It's the most magical time of the year.....

.....And also the craziest! In all the hustle and bustle of the holidays I think we can lose sight of the simple but best things about Christmas. For me, its family, good food and getting away from it all ( internet, TV, mobile reception) at our bach. I'm so looking foward to a break! Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a safe and relaxing time.
Enjoy the below picture- it appeals to my cycnical/sarcastic sense of humour :)

Julia

Focus

I've been feeling very inspired and motivated this week after reading blogs written by (fabulous) librarians like Rita Meade and Ingrid Henny.

Reading about how positive and passionate people can be about their job, makes me think about what my focus is. Am I constantly thinking about the negative- budget cuts, the future of libraries, career paths, upcoming study? Or, am I focusing on the really awesome, satisfying parts of my job?
I don't want to become one of those people whose glass is half empty, so my resolution is to make sure I turn my negatives into positives. I'm finding that I'm being inspired by librarians via Twitter and blogs. Its been a great way to realise that other librarians get frustrated the same way I do and feel the same satisfaction seeing a happy patron walk away.
A colleague recently sent this link through ( A future librarian's promise by Carlie Graham) and it really spoke to me as it did to her. It is well worth checking out. My favourite is:

Be creative.I will never stop looking for ways to innovate to bring truly cool and useful things to library members. I promise to work to bring art, culture, beauty into libraries, and will seek out simplicity.

 

 

If you have any stories about great library moments I'd love to hear them! Just leave a comment here on the blog or if you're on Twitter, tweet me @JuliadeRuiter

 

Julia :)

P.S. This made me giggle!

Librarian Fact #218

Library assistants are capable of finding lost books using no more than a ladle, a skein of wool, and seven safety pins.

From: http://librarianfacts.tumblr.com/page/7

 

Book Review: Artichokes Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Here comes book review number nine of my 30 Day Book Challenge which has gone a little over 30 days! I forgot how crazy this time of year can become! Just a brief review this time, taken from Amazon - don't really have the time right now to write a proper one! :(

 

Cursed with the nickname “the Artichoke” after wearing an ill-chosen green jacket to school way back in sixth grade, Rosemary continues to cope with the cool kids’ disdain by making food her friend. It’s a treacherous ally, though, and when she tops 200 pounds, she decides to make radical changes and begins to lose some serious weight. Then, Rosemary discovers that an A-list girl wants to befriend her, the boy she adores returns her feelings, and (most incredible of all) her mother has cancer. Rosemary’s wry first-person narration deftly portrays characters in her single-parent family, her high school, her mother’s beauty salon, and her Tennessee town.

 

Jolted by fears of losing her mother, Rosemary begins to look beyond her previous preoccupations to see other people’s vulnerabilities as well as their more evident flaws. In her first novel, Supplee brings a cast of original characters to life in this convincing and consistently entertaining narrative.

 

While I enjoyed this book;  I'm not as enamoured with it as I was with one of Supplee's later titles- Somebody Everybody Listens To.

 

I'm looking forward to finishing this challenge- though it has been fun!

 

Next ( and last) review coming shortly

 

Julia :)

Convert

I am proud to announce that I am now an ereader convert! I bought an iPad last week -*happy dance* and made myself download an ebook onto my Bluefire reader app.
I just finished Revived by Cat Patrick last night and I loved the book and the whole ereading experience.

It wasn't all a smooth transition though. At first I didn't like it as the font was too big and the screen was too bright but after a few adjustments I was set :) The only thing I don't like about reading off of the iPad is that it's not very comfy in bed unless you are sitting up. I always read before bed so that was a bit of a bummer. Maybe if I'm good until Christmas, Santa will bring me a smaller Sony ereader like my library has? :)
Our library has a great selection of ebooks and I've been having fun searching our catalogue. This is quite a momentous occasion for someone who swore they would always love actual paper books and never read ebooks and definitely would NOT write a blog post about them!
I still feel a little like I'm betraying the old school books sitting on my shelf but it's just so much fun on the iPad!

I'd love to hear of your ebook experiences, just send me a tweet @JuliadeRuiter or leave a comment here on the blog :)

Julia

Nerd Quirks

As a self confessed nerd, I like this picture a lot :)

Book Review: Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

Woohoo! The 30 Day Book Challenge is nearly finished! This is review number eight :) Just a short review today, as work has been flat out and my brain is kind of overflowing with appointments I have to organise and places I have to be and people I have to text/message/email. It's just been that kind of day.

As far as conclusions to series go, I really enjoyed the final book in Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush sequence. I got just a tad bit involved with Patch and Nora's story but funnily enough I completely forgot that there was another book coming out. So, when I saw it on the acquisitions shelf I admit- I did a happy dance. I couldn't wait to get into it and the story didn't disappoint. Filled with thrills, chills and romance I was engrossed from start to finish.
I like Fitzpatrick's style of writing and the story literally flew by.

There was the requisite plot twist which I actually didn't see coming ( I pride myself on being able to predict storylines), epic battles ( well, for me anyway) and some awesome quotes from Vee.

A satisfying conclusion to a great YA series.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Julia

Book Review: Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances Dowell O'Rourke

Here comes another book review for my 30 Day Book Challenge- only three more to go now!

This was a very light, easy read, which I got through in one sitting.
It follows a teenage girl, who, when she was younger convinced her parents it would be awesome to live on a farm. Now, she wishes she hadn't because she is ridiculed at school for being a country hick. 

This book was much like others of its kind and when compared to something like Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee, it really doesn't stand a chance.

The style of writing didn't make me connect with the story, which is what I really look for in a good novel. I didn't relate to the main character or her family and somehow felt that the whole book felt a bit half- hearted.

Not a terrible book, but certainly not my favourite either. Next up on the review list is Artichokes Heart by Suzanne Supplee- currently one of my favourite authors.

I'd love to hear any feedback about the blog or the books I'm reading- just leave me a comment here on the blog or tweet me @JuliadeRuiter

Julia