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That was the what the blurb advertising a new fantasy novel on the "Staff Suggests" shelf at my local B&N loudly proclaimed.
Ordinarily, such a description would send me screaming and running in the other direction. "It's like Harry Potter, only _____!" has become what "It's like the X-Files, only _____" was in the 90s.
I picked it up. Looked at the back cover. The author's previous books were all romance novels.
I flipped through to a random section. The first paragraph I read involved a "strong...but gentle!" magician making sweet love to his...uh...werewolf lover.
Hoo-kay.
Perhaps I should go back...then surreptitiously replace all the copies with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell?
Posts: 6689 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I have issues so often with those in-store recommendations. I get tempted to switch the books around, or to hunt down the employee and tell them their taste in books sucks, and occasionally I've lurked around in hopes of pointing some clueless holiday shopper in the direction of something worthwhile.
Mostly I just want to shake the employee and ask how can they work in a bookstore.
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I have never, ever bought a book based on the recommendation of a book store employee. I'm some sort of barbarian in that regard, I guess.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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It depends on the bookstore for me. Some bookstores (even the chains) have relatively literate people with good suggestions. Others...well, not so much.
For example, in the town I currently live, I'd take the advice of the Barnes and Noble workers, but not the Borders workers.
Barnes and Noble also has a test on books you have to pass before you can be hired. It's been a while since I took it, though, so I don't remember the difficulty level.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Neither have I, porter. Unless it's in an unrelated arena (say, if a Hatracker who happened to sell books recommended me something). Um, unless I bought a book on the recommendation of the guy who used to own my local used bookstore. But I can't remember, it's been a while.
I want to sell books someday. So I can stockmy shelves and chat with customers and load them up with good reading for all ages! Something like that, anyway. If I can't be a professor, I totally want to sell books.
EDIT: I posted this, and then I realised what I had posted. I may have just posted the key to my survival this coming summer. A few hours a week in a bookshop would help a lot with the emotional weight of my main job. Thanks, porter! (You get the credit because the realisation was during a reply to your comment. )
Posts: 2849 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Hey, I used to work at a bookstore, and I guarantee that I have good book recommendations! In fact, one of my friends who hardly ever reads anything recommended to her ever says that every single book I've ever recommended her was amazing and one of her new favorite books and as a result, she will read anything I recommend.
I mean, I made lots of recommendations when I worked in a bookstore (and rarely did anyone ever take them), but also I made lots of anti-suggestions either. For example, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, which purports to continue Darcy and Elizabeth's story after their marriage. This I recommend avoiding at all costs.
I don't recommend books often, and it's rare that I agreed to contribute to the employee recommends wall, but the few times I did, I recommended Robin McKinley's Sunshine, Craig Thompson's Blankets, and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.
Just because some bookstores will hire people who are stupid doesn't mean that people working in bookstores don't know a thing about books or have crappy taste.
I can't tell you how many copies of The Purpose Driven Life I had to sell to customers without taste! Don't paint all booksellers with the same brush as the ones that suck!
Posts: 1751 | Registered: Jun 1999
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Megan, what about the guy with the glasses and pants at Borders? I think I'd take his advice though I've never talked to him.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I've only spoken to him once (I know exactly who you're talking about), but I don't recall being terribly impressed. Eh, it was a while ago, though. Anyway, if I did take any advice from someone there, I suppose it'd be him. Eh, I just think the people at B&N (the ones I've talked to) are more well-read.
Edit: The only person I ever spoke to at Borders at length involving advice was a person who recommended that I join the scifi book club. Everyone else that I've talked to there seems mostly to not be much aware of anything their computers can't tell them. I'm sure this isn't true of everyone there, though.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Megan, what about the guy with the glasses and pants at Borders? I think I'd take his advice though I've never talked to him.
I understand why glasses would be a good way to indicate which person you mean. There might well be only one person wearing them in the store. But... pants? Do I want to know about this? Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Megan: Barnes and Noble also has a test on books you have to pass before you can be hired. It's been a while since I took it, though, so I don't remember the difficulty level.
I'm sort of curious what sort of test they would give. Considering the wide range of books that are out there, finding any sort of meaningful test would seem difficult. Then again, I suppose that they could just do a test on recently popular authors or "the classics" since I imagine that those categories make up a large percentage of their sales. Either way, I'm curious what the test would be about.
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I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell halfway through and started re-reading the Traveling Vampire Show. Should I give Strange and Norrell another chance?
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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Ricree, if I'm remembering correctly, there were several different sections covering a fairly wide range of topics. But, as I said, it's been a while since I took the test (going on 8 or 9 years), and I'm sure it's changed since then.
KoM, the gentleman in question wear pants that might best be described as...unique. One pair I'm remembering at this moment is skin-tight green and brown plaid. His glasses are also similarly unique. Suffice it to say I knew exactly who breyerchic was talking about.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Originally posted by TL: I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell halfway through and started re-reading the Traveling Vampire Show. Should I give Strange and Norrell another chance?
posted
I was in Books a Million right before Christmas when an elderly woman came in and asked for "Eragon 3" because she was trying to get a gift for her grandson and all the mother had told her was he loved the Eragon books.
The employee just looked at her a bit blankly so I jumped in and explained that the 3rd book in the series wasn't out yet, and did she want to get him another book and could I help her? She was desperate enough to say yes. Then I proceeded to take her through the young adult section, asking questions about her grandson and what types of things he might like and finally settled on the Midnighters series but couldn't remember the author's name so I couldn't find it. We got another employee involved who knew YA really well, and said it was by Scott Westerfield, the same guy who did Pretties and Uglies.[/i] They didn't have the first book in the series in stock though, so we continued to try and help her and eventually settled getting him a gift card.
The woman asked if I could make sure to be there when he came shopping. Then the BAM employee asked if I wanted a job. It was fun. I'd work in a bookstore if I got to do stuff like that all the time, but I know the job entails much more than that. And yes, I would have to really grit my teeth to keep silent when people asked me for stuff like Purpose Driven Life. I can feel your pain, dean.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I remember purple leather pants and rhinestoned horn-rimmed glassess.
I rarely ask for book reccomendations at a bookstore, more just need help finding what I've already decided I wanted. I do ask for reccomendations from librarians who are often very well read.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by TL: I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell halfway through and started re-reading the Traveling Vampire Show. Should I give Strange and Norrell another chance?
I think it depends on why you gave it up. Personally, I came really close to doing so due to the author's writing style. If this was your problem, then you should be aware that it really doesn't get much better. There is a pretty good story underneath, though, so it might be worth considering.
Posts: 2437 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I went to Barnes & Noble a few days ago looking for a book on the origins of various idiomatic expressions in the English language. I looked in the writing section as well as their reference and (puny) linguistics sections. Couldn't find anything. So I went in search of help. I asked a guy at the help desk and he directed me to the philosophy section. Not in that section.
Posts: 65 | Registered: Oct 2006
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quote:Originally posted by TL: I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell halfway through and started re-reading the Traveling Vampire Show. Should I give Strange and Norrell another chance?
I think it depends on why you gave it up. Personally, I came really close to doing so due to the author's writing style. If this was your problem, then you should be aware that it really doesn't get much better. There is a pretty good story underneath, though, so it might be worth considering.
The first 500 pages of the book consist of rather dense (but extremely interesting) background info. The next 400 make the first 500 completely worth the effort...IMO. I'd go back and give it a shot.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell halfway through and started re-reading the Traveling Vampire Show. Should I give Strange and Norrell another chance?
You might want to consider listening to the audio book. I find it much easier to slog through a difficult book when I'm listening to it than when I'm reading it.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Personally, I came really close to doing so due to the author's writing style.
Yup. Her characters have no inner life. Boring.
But, based on the recommendations in this thread, I guess I'll pick it back up and finish it. After all, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I gave up.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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I really struggled with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell...up until the last quarter of the book or so, after which I couldn't put it down. So, yeah, basically, what everyone else said. Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:Personally, I came really close to doing so due to the author's writing style.
The whole point of that book is the author's writing style. Reading it for plot is like reading House of Leaves for the plot.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I liked the plot. Her characters do have an inner life, it's just revealed very gradually.
I disagree that the point of the book is style. There are many faux-Regency-style books...but so far this is one of the few that I actually enjoyed reading...because of the plot and characters.
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I gave up on House of Leaves halfway through, too. After the experience inside the house was over, and the book became about talking about the experience inside the house, I was done.
I suppose I'll never know why the narrator -- the guy who found the manuscript -- experienced all those creepy things.
Although I could guess that it's because the manuscript contains some kind of contagion, and to read it is to become infected by the same kind of evil that was in the house, and then it slowly creeps into your life, and so on and so forth.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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If you had read the whole book you'd know that calling the guy who finds the manuscript(Johnny) 'the narrator' is not actually a safe thing to do. Though, that's not actually apparent even if you had finished the book.
Tom, I think the plot at the base of The Navidson Record itself is a great story. But when regarding the novel as a whole I wouldn't say I read it specifically for the plot. The reasons I love the book are much more complicated than that.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Number One: I totally agree on JS&MN. Fabulous book. I loved it, because I enjoyed the faux Victorian style as much as the plot (there is one). The characters are revealed more by what they do, since the Vic style is more 3rd omniscient than third limited. We're used to reading mostly third limited with fairly deep character penetration.
*cough*
Number two: So what was the name of this trashy book?
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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this is slightly off since it's a movie issue rather than books, but the discussion reminded me of our local video place back in highschool. They had 2 reccomendation lists from 2 of the managers, each containing their top 10 movies and their bottom 5. One night for our token "bad" movie we chose Ghost Dog which happened to be in the top 10 of one guys and one of the 5 worst on the other guy's... needless to say we were quite amused.
Posts: 1038 | Registered: Feb 2006
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It was fun. I'd work in a bookstore if I got to do stuff like that all the time, but I know the job entails much more than that. And yes, I would have to really grit my teeth to keep silent when people asked me for stuff like Purpose Driven Life. I can feel your pain, dean.
