Why Your Twenties Matter

Once more I find myself writing about a book that is targeted toward a specific audience, but anyone with an interest in psychology or "the twenties" will find the book enthralling.  Because it is so well written, and the author's conversations with her clients so resonant, it is a quick read.

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay has enchanted me. When I first saw the title, I opened it and devoured the inside cover.  I had to read the rest of it!  With hardly any time left in my twenties, though, I fretted will this book tell me I've done it all wrong? have I set myself up for a lifetime of failure and struggle?  Journeying through the aspects of life that Jay dissects as they apply to twentysomethings - among them: love, work, the brain, and the body - has turned out to be much like going through actual therapy with a counselor. The message is sobering, yet empowering: time in our twenties is both easy to waste and precious, but each of us can chart the course of our thirties and beyond by making informed choices right away. 

Much of The Defining Decade consists of conversations between Jay and her twentysomething clients, who I found very easy to like and relate to.  The frustration they express echoes my own sentiment: if my twenties are supposed to be the best years of my life, why have they been so hard?!  Well, Jay has demystified that question.  The twenties are supposed to be hard because they are the crucible in which our futures are forged.  Using her own years of experience counseling twentysomethings, and plenty of research, Jay lays out a road map of sorts that makes the twenties much more manageable.  She offers lots of practical advice, including: challenge yourself with your career choices, don't shy away from commitments, and consider the facts about fertility that our culture all but denies. 

Like I said, this book is an enlightening read for anybody, but obviously for those in their twenties (the earlier the better!), and especially for mentors of twentysomethings.  Part of the difficulty of being in our twenties is that not only do we generally not know the best ways to navigate them, but many of our parents and mentors don't have the knowledge to guide us effectively through the unique challenges we face in our twenties in the 2010s either.  I will admit that before picking up The Defining Decade, I didn't even realize that my twenties were an especially formative time.  Oh yes, I knew I was making tons of big, stressful choices, but doesn't that go on throughout life?  (Jay answers that question as well, for anyone also in the dark - I know I'm not the only one!) 

As for me, I wish I had discovered this book when it was written in 2012 - I would have felt so much better about how difficult things in my life seemed!  I would have realized that the solutions to my twentysomething problems were not so complex after all; that what happened in my past is not as important as the choices that I make now; and that those choices can help my future more than digging up any trauma that might lie in my past.

I'll finish with this quote from the introduction, which pretty well sums up The Defining Decade:

 . . . twentysomethings are like airplanes, planes just leaving New York City bound for somewhere west.  Right after takeoff, a slight change in course is the difference between landing in either Seattle or San Diego.  But once a plane is nearly in San Diego, only a big detour will redirect it to the northwest.  

Likewise, in the twentysomething years, even a small shift can radically change where we end up in our thirties and beyond.  The twenties are an up-in-the-air and turbulent time, but if we can figure out how to navigate, even a little bit at a time, we can get further, faster, than at any other stage in life.  It is a pivotal time when the things we do - and the things we don't do - will have an enormous effect across years and even generations to come.  

So let's get going.  The time is now.

abcreads recommends: Aya by Marguerite Abouet

Marguerite Abouet is a writer of bandes dessinées - literally, "drawn strips", in the tradition of Hergé's Tintin series and popular with French and Belgian readers. Originally from Côte d'Ivoire, Ms. Abouet (along with her husband and illustrator, Clément Oubrerie) lives in France. Aya is her most famous work:  six bandes dessinées set in Côte d'Ivoire, featuring three young girls and their families. They are translated by Helge Dascher.

Why we love Aya: Set in the 1970s, when Côte d'Ivoire was booming, the reader sees a narrative that "[belies] the news channels' unremittingly tragic narratives and unsettling images"* of African nations. Aya, Adjoua, and Bintou are friends, finishing school, going to dances, getting involved in relationships, hoping for future prosperity. Their story can be a bit of a soap opera, featuring elements such as contested pregnancies and secret second families, but the humor and vibrant characters shine through, and the art highlights the rich beauty of the culture. Be prepared to get caught up in the lives of Aya and her friends as they navigate their adolescent growing pains, all too familiar despite the difference in time and place, and steam on into adulthood.

Find them in the library catalog: 

Aya
A standalone edition of the first book in the series.

Aya: Life in Yop City
Compilation of the first 3 books in the Aya series, published in English under the titles: Aya, Aya of Yop City and Aya: The Secrets Come Out. Aya is 19, and the story is "a wry soap opera revolving around the simple pleasures of private troubles of everyday life in Yop City."**

Aya: Love in Yop City
The final three chapters of the the Aya story - "...in this second volume Aya and her friends begin to make serious decisions about their futures."** This volume also contains extras like recipes and a guide to Ivorian slang.


*from the preface by Alisia Grace Chase, PhD
**from the book blurb

Celebrate National Poetry Month!

Dr Douglas Hyde conference. Photography. 

Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 17 Mar 2016. 

Poetry can refine our experience through expressive, heightened, rhythmic and shifting tonal structures of language. It can wake us up.  —Anne Waldman, Academy of American Poets Chancellor 

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.—Rita Dove

If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry—Emily Dickinson

Poetry is an act of peace—Pablo Neruda
 

Poetry not only can soothe your soul and it can blow your mind. April is National Poetry Month and poetry lovers around the country are poised to celebrate this unique and ancient art form. Maybe you’re a seasoned poet or just tinkering with idea of writing your first poem. Maybe you adore listening to sonnets or maybe you would rather cheer on bawdy poets in barroom slams. Whether your poetic proclivity leans toward the Provencal, the Romantic, the Lyric, or the Beats, our collection offers a variety of ways to tickle your poetry fancy this month. 

From Homer to Dickinson, Kerouac to Angelou, we’ve got your poetry! Can’t decide who to read? Grab the Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry. For a taste of local poets pick up the Harwood Anthology or the Corrales Writing Group 2014 Anthology. For a laugh read Poets Ranked by Beard Weight, for good cry read The Poets’ Wives, or seize the day and watch Dead Poets Society.

And don’t forget to check out our Poetry Guide to all things poetical, including links to our catalog, local poetry events, and poetry websites. One site you don’t want to miss is the Academy of American Poets where you’ll find Poetry Near You, Poem in Your Pocket Day, and 30 ways to celebrate national poetry month.

Poetry events at your library:  

Tony Hillerman Library offers a monthly poetry writing class for children and adults. Find out more at Poetry Around the World.

 Poetry Open Mic at Los Griegos Library meets every 4th Sat. Come read a poem or just listen to other poets. 

Join the New Mexico Poetry Alliance as they present their new anthology at Cherry Hills Library. Find out more at Author Reading: Muse with Blue Apples.

Poetry Experience: For adults (16 & up) at Central & Unser Library in the Community Room. Wednesday, April 20th at 5:30 p.m. Fold a poem for your pocket, listen to poetry, learn about different types or poems and create a poem or book spine poetry.

Picture Book are Not Just for Kids! Part 6

To tie up this little series, I thought I would go back to childhood.  Comparing my taste in books now to my taste when I was a child has surprised me!  I remember the library* books that stood out to me the most when I was a new reader were those that captured my imagination and took me beyond what I could experience in normal life as a little kid.  Today I enjoy books that are clever, funny, and beautifully illustrated, but many of my first books don't really rank with this criteria.  I do still enjoy books that spark my imagination, but maybe (it hurts me to admit!) I need a little more help starting up my imagination than I used to - I certainly use it less these days.  In any case, here are a few of the books, and book series, I loved as a child that wouldn't necessarily make my favorites list if I had discovered them today.

Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups by Kay Thompson
Why I loved it: I thought this book was so much fun.  It still is, actually.  I loved how Eloise had such an active imagination, and how the things she imagined up appeared as illustrations in red outlines.  I also loved the fact that she had a pet turtle that lived with her and her pug.  In fact, I named my childhood turtle Skipperdee, after hers.  I envied her independence, and the fact that Eloise had a live-in Nanny.  I think I sometimes even imagined the apartment complex we lived in during my elementary years was a fancy hotel because the idea made me feel glamorous like Eloise.  So basically, Eloise made my childhood much more exciting than it actually was, and that was a good thing!  We also have a version that includes an audio CD, Eloise Read-Along.

Animalia by Graeme Base
Why I loved it: This book provided hours of entertainment and challenge for my young mind (plus my sister and I could look at it together without fighting - mostly).  It never got old, no matter how many times I had looked at it or for how long.  Each page is an illustration for one letter of the alphabet and contains innumerable items beginning with that letter.  It is also accompanied by a caption made only by alliterations of words beginning with that letter.  For example, "lazy lions lounging in the local library" accompanies the L illustration.  The goal, at least when I read it, is to name as many items in the picture as possible.  I remember this being tricky, because sometimes I didn't know what an item was, so I couldn't name it, and especially not using a word beginning with the correct letter.  (Last year I discovered The Eleventh Hour by Base and spent several happy hours solving its puzzles.)

Andrew and the Wild Bikes by Allen Morgan
Why I loved it: This book made me fall in love with my bicycle.  I could not stop thinking about what my life would be like if I came across a herd of living, furry bicycles, and got to catch one and tame it.  Imagining that I had done just that, I would tear up and down our street on my own bike.  The idea of this story was so intriguing that the feeling of it has stuck with me all these years, and although the book is not so much attractive to me any more, it still inspires me and takes me back to the excitement of my childhood dreams.  (Sadly, there is no picture for this one in the catalog!)

Frances books by Russell Hoban
Why I loved them: Frances is such a distinct and likable character, with her little ditties and sweet quirks, such as sitting below the sink and avoiding any food aside from bread and jam.  Her habits and ways of thinking so accurately represent the behaviors of young children.  Which, of course, I didn't realize when I was a young child reading the Frances books, but I'm sure the fact still improved my relationship with her.  As an adult reader, I love how Frances' parents don't try to change her or force her to behave, but rather, they patiently guide her as she works things out on her own.

Strega Nona books by Tomie DePaola
Why I loved them: I recall that an elementary school librarian read one or more of these to my class for storytime, which was a cozy, happy time of my week at school.  Therefore, I think I loved these (and still do) because of that warm association it created.  I remember especially loving the look of the illustrations of these books - the colors, the consistency, the texture.  I liked the magic in each of the books, each of the unique characters, and the little snippets of Italian sprinkled throughout.  I still get the same warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I pick up a Strega Nona book.  My favorite is Strega Nona Meets Her Match.

I will never stop enjoying picture books, but I'm done sharing them on the blog for now.  I hope you enjoyed the tour!

*My Grandma always took my sister and me to Tony Hillerman - where did you go when you were little?  Do you remember any books that caught your imagination?  Please share in the comments!

Picture Books are Not Just for Kids! Part 5

I'm discovering that most picture books I love are funny.  These three are not particularly.  In fact, I would label them as tear-jerkers.  (The fourth is more heartwarming and less sad, but I'm including it anyway).  I often avoid reading this kind of book at storytime because there is the distinct possibility that I will start crying right there in the middle of it all and upset the kids - and probably the parents.  But these three are good enough that I haven't been able to help myself (and I succeeded at not crying during storytime - barely!).

The kids like these books, too, but I think they must experience them differently than we do as adults.  As I started pondering this, I felt at first that these bittersweet stories introduce children to concepts of friendship, loyalty, loss, etc, rather than offering something a child can relate to already.  When you are only 5 years old, you don't know what it is like to have a lifelong friendship, or have your life saved by a friend.  But young children do certainly feel those intense, longing feelings of love and loss - with parents, siblings, and the rare, super close childhood friend - whether they totally understand them or not. 

Amos and Boris by William Steig
Why I love it: It is a great vocabulary builder compared to many contemporary books, with words like phosphorescent, ambitions, mote, and abounding.  It is long and descriptive, so the characters - a whale and a hardy mouse who meet by chance - are well-developed by the end of this beautiful story.  It is an illustration of friendship that goes much deeper than your average picture book story, with bittersweet themes of mortality, and earned trust, admiration, and respect between friends.  It has that  feel of a classic book that captures the human spirit in a timelessly powerful way.

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
Why I love it:  Not only is it set in a library, but it also stirs the imagination because the main character is a real, live lion.  The characters in this story have some nice depth to them, which, in part, causes the end to be really satisfying: a tragic misunderstanding of sorts is resolved and important lessons are learned - namely that one can respect the rules without blindly following them. I like that lesson, and I think it is important for children to understand because it can make them critical thinkers, help keep them safe, and even give them the voice they deserve to gently question. 

Lion and Bird by Marianne Dubuc
Why I love it: It makes me cry every time I read it!!  It is a simple, slow story of companionship and change that is sad, bittersweet, heartwarming, and gentle all at once. This quote captures its essence: "And so it goes.  Sometimes life is like that."  Part of what makes this story slow and sad is that the scenes are drawn out in the illustrations.  One sentence on a page will describe simply how the seasons turned, or the birds flew overhead, but the illustrations on the next page carry on that sentence without adding to it and cause the reader to feel the passing of time and the sinking in of the emotions Lion and Bird stir in us.  What a beautiful book!  I can also heartily recommend other creations of Marianne Dubuc.

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Why I love it: Because preschoolers love to make noises, and this book is full of them.  Make that rhyming noises that create a great plot.  This one has a bit of a moral at the end, which, as I have mentioned, I only like sometimes.  Many children's books teach that children must earn kindness and acceptance by proving themselves to those who don't at first accept them, or that being on one's best behavior is the only way to be loved.  Little Blue Truck, however, serves as a great example of being kind to those who have not been kind to you - a message of unconditional love that can go both ways - sometimes you are giving to someone who doesn't deserve it, and sometimes you are the receiver who doesn't deserve it.  Basically the message I get from this story is that it's not becoming to be ill-behaved, but even badly behaved individuals need love - and often, kindness will turn a person toward better behavior more effectively than shunning or punishment will.

What do you think about how children experience bittersweet stories and the emotions they evoke?  Any favorites that fall into this category?  I'd love to know!

Picture Books are Not Just for Kids! Part 4

Another set of fantastic no-category books for you here in Part 4!  Well, mostly uncategorized... Sometimes I pick up a book thinking I will not like it because of the illustration style or the amount of text, or something along those lines, and I read it anyway and find a new favorite.  That was definitely the case with Estelle Takes a Bath, because the illustrations didn't appeal to me and I usually dislike the cookie-cutter nature of bath books.  With The Great Quillow, it was the length - too long doesn't work for preschoolers, so why should I bother?  That's What Friends are For at first seemed too simplistic, and I haven't liked some of Gorbachev's other stories.  But I didn't discard any of these titles out of hand, as I sometimes do, and I'm glad I didn't!  They were good enough to make my favorites list, and I never would have known what I was missing.

That's What Friends are For by Valeri Gorbachev
Why I love it: Guessing books are really fun for the kids, but it's also great entertainment for me to hear their suggestions, in this case, of why Goat's friend, Pig, is seen in his window crying the morning of their dinner plans. I can't pin down exactly why I find this one so particularly endearing, but it has a charm about it that brings me back to it over and over. I certainly like the surprise ending, and the sweetness of Goat's active compassion toward his dear friend before he even knows what is saddening him.

Estelle Takes a Bath by Jill Esbaum
Why I love it: The adorable surprise ending, the colorful, rhyming text, and the serendipitous covering up of Estelle's private parts throughout her campaign to exterminate a certain small intruder who has interrupted her cozy bath. It's a fun little romp of a book. There are a good number of bath picture books, and of all the ones I've read, this is the one that stands out to me as my favorite. My second favorite would be How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson.  (But those may be the only bath stories I like very much!)

The Great Quillow by James Thurber
Why I love it: It is believably silly and imaginative, with mystery and suspense moving it toward a very satisfying ending.  This one is longer than I would read to preschoolers during storytime, but the first, second, and third graders I read it to loved it.  In fact, they were asking if they could check it out to take home themselves.  The main character, who is pretty eccentric, is also quietly confident in himself in the face of doubt and mockery from his fellow townspeople as he concocts a plot to get rid of a rude and demanding giant who has taken up residence just outside the town.  This story is a refreshing example of perseverance and creativity with some good humor sprinkled in.  Another bonus is that the illustrations are by Steven Kellogg!

Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser
Why I love it: It makes the kids say passionately, "Hey, that's not what's going on!!" and laugh at the silly squirrel and his friends who keep thinking they have found winter - "cold, wet, and soft."  The illustrations are mostly pencil sketches with some accenting color here and there, but they are very lively and add much to the tale.  What impresses me most, is that the funny overtones of this story still allow plenty of room for the wonder and awe of experiencing snow for the first time.  I also quite enjoyed Meschenmoser's Mr. Squirrel and the Moon.

Picture Books are Not Just For Kids! Part 3

So many of my favorite books are based on lovably mischievous protagonists misbehaving or making trouble in some way, so that's what I'll share with you here in Part 3.  I enjoy reading these stories because they are funny to me and to the kids, but I've recently started feeling the need to explain morality to children to some degree: "Did you see that?  The raccoon is STEALING!!  We wouldn't steal, would we?  We'd pay for our pizza - that's the right thing to do!"  I don't want to take all the fun out of a silly story, but I do hear parents whispering suggestions to their children about what the naughty character could do instead.  It's a fine line, and I'm still learning.

On that note, here are some of my favorite stories of impish characters causing trouble.  Enjoy!

Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin
Why I love it: Probably because the main character is a raccoon who just can't help himself when it comes to the temptations of pizza - especially because the narrator (you) is egging him on.  I love that it almost feels as if it is written more for adults than for children.  It has no real lessons, although plenty of room to start conversations up about right behavior and such. It's funny in a grown-up-kid-humor, slap-stick sort of way.  You could analogize it to the picture book equivalent of super tasty, crave-able cheese puff snacks while books with upstanding characters, a good lesson, or a wider vocabulary would be a meatier, more nutritious dinner.  Another book I enjoy by the Rubin/Salmieri author/illustrator duo is Dragons Love Tacos.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
Why I love it: Every time I read this one, I think I know what will happen and then the absurd happens instead, and I laugh out loud.  The protagonist is, of course, another innocently mischievous kid just trying to get his kite out of a tree.  The changing color schemes and the comically expressive illustration style (including silly conversation bubbles that pop up here and there), are just bonuses. This is definitely my favorite book by Jeffers (link).

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat, 
Here Comes the Easter Cat, &
Here Comes Santa Cat by Deborah Underwood
Why I love them: Underwood and her illustrator, Claudia Rueda, beautifully encapsulate the mischievous nature of cats in their main character named Cat.  Not all cats (or naughty protagonists) have a heart of gold under their troublemaker veneer, but it's clear that Cat does in these three books starring him.  With one simple illustration and one or two corresponding sentences occupying each spread, the stories are each a conversation between the narrator - who speaks in first person so that it sounds like the reader is narrating - and Cat.  The reader asks Cat questions and guesses the meaning of his expressions and the signage he uses to communicate (he draws pictures and holds them up because he can't talk).  Each of these books is laugh out loud funny, but my favorite is probably Here Comes Santa Cat, despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of Christmas or Santa. 

Note: Here Comes Valentine Cat was published in December and has been recently added to the catalog.  I can't wait to read it!!

Any recommendations for books containing mischievous characters?  

Picture Books are Not Just for Kids! Part 2

Before I get started on this second installment of Picture Books are Not Just for Kids!, I'll tell you that another thing I've learned from my storytime experience has been not to get too crazy trying to make every storytime have a theme.  Themes can trap you into choosing books that are not that exciting and kids don't even care whether all of your stories are about ducks or not.  So I'm going to apply that principle to these posts and group some in categories if they fit, but let other groupings be miscellaneous.

Last time I shared a few dinosaur books, but this time I'll tell you about some that didn't fall neatly into a theme.

There is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems
Why I love it:  It's one of the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, obviously I love it!  This series is very popular for a reason.  The text is simple and sparse enough for new readers to devour on their own, and the super-funny, exaggerated pictures make it even easier for them to understand and enjoy.  So what happens when a bird lands on Elephant's head?  I'll tell you: the kids you are reading to laugh their heads off, say "Eww!!", and make other highly entertaining comments.  I have read several Elephant and Piggie books at storytime, and this one always gets the most animated reaction, so it has definitely earned its place on my favorites list. 


The Frog Who Lost His Underpants by Juliette MacIver
Why I love it:  It's about underpants!  And it's soo funny to read books about underwear to preschoolers.  One little boy said "Eww!" every other page at my latest underpants storytime, and when we reached a certain page depicting a clothesline full of underwear he shouted, "Eww, there are too many of them!".  Most don't get grossed out by the topic, however.  In fact, they thoroughly enjoy talking about underwear, which one must be careful about.  To conclude, I like The Frog Who Lost His Underpants because: aside from frog's adorability, the rhythm of this story is really fun, and there are wonderful messages within about resolving conflict with kindness and what makes an individual special. 

Brief Thief by Michael Escoffier
Why I love it:  Another one about underpants!  This one is about a lizard who ends up using a stray pair of underwear (which happens to belong to somebody else) to wipe after using the bathroom. From there, the story line cleverly introduces the idea of conscience.  This illustration of knowing the right thing to do and doing it is not annoyingly spelled out as some picture book lessons can be.  As I may mention later, I prefer the morals in picture books to be more subtle than overt, because often the overt ones feel a little too patronizing to me, even for reading to children.  It's much more fun to talk through morals that are shown through the story rather than stated outright.  The witty hilarity of this story and the slightly eccentric, but very appealing illustrations tie together in a delightfully surprising end to make this book seriously first-rate.  Whew, that was a lot of adverbs and adjectives.

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio
Why I love it:  Gaston is thought-provoking and heartwarming, but still humorous, and the charming illustrations remind me a bit of the Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans.  It is an original story about two very different litters of puppies that each contain one pup who doesn't quite fit in with the rest.  The conundrums that the dog families face as they try to work out their differences will get the kids thinking so hard that you'll see it on their faces, which is pretty cute.  It's hard for me to actually rank my favorite books, but if I were to try, it is possible that this one would be in the top 5...  But who am I kidding?  I feel that way about way more than 5 books... Oh well, it's a good problem to have.

Let me know what you think of these or the others I posted about - I could talk about picture books all day! 

The Stephen King Universe: A Guide (Part 3)

In the last post of this series (you can find the first two posts here and here), I wanted to talk about Stephen King books that aren't necessarily related to The Dark Tower, but are connected to other Stephen King books. As always, this isn't a comprehensive list.

Note: This post may include spoilers.

Let's start with IT, because it's connected to several novels.

IT and Dreamcatcher: In Dreamcatcher, there's a plaque that mentions The Losers' Club and main characters, Beverly, Bill, Mike, Richie, Stan, Eddie, and Ben, all from IT. This plaque also mentions Pennywise, the clown from IT.

IT and 11/22/63: Beverly and Richie from IT make an appearance in 11/22/63.

IT and Christine: In IT, the ghost car Belch Huggins drives when he picks up Henry Bowers is Christine.

IT and Misery: Eddie Kaspbrak's mom and Paul Sheldon's family were neighbors.

Misery is also connected to another book, The Shining. In Misery, Annie Wilkes mentions a man burning down the Overlook Hotel; she's referring to Jack Torrance.

IT and The Dead Zone: In a dinner scene in IT, The Losers talk about Frank Dodd, a character in The Dead Zone.

Speaking of The Dead Zone, it's connected to Cujo, which is also connected to other novels. Cujo and The Dead Zone are connected by Frank Dodd, who is mentioned in Cujo. George Bannerman is also a character in both novels.

Cujo is also connected to Pet Sematary; Jud Crandal, a character in Pet Sematary, mentions Cujo. Pet Sematary is connected to Insomnia, as well; Atropos, a character in Insomnia, has a shoe that belonged to Gage Creed, a character in Pet Sematary.

Cujo has two additional connections, one to a novel, and one to a novella. Cujo is connected to Needful Things and The Body (found in Different Seasons) by the character Evelyn Chambers, who is present in all three works. In addition, Needful Things and The Body share a second character, Ace Merrill.

Needful Things is connected to The Dark Half; Alan Pangborn is the sheriff in both novels.

Last, there are some novels that have smaller connections, to only one or two other novels at the most. The first is Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game. The two books were going to be part of a larger work, titled In the Path of the Eclipse. The eclipse in Dolores Claiborne is mentioned in Gerald's Game, and the main characters in each story (Dolores Claiborne and Jessie) have a psychic connection, allowing them to share visions.

The second is Firestarter, The Mist, and The Tommyknockers, which are connected by an organization called The Shop, that plays a large role in each story.

Know of any other connections? Tell us what they are in the comments!

Girls to the Front: Female Music Critics

...men writing songs about women is practically the definition of rock 'n' roll. And as a woman, as a music critic, as someone who lives and dies for music, there is a rift within, a struggle of how much deference you can afford, and how much you are willing to ignore what happens in these songs simply because you like the music.
~Jessica Hopper, "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't"

We've always had an interest in music. As teenagers, we read Rolling Stone and Spin; we've checked out Mojo's playlists and NME's Albums of the Year; we pay for Spotify, stream Pandora (and Freegal, with our valid library card), read reviews on Pitchfork, watch Tiny Desk Concerts on NPR. We still want the albums so we can read the liner notes. We remember when MTV played videos. And, while now that we're older and probably never going to make it to Coachella or Glastonbury (though we've watched movies about both, and we've been to SXSW twice), we'd still consider staying up late on a "school night" if there's a good show in town, and driving to Denver to to catch Florence & the Machine this May is a distinct possibility.

So, of course we've heard about music journalists like Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Peter Guralnick, Stanley Crouch, Nat Hentoff, Chuck Klosterman, Rob Sheffield, Alex Ross, Robert Christgau, and Legs McNeil. A keyword search of "Music history and criticism" in the catalog (to search by subject you would need to add a specific era, music, instrument, or location, such as "Rock music -- California, Southern -- History and criticism", "Musicals -- United States -- History and criticism", or "Piano music -- History and criticism") brings up 674 titles - in the first 3 pages, there are 8 books written by women; in the next three pages, there are only 3. Yet there are plenty of female music journalists out there, including Stacey Anderson, Daphne Carr, Dream Hampton, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Julie Burchill, and others.

We've been thinking about this a lot, since we recently read two books by female rock critics Ellen Willis and Jessica Hopper. Ellen Willis was, notably, the first popular music critic for The New Yorker, between 1968 and 1975, though she wore many other hats; until last year, Jessica Hopper was a senior editor for the Pitchfork website and editor in chief of the print quarterly The Pitchfork Review.

The First Collection of Criticism By a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper

When the chasm of human experience feels unbridgeable, and the past is keeping you like the stocks, and there is no absolution to be had, no forgiveness to salve you, and the world feels too much in its infinite newness and it's midnight and people are screaming and feeding babies ranch-flavor chicken fingers from a bucket, when all you see is difference and a long string of your own unqualified failures, there is Van singing, "Lay me down...to be born again." There is so much  wanting in "Astral Weeks." but it's not desperation, it's all vessel; it's faith enough to cover us all.

Whether Jessica Hopper is talking about Van Morrison, Lana del Rey, Bruce Springsteen, Superchunk, or Kendrick Lamar, you will want to listen to their music to feel the emotions her writing evokes; trips to Coachella, L.A.'s all-ages venue The Smell, and Michael Jackson's hometown after his death will move and entertain you; "How Selling Out Saved Indie Rock" showed us how the music industry works today.  The pieces in Hopper's First Collection range from "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't" for Punk Planet in 2003 to "You Will Ache Like I Ache: The Oral History of Hole's Live Through This" for Spin in April 2014, and are split into sections such as "Real/Fake", "Nostalgia", and "Bad Reviews". At 201 pages, it's a slender tome, and one we highly recommend.

 Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music

Ellen Willis' book was a bit of a harder sell for us, probably because (the horror!) we are not fans of Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones, and both these artists get extensive coverage by Willis. Her book, just a bit longer than Hopper's, is separated into sections such as "The Adoring Fan", "The Navigator", and "The Sixties Child", gathered by content rather than chronology. Most are short pieces, although the collection includes the 20-page essay on Bob Dylan that got Willis noticed by the New Yorker in the first place. Willis' Rock, Etc. columns for that magazine make up the bulk of the collection.

Willis' voice is serious and scholarly for the most part; there is a review of Dylan's Love and Theft that describes the tensions in his music as "never...about electric versus acoustic but about personal and idiosyncratic versus collective and generic; topical and profane versus primordial and sacred; transcendence as excess versus transcendence as purgation..." Yet, in "The Decade in Rock Lyrics", she wittily uses lyrics from some of the decade's most popular tunes to sum up its history on topics like celebrities, style, the Battle of the Sexes, and economics; and the pictures of Willis in the book include one of her in typical music nerd posture, in front of a large vinyl collection, plugged into giant headphones and taking notes on her latest record, and one of her wearing a T-shirt that says "Anarchy in Queens". Interestingly, having just recently read a lot of adulation of David Bowie in the press since his death, Out of the Vinyl Deeps contains an essay about "Bowie's Limitations", written in 1972. There are also essays about Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grand Funk Railroad, and others.

The library catalog features more of Willis' essays in The Essential Ellen Willis, which is a broader collection of her writings. These essays are "...both deeply engaged with the times in which they were first published and yet remain fresh and relevant amid today's seemingly intractable political and cultural battles". There are a few pieces on Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, but far more about politics and women's rights. Like Out of the Vinyl Deeps, this collection was edited posthumously by Willis' daughter, Nona Willis Aronowitz.

We hope these books will pique your interest in reading music journalism by female writers, or perhaps to start writing your own. In focusing on female critics, we are trying to do for their work what Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill did for female audience members too put off by all the all-male mosh pit to approach the stage when she would tell the crowd,“All girls to the front! I’m not kidding. All girls to the front. All the boys be cool, for once in your lives. Go back! Back! Back!” [quoted in the film The Punk Singer] 

If you would like to read more music journalism by women, try: Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock'n'Roll edited by Kandia Crazy Horse; Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus; Record Collecting For Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time by Courtney E. Smith; Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology by Deena Weinstein; A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man by Holly George-Warren; and Madonna: Like An Icon by Lucy O'Brien.

Links

The World Needs Female Rock Critics [New Yorker]

33 Women Music Critics You Need to Read [Flavorwire]

The Good Listener: How Do You Break Into Music Journalism? [NPR]

Picture Books are Not Just for Kids! Part 1

As much as I like books for people my age (as in grown ups), I spend the most time reading children's picture books.  I would never have realized  how much I love them if I hadn't begun doing preschool storytime here at the library almost two years ago.  At first it was daunting to have to select books to read.  How was I supposed to know what 3 to 5 year olds like?  And how could I find books that I liked too?  How could I find 4 or 5 good ones each week?  Who even knows how many children's books I've read since those questions plagued me, but I've learned a lot.

Over time, I have answered for myself the question of finding books that I enjoy just as much as the kids do, and here's the answer: it's no good to read books that I don't like myself.  If I start reading one that I'm not excited about to a group, then I start out questioning whether they like it (which never feels good!), and on top of that, I swear they can smell my lack of enthusiasm.  However, if I start out with a book I enjoy, it's easier to get the kids excited about it because my excitement is also contagious.  If they love it, I love it even more, and I will probably use it again in a few months.  It is so satisfying to see children really enjoy a book to the point of engaging with it - pointing excitedly at the pictures (and/or grabbing at them), gleefully shouting out what they think will happen next, rattling off question after question. 

By now I have a hefty list of favorite picture books that I have begun to recycle.  These favorites make the core of my storytime themes, and to fill in the gaps, I try out new ones that I've found.  In this series, I want to share some of these favorite picture books.  And trust me, these books are not just for kids - there is so much entertainment to be enjoyed in reading children's books, and I highly recommend the practice!  If I didn't have to read them for work, I would definitely be reading them for pleasure.


Camp Rex, Tea Rex, and Sea Rex by Molly Idle
Why I love them: Without the illustrations, the text of these books would be politely dry manuals for camping, tea time, and going to the beach.  With the illustrations, the story becomes cartoonishly amusing, the text reading "If the surf is up, you can catch a few waves..." and the corresponding illustration showing a T-Rex jumping into the sea and causing a big tidal wave to splash over the beach and the terrified character on it.  The illustrations are beautifully stylized with a uniquely whimsical flair, and as I hope I've demonstrated, much more story is told through the illustrations than the text.  These are the kinds of books (which I don't usually like, by the way) that still have a story with a beginning, middle, and end, but don't really have a plot to move along or a problem to solve.  My favorite of these three is probably Sea Rex - as a swimmer and beach-lover, I might be biased!
Note: You may also love Idle's Flora and the Penguin, and Flora and the Flamingo, a Caldecott winner. 

Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson
Why I love it: Dinosaurs may be my favorite subject for picture books, and kids almost universally adore them as well.  This one is authored by Julia Donaldson who writes fantastic picture book stories (check out Donaldson's other books).  I could read it over and over (like how your kid wants to read the same book every night three times before bed?  I hear that's pretty normal.) because it's everything a picture book should be - it rhymes cleverly, the villainous t-rex family is comically ugly, the illustrations are gorgeous with funny details and a unique color palette, and the story has a cheer-worthy ending that makes up for all of the protagonist duckbill dinosaur's sufferings that led up to it.

I'll stop there today, but I have enough more that I don't know how many posts I will fill before I finish.  Meanwhile, do you have any picture books you are in love with?  I would love to hear, so please share in the comments below!

abcreads recommends: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Checquy statistics indicate that 15 percent of all men in hats are concealing horns.
~Daniel O'Malley, The Rook

It opens with a letter, and the letter begins: "Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine." Myfanwy Thomas finds the letter in her pocket when she wakes up, bruised and beaten and with dead bodies wearing latex gloves all around her, in a London park. Of course, she doesn't know that she is called, or rather, that the body she inhabiting is called, Myfanwy Thomas until she reads the letter (which tells her pronounce her first name to rhyme with Tiffany, rather than the traditional Welsh pronunciation). Her memory has been wiped clean; she is beginning from scratch. The letter was in her pocket, addressed "To You"; there is another, marked "2", that continues telling her the story of Myfanwy.

The novel is not epistolary, but letters from her former self (and a large purple binder) play a big part in telling her story. The adventure begins with a bank lockbox and a choice, and Myfanwy chooses to rejoin her body's former life as a Rook, a high-level operative in the Checquy (pronounced Sheck-Eh) Group - which is, as the book cover describes it, "Her Majesty's Supernatural Secret Service". For centuries they have protected the world from sentient fungus, the Sirens of the Mediterranean Sea, fleshcrafters (those who radically alter the properties of the human body), and the like. The purple binder is full of information about the Checquy, and about her work there. Myfanwy is literally learning her job, and how to wrangle with her own supernatural ability, as she goes along.

And what a job! Myfanwy has a large office, a secretary, an executive assistant named Ingrid, and an established reputation for being an extremely capable, but timid, administrator waiting for her. A day's work includes a woman who coughs up ectoplasm that turns into the animals that chase people; dreams of Victorian ladies who offer her afternoon tea and interrogate her; a co-worker who is four bodies with a hive mind; a secret training facility that turns children into fighters; and the knowledge that there is a traitorous conspiracy to unravel before Myfanwy's memory is taken again...or worse. This is all part of the wild ride that is The Rook.

Intrigued? Read the first 4 chapters of The Rook, watch a book trailer, and more at The Rook Files, the website of author Daniel O'Malley. A sequel to The Rook, Stilleto, will be published in June 2016. And watch for The Rook to premiere on Hulu as a television show! We can hardly wait!

The Stephen King Universe: A Guide (Part 2)

In Part One of this series, I talked about the Stephen King novels that are connected to his Dark Tower series. Today, I'm focusing on the connections among those novels. Again, this is not necessarily a complete list; the connections in Stephen King novels are many and complex.

Insomnia and IT -- Both novels take place in Derry, Maine

Black House and The Talisman -- Black House is the sequel to The Talisman.

Desperation and The Regulators -- Desperation and The Regulators are companion novels. The characters in Desperation are twinners of the characters in The Regulators.

Desperation and Rose Madder -- Cynthia Smith, a character in Desperation, is also a character in
Rose Madder. Other characters from Rose Madder are also mentioned in Desperation.

Insomnia and Rose Madder -- A character in Rose Madder, Anna Stevenson, has a framed photo of Susan Day in her office. Susan Day is a character in Insomnia.

The Shining and The Talisman -- In The Talisman, a character named George Hatfield is a student at the Thayer School. In The Shining, Jack Torrance cuts George Hatfield from the debate team. It might be the same George Hatfield from The Talisman.

IT and The Shining -- Dick Halloran, a main character in The Shining, is mentioned in IT. (Halloran served in the military with the father of a main character in IT, Mike Hanlon.)

The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis, and 'Salem's Lot -- Randall Flagg is a character in each of these books.

In the last post of this series, I'll talk about other connections in Stephen King novels--ones that don't relate to The Dark Tower series.

The Stephen King Universe: A Guide (Part One)

The Stephen King universe is vast, and while I've known about many of the connections among his books for years, I never realized the depth of those connections until I started re-reading The Dark Tower series and doing some research. For this series, I'm starting with a beginner's guide to The Dark Tower universe, and how it's connected to the rest of the Stephen King universe.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories - The short story "UR" mentions the actual Dark Tower that Roland is on a quest to find in The Dark Tower novels. Low men, who appear in Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower, also appear in "UR." Finally, the magical Rose that is part of The Dark Tower series is mentioned in "UR."

Black House - Several characters from The Dark Tower series are mentioned in Black House: Blaine the Mono, Ted Brautigan (who makes appearances in other Stephen King works, as well), Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Roland Deschain, and Patricia the Mono. Jake Chambers may also be a twinner of Jack Sawyer (a twinner is a doppelganger in a parallel universe). (Note: Black House is the sequel to The Talisman.)

Cell - In The Waste Lands, Jake Chambers purchases a picture book called Charlie the Choo-Choo. Roland, Jake, Susannah, and Eddie see a train that looks just like Charlie the Choo-Choo in Gage Park. Charlie the Choo-Choo shows up in an amusement park in Cell. Charlie the Choo-Choo is also Blaine the Mono's twinner.

Desperation - CAN-TAH AND CAN-TOI, which appear in Song of Susannah (CAN-TAH and CAN-TOI) and Wolves of the Calla and The Dark Tower (CAN-TOI), also appear in Desperation.

Everything's Eventual - Three characters from this short story collection are either mentioned in The Dark Tower novels or play a part in the series: Dinky Earnshaw, Mr. Sharpton, and Skipper Brannigan.

The Eyes of the Dragon - The main connection to The Dark Tower series is in the character Randall Flagg. Flagg is a sorcerer who has the ability to move among worlds. He is a villain in The Eyes of the Dragon as well as in The Dark Tower novels. Additionally, King Roland in The Eyes of the Dragon is Roland Deschain's twinner.

From a Buick 8 - One of the owners of the Buick 8 was probably a low man, and the car may have been a portal to todash spaces from which monsters escape (a todash space is a void that exists between worlds and is filled with monsters).

Hearts in Atlantis - A few characters in Hearts in Atlantis show up in The Dark Tower novels and vice versa: Ted Brautigan, Roland Deschain, The Crimson King, Randall Flagg, and the Low Men.

Insomnia - The Crimson King is a major player in Insomnia. Patrick Danville, a character in Insomnia, shows up in The Dark Tower, traveling with Roland. Roland is also mentioned in Insomnia by Ted Brautigan.

IT - The concept of deadlights is mentioned in IT; it's a concept that is shared by Pennywise and The Crimson King. Bill Denbrough's nickname in IT is Stuttering Bill; in The Dark Tower novels, there's an Asimov robot named Stuttering Bill. There's also a magical Turtle in The Dark Tower novels that shows up in IT.

Lisey's Story - The Territories, which are mentioned in The Waste Lands, are also mentioned in Lisey's Story. A term used commonly in Lisey's Story, "bool," is also used by The Man in Black in The Gunslinger.

The Mist - The monsters in The Mist are likely monsters that came from Todash through a thinny that was opened during a government experiment. Thinnies play large roles in Wizard and Glass.

The Regulators - Regulators is another term for Low Men; it is also another term for Big Coffin Hunters. It is likely that The Regulators may be Low Men and/or Big Coffin Hunters, though neither of those terms is used in the novel.

Rose Madder - LUD, which is the setting of The Waste Lands, is mentioned in Rose Madder, and Rose Madder is mentioned in Song of Susannah. 

'Salem's Lot - One of the main characters in 'Salem's Lot, Father Callahan, is a major character in Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower (where he is known as Pere Callahan). In Wolves of the Calla, Pere Callahan recounts his experiences after leaving 'Salem's Lot.

The Shining - Danny Torrance is referred to in The Dark Tower novels, while Jack Torrance is mentioned, but not directly named.

The Stand - In Wizard and Glass, Roland, Susannah, Eddie, and Jake find themselves in the Topeka, Kansas, of The Stand, where they see a newspaper article that discusses the superflu from The Stand. Mother Abigail, a key player in The Stand, is an enemy of Randall Flagg, who is also a key player in The Stand.

The Talisman - A major setting in The Talisman is the Territories; the Territories are mentioned in Wizard and Glass. The White, which is in The Talisman, is the force of good in The Dark Tower novels.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many characters and settings from Stephen King novels are mentioned in The Dark Tower series without playing actual parts in the series. Some of the books listed here are also connected to each other, which I'll explore in the second part of this series. The last part of this series will focus on Stephen King book connections that are unrelated to The Dark Tower series.

Think I've missed a connection, or know of a connection you'd like to see in this series of posts? Let me know in the comments!

eAudiobooks

There are so many reasons to listen to audiobooks. We like to listen to them while we are struggling with household chores, or crafting. Some people enjoy listening to them in the car, particularly for long road trips. And they are not just available in CDs anymore, although we still have plenty of those - the library catalog also offers the Playaway format and downloadable audiobooks (eAudio). There are two eResources for eAudio avaible to ABC Library customers, Overdrive (which also provides eBooks) and OneClickdigital; you can search their databases for titles rather than the library catalog, if you prefer.

If you would like to stick to books on CD, don't miss the featured collections list of Adult Books on CD and Playaways and Children's Books on CD and Playaways - these will show you our latest acquisitions. However, if you'd like to give eAudio a try, the list below is compiled from recommended recent audiobook lists - because, for audiobooks, a good reader is so important! If you find you need help with downloading, you can find help on the library website or stop at one of our Gizmo Garage sessions!

Non-Fiction

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A House of My Own: Stories From My Life by Sandra Cisneros

A Fine Romance: A Memoir by Candice Bergen

Words Without Music: A Memoir by Philip Glass

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson 

Fiction

A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk 

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro 

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson 

Early Warning by Jane Smiley

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  

And finally, if you want the personal touch, try Adult Storytime at our San Pedro branch or Storytime for Grownups at our Los Griegos branch! "Sit back, relax and listen to a San Pedro Library staff member read aloud from a selection of classic literature, short stories or other favorite works. Unlike a book club, there is no need for you to read the selection ahead of time, but feel free to join in a lively discussion after the reading. Adult Storytime happens at the San Pedro Library on the last Saturday of each month." Or, "Storytime for Grownups meets the first Wednesday of each month at Los Griegos Library. Hear great short stories or excerpts from longer works read by Book Mark."