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Literally. It is raining right now and I was planning on spending my day off riding to Woodinville on the Burke-Gilman Trail. Somehow I can’t make myself take a recreational ride on such a crumby day. And I found out that all the hoses on my car need to be replaced. Sad face.
But also figuratively. The day after my happy post, we got more budget news, and it isn’t good. We are going $1.4 million, although not all of those cuts will be necessary. The Mayor said to find 3% to cut so that we would have some choices. I don’t see that we have a lot of choices left. The libraries can run on fewer bodies than we currently have. We will have to cut hours (possibly Sundays) and/or have another furlough, which would likely be the week after xmas (another low usage time). Possibly also a materials budget cut. This is just me guessing, though, so don’t run out and tell the papers. I’ll be interested to see if there is anything more creative that comes out of this round of cuts.
On the upside, I signed up for zipcar, which has a discount for City of Seattle employees. That will be a great back up for the car if anything else goes wrong. And everything is paid for in the fee–gas, insurance, maintenance. I just wish there was one closer to my house. There used to be, but they’re gone now. Now I will have to take a bus to get to it, but luckily that goes from right outside my house to the car. Ah well, hopefully I won’t need it (oh, but they have trucks too, so that will come in handy some day). Some days I think I should just sell my car and commit to a car-less lifestyle. That would only work here, though.
What am I reading?
A coworker recommended Soulless by Gail Carriger and I am liking it more than I expected. I got it on EPUB from the library and am reading it on my Ipod touch. It is historical fiction, set in Victorian London with the premise that there are supernatural creatures that have “come out” (similarly to True Blood, but further back in time) to natural society and live among them. There is a fiery character, Alexia, who is a preternatural and can nullify supernatural powers. Super fun so far.
I finished listening to The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by LA Meyer after getting the download from the library. This one is almost as good as the others, and as always Kathleen doesn’t disappoint as the reader.
However! The themes in this book are definitely older teen and adult. I am looking back at all the tweens and parents that I recommended the series to and I am worried they will get to this one and say “how could that librarian think this book was appropriate for my 11 year old?!?” Oops.
A couple of examples: a ship full of prostitutes, Jackie becoming a “pet” for a female pirate with lots of innuendos about what goes on behind closed doors, and a boy who is almost harmed in an ungodly way. All of these are fine with me, but I can imagine a parent and child listening to or reading this without being ready and I just cringe. Now I know and I can warn the parent that the theme gets older as the series progresses, until it falls into utter wantonness.
PS. There are no April Fool’s jokes included in this post, not even the budget info.
Despite being tired it has been an excellent day. Someday I will grow up and realize that I should not stay up till all hours reading.
However! I got to make up my listening session with our interim City Librarian. There were only 3 of us there this morning, and her, and I really felt heard. I have high hopes that there will be things happening soon. Things that should make us all a little happier. We should hear more next week.
And! I got my funding! For my advisory group! I am so excited! Can you tell!?! Pizza for everybody!
And I moved all my new books to shelving where there is more room, because there are too many of them. It seems like every month I have more new books than the last. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing, but where to put them all? Next I am going to have to read fiction again. I have been enlisting the help of my awesome LAIV to help me do dusty shelf lists–it makes it easier to let them go if I just read over the titles after he’s pulled them. If I handle them all, I want to keep them. We have more of a connection.
What am I reading? I have been super lazy about updating goodreads and netgalley. I hope they will forgive me for another week or so. But I have been reading. When don’t I?
I am trying to finish Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin because it is due tomorrow. I heard about it from a friend who wrote a blog post for the library. It intrigued me enough to use one of my precious 25 hold spots for it, although the library didn’t have very many copies so it took a while to get it. In the mean time, I totally forgot why I put it on hold. I finally remembered today when I was talking about it with my manager. This series was first published in the late 70’s and details life in that time in San Francisco. As you can imagine, there is a lot of love going on, love of all kinds. It is San Francisco after all. I think one of the reasons why the description of this book was so appealing was because my uncle ran away to San Francisco when he was young, in the 70’s. I hoped to see a little of what his life might have been like then. He came back later, with a life partner and aids. I loved him very much, even though I didn’t spend time with him until his return. There was one visit to see them in San Fran when I was a kid, but I really only remember stuffing chicken in my cheeks. I was going through a phase where I didn’t want to swallow food.
I can’t know if this book gives a window into what he experienced. He’s been gone for a while now, and his partner several years later. There’s no one left to ask. I hope he enjoyed it. Tales of the City makes it sound like it could have been fun, and if not, then seriously interesting. The characters are deep, although you don’t realize it at first, and Maupin has a crazy way of making all of them interconnected. Toward the end of the book, where I am now, you come to realize there is a mystery. I don’t know what it is yet, but I think I will very soon. It might be another late night.
I have a cold. I haven’t been sick for a while, except for a brief stomach ailment, but this cold is going to make up for it. My neck hurts–not just my throat, the whole thing–, I have a terrible headache and my back hurts like crazy. My chest feels like someone filled it up with cotton. I slept most of today and was really happy to do it.
Unfortunately that meant I missed work and my listening session with our interim City Librarian. I am mostly sad that I didn’t get to hear from the other people at the session. I know how I feel, but I want to hear from others. I know I would have had something to say as well, but I’ve been living with my thoughts for months. I’d like a fresh perspective. I hear there will be more scheduled, so I will try to get into one of those.
Oh, and I did get my 4th program for summer, but only by saying that gaming is a regular program. Others won’t be as lucky and I did lose the promised funding that would have gone with a gaming program. It wasn’t a lot, but it would have paid for some popcorn. I am very happy to have the program though so I’ll stop complaining.
What am I reading? Currently Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick–the title says it all. I am learning a lot about the history of Korea and the lives of ordinary people there and I am still in the first 40 pages. Sometimes non-fiction can make me turn away, but this one stands the test and I am so curious about the subject. This book was another recommendation from Librarian of the Teenagers and she got it from TBTL, a podcast I used to listen to when I made time for podcasts in my life.
I read Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin, and while the story was good I had a hard time getting past all the Pacific Northwest references. It would probably be fine for anyone who hasn’t lived here, but if that book inspires someone to move here, they will be disappointed that there are no spawning salmon in the back yards of Seattle. Also, there is no Walmart in Seattle, especially not close to Seattle University. There was more, but I’ll leave you a bit to discover for yourself.
I did like the contrast between Charlotte and Amanda. The first is the protagonist and she idolizes Amanda, who is the darling of her school, both the gifted progam and the ‘normal’ side. Charlotte has been remanded to the ‘normal’ side because of a math learning disability. Her father pushes her to be an over achiever, never feeling able to live up to his expectations. This roadblock makes her start to realize how much she is just living for him and she begins to live for herself with a few hiccups along the way.
It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Only the alloted amount of programs will be allowed for the summer, so if I want to do my own, I have to forgo one of the others. This seems a little strange since the centrally funded programs don’t require any participation from me besides an introduction. I decided to keep the duct tape program and let the gaming program go. While gaming gets a bigger turn out, I don’t get to interact with the kids as much. Sitting down over duct tape and imparting my knowledge on how not to get all your fingers stuck together is a great opportunity to get to know more of the teens in my neighborhood.
I am disappointed in this decision. It makes me feel like this great new strategic plan is just a front. A placater for our library board. It takes away our decision making powers and leaves us feeling like cogs in a machine; don’t deviate from the path or the whole thing might fall apart. This is the second time my manager has approved something, only to have to come back and say no. That must be frustrating to her as well. Sigh.
What am I reading? I stayed up late finishing The Luxe last night and it ended just as I thought. The author threw in a few doubts along the way, but I basically knew what was going to happen from the prologue. Otherwise, it is a good book with lots of detail from the time and the characters, while not fully formed, are complex and compelling. Not everyone is likable and even the main “perfect” character has flaws (which is a plus in my mind).
I am definitely enjoying The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson, even if it did start a bit too conveniently. I think the set up could have been more in the background to avoid that. However, Maureen has a knack for making her characters well rounded and interesting, as well as taking us to another part of the world in unbelievable circumstances and making them believable. If this one started a bit rough, it recovered quickly.
Edit: Cover for book 1
Cover for book 2:
It’s not very often that I get to combine two of my loves, books and cycling. Except when I ride to work, I suppose, but one might argue that work, while book related, is not always a “love”. But now I have a real reason to get excited. Bike Snob is coming to Seattle during the Seattle Bike Expo for what he calls a BRA–book related appearance.
Bike Snob is the kind of blogger who cannot offend me, despite all his attempts. He has a masterful grasp of sarcasm and satire and constantly makes me laugh. I have read his blog faithfully since I stumbled upon it last year. Unfortunately, I have not yet read his book. Guess I’d better get crackin’. Or even better, I can buy a copy there and get it signed. Maybe I was just looking for the right moment.
In libraryland we are planning Summer Reading programs–or I should say we just got done. There always seems to be some controversy over interpretation of policy in these situations. We were told we could have 3 system generated programs–things planned by our programming coordinator and paid for through central programming funds–which we would schedule with the performers. The directions also said that any branch generated programs would have to be paid for and supported by the branch. This would lead one to believe that those programs are possible, yes? Some took that as a no. So now we are fighting to have our couple of branch programs as well, where we librarians have ownership and get to interact with our patrons. I will say that my manager was one who interpreted the policy the way I did and I am sure this is all a minor misunderstanding. All I want is a duct tape program! It won’t even cost anything because we already have kits ready.
What am I reading? I think I have too many things on my plate right now.
I have set aside No God but God and picked up The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, which is interesting historical fiction from around1900. Right now it is seriously too predictable, but I am enjoying that the author has included both the rich elite of New York and the lives of their servants. Usually a book will settle on one or the other, with the other half in the peripheral. It is a bit like Gossip Girl during the horse and buggy days, with all the intrigue and backstabbing that you expect.
I have picked up two galleys I am excited about; Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin and The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson (I loved the first book in this series).
And I finished reading The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter. Three siblings have lost their mother under mysterious circumstances, and it has affected them in many ways. Their father goes away a few times a year and leaves them with an abhorrent neighbor, until one time late in the school year when he decides they can go visit their aunt Angela in London instead. It turns out there is a misunderstanding and Aunt Angela is away on a trip, leaving the kids stranded and alone. This is the leaping off point for all kinds of adventure.
And isn’t the cover great?
And just as I say I am not going to try any harder, I got a twitter account. I decided if my library system could finally bite the bullet, so could I. I did sign up a while back for about a week before it all became too much information and I shut it back down. I suppose I’ll add a link here when I get around to posting something. Right now, I am trying to get a hang on what all the @ and # and acronyms mean. I am not learning this as quickly as I usually do, probably because of the large amount of information that can be packed into 100’s of 140 character tweets. I might need a tutor. Luckily I seem to have a lot of friends on there.
I am encouraged with how things are going in Libraryland. My new manager is fantastic, when I get to see her. Her response time to email is a bit slow, but I am guessing that has to do with all her moving around. She is in charge of 4 branches and I have only seen her twice since the beginning of January. However, my concerns about expanding teen programming at my branch have been allayed and I am very hopeful that I will be able to have another regular monthly program along with a few add ins. Teen Tech Week is coming up and I am hoping to host a Scratch program. Our system participated in trying out this program along with a few others around the US. “Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art — and share your creations on the web.” I have tried it out a couple of times and it is a lot of fun and it is easy to create some really cool simple video games and animation videos. This one is pretty cute, for example (I didn’t see a way to embed the project).
As for a second monthly program (the first being TAG), I am thinking about simple gaming. I would bring a Wii and we would have table games and snacks. Just for Teens, although we also talked about having a quarterly all ages gaming day as well. I have to talk more about that with my children’s librarian. For future stand alone programs, I was thinking about a Teach an Adult day, where we could have the computer lab and the video games set up and the TAG members could teach adults how to use Facebook and other technologies. With me as their fearless leader, of course. It would be a lot like a day at the reference desk.
What am I reading? I finished Reckless by Cornelia Funke and it was a wonderful dark fairy tale. However, this is listed as a J book and it really shouldn’t be. The characters are adults and there is nothing light hearted in the story. It is tragic and dark, sex and attraction is alluded to and the characters are deeply flawed (as people are) and I think this book belonged in the teen section. /rant
Jacob Reckless lost his father to the mirror years before he learned to follow him to the land beyond, and now he has lost his brother as well. Will is being taken away before his eyes, a slow casualty of a war they know little about. The dark fairy has given the Goyl, a race of stone people who are embroiled in a war with humans, the power to turn any human they harm into one of them and Will was injured by one. Jacob must save him before the stone takes over.
There is love and longing, magic and adventure, all of it dark and brooding. I think it would be scary for anyone under 12. The references to fairy tales is distracting from the story–the unexplained premise being that the magical items that Jacob hunts for and some of the characters and circumstances in the alternate world explain Grimm’s fairy tales. I think a little more introduction to this would have helped. There are also some parts where the translation is choppy (from the German) which could have been fixed with a little more editing. Otherwise this book is enchanting and engaging. Definitely worth the read.
Does anyone find the text on here hard to read? I realize that it might be a challenge, the small gray print. Let me know–I don’t see it as often as you do.
My New Year weekend was very nice. The Mister came into town to surprise me–at the library with flowers! I had to restrain myself from throwing my arms around him right there. We had a very laid back weekend. He drove out with me to la-la-land to gather The Boy, I made us a couple of hearty dinners and breakfasts (they were on their own for lunch…) then sent him on his way Sunday afternoon. The Boy spent most of the time doing geometry.
Libraryland is bustling right now after a week long slow down because of the holidays. We are seeing a lot of people who got ereaders for xmas or Chanukah and are turning to libraries to fill their reading needs. That means more competition for our digital materials and more frustration trying to use the service for the first time. Usually once they get it to work once, they are golden, but the initial set up can be confusing. Occasionally there is some kind of glitch where Adobe Digital Editions gets hung up over the ID and even if you put it in correctly and Adobe accepts it, permissions won’t transfer.
It is a bit depressing around here today. Many of my coworkers in teen services are those who are affected by the budget cuts and today is their last day in their librarian positions. Some of them are becoming assistant managers–a scheduling and circulation sort of management position–others are becoming Library Assistants–this particular position has some elements of librarianism, but is not professional and they have to try to stop themselves from doing the amount of reference they were doing up until today (it is hard to do less when you are helping the public, but they won’t be paid for that level of professionalism and if they do continue, they might be eliminating the need for more librarian positions).
What am I reading? I have started two books and I like them both. Dreadnought, the third steampunk novel by Cherie Priest, is scratching my adult fiction itch. The main character is nicely developed and the story is fun, somewhat suspenseful and action packed.
The other is a children’s book, along the lines of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black by Eden Unger Bowditch is about 5 inventor-type children who’s parents are missing. The children are at a strange school with a nice teacher, but where the Mysterious Men in Black visit. I have really just started this one so I can’t tell you any more…except that it doesn’t come out until March 15th.
But it seems like everything I want to read is in pdf now. What happened to my EPUB? Are they trying to force me to buy an iPad? That is not happening on my budget. Anyhow, I like having my ebooks very portable–as in fit in my purse or pocket. Most readers are just too big for my tastes.
It’s supposed to snow today and everyone is hopeful that it will. Probably because it is only supposed to be a couple of inches and not terribly cold like our last one. Our forecast is very changeable here, though. It has already snowed in some areas, but not at my house. We may not see any at all at my house.
Libraryland is in a waiting period right now. Our busy times are out of wack because of school break and a lot of people taking vacation. No story times right now to bring in the families at certain times. Sometimes it is quiet and half deserted and others it is hopping and 10 things are happening at once. Kids are starting to realize they have to have books for projects when they go back to school on Monday, so they are coming in with reference questions. Parents want to see if they can get that fun picture book they saw over xmas. I got all my weeding done before the holiday and the advisory group is on hiatus until February, so I have been concentrating on scheduling software and not really feeling like I am getting anywhere. Everyone is on vacation either literally or figuratively right now, and everyone is waiting to see if what happens when this round of changes are implemented on January 5th.
What am I reading? I am just finishing up The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, which was just as I was hoping. Jason wakes up on a bus holding a girl’s hand (Piper) and being regaled with lame jokes by a guy named Leo that claims to be his friend, but he can’t remember anything except that he knows he doesn’t belong there. Soon the three are attacked by wind spirits and are saved by a gym coach, who turns out to be a satyr. Next they are whisked off to Camp Half Blood and begin a quest to save the world from giants and ancient goddesses.
I have some exciting books in the hopper (iPod–unfortunately in pdf format); My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek and The Atomic Weight of Secrets or the Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black by Eden Unger Bowditch. Oh, and Dreadnought by Cherie Priest in traditional book form. Which to start first?
Finally some good news out of the changes. As good as losing your Branch Manager can be, anyway. My new Regional Manager is top notch–in fact all the people chosen to take those positions are great. In this at least, they seem to have chosen the fresh and innovative, or the older and wiser (not necessarily in years, but experience). Perhaps they are trying to throw a pall on the influence of the union, which is the reason why layoffs go by seniority.
Despite my earlier emotional confusion and survivors guilt, I can feel my thoughts settling and life is becoming much less of a chore lately. As the cooking and cleaning shows. I was pretty depressed when The Mister left and work was still up in the air (not that anything is for sure, but not getting a letter leaves me feeling a little bit better). I still want to do whatever I can for my coworkers, to keep them in jobs. I am just relieved that my mental well being is returning, because I was a crazy dumbass there for a little while.
Right now I am listening to Stars and waiting for my rice to get done for my Palak Paneer–which I have already sampled and am in love with. Stars are lovely chill music and I can’t wait to see them live on November 6th. I bought myself a single ticket because The Boy isn’t sure he wants to go to a show. I will get him an all ages ticket later if he decides he wants to go.
What am I reading? I finished Skin Hunger last night. It was a good story–Sadima is an orphan girl has a power she doesn’t understand and she goes to the city to meet a man who sees her for herself, rather than the mother who died birthing her or the ability that scares them. He is everything and nothing that she hoped, as he is the slave of a man with a dark vision and only his will shall be done. Her love binds her and keeps her in that dangerous place until one fateful night.
Hahp has been given to the wizards to sink or swim as he is able in a world where magic is used for everything. Starvation brings out the need and the clarity to make his own food, but other boys are not so lucky. Alternate chapters are told by Sadima and Hahp, detailing their lives, losses and hungers. The title is not explained, but there are several things it could reference. I recommend not reading the cover flap until you are done with the book, as it gives away a storytelling device that I was glad I didn’t see until after I finished the book.
Monsters of Men is just as good as I hoped (10 pages in…). Gotta go finish my chores so I can go to bed and read. Oh and dinner was absolutely delish!
It’s been a tough week, but there are bright spots too.
On Wednesday I had some people over for games and we played Zombie Flux, which was pretty fun. Several were fellow library employees and some work at another library system, so there was some budget and work talk. The next day was the dreaded all staff meeting, where we got to see some cool stuff–our colleagues being awesome–and heard some PR stuff and how hard it was to balance the budget and how we are only losing a handful of people. I don’t think it had the effect they wanted. People still have doubts about the system’s ability to continue providing excellent service with the upcoming changes.
Friday I participated in the flash mob the Friends of the Library put on in order to bring attention to the Library. It was under attended and not well executed, but it was still fun and I got to see some library friends. The idea was to show up and precisely at noon, to sit where ever and start reading. However, everyone was talking to each other and holding a green friend’s bag, everyone sat down at random times rather than all at once and people kept trickling in after it started. It continued for 7 minutes rather than the 2 I was expecting. I hope the next one will be better organized. The last one, which was a dance number at the Central Library, was very well attended and really cool.
Friday night was the union meeting and after we went for a drink. I got home a bit late and fell into bed. Saturday was a good friend’s birthday and again staying out too late. I had to sleep in this morning but recovered nicely. I rode to work, which was hard work for some reason, with a 2 hour stop at Greenwood. When I arrived at my branch we made the coolest Halloween display. I’ll try to get a picture to post next time.
Tonight I watched Greenberg and Seattle Chronicle. I had been waiting to watch the first one because I was told it was depressing–and it was–and I wasn’t sure I could face it while I was still processing work stuff. The second is interesting, but I am not sure how much I absorbed.
What am I reading? I have put down the other two books for now, but still intend to finish them. I am currently finishing up the final Scott Pilgrim graphic novel. My coworker lent them to me, since the library’s copies are in such big demand. Scott Pilgrim is awesome. ‘Nuf sed.
Living in Color 