September 4, 2008

I really didn’t like the novel, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist which I read for a class.  It had too many sexual antics for my taste, and it really bugs me that approximately 50% (I’m pulling this statistic out of thin air) of YA books are set in New York City – it seems really disproportionate.

But I have a great love for Michael Cera, and this trailer is well done, so I’ll probably see the movie anyway.  Who knows, if they leave out one particular scene in a hotel by the ice machine, I might really like it.

[OFFICIAL] Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist movie trailer

book/staircase February 22, 2008

Look at this completely awesome staircase/bookcase! Looks kinda steep, but otherwise, perfect.

“When Leonie and Rhodri added the upstairs, the architect proposed a handsome and clever book-lined staircase to house their formidable combined libraries in one streamlined space. “It’s just brilliant because the way it’s conceived, you can walk by it and not even notice it,” Leonie says. “So it’s like this fabulous surprise.”

Click on the photo for more pictures of this apartment…

one night in December December 18, 2007

Ok, I’ve been remiss in my Dark Materials obsession duties. For anyone that doubts for a second that I went to the midnight (12:01am) screening Thursday night (technically Friday morning Dec. 7), oh ye of little faith.  Of course I was there.  I actually went to an 8pm showing of Juno while I waited, and loved it, but darn it all, that movie is only 98 minutes.  I wandered the movie theatre, made a few calls, then went to the bathroom before the long haul of staking my claim for The Golden Compass.  In the bathroom I saw a hand dryer so amazing, I felt the need to share it with you.  It makes me wonder if I have an unhealthy interest in hand dryers, but this one was seriously cool and very effective.  I figure I’ll wait and see, if I feel compelled to take a picture of a third hand dryer, I’ll ditch the whole librarian thing and start working on my coffee table book of Hand Dryers Across America.
As for the movie, I don’t really have too much to say.  The movie’s beautiful, I definitely want to see it again. I think the casting was great and yet, somehow the movie didn’t capture “it.”  I’m not sure if no movie could, or if this movie couldn’t, but for whatever reason, the greatness of the book doesn’t translate.  And something I will blame completely on Chris Weitz is the ending. It stinks.  Royally.  It’s a total let-down, and it’s BORING.  And it came after only two hours – I know my audience at least could have easily, even happily stayed for another half hour, and if they were hell-bent on not giving us the real ending (which is the OPPOSITE of boring), they could have at least added some more fun stuff in the middle.  Anyhoo, this review pretty much sums it up to me.  Like I said, I enjoyed the movie, I’ll mostly likely see it again, even own it, but I won’t be that sad if they don’t make the other two movies, and I’m sure as shootin’ glad the movie wasn’t my first exposure to this story.

cool library alert December 10, 2007

Things are crazy right now what with the end of the semester, last two weeks of work, getting ready to move, etc. You won’t be hearing much from me, but I thought I’d draw your attention to these pix of a cool public library in Kansas City.

opera blues November 20, 2007

I feel like I should like the opera, but I don’t. It’s too much for me, most of the time. Occasionally someone in my family will come to visit and ask if I’d like to see an opera, and I have to scrunch my nose and say no thank you!

Of course, just as soon as I leave, the Met is doing an opera I really would like to see. Hansel and Gretel is right up my alley since it’s a fairy tale and I sang a song from it in high school choir. The sets look pretty awesome too. There’s also going to be an art exhibit at the Met which I am hoping to see before I go of book illustrations of this oh-so-famous tale.  Click on the picture for a sneak peak care of The New Yorker.

Pullman Week November 20, 2007

Disclaimer: I know this is way late, but I had camera issues. And personal issues, but that’s the norm, so let’s move on.

A couple of weeks ago I had the great pleasure of going to hear my favorite living author speak at the new Times Center. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized I hadn’t brought a copy of any of his books, should there be a book signing opportunity. Which there was. Which prompted me to by another set of His Dark Materials (my 4th, I believe). Anyway, the talk was probably 90 minutes, and it was great. Philip Pullman is charming, funny, and engaging. At the end they had a Q&A where he was asked questions I know he’s answered a million times (If you had a deamon, what would it be?) but he didn’t let it show. Very polite and thoughtful answers. He was in no way a dissapointment which was a relief. Here’s a link to some great notes on the event. (Incidently, this is the blog of one of my online teachers last summer, and I obviously should have been more friendly because Philip went to her house for Halloween!!!  Probably would have been too much for me anyway.)

Erin and I had a great night which should have satisfied me, but all I could think about was that I should have brought my all in one copy of His Dark Materials to be signed, and I was so stupid not to.  So, I went to see Pullman at Barnes & Noble two nights later.   It was a much briefer talk, very fun and amusing about writing the first book and starting to go to signings and being a public figure.  I wish all of the people who don’t like His Dark Materials based on moral grounds could see Pullman speak about the story, how he came to write it, what it means to him, etc.  I feel sure if they did, they could not remain convinced that Pullman or his books are “evil.”  Please do click on the B&N picture above to see his presentation, or click here to see an interview with Pullman from beliefnet.

Never fear, I got my book signed and went home happy. Pullman continues to say he’s very happy with the movie, so I’m really looking forward to it!

how did I not notice? November 9, 2007

I’m reading a book about a family who’s (whose?) son goes missing (A Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer if you can’t see my sidebar) which got me to reminiscing about books I read in my youth.  You see, I was a very disturbed child whose absolute favorite books to read centered around kidnapping and fatal diseases. Seriously, I cannot tell you how many novels I read about kids with cancer or an eating disorder.

So, I was thinking about this book that I used to check out over and over from the library, Baby-sitting is a Dangerous Job.  It’s a great story about a girl who babysits two very bratty kids from a very rich family and they all get kidnapped.  I loved it.  I actually used to fantasize about getting kidnapped while babysitting so I could live out this book.  Today after lunch I thought I’d look up the book to see if it’s still around (it’s got a new cover, but other than that, it’s just as I remember). Willo Davis Roberts, that named sounded familiar.  I remembered looking up the author of A View From the Cherry Tree a couple of weeks ago when my sister reminded me of it and lo and behold, she wrote both books.  Not only that, but I looked down the list of books she wrote, and another book I’m very familiar with is on the list, The Girl with the Silver Eyes!  I don’t know why I never latched on to this author’s name, but I have much to thank her for.  These three books alone have brought me hours of pleasure.  I look forward to reading some more of her books real soon.

me want! October 29, 2007

One of my sisters was in the same ward as Ken Jennings in college. I told her when Jeopardy history was being made that she should have flirted with him, and then maybe she would be married to the trivia king of the world. Now I find another reason besides fame and fortune that she should have been batting her eyelashes at ole Kenny. Look at the mural he’s painting in his daughter’s room! I love it! I want it in my room; it’s gorgeous.

have you met… October 24, 2007

Donna Jo Napoli? She writes all kinds of books, but my favorites are her fairy-tale retellings. She really has a knack for retaining the structure of old, well-known stories, but adding something special and new as well. My very favorite is The Magic Circle. It’s great, I really love it. Don’t read reviews or descriptions of the book, just read it.  I recently read this fun interview with Napoli which also provides some great links to learn more about her. Enjoy.

reading is a thrill October 19, 2007

I love reading a scary story, especially in the comfort of my parents house where all I have to do when I get to scared is run down to the kitchen and everything is nice and warm. One of the first “horror” novels I remember reading is Fog by Caroline B. Cooney. It was a gift from a friend for my birthday; I doubt very much my mother would have let me get it for myself. I remember it being fantastically scary, but I don’t know if it would seem so now. It’s the first book of a trilogy, and I found them all very thrilling as a teenager.
What scary stories do you like to read?

postscript October 17, 2007

I almost forgot to tell you one of the best things I learned at Bookfest! Someone asked about The Giver cover, saying it was off-putting. I was very interested in Lowry’s response because a) I felt the same – I put off reading The Giver for a long time even though people kept recommending it because I was scared of the man, and b) I had just noticed while sitting at Bookfest waiting for it to begin that the photo credit for the cover was Lois Lowry. I know from Shannon Hale’s blog that authors usually don’t get any input on covers (which is stupid if you ask me). So, the story is that Lois Lowry had written an article on this guy, and taken pictures to go along with it. She became friends with him, and liked the pictures a lot because he had an interesting face. So when she did The Giver, and she was a big enough author that she did get some input, so she said she wanted to use one of the pictures of this guy (sorry, she said his name, but I don’t remember it). She said there was another picture that was warmer, but his hand was in the picture and he had a band-aid around his finger which the publishers didn’t like, so she used this photo instead. She said that she never thought he was at all scary-looking; probably because she knows him. I will admit, after reading the book, I felt kindlier towards him too, but I did think he was scary to begin with.

a dystopian afternoon October 16, 2007

While I wasn’t too excited to have to be somewhere at 9:30 am on a Saturday, I really couldn’t complain upon arriving at Bookfest 2007. They had all kinds of breakfast treats (bagels, danishes, croissants, etc) and coffee and hot chocolate. We sat down and Lois Lowry spoke for a little over an hour about her newest book (not officially announced, I’m so in the know!) and her experience with having her books banned (The Giver is frequently challenged in school libraries, and Number the Stars has been as well). She is a wonderful speaker, very warm, funny and thoughtful. My one regret was that I assumed we’d be able to get books signed by her at the end (there were several illustrators speaking as well, who did stay for the book signing), but alas, she did not stay.
After that we split up into book discussion groups. Our group leader was surprised that most of us had read all the books which I thought was rather sad. Shouldn’t you be able to count on librarians to always read the book? I thought I wouldn’t say anything, just listen, since I didn’t know anybody there. Turns out, I have a big mouth – I know you’re all surprised. I don’t think I talked too much, but I was on the edge. I just can’t help myself – I love a good dystopian tale and always have a lot to say about them. We did that for an hour or so, and then we had a very lovely lunch over which I continued talking books with a librarian I had recognized from The Jane Austen Book Club movie screening (she works in the Teen Center at the Mid-Manhattan Branch and tried to steer me away from school librarianship since she didn’t like doing it).
Really, that would have been plenty of book fun for me, and apparently plenty of people agreed as there was a pretty steady trickle of people leaving throughout the next 90 minutes of talks from illustrators who use the computer to create all of their artwork now. I wasn’t familiar with any of them, but they were all fun to listen to. John Grandits creates concrete poetry (poems printed in the shape of the subject) and has a printing background. William Low was a traditional painter, who now is a digital painter and I was thrilled when he demonstrated his method for us. Lastly, the irreverent J. Otto Siebold spoke about his latest release, Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf, which I’m now tempted to buy.
Overall, a very lovely experience. I’m sorry they only do it once a year.