Category: Libraries

Links Galore

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Starting the week right with lots of great links:

A Caustic Keynote

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The kids’ keynote speaker at this year’s Boston Book Festival: Lemony Snicket! From the BBF website:

“2012’s BBF kids’ keynote will be delivered by the elusive and mysterious Lemony Snicket, author of the wildly popular Series of Unfortunate Events. This October, he’ll be publishing Who Could That Be At This Hour? the first volume of his autobiography, an account that shouldn’t be published, in four volumes that should never be read. .”

Notice that the use of Lemony Snicket, not Daniel Handler. So excited for this one! Hoping to see more events for the festival posted soon.

Moving on From Panem

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My mom read The Hunger Games recently and afterward she told me, “I don’t even know what to do. What else can I read that’s like that?” I suggested The Handmaid’s Tale, which might have been a little too intense for her. (Sorry, Mom.) I should have directed her to the Lawrence Public Library’s flowchart for what to read after The Hunger Games. A sample:

Make sure to click through for the rest of their fantastic suggestions. I might take some of these recommendations to share with my YA Dystopian Society Book Club.

School for Rare Books (and the People Who Love Them)

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Sometimes Alderman Library inspires silliness instead of scholarship.

This article combines three of my favorite things: books, libraries, and Charlottesville, VA. The Rare Book School, a summer program at the University of Virginia (wahoowa!), is an intensive course about the study, care, and history of the written word. How cool is that? Also cool:

And rare books aren’t just a matter of leather and fine paper. Mr. Suarez has added a number of classes about digitization and likes to begin his own course, Teaching the History of the Book, by passing around a box of Harlequins. Romance novels, he notes, are the biggest part of the publishing industry, and the part that has been most radically transformed by e-books.

“I tell my students to follow the money,” he said. “If you don’t understand the money, you don’t understand the book.”

Would love to hear the Rare Book School’s take on children’s literature. Make sure to check out the rest of the article. If you’re like me, you might be getting started on the application for next summer’s Rare Book School session.

Reading in the Near Future

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I’m a little jealous that I didn’t get to take part in this ALA debate on YA titles we’ll still be reading in 45 years because OH MY LORD there are some awesome books on this list. Having to choose between The Book Thief, The Golden Compass, and The Hunger Games? Now that would lead to some awesome debates.

My choices in each round would have been:

  • Round 1: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • Round 2: Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  • Round 3: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
  • Round 4: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Round 5: The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • Round 6: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

I’d probably narrow that down to The Golden Compass, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Giver. Since To Kill a Mockingbird has already proven itself to be a classic for generations, my inclination is to vote with Harper Lee. But damn, The Giver is one of my favorites as well, and The Golden Compass is a stunning novel and a start to a powerful series.

The ALA groups didn’t vote the same way I did, so make sure to check out the recap on The Hub. Feel free to share your own votes in the comments!