YALitLovers











{June 10, 2008}   As You Wish…

The discussion of Princess Bride was very good. I think everyone agreed the male relationships; friendship, and father/son were very well written. Male-female relationships not so much. And, Buttercup is basically a tool. A plot tool, that is. The movie went with the book very well, although we could have used more fight scenes.

In light of our great discussion, we planned the next books until November. And, they are:

July - My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

August - TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY (audio version) by Jay Asher (request now on interlibrary loan)

September - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

October - Teen Read Month in Oklahoma! Read any vampire book you want. Books with Bite, Bay-beeee! [Teen Read Week 2008 | Books with Bite @ your library].

November - Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt Book Review by the New York Times



{May 14, 2008}   Stardust

We read Stardust by Neil Gaiman for May’s book/movie. We liked the movie and the changes that were made from the book only enhanced the story. I finally finished the book, and I do like the movie ending much better (yeah, non-cheesy happy endings get me every time). And, having the dead brothers comedy routine was a very good addition.

June’s book is The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Everyone has seen the movie many, many times, but there are a few who hadn’t read the book yet. As good as the movie is, the book is sooo much better. <ReadingGroupGuides.com - The Princess Bride by William Goldman>

See you in June!



{April 8, 2008}   More Than Words

Want to increase your vocab and feed the world?

Try:

FreeRice

Good for you and everybody else. A definite win-win.



{April 6, 2008}   Reading List up to June 2008

We met in the usual place at the usual time with old and new faces! Very happy to see everyone.

The March book was Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.

The April book was Life As We Knew It: Susan Beth Pfeffer and it’s companion, The dead and the gone: Susan Beth Pfeffer . You can find discussion questions at the Rhode Island Teen Book Award, and made it on to 2009 Young Adult Sequoyah Masterlist. (See what Susan Beth Pfeffer thinks about that.) Kids grades 6 - 8 will be reading and will vote for the winner next spring.

Upcoming books for discussion are:

  • May: Stardust by Neil Gaiman (this is the book and the movie)
  • June: Princess Bride by William Goldman - quite possibly the most quotable movie ever (this is open for discussion). Harcourt discussion questions.

Other books, movies and web sites that came up:

Finally, Friday, April 4, 2008, found me at work answering the phone at work: “Galactica actual, Major B here”, when I had the nerve. Which was twice. I did count down the hours until the show came on. I also purchased a DVR from Cox just for BSG S4, to have and hold until the DVD’s comes out. I’m still mulling over the show. I’m way behind on Galactica Watercooler podcasts, but I’m catching up. I’ll get the newest one downloaded plus I’m waiting for Ron Moore’s Season 4 Podcast.

See y’all next month!



{January 6, 2008}   February Book

We read Sharon Draper’s Coretta Scott King Award Winner Copper Sun for the January book.  A good, but tough, read. [reading group guide]

For February we chose Boy Toy by Barry Lyga.  The group agreed on this book from two other very excellent choices: P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast’s book Marked and Perry Moore’s Hero. [reading group guide]



{August 17, 2007}   Podcasts - TV

Since I did bring this up in an earlier post, I will break down the list of podcasts, provide links and a short description of each. The list will be broken down by subject (I am a librarian), the descriptions are my own. Share your list!

Battlestar Galactica: Ron Moore. This is the best show on television. Moore walks you through each episode while the show is playing on his tv; talking about decisions made in the writing room, on the set, how shots were done, all the while puffing on a cigar and drinking scotch. It’s good to listen to if you’re moving about, but I sometimes prefer re-watching the show along with him. Most excellent.

Galactica Watercooler: Chuck Cage, Audra Heaslip and Sean O’Hara. The best place to go for BSG show and theory discussion, and humor. These three are very funny and smart. With BSG in hiatus until the movie this fall, and the fourth season (last one!) resuming in January, it’s so wonderful that they continue to do shows to fill in the time. I find myself responding to their comments and questions, almost forgetting they aren’t in the room/car with me. If you’re a BSG fan, read the comments on their site and listen to the podcasts. Oh, and they love their listeners.

ESPN:PTI: Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon. I could never catch this show on t.v. I’m not a sports junkie by any means, I just like the discussion between the two professionals. It’s arguing without the put-downs. And, I’ve spoiled myself to just the two of them. If one or both are gone I move on until they both show up again.

Grey’s Anatomy: Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. It’s just the show, only the show and thank goodness. Who needs controversy on a podcast? Rhimes and Beers are great together. They discuss the show, the writing, shooting, acting and editing of it.

The Planet: Elka and KC. [explicit] This is a podcast for the L Word. I got hooked on L Word two/three years ago. For some reason I started receiving Showtime free. There were no promotional ads shown, and I could watch anything at anytime. And, it just so happened that a new season of L Word was just starting. Elka and K.C. crack each other and me up when discussing the show. ITunes has this show as explicit and it is, so it’s not for the faint of heart.

Talking to Manatees: Scribe Girl and Anna. I was reading Scribe Girl’s weekly re-caps on L Word before I knew about the podcast. They talk about the show, give their thoughts on the plot, characters and all the twists and turns. This is a very nicely done podcast.

The10th Wonder: Graham Hancock and Tucker Colburn. Heroes fans unite! This is a very professionally done podcast. The show is divided into parts; they do a scene-by-scene discussion, overall plot, they include the online comic book, and theories. I like that they are so enthusiastic about the show.

KCRW Watching Television : Frazier Moore. Because of the L Word, I now know about KCRW. Moore is very good at deciphering today’s television viewing. Listen to his podcast about the return of the final season of The Soprano’s. It’s refreshing to listen to a non-jaded reviewer who doesn’t hate everything. I’m sure it will happen, but I haven’t disagreed with him yet.

SCIFI Dig : Aaron Macom. I love a good rant, and Aaron’s are the best. Especially when it concerns Fox Television and any producer/writer/director from Buffy or dial-up (from his early shows). Macom is very funny on his own and with guests. He loves scifi tv, movies and books and it comes across very well.



{August 17, 2007}   Y’ALL Bookclub
  • The August discussion book was Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. Here is the reading guide that we used for the book.
  • September’s book is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Lexicon has a guide that takes each chapter and does an analysis
  • October’s is God of Animals by Aryn Kyle. Simon & Schuster have a reading guide for the book.
  • November and December books are forthcoming.


{August 17, 2007}   Summer Reading OVER

Summer reading is now over!! I’ve neglected the blog long enough (and started to feel very guilty). There was so much to do.

What’s happened since the last post?

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out
  • Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer came out
  • Comic-Con happened
  • Got hooked on the Alex Rider series
  • And, on the Percy Jackson series

Looking back over the past posts, the topic of books got lost. So, I’m refocusing now on books and areas directly related to books. Doing this will, I hope, keep me posting much more often.

Good to be back!



{May 1, 2007}   July Reading & Music

Okay, so here we go….

May: Uglies - Meeting this Saturday, usual place and time.

June: Prom Dates from Hell

July: Twelve Kingdoms vol. 1: Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono

August: tba

September: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

October - December: tba

I’ve been listening to music out of SXSW 2007. KEXP, KCRW and NPR had excellent coverage with lots of live music and interviews. All available in podcasts or mp3 downloads. My favs so far:



{April 19, 2007}   Uglies and the Prom

For May 5, 2007 (Free Comic Book Day), we are reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. June’s book is Prom Dates From Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore. The final Harry Potter book will be for September to give membes time to re-read previous books along with the new one.

I’ve read the Midnighter’s series by Westerfeld, and have been meaning to read the Uglies series as well. With my new position in children’s and young adult books, I’m overwhelmed to how much ya and children’s books are published. I want to read them all. Right. Now.

I’m just wrapping up the third book in the Tiffany Aching series, Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. Excellent series. There’s a stack of books left to read. I’m going to read through the 2008 Sequoyah Masterlist. There are some wonderful books on those lists.



et cetera