Library Problems

A few weeks ago my cute niece reviewed a book on goodreads that I thought I might enjoy.  I went to the library website and requested it, and a few days later it came in.  When I picked it up, habia una problema.  El libro fue en espanol.  No leo espanol.

 

Yesterday afternoon I picked up another book from the library.  I probably need to explain again that I get book “recommendations” from all over the place.  I’ll be talking to someone and they’ll mention a great book, and I’ll text myself a note to put it on hold.  I hear something on NPR and do the same.  I read something online and it seems intriguing to me and I check to see if the library has it.  And then, sometime between 4 days and 4 months later, the library sends me an email to say my hold is in.  By that time I no longer remember where the original idea to read the book came from, but I generally still enjoy it.

Anyway, yesterday I grabbed my two books from the hold shelf, checked them out, and headed home.  When I got a chance to look at one of the books I was a little puzzled.  It just didn’t look like something I would have requested.  All I could figure was that one of my goodreads friends must have reviewed it and said it was really wonderful, and I had put it on hold. 

Last night I was just exhausted, so I put on my pjs and climbed into bed to read.  I picked up the new book and re-read the synopsis on the back.

It still did not seem like something I would have signed up to read.  But I opened the book and started.

Three pages later I knew I had read as much as I could stomach.  The story was just a little too familiar—“everygirl,” who lives with her inattentive father and is starting a new school, sees a good looking guy and experiences an electrical shock of connection.  Good looking guy, normally not interested in the high school girls, can’t stop looking at her.

Ugh, spare me.

Curious, I logged onto goodreads and started looking at my friend’s booklists to see who had read (and therefore recommended) it.  It was tedious to look through each list, so I finally gave up and typed the title into the goodreads search to see what other people were saying about this book.  Interestingly enough, when the search pulled up it said “None of your friends have reviewed this book.”

If none of my friends reviewed this book, then where did it come from???

I set the book down and picked up something else to read for a while.  Later, I picked it up again and told Russ about my confusion.  As I was talking to him I happened to pull the hold slip out of the book and glance on it.  And there, below my name, was the title of the book that I had requested.

 

Oh!  Suddenly everything made so much more sense.  I really didn’t order that book.  It was a total accident!  I didn’t have to try to read it!!

Can I tell you how relieved I felt?

So later I’m going to go back to the library, and give them back their book.  We’re going to wipe the slate clean and start fresh again!