Tahleen remembers Summer Reading at the library

As a public youth librarian, I have the great honor and responsibility of organizing and executing the Summer Reading Program, along with my director and the children's librarian. This week I'll be going to the public school to tell my young patrons all about it, and I can't help but remember the summer reading programs of my youth.

It was one of my favorite things about summer. I was a voracious reader, and summer was that magical time where I could literally lie in bed for 6 hours and read an entire book. And back then, I didn't have a TBR or the Internet to tell me which books were good or bad, or which authors were popular. I browsed freely and often, finding books on the library shelves based solely on the back descriptions, and maybe a recommendation from a friend every once in a while.

And the excitement of the prizes! I loved filling out my little sheet with each book I read, earning myself raffle entries for gift certificates and other prizes from local businesses. Sometimes I would even get the call that I had won something, and I would beg my mom to bring me to the library so I could pick it up.

Funnily enough, the summer reading program for the kids in the town where I work is similar to what I remember from my childhood. I am hoping these kids will remember this summer reading program as fondly as I remember my own.

Did you all take part in your library's summer reading program? What do you remember best about it? Or did you just love to boundless possibilities summer brought?

Top Ten Books Daisy & Kimberly Read So Far This Year

To learn more about Top Ten Tuesday or see the list of future topics click here.

Daisy's Picks

Eon by Alison Goodman: I read this for book club and it was AMAZING! I can't believe I waited this long to read it!

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: why yes I love me some Robin Hood retelling and Scarlet was just a whole lot of YES!

Unhinged by A.G. Howard: I LOVE this series and cannot wait for the third book to come out because holy crap that ending was cruel.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: so you can all told-you-so me because I was REALLY hesitant to read this but everyone and their aunt was raving about it and I gave in and it was GLORIOUS.

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley: there hasn't been a lot of buzz about this one, but it is seriously awesome and if you like fantasy you should put it on your TBR list!

Kimberly's Picks

Cress by Marissa Meyer: Okay, I really liked Cinder and Scarlett. But Cinder? My absolute favorite out of the three. Cress is positively adorable. The other characters remain amazing, and I loved their interactions with each other. As each character is discovered and added to the group, the more I love the story. 

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas: Loved the first book. This one was just as wonderful, maybe even better? I CANNOT wait for the next book! 

New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd: Now, if you've read my blog or follow me on twitter, you know how much I love New York. I'm also a total history geek. I house-sat for a relative. What was I most excited about? They have the history channel. Anyway, this book tells the story of New York, from it's earliest days of Dutch settlers, all the way up to the events of 9/11. I grew to love the families I was introduced to. I learned SO MUCH from this about the history of the city. I was googling stuff every few pages. 

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein: This was a tough read, but like the first book, the writing is wonderful. Letters on a page transformed into fully realized people. The harsh landscape of their world was detailed and gritty. Their friendships were beautifully, and painfully, real. I was invested in all of them. 

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor: Picture this. Me, 3 am, sitting my bed, book in hand, tears streaming. Okay. Maybe DON'T picture that. Ha. But this book. This was one of those that doesn't connect with everyone. No book does. But this book slammed into me. It pulled me in, broke my heart and warmed it all at once. 

Tell us what books are your favorites this year!! 

Daisy's Review of Don't Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley

Title/Author: Don't Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley
Publisher/Date published: HarperTeen, April 22nd 2014
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: All her life, Imogene has been known as the girl on THAT blog.

Imogene's mother has been writing an incredibly embarrassing, and incredibly popular, blog about her since before she was born. Hundreds of thousands of perfect strangers knew when Imogene had her first period. Imogene's crush saw her "before and after" orthodontia photos. But Imogene is fifteen now, and her mother is still blogging about her, in gruesome detail, against her will.

When a mandatory school project compels Imogene to start her own blog, Imogene is reluctant to expose even more of her life online... until she realizes that the project is the opportunity she's been waiting for to tell the truth about her life under the virtual microscope and to define herself for the first time.

So I was actually really excited to start this book because reading about a girl whose the star of her mother's blog just sounds really interesting and I'm always interested in reading a book that has blogging in it. Let's just say that Don't Call Me Baby wasn't really what I'd expected. Some of my thoughts on the book:

-Imogene's mother is HORRIBLE! I mean, WTF, seriously? You can't post all these embarassing things about your daughter on your blog and expect her to be ok with it. Seriously. And why the heck isn't her dad doing something about it? I really felt that Imogene's grandmother was the only adult who actually had some sense, she was cool.

-I disliked that blogging is put in such a negative light, because well, not every blogger is the same and we're not all in it for the fame and money and just, UGH ok. I was annoyed. I get that Imogene didn't like her mom blogging about her, but blogging isn't evil.

-I did think that Imogene and her best friend made some valid points about privacy and the internet and how parents should really not put their kids' whole lives up on the internet for everyone to see. And sometimes I wish I could unplug for a while and just live in the moment, I did that while I was on Mallorca last year and it was awesome.

-I was REALLY not digging the boy. I mean, he's all like 'don't be so hard on your mom cause at least she's paying attention to you' and I was like DUDE UNCOOL! And also: unrealistic. What teenager would tell another teenager that it's ok for their parents to post about them in full detail?

-I didn't really like how it was resolved towards the end, there was all this drama and then it just ended with a bit of a fizzle.

It was a pretty quick read, but it wasn't as much fun as I'd expected and some things really annoyed me, which was a disappointment as I'd heard good things about Gwendolyn Heasley's other books.

My rating: 2 stars

Broke and Bookish Book Haul for 5/25 - 6/7

Daisy's Book Haul

Bought:
Only one book landed in my mailbox this week, but it's one I'm really excited about:
Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta: I loved Finnikin of the Rock! I haven't read Froi of the Exiles yet, but I just needed to have this one ready for when I finally do get around to continuing this series.

Egalleys for Review:
- by Amy Ewing: this world sounds fascinating, so I'm hoping this will be awesome!
-Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang: I'm thinking heartbreaking and compelling story, so I'm in.
-The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas: OMG ALL THE EXCITEMENT!! I couldn't click that button fast enough when I saw this on Edelweiss! LOVED The Burning Sky and can't wait to read more about Iolanthe and Titus!
-Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes: this just sounds like a whole lot of fun put into a book, so obviously I want to read it.
-A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray: parallel worlds and mystery and all that: YES!
-Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas: this sounds like a cute contemporary and I love those.
-Remember Me by Romily Bernard: so I haven't read Find Me yet, but I've heard really good things about it.
-Crashland by Sean Williams: I'm ashamed to say I haven't read Twinmaker yet either, but this series sounds really good and I'm excited to start it soon!
-Deliverance by C.J. Redwine: this sounds like SUCH a Daisy series, maybe it's better if I can just binge read them?
-Clariel by Garth Nix: so yes, I will finally get it together and read this series!
-The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien: I really like the author's writing, and a school doing something to you while you sleep is just creepy and needs to be read!
-The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory: I loved Mercedes Lackey's The Fairy Godmother and this has a lady sailor! And pirates! I'm SO in!
-Age of Iron by Angus Watson: I think this will make my fantasy loving heart very happy!

Bookish Deals (36)

Hello! Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to today's biweekly edition of Bookish Deals where I (Julia) try to scour the Internet to find you guys an array of deals to fit in with any budget!



Firelight by Kristen Callihan - $1.99
AZ | BN

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

I  love this series. This is the first book. I even reviewed it ;)



The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro - $1.99
AZ | BN

London, 1955: Grace Monroe is a fortunate young woman. Despite her sheltered upbringing in Oxford, her recent marriage has thrust her into the heart of London's most refined and ambitious social circles. However, playing the role of the sophisticated socialite her husband would like her to be doesn't come easily to her—and perhaps never will.

Then one evening a letter arrives from France that will change everything. Grace has received an inheritance. There's only one problem: she has never heard of her benefactor, the mysterious Eva d'Orsey.

So begins a journey that takes Grace to Paris in search of Eva. There, in a long-abandoned perfume shop on the Left Bank, she discovers the seductive world of perfumers and their muses, and a surprising, complex love story. Told by invoking the three distinctive perfumes she inspired, Eva d'Orsey's story weaves through the decades, from 1920s New York to Monte Carlo, Paris, and London.

But these three perfumes hold secrets. And as Eva's past and Grace's future intersect, Grace realizes she must choose between the life she thinks she should live and the person she is truly meant to be.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - $1.99
AZ | BN

The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.

Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - $1.99
AZ | BN

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, completed in the winter of 1949 and published in 1950, tells the story of four ordinary children: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. They discover a wardrobe in Prof. Digory Kirke's house that leads to the magical land of Narnia, which is currently under the spell of a witch. The four children fulfill an ancient, mysterious prophecy while in Narnia. The Pevensie children help Aslan (the Turkish word for lion) and his army save Narnia from the evil White Witch, who's reigned over the Narnia in winter for 100 years.

Summer Reading

Found on Google Image

Summer reading is my favorite kind of reading.  Hands down.  Granted, curling up on the couch under a heavy quilt and reading during the winter is pretty cozy.  But summer reading is even better.

My favorite thing to do in the summer is wake up naturally without an alarm (but still somehow early, maybe even earlier than I normally would wake up) and have the entire day open for reading.  Granted, this only happens on the weekend--stupid job--but maybe that helps me enjoy it more.  Anyway, I'm up.  I have all the time in the world.  I can make my coffee and relax.  I can go grab soft warm donuts.  I can throw open the window and let the sunlight and warm air stream in.  Or I can crank up the AC.  Then I work my way around the room.  I usually start off stretched out on the couch.  Once I make my coffee I move over to the chair because there's a side table.  At some point I am probably sitting on the floor.  Freedom.  Pages turned.  Amazing.

But also with summer, you have a greater variety in where you can read.  I love reading outside.  Sometimes I'll drag out one of our porch chairs and sit on the porch.  This kind of sucks because we live on the first floor and passersby will think that I want to make conversation.  I also like going to Starbucks and sitting at their outside tables, sipping a cool drink.

Summer is also the time where you go on trips.  Then you really have no schedule and you can just wake up naturally and read.  Camping is a great time to get more reading done because there is (blissfully!) no TV and no computers to tempt you.  The beach is also great because you get some sun while you lay out and read.

For me, it doesn't even matter what I read during the summer.  One year I polished off the entire Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series in about a week.  Other times I have read massive chunky fiction or chick lit or non-fiction.  It doesn't matter.  I feel freer in my reading during the summer than at any other points throughout the year.

What about you?  How do you feel about summer reading?

Top Ten Books That Will Be In Daisy's Beach Bag This Summer

To learn more about Top Ten Tuesday or see the list of future topics click here.

My vacation is in June this year and I LOVE reading on the beach, so here's what I'm bringing:

17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen: this sounds like a super cute contemporary, AKA a perfect beach read.

Lady Windermere's Lover by Miranda Neville: I like Miranda Neville's writing and I love reading romance novels in the sun.

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson: I've heard great things about Tiger Lily and am really curious about this one!

On the Fence by Kasie West: Kasie West is awesome. So I need this in my beach bag. And also: cute contemporaries make for the best summer reads!

For All Time by Jude Devereaux: I LOVED the first book in her Nantucket Brides series, and as I said before: romance + sun = awesome.

Eona by Alison Goodman: we read Eon for book club and Eona is our June read and OMG I JUST NEED TO READ IT BECAUSE EON WAS SOOOOOO GOOD!

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson: but only if someone tells me it won't make me cry! I've heard her books are tear-inducing and crying on the beach is a bit awkward.

A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey: because it's a witchy book and I love (good) witchy books.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I'm guessing this will be in more bags than only mine. I read Love in Times of Cholera on the beach in Italy and it worked perfectly, so I'm thinking I'll do the same with this one.

A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin: but only if I can still carry my bag after adding this one cause it's HUGE! But I promised Kelly and Kimberly I'd start it soon, so I'll try!

That's it for me, what's in your beach bag? Anything I should add and explain to the nice people at the airport that my bag is overweight because I just HAD to add another book?