Distracted

I may have gotten distracted this holiday season.

Say hello to the newest member of the family, Kalikimaka.  Her name means "Christmas" in Hawaiian.  She also goes by Kallie, for short.

What has the Moonlit Librarian been up to?

The other night, I went to a Chinese buffet with some friends.  The fortune cookie I received at the end of the meal read, "Give yourself a day off - at least give yourself a relaxing evening."

Even the fortune cookies know that I need a vacation.

I do tend to drop off the blogging map around November anyway, because of National Novel Writing Month.  I participated again this year, and made it to 50,000 words again.  Maybe I'll do something with my writing this time.  It needs to be finished and edited (possibly entirely rewritten, as it may do better in first-person narrative instead of third-person limited), but I'm keeping my hands off it for now because I'm not feeling much love for it at the moment.

And the calendar year is the end of my fiscal year.

I feel like my previous director position had training wheels on it.  Despite serving a smaller population, it had a larger budget because it actually has a millage to support it.  It was also its own entity.  My current library is a city library (though it also serves a township), and falls under the city budget.  Most of my budget is decided by the whims of the city council, and also, my money doesn't roll over to the next fiscal year.  Spend it or lose it.

I found myself with more money than expected at the end of November.  Oops.  So I had to carefully figure out how to spend it, while knowing that it was probably too late to make an order with our main vendor.  We do most of our ordering through Baker & Taylor, but they have a tendency to take their sweet time sending books to libraries.  For example, Tom Clancy's Full Force and Effect was released December 2.  It came in the mail to the library a couple days ago.  So I didn't want to order from them, because the merchandise might not arrive until after the end of the year, and thus not be part of this fiscal year.

On the bright side, this meant ordering from some small vendors I like, and also buying some local authors' books at my favorite book store.

I've also been very busy with programming at both libraries.  First, I introduced a story time for all ages at the public library.  It's been well-attended, mostly by children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, and their moms.  However, my generic story time has apparently not been good enough for mothers with babies; they have started demanding a baby story time.  I initially tried pointing out that the larger libraries that are only five miles away to the east and west offer them.  "That's too far."  Seriously?

So, I have to create baby story times.  This has had me in a panic, and even given me honest-to-goodness nightmares.  I like to say that I enjoy children as long as they're potty-trained and literate.  But also, in doing research into baby programming and early literacy, I've discovered just how important not only reading to infants but also talking, singing, and playing is to their future literacy.  I feel like I need an early childhood development degree to do this!  No pressure or anything, to create quality programming.

Something that I can be proud of myself for, at least, is how I've stepped up my teaching at the school library.  There are a couple of classes that I've started focusing on, for two reasons.  One, they are at a good age to learn how to use a library and develop lifelong skills in navigating a library and performing research.  Two, these classes drive me insane and tend to leave the library looking as though a tornado struck.  If you teach them, you can direct them toward correct behavior.

I found a Dewey Decimal Bingo game online, and adapted it to an appropriate reading level.  Made it a bit more generic (590 for wild animals, rather than 599.774 for foxes, for example), and included pictures of books actually in the library.  I've been playing it with these classes for the past two weeks, and they love it.  I'm also seeing them check out books from the subject areas highlighted in the game.  It's awesome.


I do intend to use the next two, slower weeks to catch up on some reviews.  My partner will be out of town, and I do have the days of the actual holidays off.  Maybe I can actually heed the fortune cookie and relax.

To Dragon Con!

My partner and I are off to Dragon Con in Atlanta for the long weekend!  I intend to meet some awesome authors, such as Jonathan Maberry and Jim Butcher.  If I am able, I will post pictures while there.  If not, there will be some when I return home.  ... Just in time for the school year to start.

Cheers!

Now on Facebook

Thanks to my previous post, and a Magpie Librarian living up to her moniker, I had an incredible amount of hits in the past day.  Thank you, everyone who stopped by to read about my experience with sexual harassment in my library.

With this momentum, I am hoping to take my blog to the next level.  As such, you can now like this blog via Facebook.  You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/moonlitlibrarian.  I am very excited.

Please stay tuned for book reviews, interactions with local authors, and my opinions on some vendors.

Feature and Follow Friday: March 22 edition

Heh heh, it's been a while.  Sorry.  But I've already made excuses, so it's time to stop avoiding the blog and start posting again.  I am at least six books behind in my reviews.  Let's get this show on the road again!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure as far as reading? Is it a genre, or is it a certain type of book?

A: I actually have a feature on this blog called "Guilty Pleasures."  These are books for adults, since I primarily read children's and YA books, and consider myself primarily a school librarian.  You can find those under the "guilty" tag.  Primarily, those are fantasy novels or true crime books.

I'm currently reading a true crime book, actually.  It's If You Really Loved Me by Ann Rule.  She's a great author, if you haven't ever tried her works.  If you like true crime, don't miss her most prominent book, The Stranger Beside Me, about her friend Ted Bundy.  Also, Ms. Rule is originally from Michigan, so she meets my one-a-month goal for reading a book related to Michigan, my home state.


Thank you for visiting my blog!  I do work all day on Friday, and cannot blog from work, so please understand that I won't be prompt in replying to comments.

Excuses, excuses ...

I would love to have posted several reviews in the space of time between when I announced my giveaway winner and now.  I even have one in the works, about Between Shades of Gray.  However, there are several things working against me.  Here are my excuses.

1. I've moved.  Sort of.  Due to the harsh U.P. winter, I am now renting a place within walking distance of my main job (the school/public library) from a friend's parents while her grandma is gone for a couple months as a snowbird.  My good, big computer is still at my parents' house, which I stay at on Fridays for my other job (the charter school library) and Saturdays (my day off).  While I do have my darling netbook here with me, it is not up to all the marvelous things my desktop can do.  This apparently includes signing into both my alumni email account and my Gmail account that's connected to this blog, on Friefox simultaneously.  Sometimes.  It's complicated.  I can get into my Google Reader (tied to this) just fine with both accounts on, but when I try to go to Blogger, it pitches a fit because the alumni account can't do that.  Gah!  Technology.
2. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to write a review of a hard-hitting book like Between Shades of Gray.  Currently, it's become a very nerdy, librarian-y, historical geeky review of it, rather than something about the story.  Hopefully I'll figure out what I want in this review and get it up soon.
3. I have a book fair this week.  If you've followed this blog for a while, you probably know that I get super-busy at that time, and then post the swag that I was able to get for the charter school library with our Scholastic Dollars.  It's so worthwhile, but oh, so time-consuming.
4. Laziness.

Hopefully I'll soon get things together and tell you about the good books (and not-so-good books) I've read lately, and show off the delicious books that I'll be putting in the library.  Until then, stay warm.  And be thankful you don't live in a place where the snow never stops.

And the winner is ...

Who won my giveaway for a $25 Biblio gift card?  Let's find out!

Congratulations, Wild Orchid!  I'll email you to confirm.  Please respond by Sunday.

Thank you to all who participated, and to the many more who follow this blog.

No internet, no reviews

Hello, my dear readers.  I've been without internet for a few days, thanks either to a nasty cold snap or to Charter Communications' brilliant "work on the lines and not tell anyone" maintenance plan.  It's hard to write reviews without internet.

Hopefully the internet will be stable and I can get some reviews up in the next few days.  Thanks for understanding.

And don't forget to enter my drawing for the $25 gift certificate!  Enter before January 31.

Feature and Follow Fridays: January 11, 2013

Hello, and welcome to the blog of a librarian moonlighting as a librarian (AKA Moonlit Librarian)!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.

Q: If you could choose one supernatural being/creature to really exists what would it be and why?

A: I'm going to be completely different and say, "Santa Claus."  What could be better than a timeless immortal who gives presents to deserving children?

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Don't forget to enter my drawing for a $25 Biblio gift card!  You can find the entry form at http://moonlit-librarian.blogspot.com/2013/01/100-follower-gift-card-giveaway.html

Coming soon: Gift card giveaway!

Stay tuned, my dear followers!  I've passed the 100-follower mark on GFC (Google Friends Connect), and am going to be offering a gift card as a giveaway prize.  After some careful consideration and searching for options, this is what I've decided on:

A Biblio gift card for $20!

Biblio is an online store where you can find new, used, and even out-of-print books.  It works with personal vendors and a variety of bookstores worldwide, but unlike Alibris, Amazon, or ABEbooks, it does not take a cut of the profit (unless things have changed since when I worked in a bookstore that used it).  All the money from the sale goes to the actual seller.

This giveaway will be open for anyone worldwide who wants a chance at winning the prize.  Just please keep in mind that $20 may not go as far with variable exchange rates.


I'll have the giveaway up in the next couple days!

Feature and Follow Friday: January 4, 2013

Hello, and welcome to the blog of a librarian moonlighting as a librarian (AKA Moonlit Librarian)!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.

Q: What New Year's blogging or writing resolution have you placed on yourself?

A: My resolution is not tied to the new year.  This is something I resolved to do after my Marvelous Michigan Month in October.  I want to read and review at least one book tied to Michigan each month.  This helps me out with both of my jobs, and it also establishes something to make me stand out from other book review blogs.  There are other librarian blogs, other blogs that focus on YA/children's books, other blogs that highlight Michigan books (but tend to be more about adult books).  I'd like to be a bit more unique, while maintaining my diverse array of what I review.

Other things I would like to do this year?  Well, it would be good to get back into the habit of writing the reviews in a more timely manner.  I read Choke by Diana Lopez back in early December, and am still only partway through writing my review.  Oops.  It is tough to maintain a review schedule, since I'm working six days a week, with long commutes, and a tendency to be busy on my days off.  I don't know how attainable this ideal is.

I would also like to have a giveaway after I hit 100 followers on Google Friends Connect.  (I'm really close!)  This would be much easier to do if IndieBound and its member bookstores still offered gift cards that could be used at any participating vendor.  I will not support Amazon.  What I may end up doing is making this really personal, and asking the winner for his or her nearest/preferred independent bookstore and placing a gift card order over the phone with that store.  Still trying to figure out the logistics on that.

Most Disappointing Books of 2012

As the year AD 2012 (or 2012 CE, if you prefer) ticks down its final hours, I need to get in an annual feature or two more.  So let me tell you about the most disappointing books I read - or tried reading - this year.

*crickets chirp*

It was a pretty good year, really!  I only had one physical book that I did not finish.  That was Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, which I talked about back in June.

There were certainly books that did not live up to my expectations of them, such as Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  That was a letdown with a beautiful cover.  My full review of it is available here.

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Occasionally, I would pick up an audiobook from the public/school library where I work, and start it on the way home.  Some of these were audio-duds, that I didn't even try for one CD.  I might like them better in print form, so they're not truly disappointing; I just didn't like the vocals.

Room by Emma Donoghue was such a book.  I didn't give it five minutes.  The narrator is a five-year-old boy.  Whoever voiced him (there were multiple cast members) was too high-pitched and shrill to be enjoyable, or five years old.  I work with Kindergartners at the charter school, and they don't drive me up a wall just by talking.

I feel a bit embarrassed by this next one.  "Read by the author" should be something you should feel privileged to listen to.  Lord of the Flies by William Golding nearly put me to sleep, and that's never good while driving.  The forward was captivating, when Mr. Golding was discussing the writing and influences of the book.  But his soft, lovely British accent lulled me as he started narrating the story itself.  Too bad.

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What books disappointed you this year?

Feature and Follow Friday: Dec. 21

Is it the post-apocalypse yet?  I was avoiding major sites for a good portion of the day, as I figured some virus or hacking of major proportions would occur in "honor" of the Mayan New Year (very easy to do when there was no internet for half the day thanks to a snow storm).  But it appears as though nothing happened, so let's go on with life and blogging, and get back into the swing of things with Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Q: What have you learned from book blogging that you didn't know before about the publishing industry?

I've learned something very important, actually.  ARCs, or advanced reading copies, do not go in library collections.  That's illegal.  As awesome as it would be to stock the shelves with free books, we librarians do also need to purchase the books, just like everyone else.  Publishers do like sending ARCs to libraries to encourage us to buy their wares, but after that, they need to be pitched in some cases, or used as giveaways.

Something I did know before blogging, though, is that ARCs are not the finalized versions of the books.  That's not just limited to fixing typos or cleaning up grammar.  One of my former bookstore coworkers loved to tell of how bestselling mystery novelist Tony Hillerman changed the ending of one of his books, from how it had ended in the ARC.


What do you do with your old ARCs?

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I intend to blog more in the near future, complete with a couple reviews of YA problem novels. One's even set in Michigan, meeting my goal of reading/reviewing at least one Michigan-related book each month.

On school violence

I am the school librarian at a K-12 public charter school, and am the public librarian at a school/public library connected to a public middle/high school.  I'm only at the charter school one day a week, but I know all the elementary kids, most of the middle school students, and a portion of the high school students.  And I love them, even if sometimes they can drive me nuts.  Last year when I was a chaperone on a field trip with my second and third graders, I was asked which child was mine.  I smiled and said, "I'm the school librarian - all of them!"

Last Friday, my talented K-7 students put on musical holiday programs.  They were wonderful.  It was a great afternoon.

After dinner with some friends, I heard the news and sat in stunned silence, watching the news coverage of a less happy school day for other elementary students.  That night, I started crying when I read more and could just picture my own little students, and my own beloved coworkers, as the victims of such a disaster.

There were many heroic teachers and staff, some of whom gave their lives.  Most teachers are heroes anyway, but the majority never have to face something like this.

But they need to be prepared, in case it happens.

This summer, the public school system that sort of employs me at the school/public library held some mandatory training that I want you to know about.  It's called active shooter training.  Teachers and other school staff get to learn what to do if someone enters the school and threatens lives.  The experience was amazing, and the knowledge I gained was the most useful and important I've probably ever gotten from a school in-service.  (It would also come in handy in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I swear.)

If you have school-aged children, ask your school administrators if the school has undergone active shooter training.  If not, insist that they do.  Pass this idea on to your friends who are parents, too.  Most schools cannot afford to hire guards; most police forces do not have the funding or manpower to provide security at schools.  Active shooter training can be cheap, or even free.  Training around here is provided by a former deputy, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't charge for it.

We are the underpaid people who love your children enough to protect them in the face of a gunman.  Make sure we know the best ways to do this.

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For another take on school violence, my boyfriend has a pretty heartfelt opinion on using video games as a scapegoat.  Maybe you'd heard that when the murderer was initially incorrectly identified as his innocent brother, people searched the innocent brother's Facebook page and found that he liked video games like Mass Effect.  Blaming inanimate objects is always easier than addressing the real issue.

National Novel Writing Month!

It's November 1, and as many of you may know, it's now National Novel Writing Month!  (Also, happy birthday to my dad.)  Are any of my readers participating?  This is my third year; I "won" last year with my High Fantasy Medieval Zombie Apocalypse ... which I pretty much haven't touched since.  :P  This year, I'm trying to write picture books about science-oriented princesses.  If I'm going to make 50,000 words, that's going to be a lot of picture books.  I'm also hosting write-ins at the school/public library.

What does this mean for the blog?  I'm taking a much-needed break, or at least turning down the heat.  I wrote eleven posts last month, and had one guest post.  That's a lot around here.

I will likely post picture book reviews during this time.  I needed to do research.  Plus, those are short and quick.

I'm currently also reading A Game of Thrones in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.  If you're not familiar, the book is more than 800 pages long, and is perhaps one of the shorter books in the series.  It's also the subject of a hot series on HBO.

Winter is coming, but thoughts of Jon Snow keep me warm.

Best of luck to all who are participating in National Novel Writing Month!

Feature and Follow Friday: October 26

Hello, and welcome to the blog of a librarian moonlighting as a librarian (AKA Moonlit Librarian)!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.

Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.

A: One element I cannot stand, and feel is used far too often, is the love triangle.  It seems as though I cannot pick up a YA novel written by a woman without finding two guys fighting over a gal.  I realize this is what appeals to some readers; I actually had a reader's advisory that revealed that fact the other day.

Student: I'm looking for books like Twilight.
Me: Well, what did you like about the book?
There was some humming and hawing back-and-forth before finally, I got an answer I could work with.
Student: I liked how Edward and Jacob fought over Bella!

I was under the impression that Jacob mostly moped and was a doormat to Bella, but whatever.

The fact of the matter is, I am burning out on YA literature, because of how they all seem to need multifaceted relationships with much drama.  Are girls learning that indecision and leading guys along are okay things to practice?  Are authors writing out of the secret wish to cheat on their partners?  Why can't a boy love a girl, and a girl love a boy, and no one extra is involved, and it's all good?

Feature and Follow Friday, Oct. 5

Hello, and welcome to the blog of a librarian moonlighting as a librarian (AKA Moonlit Librarian)!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.



Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different?

Great question!  This blog has changed so much since it first started.  I had intended to blog about setting up a new school library, but got so busy with the library that doing so never happened.  The blog sat for half a year or so, and then I went, "Hey, why don't I start reviewing what my students read?"  It blossomed from there.

This month, I'm focusing on books connected to Michigan, my home state.  There are books by Michigan authors, and books about/set in the area.  I'm covering books for all ages, but I still focus on my charter school library (as opposed to my school/public library, my second library job).  This gets these books some publicity, especially those that are small press or independently published, like Haylee's Treasure (review and author interview available).  It also allows me to work on my reader's advisory skills, because my students often have to research their home state, or do book reports of books tied to Michigan.

I toy with the idea from time to time of adding advertisements.  Most likely, this would not be for personal gain, but as additional money for my tiny budget.  I don't know, what do you readers think of that idea?

This Feature and Follow Friday question is great!  I hope we learn a lot about each other through it.

Just a reminder, I'm very busy at work on Fridays and do not have a chance to get back to new followers until the evening or later in the weekend.  Please be patient.  :)

Feature and Follow Friday

Hello, and welcome to the blog of a librarian moonlighting as a librarian (AKA Moonlit Librarian)!  I'm participating in another Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you'll come back in October, when I'll be unveiling my first real theme month!

Q: What is the BIGGEST word you’ve seen used in a book lately – that made you stop and look it up? Might as well leave the definition & book too.

A: That's a tough question.  I soak up big words like a sponge.  Also, flexing our vocabulary is hot flirting between my boyfriend and me.  (We're such geeks.)  Between the size of my lexicon and the fact that I read a lot of YA and kids' books, I don't come across many words that I don't already know.

That said, Sharpe's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell (reviewed Wednesday) was good for broadening my horizons based on cultures and dialects.  The largest new word was probably "embrasure," which is an opening in a defensive wall to fire cannons through.  The British pronounce "lieutenant" as "leftenant," which is interesting.  A new foreign word is "bibi," formally meaning "lady" in Hindi and/or Arabic, and used derogatorily by the British army for "lover" or "prostitute."

What words have you learned lately from books?



FYI, I am typically pretty busy at work all day on Fridays, and cannot access social networking at that time, so please be patient if you want me to follow you back. :) Thank you!

What's coming up for the Moonlit Librarian

Hello!  A question for my fellow Google Blogger/Blogspot users: What do you think of the new blogging interface?  Personally, I can't stand it.  It's too white, with poor use of space, and a strangely long loading time.  I've also had trouble finding some things.  Then, when I added a photo to this post, everything started dancing wildly, moving around to places where it did not need to be.

This is a bit of a teaser post, for what's coming up on the blog.

• I've finished Jonathan Maberry's latest YA novel, Flesh & Bone. Finally, a book that I was looking forward to, that met my expectations! Expect that review soon, probably Sunday or Monday.

And I swear, this time I did not balk at rhinoceroses in zombie novels.

•  The rest of the reviews for this month will probably be about audiobooks.  In the physical realm of books, I'm going to try and get ready for my October feature.  I'm hoping that it will be awesome, and that you, my dear readers, will enjoy it greatly.

Also, I did a little designing and made a background banner for the title area of my blog.  ^_^  Isn't it nice?  I'd love to get a photo of one of my libraries in the moonlight, but both have west-facing windows and I'm not going to be up so early as to catch a moonset just for a photo.  Ah well.


(If you're here for Feature and Follow Friday, I wasn't interested in the question this week.  But thanks for stopping by!  Consider this my FFF post. ^_^ )

Feature and Follow Friday: I succumb to a meme.

I've kind of avoided resorting to memes on the blog.  There are multiple reasons for this, including such things as shyness and a stubborn nonconformity.  But, last week I did sort of participate in "Feature and Follow Friday," hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, and a few people who wandered here mentioned that I didn't have an FFF post.  So, here's an FFF post.  Whee.

Q: What hyped up book do you think was not worth all the talk?

 There's a very easy answer to this, which would be Twilight, for I am quite intolerant of everything dealing with it.  But that's taking the easy way out, isn't it?

I will instead go with a book I finished earlier this week, and will likely review this weekend.  It's one I was really anticipating, and the cover is so beautiful.

Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore

Argh.  I was highly anticipating this book, and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.  I love the jewel tones, the predominant blue, the gold lettering.  Plus, I thought Graceling was great, and Fire was good.  This ... this was beautifully boring.  Excellent prose, stretched out for far too many pages, giving too much detail over very little that happened.

But I'll go into more detail soon, with a proper review.

Thanks for stopping by!