Reading Suggestions

Okay, I don't really have time for a long blog post. So, instead of lots of words I am just going to leave you with a short list of books that you can read that fit into the body image challenge that I am focused on.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Go Figure by Jo Edwards
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson Series by Louise Rennison (this series is great because it shows that you don't have to be "beautiful" to be fantastic)
Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

These are only a few of the books that are out there that focus on loving yourself for who you are. Tomorrow we are going to be gone all day, we have a meeting in Radford. I'm not really sure how the blog posting will go, but I've already failed BEDA so it's not really a huge deal if I miss another day! Happy weekend everyone!!!

Body Images

Today when I opened my blogger homepage, I saw that some of the bloggers that I subscribe to (Lenore and The Story Siren) were asked to be guest bloggers for a special theme week (well more than a week because it is lasting until the end of April) that is being hosted by SpeedReader at MyFavoriteAuthor. The idea is that it isn't just teens who have negative self images, but that we all should try to love ourselves more. Obviously this is a problem that we associate most with teenage girls. We have all seen the horrible pictures of anorexic girls who have ribs sticking out of their skin and look like they are about to die. However, just because we aren't starving ourselves or binging and purging doesn't mean that we love who we are. For example, I recently lost about forty pounds, and I am still losing weight. I didn't radically alter anything in my life, I just stop eating when I'm full. I also run around and play with my younger cousins. Even with the recent weight loss and all of the people who tell me that I look good, I still have days (most of them actually) when I look in the mirror and think "Ugh." This is horrible!!! And I hate it about myself. It's true that I also have really great days where I wake up and look in the mirror and think "Wow grrrllll...you are FINE!!!" However, these days don't happen as frequently. Positive reinforcement is always nice. This past weekend two of my brothers friends questioned me about my body consciousness. I told them that I there were times I felt uncomfortable in clothes even though I have a rockin' bod. Their response? Simultaneously they turned around, looked at me, grinned, and said "yeah ya do!" And that was nice!!! Two attractive 20 year old guys complementing me? Yeah, I felt really good. Unfortunately, I can't count the number of times that someone says "I love those pants you look so good in them" and I respond with "yeah okay..." THIS MUST STOP!!! Part of the challenge is that when compliments are given you accept them. You are also supposed to find one thing about yourself that you like each day and concentrate on that. The third part is that you also let the people around you know that they are awesome too. So here is the blog post where the challenge is issued. I think that everyone should participate because it is a wonderful way to help feel better about who you are. If you decide to participate sign up at MyFavoriteAuthor and let us know in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday: April 21, 2009

Today's Teaser comes from Identical by Ellen Hopkins.

"Nothing less sexy than stubble
when you're leg to leg
with an amazing guy.
And, teacher or no teacher,
ten years (or maybe more) my
senior or not, he is def amazing.

I love Ellen Hopkins (even though I've only read one of her books) and I really think that everyone should experience her style of writing once in his/her lifetime. However, if this teaser doesn't excite you then you can always find more here.

The Library In Our Pants-Banned Books Edition

It's not Banned Books Week, but there has been a lot of noise this week about books that are banned for offensive subjects/language/etc. so I decided to dedicate this week's Library In Our Pants to some frequently banned books. It just seemed appropriate.

* And Tango Make Three (In My Pants)
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (In My Pants)
*The Great Gilly Hopkins (In My Pants)
*The Witches (In My Pants) (by Roald Dahl)
*The Headless Cupid (In My Pants)
*Where's Waldo? (In My Pants)
*The House of Spirits (In My Pants)
*The Misfits (In My Pants)
*One Night (In My Pants)
*Doing It (In My Pants)
*Daughters of Eve (In My Pants)

So, most of you that are patrons know how I feel about challenged books and censorship. Basically it's a load of bull. I hate when people make judgements about what is okay for everyone. If you have a problem with a book don't recommend it or don't let your own child read it...don't try to keep other people from reading it as well. Also, I am generally more eager to read a book if it has been challenged or banned. So, in the long run all challengers are doing is helping book sales!

In Which I Suck At BEDA (again)

Okay, so I totally didn't post yesterday!!! I'm sorry! It's National Library Week so we have a million things going on. Wythe County teens- don't forget that there is a volunteer meeting and a movie night tomorrow. We want to see you there! Since I'm typing this on my phone that's all I'm going to say today...tomorrow is open until about 4:30 so I will write a long post then! Sorry our blog hasn't been exciting this week!

Nothing To Blog

Yeah, so today we had movie day and there were several kids who came and participated. Ally and I both have strange schedules this week because we have to take ten hours each off work because we have worked overtime with the movie days and also with the benefit from Saturday. Wythe County teens don't forget that we are have a volunteer info meeting on Thursday at five and also that we are having a teen movie night that night as well. That's really all that I have...except Thursday is Support Teen Literature Day and I still have no idea what I'm going to do. If you have any ideas let me know in the comments!!!

Benefit and Haircuts

Today Ally and I worked at a benefit for a local charity to benefit children with special needs. Basically, we just had a booth for the library and talked about programs we have planned. We also got really cheap haircuts by one of the best salons in town.


***MY BROTHER JUST GOT HOME!!!!***

Okay, obviously there is more that I would like to write, but he sooo trumps everything in my life! Sorry for the cruddy blog post. I'll do better tomorrow and Ally will have more details about our charity work on Monday. Have a Happy Easter!!!

The Library In Our Pants (Classics Edition)

Okay boys and girls. Ally and I frequently play the "In My Pants" game. If you don't know what this is, I feel sorry for you. However, a brief explanation is as follows: John Green (YA author and co-founder of the Nerdfighters {HOO!!!HAA!!!}) made this game up. Basically, any book title is funnier with "in your pants" added to the end of it. Sooo...today we present The Library In Our Pants: Classics Edition.

*Madam Bovary (In My Pants)
*Gulliver's Travels (In My Pants)
*Crime and Punishment (In My Pants)
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (In My Pants)
*The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (In My Pants)
*A Doll's House (In My Pants)
*The Inferno (In My Pants)
*To Kill A Mockingbird (In My Pants)
*The Outsiders (In My Pants)
*The Age of Innocence (In My Pants)
*The Awakening (In My Pants)
*Beowulf (In My Pants)
*The Call of the Wild (In My Pants)
*Dracula (In My Pants)
*Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (In My Pants)
*Hard Times (In My Pants)
*Frankenstein (In My Pants)
*Great Expectations (In My Pants)
*The Importance of Being Earnest (In My Pants)
*The Jungle (In My Pants)
*Heart of Darkness (In My Pants)
*The Last of the Mohicans (In My Pants)
*Les Miserables (In My Pants)
*Oh Pioneers! (In My Pants)
*Persuasion (In My Pants)
*The Return of the Native (In My Pants)
*The Secret Garden (In My Pants)
*Sons and Lovers (In My Pants)
*Treasure Island (In My Pants)
*White Fang (In My Pants)
*Wuthering Heights (In Men's Pants)

Sooo...do you all have any funny classics in the Library of Your Pants? If you do please let us know in the comments!

BEDA 6 and Reading

I finished two books today!!! YAY!!! Do you ever not want to read? Or, even worse, want to read and can find nothing to satisfy you? I hate that! Right now I have so many great YA books checked out and I also have several that I have purchased, and I am unhappy with all of them. I guess I should take them back, but I really want to read the books I have. I don't know what the deal is...probably just that I am in a funk. Anyway, today I finished Promises in Death and Love is Hell. I don't know about you guys, but I love short story collections. I especially love them if they are collections with various authors. This is the number one way that I find new authors to obsess over. It is really nice to buy a book for $8-$11 that has fifteen or so different stories all by different authors. If you are lucky and like all of the authors, that's great...but if you hate some of them then you haven't spent a ton of money on fifteen different books. Anyway...short post I know, but it's late! So let us know...do you all prefer short story collections, novels, both, or something else completely?

In Which Rochelle Fails at BEDA...

Okay...so my suck level is HUGE right now!!! I totally didn't get a post in yesterday!!! Now, its true that I could post-date this blog and make it look like I posted yesterday...but I don't want to lie to you guys or jeopardize the integrity of BEDA. So I'm just going to do two blog posts today. Anyway...my plan for yesterday was to do a featured YA author. I chose E. Lockhart. It is no secret that I love her books. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is one of my favorite books I've read this year. E. Lockhart has also written several other books including the Roo series (The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, etc.), Dramarama, and Fly on the Wall. I have read all of the E. Lockhart books that we have in our system and I think that she is one of the best YA authors being published today. Frankie Landau-Banks was a beautifully written book about a girl growing up and learning about love. The Roo series is similar, except that Roo becomes a leper and has no friends, no boyfriend, and no way of fixing her problems. She sees a shrink, she deals with a skeezy ex-boyfriend and a heinous ex-best friend. The books are wonderful though. You feel sorry for Roo, and you understand her actions, but at the same time you are shaking your head wondering why she hasn't clued in yet. But she is believable!!! That is my favorite kind of character. One who is not perfect, who is flawed, who learns about life, and who is a better person in the end.

E. Lockhart has a wonderful ability to write about characters who are easy to relate to. I could have been Roo in high school. Actually, except for the tons of men, I was Roo in high school! E. Lockhart is definitely an author you should check out. If you love her books you can also find her on the web. She has a hilarious blog that you can find here and if you use twitter you can now follow her there as well.

Saturday Randomness...oh yeah and BEDA 4

Well, I finally finished Nick and Norah, so maybe for the foreseeable future you all won't have to hear me go on and on and on and on about it! Although, if I haven't already gotten this point across: IT IS FANTASTIC!!! READ IT NOW!!! So, since I finished that book up I am pretty much on track with my Spring Reading Thing Challenge (not really) and I should have no problem completing it before the deadline in June. However, I am about to do something not so good...I am going to re-read Suite Scarlett. I know, I know...I can't use it for any challenge except for my 50 (or 100) Books In a Year challenge I gave myself. However, Maureen Johnson is seriously Made of Awesome!!! I read S.S. over the summer and I loved it. I loved it so much that I almost just paid for the donated copy and kept it for myself...but I didn't! It is in my "To Be Catalogued" pile. That is how much I love you Wythe County Teens!!! Instead of buying a hardback copy of the book for a dollar I am instead waiting for May first to purchase the paperback! That's a big deal!!! You all know my budget (which is small) you know that I don't just buy every book that tickles my fancy (yes, I do!!!) That is how good this book is!!! And I'm not just saying all of this because it's BEDA, and Maureen Johnson came up with the idea. S.S. was one of the best books I read last year (and that's saying something because I read a lot of great books!) Okay, finished with that tangent.

I learned some random things today...1) April 16th is Support Teen Literature Day. Now, I'm not sure how I am going to support teen literature...I mean-I work at the library, I only read YA lit (usually, I do sometimes read grown-up books, but not really), I buy books EVERY week (seriously I need to find a used bookstore)...so I haven't really figured out my game plan for supporting Teen Lit. I already frighten the few teens who come into the library by thrusting books on them and saying "OMG!!! THIS IS FANTASTIC!!! YOU SHOULD READ IT LIKE...YESTERDAY!!!" I will let you know what I decide to do...and...if you have ideas leave them in the comments (seriously, you don't have to live in my area to give me advice.)...2) It is very, very easy to be green (and not vlogbrothers Green). Today I built a compost heap, in an hour! And it's fancy!!! There are fence posts, and a wire fence enclosing it, and a door, and a straw bottom. And that's pretty much it. Our wood chipper is out of gas so I can't build my "brown" layer today, but I will soon!!! Now this summer when we are growing our own veggies (that are totally organic) we will have mulch!!! I am so excited about this...3) It is really hard to read 200+ blogs in one day...I actually only managed to read ummm...seven...That is so embarrassing!!! Seven?!?! Geez...I am going to do better tomorrow (and maybe more today)!

Hopefully you all are enjoying reading my BEDA posts, because I am really having fun writing them. I know that they are really random, but it's still fun.

Most Teens Are Cooler Than I Am

Hey guys, its Alissa. I thought that since taking on writing every single day might make Rochelle grumpy and crazy, I would help her out by writing something on here. First of all, I am a terrible librarian for anyone over 10, because I don't read as much as I should. Unless of course it's People magazine. I can tell you all about how Jessica Simpson is in a weight battle, or how the Octo-mom is all kinds of crazy though. Really important stuff. You would think with my vast knowledge of pop culture I would be irresistibly cool, hip, and with the times. I thought I was all of these things, until I stupidly helped with a Teen Bible Study last week. The group was full of teens ages 12-17 (maybe older because I swear one of them looked at least 30). They were all really welcoming to me. I have to wonder if it has to do with the fact I am five feet tall and have braces. (and totally smokin') Anywho, we played the Human Knot which is a prime way to find out if someone has body odor or get up close and personal with someone you have a crush on. (Tic-Tacs are a must!) During the game my voice was cracking, because I was recovering from a massive cold that left me sounding like a combo between Linda Blair in "The Exorcist" and Tim Curry. I understand that unless you are over 25, you do not know who I am talking about. Google it. One of the teen girls like said "I really like your voice Alissa, its all like sexy and smokey." And like I said "Hey thanks, I think I sound really scary. I normally sound like a Muppet Baby." And like she said "What is a Muppet Baby?" WHAT IS A MUPPET BABY?!? WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT A MUPPET BABY IS? Come on!! Come freakin' ON!!! When your world gets kinda weird and you wish that you weren't there.....just close your eyes and make a wish and you can be anywhere.........anyone alive during the 80s can finish that sentence man. Whatever happened to the days where people watched "Pee Wee's Playhouse?" What happened to Pop Rocks? Jelly Shoes? Slap Bracelets? Punky Brewster? Whatever happened to that guy from Growing Pains, you know the other less hot brother of Kirk Cameron? These were the good ol' days. Days of tying the corner of your shirt in a knot and playing with Beanie Babies. These teens were so much more stylish and with it than I am. They were talking about celebrities I had never heard of. Who is Trevor Ariza? And when did purple and yellow mismatched socks become the posh thing to wear? I am so old. I looked in the mirror that night at my almost 26 year old face and noticed my huge patch of grey hair is spreading. Enjoy being a teen while you can even though most days it feels like it sucks. I know that acne, cliques, dating, all of that stuff can be totally miserable. But then one day you wake up and look in the mirror and wonder where it all went, and where all of your dark colored hair went. Instead of asking yourself questions like what will I wear to the prom, you ask how am I going to pay for my car insurance? So while I don't know much about books, I do know that I am not as cool as I thought I was. (Or else I am SO cool that I am TOO cool to be considered cool-yeah that's it) so yeah, that's my thoughts for today....that and how come they never showed Nanny's face? (unless you know what a Muppet Baby is, you will not know what that means)

BEDA2, Blogging, Budgets, and other "B" words

Okay, actually those are the only "B" words that I'm using...well...except for books...Anyway, onto the blog post. Today is day two of BEDA (Blog Every Day in April) and yesterday I did a teaser instead of really talking about BEDA and Maureen and stuff. So, BEDA is pretty self explanatory, and it was created (thought up by) Maureen Johnson (author of many fabo YA books.) So, during April I will be blogging every day. Saturdays and Sundays won't be exciting because I'm at home and not really working so they will be short and sweet. And that pretty much sums up BEDA!

Now...onto the other "B's"...Budgets and books. Basically the economy sucks. Hard. Right now I am in the middle of a huge budget freeze. Essentially the only thing that I am allowed to buy is program supplies. It sucks. Hard. I cannot buy books. Period. If J.K Rowling published a surprise Book Eight, the readers of Wythe County would be out of luck. So...what does this mean for the library? Basically it means that we really are depending on you, our patrons, right now. We need you to read and comment on this blog. We need you to come in to the library and check out materials. We need you to come to the programs. We need you to volunteer. We need you to be active so that the Board of Directors sees how vital our contribution is to the library itself. Another way that you can help is to donate books. We love book donations. If books that we don't own are donated then we can have the catalogued and put into circulation. If books are donated that we can't use then we give them to our Friends group. The Friends then sell the books at their monthly book sale and the money comes back to us for various things.

So...blog post number two of BEDA is a cry for help!!! We love our job, we love seeing you guys in here. One of my favorite things is introducing teens to the authors I love. So, don't be strangers!!! Support us so that we can continue to support you!!!

BEDA

Soooo...Made of Awesome YA author Maureen Johnson is doing this really cool thing in April called BEDA. Basically, she is going to blog EVERY DAY IN APRIL. I would love to do this, but am concerned because this is a library blog and we aren't really supposed to blog about things that aren't really library related. However, I am going to do my best to blog every day in April about various library related things. Well...that or Ally and I will do a ton of those memes that are posted all over the Internet. Either way hopefully there will be something for you all to read!!! Let me know if you have any suggestions about what I can blog on. Are there things you would like to know, questions you would like answered, books/movies/music you would like reviewed? Let me know and I will try to accommodate you. Although, be warned...if you want something crazy long reviewed then you may just get several links to other reviews, I am just one (very busy) woman!!! =)

**Also if anyone is interested there are several of my favorite YouTubers who are considering doing this as well, only it will be VEDA...if you want links let me know because it will be hilarious. I also plan on having links to any YA authors who plan on participating.