Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

After reading Forever Young Adult's lists of  their Top 5 YA Novels--their response to NPR's challenge -- you know I had to do my own too. (YA in this case is 12-18 year olds) My Top 5 YA Novels: To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling The Outsiders , S.E. Hinton The Book Thief , Marcus Zuzak The Catcher in the Rye , J.D. Salinger I also really wanted to include John Green's, The Fault in the Stars

Looking for a (many) great book(s) to read while you soak in the sun this summer? Here is NPR's Audience Picks: 100 Best Beach Books Ever 1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling 2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini 4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding 5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells 7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald 8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams 9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg 10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver 11. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger 12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel 13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan 14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien 15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell 17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett 18. The Lord of the Rings , by J.R.R. Tolkien 19. Mid...

...NO, not books, just suggestions. Today in the Kitchen we began talking about our backgrounds and education, which of course lead to people learning that I am also a librarian, which of course leads to the age old questions: "What's your favorite book? "Who's your favorite author?" "What are you reading right now?" "Can you recommend any books for me to read?" So, I told them: Too many to chose one, but some are: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee;  Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck; Gone with the Wind , Margaret Mitchell; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen; Angela's Ashes , Frank McCourt; Roots , Alex Haley Too many to chose one, but some are: Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain Right now, well, you can see those on my side bar. YES! I gave them  my list . And also what I always mention when books come up is how I am constantly stealing ideas for what to read from my patrons. For example, tonight ...

 The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana (25732) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (18298) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (15090) The Best American Humorous Short Stories (13854) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (12106) Ulysses by James Joyce (11361) How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict (11248) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (11063) The Art of War by Sunzi (10303) Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (9228) War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy (8694) The Bible, Old and New Testaments, King James Version (8626) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare (8367) The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by Leonardo da Vinci (8313) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (8249) The 2010 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (8130) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (8105) Grimm’s Fairy T...

I went to a funeral home last night. A church acquaintance from my former life--what seems like five hundred years ago--committed suicide Friday morning. She was 28 years old. And then College K's Grandfather passed away Saturday night. College K said that she thinks that death comes in three, with these two current deaths and my Dad's--two months ago this week. I don't know if College K is right or not, but either way I wanted something to cheer us up, so I decided to make a list, and then it turned into a playlist. I like making lists--no I love making lists. And I love that movie High Fidelity with John Cusak. And I love that he makes "Top __ Lists. So, here as I sit at the end of my Masters, I would like to look back on the music I enjoyed this past year. If it is true that death comes in threes, well, then music should come in fourteens. So, College K, I dedicate these to you, links to fourteen of my favorite songs of '07. ENJOY! (Sorry I couldn't po...