The Librarian Writer

"I better start hoarding peanut butter." And so summer begins! Again, I haven't had much time to do much reading, but I have started Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler, and that has been so much fun. On the audiobook side, I listened to The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. It's a fantastic audiobook and a good, creepy story about a girl who's the daughter of a psychic and a group of boys at a private school who are looking for the tomb of an ancient king. And it's one of the Sync audiobooks this summer, so you can listen to it for free! The other audiobook I listened to was The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. It's an end-of-the-world story where the end isn't a bang, but a whimper. The year Julia turns 12, the Earth starts slowing on its axis. The days and nights become longer. Birds die off. Crops fail. Suicide cults form. But the story centers on Julia's perspective as a girl on the brink of adolescence, living in a suburb...

"The Diviners is the cat's meow!" So April was not the cruelest month. It was one of those months that zipped on by in a whirl of collection development and library programming. While I got very little reading done, I did get a chance to listen to some wonderful audiobooks. (I have a feeling I should change this monthly post from Reader's Corner to Listener's Corner.)  First of all, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely magical. There's a love story and a coming-of-age story, but really, it's about a place so special that everyone who reads the book wishe s they could go to the Night Circus while wearing a red scarf to meet other people who know how special it is. The Circus itself is a character, the most impor tant character of all, built from love and pining and los s. T he other audiobook I listened to was The Diviners by Libba Bray. Evie O'Neill is a flapper in 1920's New York who has the ability to "read...

"I don't think Elphaba's that bad." Another crazy busy month is almost over. But I did manage to get some reading in. I finished reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and now I'm almost done reading Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough (review forthcoming). In audibooks, I listened to the delightful (and incredibly short) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I also listened to Wicked by Gregory Maguire . I haven't seen the musical, but I know a few of the songs and have a rough idea of what it's about. The book is substantially different from what I thought I knew. The novel's world-building is phenomenal and its characters are rich and complex. Elphaba grows up to be the Wicked Witch of the West, but "wicked" is a dubious term. The novel starts shortly before her birth and continues to her inevitable death. Elphaba is outcast from the moment she's born because of her green skin. But when she makes the wrong choices, does it...

"Patrick Stewart should play the Major." I'm starting to get slammed at work with planning summer reading and other programming, so I haven't been able to read as much as I'd like. I am almost done with Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles. It's been a lot of fun so far and a review will be forthcoming. In audiobooks, I took a break from YA books last month. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson has been on my TBR pile for awhile, so I decided to listen to it instead. What a charming story! It hits every Anglophile button for me. There's wit and social satire and quaint village life and romance. In this case, the romance is between sixty-something Major Pettigrew and his Pakistani neighbor, Mrs. Ali, who runs the village shop. Both are widowed and what starts out as a friendship turns into something more. Of course there are obstacles, most notably Mrs. Ali's nephew and Major Pettigrew's country club f...

"Wasn't this supposed to be a 3-hour tour?" I hope 2013 is treating you well so far! I'm still behind on some book reviews, but I hope to catch up on those later this month. The most recent book I've added to my to-be-reviewed pile is Altered by Jennifer Rush. Also on the to-be-reviewed pile is Safekeeping by Karen Hesse. I've barely cracked open the first few chapters of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, but lots of fun packed into those beginning pages. Lately, I've had some trouble with audiobooks (the downside to borrowing them from the library is that you can get a couple of discs in and then get a disc that WILL NOT PLAY). *sigh* But I did get to listen to the complete audiobook of Nation by Terry Pratchett. Librarian confession: I've never actually read a Terry Pratchett novel before. Love Doug Adams and Neil Gaiman, but Terry Pratchett has escaped me. So happy I finally got a chance to experience Terry Pratchett with Nation . It'...

"I'd make a kick-ass beauty queen." November was a good reading month for graphic novels. I read Cardboard by Doug TenNapel, and a review is forthcoming, but let me tell you now, it is fantastic! I also read Tune: Vanishing Point by Derek Kirk Kim. Another review forthcoming, and again, it's fantastic. ( But a head's up, it is for older teens and adults. ) In audiobook news, I listened to Beauty Queens by the versatile Libba Bray. She narrates the audiobook, which includes 20 or so different characters. And while her British accents could use some work, there is very little to quibble over in this amazing and hilarious recording ( another head's up as this is also for older teens and adults. ) The audiobook includes an author Q & A portion, so keep listening after the credits. Beauty Queens book trailer with the lovely Libba Bray:

"Damn, I feel sorry for Death." I know this entry is long overdue. Been busy, busy with all sort of projects (more about that later). But in October (remember way back then?) , I did manage to finish Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein ( book review here ) and I started Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough (book review pending). I also listened to the audiobook of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Narrated by Death, it's the story of a young German girl during World War II. And it's a bit awkward crying your eyes out while you're stopped at a light. Hard to explain to the car next to you that this story is just so ... no word adequately explains the punch to the solar plexus this book delivers. But I do have a bonus video of Markus Zusak explaining how the book came to be. Bonus video: Markus Zusak talks about The Book Thief Happy reading!

Dude, where's my clone? September was waaay too hot to be called autumn. It was Summer, Part 2: Seriously, How Hot Is It? While trying to stay cool, I did start a couple of new books. I'm almost done with Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, which is just as good as the hype. I also started another book which shall remain nameless because I'm going to abandon it. I'm more than 200 pages in, so I definitely gave it a chance. But the character has failed to engage me and I just don't care what happens next. That's such a bummer when a book fails to connect. But I did listen to some really awesome audiobooks. Yeah, I know some people don't consider listening to audiobooks "reading," but it gives me the chance to consume more books. I listened to Legend by Marie Lu and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. But the real stand-out for me was The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer and performed by Raul Esparza. Raul Esparza is a Broa...

"I'd change my name to Lola."  Oh, August, with your heat and humidity, I can't say I'm sorry to say good-bye to you. It was a pretty good reading month, though. I read Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt (review pending) and I'm almost finished with Amish-meets-vampires horrorfest The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle. I also got onto the audiobook bandwagon. They are the perfect antidote to road rage during my commute. For starters, I listened to Jesse Eisenberg do a good job as Cassel in Holly Black's White Cat. I also listened to What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen . It's a nominated Teens' Top Ten book, and I can see why. The books centers on McLean, a girl whose parents have gone through a bitter divorce and who recreates herself each time she moves into a new town with her dad. Until the one town where she ends up having to be herself. Whoever that is. Bonus video: Sarah Dessen talks about What Happened to Goodbye Happy ...

"This is why I don't fall down holes." Oh, summer, why are your lazy days so ... not? Summer has been busy, busy, busy and finding time to read has been hard, hard, hard. I'm still working on Cory Doctorow's Little Brother . Still working on Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird . Still working on The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There were a couple of books that I started and then abandoned. One was too boring and the other was too gritty (after 200 pages in and more and more awful things happen to the protagonist, I couldn't take it anymore). But I did read Butter by Erin Jade Lange (review forthcoming) and Bushman Lives! by Daniel Pinkwater (review also forthcoming). I also had time to squeeze in the delightful graphic novel Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol. Anya is a high school student who wants to fit in and is perpetually embarrassed by her immigrant family. She has only one (crappy) friend and a crush on a popular boy. Then she fa...

"I'm glad I'm off the grid." --> June turned out to be a month of middles. I finished reading Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear (review pending), but mostly got to the middle of other books I’m reading. I did finish A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but that hardly counts because it’s a novella. And now I’m in the middle of The Sign of Four . I’m in the middle of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. This book is one that I come to every now and then for inspiration rather than something I want to barrel right through. I’m in the middle of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I downloaded this title ages ago when I found it was available for free , but never got around to reading it. I did finally get around to transferring it from my computer to my Nook, so hopefully I’ll finish it soon(ish).   Here's a bonus video of Cory talking about Little Brother :

"Mr. Holmes is kind of hawt." May has been a super busy month, so I haven't been able to get that much reading in. I did finish The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks , which is remarkable and important and everyone should read it. I started the YA mystery The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman, which has been enjoyable so far. I also started A Study in Scarlet , the first of the Sherlock Holmes tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I never read any Sherlock before, but I've loved the many incarnations in films and television, especially the version portrayed by Jeremy Brett . But, of course, the latest incarnation is the best. ( No, Robert Downey, Jr., that isn't you. ) I'm talking about the Steven Moffat produced Sherlock series on BBC and PBS. This is a modern, sexy, oh-so-smart adaptation of the detective in the deerstalker hat. Benedict Cumberbatch is spot-on as the brilliantly mercurial Sherlock Holmes, but it's Martin Freeman as the long-suf...

"No one better touch my cells!" Oh, April, why have you flown by so quickly? It seems as though I was just settling into you and now we must say good-bye. I did get a good amount reading in, though. I read A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont and Something Like Normal by Trish Doller (review pending). I even finished reading Peter Pan (remember, Project Gutenberg is a goldmine for free public domain ebooks). And I like to mix up my fiction reading with some nonfiction. I finally started reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (all writers should read this) and I'm about halfway through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot . I love me some good science books, especially when they're so amazingly written like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks . I'm constantly interrupting my husband as I read to tell him what I've just learned. Plus there's the heartbreaking human story behind it all. Can't wait to finish reading it! The...

"Maybe I should learn archery..." Here we are at March already. Wow. Let's take a moment for the end of the first quarter of 2012. *moment* Alrighty, then. March was a big reading month for me, mostly due to The Hunger Games . I read the first book last year, but I plowed through Catching Fire and Mockingjay this month before I saw the movie. (I intended to write a blog post about the movie last week, but it was a totes cray-cray week. Short review: I had some problems with it, but I mostly liked it.) Also in March, I read and reviewed Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale . I recently finished Welcome Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell (review pending). That seems like a lot of reading to me. I've got A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont and Something Like Normal by Trish Doller queued up on the nook and rarin' to go. And with that, I'll leave you with this video of the original The Hunger Games book trailer :

"This Mr. Dickens has a promising future." February may have been a short month (even with the extra day), but I got some good reading in! I read and reviewed Cinder by Marissa Meyer for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge. Lots of fun, that one. In other reading news, Charles Dickens' 200th birthday was February 7 and I finally finished Bleak House ! Yes! (Four years and 881 pages later.) Much like Desmond on Lost , my goal is to read all of Dickens' books before I die. (Except I have already read Our Mutual Friend . Hey, I was an English major.) Next on my Dickens bucket list is The Old Curiosity Shop . Don't know when I'm going to start it, definitely don't know when I'll finish it, but I will. And I'll more than likely get it from Project Gutenberg . Never heard of Project Gutenberg? Well, they are completely made of awesome. They have nearly 40,000 public domain works available for FREE. As in FREE. These are downloadable books ava...

"This tesseract stuff is blowing my mind." And so it begins ... Another year of new books! Yay! Last year I did monthly updates of the Debut Author Challenge books that I read, and I want to do that again this year. But I also want to add any other reading news that I may have to share, so I'm making these entries the more encompassing "Reader's Corner" rather just "Debut Author Challenge." But I will start with January's debut author book ... I missed my chance to get Cinder from Netgalley (can I blame the holidays?), and just got a copy from the library a couple of days ago. So my inaugural debut novel for 2012 ended up being Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig. And it was a pretty good way to start the year. As I mentioned in my review, there's a big discrepancy between the number of ARC pages and the number of pages listed on Amazon. So there will be an update after the book is released. In other book news, I wanted to shar...