rech reads

Thanks for the Memories

the Rechs — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:41:43 +0000

Ahern, C. (2009). Thanks for the memories. New York: HarperCollins.

ISBN: 0061706248

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Bibliography

Cover art. (2009). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.hclib.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=neh&tg=UI&an=295528&site=novp-live

reader's block update

Becky — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:53:55 +0000

I think I have cured my reader's block. This week I spent more time online reading about reading then I actually did reading! I have added a few more books to my list and also figured out a method to my reading madness for the summer. This summer Sacramento Public Library is giving away an iPad2 for the grand prize for the adult summer reading program. I could really use a free iPad2, so why not let the the library summer reading bingo cards lead my reading this summer.

Based on what I've read so far, I need to read a biography next to complete a diagonal on my first bingo card. I have a couple memoirs on my list, but not biographies specifically (I'm not sure it matters, but I wouldn't want to lose the iPad2 on a technicality). So, I went hunting for a new biography to read. I revisited NoveList this week to help a friend of a friend find books for her 4th grader and had forgotten how much I enjoy exploring NoveList. Back to NoveList I went today after I finished reading A Dog's Purpose. I am not a huge of nonfiction, but I do enjoy narrative nonfiction and went looking for a narrative biography. I found a few, but the one I was most interested about is In The Garden of the Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. I had read another book by Larson a few years back, Devil in the White City. I listened to it and loved the way Larson integrated historical details into the story of a serial killer in Chicago in the early 1900s during the World's Fair. For me I know that listening to a book like this is better for me, kind of like watching a documentary or listening to someone tell me a story. This leads me to a bit of dilemma... I am listening to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at the moment. I've heard great things about it and am enjoying it, so I didn't want to ditch it. It also fulfills a square on my bingo card "read a classic", but that isn't in the row I am working on at the moment! I remembered my friend, Amy B., gave me the paperback of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn about a year ago and it has sat on my bookshelf sense then. Dilemma solved, I will read the paperback of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and listen to In the Garden of Beasts; making sure I finish In the Garden of Beasts first, which shouldn't be a problem since I have lots of things to keep me busy, but allow for audiobook listening.

What are you reading/listening to next? Have you read either of the books I mentioned above?

i have reader's block

Becky — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:41:33 +0000

A peak at what YourNextRead.com recommedation interface looks like.I've recently finished two books I really enjoyed: Cutting for Stone and The Cookbook Collector. I was so excited about not taking any classes this summer so I have time to read and listen to books, but last week after finishing a book I had been meaning to read for a while I have reader's block. What is readers' block you ask? I define it as not wanting to read anything on my to be read list and not finding anything new to read that excites me enough to do nothing but read. This is a real problem for me because I am usually the one people go to when they are looking for something interesting to read. It was one the favorite parts of my job as a librarian to help match up readers with books.

Enter this morning's quick check of Facebook and Twitter where I found Lifehacker's article, How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List. Lifehacker offers up some great suggestions; some I've tried, but others I hadn't heard of. Of course it suggests looking at your book list and asking your friends (which I haven't done yet). It also suggests exploring websites like Amazon.com, LibraryThing, Goodreads and other ones I had already explored. A new one I plan on checking out this afternoon is Your Next Read, which allows readers to enter a title of a book they like and it will recommend (I know a word that isn't usually used in readers' advisory, but it is used on this site) other books to try. I look forward to exploring the site further. Don't worry librarians the article also suggests visiting your local library for ideas.

What is on your summer reading list? Are you revisiting the ones you didn't have time for this winter? Taking the recommendations of your friends or trying something new and unlike anything you've read before?

celebrating National Library Week (Wordless Wednesday)

Becky — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:17:33 +0000

friday fun: organizing the bookcase

Becky — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:20:52 +0000

As a library student, sometimes I feel pressure to have a well organized bookshelf. I know the Dewey Decimal System and shouldn't my home library reflect that. After we moved, I put off organizing the bookshelves for months because I wanted to be very organized, but the shelves that I have are a bit limiting because of the spacing of the shelves. Also, after the move, my bookshelves were required to hold more then just books due to our limited storage. I settled on a subject and size organizational method that works for me (and sometimes Joel, but most of the time he just asks me where his books are). Check out this ammusing video with a few whimsical ideas for sorting your books!

I discovered the video on Unclutterer.

How do you orgainze your bookcases? By subject? Author? Color? Size?

book first: The Dark Fields

Becky — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:34:32 +0000

Over the last couple of days, I've noticed an advertisement or two for the new movie Limitless starring Bradley Cooper. As I watched, I thought to myself that probably was a book first. Sure enough I did a quick Google search and with a visit to Wikipedia, I found that Limitless is based on the book The Dark Fields by Alan Glyn. The Dark Fields is a suspense filled thriller that poses the question: what if there was a drug that could make your brain function perfectly? MDT-48, an illegal designer drug does just that, but with some nasty side effects. Eddie Spinol takes advantage of the drug becoming the success he's dreamed, but faces some dark and unwanted consequences. The movie comes out March 18th, so if you want to try the book first you still have time.

Also, NPR has a list of books that are coming out as movies in 2011. This is not a comprehensive list, but a good place to start if you are looking for books that inspired movies. The Dark Fields is going on my to be read list. Do you like books that were made into movies? Which do you read first: the book or the movie? Does it matter?

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Becky — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:48:00 +0000

Mary "Jacky" Faber, an orphan, finds herself pretending to be a boy on a British Naval ship. She must conceal her maturing body while living in close quarters with the other ship's boys. Mary "Jacky" Faber must rise to the challenge of becoming a man on board a ship of all men while fighting off pirates. With humor and wit, Meyer tells of Mary "Jacky" Faber's adventures on the British Naval ship, the Dolphin.

Why I was Interested: In January, I went to the first meeting of an audio book group at library. The next book on the schedule was Bloody Jack. While working in a high school library I had always intended on reading this book because it was so popular with girls and boys alike, but never got around to it. I enjoy books with strong female characters. Pirates are always good too, although they did not play prominent role in Bloody Jack.

Why I Finished it: The narrator, Katherin Kellgren, brought the characters to life. While it is a book I could read at a leisurely pace, I wanted to find out what happened and I can't even get specific or I will spoil some of the story! I appreciated the narrator's attention to detail with Mary "Jacky" Fabor's accent and crude street language.

I'd Share it With: Teens, especially girls who like adventure with a bit of romance. Even with the little bit of romance I think teen boys will like it as well because of the action. I think it was a great choice for discussion and would recommend it to both adult and teen book groups.

Other Books to Try: Bloody Jack is the first in a series about Mary "Jacky" Faber. I haven't read the others, but after reading the first I imagine anyone that enjoyed the first would want to pick up the second, Curse of the Blue Tatoo. If you liked the strong female character, I would suggest Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld or The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. Leviathan's main female character also impersonates a boy to work in the British military, but on airship during a steampunk inspired World War I. Frankie Landau-Banks attends boarding school and her goal is to join the elite boys only secret society at her school. In The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, readers will get to know a girl who is almost too smart for her own good. Lockhart uses humor wonderfully to tell Frankie's story.

my book crushes

Becky — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:38:52 +0000

Today, I received an email from Audible.com. In honor of Valentine's Day, Audible polled its staff for their first book crushes. The list includes a variety of titles including a few classics, contemporary non-fiction and children's books. The list got me thinking about what I would consider my first book crush and I had a really hard time narrowing it down to one.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of the first books I remember reading as a child. I remember being fasinated by Laura's life in Western Wisconsin, partly because the book took place very close to where I lived and partly because it is her story. I read all of her books and even convinced my parents to go to Pepin, Wisconsin to see her "little house". It was even smaller then I imagined. On my last trip home to Wisconsin, my mom and I went through a few boxes of books and I discovered my set of Little House books, I left them there, but with instructions for my mom and dad that I would retrieve them on a visit when I had more room in my suitcase.

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan is the book I was trying to hunt down at my parent's house. I loved this book, but what makes it even more special to me is that it was a book my mom liked when she was young. She liked it so much that she saved it for years and I got to read her copy. I was delighted when I found that we still have the book, this one actually fit in my suitcase and is happily nestled on my bookshelf in California.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is another book that has stuck with me over the years. I can't remember if I saw the movie first or read the book, but I loved both. I loved the story of young love and is probably part of the reason I am a hopeless romantic. I would consider this book to be my first romance novel!

What was your first book crush? Or are you like me with multiple crushes?

A Teenager's Choices Lead Him to the Taliban

Becky — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:51:43 +0000

John Jude Parish decides to postpone attending Brown and focus on surfing, skateboarding and exploring his own academic agenda. His mom, Barbara, helps him develop a reading list as a compromise. By August, he is already behind, choosing focus on surfing and skateboarding. An accident changes everything. John spends time exploring religions and finds himself corresponding with an Islamic girl from Brooklyn. He decides to attend school to study Arabic which leads him on done a path unlike anything he or his parents planned or imagined. Pearl Abraham writes a thought provoking story about decisions that seem insignificant at the time but when combined together change the course of one young man's life.

Why I was Interested: I was in the mood for something different, so I decided to deviate from my to be read list and browse the shelves at the library. I was drawn to the title and cover art on this book. The cover combines a patriotic color scheme with both American and Islamic symbols and icons. Charles Bock's, author of Beautiful Children, blurb on the back cover also spoke to me. In the end his blurb summed up the book perfectly:

When I glanced at the title of this book, I thought I knew what I was getting into. I had no clue. American Taliban is so much more than just the story of an American kid who ends up joining the Taliban. John Jude is a superb literary creation: the smart, generous, open-minded teenager that every parent would be proud to raise. Well-written to the point where you can't put the damn thing down, American Taliban is empathetic, enlightening, and frightening all at once, a story that not only opens your eyes but gives you ideas to learn from, viewpoints to argue with. it is a rare delight to be given a novel that actually makes you think, rarer still to have a book utterly rip open your heart. American Taliban is that rarest of accomplishments, one that does both at the same time.

~from the back cover, Charles Bock, author of Beautiful Children

Why I finished it: Admittedly I almost stopped reading American Taliban because I was beginning to feel intellectually inferior to John. He was so motivated to learn and always chose options to challenge himself and learn. But instead of giving up on it, I decided to take the challenge of this book and learn from John.

I'd share it with: People looking for a contemporary fiction book that will challenge the way they think. I think everyone should read this book, but fear that not many will and may even find it intimidating. I think this book would be great for discussion, maybe even a community or campus read. I also think this would be of interest to older teens (17+).

Other books to try: While this is very different then The Kite Runner, I think people who liked it would also like American Taliban. It is similar in that readers learn about Islam and Afghan and Pakistani culture.

An Eco-Cynic's Adventure in Going Green

Becky — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:57:37 +0000

Cover image from LibraryThingVanessa Farquharson committed to doing something green everyday for a year. Inspired after watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Farquharson, an arts reporter for the National Post in Toronto decided she needed to do something. She began her blog, Green as a Thistle to chronicle her adventures in green living and from it her book Sleeping Naked is Green developed. Farquharson's adventure began March 1, 2007 with a switch to using recycled paper towels. Each day she chose a new task or life change that she would have to follow until February 29, 2008 when her year of green living ended. She did simple things like showering in the dark or shutting down her computer at the end of each day or switching to electronic billing. She did more challenging things like "eating only free-range, organic, hormone-free (and if possible local) meat, restricting my intake of beef and chicken to no more than once per week" and "spending part of each day educating myself about environmental issues." The most challenging thing for her was remembering all of the things she had committed to do or not do and sticking with it the rest of the year. You can find the full Green List on her website. Initially I was expecting a funny book with pages of laughter (there are moments), however, I was wrong and once I realized that was not the point of Sleeping Naked is Green I really began to enjoy the book. Farquharson desires to share her experiences as she challenges herself to live a more environmentally friendly life. In the end, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to trying some of the changes she made in my own life. The one thing that would have made this book even better is a resource or reference list. Farquharson mentions multiple times researching the green lifestyle changes, but fails to share specifically and the exact resources that she finds. I would have appreciated a list of websites or other resources to visit after finishing Sleeping Naked is Green, especially since she is no longer updating her blog.

Why I was interested: The title caught my attention and the description reeled me in. I am always up for a book with humor.

Why I finished it: I really wanted to know how she did it and if she successfully made it the whole year adding in one green change each day.

I'd share it with: People who are interested in greening up their lifestyle and learning a bit with a bit of humor. I will admit I learned a lot even though I thought some of her changes were a bit trivial and even questioned whether they were really greener then the alternative.

Other books & movies to try: No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan, also a green blogger. There was also a documentary made from Beavan's experiences. Other films to check out are King Corn and Food, Inc. which look closer at the food we eat and the environmental impact that it has on us and our environment. An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary by Al Gore, explores global warming and the inspiration for the author to begin this challenge.