Tagged with

Secret of the Old Clock, the

Thu, 11/25/2010 - 3:20pm by jenna

author:

Keene, Carolyn

I must have read Nancy Drew stories as a kid, but I have no memory of it. Isn't it funny that you can spend hours of your life doing something and not remember it? Anyway, for whatever reason I decided I needed to read a Nancy Drew and like any good book junkie, I wanted to start with the first of the series. Originally published in 1930, The Secret of the Old Clock is terribly quaint, but Nancy is no delicate flower. In this installment she changes a flat tire nearly rescues herself by force from a locked closet. The whole time I was reading it, I was seeing it as found theater. I am half tempted to stage a reader's theater version starring members of Radical Reference, including one person narrating.

reviewdate:

Nov 24 2010

isn:

0-7651-1728-2

author gender:

female

book type:

free:

mysteries

medium:

books

Zinester's Guide to NYC

Mon, 11/22/2010 - 3:43pm by jenna

author:

Halliday, Ayun

When you're an anti-consumption mainstream-culture-eschewing car-hating vegan it's highly unusual and extremely gratifying to read a travel guide written expressly for your weird demographic. Even those who loved to shop and think no trip to NYC is complete without seeing Phantom and dining at the Hard Rock Café should find some stuff they'll want to do in here, much as I hope they don't. There are plenty of kid-friendly activities listed in the guide, but be warned, the f-bomb gets dropped 25 times in the book, more if you count Fly's signature spellings, "fck" and "fckn." While we're counting words, those orthodox in their food choices will rejoice as I did that the word "vegan" appears 85 times in the 256 page book.

Read the rest of the review.

reviewdate:

Nov 21 2010

isn:

978-1-934620-46-5

free:

Librarian crush of the indefinite period: Barbara Fister

Wed, 11/17/2010 - 2:16pm by jenna

My tombstone, if I were going to have one, would read, "She cataloged zines." And nothing else. I am a very lame, boring, work-obsessed person. That is why I like to profile awesome librarians who do things other than librarianize. Today’s entry is Barbara Fister: faculty librarian, writer, anarchist.

free:

Clockwork Angel: the Infernal Devices, Book One

Wed, 11/17/2010 - 1:04pm by jenna

author:

Clare, Cassandra

There are cyclons in Victorian England. Other dangers include emotionally unavailable hottie demon slayers, wayward brothers, and the usual supernatural suspects (vampires, warlocks, werewolves). 16-year-old shapeshifting Tessa Gray is a likable protagonist, and the other characters, both naughty and nice, are both naughty and nice, meaning that the good guys have their flaws, and you have some understanding or respect for the bad guys. This is the first installment in what the annoying (how do you turn off the sound?!?) website indicates will be a trilogy. It does read like exposition and denouements, but doesn't end.

Quotations:

"Anger, Tessa thought, was satisfying in its own way, when you gave in to it. There was something peculiarly satisfying about shouting in a blind rage until your words ran out.

"Of course, the aftermath was less pleasant. Once you'd told everyone you hated them and not to come after you, where exactly did you go?" p.306

reviewdate:

Nov 17 2010

isn:

978-1-4169-7586-1