ebazilereads's review against another edition
2.0
I really, really wanted to like this book. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about what questions people ask librarians and enjoyed the illustrations. I was put off, however, by the answers to the questions in this book. It was jarring that the questions were posed in the 1960s and then answered using information from 2019. I also disliked that the answers sometimes seemed to mock the question askers. While I understand that this was meant humorously, it came off as unkind and I would have preferred an actual answer to the questions asked. I think this book would have been much more successful with answers presented as though they were from the time the question was asked, without judgement. Alternatively, I would have enjoyed seeing the questions asked without any answers at all.
With that being said, I appreciated the spirit of this book and the role that librarians play as confidential guides towards information.
With that being said, I appreciated the spirit of this book and the role that librarians play as confidential guides towards information.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
4.0
A 2019 staff favorite recommended by Mary. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Speculiar%20questions%20new%20york%20public%20library__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
5elementknitr's review against another edition
4.0
What a fun little book full of obscure knowledge!
briface's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the questions were great and worded in such a believable and hilarious way, also interesting to see what questions people asked before they could Google everything.
innae's review against another edition
3.0
I purchased this book to support the NYPL in the trying times of 2020, and I don't regret it, but this was not exactly what I was hoping for. Many of the questions were really just confused people, and the answers often exacerbated the issue by being a bit snarky with explaining why the question was wrong. I read another review where they were hoping for answers from the time the questions were first posed - and I agree I think a question asked in 1940 would have a much more interesting answer from 1940 that someone trying to answer it now.
librarianalex287's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
tardislibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Some pretty funny, and interesting, questions the NYPL received from the 1940-70s. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the responses given by the current librarians!
nerdstacey_606's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet little book that reminds you just how amazing librarians were/are.
lizthelibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
A book of whimsy this is indeed. Have you ever wondered if you could have a funeral on July 4th or the nutritional value of human flesh? Look no further because people actually asked these questions from the 1940-1980s. The NYPL found these questions that had been stowed away and decided to answer them. And I found myself typing in web addresses and attempting to put books on hold. If you're curious about what readers had questions about eighty to forty years ago than this is a small little book for you!