CMLE Librarians Enjoying Books discussion

Join us and enjoy our October book Curiosity Thrilled the Cat. We are excited to read this mystery that includes both cats and librarians! As a profession that embraces our cat-loving stereotype, this seemed like a fun place to start.

We will get you things stared off here with a few questions. You can feel free to answer these, to pose new questions, or just to have fun talking about this book and connecting with your colleagues! We want this to be a place where library people can enjoy talking about books, so join in the conversation!


1.) It's such a staple of fiction to pair cats with librarians, and there is some level of truth to that! Does anyone have cats? Does anyone have cats in your library?? (Definitely share your library pets here - we would love to write about your library for an upcoming blog post for CMLE!) Do you feel like cats are part of your professional identity as a book person??

2.) Did the setting being a fictional town in Minnesota make the book more enjoyable? Do you like to read books set in specific locations?

3.) These cats were very handy to have around. What do you think about giving the main character a "magic" tool (whether actually magic or not) that lets her get otherwise impossible things done? Do you have a "magic cat" tool equivalent you wish you had in the library?? (Or do you just wish for magic cats to show up and help you?!)

4.) This was a pretty cheerful cozy mystery. Is this a genre you like to read, with or without librarian characters? Why do you think so many cozy mysteries feature librarians?

5.) Do you like to read books in a series, to keep discovering new things with the characters? Or do you prefer the stand alone books, so you can move on to enjoy other stories?

6.) Many mysteries have a romantic subplot, and this one has elements of that. Do you think that adds to the story line? Or does it detract from the work Kathleen is doing?

7.) This author is not a librarian: http://www.sofiekelly.com/bio.php. How accurately do you think she portrayed library work? And does it drive you crazy when librarians in books do completely "wrong" things??

Let's start here, and just dive into some discussions!

As a newbie to Minnesota, I really enjoyed reading this book! I arrived here from Boston, and was just grabbing books about Minnesota so I could get to know my new home. I had not read anything about this book, other than knowing it was a mystery and set in Minnesota. So it was pretty startling to be walking along the Mississippi, listening to the saga of a librarian newly arrived in Minnesota in a town on the Mississippi!

I'm only disappointed that I have not come across any magic cats yet!! Do they come later?? (Is this one of those Minnesota secrets I just don't know about yet??)

And I liked this book because it was cheerful - always a plus for me. I don't really like books that are gloomy, depressing, and make me tearful! Plus, it is the start of a series. It always seems like a waste to me to spend all that time getting invested in a character - who is only around for one book! It is more fun for me to spend time with characters over several books, and to see how they develop.

Thanks for choosing this book! I was not expecting to finish it but reading about a Minnesota librarian, fictitious or not, was exactly the diversion I needed this month. I enjoyed this way more than I expected!

Karen wrote: "Thanks for choosing this book! I was not expecting to finish it but reading about a Minnesota librarian, fictitious or not, was exactly the diversion I needed this month. I enjoyed this way more th..."

It's good to just kick back and enjoy reading!! No pressure, no Big Lessons - just enjoying yourself! I think these cozy mysteries fill that need very well! :)