Sunday Confessional! (#2)

I've decided to start my own meme, based off of the recent post by ALA in which librarians posted their secrets and confessions.

On Sundays, (or Mondays if I forget) I will post a confession related to my job or books. If you would like to join in, go ahead! Share with me your book-related confession!

Today's confession:

When a student brings in a book damanged, I am supposed to charge them for the cost of the book, + the 3.00 it takes to prepare the books. (Barcode labels, spine labels, stamping cards, laminate, and if needed the book glue and tape.) 

I do not seem to have the balls to fully charge these students, so unless the book is brand-new, I do not charge them the 3.00. (To be honest, for missing or damaged books, I might see only 2-3 of them actually paid or replaced.)


I am also pretty lenient on late-fines. We charge 5 cents a day that it is late, not including weekends. 


My library needs the funds, but sometimes I feel it's better to keep books in their hands, then to charge them.

So tell me, what are YOUR book related confessions?
 Jenni

Stacking the Shelves (#6)

Another School Edition!

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and gives us a chance to share with you what books we have recently bought, won, been given, or stole. ;-)

This week, I am featuring MORE books I bought to add to my school library. We hosted a school book fair at Barnes and Noble on a night that Johnathon Rand would be there. (Author of Michigan Chillers/American Chillers.) Unfortunately, we only raised $800 in sales, and a good $100 of that came from me/the library alone. (The teacher running the fundraiser then only gets to keep $80 bucks. It was WAY more hassle than it was worth, and they failed on many aspects.)

So, here are the books I bought!

I also bought the following book because I picked up the sequel at ALA, which looks to be pretty interesting, and a few students mentioned being interested in.

 

**Please note, ALL book covers on this blog link to their page on Goodreads.

Again, I actually have quite a few book from my netgalley that I NEED to read/review. Does anyone know if there are any netgalley knockouts going on this month or next month? I'd love to participate!

Jenni

Review: Picture Me

Lori Weber-James Lorimer and Company

The details: Will be released in 2014,  168 pages, 1 sitting to read. I received the ARC of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: (From Goodreads) When a well-meaning English teacher has overweight student Krista read aloud a poem about body image titled "Barbie Doll" in class, she ignites a simmering bullying event based on Krista's appearance. Krista's best friend, and witness to the event, Tessa, is suspended for fighting to defend her friend. The girl who bullies Krista seems unaffected by the incident at school and more concerned with what an older guy thinks of her. But as the three characters' paths intersect, their inner lives are revealed. Each emerges as a much more complicated individual than their simple bully, target, and witness labels.

Review: I wanted to like this book. I was really hoping to find a positive story line, to show that bullies are not always mean without reason. I really wanted a book to put on my library shelves that would spark my students interests, to start them on an internal investigation, learning to over-come bullying, understand what makes a bully....
This book falls short. The premise is there, the framework is there, but it doesn't go beyond that. Let me start by saying that I was a victim to extreme bullying, even from teachers. I was an over-weight cheerleader, and that seemed to offend people. I am very overweight now, but when I look back at my middle school years, I was only 20-30 lbs overweight. I was a size 15. I was large, but I felt even larger and ended up with body dysmorphic disorder as well as bulimia. Bullying is a real threat.

When I read the synopsis of this book on Netgalley, I HAD to read it. I was interested in Krista, the overweight girl who is the victim of bullying, due to her weight. However of all the characters, we learn the least about her, and her character development is completely missing.

This book is told through her, her bully, and her friend. This is confusing in the beginning of the book, as I thought the book was being told in third person, of Krista. But it wasn't. It took me a bit of time to realize that it was another character's point of view.

In the beginning, Krista is described as a girl who ignores her weight. She doesn't seem to care about her weight, and ignores the bullies. However, once a picture is taped to her locker, she becomes obsessed with losing weight and taking diet pills, no matter the cost to her health. She ignores her best friend, and becomes practically a hermit, never leaving her bed. By the end of the book, it's hard to be sympathetic to her, even though I have first hand experience of being that girl. I feel like the author did a piss-poor job at fully showing the TRUE danger of this behavior, because of how bitchy she made this character. (No, not every book should have a 'lesson' but this is a dangerous spot to be in.)

We learn more about the bully, and find that she does not have the happy-home-life like she appears to have. Throughout the story we see her fall in with the wrong crowd, and we are alluded to a situation that is unpleasant, and one can assume what happens, HOWEVER. This is where the book ends. There is no closure at all for the bully and the victim. This story just ends. I have a major problem with this. This book's synopsis makes the reader believe we will be reading a story about bullying. Instead, we learn more about the friend, and she is the only character to have any sort of resolution by the end. It left a bad taste in my mouth. 'Oh look, the bully isn't happy, the bullied isn't happy, LETS TALK ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE!' It's obvious while reading that the focus isn't on the bullying or bully at all. It's about the friend and her home life.

This book is misleading and stops in middle of what I felt to be the climax of the story. There are other things I would like to say about this book, but I can't seem to articulate well WHY this book is nothing but disappointing. This is NOT a book I will be purchasing for my school library. I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

Rating: 2 stars. Stay away, unless you really really really enjoy punishment.

Re-Alive (Dirt Side Up)

Scott Grimon-Indie Author

The details: First in a trilogy, indie author, 251 pages, 3-4 days to read.

Summary: (From Amazon) Lucca Thompson was just an average kid who had an unfortunate run in with a Buick. Average, that is, until he was brought back to life. Now he’s in a battle against magic, warriors and his own hormones to complete three tasks for a nameless Wizard. Will he win his freedom or go back to pushing daisies?


Review: When most people hear 'Indie Author' they tend to think of people who aren't good enough to catch a publisher, and unfortunately many of these books go unpurchased. When my Wife told me one of her friends wrote a book and that I should read and review it, I was ready for the challenge. See, I almost ALWAYS read indie books. I'm pretty cheap, so being able to read 5 books for the price of one, is pretty awesome. I'm also of the opinion that most indie books are a tad 'different' and edgier then what I find in most main-stream books. (However, there have been several duds, too.)

So as I said, I was ready to accept the challenge. Mind you, this was before I even knew what the book was about. When I did get around to reading the summary, I figured the book would be something I'd enjoy. I was correct in that assumption, but there were also times where I was pleasantly surprised.

For example, the main character was not very accomplished in fighting when the book began. So I believed part of the book would be dedicated to his training, but that was not the case. This book picked up right away into the drama and plot. Along with the story line, Scott Grimon uses witty one-liners and comebacks, that do not seem forced or cheesy. His dialogue feels real and flows naturally. 

Within the plot of the book, I do not want to give much away. This book is the first in a trilogy and while it does a great job as to setting up the full story, it still seemed to be a finished stand-alone. I have read somewhere where someone mention that this book was similar to Harry Potter, and while I see some similarities, I can not say it's truly similar.

This story is about a teenage boy who your 'average Joe' type but ultimately ends up dead. Thankfully, our hero is brought back to life. In order to complete the process, he must complete three tasks. This book follows the first task. This book does not lag in parts, and I never felt like I wanted to rush through any parts. As a gamer, I am easily excited when I find a reference to, or feel like the author draws influences from games I enjoy. As a reader, I am even more excited when those references are done so seamlessly. In Re-Alive are nods to popular culture, including BioShock and Indiana Jones.

I will be watching Scott for the next two books, and any other works he has written. Out of the literally hundreds of self-published books I have read, this is one of the best, and I am surprised that Scott has not been tapped by a publisher yet.

If you enjoy Harry Potter, witty one liners, and fantasy, you really should look for his book on Amazon. Good job, Scott.

Rating: 5 stars (For the record, I feel $1 is underpricing this book. I would actually pay full cover price for this one.)

WW update!

I was going to pos a WW readathon update on Thursday, but it became crazy hectic at the school! I had to help set up for a motivational speaker at the school. I arrived an hour earlier than usual, and spent the entire morning doing tasks related to that. After that, I had a cry-fest in the library with the school counselor because a student came forward with a sad story that reminded me of my own high-school self. Then, once my emotions were drained, I had to meet with a local farmer who was donating 100 pumpkins to the library/art class. After unloading his truck, I then had to hand-wash, hand-dry, and relocate each and every pumpkin. It took me over 2 hours! I personally am over pumpkin season. ;-)  Then to top it off, the one book I wanted to read during the WW read a thon.... I LEFT AT WORK! ARG!

Then I had a friend come up to visit my husband and I, and to run a 5k. According to the results I finished in 28 minutes, and was the 13th overall women finisher. I can tell you that that is not true, and that I was one of the LAST finishers.  So basically, I haven't read at all since Wednesday.  Go me....

The basic details: The WW Read-a-Thon runs October 11th-20th, and is hosted by My Shelf Confessions. There will be twitter parties and challenges! (#WWreadathon)

You can find details about and join the Wonderfully Wicked RaT (tee-hee) here.

So far I have finished:

I started at page 84 in The Long Walk and page 30 in An English Bride in Scotland.

I plan on also starting this tonight: 

So, there you have it.I read/finished 3 books, and will be starting a 4th tonight. This was a pretty great Read a Thon, even though I was busy. Do you know of any other read a thons about to start? Let me know!

Jenni

Teaser Tuesday (#7!)

Truthfully? I'm starting to hate Tuesdays. I forgot my phone at home, I have to stay late at the school due to state testing, and I feel like crap for giving excuses YESTERDAY for not excercising. Damn. Anywho, on with the show!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ellen Hopkins. She is a genius, I tell you. I first read Crank because it was popular in my school. I have since read quite a few of her works, so I was THRILLED when Smoke was released. Smoke is the sequel to Burned. If you enjoy contemporary YA, and like reading about 'dark/hard/real/tough' subjects, such as drug abuse, rape, physical abuse etc. and have not yet read Ellen Hopkins, you really should.

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading, in which we post a little *non-spoiler* teaser of the book we are currently reading.

 
What Do I Do

                To become invisible again,

                to melt into the background

                like a crayon in the sun?

                How do I outmaneuver the

whispers

                that wait around every

                corner, and more, how do

                I silence the voices that

speak

                inside my head, an accusatory

                rumble belonging to

                the dead? If only they’d talk

louder

                perhaps I could understand

                the intention of the drone.

                Is it meant to flip me crazier

than

                I already am,  a healthy

                dose of lunacy wrapped

                up in isolation? My heart

screams

                for forgiveness, cries

                out for love.

See what she did there? I first 'read' Crank by audio book. It's OK to do that, but you will miss the subtleties of the actual art that is her writing. Ellen Hopkins, I bow to you.

--Jenni

Wonderfully Wicked Read a Thon!

I just discovered that My Shelf Confessions is hosting a Read a Thon this week! YAY!

The basic details: The WW Read-a-Thon runs October 11th-20th, and is hosted by My Shelf Confessions. There will be twitter parties and challenges! (#WWreadathon)

You can find details about and join the Wonderfully Wicked RaT (tee-hee) here.

I will be posting a mid-challenge update on Thursday, and then on Sunday I will post my final update. Capiche?


For this challenge, I am hoping to finish:

I started at page 84 in The Long Walk and page 30 in An English Bride in Scotland.

I want to read the following during this week as well:

So far, I have read MOST of The Long Walk, so it appears I'm making decent progress! Who else is participating? LET ME KNOW BELOW! :)

Jenni