Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

When I was in 6th grade Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and 1 teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. I can specifically remember watching the TV in school that day in Mrs. Hamud's 6th grade class. I don't know why we were allowed to watch it. It was on in the background but I can vividly remember watching it. I remember going home that day and watching the coverage at home and seeing the students running from the school. I remember seeing the SWAT guys. And I remember the ongoing coverage after the shooting, the Trenchcoat Mafia, the fact that they listened to Marilyn Manson, and how violence in music and the media might have caused them to do this horrible thing. 

Mockingbird is the story of an autistic girl who loses her brother to a school shooting. She's trying to navigate her life as an autistic person who doesn't like change and has trouble with seeing emotions in others when a beloved family member is taken from her. Although her brother's death is devastating, it allows Caitlin to progress as a person. Her search for closure ends up bringing her more than just closure but the ability to recognize emotions and empathy for others.

Running out of time

I'm running out of time. Today is May 17th and I currently have to read 32 books by June 1 in order to reach my goal that I set for myself at the school. The kids have been counting along with me, but this semester has been brutal and I got sidetracked with a small obsession with the TV show Brothers and Sisters. Now I have 2 weeks to read 32 books! AH!

Thank goodness I'm reading a lot of YA books because otherwise I'd be in deep doodoo. Got any YA suggestions for me? I have two left in the Vladimir Tod series and I'm currently reading Mockingbird. I also am re-reading Hunger Games so I can finish the last two books in that series. That's 6 books right there. That still leaves me with 26 books! Looks like I'm going to be reading my butt off the next two weeks.

A Sty in my Eye

Today I'm at the public library.
I have a sty in my eye.
It's pretty painful.

In other news I hung out with my sister and nephews the other day. It was a lot of fun. We went to the bookstore and I bought a few new books. Haven't started any of them but hopefully I will when I'm on vacation in Utah or Vegas. I don't even remember the titles.


Not an interesting post. I know. :(

I need help...

I need some help with some book recommendations. I have $20 to spend at Barnes and Noble and I need to spend it by 4/10/11. Any ideas? All my favorite authors haven't put out anything new.

I'm looking for adult-ish books. While I love YA, I don't own much and that's okay with me.

I like the paranormal fiction genre. I like Mysteries. I like a lot..I just can't think of anything that I want to buy..

Feeling a bit overwhelmed

School and work, school and work. That's my life. I'm feeling like I'm missing out on having tons of fun because of school and work. Now, I know that this is Real Life. I get that. I just want to have fun too and I feel like at the end of the week I'm so exhausted all I want to do is sleep.

I'm also a bit behind in my reading for school. And a bit behind means...1,000 pages. Not kidding. So many articles and stuff on things that I don't really care about at all. Information Retrieval and classifications and stuff. I'm thinking that maybe I made the wrong decision to go to Library School. What if it's all stuff like this? I hate it. I'm sure it's not, I'm sure I'm being overly dramatic. :)

Dramatic.. me? NEVER!

I'm sure I'll survive. Just venting a bit here. :)

It's Spring!

Technically I'm on Spring Break right now. For grad school anyways, the school that I work at doesn't start their Spring Break until April 18. I can't wait. 2 whole weeks of not waking up insanely early! YAY!!!!!!

I can't believe it's April 1. Can you believe it? Where has the year gone? School is going to be over soon, both my classes and my job and I can't wait. I plan on relaxing a bit this summer and then hopefully working a bit more.

I feel like I never have anything interesting or funny to say anymore. I bet I do I just don't think that it's very funny or interesting. This month is going to be great, though. Lots of traveling. I'm going to Utah to see my favorite cousin graduate college. Can't wait. I'm excited to eat at all the fun restaurants he's been telling me about and I'm excited to support him. He's the second grandchild to graduate college. I beat him by a year, have I mentioned he's 5 years younger than me? That kid is crazy smart and I'm so happy to say that I'm related to him.

Also as soon as I get back from Utah, I'm home for like 4 days and then I head off to Las Vegas. I'm going with a group of co-workers and friends to see Steve Martin. Have I mentioned my love of Steve Martin? Not only is the man funny but he's a great writer (LOVE LOVE LOVE Shopgirl) and an extremely talented banjo player. He'll be playing with the Steep Canyon Rangers, who I also LOVE. Talk about talented, they are crazy good. I've seen them play with Steve twice before and I'm excited to go see them again.

The other reason I'm so excited is that I'm going to Las Vegas for the first time since I've been 21. The last time I went was with my boyfriend at the time and I was 18. I couldn't really do much. We stayed at the Venetian or the Bellagio (I honestly can't remember) and I remember going to the Star Trek thing (his choice) and seeing the Amazing Jonathan (my choice). I also got to order room service. It was fun.

I'm assuming it's going to be a whole different experience this time.

Watch out Vegas, the librarians are coming!

So I've...

Read a few more books but won't talk about them now. I've been so busy with work and school and everything.

A few weeks ago we had our book fair at the school. It was great! We sold over $2,000 dollars worth of stuff and got a whole bunch of money to go back into the library. It was just fantastic :)

Work at the public library is going good too. Even though I haven't been there for a while. I feel like I've been taking way too much time off to do the stuff for the school and work. I miss my folks at the public library.

In other news I'm interviewing for a job tomorrow. Community college library. I'm excited but super nervous. Good thoughts please! :)

I found it!

In my last post I talked about a book I read as a kid. It was about a girl who was on a TV show and was writing her memoirs at age 13...and after searching and searching for years I finally found the book online! It's called Confessions of a Prime Time Kid and it's actually a work of FICTION! AH! I think I must have been in 4th or 5th grade when I picked this book up at my school's book fair and I think I must have really thought it was true.

Over the years I have scoured the web trying to find reference to the vague memories I had of a TV show and the girl's name and I could never find anything. Well DUH! now that I realize it's fiction of course I wouldn't have found anything. I finally found the book on a used book website. I can't believe I actually found it. I'm so excited. I put it on hold at work so I can re-read it. I can specifically remember reading it in the bathtub at the house I grew up in. I would spend hours and hours and hours refilling the tub with water and reading books and this was one of my favorites.

So thrilled. Good night! :)

One I forgot

I forgot that I read Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I read it while I was in Sedona. I didn't forget about it because it was forgettable but I think because I was reading so much it's all getting a bit confusing.

Claim to Fame was pretty interesting. I have always loved book about "celebrities" and child stars and their lives. I had a favorite book when I was a kid, it was written by a girl who was a child star in the 80's. It was her memoir and she had written it in her late teens. I can't remember her name except that she was named after Margaret O'Brien and her brother was Kelly and that she was in a show where she lived with an older gentleman and I think it took place in New York. I know that I picked it up at a book fair in elementary school. It's frustrating to me that I can't remember the name of the book or even the name of the actress and every couple of years I google search it but I can't find it ARG. And now I've digressed.

Basically the book was about a former child star who for all intents and purposes fell off the grid. No one knew where she had disappeared to, but in reality she and her father just wanted to live a quiet lifestyle... not because of all the fame but becuase of her gift. Lindsay Scott has a gift that allows her to hear whatever people are thinking about her. Whenever she goes out side of her house (which is one of the few places she doesn't hear anything) it's a crazy barrage of noise and thoughts all about her. I'm sure that if she was a normal person it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but if you're a child star and your sitcom is in reruns..it's kind of crummy. Some of her fans find her though and try to "rescue" her. Although she has nothing to be rescued from, this kidnapping actually opens the door to the rest of her life.

It was an enjoyable book... now if only I could find that stupid child star memoir!!!

A book and a slow down.

So I've slowed down in my reading. It's been crazy busy in my life since I've gotten back from vacation. School started and then I got sick and so even though I had the last weekend off I was in bed sleeping the entire weekend. No reading, no housework, nothing. So I've basically been trying to keep my house in order, do my schoolwork, go to work and there has been no time for reading. Except for one.


The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn is a favorite among my students. The kids love all things Hahn to begin with but we literally have about ten copies of this title and they are constantly checked out. I'll admit I figured out what was going on before I was halfway through the book but only because I could relate it to a movie I had seen. I can totally understand why kids love this book and it really is pretty freaky. I don't want to say much about it since I don't really want to spoil it for you, but if you (assuming you're an adult) would like a quick, easy, fun kids ghost story this would be the book for you.

I now have two three-day weekends this month, so I plan to read a bit more. Hopefully after I've cleaned my house, gotten AHEAD on all my schoolwork, planned my birthday party, and not get sick. Fingers crossed for more reading?

1+2+5=8

So my three day vacation to Sedona was a success! I read 5 books while I was there and it was amazing. Now that I'm back I haven't really read anything, but I've been working on a Tom Selleck cross stitch (I love me some Tom Selleck) instead. I'm take a break from the cross stitching though to get some reading done before the semester starts.

Speaking of school, it starts Wednesday! EEK! I'm excited, although I'm sure that will wear off soon. I'm really busy between the two jobs and trying to keep a social life. I'm sure the social life is going to tank during the semester but I think that's how it goes. Work at the public library is the same, same crazies, same questions. The kids at school are keeping me busy and this coming week I am going to the county of education branch meeting. I'm excited to meet other librarians and network a bit.

Now for my books that I've read!



Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block
Continuing with the characters from Weetzie Bat, Block tells the story of Weetzie's adopted daughter, Witch Baby. We learn why she is so conflicted and she in turn learns about her family and why she should accept their love and return it.








Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys by Francesca Lia Block
Ah!!!! The kids are all grown up! Cherokee Bat, Witch Baby, Raphael and Angel Juan all form a band while their parents are out of town filming a movie. They learn the hard way about temptation and spiral quickly out of control. Yet, of course, the spell breaks and they realize the harm they are doing to their spirits and bodies.




The Girls by Lori Lansens
Fascinating book about conjoined twins. Rose and Ruby have lived their entire lives conjoined, sharing vital organs that made it impossible to separate them. The book is written from both of their perspectives and Lansens does a fantastic job differentiating between the two. They have great voices and great stories and I couldn't read this book fast enough.





A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future by Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox is a favorite actor of mine. I've read all of his previous books, mostly biographies and memoirs about his life and his disease. This book was different, mostly advice and positive ways of looking at life. Fox dropped out of high school and only got his GED after his son asked him why he didn't have one. It was fascinating to hear his take and I love his writing voice. I can actually "hear" him as I read his words.



The D.U.F.F. by Kody Keplinger
A first novel by a teenager, Keplinger's "The D.U.F.F." was a quick and fun read. It reminded me of high school reality and even though many people thought it was too sexual or not well written. I thought it was great. I'm not sure if I would recommend it to my students due to some of the decisions that the characters make, but I found it refreshing to read someone writing about high school reality.

Two books

So I've been reading reading reading! Or at least trying to anyways. I love YA books because I can get through them really quickly.

This week I read Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. I really enjoyed this book. It's written from the perspective a middle school boy who is autistic. The reason I really liked it is that I had never read anything written in that perspective before. It gave me a great understanding of what issues autistic kids might be dealing with and how their thought processes might work. Anyways I really liked it and I think it would be a good read for kids and adults who might have questions about how autistic kids process things.

I also read Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block. I'll be honest and say that I've read all of her books before, but it has been years since I've done so. Weetzie Bat was published in 1989 and deals with issues such as deal, gay relationships, AIDs, love, loneliness and more. It's the first in a series of books about the same characters and it's a favorite of mine. I LOVED these books as a teen and I love them more now. It's whimsical and realistic and sad and happy all at the same time. When I was younger I felt really connected to these books. I wanted love and happiness and to live a whimsical life. Now, a bit older, I still want that and I still feel that when I read these books.

I leave for Sedona tomorrow on my annual girls trip with my mom. I have over 20 books checked out on my library card and plan to get a TON of reading done. The good thing about YA books is that they are short :) But I do have some adult books on my list as well.

Things are looking good so far.

My Goal for 2011

I'm not one to embrace resolutions. If there is an activity or habit that I want to stop or continue I will. But this year I have a goal. A real goal that I am going to share with you all and hopefully that will keep me on track.

My goal is.....

To read 100 books in 2011.

I know. It's not that lofty of a goal, but if you think about it it's about two books a week. I work six days a week between my two libraries and I have a lot of shows that I enjoy watching on TV but I'm really going to focus on reading more. Also, since I've started at the school I'm increasing my YA reading a bit so I can be more familiar with what my students are reading. I actually read about five YA books in the last few days of 2010 but I can't count those towards my total :( So far I've already finished one and am in the middle of two others so I'm hoping to get those done within the next couple of days.

So here is my list so far:

1. The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard
I started this series because it was about a librarian and it had that super natural feel to it. I heard that this is the last one in the series and that makes me a bit sad. I enjoyed the characters and it's a really fast read. I love historical familial ties of magic that run through Abby and Ophelia and I especially loved that the characters go back to their home towns and we can really see their heritage.

WOOT one down! :)

Happy Christmas

Hi all--

Did you have a nice Christmas? I did. I guess. I have some crazy family issues that have been taking over the family holidays so it's kind of difficult sometimes. Anyways! I'm excited to be on break from school.

I am enjoying the school and being a librarian for them but I really feel that I need to be there more hours. I feel bad for the kids because they can't use the library as much as they should and a lot of them have some crazy research projects that they are working on.

The kids are really sweet and I'm glad to be ther I just wish I was there more. I did a class on database searching. The kids seem to really enjoy learning about how to search on databases. I geeked out and showed them a lot more than they would ever want to know or hear about databses. I'm passionate! What can I say?

In other news at the public library today I overheard this conversation:

Patron answering her phone: HI BABY! I'M IN THE LIBRARY!!!!!!! YES THE LIBRARY! WHAT?! NO I'LL BE THERE IN A SECOND. I'M IN THE LIBRARY!!!!

Obviously she knows that she's IN THE LIBRARY but apparently she doens't think she needs to be QUIET.

le sigh.