#librarian thoughts

[sionnualanicheallachain]

I don't have time right now, but I think I need* to write a much longer post later about plagiarism vs. copyright infringement and their relevance to discussions of both fanfic and generative AI.

*If only for my own peace of mind, but also this is one of the things I do miss teaching about.

[rustyscreech]

In an age that's inundated with extremely cynical, sometimes dangerous children's media, I want to give people some hope and say that the children's book and junior reader sphere is absolutely brimming with passionate, genuine, and legit cool work that's perfect for the youngsters.

Today I shelved a graphic novel cookbook. It had general baking info and specific steps for certain basic recipes. The artstyle was really good, too! I've shelved picture books about mindfulness and about loving your black hair, chapter books with awesome looking fantasy plotlines, graphic novel memoirs about really serious topics portrayed with such love and reverence and RESPECT for the kids who will be reading them. Kids get slim readers about coding a webpage and maintaining privacy online.

If you're ever feeling discouraged about what the kids in your life might be seeing on youtube or tiktok, seriously, go to the library with them. I promise you, you will find something that scratches their itch. And who knows, you might get inspired too!

[fromthelibrary]

For as long as I’ve been alive, a book cover has drifted across my consciousness every time I’ve browsed the fantasy section of a library or bookstore. Even before I was old enough to read it, I remember seeing the illustration of a warrior on a big black horse, and a woman on a white palfrey, riding in front of a full moon, under golden letters and thinking “hmm, interesting.” I’ll confess that it was learning that Brandon Sanderson had finished writing this series which compelled me to bring it home upon finding a used paperback copy. I brought it to work at the bookstore with me and my coworker (who is possibly even more enthusiastic about the fantasy genre than I am), exclaimed “You mean you’re only just reading that NOW???” His thoughts on this series are that the first book can practically stand alone. The next few are good, but the series drags for a bit. He apparently abandoned it, but has thought of revisiting it since he’s been told that it picks up the pace again in the last few books. 

So far, I’ve only read The Eye of the World, and The Great Hunt. And I have a lot of thoughts. One being, why the actual hell did I not read this sooner. My teenage self would have loved this. My undergrad self would have loved this. My current self loved it. Also, there is absolutely no way I could have reached the end of the first one, knowing that there was a second one, and thought “no, that’s ok, I’ll stop here.” I know this is a classic of the genre and everything from the characters to the setting to the plot, is what many of us think about when we think about fantasy: a sleepy medieval-esque village with a hint of a glorious past, a mismatched cast of characters bound by fate, a journey of epic proportions with high stakes and a mystical destination. It’s not only a well built world, with an interesting magic system and believable cultural dynamics and differences, it’s also just a really good adventure story.

It must be said that the beginning of the Eye of the World could be a bit. . . much. Personally, I enjoy the form of fantasy storytelling where the narrator assumes you’re an insider, that the culture isn’t foreign to you and that you know what the main character knows, and so doesn’t explain these things, you just suddenly find yourself immersed in a different world and you learn as you go. But I can see where this would be confusing or frustrating for some. Of course, there is a glossary at the back of the book which can be referenced as you find yourself wondering what trollocs are and why no one believes in them, or what an Aes Sedai is and why everyone is so upset about Moiraine being one, but for the first few chapters, you’d be flipping to the back of the book fairly often. 

One of the first things that got me was Egwene. It was basically love at first sight. Quickly followed by the thought that, had Prydain been anywhere near “Randland” in the fantasy atlas, Egwene and Eilonwy would have been best friends. Reading further, I started to wonder what the plot of this book was. Was the objective to reach Tar Valon? Just to survive and understand what is happening? This didn’t really become clear to me until they changed course for the Eye of the World. I realized later that Robert Jordan may actually have had a rare gift for summarizing his characters’ objectives in a very short title. The Eye of the World ends up being more important a destination than Tar Valon. Most of the events of the Great Hunt revolve around the hunt for the Horn of Valere. In my mind, I secretly think of the whole thing as Rand Al’Thor and the Worst Camping Trip Ever. 

I really enjoyed Shienar; a culture which lives on the edge of something horrible and serves as a line of defense to keep those horrors from trickling into the rest of the world, where the strength and honour of warriors is paramount and the comfort and safety of those who do not fight (women in this case) are held sacred. Though it seems a little odd to me that Shienaran women do not fight. Perhaps it’s meant to serve as another thing to add distance between the Shienaran and Aiel culture. That Lan’s backstory started to come to light in Shienar made it all the better. I must admit that I really badly want Nynaeve and Lan to be together. I think they’d be good for each other, that they’d balance what’s worst in each other and bring out what’s best. 

My one tiny complaint is that the languages in this book seem only vaguely formed. Character and place names give the sense of being drawn from different languages within the world, and sometimes characters speak short phrases in other languages. And the phonics of these languages make very little sense to me. I can accept that Nynaeve is pronounced NIGH-neev, but I struggle with the fact that Egwene and Elayne apparently rhyme? Or with the fact that the two ae-s in Daes Dae’mar are pronounced differently, and neither of them is the same as the ae in Nynaeve. This combined with the fact that a lot of the names and phrases he created are similar to each other had me pausing to check the glossary a lot. 

I also have to say something about the women in this story. I’m really happy with how many of them there are. I’m glad that women occupy positions as villains, friends, and anywhere in between, that so many of these women are independent and competent, that there exist between them both friendships and rivalries that are not fueled by romantic interests in men. That said, the way the young women (Egwene, Elayne, Min, Selene, and even to some extent Nynaeve) seem to orbit around Rand has me worried about where this is all going. I’m also a little exasperated with the fact that every time Rand meets a girl who is relevant to the plot, Jordan makes sure that we know that she’s like, really pretty. Even Min, who appears dressed as a boy, and then gives Rand a series case of the heebie-jeebies, is described as appearing to Rand as pretty.

In all, the first two books of this series are the right amount of funny, twisty, fast paced, and adventurous for me to really enjoy them. We get to watch these characters grow up, grapple with the idea that they aren’t who they thought they were, that the future won’t be anything like they had dreamed. We watch their relationships with each other grow and change, as they realize that they themselves have grown and changed in unexpected ways. I’m really hoping, in a later book, that I’ll get a chance to see a homecoming to Emond’s Field in order to give this growth context.

[awkward-bob-reynolds]

Having worked in both a library and a bookstore the three genres people are most likely to recommend to me as I check their books in/out are:

Political books that..... um...... do not line up with my political ideologies....at all.

or

2. The most dad of dad books (ie Patterson, Clancy, Grisham)

or

3. The smuttiest nastiest monster porn, I have ever heard about through Tumblr/Tik Tok.

And though he never talks to me when he comes in, there is an elderly gentlemen who is always returning at least one book from genre 2 along with at least one from genre 3. And you know....good for him. We all deserve a little treat.

[awkward-bob-reynolds]

Yo, fandom peoples

I might be getting the chance to run a small program at the library I work at, which is basically two March Madness Brackets where patrons will be voting on the "Ultimate Romance Hero" and "Ultimate Romance Heroine" from literature

I have ideas for some of the contenders but if anyone has any characters they think would be popular, please comment.

I am more versed in the classics so I'm not really up to date on the more modern romantic characters ( I know absolutely nothing about popular romantasy characters.)

And it doesn't even need to be from a strict "romance" novel.

[therealfailwhale]

Books organized by color feels absolutely chaotic to me like what if it’s a series, what do you mean you’re going to separate the duology, it’s literally just TWO books, why why why on earth are you doing this???

Anyway, my wife organizes her books by color. We’re both librarians.

[bloodysyren]

Watch less, read more. Books don’t give you an ad for every 10 pages you read 💕

[astrapoetica]

What is Cherry reading?

There literally aren’t even words for how inspiring this book is - it has reenergized me, revitalized me, and given me hope for the future.