Summer Bucket List

If I had my druthers (such a fantastic word), I wouldn't work. I am not one of those people who feel like they HAVE to work in order to have meaning in their lives. Not at all. I can find meaning in lots of other places and things that don't involve having a job. Having said that, I am fortunate to have finally found a job that I like: working in a library. All those books...definitely not enough time.

Still, even though, for the first time in my life, I don't feel terrible about having to work, summer is a tough time for me. There are so many things I want to do with Clare while she is out of school and I fear there just isn't enough time. So, in order to maximize our time together, we decided to put together a Summer Bucket List. I saw the idea on The Happy Family Movement blog (go check them out here: http://thehappyfamilymovement.com/2013-summer-bucket-list-challenge/) and thought it was just too fabulous not to do it.

Clare and I are still adding to it, but we have come up with some fun ideas to make our summer time together fun and memorable. Here are some of the things we plan to do:

• Have a lemonade stand (she has been wanting to do this forever so this year we are going for it. She actually wants to donate all the proceeds to our local animal shelter - love this little girl so much!) 
• Tie dye shirts
• Make playdough
• Fly kites
• Go to baseball games
• Go to a drive-in movie (there is actually still a drive-in theatre here in Virginia so we are looking to make it a weekend getaway. Here's where we would be going: http://www.keysvilledrivein.com/)
• Craft day, once a week
• Learn how to ride a bike (Clare, not me, although it would be Remember How to Ride a Bike For Me)
• One new food each week (Clare is a picky little vegetarian, so thought this would be a great way to expand her food horizons)

Of course, throughout the summer, we will be doing lots of readin'. Last summer, I made a bookworm chart for her. I found the idea on Pinterest (of course!). For every 5 books she read, she got to open a little door and get a prize. This was a great incentive for her. Was I bribing her to read? A little, but hey! She was reading! And the prizes were usually fun activities that I got to go do with her, not actual things. I think that this year, we will actually have something like a Book Hour, where we both sit and read. I am not sure if she will sit and read for an hour yet, but if I can get 15 minutes out of her, I will consider it a good day.

We will also do the usual summer stuff - Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, neighborhood pool. Those will get checked off the list quickly. And those are lots of fun. But I wanted to also do things with her that were smaller; just as much fun, just smaller. Stuff for just her and me. The things that will make Summer 2013 a summer full of memories.

What kind of things are you doing this summer? Don't forget, Clare and I are still adding to our Bucket List!

Defending Jacob, William Landay

Hoo boy, this one was a good one. A murder mystery that is also a family drama, it put me in the mind of one of my favorite books ever, Gone Girl. This book had me guessing throughout and then took my breath away in the last few pages and actually left me in tears. Definitely not some light reading for a warm Spring day, but it definitely is a compelling book that will have you questioning how far parents should go to protect their children and how far trust within a family can be tested.

Defending Jacob is told from the point of view of Andy Barber, assistant district attorney in his Massachusets town. He has held this position for 20 years and is very well-respected. All of this comes tumbling down around him when his 14-year old son, Jacob, is accused of first-degree murder. This is even more shocking since the murder victim is a fellow classmate of Jacob's. Andy is put on leave and devotes himself to proving his son's innocence...even though Jacob's own mother, Andy's wife Laurie, has her own horrible doubts about whether or not Jacob is guilty.

The lead up to the trial is just as exciting as the trial itself and while a lot of books like to tell you they have a surprising twist ending, many of them might as well tell you the ending at the beginning of the book. Not this one. This one genuinely surprised - even shocked - me. As we learn more about Jacob - and about Andy - it is easy to flip-flop back and forth between guilty/not guilty verdicts. Adding to this dilemma is the fact that Jacob is not a likable character, so the reader is not immediately prone to the not guilty side of the courtroom. But the victim is not a likable character either, so can't automatically go to the guilty side. This is a complex book that brings forth complex feelings as you read it. It will have you thinking long after you turn the last page.

Setting up a storytime is NOT as easy as A, B, C

I am doing the toddler storytime here in my library for the next few weeks, so today I started pulling books and making my handouts. As I was doing this, I thought that most people probably think, "Hey, it's a library. Just walk around, pick out a few books and you've got yourself a storytime!". Oh, if only. Not so much so. In reality, there is a good deal of thought and prep work that goes into a successful storytime. And the important word there, just in case you weren't sure, is successful. I could actually just go grab a bunch of books, sit down and read them, but if I do that, I can virtually guarantee that the storytime will be a horrible experience for everyone involved. Kids will be crying, parents will be glaring, asteroids will miss the Earth by 17, 240 miles...okay, just kidding. About that last part anyway.

If you want your storytime to be successful, to be effective, you really do need to take time and plan it. You need to take several things into consideration before you even start looking for books.

1. What is your audience's age? As I said, I am going to have toddlers for my storytimes. We consider toddlers to be between the ages of about 18 months to about 3 years old.

2. Are you only reading books or will you also incorporate songs into your storytime (before we go any further, I HIGHLY recommend that you incorporate songs into your storytime)?

3. Once you know the answer to numbers 1 and 2, you can better answer this question: how long will your storytime last? With toddlers, we have found that about 15-20 minutes works best. If they are having a great day, go the distance and stay for 20 minutes, but, if they are having a rough day (lots of crying, lots of running around, lots of wiggling), call it quits at 15. ***Tip: if you do have to end a little earlier than you had planned, be honest with the parents/caretakers. Let them know that not every storytime runs smoothly and that's okay. The important thing is to not give up. Come back next time and try again!***

Okay. So now you've got the framework for your storytime. Now you can start looking for books. Again, this is not as easy as it sounds. Not all books are built the same. To really be a great storytime book, it needs to be just long enough to tell them the story, but not so long that they lose interest. It needs to have exciting pictures (colorful is best) that will help make the book fun for them. The pictures need to be big enough that the kids hanging back can see it just as well as the kids who rush to sit right in front of you. And, of course, the book has to be about something that the kids will enjoy. A book about the proper preparation of mashed potatoes probably ain't gonna cut it for toddlers. Boring story, boring pictures, bored kids.

When I do storytime, I can get through some books. In that 15-20 minute time frame, I can get up to 6 books read. Sometimes it will be less than that, depending on the kids. Once I have picked out six books, I create a loose outline for the order in which I will read them. I think it is best to start with a short book because everyone is still going to be so excited to be there that they might not yet be ready to listen to a longer one. I save my longer books (and I try to limit this to no more than two), for the next two slots. Then I finish with a few more shorter ones.

Now for the songs. With toddlers, you may find that you have to alternate book-song-book-song-book, etc, so make sure you have plenty of songs ready to go. We use large song sheets that we hang behind us. This way, the parents/caretakers are encouraged to also participate. Songs are also a great way to help burn off excess kid energy. "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a classic that pretty much all of them know and so can help to bring them back into focus. "Five Little Monkeys" is a great song to get the kids up and moving so maybe they can get rid of some of those wiggles. Songs are also great because they reinforce listening and memory skills.

This might be the most important tip of all: read your books on your own BEFORE you read them in storytime. There are a couple of important reasons for this. You need to be as familiar with the books as possible because they will flow better and will be more entertaining for the kids. Also, if you have read them beforehand, YOU will be able to enjoy them more. Trust me, if you don't enjoy the book you're reading, neither will the kids. I actually read my choices to my 6-year old daughter. If I lose her, it's a pretty safe bet I'll lose other kids as well.

Hopefully this has helped you to see that storytime isn't as easy as it sounds. It takes some time and effort, but when you get those kids smiling and laughing, or sitting quietly because they just don't want to miss what comes next, it really does make it all worthwhile.

This Movie Burned a Hole in My Soul That Will Never Ever Heal

For Valentine's Day, I decided to write about something I absolutely hate. But, knowing that it is going to be about something that I hate, let me start by saying I love Colin Firth. Love him. And it's not just because he is Mr. Darcy. At least not the Pride and Prejudice Mr. Darcy. Although I do absolutely love him in that. But, the first time I saw him was in "Bridget Jones' Diary" (as Mark Darcy), and then I went and watched him in Pride and Prejudice. He has had so many wonderful roles and I have loved him in each and every one of them. And then came "A Single Man". He was nominated for the Academy Award for his performance as George, a closeted gay professor in the 1960's who is mourning the death of his lover. I try to see all the Oscar-nominated movies, at least the major ones, and this one also had Mr. Firth in it, so I rented it and sat down to enjoy what I expected would be a fantastic film.

And then I got to the end of the movie. And based solely on that ending, I now list this movie as my most-hated movie ever. EVER. To this day, I still randomly get angry about the ending. I can say, out loud, "I hate that movie" and a good number of my friends know exactly what movie I mean.

I am not going to reveal the ending, just in case you want to subject yourself to it, but suffice it to say it destroys all good feelings of love and hope and life that you may have had up until that while watching. I will say, on his behalf, that Mr. Firth was wonderful and I don't blame him for the ending, much the way I don't blame the waiter if something is wrong with my food. But oh dear God I hate the ending and so I hate the movie. Viscerally. It has been close to four years since I saw this movie, but my hatred for it still feels brand new.

Maybe putting these words down will finally exorcise the demon that is "the ending of the movie 'A Single Man'", but I don't hold out a lot of hope for that. Know why? The ending of the movie "A Single Man" sucked all hope out of me. Man. I hate that movie.

99,000 Emails In My Inbox, 99,000 Emails....

...Okay, so it's not 99,000 ... but it is 90,000. Seriously. 90,000 emails in my inbox. Somewhere along the line, I just forgot how to hit delete. I read the ones that are pertinent, and ignore the ones that aren't. Now, I'm not talking spam either. These are various newsletters and updates that I have at some point signed up for. But now, rather than get off their email list and eliminate future emails, I just ignore them which leads to 90,000 emails in my inbox.

Turns out this is a pretty good indicator of the rest of my life as well. Too much stuff in my car? Let's add some more to it. Laundry is done and folded? Let's leave it in the laundry basket and just get clothes from there. I already have 14 books checked out from the library? Let's put 14 more on hold.

I have somehow trapped myself in a vicious cycle wherein I am overwhelmed with stuff but unable to get out from under the stuff because I am so overwhelmed. I am not oblivious to what is around me; I just ignore it because that is so much easier than actually diving in and doing something about it. Yes, I know I would feel so much better, so much lighter if I just got rid of stuff. It sounds so easy when I say it, but in reality, it's really not so easy. If you're standing next to a mountain, it's pretty daunting to climb said mountain, but at least you can see where your feet need to go. If you're standing inside the mountain (just go with me on this), it's nowhere near as easy to climb up. That's how I feel: trapped and overwhelmed and exhausted before I even start.

Today, as I was joking about how many emails I have, I realized it actually isn't very funny. Important emails get lost, get overlooked. Deadlines go by and opportunities are missed. And so I decided to whittle down my email inbox. To the vast majority of people, this may seem like a frivolous venture, a silly way to start, but to me, it's kind of a big deal. I am hoping that I will feel so much better about my inbox that I will want to whittle down other aspects of my life: the clutter in my car, the clutter in my house, the clutter in my body.

The tricky part to this will be how long it could take. It will not be an overnight process, and I desperately want it to be an overnight process. So I will have to push through the times when all I want to do is ignore the emails and forget about the delete button. I have to believe vicious cycles can be broken, so time to break mine.

Sharon Needles Rules the World

I went and saw "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" this past weekend, and every time I saw Famke Janssen in full-on witch mode, all I could think of was that she clearly had been watching a whole bunch of RuPaul's Drag Race because she looked JUST LIKE Sharon Needles! This is yet more proof that Sharon Needles is winning in her quest to rule the world.

Evidence: Her debut CD PG - 13 was on the itunes pop albums chart and made it to #4, between Justin Bieber and Josh Groban. She is the reigning Drag Superstar and her boyfriend is a competitor on the current season of RuPaul's Drag Race. I just saw an editorial that she wrote on huffingtonpost.com. She is everywhere. All hail Sharon Needles!

Got the Bad News...So I Guess This Is Good News?

I love performing. I love singing, I love acting...not so fond of dancing. But I love to do the first two whenever I can. I had done lots of community theatre before my daughter was born in 2006, but once she showed up, the stage and I parted ways. Fortunately, it was a trial separation. Last year, I was in a production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and the coolest part of it was that my daughter was in it too! We had a great time and she was definitely bitten by the acting bug.

I didn't think I would do another show right away, but when I saw the next show at Peninsula Community Theatre was "Always...Patsy Cline", I just couldn't resist. So I auditioned, and lo and behold, I was fortunate enough to get cast in the role of Louise. Now, here's the thing about this show. IT'S TOUGH. It's only two people in the cast: Louise and Patsy Cline. So it is a really taxing show. For this reason, the director made a brilliant decision: he double-cast the show. Two Patsy Clines, two Louises. We split the shows evenly. Not as hard on all of us. I mean, I am talking 20+ songs that Patsy has to sing, and pretty close to 2 hours of monologues that Louise has to say.

Rehearsals had already been difficult because all of us, at one point or another, were sick. Flu season was not kind to any of us. But we were all really starting to gel and it was all coming together nicely. And then we got some horrible news. The other Louise, the fantastic Lucy May, had to go to the ER and was diagnosed with pneumonia. This was less than a week ago. And we open in two weeks. She was admitted to the hospital and then they hit her with the news that it wasn't pneumonia. They were 98% certain she had lung cancer. This news hit us all like a ton of bricks. That an elephant was carrying in a dumpster. Even though there were two casts for this show, there was no jealousy, no sniping, no back-stabbing; we are all friends. So what should we do? Again, we are two weeks away from opening night. Lucy made the decision for all of us basically. She bowed out of the show (which I know was incredibly difficult for her and is a huge disappointment to all of her friends and fans) and so now there are two Patsy Clines...but only one Louise. Remember that elephant with the dumpster full of bricks? Yeah, he showed up again.

So many things are running through my mind now (and with as many lines as I have had to memorize, I didn't think there would be any room at all for all those thoughts, but somehow, they found their own places to plant roots). Can I do this? Can I do this 12 times vs. 6 shows? How many times am I going to lose my voice, forget my lines, make a fool out of myself? Will I live up to the expectations? The people who know Lucy and were so excited to see her in this role - will they demand their money back? It is more than a little crushing. But I can't let all those negative thoughts and concerns hold me down. Lucy knows I will do a great job. Lucy WANTS me to do a great job. She looked me in the eye and told me she was sending me all the good karma she has, and since she is where she is right now and is fighting what she's fighting, that means more to me than she could ever know.

So I guess I better get out of my own head and just do this thing. Do it the best that I can, the best that Lucy can, because now I'm doing it for both of us. And I am not going to let Lucy down. That much you can count on.

Austenland, Shannon Hale

One of the big jokes around the Children's Room in the library where I work is how I check books out, don't read them and turn them in, and then check them out again, with the whole cycle repeating, sometimes more than once. It's not that I just check books out for the sake of checking them out (although sometimes I do just that; I feel sad for the books that never get to leave the library). It's just that I have so many books checked out, I never get to all of them (remember the name of the blog?). It's like the old phrase, "eyes bigger than my stomach", only in these cases, it's "eyes bigger than the time I have to read 14 books".

Austenland, by Shannon Hale, was one of those books. I swear, I checked it out three times before FINALLY reading it. It's not even a long book. Or very thought-provoking. It shouldn't have taken so much time. I just always pushed it to the bottom of the pile. Well this time I was determined to finish it, and finish it I did. And then, half-way through, I learned that a film version of the book just premiered at Sundance. So now I feel great because even though it took me 3 tries, I am still somewhat ahead of the curve on this one.

I have seen "Sense and Sensibility" (cried right along with Elinor when Edward was finally able to tell her he loved her, cried BUCKETS when Marianne thanked Colonel Brandon for bringing her mother) and "Clueless" and have read and seen "Pride and Prejudice" (more than one version, but really, it's the Colin Firth one that counts) and have loved them all. And then one day, whilst paging through Netflix choices, I came upon a little gem called "Lost in Austen", a BBC mini-series. If you haven't seen it, make the time and watch it. Seriously. Stop reading this and go watch it. Then come back and let me know what you thought. Go. Now.

OK. So now you've seen it and I'm certain you love it too. We can now move on. Well, when I first found it online, Austenland kind of reminded me of "Lost in Austen" and so I was completely drawn to it. But for various unimportant reasons I could never fit it into my reading schedule. Well I am so glad I finally did. It is not a book that is going to save lives, but it might make you reevaluate the life you are living.

Jane Hayes (yes, she is perfectly named, isn't she?), a single thirty something, is obsessed with Jane Austen, and especially with Mr Darcy. So much so that her real-life relationships always fall short for her. Imagine her delight when her aunt, who she barely knew, leaves her something special in her will: an all-expenses paid trip to England's Austenland, a Jane Austen-themed getaway where you can go and live, total immersion style, like a Jane Austen character for a few weeks. Our heroine decides to take advantage of this opportunity to not only rid herself of her Darcy obsession but to also swear off all men entirely. Now, since this is all about Jane Austen, we all know that's not going to really happen, but getting to what eventually does happen is a wonderful journey. Yes, it's kind of a "What I needed was always inside of me" book, kind of a "Don't give up on your dreams" book, it's a little bit of fluff, but it will make you smile, it will make you happy, and that is a good, good thing.

(And here are a few pictures from the upcoming movie. I think Keri Russell will be SMASHING as Jane Hayes and Jennifer Coolidge is going to kill as Ms. Charming.)

I Set the Goal, the Goal Didn't Set Me!

So, last year I set a reading goal of 100 books. And I totally did it. It was such a great feeling too. I loved looking back at all the books and remembering them, some I loved, some I REALLY loved and then some I read because I had set a goal of reading 100 books.
When January 1st rolled around, I needed to set my new goal and of course I wanted to challenge myself and go for more than 100 books. Using a very scientific method which consisting of totally picking a number from out of the air, I decided to set my goal at 115. A nice round number. A nice doable number. This will be fun.

I track the books I want to read, am reading and have read on goodreads.com. I also set my goal on goodreads.com and so it tracks that for me as well. And it does it in such a nice way too. Currently, it is letting me know that, at my current pace, I am 4 books behind schedule. FOUR BOOKS! See, I had the flu, and my daughter had the flu and so I really didn't feel like doing anything at all, but I still had to take care of my sick child and then take care of myself and so I really fell behind in my reading. And now I feel incredible pressure to catch up, which has me thinking I need to give up sleep, give up taking care of my kid, give up going to work, until I have caught up and am back on my reading schedule. This sounds totally reasonable, right?

Yeah, maybe not so much so. So, instead, I will choose some shorter books, some graphic novels (always great to increase your reading total) and will just keep pressing forward, ever vigilant in my ongoing quest to read 15 books more this year than I did the last. But most of all, I will ENJOY the books I am reading. I will not rush through them, not really reading them because I am too busy reading them. I set the goal, the goal didn't set me. So I will take each book one book at a time. Well, actually, 3 books one at a time, because it's totally normal to be reading a book-book while also reading an e-book and listening to an audio book, right? Totally normal, right?

The Goddess Inheritance, Aimee Carter

When I was about 3/4 of the way through the second book of the series, Goddess Interrupted, I realized that not all of the books of the series had been released yet. On the day I finished the second one the dark clouds closed around me. I was just really upset that I was going to have to wait for the end. And then suddenly, the clouds parted and the sun appeared for I remembered the wonder that is NetGalley! I quickly signed in and searched...and waited...and the choirs began to sing for there it was! I quickly requested it and a few loooong days later, I had it downloaded and ready to go. So, before anything else is said, THANK YOU NETGALLEY!
This book picks up just about nine months after the last one ended. Our heroine Kate is pregnant but has been kidnapped by Cronos and his daughter, Calliope, who is still the very definition of vengeful and so is hell bent on destroying all that Kate holds dear. For her entire pregnancy, Kate's family back in the Underworld knows nothing of either her captivity or the baby that is on its way. But now, her husband Henry (Hades) has found out and is on his way to save her. Sounds like everything is gonna be a-okay, right? Yeah, um, not so much so. Cronos is not just a Titan, he's the Titan, and he is still pretty mad about being captured and locked away eons ago. So he's not just going to let Henry come in and take his pretty new toy away. What follows will quite literally be the battle to end all battles. With everything at stake, her own life, the life of her family, the life of every single person alive, what will Kate do? 
I did enjoy this final (?) piece of the trilogy, and read through it very quickly, but do still have a couple of issues with it. I was still not completely sold on the character of Kate. Just like in the second book, Kate was still so insecure about whether or not Henry really loved her, and just like in the second book, it got tiresome. I know that not liking the main character 100% should seem to be a complete hindrance to enjoying the book, but I really liked the characters around her and that made up for it.
My other issue was Cronos' destruction of a few major cities. This just seemed to be glossed over in the book. Yes, Athens was just destroyed which means millions of people just died, but hey, does Henry love me more than he ever loved Persephone? I just would have liked to  have seen a little more reaction from the various gods to the fact that the earth is being destroyed. 
Even with those two issues, I did enjoy this book and this series. I have a sneaking suspicion we haven't seen the end of these characters. Way too much room was left for either another sequel or a spin-off series. 
I recommend this book and this series for girls age 13 and up.

Favorite Things 2012 - Books Edition

I realized that with my first Favorite Thing post, I devoted it entirely to one book, The Cranes Dance. I really loved it, don't get me wrong, but now I have kind of set up my other favorite books of 2012 to look like I didn't like them as much because I won't be devoting a whole blog post to each of them. Lesson learned. Having said that, I hereby affirm that each of the books listed below were loved by me just as much as I loved The Cranes Dance.

First up, my favorites in juvenile fiction:

A Hero for Wondla, Brian DiTerlizzi. The sequel to A Search for Wondla. I love these books. Just a wonderful adventure with a wonderful heroine.

Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick. By the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, this is another novel that mixes words with pictures in a wonderful way. The story can be told without the words, or without the pictures, but together the story is all the more rich and exciting.

The Ink Drinker, Eric Sanvoisin. A tiny little book, and a wicked one at that. It tells the story of a vampire, but this vampire doesn't drink blood; he drinks the ink out of books!

An Elephant in the Garden, Michael Morpurgo. Takes place during WWII, and is based on the true story of how the Dresden Zoo was bombed and how the elephant was spared.

Next, my favorites in young adult fiction:

Cinder, Marissa Meyer. A fantastic, very modern (meaning this one has robots and cyborgs and flying cars!) take on the classic Cinderella story.

The Selection, Kiera Cass. Taking place in the future, but very inspired by today's "The Bachelor", it's the ultimate dating competition as the prince looks to find his princess.

The Goddess Test, Aimee Carter. This is actually a three book series, and I read them all within a span of about a month. Great series about the Greek Gods living in and dealing with modern times.

Suite Scarlett, Maureen Johnson. A fluffy book about a 15-year old girl, named Scarlett, whose family owns a NYC hotel. Naturally she has to work there in the summer instead of going on a great summer vacation, but maybe, just maybe, this year won't be so bad now that the glamorous Mrs. Amberson has rented a room.

Glass Houses, Rachel Caine. College freshman Claire Danvers needs a new place to live because her dorm is turning deadly. The town she's in isn't exactly a safe haven either since the vampires running the place would love to get their teeth in her. Even though one of her new roommates is a ghost, maybe Glass House will keep her alive. First book in a series.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor. This was such a refreshing read. It is almost impossible to even say what it is about, because it is so different from all other YA books. Angels and monsters, a heroine who has to collect human teeth for her adopted father (who just happens to be a devil), star-crossed love...like I said, difficult to adequately describe so just go ahead and read it for yourself.

Gregor the Overlander, Suzanne Collins. How do I love this series...let me count the ways. Actually, I don't think I can. Let me just say that this is an amazing series, with fantastic characters that you will genuinely care for and with adventures that have real consequences for the young hero Gregor. I shed many a tear, both happy and sad, throughout this series. I keep hoping that Collins will write just one more book about Gregor; I miss him that much.

And finally, grown-up fiction:

The Twelve, Justin Cronin. This is the sequel to the unbelievably good The Passage, which came out in 2010 and which kept me up for many a night. Pretty simple premise, vampires are real, but they're real because we CREATED them. A lab experiment gone horribly wrong, vampires took over the world and both these books tell of the time after their creation. I loved this sequel so much because it didn't tell so much about the vampires anymore, but more about the surviving humans and about how they were just as much monsters as the real ones.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern. Movie rights for this were snapped up almost as soon as this was published, ironically by David Heyman who produced the Harry Potter films. The Night Circus has often been compared to Harry Potter, thanks to the central plot of two magicians in a battle. But the real magic in this book, corny as it may sound, is love. The language in this book is dreamlike and ethereal. You can see the world even as you are reading about it. A beautiful story.

The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker. I am of the opinion that this should actually be a YA novel, but apparently the Library of Congress disagrees. Oh well. What if the earth's rotation started slowing down? How would every day life be affected? This all-too-real story is told through the eyes of a young girl named Julia, only 11 years old. Time slows down and days literally turn into weeks. Everyone and everything is affected and all too soon, it is difficult to remember the carefree life they knew before. A haunting story that ends too soon.

Gone Girl, GIllian Flynn. I don't think there is anything I can say to add to the heaps of praise this book has received. A truly twisted tale of marriage gone wrong - gone right? - that will have you thinking and talking long after you turn the final page. All that praise? Totally worth it.

Ready, Player One, Ernest Cline. As a child of the 80's, I LOVED this book. The world has become almost entirely plugged in. Everything is done on a seriously amped up internet. The whole world is connected through a virtual world. Students go to school, but never leave the comfort of their couch. Adventurers go to other worlds, can even make their own world. Of course, none of this is free, and so when the creator of the technology (think Steve Jobs) that created this virtual world dies and leaves behind the ultimate treasure hunt, those that seek the treasure will find that there are those who will go to any extreme to win. This one grabbed me from the first page and never let go. I have been talking about this one all year long. LOVED it.

Whew. So there you have it. My favorite books of last year. I have a feeling you've already put them all on your to-read list. : )

Breaking Stalin's Nose, Eugene Yelchin

First book read in 2013! I remember reading about this book a while ago, but the library I work in does not have a copy (I hope to remedy that!). I was in a different city's library (because I am a library whore, no loyalty whatsoever) and saw it just waiting for me. So I applied for and got my card and then happily walked out with this little gem of a book.

My bachelor's degree is in Russian Studies (focusing on literature) and so I was really excited to read this book. I have spent a lot of time - A LOT - reading adult Russian literature, so it was very different reading a book written about that world but told using the voice and perspective of a child. 

The story takes place during the 1930's in a Moscow that lived in fear of Stalin's dictatorial hold over what was still the Soviet Union. Little Sasha, only ten years old, is a firm believer in Communism and just might be Stalin's biggest fan. Sasha's father works for the state police which was Stalin's means of hunting down and arresting (usually executing) enemies of the state. Most of these "enemies" were totally innocent, but that did not matter. One day though, the state police arrive at Sasha's communal home and take his father away. How could this be? His father was once commended by Stalin for his excellent work. And on this day of all days? Today is the day Sasha gets to join the Soviet Young Pioneers! This is the day he has been dreaming of since he was 6 years old. Surely Comrade Stalin will fix this, but if he doesn't, what will Sasha do? This day turns out to be a life-altering day for the young boy as his eyes are opened to a reality he never knew existed.

The little boy in this story has to deal in one day with his entire world collapsing around him, learning truths no child should ever have to learn, and he has to do it all on his own. The book ends in a rather cliffhanger way, and is almost too neat in the way it happens, but overall, I felt that it was a very good telling of one boy's passage into adulthood, albeit one that happened far too soon. The violence is implied but never actually seen and so younger readers should be okay with this one. I would hope that children reading this would go to the adults around them and start asking important questions about blind trust and secrets that our societies keep. I would recommend this book for boys or girls, age 10 and up.