Librarian Mom: Busman's Holiday: The City of Books

Busman's Holiday: The City of Books

It's true that I am a library nerd. It's true that I get a kick out of visiting libraries on vacation, and even once made a carload of people wait on a roadside in rural France while I dashed into the local library to check out the children's section, browse the French "Harry Potter" covers, and get into an excited if language-impaired conversation with the staff, who at first were under the impression that I was asking for a job (at which they were understandably nonplussed).

So I got to spend a few days in Portland, Oregon last week, just me and a college friend, no spouse or child along, and guess where I went? Three times? And then once more to the branch at the airport?

Why, to Powell's City of Books, of course.

Powell's is to most regular bookstores what War and Peace is to The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It is huge; HUGE: a whole city block, and not a small one, either. And it's highly well-organized. Each section has its own room, and the rooms are color-coded.

Children's and Young Adult books are in the Rose Room.

I spent a lot of time in the Rose Room.

I didn't actually sit down and read anything; it was too overwhelming for that. Instead, I went for impressions: what looked good? What made me want to grab it? What, when I picked it up, gave off that ineffable "read me" tingle? (I know this probably sounds weird, but it's just something I do. I used to do it as a kid, too: run my hand along the juvenile fiction shelves until a book tingled at me. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.)

These are some that jumped out at me:

Rock 'n Roll Camp for Girls, by the organizers of the Rock & Roll Camp for Girls in Portland. . This looked really cool. If I had a rocker girl, I'd get it for her in a heartbeat.

Frankenstein Takes the Cake, by Adam Rex. A sequel to Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich! O Joy! O Frabjuous Day!

Does My Head Look Big in This? By Randa Abdel-Fattah . I've been seeing this around for a while, and really want to read it, but haven't had a chance yet. It's out in paperback now and I could feel the bright shiny cover and new pages calling, calling, calling to me.

Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer. It was hard to miss this one; there were displays all over the store. This 4^th title in the teen vampire romance series had just been released a few days earlier, and the hoopla was far from dying down.

New Baby Train, by Woody Guthrie; illustrated by Marla Frazee. Marla Frazee does the illustrations for the Clementine books, and she gets that spirited and charming kid just right. Whoever thought to pair her timeless-feeling yet lively style with a Guthrie song was truly inspired.

The Red Tree, by Shaun Tan. This one, I've actually read; I even own it. It's a weird and beautiful picture book, one of those titles that is probably better for older kids or even adults than the usual picture-book crowd. When I first bought it, no one much had heard of Shaun Tan, but now, thanks to The Arrival, his name is everywhere, so it was nice to see this more obscure title so prominently displayed.

I did try to restrain myself at the cash register, but…well…I had a half-empty suitcase when I came to Portland, and it was a lot less empty when I returned. But, hey, how often do I get to go to a whole city of books, in person?

August 13, 2008