Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop 4/29

 

If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

 

Oof, that's a hard one! It actually kind of hurts to even consider! I do love to re-read books, so let's see what springs to mind.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen  

I re-read this book at least once a year. Makes me happy.

2. Thief of Time  by Terry Pratchett

Discworld books make for excellent rereading, I could take almost all of them, but this is my very favorite.

3-6. The Spellman Books by Lisa Lutz (4)   

Dysfunctional families are funny! The Spellmans, in The Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans, Revenge of the Spellmans and The Spellmans Strike Again, are possibly the most messed up family I've fallen in love with. 

7-10. The Ruby Oliver Books by E. Lockhart (4)

Clearly, if I'm going to be stuck in a bomb shelter, I'm going to need something funny to take my mind off the sucky situation. The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys and Real Life Boyfriends definitely fit that qualifier.

 

My preferred plan is to have my whole family and a stockpile of food hunkered down in the library instead. 

 

  "Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

 

 Hmm, that is hard to say. I choose a lot of my books based on shelf wandering, so I try not to get to caught up in previews, especially since I don't yet have selection responsibility at work so I can't do anything about the books I want. Also, I've already covered some in WoW posts.

 

Circle of Fire, the third in the Prophecy of the SIster by Michelle Zink, will come out in September and I am extremely excited about that one.

Review: Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill (January 11, 2011)
Rating: 4/10

Summary: A Story of Love, Murder, and Madness Aboard an Enormous Spaceship Bound for the Future
 
Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to wake up on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed. 

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir. 

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Return of Follow Friday and the Book Blogger Hop: 4/15

This week's question: Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her.
      
    Well, this is one of the many awesome benefits of being a youth services librarian in a bustling department - I have several coworkers who are just as obsessed as I am! We do weekly book reviews for each other during unit meetings, it is a great way to expand my collection knowledge beyond the books I manage to read myself!

 This week: "Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

Creel is a young girl making her fortune with her sewing and embroidery skills. She has made her way in the world after her mother's death and her idiot aunt's attempts to have her saved from a dragon lead her on adventures she never dreamed of. She is smart, independent, honest and kind. She makes friends and enemies on her adventures, but never stops speaking her mind and working hard. I really love her! 

I just got my hands on the third of Jessica Day George's excellent J Fiction dragon series, Dragon Spear. I picked up the first (Dragon Slipper) based on author recognition, since I read and enjoyed her two YA fairy tale retellings, Princess of the Midnight Ball and Princess of Glass, and the series hasn't disappointed. So fun and clever and spunky. A blurb on the back compares it to the works of Patricia C. Wrede, and while the comparison hadn't occurred to me, it is perfect. I enjoy them both!

Blog Hiatus

Well, things have been rather sparse around these parts lately. I have to admit, I've been having a bit of an ol' identity crisis, blog-style. I was a little tired of doing the same things each week, and only getting comments on meme posts. Also, I have a very busy life, with a job I love, two adorable (but tiny and needy) children, a husband I'd really like to spend time with, and hobbies outside of reading and blogging. So for about the last month, I've just shoved this internet space into the back of my mind and not thought about it. I slowed down on trying to keep up with blogs I follow, and thought about what I wanted to accomplish with this site.

I still read some great YA books during that time, because by preference and profession that's what I do. And, lo and behold, I found myself wanting to post reviews and talk about them with people. That was the test, to make sure that I really did want to keep this space active and wasn't just doing it out of habit.

So how will I move forward? Well, I'll probably use this week to try and sort out a new system. More reviews, more random posts, fewer memes. But definitely still the Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop - I really truly enjoy those and would miss them! I want to make this a more personal space - still about books, but without feeling like I couldn't post about my life and outside activities if the mood struck.

 

Cute, but distracting!

So, that's the State of the Scattered Bookshelf. Hope to be seeing you soon!