Dealing with Dragons - by Patricia Wrede

 

Princess Cimorene has never been interested in the traditional proper behaviors expected of those in her station. She is especially not interested in the arranged marriage her parents have planned for her. Although they have selected a handsome prince, he is a bit dull and Cimorene doesn't want to marry in any case. She goes off to live with the dragons and offers to serve the dragon Kazul. Although she has many offers from knights and princes to "rescue" her she thwarts them all.

Kazul's private library is a mess, and Cimorene takes care to organize it. She also does research in the library to find a fireproofing spell for herself. Ultimately she is given the title King's Cook and Librarian and lives happily ever after.

One of the sixty books about dragons I'm reading during this year of the dragon in which I turned sixty.

The Dragon in the Library - by Louie Stowell

Every library has a dragon sleeping underneath it. The dragon needs stories and quiet to keep it asleep lest it awaken and wreak havoc upon the world. It is also true that all librarians are wizards and are in charge of keeping the dragon in its dream state.

Young Kit discovers that she is a wizard when she meets Faith Braithwaite, Head Librarian of the Chatsworth Library "a boring-looking concrete building with automatic doors that didn't work right..."

I had some concerns with some of the things in this book:

In one passage Faith tells Kit and her friends that there are certain books that they keep away from the general public "because they're dangerous...[they] have power even if you're not a wizard". She goes on to explain that they can change you into a marshmallow if you're not careful, but frankly it just sounds like good old censorship to me. Dangerous books indeed!

In another Faith asks Kit and her friends to help shelve some books: 

"You just need to match the number on the spine to the number on one of the shelves. There's a list of where you'll find each number, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly". Right, because everyone knows that there is no reason to train people who work in libraries how to properly shelve books. Sheesh.

Faith also asks Kit to do story time, even though Kit doesn't like to read out loud. Kit in fact does a crappy job of it. Well, she just needs to practice. Story time takes more preparation than simply picking up a book and reading it to a group of kids. It's takes planning. At the very least we'd expect that the person conducting the story time had read the book at least one time before! 

Librarians may not be wizards, but we are trained professionals.

One of the sixty books about dragons I'm reading for the year of the dragon in which I turned sixty.

The Librarianist - by Patrick deWitt

Bob Comet is a retired librarian who lives in a mint house. I also am a retired librarian who lives in a mint house (or at least I will once the renovations are done). Beyond this the character in this novel and I don't have much in common. 

deWitt's book reminds me a bit of Anne Tyler's books. There is a lot of description of what happens in the life of the characters, but we don't get a lot of insight into how they processed their experiences. There isn't even much about Bob's library work, although we do learn why he became interested in it. The only passage I marked was this unfortunate description of Bob's boss

Never has there been a librarian less inclined, less suitable to represent the limitless glory of the language arts than Miss Ogilvie. She cared not at all for literacy or the perpetuation of any one school or author, and Bob never one saw her take up a book for pleasure. Her function, as she saw it, was to maintain the sacred nonnoise of the library environment. "What these people do with the silence is beyond my purview," Miss Ogilivie told Bob. "But silence they shall have." The human voice, when presented above the level of a whisper, invigorated her with what could be named a plain hate...

I picked this book up at Thunder Road Books in New Jersey during a recent road trip to Maryland. This bookstore is profiled in The Secret Life of Booksellers and Librarians (which I will be blogging about soon, once my husband and I have finished reading it together).

The Chaperone - by M Hendrix

 

In the tradition of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Hendrix creates a New America, one in which women are second class citizens and all teenage girls are required to have a chaperone when they go out in public. Chaperone's are exclusively other women who have decided to take one of the few jobs available to them.

Stella's Chaperone (Sister Laura) is not averse to bending the rules for her charge. Sister Laura sometimes disappears when she and Stella are at the library so that Stella can steal a few moments with her crush, Mateo.

It is intriguing that there even is a public library in New America. But of course there are also a lot of forbidden books. Sister Laura passes some of this literature along to Stella, helpfully suggesting that she hide the taboo works between the covers of some of the other books in her room.

It appears a revolution is afoot!

The Hero and the Crown - by Robin McKinley

Fire-haired Aerin, daughter of a king and a witch creates kenet, a salve that protects the user from dragon fire. Aerin becomes a dragon killer. The little-used royal library becomes a place where she not only discovers that she can read, but can learn as well.

One of the sixty books about dragons I'm reading this year Year of the Dragon, in which I turned sixty.

Fourth Wing - by Rebcca Yarros

 

If you tell people you are making a project of reading books about dragons you WILL be asked if you've read Fourth Wing. There are evidently a lot of people who either love or hate this work. I found myself a bit indifferent about it. But, let's face it, at sixty years of age I'm not exactly its target audience. This is a book for "new adults" and features a group of twenty-somethings at a magical war college (Basgiath) learning how to fly dragons. The classes are deadly. Many die before they even get to their first class. Violet Sorrengail never even wanted to join the elite team of dragon riders. She wanted to be a scribe and train to be a librarian in Basgiath's archives, like her father. Her mother, however, insisted that she risk her life in the Rider's Quadrant. 

Of course, her time studying to be a scribe only makes her more bad-ass, even though she is among the weakest and smallest members of the Rider's Quadrant. She knows not only the value of information, but also where to find it, how to use it to her own advantage, and to understand who gains from telling the stories.

Violet is also discovers that forbidden information is perhaps the most powerful information of all. 

Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library - by Julie Gassman

A rhyming book that explains everything that can go wrong if you bring your dragon to the library. 

The library in the story is called the Honalee Free Library - a nice touch!