Lost in the Baltimore County Public Library
Ever had brain freeze at a bookstore or library, totally blanking on the name of the book you were looking for? Well, a couple of days ago, my wife asked me to get her book club pick from the Towson library but as soon as I hit the door, my mind went blank. I tried jogging my memory with the best seller list -- nope.
I told a librarian what little I could recall: It was a novel by a popular female author. (That should narrow it down, eh?) She gave me a pleasant smile (God bless librarians for their patience) and escorted me to the new fiction shelves. She rattled off about a dozen popular female authors -- nothing. I told her, "My mind keeps coming back to Maeve Binchy, but I know it's not her." Another pleasant, patient smile. She had probably read our post about categorizing bookstore customers and was trying to decide whether I was an "idiot" or a "time-suck." After a few minutes, I surrendered and thanked her.
That evening, I humbled myself and asked my wife: "What were the names of that author and book again?" Yet another patient, pleasant smile. (I was pretty tired of those smiles by now.) The answer: Anita Shreve's Testimony. I was pretty close with Maeve Binchy, wasn't I?
Sun photo by Algerina Perna
Comments
I really liked Testimony; I hope your wife does, too.
Posted by: Kelly | June 19, 2009 12:30 PM
Oh, Dave!!! Too funny.
I've had people ask for books by the main character's name instead of the author's name. There's always a moment of "Huh?" before we blink and ask, "You mean, ?"
Posted by: Lauretta Nagel(ConstellationBooks) | June 19, 2009 7:33 PM
I never have had that type of brain freeze. However, I cannot count the number of times I have gone to the library, went home and began to read what I thought to be the best of the lot. Only to realize that by the end of about thirty page that, hey, I've read this book!!!
Posted by: SamD | June 20, 2009 8:58 AM
Back when I used to work the reference desk, I had an undergraduate come and ask for a book by someone named Smith--couldn't remember the author's first name or the title, but he knew we had it because Prof. X recommended it.
I sent him back to Prof. X.
Posted by: Dahlink | June 20, 2009 12:01 PM
One time when working at a library a girl came to ask me about a book she'd seen on her previous visit. She remembered it was green and had a drawing of a horse on the cover. I did eventually figure out which book she meant, but sadly it had been checked out.
I really enjoy challenges like that!
Posted by: NJ | March 29, 2011 4:29 PM