Comfort Reading, it’s like comfort food, but better

As a teen librarian, it is part of my job to read a lot of teen fiction so that I know what I’m talking about when you come in and ask for a recommendation.  And honestly, that is one of the best parts of my job; there are so many great novels out there and more coming out every month. I try my best to keep on top of things, but even I can’t read them all!

As it happens though, one of the drawbacks of always having new books to read is that you rarely get the chance to re-read old favorites. I think that every reader has their own version of comfort reading, those books and stories that you revisit time and time again and they never fail to draw you and keep you entertained. One of my personal favorite comfort reads is the Harry Potter series.

Pi Day at Southeast Regional Library

What is Pi Day you ask? Why,March 14 of course!

3/14.

Get it? It’s alright, it takes a minute sometimes.

This year, we’ll celebrate Pi Day at the Southeast Regional Library on March 14 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. We’ll indulge in lots of round food like pizza and pie of course. We’ll also have a contest to see who can remember the most digits of pi.

Christmas Looks

It’s the holiday season! To celebrate Christmas and New Year’s cheer, I’ve put together a selection of makeup how-to’s from YouTube gurus. Enjoy!

Winter Wonderland by MakeupGeekTV

The makeup is a combo of blue and white. I really like the dramatic effect of the blending into the eye. This is more of a night-time look, so you can wear it to parties and such. Watch the video here.

Diwali

Last week was Diwali (or Dipawali), which is India’s most important holiday. It is also known as the Festival of Light, and even the name “Diwali” comes from the avali, or clay lamps (in the image above), that Indians light that represents the light inside us that keeps the darkness away. Interestingly enough, because it started out as a harvest festival, it actually now marks the beginning of a new financial year in India. There’s the Five Days of Diwali with specific activities such as cleaning and visiting family.

Eva Perry Teen Advisory Meeting

On Thursday, November 1, the Teen Advisory Meeting will happen at the Eva Perry Library at 7 p.m.  The meeting lasts an hour and will happen in the conference room.

The primary focus of this meeting is to plan our Hunger Games Festival which will happen on Thursday, November 29, at 7 p.m.  We will also discuss plans for year 2013.

 

Halloween Costumes from Books

This time of year is perfect for fantasy lovers! With Halloween around the corner, readers can easily transform into their favorite book character. For Harry Potter fans, it can be a tie, black gown and thick glasses. For Hunger Games followers, a bow and arrow in simple clothes may do (unless you can figure out a safe way to ignite a dress!). What about a little white powder and black eyeliner for a fashionable zombie? Maybe SewLolita’s Coraline doll (based on Neil Gaiman’s novel by the same name) will serve as inspiration. What other creative things could you do to turn a book character into a Halloween costume?

 

 

Bumper Crop of Fun!

Fall has begun with chilly nights and autumn leaves and of course, the North Carolina State Fair! One of my favorite books about fairs (beside Charlotte’s Web) is Squashed by Joan Bauer. A witty story set in rural Iowa, 16 year old Ellie has big plans: to grow the biggest pumpkin in the state (and lose 20 pounds). It’s part love story, part comedy with all sorts of fun characters mixed it. Pick it up for a relaxing read this fall.

And if you go to the fair, just be sure to check out who grew the largest  pumpkin at this year’s fair!

Little Red…

I love how many new interpretations of the fairy tales are around right now-from Grimm on television to Snow White and the Huntsman movie to BOOKS (!). These reinventions brings us back to childhood, but in a whole new gory/mind-bending way. I recently started reading Maria Tatar‘s history of the Grimm Brothers and found it fascinating. Here are some other books to explore (with links to the author’s websites):

DIY: Mussel Shell Earrings

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more earrings…but that doesn’t mean I can’t make them. The other day we had mussels for dinner and my dad was about to throw away the shells when I grabbed the whole bowl of them and ran away. “There has to be some sort of use for them…” I thought to myself.

So I attempted to make them into mussel shell earrings. It was slightly more difficult because I didn’t have a super small drill to drill a hole into the top, but I tried to make do.

DIY Mussel Shell Earrings (No Drilling Required)

Materials

-a mussel shell: take the two parts apart and wash them thoroughly. If you wish to get rid of the fishy smell you are welcome to, but I really don’t suggest spraying perfume on them since it mixes rather badly with the fish smell.
-silver nail polish. I used Sinful Color Professional silver nail polish. It’s kind of sparkly with a silver sheen.
-earring hooks
-beads: in the end I chose this silver shiny bead:)
-earring wire: it has this sort of head at the top so you can put the bead on and it stays without falling off.
-thin silver wire
-jewelry wire pliers and wire cutters

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

I have found an interesting trend regarding this particular movie: all the guys I know hated it and all the girls I know loved it. I have no clue why. Either way, I went to see The Hunger Games the week after it came out, and I personally really enjoyed the movie.

I don’t think a plot summary is entirely necessary for this review, but I’ll include a small one anyway. The dystopian country of Panem is divided up into the Capitol and 12 districts, each of which specializes in producing some product. As punishment for a previous uprising against the government, every year the districts each offer up a girl and boy tribute to compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a twisted survival TV show in which the tributes must fight to the death in an arena until only one winner remains. The book opens before that year’s reaping, or the selection of the tributes, where we meet our protagonist…

District 12 Has Awesome Hairstyles.

So…

I watched the Hunger Games!

I waited a week after the movie came out to watch it, and then I went and watched it twice. Though a bit too artsy for my liking, it didn’t disappoint. It was nothing like how I felt after Percy Jackson (ugh), and I’m looking forward to Catching Fire.

But this isn’t a movie review.

What I primarily noticed was the hairstyles, particularly the braids from District 12. So I had to come home…and try them on my sister (I have really layered hair so it never works on me D:).

A Frightful Servitude

Young Frightful on my Father's Shoulder

Have you ever heard the rule “If you find a baby bird on the ground, don’t pick it up”? I always thought that it was to protect the bird. When you live out where I do, wild critters… well, we name them and talk to them, but rarely do we feed them.

Spring Hair Tutorial: Braids and Sidebun

It’s practically spring, and here’s a fun hairstyle with braids and a side bun that you can wear anywhere!

Best for: Long straight hair with no layers. But I have medium length layered hair and I could pull it off–it’s just that there were some loose strands in places.

How to Wear It: Some outfit ideas.
-Wear it with: mint green skinny jeans, white/cream lace top, thick gray scarf, big sunglasses, nude pumps
-Wear it with: pretty floral dress, gladiator sandals
-Wear it with: big artsy (band) t-shirt, black skinny jeans, big statement necklace, nerd glasses, Toms
-Wear it with: white/cream flow-y top tucked into a ruffly skirt (floral or plain all work, best if darker color), thick brown belt around waist, cowboy boots

And of course these are just ideas. The possibilities are endless!

The End (or is it?)

That’s it! The submission deadline has come and gone, and the Poetry Contest is closed! I hope everyone got their poems in on time. Now comes the hard part…waiting.

Our Poetry Contest is Almost Over!

Only two days left to submit your poems!

Refill your coffee, break out your rough draft, and polish up those final versions: the end of the contest is almost here!

How to Prepare for the SAT

I realize I must not sound like the most trustworthy person to listen to in terms of how to avoid failing the SAT, but I hope you’ll read this anyway. : )

I guess I should give some background first. Last year I wrote a blog post detailing my marked lack of concern over my exam and my attempts to cram for the test in one week’s time, hopefully demonstrating to you readers that that is a horrible idea. This year I was far more concerned over how well I would do on my SAT, so I began to do practice tests from a Kaplan SAT book during winter break. After winter break a friend kindly lent me his Collegeboard SAT practice book, also known as “The Blue Book”, which gave me a lot more practice tests to do over the next 2/3 weeks until my exam. Last year I received a 1950 on my SAT, although I must point out that I fell asleep during the test due to circumstances I’d rather not get into. Over the summer my score on a practice test I arbitrarily took  mysteriously rose 100 points to a 2050. After three weeks of intense practice and review before my second SAT, I received a 2280 on the test. So how did I do it? Here is my advice.

Poetry Contest: Week 4

Wake County is still accepting submissions for our Teen Poetry Contest. Need some inspiration to get the writing ball rolling? Try this poetry resource for teens. You’ll find writing help, poetry guides, and even a discussion board.

War of the Books

Valerie - 2nd row, black jacket, reddish hair / Renee - 2nd row on Valerie's left, pale dress, demonically glowering eyes / Myself - first row, red dress

I am a proud vocal member of the Eva Perry Library’s Mock Printz book club. We read the YA books published each year, and inform the world which one the official committee should award that year’s Printz Medal to. You have never seen such cheerful militancy.

Poetry Contest: Week 2

It’s week two of our poetry contest! Still looking for some inspiration? Just pick a banner, any banner:

50′s Unconventional

It’s that time of year again, ladies! Time to light those candles and set out those Christmas crackers, time to bus your children downtown to Macy’s to see old Saint Nick and, above all, time to tune in! So turn up that shiny new radio and settle down, because you won’t want to miss this!

With us on Women’s Time today we have Mrs. Barbara Wilson, here to tell us about her own unusual choice of a Christmas tree. Barbara, I hear that instead of the traditional cut evergreen, you decided to build your family’s tree out of books, am I right?

Yes, yes I did! You see, it’s our family tradition to gather ‘round the tree every evening and read together, and I thought why not celebrate what really matters to us?

Perfectly reasonable, Mrs. Wilson, perfectly reasonable! So, tell me, exactly which books went into the making of this tree?

Well, of course I started with the Ladies Home Journal Compilation. I think it’s really quite fitting, using that book as the base, since it certainly is responsible for most of the cooking and decorating I do to make the holiday… And my little ones contributed a few of their ‘comic books’, which I added to humor them. And of course I have the traditional Christmas collection – Nothing like Christmas books to make a Christmas tree! A Christmas Carol is my personal favorite. I also included  From Here to Eternity, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, Farenheit 451, On the Road, The Communist Dream -

Aaand there’s our time for today, folks! Well thank you very much for speaking with us, ladies, that was Mrs. Barbara Wilson hailing from Smelton County, Virginia. We’ll conclude today’s programming with an old Christmas classic, rewritten just for Mrs. Wilson’s tree.

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Thou structure most sturdy,

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Please let me read thee

 

The sight of thee at Christmas-tide,

Spreads the written word far and wide,

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Thy paper branches doth beckon me

Thank you for listening, that’s all for this evening, but be sure to tune in next week for our Christmas Day broadcast!

(Here’s my book Christmas tree. Post a pic of yours below!)