I Love to Read Month!

What are you reading this month? Any old favorites or are you finding new favorites?
My book club is reading Hunger Games for February to prepare for the movie coming out in March. This is a re-read for me. I should probably still get on it soon because we meet a week from today!

Also reading some Disney World guide books to prepare for Spring Break.
I have several titles loaded on my Nook for the 24 hour bus ride X 2. V is for Vengeance, Book 4 in the Flavia De Luce series by Bradley, Remarkable Creatures. I should perhaps load the April book club read on there too...True Colors by Kristin Hannah. I like her books but I hope we can move on to different authors. We have recently done Firefly Lane and Winter Garden by her. Getting in a rut just like we did with Jodi Piccoult for a while.

Happy Reading!

Summer is quickly drawing to a close

...but I have finished all 20 of the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees! Thanks to a road trip to Omaha, Nebraska I was able to breeze through the last three on my list: Elephant Run by Roland Smith, No Girls Allowed (Dogs Okay) by Trudy Trueit, and Listen! by Stephanie S. Tolan. Once again, it is a good thing I am not eligible to vote in the actual contest, because I can never pick just one favorite one. My top five are Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, Listen!, Elephant Run, The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman, and Stolen Children by Peg Kehret.

I think kids will like The Maze Runner by Dashner, but it just isn't quite my cup of tea.

Besides the 20 MHL books, I read these Newbery medal and honor books: The Graveyard, Moon Over Manifest, One Crazy Summer, Turtle in Paradise, and The Evolution of Capernia Tate. The Graveyard is a little weird but I enjoyed them all.

As for more adult reads, this summer I read: The Postmistress, The first 3 of the Flavia mysteries by Alan Bradley beginning with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie(looking forward to number four coming out in November), the first two of Julie Kramer's books with 3 and 4 loaded and ready on my Nook, The Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke, and The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews.

Next up is my August book club book Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards.

Summer Reading Blitz

Heat Index of 115 degrees, guess I will sit in the AC and read a book or ten.
I have half the Maud Hart Lovelace nominees read so far this summer. So far my favorite is Getting Air by Dan Gutman. It's a little hard to buy into the premise that a group of kids and old ladies take out four high jackers on an airplane, but you do get pulled into the story and how the survivors of the plane crash cope while waiting for rescue.

Kids who like the Hunger Games trilogy will like Maze Runner by James Dashner. It's another tale of kids surviving on their own, this time set in a maze. It ends with a cliff hanger; so be sure to have some copies of the next book, The Scorch Trials, in your library collection. Also, the third book called The Death Cure comes out October 11, 2011.

I enjoyed my re-read of The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz. It takes you through the changes in baseball from 1845 to present day by telling the story of different generations of a family. For more information on Vintage Base Ball (yes, it was originally two words) see Roosters Vintage Base Ball Club (Rochester, MN.) on facebook or www.19cbaseball.com. I happened to be reading this book while waiting for one of the Roosters' games to commence!

Exact Change

We rarely have change in the library; so we ask kids with fines to please pay by check or else bring the exact amount in cash. You get what you ask for. Today a girl with a two dollar fine paid with one dime and 190 pennies. Yes, we do accept all legal tender!

Number 13

Today a girl returned Thirteen Reasons Why and checked out 13 Treasures. I guess she doesn't suffer from triskaidekaphobia!

Do you know of any other books with 13 in the title in case she comes back asking for suggestions?

Mars Needs Moms

Did you know the movie, "Mars Needs Moms" is based on a picture book by Berkeley Breathed?
Wonderful illustrations!! Story is sweet. Hope the movie will be great too.
Thinking you've heard of Mr. Breathed before? He's the guy who did the Bloom County comic strip in the 1980's. Remember Opus the Penguin? My fave.

Liar, liar pants on fire

Advisory teacher calls me and asks if so-and-so came in and paid for his lost book this morning.
No, I have seen no money from anyone today.
Short time later kid comes to library. I ask him if he has a pass. He says, "No, I have this." It is a folded up overdue notice. I say do you have an ID? He says no. I ask, "Did Mrs. so-and-so send you here?" "Yes."
Me: "Why did you tell Mrs. so-and-so you paid for your book this morning when you didn't?" Kid: " I gave the money to another kid who was coming to return a book."
Me:"You gave your money to some other kid?"
Kid: "Yeah."
Me: "Who is this other kid?"
Kid: "I don't know."
Me: "You gave your money to some other kid and you don't know his name?"
Kid:" Yeah."
Me: "No, really. Who is the kid? I'll call him in here and get your money."
Kid: " I don't know who he is."
Me: "You gave 8 dollars before school this morning to some other kid who you don't even know?"
Kid: "No, not this morning. In my third hour class."
Me: "What class do you have third hour?"
Kid: "Math."
Me: " And who is the teacher?"
Kid: "Mr. so-and so."
Me:" You gave 8 dollars to a kid in your math class and you don't know his name?"
Kid: "Yeah, he was coming to return a book."
Me: " We don't usually get kids in here from math to return a book."
Me: "Who is the kid? I'll get him in here."
Kid: " I don't know his name, but he's in my 5th hour too. I'll talk to him then."
Me: "He's in your third hour and your fifth hour and you don't even know his name and you gave him 8 dollars?"
Kid: "I think it starts with M."
Me: "I don't believe you. I don't believe you would give 8 dollars to some kid you don't even know. When you do have 8 dollars, you come in here with it yourself and pay for your book yourself."

I call Mrs. so-and-so back to see if she would like to hear the story he gave me. She tells me the story he gave her was that he couldn't pay for it this morning because he didn't have his ID. I said, "Oh no, he can pay for a book without his ID. I will figure out who he is."

So, first he paid for the book, then he couldn't pay for the book because he didn't have his ID, then he gave the money to some other kid he doesn't even know to come and pay for his book for him. I wonder what story he will have the next time.

I feel like going into his math class tomorrow and telling the whole class he said he gave 8 dollars to someone in here who was going to return their book and then asking, "Which one of you is it?" We could make it into a math lesson. Draw a Venn diagram of the students in this class and also in so-and-so's fifth hour class. Now, of these students, which one returned a book to the library during this class yesterday? And of this set of students, which one, whose name may or may not start with an M, has his 8 dollars? Oh, none of you? Fancy that. { } Empty set.