Newness

Well. I have a ton of newness going on right now. First of all, I got a new job-- a librarian job. I moved to a new place-- Massachusetts. I got a new apartment. I have a new bed, new couch, and other new furniture. I received new business cards today. I got trained on new computer software today. I got a new haircut a few weeks ago. I am, in short, NEW.
The job is a youth services position in a public library. So far, so good-- great patrons, nice staff, all around good job. I have a lot going on right now getting ready for the summer, ordering and finishing out the fiscal year, planning a sleepover. It can be a lot all at once, but in a good way for the most part.
I'm an apartment-dweller now. My building is quiet except when the CSX train goes by in the early early morning (grrrr.) Soon, Ruby will join me and we will go on glorious walks in the sunshine. I had her for about a week already and soon she will come live with me full-time. Since I am back near where I went to college, I'm reconnecting with old friends (and hopefully I will make some new ones.)
So everything is really, really new. I am trying to keep up with reading galleys when I can. I had to recuse myself from the Nutmeg Committee since I am no longer in Connecticut. I feel like I'm playing perpetual catch-up, but I expect the newness wears off eventually and I will be settled.

What's new with you?

Ex libris,

Marissa

Literally the best thing ever!

A few months ago, the teen librarian where I work sent me a link to a TEDx Teen Talk featuring Tavi Gevinson. Right now, you might be like, "Who?" but watch the TEDx video. She is, in a word, rad. She started a fashion blog at age 12 and word spread. Now at 16 she runs an online magazine called Rookie which I wish was around when I was a teenager. I want to say it's the anti-teengirl magazine, but it's just much smarter and more well-rounded than the average magazine you pick up that's all "What flavor lip gloss represents your style?"

To celebrate a year of Rookie, Tavi edited and released Rookie Yearbook One via publisher Drawn & Quarterly. This circles back to my original point, the TEDx talk. After watching, Susan (my library's teen librarian) ordered Tavi's book. I checked it out and just finished it yesterday. In a word, LOVE. Just fresh and funny and informative and made me feel awesome-- and I'm not even the target audience! Some highlights: How to Be a Happy Homebody, An Actually Useful Article About Dressing for a Party, Midnight Snacks: A Taxonomy, How Not to Care What Other People Think About You, Confessions of a Fangirl (which happens to be about Hanson, a favorite band of mine), Thrifting: The Master Class, and all sorts of interviews with amazing people.

All these articles-- and more every day-- can be found on the Rookie website. I highly recommend the book, too! Tavi has been on Jimmy Fallon and some other shows. She's a rising star.

Enjoy.

Ex libris,

Marissa

January update

Last time, I wrote about New Year's resolutions. How have I done so far? Nothing added to LibraryThing, but still putting titles in my ratty notebook which I haven't rebound yet. First two, nada. Organizing my room? I got a new clothes hamper, so the floor is tidier. 1 point for #3. Finishing my quilt...I bought some more fabric for said quilt, and I pulled out the squares from their hiding place. I've also taken apart some old clothes to repurpose into squares or bits for the quilt. 1.5 points for #4. I have made more art in that I finished spinning all the merino wool I got for Christmas, plus started spinning alpaca, and the quilt is out of the dark. 2 points for #5. Finally, traveling...I did drive to Williamstown, MA on MLK Day weekend and visited Sweet Brook Farm where I bought the aforementioned alpaca fiber and met the alpacas. I drove to Norfolk, MA last week, which is tucked off the beaten path and is quite lovely. There is no exit for it on 495-- you have to drive through Franklin, MA to get there, so it's a sneaky little gem. :) No visiting people I know per se, so 1 point for #6. I'm satisfied with that. It's only been a month. February brings my first Nutmeg meeting. I am also hoping for a snow day somewhere so I can bust out all my crafts. Craft extravaganza.

In library-world news, ALA announced the Youth Media Awards, which are like the Oscars of the children's/YA book scene. I've read the Caldecott and Newbery winners already, but the Printz and Morris are now on my to-read list. If that sentence made no sense to you, go here for ALA's press release.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Resolutions

Another year! Man, they just fly by. A new year means resolutions. I think I have only ever really kept one resolution, and that was 2001 when I resolved to write down all the books I read like my grandmother did. I still do that with pen and paper. My LibraryThing is a small slice of the list. I read 83 books in 2012 (although I missed some because when I read a picture book on the fly or read to my Lego Club, I don't count those.) I will continue to keep that resolution, but here are a few things that I will try to do in 2013:

1. I will add all my books to LibraryThing.
2. I will take my old notebook I write my books in and rebind it.
3. I will organize my room to the point that I can get a new bed.
4. I will finish the quilt I started randomly some years ago.
5. I will make more art! Bookbinding, spinning (my new love), whatever. It has been awhile.
6. I will visit people and/or travel just for kicks. (Lookin' at you, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.)

I'm going to stop there because I like even numbers. So, in short, be more creative, be more social, and clean up. I don't want to make any reading-related resolutions because of the Nutmeg Committee. I have 2 left of the 8 books I have to read by February 13. The Nutmeg Committee is a resolution in and of itself, reading-wise and being more social. I did that on purpose.

A few recommendations while I have you:
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (before she wrote Gone Girl)
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ex libris,

Marissa

The BEST books of 2012

Here is my list of the best books of 2012! To be fair, I clearly have not read every book published this year, so this is all my personal opinion based on what I read. That being said, I am in the book-suggesting business as part of my job, so I think I can say with confidence that you will like at least one of these books. Books labeled A are adult books, YA are for teens, and C are for children. That's not to say that there are rules-- you can read whatever you please. I'm just using the labels as a guideline so you know who the books are targeted toward.

The best book of 2012 was, without doubt, John Green's The Fault in Our Stars (YA). After I read it, I was so stunned and overwhelmed that I said out loud to no one, "I never have to read another book again. This is it." I could not pick up another book for a little while afterward because everything else seemed so trivial. I was so thrilled to meet John Green at BEA, and he continues to amaze me. So you have to read this one-- it's not optional.
And now, for the rest of the list:
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (YA) was actually published in the spring of 2011, but it won BOTH the Printz and Morris Award for 2012 and the paperback came out this summer, so I count it.
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour (YA)
Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker (C)
The Diviners by Libba Bray (YA)
Wonder by R.J. Palacio (C)
Every Day by David Levithan (YA)
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy (A)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (A)
The Nightmare by Lars Kepler (A)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (A)
Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow (YA)
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian (A)
Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit by Tommy Greenwald (C)
Erebos by Ursula Poznanski (YA)
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (A)

Enjoy!
Ex libris,

Marissa