Saturday, January 26, 2013
Library Visit
I had a horrible experience with my librarian. Do you remember the in-class activity we did
in our second week? Well I went into the
library under the pretext that I haven’t read anything since high school and I wanted
to change that. There were no signs for
the readers’ advisory or the reference desk and there were not any chairs in
front of the reference desk for one to sit down and feel comfortable in. I went up to the librarian and said, “I need
help finding something to read.” He asked
me if I liked fiction or non-fiction and I said, “I wasn’t for sure.” The librarian, Mike Williams, couldn’t handle
this at all. He muttered something like “we
have 35,000 books” and his body language indicated he was put off. At this point I was in complete shock. I was not expecting this kind of rudeness and
remained silent sticking to my story that I didn’t know what I wanted to
read. If he would have asked me I would
have told him that I have never read for pleasure but he did not ask me. He stonewalled me and kept asking if I wanted
fiction or non-fiction. I then asked
him, “do you do this kind of thing?” And
his reply was, “I am not a reader’s advisory librarian. I am a reference
librarian.” Of course my character did not
know what these terms meant. Eventually
I said, “I guess I like fiction.” His
reply, “well that narrows it down to half the library.” He was condescending. He then walked me over to the fiction area. He mentioned that he like Clive Cussler but
after this he said exasperated “but it doesn’t matter what I like.” He talked about Tom Clancy and then I told
him I liked the Band of Brothers series.
This should have been a bright light telling him I liked historical
fiction but he just said then you might like Tom Clancy. I talked about this transaction in my S550
class with Copeland and one of my classmates knew Mike. She said he was a nice guy and he was really
good with computers. Although this might
be true he is hurting his library, the patrons and our profession with his
attitude and lack of people skills.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Author: Scott Turow
Title: Limitations
Genre: Thriller, Suspense and Mystery
Genre Heading: Legal Stories
Publication Date: 2006
Number of Pages: 197
Geographical Setting:
Kindle
County, Illinois. This is a fictional setting that he uses in his other
novels. George Mason is from Southern
Virginia that plays into his character.
Time Period: Present Day
Series (If applicable): NA
Plot Summary:
George Mason
is a judge who has been part of a gang rape in his youth. Know he is forced to decide on a case that is
similar to his. His wife is getting
treatment for cancer and can’t confide in her because she is unable to handle
the stress. In the meantime he is trying
to find out who is sending him death threats and deals with a carjacking. He then finds out about the threats, confides
in his wife and makes a decision on the gang rape case
Subject Headings:
Rape—Fiction Kindle County (Imaginary place)—Fiction
Appeal:
3 terms that best describe this book:
Fast-paced,
complex, dark
Similar Authors and Works (why are they
similar?): They are all courtroom
and legal thrillers.
David
Baldacci’s Camel Club
John
Grisham’s Pelican Brief
Lisa
Scottoline’s Save Me
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:
Trial and
Error: the Education of a Courtroom Lawyer by John C. Tucker
The Writer’s
Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill All
the Lawyers by Donna Ballman
Courtroom
302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse by Steve
Bogira
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:
Steve
Martini’s Trader of Secrets
Nancy T
Rosenberg ‘s Buried Evidence
Jay
Brandon’s Dead Bolt
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Annotation for Limitations by Scott Turow
George Mason is a 60 year-old judge who is deciding on
the statute of limitations of a gang-rape case that pertains to his past and
has shaken him to his very core. In the
meantime he is dealing with domestic troubles that are beyond his control,
mysterious death threats that are coming from someone close, re-election, the boss
of the Latin Kings and countless other stressors that threaten his sanity and the very law he has sworn to protect.
Turow, S. (2006). Limitations. (1st ed.). New York: Picador.
Turow, S. (2006). Limitations. (1st ed.). New York: Picador.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Stephen and I where working on story annotations and they were surprisingly difficult but fun. Here is my first stab at a book annotation of Stephen King's The Gunslinger:
"Stephen King's 1st book in the Dark Tower Series. A sci-fi/horror/western that knows no limits. Journey with Roland. The last gunslinger in a world that has moved on as he comes to grips with his shredded humanity and hunts the mysterious 'Man In Black.'"
I am looking for help with it. I was also thinking of using read-a-likes but I didn't know how to incorporate it.
"Stephen King's 1st book in the Dark Tower Series. A sci-fi/horror/western that knows no limits. Journey with Roland. The last gunslinger in a world that has moved on as he comes to grips with his shredded humanity and hunts the mysterious 'Man In Black.'"
I am looking for help with it. I was also thinking of using read-a-likes but I didn't know how to incorporate it.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Hello everyone! I am very happy to be in S524 and if the first class was any indication of what is to come we should all have a great time! I enjoyed the conversations I had in class--you people get (complete) me. I will go ahead a recap what I said in class; I like non-fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, and classics. I am currently reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King and an exegesis of St. Augustine's Confessions. I don't have any animals but I grew up with horses and I love dogs. Anyway, I am looking forward to a wonderful semester.
Take care,
Daniel
Take care,
Daniel
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