Thursday, October 21, 2010

Seventy-Four Peices of Trash

One of my favorite pastimes is browsing second hand book stores. There's absolutely nothing like it. It's distracting, relaxing, and yes, even exciting. Well, I had some time between classes today, so I decided to peruse thphoenix public library website(which, for obvious reasons isn't as satisfying, but definitely still a time waster). Out of curiosity, I clicked the "Most Borrowed" link and I was more than a little disturbed by what I found.

The number one most borrowed book? 

Come on!? Is this really, truly the MOST borrowed book in Phoenix, AZ? This really doesn't inspire much confidence in my neighbors. For the fourteen branches through out Phoenix there is a total of seventy-four copies of this book. Seventy-Four!?

Now thoroughly worked up, I decided to investigate a little deeper.
I searched for my all time favorite book, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Wondering what I found? Well, to quote the library...
"0 of 1 available system wide, with 1 current hold."
Only one copy. One copy of the very best book ever written.

Now I began to try and defend humanity. This is just a fluke....maybe Jane Eyre isn't as popular as it should be, I can't just stop here and admit defeat. The search continued.

The results were a little better when I searched for Pride and Prejudice, "5 of 21 available system wide, with no current holds". So at least five people have an idea of what a good book is. However, I was appalled at  the list of books my search prompted; annoyed that titles such as Pies and Prejudice, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies where at the top of the list. Ugh. How dare Seth Grahame-Smith add "and Zombies" to such a lovely title.
Granted, I'd been limiting my searches to what some might define as "chick flicks" so I expanded to JRR Tolkien.
One copy of Jane Eyre, twenty-one copies of Pride and Prejudice, zero copies of The Hobbit, nine copies of The Lord of the Rings, and Seventy-four copies of Poor Little Bitch Girl.

Phoenix, you disgust me.



7 comments:

Rachel said...

WHAT??? That's crazy!! Now you make me want to get on my public library site and please-oh-please find that my city has a little bit better taste...but I think I'd know what I would find. All the books about football would be the most popular.

(sigh)

Sad world...

Anonymous said...

wow thats awful

Our world is like that though

Anonymous said...

That was Cassie by the way lol

Alicia Colburn said...

I wonder... what is this "Poor Little Bitch Girl" about? Did you investigate...? It might be as horrible as it sounds but sometimes covers and titles can be deceiving just to draw attention to it... is it a deceiving title or is it truly awful? I love your blog callie... Maybe someday I'll have time to keep up with mine again :)

Callie Denny said...

The eponymous “bitch girl” of the title is Annabelle Maestro, the daughter of two famous movie stars who flees L.A. for New York to escape her indifferent parents. She hooks up with coke-addicted DJ Frankie to start a high-priced escort business. And then her mother’s murder makes headlines. Denver Jones, a beautiful, talented attorney who was briefly friendly with Annabelle, is called in when Annabelle’s father, Ralph, becomes a suspect in his wife’s death. Ralph orders Denver to fly to New York to bring Annabelle back for the funeral. In Washington, D.C., Denver’s best friend, Carolyn, is desperately trying to get a hold of her to share some exciting news: Carolyn is pregnant with the child of the married senator she works for. Denver keeps missing Carolyn’s calls because she has her hands full with Annabelle, who returns to L.A. determined to hide her secret business, and with her sights set on Bobby, the devastatingly handsome son of Lucky Santangelo, the heroine of several of Collins’ previous novels. Though the characters are frequently vapid and shallow, their over-the-top antics are undeniably scintillating. Expect plenty of demand for this page-turning sudser. --Kristine Huntley

Haha, sounds like trash to me :)

If I had two kids I doubt I would blog much either!

Mackenzie said...

So very sad. People don't even know what literature is anymore. My heart is saddened.

Alicia Colburn said...

OH DANG!!! You SURE told me! :) Thanks for the info I feel much better about your post now... I think you're pretty awesome cousin...