If you would have told me five years ago that I would be listening to audiobooks while running or that I’d be running a half marathon and I would have told you you were lying. But here I am, running while listening to an audiobook and training for a half marathon.
This past weekend, I ran the longest I’ve ever run (well let’s not kid here, there were long pauses of fast walking) and I finished Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time before sliding into Dina Nayeri’s The Ungrateful Refugee.
I can’t tell you why I made the switch from listening to music to listening to audiobooks but I can tell you that a good audiobook keeps me running farther than music might. I’ve had that distinct feeling twice: Christina Tosi’s Dessert Can Save the World and Liz Nugent’s Little Cruelties.
If you haven’t tried walking or running with an audiobook, try it!
Celebration is always a good thing, for little or big events alike. It’s why Christina Tosi’s Dessert Can Save the World spoke to me; the takeaway is that we should all spend time enjoying life and if there’s dessert it is even better.
So it’s with this post that I’m celebrating the start of a new semester teaching graduate students about young adult literature (with a cup of masala chai): not only because I love the topic (it’s my favorite part of being a school librarian) but because it’s a chance to update and adapt both to changes in young adult literature and to previous students’ experiences in the course and my own learning about online learning for a new crop of would-be librarians. Not all of them will end up working with teens but if I can instill a love of the depth and breadth that young adult literature has to offer, I’ve done my job.
We start off talking about their own reading lives before transitioning to understanding how that affects how we encourage teens in their own reading journey. The video reflection has the benefit of feeling confessional, for better and worse, around what preconceived notions they have about YA lit but also how much time they spend reading for pleasure themselves. This is used to get to know them but also guide the discussions moving forward.
The only thing that makes me nervous going into the fall semester? I have not cleared any of my TBR piles which means my already deep stack of books to be read will only get deeper. As my students read and evaluate books I haven’t read (but now I want to!), I borrow them almost instantaneously thus making my stacks larger.
Here’s just a few in my currently reading pile: Fractured Path (A Mirror novel) by J.C. Cervantes, The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver, and A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser. Though there’s plenty more where those came from.
A forty-eight hour getaway this past week to a yurt on cider house property in a section of wine country in New York made me think of work, but it wasn’t a bad thing. About a day into our stay we had visited a few wineries and a distillery and ended up at the cidery for our nightcap and meal. It’s what happened when I bellied up to the counter that made me smile.
There was a live band playing and because of their heavy traffic for food and spirits, they didn’t offer cider flights, just by the glass, so just like that I went from having four choices to only one. A lot of pressure, right? But not for the seasoned cider-tenders behind the counter. She didn’t skip a beat and started asking those basic questions about tastes and interests- I said one buzzword and she lit up, said “I’ve got the one for you I think you’ll love”, and turned to pour it. One sip and it was the perfect cider for me. It’s what I ended up drinking the rest of the night- a cider called Fruit of the Bloom with hibiscus and ginger. The flight would wait until the next day.
I realized I had been librarian-ed. Suddenly I wasn’t the one selling books to teens by conducting readers advisory, I was being sold a cider through a taste advisory. The vast experience and repertoire that comes from countless interactions like this meant that she 1) loved cider, 2) wanted me to love the cider too, and 3) had a full library’s worth of ciders to pick from to match me with one. But the fourth was the special ingredient, more than just the love of cider and wanting me to love it too, she had the passion that comes from the mix of those three elements to make someone else happy. I wanted to hug her for her excitement and realized I probably look like that to most people when I push books.
I’ve mentioned it in other posts, but one of my favorite pieces of librarianship is presenting, especially about books.
And there’s a whole process which includes the formation of a theme or idea, complimentary slides, talking points, booklists, but because I love a good dress, also the perfect dress for the occasion. It may sound silly, but having a dress waiting in the closet for the day and a solid slide design provide the foundation for everything that comes after. It’s worked every time.
Yet what I get out of it is twofold– meeting and talking with new people, usually those in the field of librarianship but not always, to make connections on a professional and personal level AND in the preparation, I dive deeper into the content I want to deliver. The old saying goes
so I do presentations and thereby learn. I’m appreciative of every opportunity I have to do this including one… TODAY!
Since last week, I have been turning over a conversation I had with a student last week during summer school. She had dropped in with a pass from her class to borrow a few books.
I didn’t recognize her, but that’s not uncommon in a school of 2,600 students and a new pool of students who are attending the summer school program from one of our alternative school as well. Either way, I introduced her to the temporary library that we’ve set up in a science classroom to be closer to the summer school classrooms while avoiding the construction around the new library. I asked her if she was looking for something in particular and quickly shared that she wanted manga to which I pointed her to several book carts spilling over with it and told her that if she wanted specific recommendations I could help, otherwise, she was free to browse and could check out when she was ready.
It’s what happened after she checked out the three books that gave me pause.
I handed the three back to her telling her that during the summer, students can keep the books until the start of the school year or bring them back during summer hours to get more. She asked me to hold on to them. I looked puzzled since she had come in to borrow them and didn’t spend any time during available periods in the library to read while she was in the building. And her response was that she would pick them up at the end of the period because she didn’t want to walk back to class with books in her hand because “people don’t know I read”. She further explained that it would be embarrassing to go back to class with them.
Comments like these are different than my interactions with undiscovered readers who are coming in with classes for upcoming projects who tell me they don’t read or don’t want to read. This was a very specific statement that she wanted to hide her reading identity and because I’ve never had this type of conversation before, I didn’t have a ready-made response. But I did respond.
I told her I could absolutely hold on to the books until after class, but did add that she could also be her awesome self and walk back to class with them because she might discover others who have read and like the same manga series and have something to talk about. She asked that I hold on to them. I told her I’d see her after the period was over.
She returned when the bell rang, however my one piece de resistance was that I inserted this Post-it into one of the books that I hope might give her just a moment to think about being proud of a reading identity because she is a reader.
It’s not particularly earth-shattering in its insight, plus I wanted it to be a positive message celebrating this identity and encouraging her to share it with others. Being proud of herself for having a world of entertainment and learning between the pages of books and finding her way to the library.
Now I’m thinking about the upcoming school year and all those readers who keep invisible. I don’t want to “out” their reading if they wish to keep it quiet, however there might be others who just need a bit of encouragement to join the many who read. How can I reach them?
This past week I saw a tweet that had been passed around in which the question was “how do you read so many books?” and the response was “I avoid all other responsibilities.” For as humorous as it is and how much I’d love for that to be true, everyone has responsibilities, so my waking hours aren’t spent solely on reading (however glorious that would be), but I do try to squeeze in every opportunity to read that I can.
Plus, it’s summer! Reading is basically a requirement which means there were a lot of fabulous books for July some of which I’ve already discussed this month in other posts and on my Instagram account. Which ones were the hottest for the hottest month of the year???
Salt Magic by Hope Larson
The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova
There will always be the diamonds in the rough, there will also be plenty of average books when you read a lot. So it feels special when in a weekend, you get a few five-star books.
This retelling of the Medusa myth was a book I read in one sitting. Partly because the storytelling was engrossing as was the bittersweet romance between Perseus and the isolated Medusa and the unique addition of illustrations by Olivia Lomenech Gill. Without giving too much away, Burton turns the myth around and encourages deep thought about the cruelty of the gods but also about our pasts.
This is Ogle’s third memoir, the first Free Lunch was groundbreaking, the second was equally heartbreaking and hopeful, and this third one is groundbreaking, heartbreaking, hopeful, and gut wrenching. As tweeted minutes after finishing the book, of the thousands of books I’ve read I can still only count on one hand the number of times I’ve cried while reading. This is one of them by the time I got to the last page in which Ogle’s command of verse and his lived experiences collide to express the deep gratitude he has for his abuela.
I will continue to think about the book long after I’ve finished it. And thank you go Ogle for being as open and forthright about his experiences for this audience.
How did I miss this superhero graphic novel when it came out several years ago? Either way, I’m glad I read it and everyone needs to get themselves a copy of the swapped bodies trope. Two very different girls end up in each other’s bodies and have to learn to collaborate in order to both 1) fix the current situation, and 2) attain their goals as superheroes.
The entertainment factor is high as is the colors and character sketches. Also a book I read voraciously in one sitting.
I don’t pretend to know every meme, but there was something about the “she/he’s a ten, but…” ones that have been circulating. And I had the opportunity this past long weekend to make one myself. Bookish people can probably relate:
As expected, I didn’t read either. How many of you can relate?
I did not grow up reading comics and definitely didn’t know where the local comic book store was. I am now an adult and read comics and definitely know where the local comic book store is. All of this was firmly solidified over Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga series.
Now, I had been reading graphic novels for some time, but almost exclusively as original novels or trade paperbacks. I didn’t know the world of serialized issues and a weekly or monthly stop to the store to pick them up. Heck, I came to Saga dozens of issues in because my first experience (thankfully, because I couldn’t get enough) was the trade paperback volumes 1-7 or 8. Then though I still waited for volume 9 and that’s when I realized I knew better and needed the stories issue by issue. Well, a hiatus and pandemic sure didn’t help.
Joyously, issue 55 came out in January to return me to the monthly pickup. The endorphin hit of knowing what will unfold mini-story by mini-story is the best kind of reading and the most painful. The lesson? Patience. For all the comic fans, especially the ones who were living this life way before I now do, what a lesson to learn.
Yesterday, I walked into the store to pick up issue 60 with my son– leaving with a big smile and the delayed gratification of sitting on the couch with a cup of tea to indulge in the next story that evening. I settled in for which I was rewarded with a phenomenal story and the next “please be patient” author’s note that issue 61 will hit stores in January 2023. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I can be patient. I do have the entire collection to re-read for the fourth time.
In fact, the best defense is a good offense. So as I count down to the release of volume 10 in October, I’ll backwards plan a re-read of the series. Then maybe in between October and January I’ll finally start working on cosplaying Alana or Izabel to stay connected to what is one of the most epic series of all time. Now, coming from a bookish gal like myself, a statement like that might seem devalued because I love all books, but no really, Saga is truly one of the most epic series of all time. As in, each of these cliches is true:
If I were trapped on a desert island and had to choose only a few books to bring, the Saga series would be one.
Every re-read of the series offers new insight. I would know, since I rarely re-read anything and I’ve re-read this series three times so far.
Authors and illustrators are my rock stars and thus, I look forward to the day where I can meet Staples and Vaughan.
The best things come to those who wait. I’ll be over here patiently waiting for the issues… and that meet-up.
The creativity, artwork, writing, story arcs, characters, social commentary, and allusions to name a few elements are the building blocks of great reading. Heck, the fandom seeped it’s way into a Taco Bell commercial. People have tattoos of characters. Hats-off to this winning team. I’ll be over here in your cheerleading section… patiently waiting.
What a June! Finishing up the second wackiest school year and moving into a brand new library while teaching two graduate young adult literature courses and that’s just the professional side. But putting in the work this month means there will be smoother transitions in the fall and a comfortable summer.
Does that mean I didn’t read? Heck no! The pull to read is strong and has similarities to what I’ve learned is another habit- procrasti-baking: when I’ve got a lot to do, I bake instead. Reading though like baking is actually a necessary element to working through the busy times. It’s a chance to be intentional, thoughtful, reflective, quiet. Here were some of my favorites with a one-word shout out in no particular order:
Witch Hat Atelier volume 9 by Shirahama:
Witchy
Dessert Can Save the World by Tosi:
Delicious
Columbine by Cullen:
Riveting
The Puzzler by Jacobs:
Thorough
The Aquanaut by Santat:
Adventurous
Carrie by King:
Dramatic
Swim Team by Christmas:
Heartwarming
All Signs Point to Yes edited by Montgomery, White, Davis:
Readers Be Advised 