Terra (Terrestrials #1) Book Report.

Oh no, not another dystopian young adult novel you say.  Well, I think it's better than those other dark YA novels.  You know the ones with the monochromatic covers, if there is any color involved, it usually involves a rose or flower of sorts.

Although I am not the best source for YA novels, I have read the The Hunger Games and Divergent series.  And they all seem to be built upon the same premise.

Here's the ingredient list for non-vampire related YA novels:
1 - a post-apocalyptic world
1 - structured caste system
1 - a "typical" teenage female who belongs in the lower rung of society
1 - male character who becomes the love interest
1 - strange set of circumstances which leads said female to become the heroine

There are a lot of structural similarities between these three novels, fortunately, Terra is able to distance itself well enough to keep my interest.  

I did have some questions after finishing the book.  These are not technically spoilers since the Amazon book description includes these details, but whatever, you've been warned.

My first question is, how high in the atmosphere are the skydwellers living?  This leads me to my second question, if they are as high as I assume they are from reading, wouldn't all the scraps the scavengers look for burn up in the atmosphere?

Overall, Terra is a quick and entertaining read.  If you are a fan of The Hunger Games or Divergent, you would definitely appreciate the Gretchen Powell's take on a dystopian world.  Now I am on to my next book: The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.  

Damn English, Why You So Quirky?

I have had my second successful Literacy Council tutoring.  I almost half expected my student to walk out calling me a horrible teacher.

During our first tutoring session, I was extremely nervous because I felt like I had no idea what to do.  Sure they supplied me with a book, but I was not sure how well the book would fit in with my tutee's literacy level.  So I was completely open and honest about my confidence in teaching at the beginning of the first session and I told them, "This is my first time teaching anything, so I am not exactly sure on how to go about this, but I promise that I will try my best to help you reach your literacy goals."  Despite what my online persona might come across as, I really do want to and like helping people.

The Literacy Council held training sessions for new tutors, but there was a lot to cover and only so much time.  Teaching someone to read and write at any level or age is not an easy task; it also takes a lot for these adults to take on the role of student and face this challenge head on.  It is not like these adults have low intelligence, the Literacy Council trainers mentioned this over and over.  The majority of students are non-native English speakers, and a lot have received formal, higher education back in their home countries.  I can understand why people say that English is the hardest language to learn.  During our readings, my tutee asks specific questions about who and why certain phrases make sense: "for a stretch," "wind down," etc.  It is really hard to explain how or why they make sense, I've taken their understandings for granted having grown up with them.  My already profound amount of respect and gratitude for all of the teachers I have had in my life has grown exponentially these past two tutoring sessions.

I had to become a Librarian to enjoy reading again...

Shawshank Redemption Andy Dufrense - "I had to come to prison to be a crook."

When I was in grade school, I used to love reading.  I was going through Hardy Boys like nobody's business.  It all came to a halt when teachers gave us reading and forced all of the "author's" analogies down our throats.  It completely ruined the enjoyment of reading for me and it became a chore to me.  I think it's also a personal issue with me, I hate when people tell me what I should think and feel without letting me analyze it for myself.  "This is what this story is about," "This is what the author really means," "This is a symbolism for this and this only."  Damn, can't someone think on their own!??  

I'm not going to lie, all through my undergrad and grad school I didn't read any of the material unless it was directly related for a group project and/or grade.  At my last branch, my coworkers always used to call me out on it: "You're going to school to be a librarian but you don't even read!"  But that all changed when I got my first tablet.  As you can see in the sidebar of the main page of this blog, my reading has exponentially gone up.  

Even the few titles that I did read outside of school were school-related.  I was one of those snobby, non-fiction readers, "I only read non-fiction; if I'm going to read, I want to learn something."  I have come across some of the patrons in the library too, always complaining about the collection: "Why are there so many fiction books?  You guys should buy more nonfiction."  The things I did read were all books recommended by my business school professors: The World is Flat, Good to Great, etc.  But that also changed when I got my first tablet.  Now, the vast majority of my reading is fiction, and it's pretty damn good too!

So that leads me up to the present, it has been almost a full year since graduating with my MLIS (December 2011) and I have not been able to find a full time librarian job.  I have looked at other non-library related jobs, but damn it, I didn't get this degree to NOT work in a library.  I really enjoy working at my branch, I love the patrons and my coworkers, so I can ride it out for a little bit longer.  Due to all of these factors, I have decided to add "Literacy Council volunteer" to my resume.  

Honestly, I should have signed up to do this when I graduated.  I have not yet started tutoring just yet, I will in a few weeks, but I am excited.  When I filled out the application to become a literacy council volunteer tutor, I realized one of my favorite things about being a public librarian is seeing people get excited about reading.  From little kids to adults, when they see that long-awaited book sitting on the holds shelf for them the excitement is contagious .

What the hell is so great about '50 Shades of Grey'

More like 50 Shades of Ish

So the library has finally placed orders for 50 Shades of Grey.  It's only been requested by patrons every day I've worked for the past three weeks.  Last week, I finally decided to see what the buzz was all about.  Patrons always come up to the desk and tell me what I should read, I've followed through on a few recommendations and have not been disappointed.

One thing about me, I don't like to NOT finish a book once I've started reading it.  But 50 Shades of Grey is only going to be the second book I've stopped reading, the first was The Elegance of the Hedgehog, came off as really pretentious to me.  50 Shades of Grey is just a story with terrible writing with a terrible characters and plot.  Put simply it's literary smut, just because there isn't some Flabio on the cover, don't be fooled.

**Spoiler Alert**  Take one young, inexperienced female with low self-esteem who does not think she looks good, add one extremely rich, wunderkind, who looks like a male supermodel with a permanent Photoshop filter turned on, who gets whatever he wants and somehow only wants said-female and blammo, you end up with a bunch of ish.

All I know is that the people behind the marketing of this book series are pure marketing geniuses who could convince a slug to invest in salt.   Here's a great drinking game for this horrid, horrid book: you take a shot every time a character "murmurs."  You will undoubtedly end up in an alcohol-induced coma only a quarter into the book and you can thank me later when you wake up in hospital without any memory of the book.

eReader Have You Missing the New Book Smell? Problem Solved!

www.SmellofBooks.com

 

Now you can choose between that "New Book Smell" or "Eau, You Have Cats."  Hell, you can enjoy your e-reader and the smell of bacon at the same time!  Okay so this isn't a new product and it hasn't been for sale since 2009 since some funny person in China decided to recycle some old "New Car Smell" cans.

I just recently got my first tablet thanks to HP's crazy fire sale.  Initially I was going to flip it, but the gadget lover in me couldn't resist keeping it.  Once I installed p-Reader, my reading has increased exponentially.  I'm not kidding, my coworkers/friends used to always make jabs at me that I don't read but yet I'm going for my MLIS... In the past month, I have read more than I have had in the past 5 years.  Well who's laughing now???

Do You Have to Love Reading to be a Librarian?

It's well known in the branch that I don't read books often.  I do read (webpages, emails), I know how to, it's just that I am surrounded by too many things to be distracted by.  Granted if the power went out, and my cell phone and laptop were both dead, and I didn't have any gas in the car to go anywhere, I might, just *might* pick up something to read.  The most recent book I've read would have to be the Basher series, the cartoons are bad ass.

I will read if I have to, usually for school or food preparation.  It seems as though all of my MLIS professors love to read and they just shove article after article down your throat.  I honestly would read them if they weren't saying the same thing each semester.  It has become extremely redundant to be given the umpteenth article about how important libraries and librarians really are, blah blah blah.

Don't even get me started on the textbooks!  They have to be the least interesting thing since I took a social class in undergrad.  Suffice it to say, the textbooks I buy at the beginning of the semester are pretty much in the exact same condition at the end.  Except for my final exam for one of my recent classes.  The professor wanted us to cite page numbers in our responses.  I'm glad that I even bought the damn thing to begin with.  I'm pretty sure that I could go through this whole program without buying or reading a textbook.

If being a non-avid reader will affect my prospective career in whatever librarianship route I choose, who knows?  I don't see myself going the public route so reader advising wouldn't be in my future.

The main thing I learned from that class is that indexes are a life saver.

This Book is the LOL: 'Tough Cookie'

I am not a fan of working the book drop, especially after the weekend.

But I do tend to come across some interesting books.  This one caught my eye this morning and I thought this one would have to fit under my 'Clever Covers' category but once I opened it up, it took me by surprise and made me laugh (a couple of times).

It is funny that it is labeled as a Juvenile Picture book, but the story does not fit this classification at all.  I liken it to a children version of The Wire... except with baked goods lol.  After I scanned it and read it during my break, I left it on the desk of my Info Friend with a suggestion that she use this for her next Children Program.  I blame her for getting me hooked on The Wire. 

Who'da thunk that a Children's Librarian would be the biggest fan of the show at the branch, let alone the president of the Omar fan club.  ::whistles 'The Farmer in the Dell'::

Yea, I've Been Reading...

Finally got my hold for 'Sh*t My Dad Says;' was a quick and funny read. I cannot remember the last time I actually laughed out loud reading a book.
The second half of my weekly readings consisted of product manuals and forums for building your own PC. I have no idea what's taken the inner-geek in me so long to do this, I guess buying a Dell or HP has been more convenient. If only I knew how much fun it is to DIY. I am still awaiting my GPU's and I need to pick up a PWM extension cable. I have rearranged and velcroed the cables at least once a day during this past week.
I can now understand why people get all geeked out about their PC's and add plexiglass siding, UV cooling tubes, and have crazy LED setups. It all reminds me of my import days when my friends and I would tool around with our cars and talk about car mods all day long. No one wants the exact same setup as the next, always striving to be unique.
Once a geek, always a geek.

I'm the Lifeguard Who Doesn't Like to Swim...

It's well known at my branch that I don't read much, if at all, unless its for school. So when I was asked at my temporary branch if I read a lot (I assume that it's widely assumed that all people working in a library like to read), I simply told her, "Not at all, I'm the lifeguard who doesn't like to swim."

But I am trying to change all of that with my semester off. I recently finished, "Gang Leader for a Day," yes, I know you're supposed to underline titles, but I can't on my Crackberry. I stopped by my home branch to pick up some holds. I have yet to finish "The World is Flat" before one of my other holds comes in, "Hot, Flat and Crowded." My coworkers confronted me about the second book I had come to pick up, McKenzie Phillips' "High on Arrival." First, they were shocked I was reading (haha-funny one guys), then they were startled I was reading this title (it's for my mom!), finally they were dismayed when I didn't recognize any of The Mamas and the Papas' tunes they were, uhm, how should I describe it..."singing"?

I See Dead Pixels

I read a few GRE prep books and a few websites about tips for the exam.  They all recommended simulating the sterile testing room by taking a timed practice exam on a computer with no distractions. 

Yeah, I did all that but that didn't prepare me for the "Alien Invasion" font I was distracted with. Everything I read on the screen felt too pixelated to me and I was straining to read, the only thing missing was the single button mouse and the 8.5 inch floppy disk.

I don't know, maybe I was the only one whose LCD monitor was hooked up to a Commodore 64 but my tip for anyone preparing for the GRE is to switch out your Ariel or Times New Roman for a highly pixelated font