America for Beginners - by Leah Franqui

Recently widowed Mrs. Pavil Sengupta of Kolkata, India decides to venture out of her bubble and travel to the United States in search of answers about her deceased gay son Rahi. She employs the First Class India USA Destination Tour Company to hire her a tour guide (Satya) and a traveling companion (Rebecca) for her trip. The three set off on a cross-country trip and learn not only about the United States, but some things about themselves as well.

One of the stops on their trip was the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. Mrs. Sengupta asks her guides if  there were "many places like this...places where things can be studied"? To which Rebecca responds "Oh, yeah. Tons. My dad always said growing up he learned more in museums and libraries than anywhere else".

Mrs. Sengupta does make a stop in a library at the end of her trip, at UC Berkeley, where she reverently "touched the pages of [Rahi's] thesis, printed, bound, and carefully stored in the university library".

I marked one other passage of this book while I was reading it, although it had nothing to do with libraries. This is my only book blog, so I have no where to vent on this particular topic but here: 

During a regrettable night of drinking in New Orleans' French Quarter Rebecca refuses "to have sex in a public bathroom for reasons of hygiene, good taste, and physical comfort." I have noticed recently that a public bathroom sex scene seems to be de rigueur in twenty-first century television and movies. Every time it happens I roll my eyes and make a snide comment to my husband about "here we go again". For the exact reasons that Rebecca gives, I am having a hard time believing it is as common as pop culture might lead us to believe. I can only hope that this tired trope, along with  "making up your bed to look like you're sleeping in it", and "crawling through an air duct to escape a locked room", has a  screen time to real life ratio of something like a bajillion to one.

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven - by Bella Forrest

For those who like stories about orphans who discover that they're magical, Forrest brings us a bit of a lighter series than that of J.K. Rowling. While readers who like to see a magical rumble won't be disappointed, Harley Merlin (aka Harley Smith) hasn't been cursed with having to save the entire magical and non-magical worlds, so the skirmishes she faces, while not without real danger, aren't quite as dire as those faced by Harry Potter and his friends.

While she is not fully aware of all of her talents, Harley does know that she has some extraordinary abilities. Most notably she is an empath, a gift that makes her exceptionally good at her job spotting cheaters in a Las Vegas casino. It is there that Wade Crowley observes her work, recognizes her for what she is and recruits her to join his coven. The coven has a secret entrance at the Fleet Science Center in San Diego, where Harley lands her "cover" job at the Center's Archives and Library. She is naturally skeptical that she can earn enough money "to keep [her] financially satisfied" working in a library three to four hours a day, four days a week, pointing out that she can earn $3000 in one good night at the casino. Coven director Alton Waterhouse, assures her that he will make sure to match her salary through the Library and Archives job.

Wow! That's some magic!

While we don't know what, exactly, Harley does in her job at the Library and Archives we do know that she does a bit of archival research for her own purposes, which is how she discovers that she is a Merlin (yes, that Merlin).

My husband and I listened to the Audible version of this work. Since there are already eight books out in this series (with number nine due to be released in a week) we will expect to enjoy listening to this series for a while, without the frustration of a "three-year summer" between books.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - by Robin Sloan

Clay Jannon, recently laid off from his work as a web designer, takes a job in an unusual bookstore. Working the third shift, when his few customers are borrowing books (rather than buying them) from what he calls the "Waybacklist" (located in the the back of the store) Clay is intrigued by his eccentric clientele. The Waybacklist is three stories high, with the highest shelves accessible by a very tall ladder and Clay gets the job by demonstrating that he is good at climbing, and is not afraid to reach. Clay is also required to describe each of his customers in a log book, explaining their demeanor and what they were wearing on each visit. The books they borrow are written in a cryptic code, and customers always seem to have a sense of urgency about them.

Clay's boredom at work drives him to use his computer skills to create a digital model of the store, and he discovers that there is a pattern to the book requests. In what becomes a bibliophile's National Treasure  Clay and his band of geeky friends attempt to help Mr. Penumbra to find the key to the secret of eternal life. Their quest takes them from Penumbra's quirky storefront in San Francisco, to New York City, to a warehouse in Nevada.

New York City is where the secret library of the Unbroken Spine is housed. Volumes in this library are "encrypted, copied, and shelved...[and] not read by anyone until after [the author's] death." All those who have written books for the library of the Unbroken Spine are hoping that one day the codex vitae will be unlocked, and they will thus be rewarded with immortality. Penumbra explains to Clay

The nature of immortality is a mystery...But everything I know of writing and reading tells me that this is true. I have felt it in these shelves and others.

Although skeptical Clay admits that he is familiar with

the feeling Penumbra is talking about. Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines - it's hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits. That's just a feeling, not a fact...

We also learn about a long ago "between the stacks" tryst. As in often the case, even today, such a thing will likely get you kicked out of the library. A hundred years ago it also would get you kicked out of the order of the Unbroken Spine.

Thousands of computers are used in an attempt to crack the codex, which ultimately requires a decidedly much more low-tech technique.

The answer turns out to be about as satisfying as Douglas Adams' 42 - the answer to "life the universe and everything".

A final note to those who decide to read this book, no need to Google Gertizoon font, or Dragon-Song Chronicles. I already did so. They were invented for this story.

Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts

 

When 15-year old Lutie and her 11-year old brother Fate discover that their guardian, Floy, has dropped dead at the check out of theWal-Mart in Spearfish, South Dakota, they take off in Floy's Pontiac hoping to find their long-absent father in Las Vegas. One of the first things they learn in Vegas, is that they can park their car for free overnight in the public library parking lot. Lutie then begins a search for money that includes panhandling, stealing, minimum wage jobs, and sexual exploitation. Fate, however, discovers the wonders of the Clark County Public Library. Although unable to get a library card because he does not have a parent to sign for him, the librarians make sure that Fate is welcome to read all he wants while inside the building, and set him up to use the computers. The description of the library is rich with diverse patrons, and holds treasures of books, documents, and other information. It is clearly a well-used and well-loved place with story hours and a welcoming staff. Letts truly shows the library, and librarians as beacons of light in what is otherwise "Sin City" for Fate. Letts is a good storyteller, who clearly understands the value of a good library.