Everything Changes by Samantha Hale

Category: 50 Books

everythingchanges This was a sweet YA novel about a teenager, Raven, who comes out to her friends and family. I thought the author did a good job of writing Raven as an unsure teen experiencing her first crush. Everyone remembers their first crush and how awkward the teen years can be.

I really liked Raven. She’s trying to figure out if she should come out to her friends and worrying how they will react. Will they hate her? Will they think she’s attracted to them? Will this ruin all of her relationships? She’s under a lot of pressure.

Her crush/girlfriend, Morgan, came off as kind of pushy. Morgan is in college and also out to her friends and family so I liked that there was some conflict between the two of them, but I also did not like how Morgan kept running hot or cold about Raven still being in the closet.

I just wish she had been more understanding. Other than that, it was a really sweet book and I was glad to see more young adult LGBT fiction available.

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The Gospel According to Monty Python by Julian Doyle

Category: 50 Books

Julian Doyle has worked with the Pythons on several things and edited The Life of Brian so his Python cred is pretty high. The parts of this book that I really enjoyed are when he discusses TLoB, scenes that were cut or changed, the making of the film, I loved those bits. I even liked the religious and historical parts where he talks about scenes from the movie and how they picked which religious/historical thing to make fun of. All of that I loved.

The sections I did not like were the many bits where he goes on about the Bible having wrong parts or lies or whatnot in it. I mean, if you want to call shenanigans on the Bible, fine, do that, but do you need to do it in a book about The Life of Brian and stick Monty Python in the title? I just didn’t see the point to those long-winded sections being in a comedy book.

The Life of Brian is hilarious, brilliant satire. This book, aside from the film-making parts, is not that entertaining. I feel like it’s just an atheist (I have no idea if Julian Doyle is atheist or not.) complaining about the Bible, and why would an atheist even care? And if it’s that he cares because so many wars and other social injustices come about because of religion, then write that book.

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Only the Dead by Vidar Sundstøl

Category: 50 Books

onlythedead

This is the second book in Vidar Sunstøl’s Minnesota Trilogy. The first was The Land of Dreams, and I suggest you read that first. Only the Dead would not be as enjoyable going into it with no previous knowledge of the mystery or the flashbacks. This one picks up a couple of months after the first book and continues with Lance Hansen thinking that his brother may or may not have murdered a Norwegian tourist.

This book is much shorter, but it’s the perfect length because the story is so intense. Lance and his brother, Andy, go hunting like they do every year, only this year Lance doesn’t trust Andy. So the hunting scenes become so emotionally heightened because is Lance right about his brother, or is he just paranoid? Then, to make things even more frenzied, the weather is below freezing so the rain turns the forest into ice, and I swear to you that the writing is so good that I was shivering in my comfy chair WITH A BLANKET.

The historical flashbacks in the book also pick up with the ones from the first book with the mystery of what happened to the Ojibwe native, Swamper Caribou. And that story is also filled with freezing weather so you get no relief from vivid descriptions of extreme cold. But like I said, since the book is only about 150 pages, it’s the perfect length, any longer would be too harsh.

The writing was so good, the story so intense that I’m not even upset by the cliffhanger ending. I’m so excited for the next book I cannot WAIT to see how both of the stories turn out.

 

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Work Stories

Category: Uncategorized

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“Jaimie, did you mark your vacation on the work calendar?”

“Um. Yes.”

“Why do you look guilty?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking-”

“JAIMIE.”

“What. You said-”

“Jaimie.”

“I did what-”

“How many times do I have to tell you the stickers are for the children?”

“I feel like more than once, for sure.”

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Paul Robeson: A Biography by Martin Duberman

Category: 50 Books

Spoiler alert: THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD.

I was kind of worried that the length of this book was going to get to me, but oh man, this book is so good. Paul Robeson’s life was interesting for sure, never a dull moment, so any biography on him is going to be good. Add to that Martin Duberman’s great writing, and you’ve got a book that is a total package of interesting AND entertaining.

If you look at this book and think it’s probably too long or possibly boring, I encourage you to give it a shot. Paul Robeson’s life is fascinating from start to finish. He’s the son of a former slave/preacher, a sports star, a singer, a movie star, and an amazing civil rights activist. The HUAC ruined his career, but he still fought for his beliefs. He was incredible!

Do yourself a favor and read this book.

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Library Stories

Category: Uncategorized

“Do you have anything more recent than this?” She asks while handing me a book.

“Let’s see, something more recent than the 2014 Baby Name Almanac?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”
Then slam my hand in a drawer to feel something other than contempt for humankind.

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The Common Thread by Jaime Maddox

Category: 50 Books

commonthread I can dig a romance book every now and then because sometimes you don’t want a complicated story. You just want to read about some folks gettin’ it on, or whatnot. Other than the overly complicated plot (the whole drug dealer/murder plot was insanely unbelievable) and the plot device children, I did like the characters and the love stories part. Yeah, stories, plural. This book is a two-fer.

The Katie/Jet relationship is sort of mostly established as the story begins. The Nic/Rae love story is main love story, I’d say. These characters are all very likable, even though at first Nic is a bit spoiled, I guess. But there’s growth, and I always like that.

There is a plot twist that I will not talk about so as not to spoil it, but it has all the characters meeting each other to make one big cohesive story. There was one thing (other than the unbelievable drug/murder story line) that bugged me and that was ALL the characters seemed to own a lake house.

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Broadchurch by Erin Kelly, Chris Chibnall

Category: 50 Books

broadchurch I have not watched the series on BBC, but I really wanted to read this book because Erin Kelly is an amazing writer, and I really wanted to see what she’d do with a novelization of such a visual medium like TV.

No surprise, she nails it.

The mystery takes place in a small town called Broadchurch, where everyone knows everyone. 11 year-old Danny Lattimer’s body is found on the beach beneath some cliffs. The town is absolutely crushed by this murder. The lead detectives, Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller are at odds on how to solve the crime because Hardy is new in town and thinks everyone is a suspect, and Ellie, whose son was Danny’s best friend,  has lived here her whole life and finds it difficult to imagine that anyone in the town could have done such a horrible thing as murder a child.

The first half of the book is a slow burn of getting to know all the characters in the face of the terrible murder. It very much reminded me of the TV show The Killing, with the grief-stricken parents and the way the whole town becomes suspect of each other.

The second half of the book moves more quickly when the main suspects get cleared, and once again the mystery picks up. The end of the book is like a wave of cold water to the face. It is absolutely gut-wrenching. The emotions and heartbreak are practically tangible, and by the end I felt like I’d been dragged through a key hole.

This book is available September 16. If you like moody mysteries put this book in your face.

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Patron story

Category: Uncategorized

A lady came up to the desk with our copy of today’s local newspaper and she says to me she says, “I’m taking this.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
We don’t allow the newspapers to be checked out, but also she didn’t ask to check it out.
“I’m gonna take this home, but I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”
Then I crushed her dreams for the evening by telling her she couldn’t take our paper home.
“But I’ll bring it back.”
“I’m sure you will, it’s just policy. None of our papers are allowed to leave the library.”
“Well. I guess that’s okay”

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The One About ArtSnacks

Category: dribblings

 

I’ve started keeping a sketchbook/art journal this year. It is not filled with masterpieces, and it’s not even filled with ideas for paintings. It’s mostly filled with doodles/things that entertain me. In fact, most of the things in it aren’t very good at all, but I’d say that 90% of it makes me smile or even giggle.

And guys, this is a struggle for me, okay? Cos for the most part, sketches and such haven’t been about fun, it’s been a means to an end, it’s practice, it’s a way to work out a problem for whatever “real” piece I’m working on. Having some fun and making myself laugh, with art, is… it’s just new.

So this art journal I’ve been toting around, it’s small. It’s a 5″x8″ Moleskine sketch book, and stop rolling your eyes okay? I’m not a huge fan of the Moleskines, but it’s small and self-contained and the little folder in the back is handy for my small ruler and collage bits. I do wish the paper in it was more substantial, but whatever. A 5″x8″ sketch book is wicked hard to use because it is SMALL. I’m not used to small and I feel like we weren’t allowed to work small in art school (remember how big was really important?) so I never really worked on small things other than doodles you draw on the margins of paper while you talk on the phone.

I’ve been playing around with this art journal for 6 months, and it’s been fun trying out new pens and pencils, but I kinda hit a block. I kept thinking that I needed to keep going out of my comfort zone. Try something new. But what? Art shit is expensive. I don’t want to buy new stuff and then hate it and never use it again. So four or five months ago I kept noticing some posts on tumblr.com about ArtSnacks.

ArtSnacks is a monthly subscription service, like a magazine, but instead of getting a magazine every month they send you 4 or 5 different art supplies. And here’s the thing, you never know what you’re getting. It’s a SURPRISE. So I thought, hey, that’s what you need. You need to step out on a limb and let OTHER people, TOTAL STRANGERS, send you art supplies. They don’t know you, they don’t know what kind of art you do, so whatever they send is going to be out of your comfort zone cos you don’t get to pick anything out!

I know what you’re thinking, “HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE NOT KNOWING?”
Honey, I know. It sounds terrible.
If just the thought of someone else picking out your art supplies (how particular are you about pens and pencils, right?) breaks you out in hives, I know the feeling. Signing up for it made me sick. Not because I thought I was going to get ripped off, nay, go back and look at the previous months’ ArtSnacks they’ve sent, and you’ll see that they send out really cool shit. But making art is personal, so the tools you use to make art are also personal. And to have strangers pick out tools for you?
Hives, right?

So while I was sick about it I also knew that signing up for this would be good for me. And, the thing is, it HAS been good for me. Last month I was sent a pencil sharpener, a bottle of purple ink, a black watercolor pencil, and a thin brush. Oh my God. What the hell do you do with purple ink? I don’t know.
After worrying about it for a week I finally just sat down with it (and a beer, y’know, for nerves) and an old watercolor sketchbook, and I just… played around with it.

purpleink1 Well look at that hot mess. I am cringing just looking at it. I’m cringing knowing that now I’ve shared it online, chances are, someone else is going to SEE it. Gah, talk about hives breaking out.

But there it is. I played around with some art stuff. I even tried to make a “real” piece with it later on.

purpleink2

And while it’s no great shakes, I was still pleased with myself for trying something and finishing something. And this is exactly what I was wanting from ArtSnacks.

When I opened this month’s box I saw a tube of paint, a brush, and some brush cleaner and thought to myself, “Ha! I’m a painter! I know what to do with paint! I win THIS round, ArtSnacks!”
But there was something else in the box. Something I’d never seen before.  It was a small collapsible canvas from geniecanvas.com.
Small.
It’s 6″x4″ which is smaller than my sketchbook, my sketchbook that I’ve already mentioned as being painfully small. So it’ll be like painting a postcard.

ArtSnacks, you magnificent bastards, you did it again.

ArtSnacks: 2 fleegan.com: 0

I’ll post my tiny painting as soon as these hives clear up.

 

 

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