Divergent and Insurgent

I'll read pretty much anything that seems like it might be turned into a movie. I think I bougth Divergent becasue it was only $4.99 for my Kindle and I thought, Hey, What the heck. It's cheap. I'll try it. The story is a good idea, but the writing is not fabulous. It's another post apocolyptic world teenager story. I know you've read one before. This started out good. I had no problem reading Divergent. It's once you get to Insurgent that things get funky. There are just too many characters and too many people fighting against too many people who seem to be constantly switching sides, dying and getting shot, only to not in fact be dead or to be saved at the last minute. I just didn't buy it in the second book. It's action packed and kids will probably love it, but it was lacking a lot of things for me to really get on the bandwagon. Scenes changed instantaneously and I was left lost many times. It just got too muddled and too repetitive and I was losing interest by the end.

 

As with many trilogies, after I read the second one I rarely want to read the third. I had this problem with Fifty Shades and the Hunger Games. The first was great enough to hook me and the second was horrible enough to disappoint me. Movies are often the same way. So, I will probably not be reading Allegiant when it comes out in October.

These books are my treadmill read. They are usually easy to read and follow along, and don't take too much concentration. The treadmill is where I read all of my YA books. For an easy beach read to keep up with what the kids are reading I would recommend Divergent, but then let it go. Move on to another book and save yourself the time. Nothing interesting happends in Insurgent, but reading Divergent will give you just enough background information to recommend the series to possible readers and will allow you to go see the movie version and still be able to claim that, "The book was so much better."

2013 ALA Conference

I'm missing it this year.

Last year it was in the OC which is close by and cheap for me to attend. Next year it will be in Las Vegas, another close cheap location. Chicago, though is hard for me to get to.

Last year I only had a couple of hours. My husband dropped me off and took the kids somewhere fun while I ran around the convention floor like a kid in a candy store. I filled bags and bags full of books, catalogs, and posters for my library. I had thought I would do anything to get to the 2013 conference since I had such an amazing time at the 2012 conference.

I registered myself with the free DEMCO pass, shopped flights for the past 3 months and even looked up flights today ($700), and I just couldn't get there. It was going to cost around $1500 and just don't have the cash right now. Plus there is the fact that I will be leaving in a few weeks to drive out to Illinois for some personal stuff at the end of July. I just couldn't  go.

I am devastated. I want to see all the authors. I want to get all the free galleys. I want to collect all the posters for the new books and the new series releases. I want free book marks, and free books to try out  in my library. It makes me drool just thinking of all that swag I will be missing out on.

I feel like I am less of a librarian for not attending.

Next year in Vegas I'm going to take that place by storm. I'll be at all the author events, get all the signed books, see all the awards ceremonies. Planning the next one is the only thing that is getting me through missing this one.

Catching Up

I've been reading a lot lately, but posting very little.

The Stand - Holy Crap I read the 1400 page version.

Around the World in 80 Days - My first foray into Jules Verne.

Napoleon's Pyramids - William Deitrich - Indiana Jones in the time of Napoleon.

Divergent - Veronica Roth - Another dystopian YA book.

I'm busy. I'm reading but feeling guilty for not writing. I will not feel complete until I write something, but there are so any good things to read it's hard to pull myself away long enough to sit and write. I'd rather be reading.

I'm still making my way through thick books on Paris and French history. This week I'm finishing up Eiffel's Tower: and the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled and Thomas Edison Became A Count. It's Belle Epoque Paris mixed with Wild Bill Cody and Thomas Edison.

Four more weeks until my European Adventure. I think I will read Sense and Sensibility while I'm in Bath and absolutely nothing while I'm in Paris. I'll be too busy shopping for books to read at all.

Libraries Obsolete? Maybe

This was an awesome post on Book Riot today.

When Authors Attack Libraries:

As a librarian I am supposed to support libraries in every way... BUT this man makes a point.

Yes, the whole point of the Book Riot post was to make fun of the guy arguing against libraries, but still he does have a point. Entertainment is never free and it could very well be an out-dated way to look at books.
It really made me think. Should we support libraries at the expense of authors and publishers?

The Greater Journey

Continuing on my Paris reading blitz, I finally finished this book this week after recovering from my two week long sinus/ flu sickness.

I loved this book, but it was one of those that I had to make myself open and read. It started slowly, but then I got sucked into the stories of all the young Americans trying to make their way into the world. There were mostly profiles of artists - painters and sculptors to be exact, but there was an interesting chapter detailing young doctors training at the best medical schools in the world at the time. It was fascinating. I really learned more about French history reading this book vs. a dedicated French history book. It was French history through the eyes of Americans that were living there and writing back home about their circumstances.
The most riveting story was that of Elihu Washburne, the American Ambassador to France during the 1860's and 70's. His story about living during the siege on Paris during in 1870-1 was eye opening. I had never heard the story from that angle. The Franco-Prussian war was illuminated during that chapter.
What I found so different about out lives today is our treatment of sickness. So many Americans went to Europe "for their health". They had a chest problem, were depressed, recovering from nerves, etc. and were prescribed to head to France to better their health. Why is that not a prescription now? Is travel just no longer accepted as a way to heal the mind? Is the air in Europe not healthy any more? And why did it used to take months if not years to recover from illness? When I have a cold, or flu or bronchitis I am expected to miss maybe 1-2 days of work, and still shuffle my children all to school, gymnastics, make dinner and do laundry. In the 1800's any illness seemed to merit at least a two week rest in bed without getting up. Surely Tylenol and Penicillin aren't that good at curing maladies.
Reading that book really made me miss the way we treat sickness. Is the European vacation a treatment only for the rich? At the very least those heading to Europe to rest were middle class. It was a mind opening read on that front.
I would highly recommend reading this book. It teaches not just French history, but also American history. I never would have heard of Elihu Washburne if not for this book. I will be doing a lot more research on that guy.

Too Sick to Read

It doesn't happen often, but for reals I was too sick to read.

I like to be just sick enough to cozy up on the couch with old 80's movies and a good book, but this was not that sickness. I was even up in my bed, not even down on the couch in front of the TV, that's how sick I was. Maybe it was the flu, maybe just a bad cold with a fever. It was all the sweating and chattering teeth that made it difficult to read. I just couldn't hold a book and keep warm at the same time. So frustrating!

So now I'm back and I'm reading.

I should finish up The Greater Journey by David McCullough today or tomorrow thanks to Presidents Day.

I've got some new acquisitions to post up as well. I know it's so exciting.

The One and Only Ivan

So this is the 2013 Newbery Medal Winner. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

I read it, but only because I forced myself to. Every year I feel it is my duty to read the winner just so that I know what everyone is talking about and so that I can tell my teachers if it's worth it for them to add it to their curriculum for next year.

I hated this one. It's about animal abuse. Really. Not . My. Cup. Of Tea. I'm not a big fan of animal books to begin with, but abused animals is even more of a turn off. Yes it turns out happy in the end, but come on, really? Who wants to read about that? At least in Water for Elephants there was some romance involved to distract the reader from the abuse, but in this book it's relentless. I really did not care for it at all.

I know I've discussed before about the weirdness of book award winners. Some times they are right on, but most of the time it seems as if the judges of these contests are looking for the saddest, most taboo subjects and giving the awards to those books. These are not books that kids want to read. These are the books that adults make kids read because they are good for them like vegetables. I don't want books to be like vegetables for kids. I want them to read what they want to read even if it is Captain Underpants of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

This book just didn't have anything special about it to me to merit the Newbery Award. Last year's winner, Dead End in Norvelt, was a good book, but still a vegetable book. 2011's Moon Over Manifest was brussel sprouts too. The last time I read a Newbery that I liked and that I still recommend to kids and teachers alike was 2010's When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Now that is a timeless classic that deserved awards.

Of course we all have different opinions about what is a good book, but if I can't recommend it to anyone, it's not a good book. I will not be recommending this book except to my most fanatic animal book readers.