The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

5.1 - Benzaiten
One of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese mythology, Benzaiten is the goddess of everything that flows: water, words, speech, eloquence, music and, by extension, knowledge. As modern-day purveyors of knowledge, librarians are our contemporary Benzaitens. Read a book that features a main character who is a librarian (currently or retired). This occupation should be apparent from the book's description or from its reviews on Goodreads.

These books have librarians:



Evil Librarian
Hot
In the Stacks: Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians
Kafka on the Shore
Libriomancer
Mr. Chartwell
Murder Past Due
Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
Read It and Weep
Rex Libris, Volume I: I, Librarian
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian
The Archived
The Book Stops Here
The Borrower
The Last Continent
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared
The Time Traveler's Wife
The World's Strongest Librarian

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This thread is now open!

would the main nemisis be considered a main character?

Would Hot work? According to the reviews the heroine is a librarian who also works as a bank teller.

JennRenee wrote: "would the main nemisis be considered a main character?"

As long as the character plays a significant role in the story I'd consider them a main character. A villain or a primary antagonist would fit that bill, yes.

Lauren wrote: "Would Hot work? According to the reviews the heroine is a librarian who also works as a bank teller."

That works.

Kristina Simon wrote: "JennRenee wrote: "would the main nemisis be considered a main character?"

As long as the character plays a significant role in the story I'd consider them a main character. A villain or a primary ..."

Thank you, so I was thinking Evil Librarian
just want to make sure it works.

JennRenee wrote: "Thank you, so I was thinking Evil Librarian
just want to make sure it works. "

Definitely! I'll add it to post 2 in case others are searching for something for this task. Enjoy!

Would The Archived work? It's fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi so the "Librarians" aren't the typical ones we'd recognize and their job description sounds a lot cooler than mine did when I was a librarian. ;)

From the GR description: "Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive."

Thanks :)

Morgan wrote: "Would The Archived work? It's fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi so the "Librarians" aren't the typical ones we'd recognize and their job description sounds a lot cooler than mine did when ..."

That is certainly a different take on library science! But, yes, she is described as a librarian who is tending the archives so it works. ;-)

Kristina Simon wrote: "Morgan wrote: "Would The Archived work? It's fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi so the "Librarians" aren't the typical ones we'd recognize and their job description sounds a lot cooler than..."

awesome! It was oddly the first thing I thought of, because the description stuck with me. :D "Library Science Fiction" should totally be a thing.

Morgan wrote: ""Library Science Fiction" should totally be a thing. "

LOL. I agree. ;-)

The book description of Real Murders states that Aurora Teagarden is a librarian. Would this be good enough to cover any of the books in the series?

Coralie wrote: "The book description of Real Murders states that Aurora Teagarden is a librarian. Would this be good enough to cover any of the books in the series?"

As far as I can tell, either the description or the reviews of all the books mention that she's librarian.

Does it need to be fiction?

I am thinking of Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg

Claire wrote: "Does it need to be fiction?

I am thinking of Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg"

Not at all. Nonfiction works. I'll add this one to message #2.

Is a library director considered a librarian? I'm thinking about reading Read It and Weep

Marscha wrote: "Is a library director considered a librarian? I'm thinking about reading Read It and Weep"

Yes, that works.

How prominent should the main character be? I'm hoping to read one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books featuring The Librarian, but I'm not sure he could be described as the principal character, exactly. Maybe Small Gods? If he's not "main" enough, I can look for another book!

Always love librarian books. Thinking maybe Mr. Chartwell for this one.

Murder Past Due is the first in a series featuring librarian Charlie Harris

Mhairi wrote: "How prominent should the main character be? I'm hoping to read one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books featuring The Librarian, but I'm not sure he could be described as the principal character, e..."

Ohhh good thinking. I was going to be giving this task a miss but I always love me some Pratchett!

Would nonfiction/memoir be okay? I'm thinking of ...
The World's Strongest Librarian

Mhairi wrote: "How prominent should the main character be? I'm hoping to read one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books featuring The Librarian, but I'm not sure he could be described as the principal character, e..."

The main character is the protagonist (or, sometimes, the antagonist) of the story. In other words, the main character is who the story is about. They should be prominent enough to be mentioned in the book's description and/or the reviews on the book's main page. From the description and reviews of Small Gods, it appears that the main characters are Om and Brutha.

Donna Jo wrote: "Always love librarian books. Thinking maybe Mr. Chartwell for this one."

Me, too. ;-) Mr. Chartwell works. Sounds interesting, too!

Book Concierge wrote: "Murder Past Due is the first in a series featuring librarian Charlie Harris"

That's the one I'm thinking of reading for this task...

Book Concierge wrote: "Would nonfiction/memoir be okay? I'm thinking of ...
The World's Strongest Librarian"

Sure. Nonfiction works.

Just want to double check on Libriomancer. The description doesn't mention that he's a librarian, but some of the reviews do. The descriptions for Codex Born and Unbound, the 2nd and 3rd books in the series, do specifically state that he's a librarian.

Vicky wrote: "Just want to double check on Libriomancer. The description doesn't mention that he's a librarian, but some of the reviews do. The descriptions for Codex Born and [bo..."

The reviews make it pretty clear. That works.

I don't know about Small Gods but plenty of other Discworld books have the Librarian in them. The Last Continent has him getting sick and the other faculty members search around for Rincewind to help in his recovery (who, when not running for his life is actually also the assistant librarian).

The Librarian mentioned in the characters and plenty of the reviews mention him as well. Would that pass?

Will this work? The main character is a mobile librarian.

The Book Stops Here

Thank you

Nicola wrote: "I don't know about Small Gods but plenty of other Discworld books have the Librarian in them. The Last Continent has him getting sick and the other faculty members search around for ..."

Yep, he appears to be a main character in that one! Added to post #2.

Kim wrote: "Will this work? The main character is a mobile librarian.

The Book Stops Here

Thank you"

Yes, that works.

Are short stories okay? I'm thinking of In the Stacks: Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians

Camilla wrote: "Are short stories okay? I'm thinking of In the Stacks: Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians"

That works!

There are a couple I am thinking about, will any of these work?

The Historian
The Good Luck of Right Now
The Borrower
Kafka on the Shore


Also, here's a link to a useful article http://www.buzzfeed.com/benwoodard/li...

Amanda Pearl wrote: "There are a couple I am thinking about, will any of these work?

The Historian
The Good Luck of Right Now
The Borrower
Kafka on the Shore


A..."

The librarians in The Borrower and Kafka on the Shore appear to be main characters, so those will work. The other two appear to be more about people who USE a library than librarians themselves. Interesting link. Thanks!

Would the later Thursday Next books work when she starts working in Jurisfiction?
Lost in a Good Book>
Well of Lost Plots

Other thought I had was the Elizabeth Peters' Jacqueline Kirby books, if rereads are allowed. She's a librarian and eventually retires during the series, but it's not obvious from some of plot descriptions.
Seventh Sinner
Murders of Richard III
Die for Love
Naked Once More

Julia wrote: "Would the later Thursday Next books work when she starts working in Jurisfiction?
Lost in a Good Book>
Well of Lost Plots

Other thought I had was the Elizabeth Peters' Jacqueline Kirby books, if ..."

No, sorry, the Thursday Next books won't work. She's a detective, not a librarian.

As for the Jacqueline Kirby books, rereads are fine. The task does not specifically exclude them. In order for a book to count for this task, however, the fact that she is or was a librarian must be stated either in the book's description or in the reviews (i.e., you should be able to do a Ctrl-F search on the book's main page and have the word "librarian" show up).

Will The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger work for this task?

Theresa wrote: "Will The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger work for this task?"

Yes, Henry's a librarian and he's a main character. Enjoy!

Does Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs work? She's a librarian who gets fired towards the beginning of the book. Thanks!

Melanie wrote: "Does Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs work? She's a librarian who gets fired towards the beginning of the book. Thanks!"

Well, it sounds like she WAS a librarian. LOL. Yes, it works.

I just thought of another delightful nonfiction book about a librarian... ...the author's father is a school librarian.

Donna Jo wrote: "I just thought of another delightful nonfiction book about a librarian......the author's father is a school librarian."

Thanks for the recommendation, Donna Jo!

Could I get approval for this, please? :D

Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick

Suzie, one of the two main characters, is a librarian trying to save her library from foreclosure, but the description doesn't really make this clear. Several of the reviews mention it, though, and it's one of the first things in the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Cri...

Following Megan's wiki link for the Sex Criminals series (and also the Issue 7 description at Comixology), would the second trade in the series,Sex Criminals, Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop, also (still) work since Suzie is still trying to save her library?

Megan wrote: "Could I get approval for this, please? :D

Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick

Suzie, one of the two main characters, is a librarian trying to save her library from foreclosure,..."

Sorry, the task description requires that the occupation of librarian should be prominent enough to be mentioned in the book's description and/or the reviews on the book's main page. When I search the main page for "librarian" it turns up zero results so I don't think this one (or it's sequel) is going to work for this task.