To Re-read or Not Re-Read

Yesterday one of my librarian pals had a question in her facebook status. The question was "When it comes to the Harry Potter books, how many times is too many times in regard to re-reading?" My response? You can never re-read them too many times. I am a huge fan of re-reading novels. I don't know how many times I have read the Harry Potter series, and each time I love them more and more. There are numerous other books that I have read over and over again, including Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, all of John Green's books, Twilight, and many more. I also do this crazy thing where if a book is part of a series I have to re-read all of the previous books each time a new book comes out. Part of this is due to the fact that I read so many books and part of it is that I don't want to have memories gaps when I am reading the newest novel. Also, a huge part of it is that I just love books. It is rare for me to hate anything that I read, and if I love a book I want to experience it over and over again. So, how do you all feel about re-reading books? And if you don't re-read books what do you do with books you purchase after you have read them once?

First Line Fridays: September 4, 2009

Here is this week's First Line:

"If truth was a crayon and it was up to me to put a wrapper around it and name its color, I know just what I would call it- dinosaur skin." ~So B. It by Sarah Weeks

Enjoy!

Teaser Tuesday: September 1, 2008

So, recently I have been reading a lot of random books. In addition to my regular YA, I have also been reading classics, memoirs, biographies, and titles from our local eighth grade reading list. So this week I am going to do two Teasers. The first is from 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson and the second is from On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

"This bordered on being a nightmare scenario. This was adding insult to injury." ~LBE

"My aunt once said the world would never find peace until men fell at their women's feet and asked for forgiveness. But Dean knew this; he'd mentioned it many times." ~On the Road

If these two don't send you running to the bookstore or local library, then check out many more teasers here.

Back to School: YAY or NAY!!!

So today starts the first full week of school here in Wythe County. I know that school officially started last Wednesday, but for me it didn't really seem like the school year was real until I had been there for a full week. I don't know if you guys are excited or not, but as a grown-up I can honestly say that I miss the beginning of a new school year. I have cousins in middle school and I can say that I think they are going to have such awesome stuff to study this year. The eighth grade reading list is spectacular. Some people would be embarrassed to admit that they are extremely excited about an eighth grade reading list, but I am a NERD and a librarian, so I can be excited. I was at Books-A-Million last week and they had excellent displays titled "On Your School Reading List" and also "NOT On Your School Reading List." These gave me plenty of ideas about displays for the library. So, now you tell us. Are you excited about being back at school? Also, what required reading did you love and what books top your "Not School Reading" lists?

Teaser Tuesday (On a Wednesday)- August 26, 2009

Today's Teaser comes from Beige by Cecil Castellucci.

"She left my dad when I was three because he was just a disaster. Everyone thought he'd be the one that ended up dead, not my mom."

If this teaser doesn't excite you, there are many more here.

ALA Teens Top Ten

Everyone needs to go to the YALSA website and cast your vote for the Teens Top Ten. This is your chance to let your voice be heard and influence other readers! There are a whole lot of awesome books on the list this year including Paper Towns, Graceling, The Hunger Games, Identical, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and many more fabulous titles by incredible authors. So, sometime between now and September 18 go and vote, then let us know in the comments which three books you picked! The Top Ten List will be announced during Teen Read Week 2009.

Teaser Tuesday: August 18, 2009

Today's Teaser comes from The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima.

"Hastings placed his hands over the wound, speaking a charm slowly and distinctly. The skin immediately blistered up, turning a nasty green and yellow, as if the poison had risen and collected just under the skin.

If this Teaser doesn't do it for you, there are plenty more here.

First Line Fridays

Since there isn't much going on lately to post about, and we aren't ordering books yet, I thought I would try something new on here. A big craze on Twitter right now is First Lines Fridays. It is pretty simple, all you have to do is share the first line of a book. I am going to do this regularly with whatever my current book is. I love Teaser Tuesdays, but sometimes the opening line of a novel grabs you more than a random quote from inside the book. Enjoy!

"'Oh my God, what's she doing here?' my best friend, Sidney van der Hoff, was asking, as I came up to the corner booth to hand out menus." Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot

Teaser Tuesday (On a Wednesday)

Today's Teaser comes from Max by James Patterson. It is the fifth book in the Maximum Ride series. Enjoy!

"Fang dropped my hand to put his arm around my shoulders, his warmth searing my skin through my jacket. I really, really hoped that I hadn't suddenly sprouted a catrillion new nerve endings."

Random Reading Stuffs

I'm currently in the middle of The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. It's pretty good. It is the middle book in a trilogy, and the first book was very good as well. I have so many books in my TBR pile that it isn't funny. I also committed to reading 20,000 pages this summer for the adult SRP, and I have about 8,000 pages left to read in the next month. This morning I found an excellent reading list at www.teenreads.com. The list consists of 300 books that they considered must reads. Some of the books are adult books, some are classics/required reading, and the rest are YA books. I think that I am going to try to read my way through this list. I'm not really going to put a time limit on it, 300 books is a lot, but there were several books I have been meaning to read on the list. There were also several books that I have never heard of. Everyone should check the list out and met me know how many of the books you have read or have been on your TBR lists. One last thing, it is almost book ordering time and we are always looking for suggestions. So if there are books you love, from picture books through YA, please let us know! Leave suggestions in the comments!

Geektastic ARC

I am sooo excited! When I got home today an ARC of Geektastic was waiting for me! I didn't get it free but I did find a copy on eBay for like $4.00 after shipping, which was pretty awesome. I already read over half of it tonight and can say that I will most definitely be ordering a copy for the library come September! I'm sure that none of my teens are as excited about this as I was, but they will be once they have the book!

Review: Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

From Barnes and Noble: A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.
Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he's infected the girlfriends he's had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It's Cal's job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

First of all I have to say that I really adore Scott Westerfeld. All of his books are a little bit dark and twisty and involve plots where the main characters find out that the "good guys" aren't always good. However, this is one thing that makes his books remarkable. Peeps is a new take on vampirism. Instead of people running around biting other people, vampirism is a disease that is spread through saliva and other bodily fluids. The parasite that cause vampirism causes the people who are infected to hate everything they once loved and to go a little crazy. Cal is lucky enough to only be a carrier. He works for an agency that tracks down people who are "parasite positive" aka Peeps. As far as heroes go, Cal is decent. The reader doesn't really get to know him, the story and his search for every girl he has come in contact with since his infection is where the story focuses. One unique element in this book was that every other chapter is devoted to a different parasite. As you read these chapters about real life parasites that humans come in contact with every day and how they manifest and mutate, your skin will crawl. However, these chapters really do add to the story. The parasite chapters help you understand the parasite that turns humans into vampires. I really enjoyed Peeps. The ending is a little strange, but that is because there is a sequel. Many questions are left unanswered that are hopefully dealt with in The Last Days. I would recommend Peeps to anyone who enjoyed Twilight, Anne Rice, or any other vampire book. Scott Westerfeld has an incredible ability to weave a story. I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read, but Peeps is my favorite so far.

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?

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!!!

Teaser Tuesday: April 1, 2009 (Again on a Wednesday)

Today's Teaser comes from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Yes, I know, I have a sick obsession with this book, but it is sooo fantastic. Before we go any farther, I will say that this book has very mature content. I would not recommend anyone under the age of 17 reading it without a parent reading it first, or giving their permission. I do love this book, and I'm reading it for the third time, but I'm 25 and I pretty much am not influenced by the mature themes in this book. However, there is material that I think some parents in our area would have a problem with thier children reading. Anyway...on to the Teaser...

"'Wanna watch some nuns make-out?' Am I even speaking out loud?"

Like always, if you aren't satisfied with this teaser or your parents aren't crazy about nuns making out, you can always find more teasers here.

New Challenge

Okay...like I'm not doing enough challenges already. Or rather I should say ignoring enough challenges. I am going to participate in this Spring Reading Thing Challenge. Basically you just commit to finishing books you have already started and that have been sitting in you TBR pile for awhile. So here is my list.

1) He's Not That Into You
2) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
3) Not On Our Watch
4)They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky
5) Salvation In Death
6) Promises In Death
7) Envy
8) Stardust
9) Spud
10) Nobody's Princess
11) Spanking Shakespeare
12) Slam
13) Hacking Harvard
14) I Am The Messenger
15) Rhymes With Witches
16) Blood and Chocolate
17) Peeps
18) Love is Hell
19) Gregor the Overlander
20) The Queen Geek Social Club

Okay, that's all the books that I can think of right now, but I am sure that I will have more to add as we go along. I would really like to read 28 books since the challenge lasts fourteen weeks and I have already started several of these books.

Teaser Tuesday: February 24, 2009

Today's Teaser comes from Evernight by Claudia Gray

"The construction worker swaggered closer, and all his friends stood up. 'You go treating your girlfriend like that in public and damn straight it's my business.'"

As always, if this one doesn't do it for you there are more Teasers here.

Book Clubs?

Okay guys it's time for a little feedback. Recently we have had a few tween/teen patrons express interest in book clubs. If you live in Wythe County and are interested please let us know. We really want to be able to provide programs that you all are interested in and that you are eager to participate in as well. Depending on the various ages that want to participate we may do more that one book club. There are so many options! Obviously I am a huge reader, and I would love to see a Tween/Teen reading group happen in our library. So, if it is something that you are interested in please comment, call, or come by and let us know.

**RRPL patrons-if this is something you are interested in, please let Melissa know. If there are patrons there who want teen reading groups then we can plan programs there as well.

Gossip Girl

Here are pictures of our awesome Gossip Girl Display for those of you who haven't gotten a chance to see it in person!

Unfortunately we had to build it in the JEasy section! But it was still a really fun display to build and look at all the time! If you have suggestions about other displays that you would like to see please let us know!