Do you ask booksellers for advice?

I used to. Sometimes when I was shopping for a gift, or if I wanted to find out something about a particular book. Now? I just ask the internet.

But many people aren't as into the internet as I am. They still ask booksellers for advice and you know what, most of the time they give really good advice. A good bookseller, like a good librarian knows their stuff.

This bookseller? Doesn't not know their stuff. Or was seriously messing with this lady in a truly mean way. Or wants to get fired.

That's the only explaination I can think of for recommending Steig Larsson's The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo for a 10-year old girl.

Now, I probably would have read it at 10 (and likely would not have understood the graphic content fully) but my parents did not monitor my reading. The woman asking for the recommendation specifically asked if there was graphic content because the girls's parents were very concerned about that. A complete bookseller FAIL.

And that woman will probably never trust a bookseller again, which is sad. When I was a kid booksellers were my second-best source of recommendations (librarians were number one).

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.