Dollars or Donuts

Some books I really love to buy for the library, and some I just hate to spend the money on. I don’t like to buy diet books. The library purchases every new fad diet book that comes along. If we don’t have it by the time it appears on Oprah or the Today show, people will start asking for it. We are active interlibrary loan participants, but it isn’t fair to expect the Algona or Eagle Grove or Fort Dodge library to supply us with diet books. I know that if we were to weigh the population of Humboldt on one giant scale, we aren’t a pound lighter than we were before we bought those diet books. They aren’t worth their weight in donuts.

Other s that I don’t like to buy are books that support parties or candidates I don’t agree with. I buy them anyway, I just don’t want to. I also hate to buy books about political candidates that will probably lose the next election. I bought a Sarah Palin biography last fall. She lost. The book doesn’t get much attention anymore. On the other hand, neither does Joe Biden’s biography.

I resent spending money on books written in a big hurry to capitalize on some current event. I hated buying The Final Years of Michael Jackson. I’ve been mad at him since he dangled that baby over the hotel balcony. When he died, I emailed my older to kids to ask if they remembered when we all learned to moonwalk together in the kitchen. Son number two replied that he still moonwalks in the kitchen (no doubt a thrill for his long-suffering wife), son number one answered that he remembers and “weren’t we cool!.” Daughter number one responded that she remembers that big brother number two was always the best moonwalker in the family. Daughter number two isn’t old enough to remember what Michael Jackson used to look like.

I bought Getting It Through My Thick Skull by Mary Jo Buttafuoco. She is the woman who was shot in the head by her husband’s teenage mistress. That part wasn’t Mary’s fault, but she forgave him and they spent many more years together while the girlfriend went to prison. I think they finally divorced and I gather from the title that she feels that she has at last wised up.

Another one I hated to buy, but did, is Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story by C. David Heymann. Aren’t there a few things that we would just rather NOT know? I couldn’t help flipping through the photos and reading the first chapter. Then I knew I didn’t want to know.

This next book may have some mothers angry with me: The Girls’ Guide to Rocking: How to Start a Band, Book Gigs and Rolling to Rock Stardom. This is everything a gal might need to know to start her own rock band. If your daughter reads it and takes it to heart, it truly isn’t all my fault. I just make the information available. Implementing it, or not, is the decision of the patron.

Some recent books I did want to buy:

-another copy of The Girls from Ames. It’s been very popular, so we added another copy to keep the waiting list short.
-Fire and Ice: A Beaumont and Brady Novel by J.A. Jance. She’s the author of two separate series. This one combines the two in the investigation of some mysterious and grisly homicides. Should be a real page turner.
-Undone by Karin Slaughter. She’s another of my favorite mystery authors. This one promises to be as good as the others.
-Jerico’s Fall by Stephen L. Carter. He wrote the novel s The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England Whte a few years ago. This time he has produced an espionage thriller. Not my usual cup of tea, but I like his other work so well, I’m going to give this one a try.
Whatever floats your boat, the water’s fine @your library.