Daily Thoughts 7/7/2010

National Library of Bhutan, Thimphu. Main buiding in a snowfall, 23 January 2008, Christopher J. Fynn, Creative Commons, Share Alike Attribution 3.0 Unported

Daily Thoughts 7/7/2010

This is a link to an article and video from News 12 on the layoffs at Mount Vernon Public Library http://www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?articleId=255625&position=1&news_type=news I also posted it on Twitter which feeds into my linked in account now. I want to have maximum linkage and exposure for what I am saying. Part of that process is creating links between social networks

It felt odd coming in today. I was reading the New York Times Book Review and looked at the routing list. It had my initials only, with four other initials crossed out. It reminded me of how many people were affected. I also took some time to read Publishers Weekly. One book which caught my eye was The Vertical Farm The World Grows Up by Dickson Despommier. It is about urban agriculture. Vertical farms, are hydroponics and aeroponic farms inside skyscrapers. They are often designed to be mimic ecology. I find them to be fascinating. Part of this concept originates in The New Alchemy Institute which developed the bioshelter concept. It is radical science at its most interesting. http://www.thegreencenter.net/

I also had a chance to log in to my first online chat session of The Readers Advisory 101 Class. I learned quite a few interesting ideas. Joyce G. Saricks suggested The Adult Reading Roundtable as a resource for readers advisory www.arrtreads.org/ which is in Illinois.

There were a number of suggestions on how to pick books for patrons.
1) Check on the last book they read. 2) Check on the last book they returned to the library. 3) Suggest they read the jacket blurb, and read two pages at random to see if they like what they are reading. The librarians also use Goodreads a lot to pick out books to read. They think of it as an excellent social network for readers advisory. http://www.goodreads.com/ It is also important to make displays of books which you can recommend. Many also used Novelist which is a database about books and book reviews to find read alikes, or similar titles between authors. Some librarians used Fiction Connection which is a readers advisory tool created by Bowker. http://www.bowker.com/index.php/bowker-brands/fiction-connection

There is a difference between a book which you can recommend. A book which you can recommend is a book or author you have read and like. A suggestion is something you think a person may like based on other peoples reading habits or literary reviews. This is the general idea.

We were talking about appeal what makes a person interested in a book. This is different than whether it has quality. It is about what people like to read no what matter what it is. Joyce G. Saricks, the instructor has a quote, "Never Apologize for Your Reading Tastes." A lot of the discussion was about popular genre fiction. A lot of appeal is about how a book affects us.

We discussed how people track their books. They often keep a log of their reading in a binder. I don't. I use this blog and Goodreads right now. This is a good enough way to track my reading.

A lot of appeal is being comfortable talking about books and recommending what people may like. I picked ups some ideas that the small group of librarians taking the class have about literature. Character centered books tend to be literary oriented, plot centered books tend to be more action oriented, women tend to read authors by both men and women, and men often only read books by other men. Romance tends to be better when there is an element of suspense. Books that are banned often become even more popular because of censorship. Political views can skew whether or not people will like a book.

It was an entertaining session. I am looking to catch up for my next session. I was really supposed to start last week, but the potential of layoffs before it happened upset me a little bit.

Daily Thoughts 6/13/2010

Dr. Seuss cartoon, 14 November 2006, Image From Wikipedia Article by Greg Williams, Creative Commons Attributions-Share Alike 2.5 Generic on Wikimedia

Daily Thoughts 6/13/2010

During the last several days, I have been watching a dvd called Seuss Celebration 9 Favorite Televised Classics. It includes The Lorax, The Cat In The Hat, Pontofell Pock and His Magic Piano, Green Eggs and Ham, Sneetches, Zax, Grinch Night, The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat, and The Hoober Bloober Highway. Some of these are cartoons which I had never heard of before. They are both longer, more colorful, more oddball, and stranger than the books of the same name.

All of them include singing and piano music. Each video comes with a sing a long which was a surprise. Dr. Seuss used piano music in many of his works. His live action movie, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T is very musical. The vision you get of how he intends to have his books read is very different if you watch the cartoons. I very much liked watching The Lorax. I never read the book. My favorite of the collection was Green Eggs and Ham.

The arrangement of the menus is a little odd to look at. It could have been different. I am also not certain that the transfer from the older tapes is perfect, but it is good enought to enjoy.

This collection is nothing like the Beginner Book Videos of Dr. Seuss, each story includes a lot of material that is not in the books. Each cartoon runs for a full half hour in this version, much longer than it takes to read the books. It also has the cartoon characters singing parts of the text you would have read in the book. The Beginner Book Videos are a lot more formal.

The Cat In the Hat has a very different feel than the modern interpretation of Cat In The Hat like you might see with Jim Carrie. It is not a Cat In The Hat you may be familiar with. The cartoon character is much more of a tricky rascal. It is much closer to Dr. Seuss's cartoon works which you might see in the three volume set, Theodor Seuss Geisel, The Early Works of Dr. Seuss. I enjoyed watching it. I think children and adults will like it. I am a big fan of Dr. Seuss.

I did not read that much this weekend. I spent more time writing reviews. I just started reading an uncorrected proof of A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse. The book is published by Europa Editions, it is coming out in September 2010 and is translated from French. So far, I have figured out that this is a mix of a suspense story and a book about literature set in France.

Digital Self Publishing Shakes Up Traditional Book Industry, an article from the Wall Street Journal. Digital Self Publishing Shakes Up Traditional Book Industry http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704912004575253132121412028.html

Feature Author: Sam Morton

Sam Morton is the author of Betrayed, a new release from Quake!

From the Back cover:

It’s an election year and Senator Ben “Pitchfork” Stevens from Texas made a campaign promise to stop illegal immigration. He virtually has. Problem is, people trying to cross the border seem to disappear. That’s a dilemma for 15-year-old Austin Pierce whose father is a political consultant and whose best friend, Rico Alvarez, happens to be in the United States illegally. When Austin discovers Rico’s beautiful cousin Veronica helps people break the law and cross the border from Mexico, he faces a decision: should he help his friends or try to stop the senator? Either path could lead to danger, even death.

And here's an excerpt from between the book covers:

"No. Your friend has come to our town—to our country—and I'm interested in what our American friends believe about our culture." Veronica's steel gaze locked into Austin. Even in the low light of the setting sun, he could see the glint in them.

But it seemed this girl had no interest in being friendly and Austin refused to be intimidated. He cleared his throat so his voice would be firm. "Well, I guess I just didn't expect to see all the retail stores here carrying all the familiar products, and whew, the Super Wal-Mart really threw me for a loop! I mean is there a place in the world those guys don't go?"

Rico put his palms out toward his friend attempting to quiet the rising tension and volume of their voices, both to no avail.

"I suppose you expected to come to some third-world dirt village, where the women grind corn and hand-pat tortillas around an open fire, and the men dress up like mariachis and sing the Mexican Hat Dance!" She swept her hands in each direction. "Or maybe you thought you'd find a bunch of gang bangers cruising around with handguns in low riders with bandana's half covering their eyes. Sorry to disappoint you, but that's more prevalent in Los Angeles—you know, the one in the United States."

"That's not what I meant," he said, his voice louder than he intended.

Her head seemed to swivel and she pointed an accusing finger in Austin's direction as she continued her rant. "Take a moment and look, Señior Pierce, and you'll see we're much the same. We have email and the internet, cable and satellite TV…surprise, surprise, surprise."

He cut her off, hands raised. "Exactly what did I do to piss you off, Roni?" Austin threw his hands apart and arched his brows, too. "I mean I hadn't even said hello before you turned your nose up at me like I reeked.”

The two had inched closer, squeezing Rico between them. They sat for a moment in an electric silence until Rico finally broke it.

"I can tell you exactly why she doesn't like you," he said.

Austin's eyes widened, the confirmation that the gorgeous cousin really disliked him striking a blow. Veronica's expression changed too. Her cheeks reddened and Austin thought her pupils glowed red. If the fire in them were real, Rico would be a block of crusted ash by now.

"She doesn't want you to know…"

"Rico do not …" she said through gritted teeth. Balled fists hung past her trousers just inches from the curb.

Her cousin ignored her. "She doesn't want you to find out that she has been helping people here cross the border illegally since she was twelve.

want more? click here for the first three chapters!

Readers are raving:

“I liked it so much, I read it three times!” - Jaylen Suther, 10^th-grader, Irmo, S.C.

“Armed with a powerful story, stunning language, and a belief that right must triumph, Sam Morton weaves a tale of laughter, passion, and fury in Betrayed. Don’t miss a word. Sam is an author on the move.” - Pat Conroy, bestselling author of The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and The Great Santini

Best, Worst, and Craziest Aspects of being a writer—

The best part for me, without question, is the creative process. I have complete control of the story—who lives, who dies, what takes place in the action, the emotions and reactions of the characters. I especially like, when it’s time for a bad guy to get his due, coming up with exceedingly painful and humiliating ways for the bad guys to die. I think I have an over-developed sense of justice!

The worst part of writing for me is always having to figure out how to have something go on behind my main character’s back without him knowing it, but at the same time letting the reader know. Some writers find that easy to do. I find that it takes a deftness of skill I’ve not yet mastered and have to work at.

The craziest part of being a writer—and I’ve talked to enough writers to know I am not alone—is that, as much as I love the creative process, when it comes time to put my fingers on the keyboard and write, I do almost anything to avoid it! I do laundry. I clean the kitchen. I’ll even re-organize my office. I believe I’m intimidated to some degree. Writing makes us all vulnerable, and even though we have back space keys and delete buttons, once you’ve written it, at least in an emotional sense, it’s out there and hard to take back.

What's next for Sam and Austin?

Austin will have another fabulous adventure. He will see a wrong and try to make it right. He will encounter the wrath and resistance of those committing the wrong, and his life, and those of his friends, will most definitely be in danger. Will he survive it this time? Will his friends? You’ll have to read to find out!

You can buy your copy of Sam's book early at Quake, or Amazon, visit him at his website or follow him on Twitter and facebook.

Leave Sam a comment or question here at Teen Seen today and connect with this amazing talent!

Thanks Sam!

The Gatekeepers: Raven's Gate (Book Review)

The Gatekeepers: Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 0-439-85629-9

Matt isn't really a bad kid, he's just looking for someplace to belong and maybe a reason. He is however different from your average kids, and someone out there seems to know that. When he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Matt's entire life is ripped apart and he is sent on a journey that is more than a little strange, and altogether terrifying.

Worse yet, when he finds himself packed off to Lesser Malling, things get even weirder. Knowing he needs to escape the nightmare he is living, Matt is faced with mortality and his true self. But everyone who tries to help Matt ends up dead or missing. Is the place he's supposed to call home filled with witches or is there a greater evil at hand?

Anthony Horowitz writes a remarkably dark tale. As an adult, I wondered if it might be too graphic for the kids, but I could not put it down. I can see where readers of the dark and gritty would high five Mr. Horowitz's talent for the creepy. A very good read and I am looking forward to Evil Star.

Reviewed by Karen Syed

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