"All About the Library" Storytime on Friday November 6, 2009

Even though our library system will be cutting four of it's seven libraries in the next few weeks, I thought it might be appropriate to emphasize how important libraries are with a "All About the Library" storytime. I found three really cute books about libraries but two of them were a little longer then the kids are used to so I decided to play it by ear and see how the kids were feeling.

Books

The first two are the longer stories more for K-2nd grade! Even though I wasn't certain about the length of the books, when I asked the kids if they wanted to read more or listen to a song they said with excitement, "READ MORE". Surprising Huh!

"Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library!" by Vicki Myron

I have to say this is one of the cutest books I have read, it may be because I have a little orange tabby at home. This book just gives me warm fuzzies and I wish we could have a cute orange kitten roaming around the library. Obviously this book is adapted from the adult book by the same author "Dewey: The Small Town Cat Who Touched the World". This title has great illustrations that are large and I think you just have to watch out for the length.

"Winston the Book Wolf" by Marni McGee

The kids thought this one was funny. Adapted from the Little Red Riding Hood, Winston the wolf loves devouring books at the library, he literally eats the books. Obviously the library staff puts a stop to this and kicks him out. Winston then meets a young girl named Rosie who helps him devour books with his eyes by teaching him how to read. Winston ends up sneaking into the library dressed up as an old lady and reads stories during storytime. The book ends with a cute "A note to the reader: If your story lady wears long skirts and floppy hats, she may be a wolf in disguise..." which made the kids giggle and asked me if I am a wolf.

"Read It, Don't Eat It!" by Ian Schoenherr

A fun easy book that goes through all the things you shouldn't do at a library or to your library books. For instance, "Find someplace else to sneeze" and "Don't overdue it, just renew it." The book is great because it teaches kids how to take care of their library books. After each guideline that I read I asked the kids if they ever did any of them and most of them said no, it was fun because they got to really think about their library books as highly valuable possessions.

After each story I went through some fun songs like, "Shake My Sillies Out", Teddybear Playtime" and "If You're Happy and You Know It".

Next Storytime will be our last, due to budget cuts so we are going to have a grand party to go out with a big bang.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Summary:

Grahame-Smith mixes up the high civility of Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice with ZOMBIES! He follows the same plot as the original text but just with more excitement and primal battling not just between Darcy and Elizabeth but also between the high class English and cannibalistic zombies. Grahame-Smith adds more interesting emotion to this classic by letting the characters take action with their strong feelings. For example Darcy is able to take out years of anger and frustration on George Wickham by beating him until he is crippled and bed ridden. Finally Wickham gets what he pays for and is now subjected to soiling himself in front of company.

Opinion:
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" (PPZ) is my dream book come true, combining Jane Austin with supernatural beings, GENIUS! Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time and PPZ is fighting for the number one spot. Combining Austen's witty attitude with a hilarious zombie atmosphere is beyond comical, I truly was laughing out loud. Grahame-Smith does too good of a job inserting zombie mayhem into this classic, I can't imagine PP without the zombies. To me, zombies have always been more comical to me then scary and I think this is one of the reasons the combination works so well. I would give anything to hear what Jane would say about PPZ, maybe "Well, zombies are quite miserable creatures, almost as miserable as a day with a selfish, ignorant man." I can't wait until "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" by Jane Austen and Ben Winters comes in for me!

Quirk Classic Series
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Halloween Celebration Friday October 30 2009

This was our big Halloween Celebration event.













We had a Costume Contest Parade around the library where we sang "If You're a Monster and You Know It".













We made reflective necklaces for the kids to use when they went Trick-O-Treating. We cut out foam pumpkin, ghost, and cat faces and the kids decorated them and put reflective pieces where the eyes go. I had everything pretty much done for the craft because some pieces were hard to glue and took a long time to dry.

And lastly we had a Halloween costume contest where everyone got a trophy or medal for their costume. They kids LOVED this part, but it was hard for us to come up with quick costume contest titles, like "The Pinkest Costume"!












It was a great event!

This Made Me Happy

I love this photo from the well known website icanhascheezburger.com It just gave me warm fuzzies about doing storytime so I thought I would share it. Have a great library day!

Tenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer

Summary:

Vladimir Tod is at it again with his agnsty mood now with even more blood thirst then ever before. "Tenth Grade Bleeds" is the third book in the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series. Vladimir has to face some of his biggest fears having a girlfriend, loosing his drudge, and fighting off the vampire Ignatius who is Vladimir's grandfather. The relationship between Vladimir and his Uncle Otis is strong until he leaves and becomes unreachable through letters and thoughts. Otis's lack of correspondence is a mystery until Vladimir is faced off with his arch nemesis D'Ablo. Will Vladimir finally end the battle between him and D'Ablo? Will he figure out what has happened to his missing uncle?

My Opinion:

I have to admit "Tenth Grade Bleeds" does start off slow, but quickly picks up and is definitely rewarding. Vladimir grows into a whole new mature vampire, which I have truly enjoyed. He goes from being an awkward agnsty boy vampire to a strong, confident, self-aware vampire. I can't wait until the fourth installment, because I find my self REALLY liking the more mature Vladimir! I am hoping the plot in "Eleventh Grade Burns" is a little quicker and develops faster. I would love to see Vladmir's character grow as he explores his vampire attributes, including his intense desire for human blood. Can't wait!

Chronicles of Vladimir Tod Series by Heather Brewer

Eighth Grade Bites

Ninth Grade Slays

Tenth Grade Bleeds

Eleventh Grade Burns

Monster Storytime on Friday October 23, 2009

I wanted to do a semi-Halloween themed storytime, so that is why I chose to do Monsters it was still somewhat ghoulish without being completely Halloween related. I was wondering how the kids would react to the monster stories, I was really hoping they wouldn't get scared and start crying. Which is the exact opposite of what actually happened. Kids found the monster stories to be funny and reacted with lots of giggles. I did talk with the kids before starting the monsters stories to discuss with them that monsters can be comical and friendly and that the monsters we are going to read about are goofy and playful rather than mean and scary.

Books:

There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca, Adrian and Ed Emberley

This is a great rhyming book for the kids, there is also a free downloadable song on the scholastic site, which I didn't use because we don't have access to laptops at our branch. The song is cute and would be great to use with the story during storytime. An old monster swallows all sorts of crazy creatures to make him feel better, until he gets eaten by a lion. The kids enjoyed the book because they can see all the weird beings in the monster's belly.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Leonardo trys to be a scary monster but he really is just terrible at being a monster. So he researched to find the kid who is the biggest scary cat in the school which is Sam. In the end Leonardo and Sam become friends. The book is illustrated very effectively with big images and small words and vice-versa.

Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks Illustrated by Sue Hendra

Monsters go around eating all sorts of things including trailers, boulders, and fish, but reply with "Fum, foe, fie, fee, monsters don't eat broccoli". In the end the monsters turn into boys and the big redwoods the monsters are eating turn into broccoli. The book is funny and makes eating broccoli fun too! Also the book uses a lot of grown up words like delectable, which helps kids learn new words. This actually happened. A little girl at the end said "broccoli is delectable". It was super cute!

Songs:
Teddybear Playtime by Hap Palmer

Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi

If You're a Monster and You Know

.....Make a Face.....

.....Flail your Arms.....

.....Growl.....

.....Stomp Your Feet....
Next Storytime I think I will finally do "All About the Library"~

Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Summary:

The second book in the Morganville Vampires series "Dead Girls' Dance" leaves off exactly where "Glass Houses"ends. Claire Danvers a super smart sixteen year old who is going to college in Morganville and her roommates, Michael who is a ghost by day and human by night, Shane the hunky unemployed protector, and Eve the vampire hating goth. They all find themselves in the middle of a human-vampire war involving Shane's father Frank Collins and the vampire community including Eve's ex-boss Oliver and the reigning vampire queen Amelie. Will Shane get pulled into his Father's revenge war or will he be set free by his roommates Eve, Clarie, and Michael?

My Opinion:

I really enjoyed the first book of this series "Glass houses" and was excited to read the sequel, but unfortunately I was disappointed with "Dead Girls' Dance". I felt the plot never went anywhere and a couple of times I thought to myself "where is the story going?". For most of the novel I felt like Caine could have summed it up in a few chapters than dragging the story out to 200+ pages. I felt the book could have been saved if there was a little more action, I enjoyed the last 50 pages because finally the plot thickened and Caine had me on the edge of my seat. But again this didn't happen until the last 50 pages. Overall "Dead Girls' Dance" was unorganized and boring, missing its action and vampire mayhem until the last few pages. I am not sure if I will read the third installment "Midnight Alley" of the Morganville Vampires series, maybe if my pile of books to read decreases!

Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine
The Glass Houses

Dead Girls' Dance

Midnight Alley

Feast of Fools

Lords of Misrule

Carpe Corpus

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

Summary:
Miranda Merchant loves science and all things logical which doesn't make her much different from her Mom who is a doctor. That is until she spends the summer at The Mariner her grandmother's house on Selkie Island. Where Miranda discovers her mother's family history, especially her striking resemblance to her grandmother. Miranda tentatively arrives at Selkie Island because of it's mysterious surroundings and legends but as soon as she sets foot in the old dusty Mariner, her uncertainty is washed away by the sea salt air and clear breeze. The summer wouldn't be complete without a boy crush, and Miranda has her eye on Leo a sun drenched blond who meets her on the beach. Leo doesn't seem to be the typical boy, there is something about him that stands out? She notices the colors red and gold painted on his house, sea figures adorning his porch, and he seems to appear out of no where when Miranda is on the beach? All signs showing Leo might just be a merman? Can Miranda look past her hard science and logic and really believe in such creatures?

My Opinion:
I was very anxious to read "Sea Change", but unfortunately I was very disappointed with the story. "Sea Change" had a great underlying story of Miranda falling for a merman, this idea in itself was very original, but Friedman really didn't develop the plot any differently then the other bazillion teen love stories. I was teased a little too much as a reader. Miranda never finds out if Leo is truly a merman and for me this was a disappointment. I know that Friedman left this affirmation out for the readers own imagination to run with the idea, but I am the type that loves to get to know other worldly creatures during a story. I would have been more curious about the story if Friedman included more of the myths and history behind the oceanic creatures of Selkie Island. For instance Leo's character could have been more developed by elaborating on these myths and histories. Overall "Sea Change" did include an average coming of age story with Miranda going from a closed analytical responsible teen to an open, self aware teen, leaving Selkie Island a whole new girl. I enjoyed the relationship and bond that formed between Miranda and her mother. Because of their experience on Selkie Island they both softened and blossomed into tranquil women. Having Miranda and her mom share in this change created a life long bond that will always stay in their memory whether they are on Selkie Island or in their native New York City.

Opposite Storytime on Friday September 25, 2009

Storytime this week was Opposites, overall it went well, although I think the theme would be more appropriate for older kids. This is hard during our storytime because we have all ages attend. We had a few today that were Pre-K that seemed interested but then the toddlers were easily getting distracted.

Books:

Big, Bigger, Biggest by Nancy Coffelt

A great book, which I feel illustrates opposites very well, while also learning about animals. The book is quite long for the little ones so I would use the book for older ages Pre-K and up.

Domino by Claire Masurel Illustrated by David Walker

A cute short book that is good for all ages. The illustrations are soft and super adorable. I had the kids count and bark during the story. "Domino" is very interactive.

Mimi's Book of Opposites by Emma Chichester Clark

Also a great book for the younger ages and illustrates opposites well. Sibling monkeys demonstrate opposite by doing the opposite of each other. Demonstrates brother and sister bonds especially the younger brother and older sister type. Simple and easy to read!

Songs:
Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi
Turn Around by Hap Palmer (Great opposite song)

Fingerplays:
I did the following "opposite" fingerplays!

Open, Shut Them- Action of Open and Shut illustrates an opposite!

Open, Shut them,

Open, Shut them,

Give a tittle Clap!
Open, Shut them,
Open, Shut them,
Hide behind you Back!
Creep them, Creep them,
Slowly upward, right up to your cheek.
Open wide you shiny eyes,
And through your fingers peek.
Open, Shut them,
Open, Shut them,
Give a little clap!
Open, Shut them,
Open, Shut them,
Lay them in your lap.

Eensy Weensy Spider- Doing different sizes of spider help identify opposites!
Eensy Weensy Spider
Climber up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed that spider out!
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain,
And Eensy Weensy Spider
Climber up the spout again!
(Then do "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and make really small movements with a small voice)
(Then do "Great Big Hairy Spider" and make really large movements with a large voice)

-Next storytime will be "All About the Library"-

August 4, 2009 Storytime

The storytime on Friday went well, I was nervous going back after having a month off but the kids and parents were very enthusiastic. I looked at my collection of storytime books I have been acquiring the last few months and decided to just do some of my new arrival favorites. Actually I find most of the time when you don't do a theme the storytime goes really well! Not sure why, but it is an interesting observation.

Here are the books:

Book One:

Little Beauty by Anthony Browne

An adorable book about the friendship of two unlikey animals a gorillia and a tiny kitten. Artwork is an added plus, perfect big clear pictures for the kids. 

Song One: I Can Dance by Ronno

Book Two:

Can You Make A Scary Face? by Jan Thomas
An interactive book, where children can participate with the actions in the book. Kids love the interactive part of the book a nice mix up from the sit still storytime routine.
Song Two: Do the Monkey
Book Three:
Put It On The List! by Kristen Darbyshire
All grownups will love this book especially moms. A family of chickens goes through a crazy week where they run out of all sorts of things including toliet paper. Finally Momma Chicken shows the kids to put it on the list any items that they run out of during the week. The book ends with the whole family going to the grocery store together. Super sweet and the kids laughed at the many funny parts.
Ending Song: If You're Happy and You Know It
Next Storytime: Opposites or Libraries

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary:

Cassie and Lia have been friends since elementary school developing a bond through their different eating disorder techniques. But of late Cassie has ruptured their relationship until the night of Cassie's death when she leaves Lia 33 voice messages. Lia's overbearing guilt for not listening to her messages and rescuing Cassie is matched with her fight to stay as skinny as possible. She is demanding her body to get back down to 90lbs. Then maybe 60lbs. Then maybe 40lbs. Then maybe 0lbs and then she can just disappear. The usual specialized treatment centers and constant weight monitoring forced Lia to get smart about hiding her obsession by using laxatives, drinking tons of water before her schedule weigh in, and visiting a secret blog where other girls encourage each other to become skinner, tinier, and smaller. Her life doesn't get any easier when Cassie decides to haunt Lia wooing her to do the same as her and finally ending her battle with her body by ending her life.

My Opinion:

"Wintergirls" is a heart wrenching story following Lia a young teenager who not only is fighting with her body but with the loss of her best friend who she later finds out died of complications with bulimia. Laurie Halse Anderson has created a genuine Young Adult novel. The text is illustrative and descriptive. So many young adult literature today is single layered and idealistic which teens are unable to relate to or extract any meaningfulness from the characters. Anderson has been successful in creating a beautiful novel that will ring true for teens, and has the depth and sincerity to fill the gap of idealistic stories for teens. The best attribute of the story is how relatable Lia's character is to teens in general, who are faced with many of the same misgivings. For instance Lia dealing with her parents divorce, absence of their attention for Lia, and the apprehension towards her numb and aimless life. Readers follow Lia's crisp and brutal journey through Anderson's illustrative narrative of repetition, blank pages, strikethrough words, and recurring hateful adjectives.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Summary:
Some people would kill to have "The Sight" a talent to see the faerie kingdom, but for Aislinn it is a terrifying ability; she wishes to shed her affliction. She witnesses the raw and gruesome personalities of faeries, their cruel intentions, and mysterious tricks. Aislinn becomes extremely scared to let any of the fey know of her Sight. Therefore she follows several rules to keep the fey naive to her abilities:
#1 Don't ever attract their attention
#2 Don't speak to them
#3 Don't stare at invisible faeries

Aislinn has become an expert at keeping to her rules until a beautiful faerie named Keenan can't stop pursuing her. Keenan's intentions for Aislinn are far beyond just a few dates, he needs Aislinn to break a faerie curse that has been in the making for nine centuries.

Can Keenan make Aislinn fall in love with him? Aislinn will make this a difficult task especially with her pre-existing judgments about the faerie world. Both Keenan and Aislinn find themselves torn yet devoted to each other as they face their past and definite eternity together.
Will Aislinn be the one to break the curse and set the Summer King and all his fey free or will Keenan be on the search once again for his Summer Queen?

My Opinion:
With all the vampire YA books out there it is refreshing to finally read something different like these modern day faerie adventures. Aislinn is a very strong character, she fights her obligation to become Keenan's Summer Queen even though it is a definite path for her. The future Summer Queen has to struggle with the fact that she will be part of a world that she has been at odds with her entire existance. Even the idea of becoming one of them is just as horrifying.

I fell in love with Aislinn's character and I am sure many teens can relate to her stubbornness and hesitation to the world around her. This is not the typical stubbornness you see in many YA books toward parents, peers, or authority but instead she is fighting with a totally altered reality.
Although Keenan is very lovable and a complete gentleman, he has a very determined mind. This creates the strong tension between Aislinn and Keenan.

I truly love Melissa Marr's use of comparisons between the charaters' and seasons they represent. For example her descriptions of summer define who Keenan is; hot tempered but yet soft like fields of flowers. This is beautifully done! Also the addition of historic faerie myths and legends into the story is perfect!

Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
Wicked Lovely
Ink Exchange (A companion Novel)
Fragile Eternity

Vamped by Lucienne Diver

Summary:
Gina Covello is THAT girl who is pretty, popular, and has the hottest boy in school wrapped around her finger. That is until Prom when she finds herself in a closet making out with Bobby Delvecchio chess club geek turned sheik. Next thing you know Gina wakes up in her coffin six feet under the ground with a horrid dress she wore in elementary school and no reflection. Later, she finds out she was vamped by YES Bobby Delvecchio, who turns out to have all sorts of extra super vampire abilities that are very valuable to The Council. Gina finds herself fighting for her undead life but also her NEW charming boyfriend Bobby.

My Opinion:
"Vamped" is a quick sarcastic funny read! My best comparison is Buffy meets Gossip Girl. At first the book comes off with no substance but after a few pages the plot starts to thicken. Even though the storyline is a typical vampire plot the witty vampire humor is what keeps readers interested. The book is great for reluctant readers but like most "Gossip Girl" books there's not much depth. I don't have much to say about "Vamped" it was a good little read and the only award the book may win will be for its humor.

Lucienne Diver plans to make a series out of "Vamped", but nothing has been released yet! So look out for the sequel!

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Summary:

"The Summoning" is the first book in the Darkest Power Trilogy. Chloe Saunders never thought she was crazy, she may have seen a few ghosts in her life but nothing that would ever land her in Lyle House or be labeled a Schizophrenic. The only problem is that she DOES see ghosts and CAN communicate with them because she is a necromancer. The interesting thing is that everyone at the Lyle House seems to have some kind of label to describe their "supernatural" powers. Is this a coincidence? You will have to see!

My Opinion:

Normally when it comes to ghosts and the afterlife I am a little chicken, usually avoiding all movies, books, and anything else related. So I was very hesitant to read The Summoning. But the book kept popping up in blogs and colleagues were raving so I just had to bite my nails and read it. I did stay away from reading the book at night (I really am chicken) but once I started the book I lost my worries of ghost and scary ghouls. Okay enough about me and my fears. Armstrong does a wonderful job with the characters. Each teenager at the Lyle house has his or her own story and toward the end of the book they become connected to each other by one common purpose. "The Summoning" not only is a great thriller and fantasy book but holds its own as a great coming of age story. Chloe is faced with a huge realization about many things in her life. Not only does she find out that she has a supernatural power but she finally gets her period at the late age of fifteen, and she is betrayed by one of the most important people in her life. Can't wait for the next book "The Awakening"!

Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning

The Awakening

The Reckoning

Australia Storytime

Theme: Australia


When I find a really cute book I usually end up planning my storytime around it's theme. For this week's storytime I found"Wombat Walkabout" by Carol Diggory Shields illustrated by Sophie Blackall in our new books. I love this book so I had to do an Australia theme. "Wombat Walkabout" is a great book for storytime because it is ADORABLE! The little wombats each have their own name and personality which the children love to follow. At the end of the story I always ask the kids which Wombat is their favorite. Not only is "Wombat Walkabout" adorable it has some great educational componants as well. Each wombat goes missing one at a time so that you subtract and count down as you read each page. The books is obvisouly great for learning about Australia, for instance children are introduced to Australian terms like Wombat, Kukaburra, Golden Wattle, Dingo, Billabong, and of course Walkabout.


My next book was "Big Rain Coming" by Katrina Germein illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft.


This is a very simple and easy book perfect for three and four year olds. The illustrations are beautiful and shows the cultural side of Australia.

My last book I read for my Australia storytime is "Where to Little Wombat?" by Charles Fuge. This books is our funny book for the morning. Little Wombat is put in compromising positions as he finds a new home. For instance his head gets stuck in the mole hole or he falls into the wet pond. The "Little Wombat" series is cute and I use it a lot for back up stories.


Overall the Australia Storytime went well!

Untamed by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Summary:
"Untamed" is the fourth book in the "House of Night Series". Zoey Redbird has lost about everything and the only people that have her back is undead and unmarked. But soon enough Zoey gains back the trust of her "Nerd Herd" just in time to fight the new evil High Priestess Neferet has released. Zoey develops a new crush with a new fledgling James Stark and is re-united with Eric Night only now he is her Drama professor.

My Opinion:
I am still not completely sold on the "House of Night" series even though I have read all four! I feel like P.C. and Kristin could have combined all four books into one. I felt this way especially with "Untamed." It takes nearly 400 pages for the “Nerd Herd” to unravel the mystery of High Priestess Neferet’s evil venture. The extra fluff of hot boys and smart bickering will entice teens. I felt the conversational informal writing was a bit too much but also will be great for reluctant readers.

A few wonderful things about this series I have come to enjoy are the relationship between Zoey and Aphrodite, who once were intense enemies and now in the fourth book have found a unique bond. The relationship grows with Zoey’s kindness for Aphrodite even when her friends and the whole school discard her. I have enjoyed Aphrodite’s witty retorts as well as her depth even when she has turned from gifted fledgling to ordinary human. She finds strength to help Zoey and the “Nerd Herd” fight the evil plans Neferet creates. Zoey’s downfall at the beginning is what allows her character to grow and mature, she becomes stronger as a female character as well as a high priestess who will defeat Neferet. We will see at least in “Hunted" the fifth installment of the House of Night series.

House of Night Series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted
Tempted

Two Books a Librarian will Actually Buy!

I rarely EVER buy books, let alone new books, but these two I am picking up at the bookstore with my gift card!

Write Right! : A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style. 4th Edition By Jan Venolia

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to be become a better writer and speaker. What got me started is my amazement of Jane Austen era conversation. I am so mesmerized by the way they talked and wrote during that time. Not like I will ever actually do this because people will look at me like I am crazy, but I think now-a-days we don't really think about what we say or how we sound (my use of UM and LIKE drives me crazy and I am sure others too).

This book is great, I am reading it from cover to cover, I am still on the first chapter trying to get down all the grammar terms like what is a conjunction!!!! I think my biggest downfall is spelling, which you would think as a Librarian I would be amazing at but I am terrible!!! I have already had about 10 spelling mistakes writing this post! And about 5 run on sentences which I am terrified of thanks to high school English class.

Wish me Luck!

My second book that I will be purchasing is;

You Grow Girl: A Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening by Gayla Trail

If you are an expert or just a beginner at gardening this book is AMAZING! It covers everything from growing a huge backyard garden to a few pots on your urban windowsill. Great illustrations and I love the homemade green friendly solutions to garden problems. Also the book has a great DIY vibe which I of course support! My issue with my garden is always the winter, how do I prepare my plants for the coming cold blast? Well I found all my solutions in this manual! Also an added plus is this book is NOT boring often Gayla has many a witty comment about those pesky aphids and cat friendly plants.

Related Library Tip: Libraries are great places to try out books. Check them out and if you find the book to be AMAZING and you feel it will last you a lifetime then support your local bookstore and buy it. That is how I do it and I am a Librarian so trust me!

Too Many Books to Read

I always have the dilemma of taking too many books home from the library. It's an impulse that I am sure many librarians have. I am always hesitant to go in the stacks because I end up finding all sorts of books to take home. This is EXTREMELY hard to maintain! But my goal is to try to read a book a week (I know some of you may be laughing at my slow pace!). I could probably read more, but then there is my crafting addiction and of course the sunny weather which leads to gardening (my little porch), hiking, and biking.

Here is my list of books to read soon!!

A Great and Terrible Beauty (First book of the Gemma Doyle trilogy) by Libba Bray

Vamped by Lucienne Diver









Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: the classic regency romance now with ultra violent zombie mayhem by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith









Alis by Naomi Rich









The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han









When It Happens by Susane Colesanti









Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris









An Abundance of Katherines by John Green









Looking for Alaska by John Green









Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
(I have been wanted to read this SOOOOO bad, I keep hearing amazing things!)

Being by Kevin Brooks

Cathy's Book by Sean Stewart

Life as we Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

I think that is everything on my reading list for now (could be longer but these are my necessity reads, I have to read them RIGHT NOW!).