On the Menu

     I have just finished reading the first book of The Books of Elsewhere series, The Shadows.  It is the story of Olive, a girl who moves into an old Victorian house with all the trimmings of the original owners, a very unique personality and many secrets.  Bearing several striking initial similarities to Coraline by Neil Gaiman (a story which I adore!), the book pulled me in and kept my attention, particularly near the end, where excitement and potential peril lurked in every old, immovable painting in the house.  With the help of some very unique residents of the house, Olive strives through danger, in order to stake her family's claim on the house and make it a place of her own.

     I loved the book, and am quite frustrated that I read the first several months before the second book comes out.  Scheduled for release in June 2012, Spellbound continues Olive's story as she and a new neighbor friend seek a spellbook hidden somewhere in the old house.  I am looking forward to this release very much, and hope to maybe procure a copy at one of the Spring library conventions!

     As a follow up to the fantastical fantasy of The Shadows, I have decided to break from my contemporary fiction fixation and take a step back with an old classic, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.  The copy I am currently reading (not the same as pictured above) is a much-abridged version of the story, adapted for a young audience.  Striving to read selections from my school library in order to make very specific recommendations, I anticipate this version to only take a few days to read.  Cliff's Notes versions are never a bad thing, are they?  :)  With brevity, comes introduction.  Perhaps I will follow up with "the real thing" once this pocket version is complete.

     An obsessive audio-book listener,  I must voraciously move from one to another.  The current channeling of my obsession is Inkspell, the follow-up to the well-known Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.  Although this title follows Meggie, Mo and Resa, along with other favorites (Dustfinger, Farid, Fenoglio) and not-so-favorites (Basta, Mortola) that were introduced in the first book, and although the prose is often as poetic as Fenoglio's lyric ink-weaving, the plot in this one seems to be a bit more overbearing, with the introduction of an almost confusing amount of new characters, and a plot that more hops around than twists.  I am enjoying the audio version though, very much, as it is narrated by Brendan Frasier, who lends a unique tone, accent, timbre and rate to each character's voice.  It is entertaining while driving or working without distraction, but in order to be appreciated, should be enjoyed without much activity going on.  Otherwise, the intricacies of world-jumping and plot twisting would be as confusing as reading the story in Funke's native Deutsch.

MIA

Well, I have inexplicably absent for several months now, but am happy to announce that in early November, I started work as a School Library Media Specialist for a PK-5 school in Dallas.  I am so happy to finally be doing what I truly want to do... sharing my love of literature, reading and discovery with children!  I have been thrilled to find that the students are excited to visit the library, have a hunger for books and share their excitement with their friends!  

There have been challenges.  Primarily, my school is sharing space with a host campus, and in order to make the move to a smaller space, the collection was drastically weeded.  Due to the excitement and interest of students, I was quickly able to build a 'wish list' and develop a rather large collection to add to what we have.  Luckily, the time for making purchases had not been shut off for me (having arrived late in the school year), and I hope to bring a treasure of new items to my school!

Students will soon have much greater access to many of their requested items, such as the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Pinkalicious, etc., Bone and other graphic novels, many new fiction and non-fiction, biographies and reference, as well as DVDs like The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye the Science Guy.  Thank goodness for funding to bring treasures to students who are so anxious to discover and share!  

That is what this is all about!

In the News

An anonymous sculptor has been leaving gorgeous carved-book sculptures in Scotland's libraries, along with little notes of encouragement. Some are left out in the open; others are hidden away and may have sat a long time before being discovered.  Most of these are now in protected display for the enjoyment of library patrons and curious visitors.

Poetree at Scottish Poetry Library, the first found - The tag reads, "It started with your name @byleaveswelive and became a tree.… ... We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)"

The second sculpture, a gramophone was found at the National Library of Scotland with a note reading, "...A gift in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..... (& against their exit)"  

A complex cinema scene was then found at The Filmhouse, reading, "A gift in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..... and all things *magic*"

 A nesting dragon, hiding inconspicuously, was found at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. The tag on this gift reads, "A gift in support of libraries, books, works, ideas..... Once upon a time there was a book and in the book was a nest and in the nest was an egg and in the egg was a dragon and in the dragon was a story....."

 Found last month at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, two more sculptures...

    Tag: "'A gift' This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas...... & festivals xx"

It includes a teabag filled with cut out letters, on the tag of which are the words "by leaves we live". The cup on the top has a swirl of words which read " Nothing beats a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and a really good BOOK", and on the 'tray' next to the cupcake it says "except maybe a cake as well".

 Also found at the festival, amazing back and forth, is a tree and reader, sculpted out of the binding and pages of a book.

Found in the Central Lending Library late in August, at least a few days after it was placed, was the preceeding, with a magnifying 'glass' inspecting a cutout reading, "When I go in I want it bright, I want to catch whatever is in there in full sight."  The tag, expressing the value of libraries over cost, reads "For Central Library ‘A Gift’ @Edinburgh_CC This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas…. LIBRARIES ARE EXPEANSIVE", with the original 'Expensive' corrected to 'Expansive'.  

The farewell contribution deserves expanded space here, as the sculptor has outdone HERSELF (as a final note suggests) in detailed intricacies, PLUS a note of explanation and apparent farewell. A handwritten message left in late November in the Scottish Peotry Library's guest book read, “Hopefully next time I’ll be able to linger longer – I’ve left a little something for you near Women’s Anthologies X. In support of Libraries, Books, Words and Ideas….”  An immediate perusal of the area brought the last gift in the series.

“THE GIFTS 'Gloves of bee’s ful, cap of the Wren’s Wings…….' Norman McCaig …. maybe sometimes impossible things… In support of LIbraries, Books, Words Ideas….”

Notice the amazing, intricate work of the artist in making each feather in the cap 'of wren's wings' out of paper.

Likewise, the bee-fuzz-like texture of these paper gloves.  Left neatly beside, the following letter of parting and explanation:

“It’s important that a story is not too long ……does not become tedious …….
‘You need to know when to end a story,’ she thought.

Often a good story ends where it begins. This would mean a return to the Poetry Library. The very place where she had left the first of the ten.

Back to those who had loved that little tree, and so encouraged her to try again …….and again.

Some had wondered who it was, leaving these small strange objects. Some even thought it was a ‘he’! ……. As if!

Others looked among Book Artists, rather good ones actually…….

But they would never find her there. For though she does make things, this was the first time she had dissected books and had used them simply be- cause they seemed fitting….

Most however chose not to know….. which was the point really.

The gift, the place to sit, to look, to wonder, to dream….. of the impossible maybe…….

A tiny gesture in support of the special places…..

So, here, she will end this story, in a special place … A Poetry Library ….. where they are well used to ‘anon.’

...
…… But hold on. Someone’s left behind a pair of gloves and a cap……….?

Cheers Edinburgh It’s been fun!
X

With mention of ten sculptures, it was apparent that this was either not yet indeed the end, or two treasures were yet unclaimed.  The answer was soon revealed, as the next day, the National Museum of Scotland received the following.

A Tyrannosaurus Rex, emerging from the tattered leaves of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World? The tag hanging above the dinosaurs still-passing-through tail reads, “...In support of libraries, books, words, ideas and those places that house our treasures……”  Hidden among the tattered pages are tiny men with weapons, and the sharp paper jaws of the T-rex are tinged with blood.



And what of the tenth?  A submission labeled 8/10 was found above the donations box in the Robert Louis Stevenson room of the Writer's Museum.

A tag reading “A Gift 'The stories are in the stones' Ian Rankin In support of Libraries, Books, Words, Ideas …… and Writers.”  hangs from Ian Rankin's Hide and Seek.  Inside, a panoramic three-dimentional sculpture of a street, complete with human figures, birds, columns, street lamps, and even life behind the windows.

These sculptures are so creative, detailed, thoughtful and gracious!  They are certainly winning the attention of national news in Scotland, and hopefully, growing in attention across the world.  What wonderful gifts to the gifts of libraries, books, poetry, cinema, imagination and creativity! 

All information and photos gathered from links below.  For more detailed photos, follow the second link.


http://boingboing.net/2011/09/12/anonymous-paper-sculptures-in-scotlands-libraries.html

http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/_Mysterious-paper-sculptures/blog/4991767/126249.html

MIA

Pardon my absence from The Bibliophile Files for such a long time.  Numerous events and situations have kept me from posting.  My intent was to share throughout the summer summaries, thoughts and recommendations on the summer selections on audio from Sync.  There were so many great titles, old and new, short and long.  I am sure with multiple summers offering free downloadable audioboooks, this opportunity will present itself again again in summer 2012.

Sync Audiobooks

Last summer, I was introduced to a series of FREE downloadable YA audio books through Sync.  Weekly, throughout summer, there would be 2 available free titles, a fairly recent publication and a second, related piece of classic literature.  I enjoyed classic stories such as "The Lottery" (one of my favorite short stories), Oliver Twist, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as new stories for young adults such as The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1, which got me hooked!), The Hunger Games (which also got me hooked, badly!!) and Beastly.


This summer, Sync is once again offering an entire summer series, including stand-by classics (and frequently required reading in high school) like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights and Beowulf, as well as new YA titles like Shiver, Immortal and The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch.  


You can visit their site to download their free player (anytime throughout the series) and the first audio titles now through June 29, and can return weekly for the next 2 titles.  This is such a great opportunity!  Although the time available to download each title may be limited, once the download is complete, the file does not timeout, like some other electronic resources do.  Take advantage, and happy listening!

BooksmART Festival

The BooksmART Festival at the DMA was a huge success, and so exciting!  I got to meet a few more fabulous authors and author/illustrators.  Award winners, honored and admired authors were on hand for story telling, lectures, signings and demonstrations.  Although I would love to have participated in every activity, I simply could not be in eight places at once, so chose to focus on a few of my "top choices".  I was lucky enough to sit in on most of Cynthia Leitich Smith's presentation and all of Laurie Halse Anderson's, yet still managed to get a fairly advantageous spot in line for signings... a very good thing, considering the author signing area was outside in the 90+ degree heat on the Ross Avenue plaza.  Rick Riordan die-hard fans were feeling the heat for sure; his signing line began at 11:00, three hours before his scheduled signing at 2:00.  The line was still going strong at 3:45, when I left.


Here is a summary of the authors I was fortunate enough to meet, and the 'new' books I had signed.  (Happy dance!)

Then, there are couple I was able to see, but not able to get for signing, due to time constraints. I am pretty sure those there for Rick Riordan were not able to accomplish much else, bless their hearts.  I am so glad I was able to already see him in 2010 at TLA!

BooksmART Festival

I am getting so excited about the BooksmART festival at the Dallas Museum of Art this Saturday, June 11.  The event, from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. will feature several wonderful authors and illustrators.  The following will be available to show off their talents, meet fans and/or sign books:



Rick Riordan
Norton Juster
Laurie Halse Anderson
David Wiesner
Jerry Pinkney
Gene Luen Yang
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Duncan Tonatiuh
Antonio Sacre
Joe McDermott
Jan Bozarth and Faeren
Ann Marie Newman
John Bramblitt
Gretchen Goetz
Dallas Theater Center


I have had the pleasure of meeting Rick Riordan and Cynthia Leitich Smith at TLA in the last two years, and am especially excited about seeing them again and adding Laurie Halse Anderson and Jerry Pinkney to that list.  In addition, Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth, will be presenting and leading a storytime, as are several of the other participants. These notable contributors to the wonderful world of literature will be so exciting to meet! 


For information on this event, visit the Arts and Letters Live area of the DMA web site.

On the Menu

I recently began listening to the abridged audiobook of The Daily show With Jon Stewart Presents America (the book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (2004).  At under four hours, the audiobook is absolutely the most concise sardine can of political satiric humor I could imagine.    Structured as a mock Social Studies textbook, complete with scathingly silly study questions and learning objectives, the book/audiobook exposes facts and fallacies of United States political history and workings.  If the listener can bear  occasional expletives, the biting humor, narrated by Jon Stewart, will make 'learning' or reviewing basic Civics 101 absolutely enjoyable (unlike Coach So-and-so's 9th Grade class, which provided nothing but ample nap time).
With quickly read wit, brief commentaries and essays provided by The Daily Show writers and affiliates, and because of the brevity of the abridgment, this is one audiobook I will either want to re-check or buy, in order to listen over and over again.  I am sure I will either pick up on snippets I miss the first time, or appreciate repeatedly the humor nuggets, on subsequent listens.  I am not usually a fan of abridgments (I like to get 'the whole story' and will probably pick up a hard copy of the book), but the authentic voices, actor portrayals, Jon Stewart's deadpan and nifty little sound-effects make the audiobook so fun and delightful. I almost feel guilty having so much fun listening!

Following America, will be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (the book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race (2010)