The grad college sure takes a long time to process a form. I wonder what goes into taking a change of major form and doing anything with it? Especially as I had to do all that other stuff you all got to hear about so supposedly everything was all set up to go for this thing. (plus the form only took like two minutes to fill out) They haven't even sent the request on to the LIS department yet and it's been over a week. I probably shouldn't, but part of me ascribes it all to pettiness on the part of the graduate college since I feel like I vanquished every obstacle they put in my path (with lots of help, of course!) to get into the MLIS program (and geez, did a lot get thrown at me). Oh well, hopefully I hear something soon...

We come across some funny things at the library.  That silly little book had a couple of us cracking up for half an hour -- very necessary with as busy a day as last night was!  Oof, I am sore from slinging all those books around.  Then there is this:



There truly is a "Dummies" book for everything!

In other news, just because I'm excited, here are some bad cell phone photos of my Staff Picks shelf:

( Read more... )

I've left my booklists too long and I don't know that I can remember much about each book, but let's see what I can do in the twenty minutes before I have to leave for work...

21. Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey -- the Elemental Masters series was one of my favorite series for a long, long while... It has a couple of attributes that tend to really get me: a well thought out magic system and they're fairy tale retellings. However, the last few have been lacking (haha, no pun intended) and this one... This one has made me decide that I should take the next book off of preorder and see if I can get it through the library instead. The main female character was obnoxious with her crush -- she was so intelligent and thoughtful, and yet keeps this ridiculously strong crush that sends her to the battle lines of WORLD WAR TWO to follow him. Keep in mind he hardly ever speaks to her and has done nothing to encourage her crush. It really just didn't fit her character at all, but conveniently this nice guy, his warm and loving family, and others he surrounds himself with turn out to be snobs and dicks at the end so she can realize he's not the man for her. Trite. Then there's the fact that she spends -- okay SPOILER HERE -- like two chapters thinking about how she needs to burn this magical item because it's too dangerous to take with her and then DOES burn it... But saves the day at the end because she DIDN'T burn it because she was taught that would never work. WHAT?! Does she not have an editor any more? Lastly, there's the repetition of her viewpoint characters. Yes, they're very clever and experienced, but do we need to get the exact same reasoning and conclusions from them mere pages apart? It's like reading the same paragraphs over and over again. Okay, not the last thing because it was also annoying how badly she weaved in the period details and interesting historical facts and there was her preachiness. Bah.

22. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier -- Beautifully written and though some very hard to read things happen in the book, in the end it still is a lovely retelling of the six brothers turned to swans fairy tale (I need to look up the name to that one...). I didn't want to put this book down. I'm finding more and more that books with lyrical language can pull me into another world far more strongly than anything.

23.the Shape of Desire by Sharon Shinn -- I think I've already talked about this, so the high points: not written as beautifully as normal, pretty much just a romance novel, mostly focuses on unconventional relationships and whether love is enough.

24. Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry -- a good second novel in this teen post zombie apocalypse novel.

25. Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen -- I think I'd read this before. Interesting graphic novel, though not as strong as the early Redwall books.

26. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris -- surprisingly better than the later books. I'm actually interested to read the next, though I do miss early book Sookie.

27. Matched by Ally Condie -- I was told I'd either love or hate this -- love because it was dystopian, hate because it was mushy. I actually didn't think that the love triangle blah blah was the focus of the book or even there all that much. It was just a light frame to hang on the idea of what happens to someone whose life is totally controlled when they finally realize that "choice" exists. Good novel.

28. Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry -- I didn't enjoy it at first, but once I got into the meat (not rotting zombie meat) of it I couldn't put it down.

29.& 30. Morning Glories by Nick Spenser (volumes one and two) -- Volume one was so-so, volume two got me hooked with the intensity of early season Lost. There are references to that show... This better not turn out to be Abrams using a graphic noveler's pen name!

31. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor -- An AMAZING novel set in and based off of African magic. I am very excited to read more by this author.

32. Fiasco by Jason Morningstar -- a really fascinating looking gaming system. I hope to try it out when I get to Alaska.

33. the Maze Runner by James Dashner -- interesting, but not the best YA novel I've read this year at all... I do want to read the next, though.

34. the Callingthe Borrowers Afloat by Mary Norton -- I just remember that it was another enjoyable entry to the series and quickly over.

36. Fair Game by Patricia Briggs -- the first Alpha and Omega book I really liked.

37. White Cat by Holly Black -- interesting YA novel that had me hooked. It's another with an interesting magic system.

38. the Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan -- Such a fascinating secondary character. Why do the main characters have to be so annoying?

39. the Dream-Maker's Magic by Sharon Shinn -- an enjoyable last novel of the trilogy.

40. Switched by Amanda Hocking -- Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. Pathetic heroine that does nothing but angst. Magic things happen and she's a princess with special powers which are stronger than her people's. She doesn't use them, though.

41. To Weave a Web of Magic by Lynn Kurland, Sharon Shinn, Claire Delacroix, and Patricia McKillip -- The Shinn was very good, the McKillip was amazing, and the other two were forgettable. Ah, here's why I thought I'd written about this already -- I'd talked about it on Goodreads and here is what I said:

"I hate to give this book only three stars because the McKillip and Shinn stories were so good -- five star stories, for sure. The other two stories were not terrible, but they didn't really have that... spark.

I checked this book out from the library and now feel like I need to buy it so I can own McKillip's "the Gorgon in the Cupboard" -- I would lump this story in with her "Stepping From the Shadows" as far as style and type of story (they really need to re-release that book, come to think of it, because I actually had to interlibrary loan THAT one!). The level of magic is fairly low and of the type where the reader could believe that it's more psychology than mysticism.

The Shinn story was just full of that Shinn wonderfulness that I've come to expect of her. Well thought out story and culture and characters."

(the Shinn story is a Samaria one)

Oh, I did forget something cool yesterday -- I get to do a display of my "Staff Picks" at the library. I'm so excited! Now how do I pick twenty books that I want everyone to read?! JUST twenty? Afterwards, I get to write a little deal to be posted on the website about staff picks and then NEXT month I am participating in the "Reader's Extravaganza" by creating a themed table to convince folks to read things.

Okay, I lied about getting to bed right away. I started messing around with photos that I downloaded from my camera, so now you get to see some of those instead, It's the usual assortment. Cats. Bugs. Whatever is nearby, right? (and, geez, Oklahoma sure does have a lot of ever present bugs!)

Huh. I just realized that I STILL haven't posted most of the photos from "recent" library events. There must be something wrong with me if I'm not eagerly splashing my photos all over the place!



( Read more... )

I was really excited that this shot came out so well. I mean, it's not in perfect focus with the exact right depth of field and such things, but considering the lens I had on my camera and the patience needed to wait for the right moment without letting down my anticipation so I wouldn't miss the shot... Well, I just think this is cool.

All I can really say about the show is that it was AWESOME. I love this band so much. Next time I see them, I am dragging one of you along so I can get a cheesy photo taken with the band. ;)

The first little bit of the show was the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra doing some things. It was cute and some of the songs were fun. I also learned that some of the old spy and mystery music is classified as jazz, so I guess I like more jazz than I thought.

I just don't have the words to describe the Pink Martini part of the show. It was just perfect. The music was wonderful, the stage personalities interesting and adorable -- I just get the impression that the guy who started the band (Thomas Lauderdale) would be majorly cool to hang out with. Their songs come from all over -- traditional things, re-worked Schubert (into a tango type thing and a swing song -- swing dancing always looks so cool), 60s Japanese cult classics about a person who kidnaps beautiful people, ransoms them for diamonds, then keeps the victim, kills and preserves them on an island as a museum of beautiful people...

They stayed afterwards to give everyone autographs, too, which I always admire. It makes you feel like they care. Now, usually whether I am going to get an autograph or not depends on how short the line is because it's not like I'll ever DO anything with the autograph, but this time I just had to get them. I felt all gushy and giddy. It's a good thing I went alone. I probably would have been embarrassing. ;)

I should have brought my little camera, but since I didn't, here's the yicky phone pics you get:



The view from my seat. (it's intermission, so I'm not breaking any rules)



Thomas Lauderdale, who started the band.



Chine Forbes (lead singer with an awesome voice) and Derek Rieth (bongos and other percussion).



Derek Rieth. You know, I've seen bongo players in old movies and such and they actually acted much like he did on stage. They look rally happy and look around everywhere while they're playing. I don't know, I find it rather fascinating.

I tried to get photos of the other band members there (there was another singer, a trombonist, a trumpet player, a drummer, a guitarist, a bass player -- I think that's it) but those ones didn't come out good at all. Ah well.

Ooh, I could show you a photo of my autographed cd. See? Gushy.

Well, there've been all kinds of things I've taken photos of since last I did a photo post, but I don't think I should dump them all on you... So you're mostly going to get stuff from the Crowns Tea at work. Haha, I took over 500 photos and most of them are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsyk/sets/72157629105407224/ (not all of the candids are mine, though -- mine are the ones that it says were taken with the Canon EOS 50D). At any rate, I'm just going to give you a few that I really liked and some critter pics.





( Read more... )

I need to get myself back in the habit of normal posting... Course, with all the things I'm busy with lately and the being sick and so on, my schedule is always a bit tumultuous. I've certainly been reading a lot of fun things, though. There will probably be a heavy Amy Tan slant this coming month... But you know me, I like to bounce from here to there and back again, so I'm sure there will be a lot in the middle! Anyway, it's been so long since I read some of these that I just hope I can remember them all!

9. Quatrain by Sharon Shinn -- I enjoyed these stories a lot (though the Senneth story least). The Angel story had me wanting to reread the Samaria books, so I started, and the Gold book made me even more curious about the Albinos. Maybe she'll write about them someday? The Auburn sequel was interesting, though I'd dearly love to learn about the Aliora's addiction to keeping humans... Someday, someday, maybe...

10. Archangel by Sharon Shinn -- I remember being completely amazed the first time I read this book and, while it was still really really good, I don't remember being so irritated by the main girl. She really tries hard to make herself miserable. She went so far beyond contrary... But I guess when you've been hurt so badly, perhaps you need to create a big enough test to know you're truly loved.

11. the Safe-Keepers Secret by Sharon Shinn -- one of her YA novels and a nice read. Somewhat easy to figure out, but she created a really interesting world.

12. 1222 by Anne Holt -- one of the Scandinavian mysteries that abound now. I really enjoyed it and the main character -- an ex-policewoman who'd been shot in the back and was now confined to a wheelchair. She's clever and grumpy and annoyed by people even though she cares about people in a general sense... Just a very interesting person. Apparently this is the middle of the series and the rest hadn't been translated into English. I'm going to try an earlier translation of a different series by her soon.

13. the Gates by John Connolly -- a very funny book and clever book (with perfectly wonderful footnotes) that mixes fantasy and particle physics and is basically about how demons use the Hadron collider to open the gates to Hell and there's only a little boy and his dog aware enough to combat them.

14. the Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff -- this is an author that I'll be following. I really enjoyed her novel about the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and her quest to find her brother (the son of Adam and Lilith). Yovanoff just created a really fascinating new mythology from the Christian/Jewish tales.

15. the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan -- we're doing this for the library's Big Read events. I enjoyed the first daughter's stories and those of the mothers quite a lot. I was less enthused about the other daughters. However, the book was overall intriguing enough that I would have picked up more of Tan's work even if I didn't have other reasons to.

16. All About Emily by Connie Willis -- a short novella about artificial intelligence, musicals, prejudice, and the Rockettes. Sweet and funny and meaningful, like Willis often is.

17. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand -- a well written story and a satisfying sequel, though it is unfortunate that the twist was pretty easy to spot and then...the book ended. Still, I enjoyed it a lot and want to find out what happens next, so I guess there is one Nephilim series that I do enjoy. I really hope the rise in power level of the main character doesn't go unchecked until she is too powerful to be interesting as often happens in YA series.

18. Shadow Magic by Patricia Wrede -- I hate to say it, but this novel wasn't any to write home about. You can tell it is one of her very early books -- the story is thin, the coincidences high and the characterization sparse.

19. the City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier -- she had me sucked into this book from the start and it's the kind of fantasy novel that pulling myself out of -- even if after just a fifteen minute break at work -- feels like an effort, like a true journey between one world and another. I want to be frustrated at all the unanswered questions but I can't because they all ring true. Instead I find myself just yearning to explore this world more.

20. the Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton -- just as enjoyable as the first and I look forward to the third!

I seriously can't believe how nasty this crud is that's going around. It seems to go away and then it pounces back on you just when you're feeling secure. Yesterday I got a fever, today moving at all is exhausting and painful. I'm having to miss an important meeting at work and I'll have to miss a concert tonight if I don't get to feeling a bit better. Sigh.

I'm going to do a lot of book based posts today (unless I get interrupted) so I'll start with the one I need your help with.

Every year the library has this event called the "Readers' Extravaganza" where library staff set up themed tables or give talks about their themes and create book lists to help readers explore the books. We also let people check books out right there, of course. The themes may be as general as "Fantasy Reads" or get more specific like "Spies and Snipers" or "Post Apocalyptic Science Fiction" and so on.

I didn't get to go last year because I was working, though it sounded so neat! This year, since I'm full time, I could just mosey on over if I wanted -- and I planned to! However, I found out that ANY staff member in the library can sign up to do a table or talk! You know I'm doing it. :)

I decided I wanted to base my table around Connie Willis' Blackout and All Clear since those were probably my favorite books from last year. I started by thinking just a general Sci-Fi thing, then considered time travel, but finally though it might be more fun to do a cross genre thing and, who knows, maybe it would get people to slip outside their normal genres for a bit. So, my theme: Historians and Archaeologists in Fiction (or something like that).

What I need, now, are some suggestions from you all!

So far I have things like Willis' future historians, McDevitt's space archaeologists and collectors, a British author who writes mysteries starring a forensic archaeologist (Griffiths is her name, I think?), and the Amelia Peabody books.