Reading

Sigh... one of the things I miss most about Georgia is reading. I was fairly steady here in Colorado until I started my new job. I now work a completely different schedule from Brenau. That combined with a bit more upkeep at home and 2 four legged friends to watch has severely limited my reading time. I can read during lunch breaks and sometimes I sneak in a chapter at home, but lately I've been finding myself drawn to the television, mainly because Jon is there and I want to spend time with him. I'll blog later about my "large family obsession" via The Learning Channel.

Anyways, I'm doing my best at the moment. I started Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho but the size frightened me, so I put it down. I recommended the His Dark Materials series to a friend here in Colorado and witnessing her reading it for the first time (she loved it by the way) made me want to read it again as well. So, I'm reading the series again and loving it. Also on my list are other YA favorites like Ender's Game and Small Steps (I liked Holes, but heard that this one isn't as good.) I have skipped Tale of Two Cities as my Dickens read for the year and will substitute it with A Christmas Carol during December. I also still need to read 2 other classics to complete the Classics Challenge, since I will not be able to finish R.I.P this year (very sad.)

Overall, I'm trying, but I'm much worse at balancing life and reading than most people. I'm very jealous of those of you who can and would like to know your secrets, because I'm obviously doing a very poor job with my time!

January Books

I've decided to give a monthly wrap-up on all of the books I complete. I'm hoping to keep this up, so I will be able to write a decent end of the year review on my favorites of 2008.

I was able to complete 6 books in the month of January. I enjoyed reading them all.

My first completion was the final chapter in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, The Sweet Far Thing. Each book in the trilogy is full of the supernatural and each has managed to give me the creeps (I still come back crawling for more though.) If you like Victorian English boarding school novels, then you should definitely give this trilogy a try. The author Libba Bray is American, but she completed extensive research before writing the books. The books are also full of things that teens love, like forbidden love, religious fanaticism, good vs. evil, self-realization, fantasy, and even some LGBT examples. This book in particular is her longest and does NOT disappoint, with the horrors that are the Realms and the Winterlands. This trilogy is one of my favorite current YA reads and has been since she first published A Great and Terrible Beauty.

I'm not too sure how I escaped my girlhood without reading Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I remember watching the Winona Rider movie version in my early teens and loved it (Angela of My So Called Life dies! What???) Event though I enjoyed the movie, I never picked up the book on my own, and it was never incorporated into my elementary or middle grades educations. Now, about 12 or so years later, I've remedied this rite of passage. A lot of people aren't too fond of the book, but I really enjoyed reading it. I think all girls find they can identify with one of the March sisters. I feel like a combination between Meg, Jo, and Amy myself. Like most people, I cried when Beth died, and was really happy when Laurie realized he loved Amy and vice versa. Overall it is a great girl book and I'm happy that I've finally read it.

My third January completion was the recent National Book Award winner, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I was first introduced to Sherman Alexie in college when I had to watch the movie Smoke Signals in a surprisingly interesting multi-cultural comparative literature class (the only non-French literature class I took in college.) Alexie is an extremely engaging writer (on screen and on paper) and he's really done a superb job on his debut YA novel/memoir. The story is about a nerdy 14 year old reservation Indian Arnold Spirit who decides to go to a white high school in a nearby town. It documents all of the new people he meets (popular and nerdy,) while he experiences prejudices on the reservation. I was completely moved by the story and all of the pain (physical and emotional) he endures, while simultaneously laughing because he adds so much humor to the pages. Any book that mentions (from a nerdy character of course) getting metaphorical boners from good books is worth a try! Sherman Alexie is very deserving of the National Book Award for this book in 2007.

I was very excited to read my first E. M. Forster novel, A Room With a View. Out of all of the cities in Italy, Florence has always been least desirable (well, in my mind, as I have yet to visit) to me until now. My favorite scenes were definitely when the women catch the three men at the pond, and of course the first kiss scene between George and Lucy in Italy. The elopement is terribly romantic and I know I'm not the only one who is thankful when Cecil is out of the picture. Edwardian England was an interesting era, as there were many different viewpoints, particularly from women, emerging and Forster does a great job conveying this. I've heard good things about the movie as well, so I'll have to give it a try. It won something like 3 Oscars and Helena Bonham Carter plays Lucy (a far cry from Bellatrix!) so it should be an interesting viewing.

If I begin the month with the supernatural, then I must end the month with the supernatural...

Jane-Emily is a classic ghost story published circa 30 years ago and written by Patricia Clapp. A young woman and her orphaned niece, Jane, are invited to Jane's paternal grandmother's house for the summer. The more Jane and her aunt learn about Emily, another of Jane's aunts, who was insufferable to the point of being evil and who died at a young age, the more the two begin to think that the house and people of the house are being haunted. The story is a quick, but powerful read--enough to freak me out about reflection balls, doll houses, and children who are way too spoiled. I made my mom read this book and she loved it as well. I think I'm a big fan of ghost stories, but feel that they should only be read during fall and winter to get the most out of them. There's something about the cold weather and shorter days that makes scary books even more frightening.

My last completed book of January was The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. This is another, and more frightening, ghost story written in 1983. The main character, Arthur Kipps, is a solicitor who is sent to a small town on the eastern coast of England to settle the affairs of the recluse and now deceased Alice Drablow, who lived in Eel March House on, you guessed it, the marshes. Kipps decides to stay at Eel March House despite a series of conversations with locals who seem to avoid the subject of Drablow and the house with a shudder, and a couple of viewings of of a mysterious woman dressed in black with a decayed, wasted face. What occurs while he stays at the house is very frightening. There is something very creepy about quicksand (thinking back to Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone.) What a horribly scary situation it would be to get stuck and slowly or quickly sink to your death. The book is sad, but a very good read, mainly because of the fright factor. My mom also read this (I've been feeding her the supernatural lately for some reason) and enjoyed it as well. I've seen mixed reviews of this story, so I'm glad I ended up liking it.

February promises some good reads as well. I've already finished another fantastic Marcus Zusak book, I'm reading the humorous Cold Comfort Farm right now, and will soon get into the rest of the Austen novels. I'm very excited about being able to critique the Masterpiece Theatre versions that were debuted in January.

Did you Know?

I am a penguin classics WHORE! I can't resist the paintings on the covers with their black background. The look so beautiful on my shelves. Which leads me to my to be read pile...

Here's my reading list for the year so far (note that I alternate a classic and/or adult book with a YA book:)

1. Little Women (in progress) by Louisa May Alcott
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
3. A Room With A View by E. M. Forester
4. Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp
5. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
6. I am the Messenger my Marcus Zusak
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (reread)
8. Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
9. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
10. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
11. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (I'm trying to get through them all this year)
12. The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
13. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
14. The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman
15. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
16. The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman

I anticipate these to keep me company through March or April.

I LOVE...

WILKIE COLLINS!!!

Ahhh, the Victorians. I'll overlook his blatant sexism for a good story...

Mmmm... Pumpkin Pie!

Now that my "engagement high" has kind of worn off, I'm more comfortable about planning a small wedding (well, I will be once I get to the point where I can set the date) and I'm also able to go through the motions of daily life again. I was getting sick of not being able to read.

I've been reading some good stuff lately. I finished my third Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey, a week or so ago. I really liked it, but I didn't think it was as good as the other two I have read, Sense an Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. I do understand that it was her first novel, (although not the first that was published) so it was bound to not be her best. I plan on having the rest read (excepting the unfinished novels and novellas) by January so I can watch all of the new Masterpiece Theatre novel adaptations!

My reading habits lately have been flip flopping between the classics and young adult books, so I moved on to Extras, the fourth book in the Uglies "trilogy." This one doesn't specifically deal with the protagonist, Tally, although she does appear in the novel. It takes place in a Japanese city and details a new post-apocalyptic society that is obsessed with fame. I really, REALLY, like this series. I've read some of his vampire novels and while they were good, they didn't quite appeal to me as much as Twilight, etc. But this series is very inventive, and I really want to ride on a hoverboard more than ever now!

I'm now reading Henry James' Turn of the Screw. It's pretty freaky. I'm not too far into it yet to figure out whether the children are really being possessed by these ghosts, or if the governess is just plain crazy.

Next up is a reread of The Book Thief. I read it earlier in the year and loved it. I'm supposed to be reading it this time around because I get to do a book review for The Georgia Library Quarterly. I'm excited because I don't get to do too many YA things being an academic librarian, other than order teen books. If all goes well, I should be published in the winter issue.

Moving on from books...

This Saturday, I'm going to make my first pumpkin pie and yeast rolls from scratch in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner with Jon and his parents in Colorado next month. My mom is an excellent baker and should be able to show me the ropes. The Thanksgiving dinner will be prepared in Jon's new house (he closed today) which I suppose will eventually be our house. Luckily he has the same stove as my parents, so other than elevation, I shouldn't experience too many problems.

I want to dress up for Halloween this year, but I just can't think of anything free to wear. I can't justify buying a costume at this point, and the only place I plan on dressing up is work, as I've declined attending any parties with a close to 60 hour work week coming up. Maybe I can be a nerdy librarian, oh wait...

I was really hoping to go off on a tirade about this talk radio host and how much he annoyed me on my commute home Tuesday, but alas, my enthusiasm for writing has almost completely petered out (and just when it was about to get interesting.)

Maybe next time.

Book Blog

I don't really feel like updating my life (there aren't any real updates), so I'm going to talk about some of my recent, and upcoming reads. So some of you can skip this post entirely if you don't like books, and some can move on.

I've either been reading British classics or YA literature as of late. After Tithe, which I discussed a few posts ago (eh, alright, but not willing to read the sequels), I ventured on to the latest Printz Winner, American Born Chinese. I read it in about half an hour and loved it. It's a graphic novel that weaves three seemingly different stories (The Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny with his cousin "Chin-Kee") into one. The drawings were beautiful and the stories focused both on cultural identity and more importantly, self-acceptance, which is key in almost all teen literature. I HIGHLY recommend the book.

After the Printz Winner, it was time for me to try another classic. I would like to eventually read all of Jane Austen's novels, so I started with Sense and Sensibility. I loved this novel (and the movie too). My favorite characters were Elinor and Colonel Brandon (especially after seeing Alan Rickman in this role). I found this novel easier to follow than my initial reading of Pride and Prejudice, but that's possibly because I'm 7 years older and have a much wider knowledge of history and literature at this point in my life (and that whole reading for pleasure thing).

Post S&S, it was time to read more YA lit. I decided on the second and third books in the "Internet Girls" series called TTFN and l8r, g8r, by Lauren Myracle. I read TTYL last summer. I'm slightly embarrassed for reading these and actually liking them a little bit (hey, I'm, um, conducting research). The books are written entirely in IM (the pages look like an instant message screen) and detail the lives of three girls in Metro Atlanta from their sophomore through senior years of high school. The jargon is actually readable (I'm just barely too old for that "lol" stuff) and the girls experience all of the normal drama associated with high school. Overall, not too bad.

On to another classic, my most recent read was Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. My boyfriend (the one who is all about some nonfiction) lent this book to me, and it is excellently creepy! Vanity, vanity, vanity... I forgot all of the drama that comes with being vain (granted, we all are vain in some way, but I used to hang around a few VERY vain people, males and females). I'm truly coming to love the Gothic horror novels because they contain elements of romance (basically, I can handle the horror). I paid close attention to Dorian's physical descriptions, but I can't get it out of my head that I think he should have a completely different physique (maybe I'm basing it on the picture below). Regardless, I almost always imagine characters different from the way the author thinks they should be. Next up, the movie!

I'm now moving on to another book, but I'm thoroughly happy with what I have read lately.

Lisssssten up PEEPle!

I figure that at least my library school/work friends will appreciate this fantastic introduction to research page. My personal favorite picture is where they get caught making out at the library. I've found that people either hate or love these fantastic confections (I obviously love them). There's something about colored sugar and marshmallow formed into a lovely bird or bunny shape that is just so good!

Pink Elephants, Henry VIII, Jane Eyre, and Nerds

Sad, but true... my fuzzy pink elephant key chain (picture to come later) is more popular than me at work. My friend Paige gave a few of us different animal key chains for Valentines Day and I decided to separate my work keys from my car/home keys. I figured that a pink elephant would never allow me to lose/forget my work keys. Now he has a name (Rufus), a questionable sexuality, and romps around with various Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy Pearl, and Scooby Doo toys around the technical services area (a lot of the employees here, myself included, have toys in their offices) and has been the brunt of many, um, jokes. At least we keep ourselves entertained here with more than work, policy, and meetings.

I've also been joking (with Amanda) a lot about Henry VIII lately. If you know me, you know that I like Tudor history. After reading Marie Antoinette: the journey in the fall, I fell in love with Antonia Fraser's style of writing. I decided on checking out The Six Wives of Henry VIII for my lunch reading here at work. I've been reading it since the beginning of the semester and I'm still not even half way through it. Apparently there's also a new TV show on Showtime called The Tudors. The guy who plays Henry VIII is really, I mean REALLY hot. For the standards of the time, young Henry VIII WAS "attractive" but he was much stockier (I have seen the armor from his youth) than the guy who plays him on TV. He was such a piece of work. It amazes me how passionate he was (quick to love and quick to hate).

Talk of strumpets and trumpets naturally led to tea talk (and consequential creation of Victorian era tea shop mystery novel names like "Sconed to Death"). Speaking of scones and Victorian tea shop mysteries, I have finally finished Jane Eyre. I already miss reading it and can't wait until I can begin a re-read. I fell in love (not like that) with the character of Jane, mainly because she sticks up for herself and is strong-willed. The male characters leave much to be desired in this book, but most men aren't ideal anyways (nor women). Having perfect men in the novel would have only made it boring and perhaps obsolete by now. There's Mr. Rochester who is WAY too passionate (kind of like Henry VIII) and St. John, who can't take no for an answer and is just a cold and jerky. The lunatic wife from the West Indies was a nice addition, as I like to be spooked in fiction novels, and you don't really understand what's going on with her until the latter half of the novel. Overall, Jane is the one who kept me reading and loving the book. It was a very good re-introduction to the classics.

Can somebody tell me the difference between "dork" and "nerd" or am I just both?

I'm off to Colorado tonight to see my equally, if not more nerdy boyfriend. I shall update when I get back!

Easy on the Eyes

Colorado was beautiful (hence "easy on the eyes" title). I've been there twice before, but only in the summer. The sunny winter days are equally nice as the summer days though, and any place that can motivate me to want to snowshoe in the future is definitely right up my alley. I'm excited about exploring this place more over the next few months. More pictures to come.

Speaking of easy on the eyes...

So, I've finally started Jane Eyre. I LOVE it so far (only 5 chapters in). I have no initial weariness towards the content or characters, like I did with Pride and Prejudice (please note that P & P is NOW one of my favorite books... it just took a while for me to appreciate it). Perhaps it is the Victorian time period. Perhaps, I'm just older and able to understand what's going on better. There's something kick ass about a ten year old girl telling off her cruel aunt and sticking up for herself. A lot of full grown women can't do that TODAY. I'm looking forward to my first weekend home since January. Even while my grandparents are visiting, I can sit back, relax, and read (and eat ribs to celebrate my brother's 29th birthday). It's a beautiful thing.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Does anybody remember those books as a kid? I used to read my brother's collection obsessively. My favorite book was one about Stonehenge. I think it was instrumental in launching my obsession with that place actually, so seeing it and actually being able to put my arms around the stone a couple of years ago was fantastic.

Anyways, I feel like my life is becoming one of those books... not that I'm going to die around the next corner (although I suppose that's always possible), but I get that same excited feeling about it as when I read the books as a kid. For once though, I feel like I am making good choices and not warping myself into something that I'm not to fit onto some other path. We are ultimately, the choices that we make, so why not make good ones (after you've learned from the bad of course).

With the exception of a brief trip in December, I really haven't left Georgia. This has felt incredibly confining as I am used to travel. Even as a college student, I would get away a lot for various color guard events. My last semester I drove/flew out of state every single weekend for four months. Even in graduate school, I would go visit my relatives in Illinois or travel again with color guard, or go home to Georgia. I love being home (I am a major homebody) but sometimes I need a change of scenery to appreciate home more. Luckily, I am out once a month, every month until August this year, starting in a couple of weeks. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it all.

So what have I been reading lately? Right now I'm into a book called The astonishing life of Octavian Nothing: traitor to the nation (young adult). It's a two volume series about this African American boy in the Revolutionary War period dealing with slavery and experimentation (experimentation at first meaning education on both his and his mother's parts, then cruelty). It's an interesting read because you can tell that the author is trying to incorporate key revolutionary events into the story. They also have an interesting thing called a Pox party, where guests come for weeks and they infect themselves with small pox and all get sick together. yum. It kind of reminds me of some Edgar Allan Poe story with colored rooms (okay it's been about ten years) and people being sick... anybody? Oh and as I was posting the link, I found out that this book won the National Book Award (EDIT: also named a Printz honor book today).

I'm so excited to hear about the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz winners... coming soon!

Well, I am going to go enjoy sitting in bed (as my dog sleeps at its foot) for a few more minutes before getting ready to go out to lunch with friends. Have a great week!

WHY am I here???

Well, I'm in the blogosphere for a reason...

Anyways, I'm working on a Sunday. It kind of worked out well. It's one of the girl's, who typically works weekends, birthday today and the third person who used to work weekends no longer works here, and I need to make up for a day that I need off in early February (yay Chicago)... so it worked out. Very few people are here and I am advancing nicely on my prep work for the serials evaluation study that I will complete in March. I'm going to break some hearts with all of that information!

I'm actually okay with having such a flip-flop schedule at this time in my life. I have a "set" work schedule but it rarely works out that way with school holidays, times that I need to fill in for other workers, vice versa, etc. My commitments are minimal... travel dates are about it. I don't have a pet (well I do, but it's technically my parent's), my friends are usually working or available when I am, Jon lives about 1,800 miles away from me, etc. If there was ever a time to have a weird schedule, (besides college and graduate school) this is it and I'm glad to help people out when I can.

ANYWAYS, I don't really have much to update. I'm currently trying to finish up Inkspell (there really will be a third one of these... uggh) on work meal breaks, and reading Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride. I had problems understanding her writing at first, but I am enjoying it now (I'm about 150 pages into it). The characters are all have really different personalities, but some of the same emotions. She also only gives out crucial information bits at a time, which is good because it makes me want to read more to figure it all out. I also acquired a lot of classics over the break and have decided to read them in between library-loaned current books of my liking. I think I will like the classics more this time around because a. I'm not reading them for school b. I'm not reading them in French and c. I'm older, and therefore, should be able to understand them a bit better (well, maybe). I'm pretty excited for my 2007 "read" list to start accumulating.

Well, that's about it. Besides some way-too-far-away-to-discuss-here travel plans for summer 2008, I've been pretty boring. Maybe I'll update later today with a fun quiz or something. For now, I'm back to the wonderful world of print serials.

Never again will I...

shelve in the curriculum lab. I came out of there with 5 young adult novels to check out. In addition to the 9 I have already out on loan, and the 1 I have out from the public library, I am going to be reading forever. Why do I do this to myself?

I wonder why I like young adult fiction so much. I've come up with a few theories:

-I didn't really read in high school, so I'm making up for it now
-The literature has adult content, but is rarely so graphic that I can't handle it
-The fantasy literature isn't too "dungeons and dragons"-y (although I think there are a few out there)
-I feel that I am at the age where I can still relate to teenagers, but can look at them in an introspective way (basically I can laugh at how STUPID some of the characters are... hello Bella from Twilight, a book that I loved by the way)

Right now I am reading Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. It is set in Ella Enchanted's world, so I'm pretty psyched about reading it. My cousin, who is a bigger bookworm than I am, is obsessed with Ella Enchanted, to the point where she can recite the first chapter by heart. I'm going to be reading The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood next (my first).

I always apologize for my venture into nerddom when talking about books, but after all, as a librarian dealing with collection development, it is my job to read what's out there... I'm even considering some science books from Discover Magazine's Top 25 science books.