The Dreamer's Oasis

#ilovemyjob La Dolce Vita!

Annie — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:36:58 +0000

Yes, I know this isn't from the movie La Dolce Vita but I liked this image better!

So my coworker and I have decided to learn Italian. With all the resources we have, not to mention an Italian coworker who will be helping us along, this will be a breeze!

Check out what your local library has to offer!

#ILoveMyJob A Day of Helping the Elderly

Annie — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:16:26 +0000

Today I helped a very kind 92-year-old man figure out the complexities of eMedia and how he should go about downloading books to his Kindle.

Just another day in the life of a librarian!

eMedia Madness!!!

Check out some ebooks at your local library!

#ILoveMyJob Day 2: Surrounded by Knowledge

Annie — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:42:01 +0000

So every morning when I get to work I have to go through our shelves and pull the materials that people request online from our catalog. I love this part of my day because I get to go through our collection and see all the great materials we have. I also get to see what people are checking out.

Here are some interesting finds from this morning:

This one just looks like a fun read!

and

I never got to watch it when it was on but I've heard GREAT things!

I love my job because I’m surrounded by all this knowledge. Whatever I feel like exploring that day I can find on our shelves. You gotta love the library for that!

Explore the knowledge at your local library today!!!

#ILoveMyJob Day 1: Learning to Juggle

Annie — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 01:25:45 +0000

Because I’m needing some positivity in my life at the moment, I have decided to create a series of posts involving reasons why I love my job!

Day 1: Learning to Juggle

One reason I love my job is I get to learn something new everyday. Today I had a program for my teens where a professional juggler came in and taught us how to juggle.

Just another day on the job for a teen librarian!

And no, we didn't juggle knives!

Check out what’s happening at your local library today!

Just a Day in the Life

Annie — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:22:16 +0000

A conversation between my brother and I via text messages while watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

Me: Oliver Wood… Where the hell did that guy go? He was all Scottish and fantastic!

George: And he could catch bludgeons… WITH HIS BARE HANDS!!!

Me: Bet he could take down dragons too! Maybe he later went on to star in How to Train Your Dragon?

George: You’re right! He kinda resembles the guy in the beginning, “AAAA!!! Mornin!”

Jessica Fletcher you are not!

Annie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:33:28 +0000

So as part of my new job I am in charge of the mystery collection. This is not a problem for me because I love mysteries! Growing up, I was that kid sitting in a dark corner reading Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes (or watching Murder She Wrote). Since all I’ve been reading is YA lately, I figured this would be a great time to dive back into the mysteries.

Well my first go around has not been successful. Let me tell you why… I decided to start off with what they call a “cozy mystery.” These books usually are a series revolving around one character and generally have a theme (which is reflected in the somewhat cheesy titles). Cozy mysteries are now considered the bread and butter of the mystery collection. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still find the occasional hard crime detective novel but the majority of collections these days are cozy. Sometimes they involve murder, but other times its just something’s missing that they have to find or what not.

Anyway, back to my disappointment.

The series I picked up centers around a coffeehouse and the manager of the coffeehouse. I like coffee and mystery so how could I go wrong, right? Wrong! I’m not exactly sure if this was the first mystery this author (or team of authors as I later found out) had ever written but it seemed like they have a lot to learn. It starts with an accident… or was it? Then the story constantly gets delayed with digressions on how to make different blends of coffee. The protagonist will have a meeting with a suspect but that’s all the author(s) will tell you until later on so you don’t get to try to solve the mystery with the protagonist. They leave you in the dark on purpose… probably because they know we’ll solve the mystery right away once we get the information. The novel was also a little pretentious with random thoughts on the struggles of life that came about from talking to another suspect (this time we found out what was said right away). Honestly, it was a mess! By the end, I was glad it was over and ready to try a different series.

I want to make this clear: NOT ALL COZY MYSTERIES ARE DISAPPOINTING! Unfortunately for me I started with a dud. I’m much more excited about my next one which follows… a crime solving librarian! I’ll let you know how it goes!

For more information on cozy mysteries check out this great site. While we’ve come a long way from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (who will always be my favorite!) we’ve gone in an interesting direction. On one end of the spectrum you’ve got the cozy mysteries. On the other side you have all the forensic mysteries (ex. Bones and CSI). Oh well, I’ve got a lot of interesting reading ahead of me!

Until next time!

Update…

Annie — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:02:23 +0000

Sorry for the delay! Life has been pretty crazy lately. In the past two weeks I have started work at a new library (still a teen librarian though!) and have joined the exciting world of Twitter (notice the Twitter feed to the right of the page). Time for reading has been scarce. Not for long though!

In other news…

For a Don’t Check it Out selection, this week’s choice is the disastrous Red Riding Hood by director Catherine Hardwicke. If you’ve read any of the reviews believe me when I say that most if not all of them are true. I felt like I was watching the first Twilight all over again… same awkward tension that is supposed to be sexy raging hormones. Maybe I’m just getting too old to really enjoy these types of movies. Then again, I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. This one was just not my cup of tea. Watch at your own risk (if you have to see it, wait till it comes out in Redbox at least).

Hopefully I’ll have a book review next time. Check out Twitter in the meantime.

Until next time!

Valentine’s Day Movie Fest

Annie — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:28:09 +0000

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching the usual sappy romantic movies are all over the place. While some may have a problem with this, me being the movie fanatic, I LOVE this time of year. So I figured I would create some movie lists for every mood during this festive holiday movie season.

For the hopeless romantic, there is no better way to spend your day than with the queen of the romantic comedy, Nora Ephron. Check out these great movies listed in no particular order:

You’ve Got Mail
Sleepless in Seattle
Julie and Julia
When Harry Met Sally

For those looking for classic romantic movies, check out:

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Philadelphia Story
An Affair to Remember
Roman Holiday
Holiday/ with Katherine Hepburn (I generally watch this around New Years but it’s too great not to mention)

For those looking for more mature love, check out:

It’s Complicated
Something’s Gotta Give
Harold and Maude

For Indie-type love stories, check out:

Paper Heart
You, Me, and Everyone We Know
Amelie (French film)
Pushing Daisies Season 1 and 2 (I know this isn’t really a movie nor is it really indie but this show was extremely underappreciated and a true gem!)
I’m With Lucy

For those not feeling the love this year, I give you a little crime, terror, and horror:

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Classic if you want a scare, New one if you want a laugh)
Paranormal Activity
Psycho (classic)
Fight Club
Boondock Saints (to get you ready for St. Patty’s Day)
Amityville Horror (original not the remake)
Kick Ass
He Loves Me He Loves Me Not (French film with the girl from Amelie)

This is in no way a comprehensive list. Just a few movies off the top of my head.

Until next time!

Check it Out: iDrakula

Annie — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:27:23 +0000

I know what you are thinking: ”Two posts in one day? She’s spoiling us!” Well I figured I owed it to you! Here is a book review I did for our library magazine on the title:

iDrakula by Bekka Black

Check out the latest trend in Young Adult Lit… The Cell Phone Novel!

Mina Murray is more than a little worried. Her friend Renfield was just carted off to a mental hospital. Her boyfriend Jonathan is on a business trip in Romania helping a strangely pale Count in a creepy castle with his move to New York. And now her best friend Lucy is acting a little stranger than normal. When Jonathan returns from Romania with a rare blood disorder and ranting about the Count and the undead things go from odd to unexplainable! Together with Lucy’s new boyfriend, pre-med student Abe Van Helsing, Mina plans on getting to the bottom of these mysterious happenings.

Black’s modern retelling of the classic horror story Dracula is new and innovative, told through text messages, emails, and web browsers without losing the mystery and suspense of the original story. While the characters have been updated to contemporary young adults and the language reflects “chat lingo” used with today’s technology, readers will enjoy the suspense and plot twists as they delve deeper into Mina’s emails and web searches. Black is successful in bringing Dracula to twenty-first century readers. Fans will enjoy this quick and exciting read!

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. It really was a quick read. And I liked what Black did with the characters. Anyone who’s read the classic might think they know Mina, Lucy, and Jonathan but Black puts a modern twist on the story. I liked it! Don’t miss this one.

Until next time!

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I checked this title out from my local library. You should do the same!

I Am Alive!!!

Annie — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 03:07:00 +0000

So contrary to popular belief I am still alive! Yes, I’m sure you are all gasping in relief. I could make some really pathetic excuses as to why I neglected this blog but lets just cut through all that and get to my small insignificant recap of 2010 (better late than never, right!).

Book I most enjoyed in 2010: While I read some really great titles, my personal favorite was Paper Towns by John Green. And before you start wondering, no it wasn’t just because I have a crazy author crush on John Green. The book itself was a mystery wrapped in poetic prose. I recommend it to all of my teens in my library and even though several of them don’t like to read anything but Bluford High, they love this one.

Book I least enjoyed in 2010: It’s a toss-up. While I really disliked the book Liar by Justine Larbalestier I respected the author and the writing style. I even loved the twist that I never saw coming. However, the honor has to go to Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. I’m really surprised I made it through. It dragged and dragged. I was not attached to any of the characters. I might even go so far to say that the reason I probably ended up finishing the book was because I hated a character so much that I waited for them to be killed off. But that’s way too morbid a thought so I’m going to just move on.

Most anticipated read of 2010: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I was not disappointed. While I didn’t love it as much as I loved the first two, I still was satisfied with the ending (can you guess what team I was on?)

Favorite movies of 2010: Catfish, Social Network, Inception, How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

I would just like to comment that I did not see a lot of movies this year so I am limited in my options.

Least favorite movies of 2010: Love and Other Catastrophes, Eat Pray Love, Clash of the Titans

2010 Personal Highlights:

I attended my very first ALA Annual Conference
I saw my author crush John Green at ALA
New job
Took my first solo road trip

So in conclusion, I am alive and hope to get back to posting more frequently. In the meantime you should check out these great titles!

Until next time!

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I checked most of these titles out from my local library. You should do the same!