Book Review's Galore!

Okay, it's been a while since I have posted some book reviews and I have read alot of books recently, so bare with me as I blow through my general feelings on some of them.

City of Glass (Cassandra Clare) - I was waiting so long for this book! I love the Mortal Instruments series. I feel it is highly underrated because it does not have Stephenie Meyer's name on the cover, though it definitely has appeal for Twilight lovers. I loved this book, but I have to say it didn't seem to hold up to the rest of the series. Still, I can't wait for Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series to come out. Yay!

13 Reasons Why (Jay Asher) - I really disliked this book. It got under my skin and made me angry. I won't go into the reasons why it made me angry here. I strongly disagreed with the message through most of the book. And aside from the anger, I really didn't find it all that entertaining. Though I seem to be in the minority so don't let my opinion sway you if you intended to read it.

Blue Bloods series (Melissa de la Cruz) - I really enjoyed these books. I don't think there was anything terribly exceptional about them, but I can't stop thinking about the characters and wondering what is going to happen next. Each book was very entertaining in it's own right. I loved the Biblical reference to the fallen angels. It was beautiful. I definitely recommend this series.

Wake and Fade (Lisa McMann)- LOVED these! Seriously. Amazing. These books were so different from everything I had been reading lately, it was refreshing. I can't wait for this series to continue. It was really amazing. No vampires or werewolves. Just a regular girl who has an inconvenient tendency to fall into other people's dreams. I highly recommend this one.

First Part Last (Angela Johnson) - This book was very touching. It's about a 16 year old boy who gets his girlfriend pregnant. The book flashes back and forth between the couple finding out, telling their parents, and deciding what to do about the pregnancy, and him taking care of an infant girl by himself. Not really my style of book, but I liked it.

House of Night series (P.C. and Kristin Cast) - Alright, this is the one I've been avoiding. Oh man. I can think of only one other series that I dislike as strongly as this one and that's the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Where to begin? The writing was bad, I mean awful. And that's not including the typos and the use of the wrong name in certain scenes. Sad news, guys: an editor, not really an expense you can cut if you're trying to sell an entire series to more than just your neighborhood. Seriously, is it because it's a YA series? Most people, including teens, who read know how to spell at least a little. Then there are the horrendous pop culture references. Oh man. Let us not forget about the blatant inaccuracies. I mean, I'm not a stickler for fact checking in novels, it is fiction after all, but you can't just go making things up because it's convenient for you. Eucalyptus is a sacred herb of the Cherokee people? Really?!?! I cannot remember the last time I had heard about a sighting of the elusive koala bear in its natural habitat, the vast OKLAHOMA rainforests!!! On top of all that, I smell the faint scent of homophobia wafting from this series. They take such a defensive stance and make such a big deal out of Damian's sexual orientation that I can't help but feel that they themselves think it is a big issue or something. I don't know, it just irked me. Needless to say, I do not recommend this series but I wouldn't discourage anyone who was even slightly interested in it, it is very popular.

And after all of this rambling, I ask, nay, BEG that teens suggest a series for the Teen Read Week online tournament coming up in October. Nominate something now so we can vote on them in July and crush our rival libraries in the online Colosseum of brutal book trivia. You can stop in and grab a nomination form off my desk in the YA area (soon to be YA room! construction on our wall begins in June!!!), fill it out and return it to the circulation desk. Or you could just comment this post with your series suggestions. All suggested series must be considered YA and must include at least 3 books.

Okay.

That is all.

- Krista

April Display

Books:

The ABCs of Managing Your Money by Jonathan D. Pond, CPA
The New Retirement by Jan Cullinaner and Cathy Fitzgerald
Stupid White Men by Michael Moore
Making Change by Neale S. Godfrey
Ernst & Young's Financial Planning for Women
Hush Money by Robert Parker
House of Lords by Philip Rosenberg
The Beach House by Jane Green
Six Bad Things by Charles Huston

...and many more!

~Display by Annette

Teen Read Week 2009 Online Tournament

Remember the Twilight Tournament? We're doing it again! This time, you get to choose the series! Nominate your favorite Young Adult series to be the subject of this year's Online Tournament!

In celebration of Teen Read Week in October, we will be competing against other libraries in the North Country in an online trivia contest. We want you to choose which young adult series for which we will be answering questions!

All nominations must be a young adult series including at least three books and must be in no later than Monday, June 1st by 5pm. You can post a comment nominating a series, stop in to the library, call me at 386-3712 or email kbriggs@ncls.org

During the month of July, you can vote on the top nominees to determine which series will be the subject of this year’s Teen Read Week Online Tournament!

This is a teen event please only participate if you are between the ages of 12 and 19 years.

- Krista

March Display

Books:

The Lion Tamer's Daughter by Peter Dickinson
Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
The Haunting of Lamb House by Joan Aiken
A Lion in the Way by Elizabeth Cadell
Like a Lion to the Slaughter by Lawrence Block
Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters
Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
A Nation of Sheep by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
and many more!

~Display by Annette

TWILIGHT!

We saw Twilight! We saw Twilight! La la la la la la!

No, seriously. We did.

What did everyone think about it? My opinion...I think it might have been a pretty bad movie. But I loved it! I really very much enjoyed this movie. And may I just say, Robert Pattinson is adorable throughout the movie trying so hard to cover up his real life English accent! So cute! I loved Charlie. I do believe he was my favorite character. I won't post any spoilers here, though anyone who read the book knows exactly what happens, you won't be shocked. However, no spoilers.

That being said, I want to know what everyone else thought! Comment about the movie. Again, try to avoid spoilers.

Yay!

That is all.

- Krista

Magic the Gathering

Starting next Monday (November 3), we will be running Magic games for teens every Monday from 3-5pm. We're hoping in the future to run fundraiser tournaments open to all ages, but for now we'd be happy if you joined us on Mondays for free play.

You know where to find me for more information.

Don't forget to check out the Friday Night Magic free plays run by Gamer Craze at the Partridge Cafe at 6pm.

Gamer Craze has supported our teen programs since the very beginning. Show them some love!

- Krista

Twilight Tournament Recap

It's over. We did it. What a blast! This rocked so hard! There were 20 of you present here. There were 85 of you present online. Wow! We were so many that we actually crashed Meebo...twice! This was an amazing event! It was the first of it's kind for the North Country, but will not be the last.

Special thanks to Domino's, Canton Hackett's, The Blackbird Cafe, Lorraine Nolan, Hilary's Mom, the North Country Library System, all the libraries that participated, and all of you who attended.

- Krista