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.   

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

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.

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.

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