New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year! Did you rest and relax and eat all sorts of goodies this holiday? I hope so (I sure know I did!). Since it’s the beginning of January everyone is thinking about resolutions and I have plenty of my own. One of mine is book-related and I think it deserves sharing.

Resolution: To Put My Money Where My Mouth Is

How often in the past year have industry folk and the general public alike heard how independent (and big box) bookstores are struggling? How ‘evil’ Amazon is? How Amazon doesn’t care about local booksellers? Lots and lots. And, on the flip side, how often is it discussed that local bookstores know books and their customers better than anyone else? And who hosts author events? Local bookstores—we hear about this all the time! Although these discussions are complicated they make one thing clear in my mind: If we want the wonderful institution of local, independent bookstores to remain, we need to support them over online retailers.

I have not been doing this. Buying books on Amazon is (often) cheaper and easier than from a physical store. 99% of my books come from the online retailer—I even have an Amazon.com credit card which gives me reward points that I turn around and use at Amazon. I’ve embraced Amazon as much as anyone else—even knowing its pitfalls better than the general public. And I’m beginning to feel horrible about it.

And so, my New Years Resolution is to buy more books—at least 50%—at a local store. This means the books I buy are going to cost more, and being on a budget such as I am, I’ll probably have to buy fewer books. But with my reading levels staying the same I’ll have to visit the library to get that additional reading material—and that’s another fine institution to be more actively supporting!

Do you have any book-related resolutions for 2012?

Dream Library

I moved this weekend! It’s very exciting; this is my first apartment that I can really make my ‘own.’ That’s why I’m looking to these creative bookcases and home libraries for inspiration as I begin to set up and decorate. Of course, my real ‘library’ is most likely going to be a few of these  set in a corner of my living room, but a girl can dream, right?

100 Years

Last weekend I had visitors in town and we had a lovely time. One of the highlights of the trip was a stop we made on the way to Grand Central: the main branch of the New York Public Library! Settled on the eastern edge of my favorite midtown park, the library is a huge and gorgeous building guarded by the dedicated lions, Patience and Fortitude. And there are always things to see in the library—including the toy set that inspired A.A. Milne to write Winnie the Pooh! Those stuffed animals have been well loved. This visit was extra special because the library is celebrating its 100^th Birthday! They’ve gathered special items from all of their collections into one fantastic exhibit. There is something for everyone! My favorites: original illustrations from The Wizard of Oz, a handwritten manuscript by George Elliot, ancient maps, and historical documents. The collection they have is worthy of any museum! So, whether you’re a New Yorker or a tourist go ‘check out’ the library!

Popular Library Books

Happy New Year! 

It’s always fun with the New Year to think about all the exciting books that are coming out and to guess which ones will be bestsellers.  Yet, despite how big some books are going to be, not everyone is reading the top books.  Some people aren’t on top of the trends, others read older books because they’ve heard from word of mouth that xyz is worth reading…even if it’s a few years after the publication date.  So sometimes it’s interesting to see what the “masses” are reading, or, in this case, what the most popular books checked out of the library were for 2010.

I normally like writing about New York City, but my boyfriend is from Washington State and passed along a few articles from the Seattle Times, so I thought it was worth including them as the information is interesting and through me, we’ll show some Pacific Northwest pride (P.S. NYC is still better).

Seattle Times lists these books as the most-often borrowed from Seattle Public Library in 2010:

1.    The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009)

2.    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2009)

3.     The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson (2010)

4.     The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2009)

5.     The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson (2010)

6.     Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2010)

7.     The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (2009)

8.     Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)

9.     Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan (2009)

10. I Stink! by Kate McMullan, illustrated by Jim McMullan (2006)

In a follow-up article, Seattle Times lists the most-often borrowed books for the entire county, which is actually of more interest to me because there are more kid’s books on the list.  Their explanation?  Families live outside of Seattle’s city limits.

1.    The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009)

2.    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2009)

3.     The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson (2010)

4.     Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (2010)

5.     The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson (2010)

6.    Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2009)

7.    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)

8.     The Red Pyramid by Rich Riordan (2010)

9.     U if for Undertow by Sue Grafton (2010)

10. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan (2006)

My library usage (both from NYPL and my small library at home in CT) lines up with what Seattle Times reports, making me guess that their data might be decently representative of the country.  The titles in bold are the ones I borrowed from the library this year, and probably make up a third to a quarter of the books I checked out (like I’ve said before, I really like owning books even if it’s a bad financial idea).  My thoughts on some of those books (among others) can be found here or here.

I wonder what books will be the most often checked out this year…and how many have staying power to be on the list several years in a row!

eBooks and an Awesome Building

Because I spend so much time around books, I’m constantly discovering new and fun facts about books.  But try as I might, I can’t always find a way to turn those tidbits into a full blog post.  Therefore, I am introducing FUN FACT FRIDAYS, during which I will share any interesting book related discovery from the past week.   Here my are my two for this week:

* Perhaps I’m behind the times, but did you know that you can borrow eBooks from the library? I was in a bit of a snag last weekend- I needed to read some books to prep for my interview on Tuesday but the library was closed by the time I could reach it on Saturday, closed on Sunday, and I didn’t have a means to get to the library on Monday.  I really didn’t want to go buy the books (not to mention it’s a 25 minute drive to my nearest bookstore in CT-I know, it’s a travesty).  Anyways, so I had this problem and was fiddling around with the NYPL website and I discovered eBooks!  The two books that I wanted to read, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and Hoot by Carl Hiaasen were there and I downloaded them onto my computer within seconds.  Of course, not all books are available in eBook form and you have to read them on your computer screen (eye strain-yuck!), but when you’re in a bind like I am (or just lazy), being able to borrow eBooks from the library is pretty darn AMAZING!

* The Random House building in NYC is designed with a short tower, three tall towers, and then another short tower- 3 books between two bookends!  How cool is that?  The picture book Skyscraper by Susan E. Goodman and photographed by Michael Doolittle has a good picture of the creative design if you can’t get to NYC and see it yourself.

Hope you find these fun facts interesting…there will be more next week!

Top 100 Children's Novels

I just (belatedly) found out that this past week was ALA’s Teen Read Week.  So, in honor of the week encouraging teens to read and visit their libraries, I borrowed this wonderful list of classic MG and YA books.  Which of the Top 100 Children's Novels have you read? I put mine in bold. I have some major work to do…

100. The Egypt Game - Snyder (1967)

99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)

98. Children of Green Knowe - Boston (1954)

97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo (2006)

96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)

95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950)

94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)

93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935)

92. Ella Enchanted - Levine (1997) *

91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar (1978)

90. Sarah, Plain and Tall - MacLachlan (1985)

89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)

88. The High King - Alexander (1968)

87. The View from Saturday - Konigsburg (1996)

86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999) *

85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937) *

84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)

83. The Thief - Turner (1997)

82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964)

81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)

80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008)

79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)

78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943)

77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)

76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997)

75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)

74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)

73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)

72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948)

71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy - Lovelae (1940)

69. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart (2007) *

68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)

67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Coville (1991)

66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)

65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)

64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998)

63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)

62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959) *

61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)

60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990) *

59. Inkheart - Funke (2003)

58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962)

57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)

56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989)

55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978)

54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)

53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)

52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)

51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)

50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)

49. Frindle - Clements (1996)

48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)

47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999)

46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)

45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995) *

44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972)

43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968)

42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935) *

41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (1958) *

40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum (1900)

39. When You Reach Me - Stead (2009)

38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling (2003) *

37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor (1976)

36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)

35. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000) *

34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)

33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961)

32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)

31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)

30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)

29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)

28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)

27. Alice Though the Looking Glass and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Carroll (1865/72)

26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)

25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9) *

24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007) *

23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932) *

22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003) *

21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)

19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)

18. Matilda - Dahl (1988)

17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)

16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)

15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)

14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)*

13. Bridge to Terabithia - Paterson (1977) *

12. The Hobbit - Tolkien (1938)

11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978) *

10. The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster (1961)

9. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (1908) *

8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)

7. The Giver -Lowry (1993) *

6. Holes - Sachar (1998)

5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - Rowling (1997) *

2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)

1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)

(Thanks to this blog for the list/idea)

How many have you read? If you want suggestions for best reads, I put a star next to my favorites.  I’m at 54 books read, so obviously I have a lot of catching up to do.  And, for the record, I counted The Thief even though I just began reading it last night.  But I'm sure I'll soon read more books on this list, because, for me, every week is Children/Teen Reading Week!

Get Your Library Card, Folks!

This is going to be a short post (my internship is keeping me so busy…more on that later) but I wanted to add a little reminder to my blog.

September is Library Card Sign Up Month! Woo hoo! So exciting!

But really, everyone should have a library card.  Where else can you read all the books you’d ever want (plus watch movies, listen to CDs and audiobooks, etc.) for FREE?  And then there’s the awesome programming for kids and adults, free classes and even free museum passes or access to special programs/databases online.  Go to your library.  Check out (haha-get it?) all the possibilities.

Just earlier this week I went to the Morningside Heights branch of the New York Public Library and got my very own card for my sometimes home. Granted, because I don’t actually live in NYC yet they’d only give me a temporary three-month card…but hopefully by the end of December I’ll no longer be quite so unemployed and have a place of my own in the city.  But until then, I’ll take the temporary card.  All I had to do is fill out a simple form, sign the back of the card they gave me, and then I had free reign over the small second floor room….AND the rest of the NYPL system.  Just about anything I’d ever want to read is now at my fingertips…for FREE! (This is exciting stuff!)

So I’m urging everyone (I’m talking to you recent college grads who just moved to a new city to start a job/go to grad school) to check out his/her local library and get a library card.  Hurry up! Get one before it’s too ‘late’. The month is almost over! But hey, I’ll cut you some slack…it’s okay if you get a new card in October or November or even next March. But the sooner the better, because who knows what you’ll discover with that library card!

Buy v. Borrow, Hardcover v. Paperback

Do I buy a book or borrow it from the library and/or a friend? If I’m going to buy a book, do I want it in hardcover or paperback?  These seem like simple questions, but for a book lover, they’re essential. 

When I was little, I was a library girl because my mom didn’t like to buy many books.  Books are expensive to buy, especially if you don’t reread them.  Then they just sit on your shelves (and look very pretty).  As I got older, however, and realized that 1) I had a little spending money and 2) I DO like to reread books (for example, I reread the Harry Potter series each time before the new book came out), so I decided to start buying books.  Yet unlike today’s teens I didn’t know what the-next-big-thing-in-YA was.  Probably because the-next-big-thing-in-YA tread hadn’t even started yet.  I wasn’t inundated with social media that advertized books; I barely knew what Amazon was and most certainly didn’t order my books online!  I bought books the old-fashion way: going to the bookstore and seeing what caught my eye.  It’s true I had a few favorite series that I made sure to follow (Tamora Pierce’s several Tortall series, T.A. Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin series, Elizabeth Haydon’s Rhapsody Trilogy and Symphony of Ages, among others), yet for the most part it was just pick and choose.  And because I was a teen with just a little spending money, often my decisions were based on cost.  A hardcover verses a cheaper paperback? I’d pick the paperback.  (Oh, and another tiny confession to make.  I HATE jacket covers.  I know they’re supposed to protect the hardcover book and look pretty, but to me they just get wrinkled and bent the moment I pick the book up, so it’s a waste of material.)

Now that I’m involved in the publishing industry things have changed, yet I’m hesitant to change with them.  I’m constantly surrounded by people talking about the-next-big-thing-in-YA, and I want to read it, too! Unless I’m lucky enough to have snagged an ARC, my options are limited.  Buy the expensive hardcover (I caved in and did that for Linger)? Wait a little longer to borrow if from a library (if they carry it), knowing that chances are I’ll buy the paperback, at least, eventually?  Right now I’ve settled in a sort of middle ground; buying popular books the moment they’re in paperback, but sometimes it takes a while for that to happen.  Even though I’ve read (and LOVED) The Hunger Games series, I still don’t own the first two books because they’ve yet to be released in paperback (what a marketing/sales feat!).  And I have yet to read books that I’ve heard positive reviews about for ages: The DUFF, Before I Fall, When you Reach Me. It’s killing me I haven’t read these books yet, and I’m going to run into the same problem when The Replacement, Beautiful Darkness, Matched and others come out later this fall.  I may sound like a bratty teenager (or whiny toddler), but I just want them ALL!

So there’s my book lover dilemma.  Thoughts? What do you prefer to read, a borrowed library book or a book you’ve bought? Will you go out and buy a book after you’ve read it and loved it? Will you buy in paperback or in hardcover? How do you keep up to date with all the awesome new books out there? I hope you’ve come up with a good solution, I’d love to hear it!