First and foremost, I sincerely hope all of your Memorial Day celebrations were fun and restful and full of memories and sunscreen (says me and my sunburned feet). And secondly, since we all need something to perk us up on the day back from a long holiday weekend, I thought I’d bring you this exciting tid-bit of Library News:
Did you know that you can request that the library purchase books that are not in our collection?
I have seen the slips at the Circulation Desk plenty of times, but I had never really thought about actually using them. But then my Thursday Evening Colleague, who is also responsible for processing all the new books that come into the Library, told me that if there were books that we had discussed on this Blog that weren’t on our shelves, or in Overdrive, that I should request them.
As a result, if you check out Overdrive, you’ll see a whole wealth of new books that have been added over the course of the past few weeks..particularly romances by Eloisa James, Jackie Ashenden, and Lauren Layne, as they are extra-special favorites of ours around here. You’ll also find some unique historical selections, and a number of books from our “Best of 2015” series. I can’t guarantee that all your literary needs and appetites will be met by our additions to Overdrive, but we definitely gave it our best shot!
Additionally, I also thought it would be fun to request a few books over which we have consistently raved over the past year (and by “we” I mean “I”). That way, we could have copies on hand to share with you, and also ensured that we had complete series from authors so that you could start at the debut and binge-read whenever the mood took you.
I have to admit, I felt a little sheepish at first requesting these books for the Library. On top of giving me a paycheck for hanging out with you and The Books, our Library (and, indeed, NOBLE as a whole) offers some incredible resources, programs, and expertise free of change to the entire community. After all it’s given me, it seemed a wee bit selfish to ask for more. But the truth of the matter is that Libraries thrive when patrons utilize them, and they get better when given a chance to respond to patrons needs and desires. As we’ve said before, we’re here because of you, and we’re here for you, and knowing what you want to read, or hear, or see, will only help to make us better.
Now, the other truth is that our budget is not bottomless, so there are times of the year when we are in a good position to respond to Book Purchase Requests, and times when we simply are not. But if there are books you would like to see on our shelves, be sure to come by, talk to one of the marvelous Librarians, and fill out a Book Purchase Request form soon!
And, in case you were wondering, here are a few of the books that I requested. You can see them on the Free For All’s display by the Circulation Desk, too:
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer: As you can see from the photo above, Johannes Cabal has been given pride of place in this week’s display, not only because this series has some truly inspired cover art, but also because this series, by Free For All Favorite author Jonathan L. Howard is one of my favorites ever. In this debut, we meet Johannes Cabal, a necromancer of some little infamy, who sold his soul to the Devil in order to learn the secrets of his particular science. Now, he wants his soul back–but Hell doesn’t offer a very simple exchange policy. Instead, Johannes finds himself with a ramshackle traveling circus, and the job of capturing one hundred souls in order to trade for his one.
This series, which is currently four books long, is endlessly inventive, borrowing, parodying, and redefining a number of timeless literary tropes, from the locked room mystery (in Johannes’ case, the room is onboard a dirigible full of potatoes) to the horrors of weird fiction (including the Dreamlands, where Cabal confronts fear itself in the shape of the Phobia Animus), and the horrors of an undead invasion, courtesy of Cabal’s brother, Horst. It also features, at its heart, one of the most intriguing, conniving, and sympathetic antiheroes you’ll ever meet. Maybe it’s because Cabal respects the Dewey Decimal system. Maybe it’s because he’s an even bigger introvert than I am. Maybe it’s because, despite all his terrible habits and volatile tempers, Howard does such a perfect job at showing, in most subtle of ways, what makes Cabal really tick, that it’s impossible not to root for him in the end. But you don’t have to take my word for it. The Library now has the complete series, and has already pre-ordered Book Five: The Fall of the House of Cabal, due out in late September.
Sandman Slim: The Library had one book from Richard Kadrey’s genre-exploding and addictive series already, but we’re now filling out the series, so that you can have every adventure in this paranormal, dark-fantasy noir at your fingertips. Kadrey’s writing style alone is a marvel–like the best noir authors, he manages to fit a world of significance, emotion, and power into a single short sentence, or a punchy snatch of dialogue, making these really dark, twisty plots into a story that is ruthlessly gripping from beginning to end. What I also really appreciate is how fearless Kadrey is in his plotting…when we first meet James Stark (aka Sandman Slim), he has recently escaped from Hell, where he was sent after being betrayed by his fellow magicians. After spending eleven years killing monsters, Stark is far from human, and is planning on every trick he’s learned in order to get revenge for himself, and for the girl he left behind. From this foundation, inventive enough in itself, this series has expanded to encompass the sleaze of Hollywood to the depths of Hell itself, and confronted Weimar Republic mystic societies, horrific and deadly shopping malls, and the death of Death himself. I can promise you, you haven’t read anything like these books before, and if for that reason alone, it’s time you gave them a try.
Happy Tuesday, and happy reading!
