Post 329: Fallen

Fallen by Lauren Kate. ISBN: 9780385738934.

I really love it when people make up books in fictional books, especially when they are of the non-fiction variety. However, this is the first time I have encountered a fictional non-fiction book that was assigned its own call number. I am slightly impressed by the fact that Kate went that far in creating her book. Although, since I'm a librarian there was something about the call number that seemed way off to me. This is not me trying to be snarky or anything, this is me really enjoying the professional knowledge floating around in my head. Since I'm not using it any other way right now, I might as well entertain myself and others.

Anyway, here's the entry in the card  catalog, which was well done, by the way:

Grigori, D. The Watchers: Myth in Medieval Europe. Seraphim Press, Rome, 1755.

Call No.: R999.318 GRI

For those of you who do not spend a lot of time in academic libraries, this call number system comes from Library of Congress. It is primarily used for larger systems. The first letter tells you what "schedule" the book belongs to. Most do not correspond with the subject matter, although the first part of the alphabet is mostly dedicated to humanities. There are irreverent librarians out there like me who are always amused by the fact that religious texts are located in BS. Music is handily in the M's. Z is dedicated to all things bookish (repair, award lists, Z is basically the meta section). Most of the books in religion are in the Bs; this includes church history, which this fictional work would probably be nearby.

So what's in the R section? That's mostly devoted to medicine. So if you happened to really like this book and want to follow in Luce's footsteps, going to your public library would be your first mistake. Instead take a look at your local college library. As long as you aren't at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, you should be looking at Library of Congress instead of the more familiar Dewey Decimal system. Next, instead of going to the R section, consider going into BR which is more geared toward religious history, I think that might help you out more.

Speaking of other nerdy things I like to do with call numbers, searching the previously mentioned University of Illinois's catalog for the longest possible Dewey Decimal number is the best fun a librarian can have. I think the longest one I found was 9 decimal places. Can you beat that?

I thought this was a fairly good review by another Goodreader. I rated it three stars, although the last star is more of a waffle, the ending is really what pushed it over into 3-star territory. This is pretty much a fluff book.

LibsNote: Library copy. Yay, free books!

Post 328: Fallen

Fallen by Lauren Kate. ISBN: 9780385738934.

I can't really talk about major plot elements since anything I would want to talk about in depth would be too spoiliery. I mean, I could, but even fewer people would read this entry. I will say that I liked the little details that were put into this novel. While it does share some of the same plot elements and issues with Twilight, it is much better written and our characters are a little more well defined. For instance, I learned what Luce's favorite foods were when she had a picnic with her parents at the boarding school. This information was introduced in a fairly natural way, rather than weird and awkward "dating game" questions, like Edward asking Bella what her favorite color was and her giving a non-answer 'Brown, at least today, it changes because I have no real personality.'

I was also excited to see that one of Luce's favorite foods was okra pickles. Why okra pickles? Because it is one of the few things I like about the South. Strangely, I did not actually discover the joys of okra pickles until Thanksgiving 2009. My fiance and I were visiting my mother and she had them as a snack. Ever since, I have introduced as many people as possible to the deliciousness that is the okra pickle. The okra actually has very little of its own flavor, so if you like the taste of vinegar and pickling spices, this is the way to go.

Personally, I'm pretty fond of the texture of okra. It has the perfect shape and there is something infinitely satisfying about the feel of the tiny white seeds popping in your mouth. It really is an underappreciated foodstuff, so it was nice to see something I enjoy show up in a book that others seem to be enjoying. This book was not quite as delicious as my favorite snack, but it was a quick read and the last four chapters or so were a pretty good set up for what should be an excellent sequel, maybe.

PS: my favorite brand is Talk o'Texas. Man, I freakin' love okra... I might just be losing my mind.

Obey the okra.

I thought this was a fairly good review by another Goodreader. I rated it three stars, although the last star is more of a waffle. The ending is really what pushed it over into 3-star territory. This is pretty much a fluff book.
LibsNote: Library copy. Yay, free books!