Comps are DONE! Time to READ!

Happy Day!  I took my comprehensive exam yesterday, concluding all the coursework and requirements for my M.S. Information Sciences.  All that's left now is to wait for the score to be posted, my diploma to be conferred and my teaching endorsement to be processed by the state. All these are out of my hands!

Any happy "Liz passed comps!" would be appreciated though.  I'm fairly confident I did okay, but there is always this sneaking doubt in the back of my head.  We'll just wait and see!

So..now I get to read for fun again.  Here are some things I've got lined up:

 Nightlife: A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon.  I'm a little bit into it, and it's entertaining.  If a reader was a Twi-hard, I could see it annoying them a bit. 

 Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes.  I heard the author speak at the Southern Festival of Books and I've been looking forward to reading this since then! 

I've got to re-read these!  Since I finished the last book, I wanted to re-read The Hunger Games trilogy in order back-to-back.  I'll get to it sooner than later!  

 I enjoy Nicholas Sparks' books, and I'm excited to dive into his latest work.  In his video talk on Amazon, he describes the book as being somewhat similar to The Guardian, which is my favorite of his novels.   Safe Haven was actually the first book I had planned to read post-comps, but I couldn't find my copy when I was packing for my trip across the state!  I'll have to remember where I put it.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar has been on my list to read for a while, but after hearing Sachar speak at the Southern Festival of Books, it catapulted to the top.  

I saw Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie at my library and was interested.  There are a lot of home school families that visit the library, and a lot of people I know are choosing to home school their children and this just stood out to me.  I'm looking forward to this book!

So, there are the books up first!  I'm so excited to be able to read for pure enjoyment again, I'm sure it won't take me long to get through these.  

What's on your to-read list?  Share your list!   Is there anything you think I should read?  Let me know!

Young Adult Literature Seminar with TN State Library & Archives

Today I had the honor of being a co-presenter for a short web seminar about Young Adult Literature for the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

I had a lot of fun working on this presentation with Lindsey Wesson from the TN State Library & Archives and Roy Lee from the Linebaugh Public Library.

The presentation was recorded, and as soon as the link to the presentation is make public I will be sure to share!  UPDATE:  Here is the link: http://stateoftennessee.na6.acrobat.com/p64907784/.  

So, if you are visiting my blog from the way of this presentation, Welcome!  A few things about me:

• My book blog is really more a personal book journal.  I don't expect anyone else out there to read this, or if they do...to care!  This blog is a way for me to chronicle what I have read, and a way for me to look back at some good books when I am blocked on some great books to share with my library patrons. 

• Though I should, I don't blog every book I read.  Sometimes I just don't feel like writing about it.  So I don't!  However, you can always check out what I am currently reading or just finished reading by checking out the right sidebar!  It's always updated as I start and/or finish a new book!

• I am currently studying for comprehensive exams for my MIS degree from UT-Knoxville, which will take place on October 29.  Therefore, I have "grounded" myself from any reading that is not studying!  I have a LONG list of books I can't wait to jump into after I am finished...so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!  I love comments...so feel free to leave one!

Southern Festival of Books: Part Three

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Southern Festival of Books.  I had such a good time, that I decided to write several posts.  Here is Part I if you want to start from the beginning, and here is part two!

After the "Make Your Own Yoda" event featuring Tom Angleburger, Dad had to leave but I stuck around.  I went a session about "Contemporary Military Families" featuring Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows and Sara Lewis Holmes, author of Operation Yes.

This was a great talk where each author talked about and read from their books.  I haven't read either of them, but both are high up on my "to read" list.

And that was Saturday!

On Sunday I headed back to the festival to hear Louis Sachar speak.  I was super excited!  He gave a great talk about his newest book The Cardturner.  He also answered questions.  Did you know he had an extra role in the movie Holes?  He was the guy that had onion juice poured on his head.  He also discussed his writing style.

After his talk, I headed out to get my book signed.

Me and Louis Sachar!  How awesome!!!

And here is my signed book.  This is getting Newbery buzz...how cool would that be?  I can't wait to read it.

Speaking of books to read, I came back with a long list of books I now want to read!   I hope to get to them soon!  I had a wonderful time at the Southern Festival of Books and am looking forward to next year! 

Now...back to studying for comps.  We're under three weeks away!

Southern Festival of Books: Part Two

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Southern Festival of Books.  I had such a good time, that I decided to write several posts.  Here is Part I if you want to start from the beginning!

When we left off, I was heading back into the auditorum to hear Mo Willems speak.  I missed the first little bit of his talk because I was waiting in line for Jon Scieszka to sign my book. 

The part I got to see was AWESOME.  Mo read his latest book Knuffle Bunny Free in its entirety. 

 

Here is Mo reading his book Knuffle Bunny Free.  Photo Credit: Brooke Brown.

Listening Mo Willems read his books aloud is simply one of the best things ever.  I LOVE reading Mo's books aloud, but to hear HIM to it is just beyond awesome.  

Why, you ask?  Well, because of this...

 Photo Credit: Brooke Brown

Here Mo is whispering into the Mike...it's the part of the story where Oma and Opa have a plan, and Mo was whispering into the microphone.

And this!

Photo Credit: Brooke Brown

Here Mo is doing a "blech" face after Trixie tries Opa's coffee in the book. 

Sigh.  I love Mo!

Okay, so after he finished his talk, we headed out and waited in line for Mo to sign books.  He had a very long line...but well worth it!

 Photo Credit: Brooke Brown

Here is my dad and I with Mo's extra large Knuffle Bunny he took with him on tour.  Knuffle Bunny made the photo rounds! 

And here is my autographed copy of Knuffle Bunny Free.  The trilogy is now complete!  Thanks Mo for signing my book! 

Next we headed down into capital for our next session, which we missed about half of while waiting in line for Mo Willems.  This session featured Tom Angleburger and Michael Buckley where they talked about the 21st Century Nerd.  I really wished I could have caught it all because it was really neat.   We got there during the Q&A session, where at times I was totally confused...especially with the video game talk and lots of Stars Wars discussion.  But that was okay, it was still really great!

A little bit later, Dad and I headed over to the Youth Stage to learn how to make an Origami Yoda from Tom Angleburger, author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  You can check out my review here.   

Tom is super fun and so great with the kids!  It was a blast watching him juggle, talk about his book and then teach us all how to make a Yoda.  

Here is mine!  Isn't he fun?

Okay, that is enough for now!  Be back later with more! 

Southern Festival of Books 2010: Part One

This weekend was the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN...an event I have been looking forward to for some time now!  It finally arrived and it was just an amazing weekend.

I LOVE the Southern Festival of Books.  It is so fun to listen to authors that I admire and discovering some new ones that I want to check out!  The first time I went, my mom joined me for the fun and this year my dad came with me.  That always makes the festival even more special!

Another aspect I really enjoy about the festival is striking up conversations with fellow book lovers while waiting to have books signed by the authors.  I had wonderful conversations with an elementary school librarian from Nashville, a lovely family with a middle school student from Murfreesboro (and the mom has a personalized, autographed, 1st edition copy of Where the Wild Things Are...WOW!), and another fun family with two young children from Lawrenceburg.  It's so fun to hear about the books they love and such.

So here's what happened this weekend...in parts!  Sorry...I had so much to say that I broke up the weekend into a few posts. 

First up, we checked out the book sale table. 

Thanks to hubby for the copy of Knuffle Bunny Free and to my parents for Guys Read: Funny Business and The Cardturner.  Happy Birthday to me!

Next, we headed into the auditorium for Jon Scieszka's talk.  I was super pumped to get to hear him...I adore his books and especially of his Guys Read initiative.  I did a huge project on it for a class!  In addition, I am planning a "Trucktown" party in January for the library! 

I knew his talk would be entertaining and funny...and I was right!  I loved hearing about his childhood (if you haven't read Knucklehead you totally should!) as well as his different books.  I now have an even great appreciation of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man.  He discussed Guys Read and why he feels that initiative is so important.

 Here is Jon Scieszka at the Southern Festival of Books on October 9, 2010 reading a bit from his Caldecott Honor Book The Stinky Cheese Man.  Photo Credit: Brooke Brown.

Scieszka discussed the new book Guys Read: Funny Business which is the first book in an anthology of short stories written by guys for guys of which he edited!  This one is "humor" and then there will be several more featuring different genres: mystery/chiller, non-fiction, science fiction, etc.  So there is something to look forward to!   Jon read a bit from his section he wrote along with Kate DiCamillo.

After his talk ended, I hurried out to the signing colonnade and got in line for Scieszka to sign my book.  Scieszka was very kind and even allowed us to have our picture taken!

Here is Jon signing my book.  

Me and Jon Scieszka!  Awesome!!!!  (Thanks Dad for taking the photos!)

I then rushed back into the auditoruim to hear Mo Willems speak.

More about that next time!

New Book Day!

I forgot to post NEW BOOK DAY a few weeks ago when my copy of Nicholas Sparks' new book Safe Haven arrived.  I don't read very many books that are not geared for kids and teens, but I always read anything that Sparks releases!

According to a little video I saw a while back (I think on Amazon?), Sparks said that this book has some suspense in it...kind of like The Guardian did.  The Guardian is my favorite Sparks book, so I have high hopes for this new novel.

It's first on my list when I finish comps and I have my life back! 

Time Out....

I'm taking comps in 23 days.

Be back when I'm finished!


In the meantime, entertain me and tell me about what YOU are reading!  Leave a comment!