Secret Shopper

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For this assignment, I went to a local library where I am not known. When I first entered the woman sitting behind the reference desk immediately smiled at me and asked if she could help me. I thought that was a good instinct on her part. I bet a lot of people come in secretly wanting interaction but for whatever reason don’t feel comfortable approaching and asking

I explained that I was in the middle of the audiobook of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, the sequel to Ninth House, and that I was really enjoying it but that I needed a non-audiobook for when I wanted to actually read. I said I’d tried Bardugo’s other writing - namely the Shadow & Bone series and hadn’t loved it quite as much. 

The librarian, luck would have it, also read and enjoyed Ninth House. She pointed out that all of Bardugo’s other work was YA and wondered if that was maybe why it didn’t work for me as well. I said that that was definitely part of it, and also that one of the things I liked about Ninth House was that it was set on Earth - just with some magic. 

The first recommendation ((The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton) was made off the top of the librarian’s head - she said she saw a book checked out the other day that she’d recently read as well, and that it had reminded her of Ninth House.

After that, she went on Novelist, scanned through the read-alike list, and picked one out that she’d heard about but hadn’t read yet - Book of Night by Holly Black. She explained that, just like Ninth House, this was the first adult novel by an author who had previously written YA fantasy. This is the one I ended up taking home with me, and it looks exactly up my alley. 

At this point, the librarian (based on my reaction to the first two books, and my saying I was really into the murder mystery angle as well) mentioned that she felt like our taste was actually pretty similar. She asked if I’d be open to a couple recommendations that weren’t fantasy, but still had a lot in common with Ninth House. I said sure. She then went into her own Goodreads account and scrolled through her own recently read list. From that, she pulled two titles: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, and Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li. 

This was a great experience! I walked away with a book I’m very excited to start, and three more for later. I learned that a friendly greeting and invitation to ask a question can put a patron at ease and start a productive conversation. I am a little interested to see what that same librarian would do in a situation where her own reading taste didn’t overlap with the request. But it seemed like she was very comfortable with Novelist and Goodreads, so I feel like she would still be able to come up with something.