Warm Up with a Good Book

Today is one of those days that I want to curl up on the heater vent and read a good book while drinking hot cocoa. It has been in the 60s and had only snowed once this season (my sister's birthday was on December 8th and it was the first time EVER there wasn't snow on her big day) - until this cold snap.

I think they call it a cold snap because your nose feels like it is going to snap right off in the cold outside. It is currently 2:00 in the afternoon and is a grand 17 degrees outside. Lovely, simply lovely.

I live three blocks from work ... I drove to the library today. Pathetic.

Anyway, since it is a winter weather reading kind of day ... what are you reading? I'm nearly finished with Incarnate and then I'm not sure what to start next - do I re-read a classic in front of the fire, or should I pull out something new. Suggestions?

What are your favorite winter reads or What great books are you reading right now?

Set that book down ...

So we all know I love to read (I love to read, in case you missed it) ... but books are good for other things too. They make your shelves look pretty, they make you smarter, they can hold up that table that isn't level (not a recommended use, of course). Oh, but this, this is much more fun.

Instead of spending all of my time reading, I decided to do something all those books I've been "saving" forever to make something with. Those books that came into the library as donation and were too far gone (headed to the trash) ... they needed a new life. A new life as something fabulous! 

Books Fabulized Here

Three Little Kittens Long Stemmed Lotus Flowers $9.00

Long Stemmed Lotus Flowers $28

Rose Sculpture Magnets $12

Long Stemmed Lotus Flowers $28

Long Stemmed Lotus Flowers $28

Book Cover Clipboard $12

Soothing the Soul

A friend of mine took this adorable shot outside of our library earlier this week. I just love it! Kids use the library and look how adorably grown up they are! LOVE IT.

Book Review: Incarnate

Sometimes we do judge the book by its cover ... this is especially true of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows. The cover is intriguing and pulls you in. Is that a mask she is wearing? Is she part butterfly? 

 

November 4th 

I pick up this book and I am not sure what I'm expecting. I had read a review forever ago and put it on my "to be read" list and forgot about it. Well, after it made the rounds and my library hold came up I checked it out ... and then had to renew it because I wasn't getting to it. 

After NaNoWriMo ended, I don't want to start editing, I needed a break from my characters and so I'm soaking up other ones. 

Three Things I Like:

1. Totally new premise

2. Ana is both strong, weak, and naive at the same time - which makes her interesting

3. I like that parts of the plot are hidden without making you crazy. It is a sneaky whispered conversation here and a question there.

Three Things I Don't Like:

1. I don't like how Li has so much control over everything - she sucks

2. I don't like how confusing Sam's character is - he is Hot/Cold, Good/Bad ... I'm 2/3 of the way through the book and I like him less and less. I like his relationship with Ana and Seph - but I just don't really understand him.

3. I'd like more about their world. Ana had all these questions at the beginning and she has been doing all this research - what are the answers?

Book Review: Shadow and Bone

This book was already on my list of "to-reads" when it came into the library. But it was put in the children's department and I was confused. Is this a children's book or YA fiction? What are the differences? 

Well, as a fairly judgmental person, I was like, do I want to read this now I know it is a kid's book? Totally glad I picked it up anyway, I'm really not sure it is in the right section. Oh well, let's discuss this in the discussion comments.

November 26th

(I'd just like to point out it is my birthday and it is always so funny writing that date)

As I mentioned I didn't have a lot of faith in this book to be fantastic. However, I started it last night after I reached 43753 words in my NaNoWriMo goal :) ... the book is fantastic (this one, not the one I'm writing, I'm not sure about that one yet)!! From the first pages to page 167 (which is as far as I read last night), I'm on the edge of my seat! 

Things I want to know

1. I want to know what happened that first day in the "Before"

2. Where did the scar come from (see above?)

3. What does The Darkling look like, I mean, really look like

Things I love

1. That Alina is honest with her feelings

2. That The Darking feels like he is right in between Anikin and Darth. 

3. That it is suddenly trendy to make non-beautiful female protagonists :)

November 26th - continued

So, I finished the book in a 24 hour period of time - that is how captivating this book is.

Things I Know

1. The prologue "after" sucked, what was that all about? That does not make me excited to read the next book. That sounded dull. Everything was tied up in such a neat little package.

2. That Mal is pretty awesome and totally a teenaged boy

3. That this is a totally unique storyline, nothing is like this - but it is fantastic.

Why I Want to Read the Next Book

1. Obviously I need to see what happens to both Mal and Alina.

2. I want to know the Darkling's name

3. Does light win over darkness?

New Read: The Crown of Embers

Okay, so I'm a librarian with no time to read - it really is shameful. I mean, I do read. I read picture books and hi-lo all day long. But to sit down and curl up with a great book, nope, not time for that. 

However, give me a really great book. I mean a REALLY great book, and I can't ignore it for long. I actually got this one almost two weeks ago, right when NaNoWriMo started. I decided I couldn't start reading it yet because I needed to focus on writing, not reading. 

Deep breath. I couldn't ignore it forever - plus I'm doing great on my word count - so I deserved a reward and this is such a great one!

If you haven't read book one, reading my review for book 2 will give so much away. Don't take this great adventure away from yourself, go get The Girl of Fire and Thorns now!

 The Crown on Embers

by Rae Carson

You'll remember that I devoured the first book, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, in a matter of moments. Elisa is the perfect character. She has Hermione and Katniss in her - plus some spunk of her own (this is a massive complement from me, by the way, no one is as awesome as those two girls and Elisa is a mix!). 

You'll be able to look at my reading list and notice that I don't like sequels. They are dull, unimaginative. The good stuff was the first story and everything else is extra now. This book, this book is nothing like that. From the first page I was pulled back into Elisa's world.

November 21st

I started this book over breakfast, bad plan, my cereal was completely soggy by the time I remembered it. Elisa is home and safe. It is her birthday - seventeen (did a whole year pass in the last book? nope, it has been about five months) and that deserves a parade. Trust me, Hector is concerned about her safety (awww ... heart him!) and he has every right to be, because in the first couple of pages they are attacked. Of course, and the excitement only starts there. 

The big news? Well, she might be queen, but even her council doesn't respect this from her. Instead they suggest she either step down or ... get married. They are drawing up a list of possible candidates. Bet you know who I want to be on that list :)

November 25th

I actually finished this yesterday, but maybe my shock was too much to write a blog post. I now remember why I didn't pick up the book - it is memorizing and hard to put down. I didn't take it with me on Thanksgiving to my family dinner because I didn't want to be "that girl" whose nose was in a book the whole time. Excitement on every turn, things that break your heart and things that make your heart smile.
1. I totally love Hector more than ever, especially after the beach!
2. Elisa is the strongest person I know, I'd be curing up in a ball and crying right now!
3. This book couldn't have ended better.
4. I seriously cannot wait for the second book to come out, Rae Carson, how do I get an advanced copy???? I'm dying over here!!

Hunger Games Animated Movie Poster

Hello Hunger Games fans, when I was at Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 (no judgement from any of you!), the mockingbird flashed onto the screen and my heart started to pound - a secret pre-trailer for the hunger games? You could feel the excitement in the theater as people leaned forward, eagerly anticipating the fabulousness that was about to be revealed. After a moment or two of swirrling fire the theater was in an uproar, people were booing and throwing their popcorn as the words Catching Fire, coming November 2013 came up on the screen and the whole thing was gone.

Obviously I'm not the only one who is excited about the release of the new movie. We will have to settle with the animated movie poster until there is something juicer to look at!

 

Check out the (source) for a cooler animated version that is protected (read, I can't share with you here) and know that it is only

 

Excited for The Hobbit?

Even the most discerning of nerdy girls and guys usually love at least one franchise. I love several, but they aren't all the point. The point is -- LORD OF THE RINGS. There might be just one ring to rule them all, but there are a million fan sites, costumes, and franchise lovers out there to support it. 

One of the coolest I've seen so far is this awesome video of a guy with totally balloon talent, an understanding family, and like 40 hours of free time on his hands.

Now that is fan dedication!

Need some Hobbit themed things to obsess over between now and the movie release?

Check out this website and see what a true fangirl/fanboy looks like.

(Warning, I am very few things on this list - don't be discouraged)

This is just here because Sam is my absolute favorite character in the LOTR! A true, honest friend. 

How do you prepare for the movie? Re-read the book? Re-watch the series? Twiddle your thumbs in anticipation? I like this artwork for the film - looks appropriately dark.

Movie Trailer and the Official Website if you've missed it somehow.

I LOVE the music that plays when you open the website. It is peaceful and serene, but reminds me of how sad Froddo's journey is and how things are never the same after an adventure. 

While on the official site be sure to answer some of gollum's riddles. Just a tip, the answers are in all caps, so your guesses need to be also :)

Now, when you need a LOTR Meme (or other goodie), where do you go? I love these ones!!

And if you don't understand why I'm writing any of this ... then this one is for you :)

NaNoWriMo: Day 13

It is Day 13 and I have been pretty good so far. There have been two days that I've written nothing ... I can't blame it on anything but being lazy and I felt ashamed. Shame got me back into writing and I'm still ahead of my goals. Here are my stats thus far. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself.

I'd read this book :)

Word Count: 24,294

NaNoWriMo: Day 5

Things are going great here on day 5. This story writes itself - it already exists, I'm just writing it down. I totally love Jenna, Elliott, and even some of the other characters a little!!

Word Count: 15,800

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

NaNoWriMo Update

It is Day 2 and I am going strong
(lol, it is only Day 2 - but I know you'll scold me if I don't keep on keeping on!)
Add me as a Writing Buddy!

The hardest thing is to not go back and rewrite. It isn't so much editing (although I fix spelling errors as I go, those squiggly red lines make me crazy), but wanting to change something as I am writing that I've already written. I'm trying to just leave myself a note that it doesn't fit in with something that happened before and hope for the best. 

Luckily my most fabulous friend has already offered to do some editing for me. Unclear passages be warned, I'm sure she is very fond of the red pen!

Na No Wri Mo Begins!!

Na No Wri Mo is the National November Writing Month where writers all over the world take the goal of 50,000 words (or set their own goal) and try to complete it in one month. 

I'd like my goal to be 80,000 words, ideally, because that is the standard length of a YA Novel. However, I also know that this is almost the impossible task as it is, so I'm shooting for 50,000!

I've "cheated" and began writing this past weekend to give myself a head start - I know that I'll be busy this month and I don't want to get discouraged!

Today I'll be working on some character sketches as well as an outline.

What I can tell you right now is that there are two characters: Jenna and Elliott. Jenna is sixteen and was back in the dinky town where she grew up for a funeral. Elliott was Jenna's brother's best friend and seeks answers above all else. 

The book is a twist on the dystopian theme that seems to be everywhere right now.

Good-bye Halloween

Halloween is my favorite Holiday out of the whole year! But, this year's day was a total bust! I got a terrible cold on Tuesday and spent all day yesterday as sniffling mess with a whisper voice. Sigh!

Fancy Nancy and Amelia Bedlia before heading out on the Bookmobile!

However, I did do my first really cool Outreach Librarian thing! I took the bookmobile (that's right, I DROVE the giant traveling library) to the After School Program in our town. All of the after school kiddos are bussed into one school that has a great space and programming for them. After my predecessor retried in January, the bookmobile stopped coming to them. Even through my foggy medicine head, the kids were SOO excited that we were back. 

Then I had such a wonderful time I almost forgot I didn't feel well!

Highlight of the day? Other than when seeing kids I've know since they were little or know because they are regular library patrons, the highlight definitely came while I was reading Cinderella Skeleton (by Robert D. San Souci).

 In afterschool club, I read stories while small groups of kids go out to the bookmobile. I was about five pages into the story when it was time for the second group, as I started to call on kids to go out, no one wanted to go (although they had ALL raised their hands about ten minutes before saying they wanted to go out and checkout books). I tried to entice them by telling them about the fun Halloween goodies we had brought along and one girl said, "I'll go out later, I really want to hear the story first." The other kids (even the boy who, at first, wouldn't even take off his Halloween Mask) were nodding in agreement. I quickly got back to the book! Who knew that storytime with a group of third thru fifth graders would be so rewarding!! 

Thank-you Robert D. San Souci for the GREAT book!!

After my busy day at the library I went straight to Fall Festival. Although I couldn't go cotton candy feeling sicky, I did get to be a costume contest judge! What little cuties were out there last night!! I love how families come as a theme and their teenage children even participate! Brilliant!! 

Na No Wri Mo: Two More Days!

I've never done something like this ... I've thought about it, but wimped out at the last minute. Well, there is no wimping out this time because I am totally telling the world I'm doing this (as recommended: Tell everyone you know that you’re writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who’ve had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse.) 

I am taking a sort of, no even half finished, novel I wrote in college for a creative writing class and turning it on end. Pretty much everything is different except the setting and the two main characters. It is YA (obviously, because it's the best!) and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens!

Check out my Na No Wri Mo Page!

I'll be updating you with my progress as we go!! 

Glee!! 

Lack of updates and VAMPIRE DIARIES

Now, I realize I'm supposed to be reading, however I've been reading all picture books to prepare for some upcoming outreach programs and enjoying the start of fall television shows (don't judge, I didn't watch television until I had graduated from college - I'm catching up for lost time)! Even with a lack of blog posts I have still had ever climbing blog views these past few days. The culprit? This Vampire Diaries post I wrote a few months back where I compared the book to the show.

Now, all fans know that the show comes back on this Thursday, October 11th and it is going to fabulous!!!! Because I feel like reminiscing about how much better the show is than the book (and the simple fact that I NEVER get to say that) ... here is some eye candy to tide all you fans over for the next couple days.

All of these pictures are from the Official Vampire Diaries Facebook Page

Celebrate Banned Book Week With Me

It is always so surprising to me that patrons of the library thing that we are banning books when banned book week rolls around. I didn't keep count last year, but NUMEROUS, patrons came up with The Bible from our display table to express an irate complaint that we had banned it. After calming them down through a detailed explanation of what was going on, things were usually better. I'd tell you all about what it is, but I'd be preaching to the choir. Glad my reader base is smart :)

Enjoy these graphics all from here and check out the "To Read" list at the end of this page.

Challenged Book Lists

The highlighted Yellow Titles are ones I've read, the Pink Titles are on my "to read" list

The Top Ten Challenged Books of 2011 - Data from ALA

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
   Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
   Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
   Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
   Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    Reasons: offensive language; racism

Challenged Classics

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 
5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker 
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce 
7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding 
9. 1984, by George Orwell 
11. Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov 
12. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 
15. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller 
16. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley 
17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell 
18. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway 
19. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner 
20. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway 

23. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston 
24. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison 
25. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison 
26. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell 
27. Native Son, by Richard Wright 
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey 
29. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway 
33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London 
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin 
38. All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren 
40. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien 
45. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair 
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence 
49. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess 
50. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin 
53. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote 
55. The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie 
57. Sophie's Choice, by William Styron 
64. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence 
66. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut 
67. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles 
73. Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs 
74. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh 
75. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence 
80. The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer 
84. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller 
88. An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser 
97. Rabbit, Run, by John Updike