When my hands went on my hips, he knew he was in trouble.

Patron*:  So I read a book by a supposedly-good author recently, and it was a bit... lame.

Me:  Yeah?  What was it?

Patron:  It was called A River in the Sky, I think.

Me:  Isn't that... one of the more recent... [this is where my hands went on my hips] Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody mysteries???

Patron:  Uh oh.

Me:  I've been reading her books since I was twelve years old!  I have two milk crates full of her books!  Did you know she has a PhD in Egyptology?  Huh?  And she has a librarian character who goes to a Ricardian (people who believe that Richard III was innocent) weekend and then everyone starts getting almost done in in Richard III-related ways!  And my classics professor friend learned everything she knows about that period of archeology from those books (I may have been exaggerating a bit there)!  And she loves... cats!  And awesome hats!

Patron:  It just seemed to be like Nancy Drew** for adults.

Me:  HELLO!!  THAT'S THE APPEAL.  They're bathtub books.

Patron:  I think I'm more of a shower guy.

Me:  AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!

That was when I turned to another patron, who'd been witnessing this whole exchange with a mix of awe and terror, and said something about how he always had to get the last word in.

And Laughs Abounded at Ye Olde Library.  Then I gave him some Sarah Caudwell.  We'll see how that goes.

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*Who, by the way, is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE PATRONS EVER.  And who is used to my freakouts.

**Relatedly.