Favorite Covers 2008: Baron Von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident

Baron Von Baddie and the Ice Ray Incident by George McClements (Harcourt)

The cover made me laugh, the title made me laugh, and the story made me laugh. And any book in 2008 that made me laugh got major brownie points.

What have you read lately?

I’m constantly plagued and haunted by how few books I actually get to read. I mean, if I were to be honest with myself, I really do read a lot…at least, I read a very realistic amount, given my life circumstances. Nevertheless, I always want to read more. In an attempt to calm myself down* by taking stock of how much I really do read, I’ll do a round-up of my reading lately:

- Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale and illustrated awesomely by Nathan Hale

I’ve already heard some criticisms – a colleague thought the speech bubbles didn’t match the actions taking place in the same panel. I don’t know, though, I just didn’t see that. Anyone that has met Shannon Hale can attest to her fantastic wit and cleverness, and I’m so glad that she has created a book that allows her humor to shine. Nathan Hale’s art is stunning – in particular, there is a scene when Rapunzel is shut in her tower, and it shows the various stages of Rapunzel’s grief. It’s incredibly well-done: poignant and moving without being scary. Additionally, there are moments when Nathan perfectly captures Shannon’s wit and really brings it to life. As a librarian, I’m constantly looking for quality graphic novels for the younger set, and this is one of those. It’ll appeal to the adventurous 8-year-old and the more independent 16-year-old.

- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Just what the doctor ordered. It was enormously clever, and the social commentary was spot-on. That Jane Austen was cheeky! Pride and Prejudice gets all the love because of Mr. Darcy; even then, I believe most of that stems from one of the men on my Top 5 List: Colin Firth. But I digress… Life has been insane lately and, since I’ve felt so out of control, Sense and Sensibility was a cozy, timely, lovely reminder that everything always turns out just as it should be.

- I haven’t read these yet but I just have to share that one of my Favorite Publishing People, Ellen Greene at Harcourt, recently sent me a packet of books. There were all kinds of fun F&Gs but, being the darling person she is, she stuck in two paperbacks for me: Organic, Inc.:Natural Foods and How They Grew by Samuel Formatz and A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France by Georgeanne Brennan. Given how much I loved From Here You Can’t See Paris, I think A Pig in Provence will be right up my alley. Thanks to Ellen and here’s to hoping that she gets her cute self out to NYC soon!

- Because I’m all in love with Shannon Hale now (as if I ever stopped...well, okay, there was that Austenland misstep), I picked up Book of a Thousand Days, which I’ve had sitting on my desk for months. So far, I’m loving it, of course. But I’m also waiting for it to pick up – the premise has been set, now where are we going from here? I’ll keep you posted.

And that’s my book round-up for now. I’m already plotting my next book…I got invited to an event this Thursday night – it’s a panel discussion with Molly O’Neill, Judith Jones, and others discussing Julia Child’s influence on the culinary world. I can hardly wait. So I’ll most likely be picking up My Life in France next…

Eat, drink, and be well-read.

* aided by the glass of Sauvignon Blanc next to me – is there anything else to drink on a 90+ degree day with 60% humidity?

Friday is my favorite day of the week!

Happy Friday, everyone! Truly, I am in the best spirits. The skies have finally cleared over NYC and we’ve been promised a stellar weekend, weather-wise.

In the spirit of Friday-before-a-holiday, today has just been full of delight (children’s books-related). First, I received my copy of Rapunzel’s Revenge (no, Liz, you’re the sweet one!) and I huddled down in my cubicle and read the first half already. It’s phenomenal so far – Nathan Hale’s artwork, in particular, is stunning. I’ll email you soon, Miss Erin, and we’ll chat.

This actually happened last week, but I’m only now getting around to blogging about it. Remember I blogged ages ago (okay, fine, it was just February...but doesn't that already seem like ages ago?) here and here about the book Graceling by Kristin Cashore? To refresh your memories, it’s an upcoming YA fantasy novel with adult crossover possibilities, pubbing in October. I really enjoyed it – the characters were richly drawn and the concept of the book was well-executed. However, when I got the ARC in January, it didn’t have a cover yet: it was just a white book with black writing. Well, the cover has come out and here it is:

It’s really gorgeous. The sword is silver foil with a reflection of Katsa, and the author’s name and the book’s title are in embossed gold foil. There also was thought put into the design of the back cover – it has a horizontal picture of the sword with the reflection of Katsa’s different-colored eyes in it. Can anyone else say Ka-Ching! Harcourt is promoting this big-time, as they should with a 75,000 first printing for a debut author. Luckily, the cover is fantastic and will definitely draw in readers. Thanks to Ellen Greene, one of my favorite publishing folks, for the advanced copy!

Food-wise, well, I don’t feel like making dinner so we’re going out tonight. Interestingly, we’re going to check out Uno Chicago Grill down the street from our apartment. We’ve stayed away because it’s, you know, a chain (in mind I just kept seeing images of Pizza Hut and Little Caesar's). However, this article in the Boston Globe turned me around: Uno’s was named Health Magazine’s healthiest chain restaurant in America. Who knew?! They even serve antibiotic-free chicken and whole grain pastas. I haven’t tried Uno’s since I read this article, but we decided tonight would be a good night. Uno’s is one of the few places in our neighborhood with outdoor seating and it’s definitely a good night to enjoy the nice weather.

Eat, drink, and have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Back to the Blogosphere: the Food Version

I have felt like a ship without a rudder lately, for silly reasons, most of them inconsequential. Nevertheless, it is that sort of feeling that makes me want to cook…and do nothing else. I want to plant myself in my crappy kitchen and cook all day, trying out recipes, experimenting with no recipes, being creative, finding treasures hiding in the back of my freezer. Thus grounding me and making me feel more connected to my own life. I have eaten dinner out for the past two nights, and I can’t articulately express how excited I am to go home this evening and return to my kitchen. Eating out for extended periods does not suit me well at all.

My faithful readers will know how I aspire to write like Lucy Vanel over at Lucy’s Kitchen Notebook. She has another post up about a market in Lyon: Marché Fermier at Place Carnot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such crooked, rotund, lovely asparagus and I’m longing to try the cream cheese tart. But what struck me was her next post, Diving for Pearls. I was touched by Lucy’s respect for history and her keen sense of nostalgia (without being cloying at all). I just find this sort of perspective lacking here in the U.S. – do you agree? My cookie sheet is rusting – I’ll buy a new one. Wet crumbling cardboard box at a flea market – I don’t want to know why the heck it’s wet. Dilapidated house too much work – raze it and build something new and shiny in its place. I distinctly feel that this is the country I live in, that this is the norm, and I often find myself swept into this way of thinking. But I'm pausing now to re-evaluate. As I type this, I look down at my shiny new cocktail ring – it’s fabulous and fun but I have no connection to it. But the earrings in my ears? They’re these tiny gold medallions that my mom wore for years, and I believe my grandmother wore them before her. On a recent trip, my mom bestowed them to me. And I understand exactly what Lucy is talking about.















And armed with this sense of history and nostalgia and feeling protected by the past, let me tell you about Cooked Books’ really cool post about A Soldier's Simple Cooking Recipes for Cooking in the Trenches and Billets (with vocabulary of French words). Learn how to make a Trench Cake! In library school, during the first hour of my one and only archives class, I discovered archival studies weren’t for me at all. But Rebecca makes me wish that it had been.

I don’t know if I should share this info but, what the hell, it’s Friday and I’m feeling bold. Remember I whined a couple days ago about Alice Feiring’s book not coming out until May 19th? I know, I was totally whining. But seriously, I’ve had that book on my Amazon wishlist for two months already! Anyway, my darling school & library contact at Harcourt read my mini-tantrum and is sending the book to me before the 19th!!! Really! It is probably uncool to admit this but that’s the first time that sort of thing has happened to me – I say I want something on my blog and someone says, “Okay! I’ll send it to you!” I’m starting to feel like Betsy! Thank you, Ellen, for totally making my week!

Lastly, I read a nice little article in my Saveur email, giving easy instructions on how to cook ramps. I’ve never tried ramps – shocking, I know. But I’ll begin seeking them out now since it’s driving me bonkers that there’s something out there that I haven’t tried but is so easy to prepare.

Bon appètit!

Sneak Peek, Part Deux: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Thank goodness for sick kids! Because my daughter was home sick yesterday and catatonic on the couch, I was able to read through 300 pages in Graceling and finish it! Huzzah!

A Grace is an extreme skill that someone is blessed with, and those who have one of these skills are called Gracelings – you can tell who is Graced by their different colored eyes. Katsa can kill a man with her bare hands and is sent out by her uncle, the king, to torture those who have wronged him. To undo the evil deeds of her uncle and the other kings of the six surrounding kingdoms, Katsa forms a Council. When a prince from a nearby kingdom is kidnapped, Katsa and her Council must rescue him and find out who was behind the kidnapping. Needless to say, the one behind the abduction is not who they expected and they encounter a Graceling that could destroy them all.

The premise of this book is fascinating – you can be endlessly entertained by people with superhuman powers: a Grace that allows you to swim like a fish! A Grace that allows you to read minds! A Grace that allows you to see approaching storms! And it’s not very often that I’m compelled enough to read a book in nearly one sitting - I was completely sucked into the story. That said, there were definitely some slow parts that could have used some tighter editing (think Harry Potter and the Interminable Camping Trip). Also, this book may be more adult…but with very strong YA crossover possibilities: when a book refers to the main character taking a “lover”, I tend to think that pushes it to adult. I don’t recall the ages of the main characters being mentioned, but I did get the distinct impression they were grown adults. But teens will still love this, and it should definitely be marketed to them. This should be enormously popular…though I’ll hold off final judgment until I see the final cover, of course. It all hinges on the cover, doesn’t it?

I did finally encounter Princess Bitterblue…and Ellen’s Cosmo-style quiz was right on with that description.

Note: to recap, the pub date for Graceling isn’t until October 2008 (damn) and I only read the ARC so the story can still change from here…and I didn’t see the final cover (double damn).

Sneak Peek: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Oooooh, everyone, I am in the middle of a way cool YA book: Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Don’t bother looking for it; its pub date isn’t until October 2008. When I went to dinner with Harcourt at ALA Midwinter, Ellen Greene (marketing gal extraordinaire) had arranged for all of us to get this ARC and she also did this fabulous Cosmo-style quiz where we find out which of the characters in Graceling we most align with and which Grace we have. I got the relationships grace, shared by Princess Bitterblue. So I’m about one-third of the way through the book and Princess Bitterblue hasn’t appeared yet – I can’t wait to read about her! But Walter Mayes was sitting at my table and he got the fighting grace, aligning himself with Prince Po. Now I’m reading all about Prince Po…who is rather strong and dashing…but I keep seeing Walter’s face with that big ol’ beard. Weird. Nevertheless, this is proving to be an excellent read…and I don’t normally go for fantasy. Keep an eye out for this one in the future!

And I’m consciously not giving you any more information about the book because I don’t want to be one of those bloggers that gives everything away and causes the publisher to stop giving out ARCs. Without this ARC, I’d be reading the book 7 months from now and, thank you, I’d rather be reading it now. So mum’s the word.

Libraries and Food: A Natural Relationship

So you don’t need me to tell you that ALA’s youth media awards came out yesterday. But just in case you didn’t know that, then here’s the link to it.

It was my first ALA Midwinter conference and it was just friggin awesome. I had some of the most interesting and entertaining conversations of my life, and I have come back to Queens invigorated and excited about being a librarian again – which is good because I was really in a place where I wasn’t so sure about working in a library anymore. Now I’m ready to kick some ass…in a good way, of course.

If anyone reading this is a librarian who has had their degree for less than 5 years OR is younger than 35, I highly encourage you to apply for the 2009 ALA Emerging Leaders program. It’s really a fantastic program that made me feel empowered and inspired. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me (via comments or email me personally). I definitely think Leslie Burger was on to something when she created this program – it’s a wonderful way to include up-and-coming librarians in the process and to elicit their ideas about the direction of ALA and the profession as a whole.

I even managed to fit in my love of all things food-related: Harcourt invited me to a dinner at Fork, a swoon-worthy restaurant on Market and 3^rd. Fantastic food. For an appetizer I had the flatbread with sautéed calamari, parmesan cheese, and white beans. A little on the dry side, but the calamari was really flavorful. For my entrée, I got the hangar steak with frites and it rocked. I asked for it rare and they actually gave it to me RARE! It’s an anomaly in the restaurant world – you folks who like your meat rare will know what I mean. For dessert, I had the dark chocolate mousse with cognac, which was very light and flavorful…but I don’t know if I made the right choice. Ellen Greene, Harcourt’s library marketing guru, ordered the ricotta cheesecake and I’ve never tasted anything like it in my life. I normally don’t go for cheesecake because it’s so dense but, lordy, that’s because I’ve never tried Fork’s cheesecake. Light as friggin air. Amazing. And of course, there was wine. See, I prove again how books, wine, and food are so completely interrelated. This whole meal – and Harcourt’s generosity in hosting it – will continue to be the major highlight of the conference for me.

But enough of that, let’s talk about the BOOKS! I still can’t believe it was just yesterday morning that I was sitting in that enormous ballroom, listening to the book award winners announced right before my eyes. As the Batchelder and Schneider Family awards were being announced, I felt all tingly and thrilled and excited. Then…as the moment of truth arrived…I felt all tense. Why? I realized that I was nervous because WHAT IF I HADN’T ORDERED THE RIGHT BOOKS ALL YEAR?! What if I had NONE of the major award winners in ANY of the libraries?!?!?! Luckily, though, I was golden. Granted, not every single library had a copy of every single book but at least we had some libraries holding all of some of the books. You know? Phew! I do have to say – and no description will truly capture it unless you were there – but listening to that enormous audible gasp when Hugo Cabret was announced was awesome, and the wild applause afterward was a thrill. And can I even tell you how pleased I am that Let It Shine got the CSK Award? Well-deserved. Overall, I’m enormously pleased with the award recipients, though there are a few question marks: Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County? Jabberwocky? Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian? And I sure was hoping that Jonathan Bean would get some well-deserved love but, alas, it wasn’t his year. Not to worry because I know his time is coming any year now.

All my gushing aside, it’s damn good to be home and make myself a home-cooked meal for the first time in five days. Even if it was as simple as a salad and a melty camembert grilled cheese sandwich. And pinot noir, of course.