Lulu: Leary of looney librarians literary tastes

Disclaimer: If any of you wonderful family members love any of these books I mention in less-than-glowing ways, know I don't intend to offend. Reading tastes are reading tastes, eh?

I have concluded that the two librarians (who recommended Dandelion Wine, Janet Evanovich's first three Stephanie Plum books, and The Name of the Wind) here (at the Santa Clara library) do not have reading tastes close to mine.

I started reading Dandelion Wine and just couldn't stay put. My mind wandered and I was a little bored and it felt like a chore to keep reading. However, I'm thinking of reading Fahrenheit 451, since I seem to remember Abby reading that and loving it. (Didn't you, Abby?)

I read the first Stephanie Plum book and wasn't sure how much I liked it. But I think I can conclusively say it was a colossal waste of time. I didn't hate it, but there are probably at least 100 other books I would have enjoyed reading better than that one.

Today I picked up The Name of the Wind from the hold shelf at the library, and after reading the inside cover and trying not to yak all over it, I'm 100% certain that 1)I will not read it and 2)The librarian who recommended it most definitely does not share my reading tastes. I didn't "almost yak" because it was gross.

It was just....oh, maybe I'm just a book snob. But it seemed so.....contrived? I'm having a hard time coming up with words of description. I guess all fiction is "contrived" to some point--but this writing was not my taste, not convincing, and reminded me faintly of a Harlequin romance novel I accidentally picked up from a used book shelf years ago. (I'm certain I offended a number of store patrons when I got to the bottom of the first page and emitted a very loud disgusted groan as I put it back on the shelf. In my defense, I was fifteen.) It's not that the writing in The Name of the Wind was suggestive or even romantic--just Harlequin-y, somehow. (If you like Harlequin romance novels, well.....I'm sorry....sorry that you like them.)

So anyway, I've picked up a few Barbara Michaels books--I think I've already read all the Elizabeth Peters ones, sadly, except for a few of the Amelia Peabody ones--and a couple of Fannie Flagg's. I will be reading Ender's Game and most probably The Host. Hopefully they both fall into either/both science fiction and fantasy. Oh, and Fahrenheit 451.