Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I recently finished Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter --why I ever decided to read it, I'm not sure. Oh, yes, I remember, I thought, hmm, another book which will be in the theater soon , guess I should read that in case anyone asks me about it. (I am beginning to feel that at least one of the books I am reading at any given point is already a movie, coming to theaters shortly, or is being transformed from book to screenplay as you read it.) I gave Grahame-Smith a try even after not being able to make it through his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (for the record, I cheated, I tried to do the graphic novel).  I thought that I hated P&P&Z so much because it besmirched my beloved Austen, but reading Abraham Lincoln made me realize that I don't like how contrived Grahame-Smith's stories feels...I know, I know. You KNOW that going into it. You know that Abraham Lincoln wasn't REALLY a vampire hunter and that the Bennet sisters ( P&P...

Orange lilies will forever remind me of my Mom and Dad's house; the reaching orange stars, stretching out from the shade for the sun which makes the petals peel back. Orange lilies are what I picked when I walked down the long driveway to bring in the mail; filled moments with important "he loves me, he loves me nots;" beautified lesser vases; are now what I look to as signs of summer, what I gather and pin into my hair.    I couldn't find a poem I loved with lilies in it, so Uncle Walt's one about lilacs (really about the death of President Lincoln) will just have to do.   "When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,"                                                      1 When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd, And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the ...

I am ABSOLUTELY entranced by the U.S. Civil War (*I should say here, I am AGAINST wars of any kinds--except hugging wars*), I always have been since I was a kid. I own huge volumes on Civil War history and instead of getting rid of them I lug them around from house to house every time I move. This last move into the cabin found me looking over them again, feeling that familiar twinge, that same joy I felt as a 14/15/16/17, etc. year old; lugging the glossy covered books onto my lap, I opened to maps, Matthew Brady photographs, paragraphs explaining casualties and strategies. Books on the Civil War are like photo albums to me, an arranged attachment to relatives I never knew, people who's histories fascinate me. I am excited because this year marks the 150th Anniversary since the U.S. Civil War began which means we'll be hearing a lot more about the war and there are sure to be specials on the History Channel! Doing some reading led me to these intriguing facts (I am a big...