Well I feel like a failure in many ways today. Let me begin by saying that I've MEANT to post more often. I doubt anyone is really even reading this, but I really truly meant to post more often. And I meant this to involve more than just my pithy and inconsistent reviews of teen books. So in that regard, I feel like a failure. Let's talk about other things that made me feel like a failure today:
Well there was a scheduling mixup regarding a school visit I am slated to do NEXT friday, while the school thought I was supposed to show up today. So even though that's not really my fault, I feel awful that a group of elementary students and teachers were likely waiting on me to show up when I had them scheduled at a different time-- next week. Sigh. Feel like a disappointment.
Tonight was supposed to be my first teen program, which is a Yoga program. I thought it would be cool to have something for teens to "unwind, relax, meditate" etc., since finals are right around the corner. I got a yoga instructor to agree to come and do some very basic introductory poses and teach a bit, then was planning on making healthy smoothies (brain food) and also creating desktop zen gardens. I had everything in place until....I check the program registration sheet and no one's registered. Which I guess doesn't matter because my yoga instructor had to cancel due to a death in her family (obviously a valid excuse). But I'm bummed. Discouraged. I feel stupid. I was looking forward to it. I'm still gonna stick it out...have some board games, snacks and whatnot. Maybe I'll even create my OWN desktop zen garden. I'm here until 9pm tonight regardless.
So ho-hum I had a nice long weekend vacation last week and managed to finish a book, and start a few others.
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
A supposed non-fiction account of a girl's experience as she becomes seduced into the world of hallucinogenic drugs in the 1970s...this book was amazing. Certain names/places were changed or just not included in the book. The main character begins the journal like any other 15 year old girl, concerned about friends and boys and family. Very soon after the beginning of the book, she reveals that at a party they play "Button button who's got the button" with LSD. Basically there are 14 people at the party, and 10 hits of acide. They have 14 Coca Colas, but only 10 of them are laced with LSD. Though the main character doesn't realize it at the time, her soda is one of the drug-laced drinks, and she quickly begins her trip. The trip doesn't last just through the party, as she spirals into a world of what begins as infrequent drug use and ends up leading to a complicated and devastating way of life. This was an excellent book, and many believe it's a "classic" of teen lit.
I'm also reading Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, which is really really good so far. And also have started Airhead by Meg Cabot and The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
I believe I'm finished with the initial trauma that is program planning for Fall. I've planned many things- for both teens and adults, and hopefully at least one person will show up at least to one of each of the programs.
Now I suppose I culd get started on different details- the "devil is in the details," right? But the detail of what will end up working never really fall into place until the week before or the week OF the program. So that tends to make things interesting.
Part of me wishes I could do my own "marketing" for these program. I wish I could design my own fliers and distribute them as I wish among popular teen hangouts and throughout the library, where I know they clamor around computers and giggle at YouTube videos. But alas, that is the responsibility of another department. And after all, part of being successful at anything is learning to pass-the-torch when your part of the work is through. God that sounded hokey. How did this blog end up so hokey?
I've started reading Cures for Heartbreak-by Margo Rabb. I didn't mean to be halfway through it by now- just reading bits and pieces on breaks and lunches in my car, but I'm already halfway done. It's the type of book that makes you want to call the people you love and tell them they're never allowed to die. If you've never encountered a book like that, well this is it. Sounds like some self-punishment, sure- but I tend to veer towards depressing topics and realistic fiction (as I've mentioned earlier) so I can't really help my tendency to dive into incredibly sad books.
So I also started the book Doing It by Melvin Burgess- another one I picked up purely because of the cover and the title alone. So far I'm not that impressed, but the beginning might be choppy, I don't know. I'll give it a few more dozen pages before it ends up on my halfway-read-then-stopped shelf on GoodReads. Yea. Bad habit.
So someone on a YA message board recently posted that she was being pressed to do more book-related programs with Teens at her library. And I started thinking about the programs I'm planning, and wondered if I wouldn't eventually be "persuaded" to do the same. I'm thinking perhaps I'll just have related books on whatever topic I'm doing (yoga, henna, DIY stuff, etc.) available at the programs, so at least the books will be there to peruse. Yea. That's a good idea.
I'm super excited that my friend from UIUC is coming to visit tomorrow. We'll probably end up in a pub talking about Community Informatics and Google until my boyfriend tells me he's fed up and would like to go home to play Diablo II while I continue to drone on with my friend talking about the field of LIS and the unfortunate sub-field of Law Librarianship in between adult beverages. I will never understand the appeal of Law Librarianship. Ick. (Figures I wouldn't like it- seeing as those people get paid more than public librarians. I tend to only enjoy things that pay about as much as a Waffle House manager makes.)
At any rate, yesterday I had more than 6 Reference Questions. WOOO HOOO! Finally! People I could do things for- people I could teach how to use our electronic resources-- I gave out at least 3 sets of instructions on how to access our databases from home.
I am a nerd. Noted.
Now I suppose I culd get started on different details- the "devil is in the details," right? But the detail of what will end up working never really fall into place until the week before or the week OF the program. So that tends to make things interesting.
Part of me wishes I could do my own "marketing" for these program. I wish I could design my own fliers and distribute them as I wish among popular teen hangouts and throughout the library, where I know they clamor around computers and giggle at YouTube videos. But alas, that is the responsibility of another department. And after all, part of being successful at anything is learning to pass-the-torch when your part of the work is through. God that sounded hokey. How did this blog end up so hokey?
I've started reading Cures for Heartbreak-by Margo Rabb. I didn't mean to be halfway through it by now- just reading bits and pieces on breaks and lunches in my car, but I'm already halfway done. It's the type of book that makes you want to call the people you love and tell them they're never allowed to die. If you've never encountered a book like that, well this is it. Sounds like some self-punishment, sure- but I tend to veer towards depressing topics and realistic fiction (as I've mentioned earlier) so I can't really help my tendency to dive into incredibly sad books.
So I also started the book Doing It by Melvin Burgess- another one I picked up purely because of the cover and the title alone. So far I'm not that impressed, but the beginning might be choppy, I don't know. I'll give it a few more dozen pages before it ends up on my halfway-read-then-stopped shelf on GoodReads. Yea. Bad habit.
So someone on a YA message board recently posted that she was being pressed to do more book-related programs with Teens at her library. And I started thinking about the programs I'm planning, and wondered if I wouldn't eventually be "persuaded" to do the same. I'm thinking perhaps I'll just have related books on whatever topic I'm doing (yoga, henna, DIY stuff, etc.) available at the programs, so at least the books will be there to peruse. Yea. That's a good idea.
I'm super excited that my friend from UIUC is coming to visit tomorrow. We'll probably end up in a pub talking about Community Informatics and Google until my boyfriend tells me he's fed up and would like to go home to play Diablo II while I continue to drone on with my friend talking about the field of LIS and the unfortunate sub-field of Law Librarianship in between adult beverages. I will never understand the appeal of Law Librarianship. Ick. (Figures I wouldn't like it- seeing as those people get paid more than public librarians. I tend to only enjoy things that pay about as much as a Waffle House manager makes.)
At any rate, yesterday I had more than 6 Reference Questions. WOOO HOOO! Finally! People I could do things for- people I could teach how to use our electronic resources-- I gave out at least 3 sets of instructions on how to access our databases from home.
I am a nerd. Noted.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
on finishing crap/just so-so books
I just finished the Westminster Abby book, and promptly started in on Lock and Key- the new Sarah Dessen novel.
Westminster Abbey by Micol Ostow
Well, I picked this one up for obvious reasons-- my complete obsession with any and all things British. The story sounded "cute" but I pretty much knew ahead of time that the book would lack any real good storytelling or writing, which it did. I WAS pleased with the incredibly detailed account of Abby in London, which was like revisiting all of the touristy spots all over again. But the shallow plot: girl gets in trouble with parents for going behind their backs to "see" her boyfriend, she finds out he's been cheating on her, breaks up with him. Parents then suggest she study abroad in London for 10 weeks to get her thinking less about boys and more about....I don't know, schoolwork?! Falls for a Brit named Ian, ex-boyfriend James comes to visit, blah blah blah... Yawn. But the description of St. Paul's cathedral was pretty good... I would recommend this series only to people who enjoy guidebooks and have obsessive tendencies with particular countries other than this one....
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
It's just been Ruby and her mother, living together in a tiny apartment, since her sister Cora moved away to college. Ruby and her mother share not only the apartment, but also the same name and the same red hair. But Ruby Sr. leaves much-to-be-desired as a mom: she comes home late, if at all- craps out on her delivery job (so her daughter ends up picking up the slack), drinks, smokes, and pretty much blocks herself off from the outside world most of the time. When she disappears one day, Ruby keeps living in the craphole apartment, drying her clothes on a clothesline in the kitchen, drinking occasional beers and just takes care of herself. She doesn't tell anyone that her mom has left, and doesn't really see a reason to bother. When someone finally reports to social services that Ruby's a minor and has been living on her own, her long-lost sister Cora shows up to take her in. Only a few months away from turning 18, and with so much time having passed since they last lived together, Ruby and Cora do not see eye-to-eye from the beginning. Though they grew up together, Cora's new life with her husband, great house, "new money" are all vastly different from what Ruby's used to. Upon moving in with her sister, Ruby now has to deal with a new (and much preppier) school, new friends, new routines- and obviously a new relationship with her new family. As she grapples with these issues and comes to terms with her new living arrangement, Ruby reluctantly connects with the new people in her life, and finds out that she's not the only person that has been hiding some deep dark secrets.
This was a good book, but I was a little disappointed. It wasn't as riveting as I expected it would be, though the characters were believable and the storyline was good. Perhaps it just wasn't the story I was in the mood for. Sometimes that happens. I don't "mesh" with certain books at certain times. Mostly I was just happy to be finished with it, since it was so LONG. (haha. It was a teen book, it was only long by teen standards I suppsoe)
And at the Library....
I started program planning for fall. I've got some fun things on the horizon, one that MIGHT be a peanut butter program. I know people are allergic to peanuts, but if the program says Peanut Butter Lovers Only, I mean-- they should get the point right? Also planning some Teen Tech night stuff and a Writers' Workshop for teens. Hopefully I can plan all of this stuff and also get some things on the books for our Adult patrons as well. I have a feeling I may over-book myself. Hahaha. Witty librarian joke.
I am off this weekend, and one of my classmates from UIUC's Leep program is coming to visit (from Chicago) and I'm incredibly excited. I'm going to take her to at least 3 libraries before we go to a pub and dish about all the exciting things that happen to her in her super-cool-life as a law-librarian in Chicago, and I'll tell her all the crazy stories I have about working in Central Ohio. I wonder who will win THAT competition....
Westminster Abbey by Micol Ostow
Well, I picked this one up for obvious reasons-- my complete obsession with any and all things British. The story sounded "cute" but I pretty much knew ahead of time that the book would lack any real good storytelling or writing, which it did. I WAS pleased with the incredibly detailed account of Abby in London, which was like revisiting all of the touristy spots all over again. But the shallow plot: girl gets in trouble with parents for going behind their backs to "see" her boyfriend, she finds out he's been cheating on her, breaks up with him. Parents then suggest she study abroad in London for 10 weeks to get her thinking less about boys and more about....I don't know, schoolwork?! Falls for a Brit named Ian, ex-boyfriend James comes to visit, blah blah blah... Yawn. But the description of St. Paul's cathedral was pretty good... I would recommend this series only to people who enjoy guidebooks and have obsessive tendencies with particular countries other than this one....
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
It's just been Ruby and her mother, living together in a tiny apartment, since her sister Cora moved away to college. Ruby and her mother share not only the apartment, but also the same name and the same red hair. But Ruby Sr. leaves much-to-be-desired as a mom: she comes home late, if at all- craps out on her delivery job (so her daughter ends up picking up the slack), drinks, smokes, and pretty much blocks herself off from the outside world most of the time. When she disappears one day, Ruby keeps living in the craphole apartment, drying her clothes on a clothesline in the kitchen, drinking occasional beers and just takes care of herself. She doesn't tell anyone that her mom has left, and doesn't really see a reason to bother. When someone finally reports to social services that Ruby's a minor and has been living on her own, her long-lost sister Cora shows up to take her in. Only a few months away from turning 18, and with so much time having passed since they last lived together, Ruby and Cora do not see eye-to-eye from the beginning. Though they grew up together, Cora's new life with her husband, great house, "new money" are all vastly different from what Ruby's used to. Upon moving in with her sister, Ruby now has to deal with a new (and much preppier) school, new friends, new routines- and obviously a new relationship with her new family. As she grapples with these issues and comes to terms with her new living arrangement, Ruby reluctantly connects with the new people in her life, and finds out that she's not the only person that has been hiding some deep dark secrets.
This was a good book, but I was a little disappointed. It wasn't as riveting as I expected it would be, though the characters were believable and the storyline was good. Perhaps it just wasn't the story I was in the mood for. Sometimes that happens. I don't "mesh" with certain books at certain times. Mostly I was just happy to be finished with it, since it was so LONG. (haha. It was a teen book, it was only long by teen standards I suppsoe)
And at the Library....
I started program planning for fall. I've got some fun things on the horizon, one that MIGHT be a peanut butter program. I know people are allergic to peanuts, but if the program says Peanut Butter Lovers Only, I mean-- they should get the point right? Also planning some Teen Tech night stuff and a Writers' Workshop for teens. Hopefully I can plan all of this stuff and also get some things on the books for our Adult patrons as well. I have a feeling I may over-book myself. Hahaha. Witty librarian joke.
I am off this weekend, and one of my classmates from UIUC's Leep program is coming to visit (from Chicago) and I'm incredibly excited. I'm going to take her to at least 3 libraries before we go to a pub and dish about all the exciting things that happen to her in her super-cool-life as a law-librarian in Chicago, and I'll tell her all the crazy stories I have about working in Central Ohio. I wonder who will win THAT competition....
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