Friday, June 1, 2012

June 1: Next On the List

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In my mind, the end of May signals the end of Spring, and that is fabulous. Not that Spring is bad; it's just the most frustrating of the months for me. My mind, body, and soul crave the summer sun, and when it goes back and forth between sunny warmth and chilly rain, it makes me want to explode!

The end of May also thankfully signals the end of the semester, and summer vacation begins! Ok, it's not real summer vacation, since I still have a 9 to 5 job that keeps me at a desk all day, but it means I don't have to schlep to Queens and write papers! Library school isn't too demanding, but once I have a vacation, I do realize it's more time consuming than I think. The end of the Spring 2012 semester marks my halfway point of earning my MLS—three semesters down and three to go. I can't wait to finish it!

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I've had the goal lately of reading what's already on my shelf instead of seeking out more books, and I've been pretty good at sticking to that. I just finished David Treuer's Rez Life, on Jill's recommendation at FizzyThoughts, and it was both fascinating and a little boring. I'm planning on really looking back through the book and taking a few notes for my post on it, because it has some really interesting points I want to remember. 

But that's where my stretch of reading what I own seems to end; I got a little Hold Happy on the NYPL site the other day, and now all my requests are coming in. I just started Christina Sunley's The Tricking of Freya, also on a long-ago recommendation of FizzyThoughts (geez, Jill, it's not even a contest of who I get most of my book recs from). Also on the immediate backburner: Are You My Mother?, Alison Bechdel's newest graphic memoir (I loved Fun Home) and The Half-Mammals of Dixie, a short story collection by George Singleton (a recommendation I'd starred long ago from BermudaOnion). So maybe none of these help clear off my own shelves, but at least I'm helping keep my library in business!

And I know this is a book blog, but I just have to mention another thing taking up my time... There are few things more satisfying to the literary soul than getting hooked to a really quality, amazing TV series. The last one for me was Friday Night Lights (if you haven't watched it...seriously...go do it), and I'm fairly certain nothing can top that. However, I'm finally starting Mad Men from the beginning. I'm about eight episodes in and so far, I just don't much care, but I will give it to the end of the season and re-assess. I also just started the second season of Veronica Mars. Colin and I just binged our way through the first season and it was so fabulous that I don't think it can be topped. But I love the characters so much that I have to keep going. I really love Netflix.

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As everyone knows, BEA is next week! I'll probably be attending only one day, and in a "company capacity", but I'll still be around for many of the festivities! I love attending book conferences in a blogger/librarian capacity (as opposed to manning an exhibition booth!)—discovering what's new and getting excited about all the amazing book industry has to offer. If you are around BEA or any of its festivities be sure to shoot me a message!

Summer is here; time to stretch out in the sun—whether at the beach, in a park, on the lake, or in your backyard—and relax with some books. My favorite time of year!

Happy June!

5 comments:

Aarti said...

Haha, how can a book be both fascinating AND boring?  I'm bummed to hear that about Rez Life, though I'm impressed you tackled another non-fiction about America so quickly after the last one!

Kari said...

Ha, I know that is a very ambiguous claim, but I read a similar sentiment somewhere and thought, "Yes, that is the perfect description!" I will have to explain when I write more about it!

softdrink said...

Fascinating and boring sums up the book perfectly! The family pieces were fascinating, and some of the treaty stuff, but a lot of the treaty stuff was boring, too.

And yay for Tricking of Freya! Hope you're loving that one. If not, I'm sorry?

Dreamybee said...

I hope you stick with Mad Men. I think each season just gets better and better. The last two episodes of this season have left me stunned.

Kari said...

I finished the first season, and I'm happy to say I am more into it now. I'm sticking with it, but gosh, I want to punch Pete Campbell in the face. (And I hear he does, so I have to watch at least until I get to that point for the pure satisfaction!)