Too Funny

I found this link care of Becky at RA for All.  Fake Library Stats is the funniest thing I've seen in ages.  I wish I'd thought of it, but baring that, I'm glad someone did.  'Cause this is what life is like at the library and we could all use a good laugh.

Continuing Education for Librarians

I saw a conversation on LinkedIn ... someone was asking for info on MOOCs and other continuing ed opportunities for librarians.  Continuously  trying to rack up CEUs and stay relevant/on top of things while working and having a life can be exhausting. So here is a link to a library science list of free on-line course for librarians.  They cover everything from cataloging to Web 2.0.  I'm sure there's more stuff out there. I'll post them on my libraries & librarians page as I find them.

Book Review Friday: The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches

What happened to April?
          I haven't got the foggiest notion.  It went by in a blur, didn't it?

But, back to business....

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches is the latest Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley.   At the end of the last book, Speaking from Among the Bones, Flavia and her family received some shocking news.  In this book the family tries to cope with the results of that revelation. But there is still a mystery to solve, who was the mysterious man at the train station who was pushed under the train and killed?  And why did he tell Flavia to warn her father that "the Gamekeeper is in jeopardy" just before he was killed? 

The mystery is a little less important here than the overall changes happening to Flavia and her family.  Flavia is growing up and momentous things are obviously in store for her, and sometimes the mystery seems to take a back seat.  But Flavia is still her precocious, brilliant, poison-loving self and the story is well-worth your time.

Full disclosure, I began by listening to the audio book and it nearly drove me insane.  During the course of the story, the author introduces us to Undine, Flavia's six-year-old cousin.  The whiny, obnoxious voice reader, Jayne Entwhiste uses for Undine got under my skin from the very first line she uttered and kept me from enjoying the story.  Once I set aside the audio and picked up the print I was in love with Flavia once more. 

To truly enjoy this series you must start at the beginning with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  For my review of that book click here.  Although the main character is an eleven-year-old girl, you'll find these books on the adult side of the library, not in the children's department.  The stories are well-plotted cozy mysteries with quirky friends, neighbors, and victims.  While the overarching story arcs regarding Flavia's missing mother and what will happen to the family's ancestral home are finally resolved in The Dead in their Vaulted Arches, there are still questions Flavia wants answered, and Bradley has four more books under contract with his publisher.


If you enjoy the Flavia de Luce Mystery series, you might like:

The Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny
The Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King
The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
The Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer

Book Review Friday: Assisted

 

 

Assisted: An Autobiography by John Stockton with Kerry L. Pickett

Foreword by Karl Malone

 

From an intensely private person comes the remarkable story of a life well lived.

At 6'1" John Stockton was an unlikely choice for an NBA star, but looks can be deceiving.  In this autobiography Stockton describes the choices he made and the assistance he received as he used determination and hard work to become a world-class athlete.

 

Stockton tells his whole story, covering the entirety of his life including his parents and heritage, his school years, his siblings, early sports training, his romance with college sweetheart and now wife of over 25 years, Nada Stepovich, their family of 6, and his 19 year career as a guard for the Utah Jazz.  His personal insights reveal a remarkably humble and grateful man who was able to keep his head and his humility as he rose to the top of his profession by focusing on family, faith, hard work, and giving back.

 

Stockton's co-writer is his friend, coach, and business partner Kerry L. "Coach" Pickett.  Pickett coached Stockton's 6th grade basketball team in 1973.  Later he directed the basketball camps that Stockton established, now he is director of the Warehouse, a community sports facility in Spokane, Washington also established by Stockton as a way of giving back to his home town.

 

John Stockton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 in Springfield, Massachusetts the same year as C. Vivian Stringer, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.

 

 

An excellent choice for sports fans or someone looking for an inspirational well-written biography with no tell-all scandals required.  Of special interest to basketball fans and anyone interested in the Olympic Gold winning dream teams in 1992 and 1996. 

Book Review Friday: Destiny of the Republic

I have a confession to make.  This may be the first book I have finished this year.  I've started several, but this is the first one that's held my interest long enough to make me want to finish it.


Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, an the Murder of a President by Candice Millard is a riveting account of the assassination of the United States' 20th president, James A. Garfield.  Millard uses primary sources including letters, newspaper articles, and medical records to reconstruct what happened that fateful summer of 1881.  She uses an engaging narrative style that makes the history come alive as she describes Garfield's early life as well as the life of is assassin Charles Guiteau and leads the reader along the path as Garfield served in the civil war, rising to the rank of general and then came out of nowhere to win the Republican nomination in 1880.  Interwoven through the story of the assassination are vivid descriptions of the politics and politicians of the time and curiously, the story of Alexander Graham Bell, who's obsession with invention and innovation led him to try to create a device that might have saved President Garfield's life.

I listened to the audio book, narrated by Paul Michael.  Michael has an excellent voice and the narration is excellent, although I found some of the "voices" he used for the various characters distracting, the overall presentation of the materials was good.

Favorite Things: Purdue OWL

One of my favorite go-to resources is the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.  The Purdue OWL site has info on general writing, research and citations, ESL, subject specific writing issues, and much more.  Have a student with a writing question?  Check out OWL.

I May be Allergic to Snow

I've gotten nothing done lately from a blogging point of view ... I'll blame the weather ... It's a convenient sort of catchall.  I haven't actually broken out in hives yet, but it may happen the next time the weatherman says that four-letter-word. 

We're all sick of snow.  Even the guys who drive the snow plows are about ready to call it quits. 

I think it's time to start looking up some summer themed books.  Maybe that will shake me out of these winter blahs. 

In the meantime, out back in the herb garden box:  the chives have started to sprout!  Hooray for spring!