Last week the Humboldt Reads! book group met to discuss The First Desire by Nancy Reisman. It was the 27th book we’ve discussed. I’ll confess, I didn’t finish this one. I wanted to, I intended to, but I didn’t . Often when I give up on a book, someone will tell me that I should have stuck it out a few more pages because it got “really good” later on. No one said that about The First Desire. Only one of the participants loved it. She was impressed by the author’s use of language to describe characters. I think I can appreciate a good turn of phrase as well as the next reader, but please, give me a plot to go along with the pretty words!
The book choices for Humboldt Reads! took a turn down a pretty rocky road a year or so ago when I began to choose books I wanted to read, but hadn’t read yet. I grew tired of the necessity of re-reading a book so that I could remember enough about it for a discussion. I thought if I chose something I hadn’t read yet, I could experience it for the first time with the other discussers. Unfortunately, there are plenty of potholes and bad books on that road.
Our next book is Driftless by David Rhodes. It is a little longer than most of the books we choose, so we are going to skip an August meeting and convene on September 23 at Rustix at 5:30 for our book discussion. Grab a copy, give it a try and join us for dinner on the 23rd. I hope enough of us finish it so we can have a really good discussion.
The October Humboldt Reads! book is To Kill a Mockingbird. 2010 is the 50th anniversary of its publication. Although most everyone over the age of 12 has read it, how many of us have read it lately? It’s worth reading at least once per decade. It will be interesting to see if this year’s impressions of it will be any different than the other times we’ve read it.
For November I’ve chosen The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It has been a really big hit with the teen crowd for awhile. More and more frequently an adult comes in looking for it on the recommendation of a friend or relative. It seems a bunch of book clubs in the Cities have read it and shared their enthusiasm with those of us in the hinterlands.
Humboldt Reads! is a book club without a membership list. People come and go. Last time we had two people attend for the first time. Some attendees have been coming since the very first. The crowd varies from 5-15 people. We always have a good time. Stop by the library for a copy of Driftless and join us at Rustix on September 23. I’ll save you a seat.

I read an article last week on the National Public Radio website titled “Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries.” Who knew cupcakes were at high-tide? Then, again, who doesn’t love ‘em? Can’t the same be said for libraries?
The reasons listed in the article for the growing popularity of libraries are as follows:
Libraries get in fights. Libraries stand up for your rights to information and your right to privacy about the information you seek. Libraries stand up to the powers-that-be for adequate funding to provide you with the goods and services you require. Apparently today’s librarians have a “pleasantly plucky” quality.
Librarians know stuff. The article states that as the words “geek” and “nerd” have lost their negative connotation, so have librarians. It’s no long embarrassing to “know stuff”. (Well, it’s about time!) Truly, it isn’t that librarians know everything, so much as it is that we know where to start looking to find it. And whom to ask for help if we can’t find it ourselves.
Libraries will give you things for free. We don’t actually give stuff away, we just make it available for borrowing. Cancel your Netflix account, stop ordering boxes full of books from Amazon! The library will loan you almost anything you want to read or view free of charge. Who doesn’t like free?
Libraries are green and local. Can’t argue with that one, either. Is it ecologically sound for each of us to purchase every book Nicholas Sparks spits out? No, of course not. We buy a few copies at the library and take turns with anyone in town who is interested. What is on the library shelves is chosen locally just for us. No big-box retail executive in New York sending out our reading material. A local library selects what its users want, not what someone else wants us to want to read.
Libraries are open to the public. The author of the article writes that “some days, you really have to wonder about people.” Perhaps in some libraries, but not ours. Our library is where you see the best in people. Everyone here adores little Kate who comes in with her mother to ride our alligator (elevator). We appreciate the curmudgeonly attitudes of the daily newspaper readers, except when they snore. Our library is Humboldt’s living room but without a tv and with more personal interaction.
There seems to be a preposterous level of goodwill. No one doesn’t like libraries. Even the goofiest of YouTube videos, if it is about libraries, will engender warm fuzzy feelings. One Humboldt snowbird told me this story: She was in the Minneapolis airport waiting for the last leg of the trip bringing her back to Humboldt after an Arizona winter. Her cell phone rang. It was the Humboldt Public Library with a book on hold for her. We pretty well know her schedule and we start reserving her favorite authors when we know she is on her way home. Janet said “that’s a small town, for you.” Not really, that’s just libraries.
Be sure to check out the Lady Gaga-inspired YouTube video on our website, www.humboldtpubliclibrary.com. Click on the Bookmarks Newsletter. You will see librarians in a whole new light.