Book Review: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners by Therese Oneill

First Line: Thank you for coming.

Summary: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a woman in Victorian England? Therese Oneill brings the clothes, lifestyle and manners of the 1800s to us in an easy and funny guide of the day to day lives of women in one of the most romanticized times in history. Pictures of the time are combined with tidbits of information about fashion, married life and medical knowledge. This is a laugh out loud book that will make you want to reread your favorite Jane Austen with a new understanding.

Highlights: The cover! It is beautiful and draws the eye. The humor is undeniable. I laughed very hard throughout the book. The little captions of the photos would leave tears in my eyes. Very serious subjects were made much more enjoyable by the added humor comparing the 1800s to now. But it was still informative and gave a look into a time that has continued to be popular among authors and movie makers alike.

Lowlights: The only complaint I would have is that some sections were a little longer than were needed.

FYI: There is a little language and crude humor.

Overheard in the Library #3

Over the years, we’ve had conversations and interactions with patrons that, let’s just say are interesting. We’ve also overheard things that make us laugh out loud as well. So we thought we’d share some of those ‘interesting’ interactions with you guys. Here’s a third set of “things overheard in the library.”

Welcome to the “Book Factory”!

-A parent told me her son used to call the Library “The Book Factory”

-Mom to her little boy:
Mom-What happens when we run in the library?
Boy- *silence*
Mom- The floor opens up and it eats you!

-Talking with a regular patron, he was trying to describe an actor to me, and some of the movies he’s been in and he says “You know, the good looking one?” I say “Bradley Cooper” he says “YES!”

-A lady just asked where the card catalogs are! That is still one of my favorite questions. She was holding an iPhone in her hand too.

-A teen hands me his library card to check a video game controller out and says “Don’t mind if that’s sticky.”

-Patron: I looked up the book in some website amazon.com or something like that.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Overheard in the Library #2

Over the years, we’ve had conversations and interactions with patrons that, let’s just say are interesting. We’ve also overheard things that make us laugh out loud as well. So we thought we’d share some of those ‘interesting’ interactions with you guys. Here’s another set of “things overheard in the library.”

-Patron: I looked up the book in some website amazon.com or something like that.

-4 year old to mom after putting a few books in the book drop, “I need to go relax a few minutes.”

main door into the library
“Open sesame! No? OK, then.”

-Patron to the door as he was leaving “Open Sesame! No? OK, then.”

-Patron came up to me and asks “Is the checkout limit 4?” Yes. “Is there anyway we can stretch that to 5?”

-A little boy was running and his mom said “Stop, I told you not to run!’ his response “Mom, my feet are out of control!”

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Overheard in the Library

Over the years, we’ve had conversations and interactions with patrons that, let’s just say are interesting. We’ve also overheard things that make us laugh out loud as well. So we thought we’d share some of those ‘interesting’ interactions with you guys.

-While helping a patron in the computer lab, he wanted to save his documents to a ‘slash drive.’

-A patron called in to see when his items were due back. He was afraid they were due today…nope, you just checked them out today.

-A little boy is in the computer lab playing a game. He brought a ziplock bag with a slice of pizza, and a snack cake for his lunch.

refrigerator
“Is your refrigerator running?” “Why, yes, yes it is.”

-The library was pranked by some kids. They asked me, while giggling uncontrollably, if our refrigerator was running, and then after a brief pause hung up. I didn’t even get to tell them we had two refrigerators running!

-An older patron came in wanting some advice (not a book), on how to get rid of rodents in his garden, After Googling some DIY’s, I told the patron I had a groundhog in my backyard, and he said “You should catch it, they are good eating.”

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!