. I could talk about books forever 3. I can't imagine what people do without books in their lives 4. It doesn't matter what you like to read, as long as you love to read 5. Just one more chapter please, just one more chapter). There were individual sections/headers in each part, and even though I don't really know these people (other than Judy Blume) I think I would have appreciated a list for the contents (Chapter 1: Alexis Sky - Bookseller Chapter 2: Lorrie Roussin - Middle School Librarian ...) If I wanted to go back and re-read the Judy Blume chapter, or the one about the prison librarian ... I'd have to flip through the whole book and search to try and find it.
There was a lot of talk about Covid and the pandemic ... I recently set up a Little Free Library in front of my home, and talking to other Stewards in a FB group, it's been interesting to hear how the little libraries handled Covid (were they more popular because everything else was closed, or were people, both "customers" and "librarians" too nervous? Were wipes and sanitizer added/used at the little libraries?) I think a collection of stories about "books during Covid" would be interesting! How many authors made digital offerings free, how libraries/bookstores handled it (quite a bit was talked about here, mixed in with everything else).
James Patterson gets some good press from the interviewees ... coincidence? Irony? :) It was fun getting a peek at some of the booksellers contacts with authors, and the positive experiences. I know many get uber excited about having a signed copy ... am I the only one who wouldn't really care about that?
ARC - I think I've always said "ark" in my head, here it was pronounced letter by letter ... A, R, C (benefit of an audiobook). The name Carnegie came up a few times ... all but the last time (male narrator) were pronounced with the American pronunciation (Car-nu-gee) but that last one was the original Car-NEG-e. The word "route" was pronounced "rowt" ... which is how I tend to say it, but it's "root" 98% (a percentage I just made up but seems correct) of the time.
So I liked this, didn't love it. I'll remember parts and pieces. I actually stopped and switched to a novel a couple of times ... more because I could than because I was bored. Easy to stop and start because it's not a continual story, just little peeks into some book lives.