The Librarian Writer

Title: Landline Author: Rainbow Rowell Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: July 8, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1427239327 Listening copy via public library Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park is still crazy popular, and maybe one day it'll be in the library long enough for me to check it out. In the meantime, I listened to the audiobook of Landline . Landline isn't YA, although an argument could be made that it's New Adult since a good portion happens in flashbacks when the main character, Georgie McCool, is in college. The conceit of the story is that Georgie's marriage to college sweetheart Neal is at a crossroads, a road that could split off into either divorce or reconciliation. And Georgie is able to talk to Neal -- the actual Neal she knew in college -- on an old landline phone. Given that conceit, the novel is largely made up of long phone conversations. There's humor and regret and hope in these conver...

Title: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children Author: Kirstin Cronn-Mills Publisher: Flux Publication Date: October 8, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0738732510 288 pp. Copy provided via publisher I picked up a copy of this title (signed by the author!) at the ALA Annual Conference last year, and though it's taken me awhile to get to it on my TBR pile, I am absolutely in love in with it. Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is the story of Gabe, a high school senior who's looking forward to his post-high school life. He wants to put all the bullying and awfulness behind and start over in a new life. Because Gabe has spent the past 18 years as Elizabeth and now he's ready to transition. His neighbor/friend/mentor John gets him a DJ gig on the local community radio station and a part-time job in an indie record store.  Gabe never thought transitioning would be easy, but his radio show becomes an underground hit. It's the one bright spot in his life, but he's scared h...