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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Who doesn't love a good mystery?


You might think with all the mysteries we read, that we would be good at solving them too.


And we are!


One of the most satisfying aspects of working in the Readers' Services department comes from helping patrons solve those questions that at first seem rather impossible. We get a lot of questions like:


"I read this book back in the 90's and I have never laughed so hard, I wish I could read more by that author. But all I remember is a picture of a mouse held at gunpoint on the cover. Can you help me?"


"I heard this song on the radio last night and I didn't catch the name or the artist. It kind of goes, bum bum bum, bum ba bum bum - bum. "


"You know that movie from the 70's where that guy cuts up that fancy sports car and modifies it to look like a hearse?" (click to find the answer).


"Who writes that mystery series about the caterer/taxi driver/hairdresser/etc?"


The vast majority of the time we can excavate our way to the answer. We have a number of tools to help us, from reference books that sort mysteries by the sleuth's occupation to databases like Novelist where we can search by plot and/or setting. For music, did you know that many radio stations post the songs they play on their website? Usually the hardest part is getting people to ask the questions.


If you have a question, no matter how futile it may seem, give us call, send us an email, or come in and ask, because we love a good mystery.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love mysteries. Both the books and the questions we get at the desk. I wish the old copy of Native Tongue was still available. That cover is so much cuter than the newer reprints! By the way... that's a blue tongued vole... or is it?

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