Library or Community Center? Save Our Libraries!

This morning I was shocked and dismayed to see on WNYC that Queens library has stopped buying books at least until July.  As a frequent user of the Queens library system, this definitely affects my reading future.  I also belong to the New York Public Library, but it's a fairly far walk from work and, well, Queens is my library. 

What I don't understand is definitive end of buying books for the next few months.  I can understand only one or two copies, but to not buy ANY?  That's crazy!  I don't mind waiting for inter-library loan, in fact, I think it's a great idea, but to know that I can't get any new books unless I buy them or schlep over to the NYPL makes me incredibly frustrated.

Queens Library CEO (who knew libraries had CEOs?  I suppose it makes sense but I never thought about it before) says that libraries aren't exactly centered around books anymore.  They're more about community, a place for kids and seniors to go.  Now, this is something I get in theory, but what about the books?  I'm all for promoting community with libraries, but if we're not also promoting literacy at what point does the library become a glorified community center or internet cafe?  In a time when people seem to be reading less and less, we need a place where we can focus on reading and books.

I was recently in my local Queens library and kids were running around and teens were hanging out in the YA section (which is awesome...though I don't think any of them were reading...) and a guy asked where the quiet room was.  The librarian replied that they didn't have such a thing (she actually didn't seem to understand the concept) and the guy had to leave, rather than stay and get his studying/reading/work done.  I couldn't believe there wasn't one place in this newly renovated library where you could go and just focus on a book.  Maybe I'm just getting old and don't understand the way community needs are changing, but I would think a library would be the one thing that would remain constant for a community.

What do you think?  Are your libraries going through similar struggles?  Do you see libraries becoming less about books and more a place for people to gather?  Any librarians out there that can shed some light on the other side of this?

If anyone's feeling generous the Queens library system is running a Buy-a-Book program where you can donate $25 to the purchase of a book for an institution that is very clearly in need of some help.

Edit: It looks like Queens isn't the only library in trouble.  Texas governor Rick Perry is proposing to cut library spending in his state to just $100,000, that's practically nothing for an entire state budget!  If your a Texan, heck, even if you're not, please let them know libraries are still important!

Review — Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Synopsis (via Goodreads): “I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” 

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. 

But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions? 

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Review:  I was a big fan of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist so when I saw Rachel Cohn and David Levithan were collaborating on a new he said/she said YA novel to say I was excited would be putting it mildly.  Dash and Lily covers a tumultuous time in a New Yorker’s life: December 21^st – January 1^st.  A time when tourists descend on the city in droves, it becomes impossible to take a step without being bombarded with rampant consumerism and unflappable cheer (and, this year, lots and lots of snow).  Some love it, some become, well, snarly.

Snarly is exactly how we meet Dash does at the start of the book.  He’s not a fan of Christmas and is counting the hours until the holidays are over.  Dash’s cynicism is counterbalanced by Lily’s innocent optimism.  She loves, no, adores, Christmas.  They meet through a red notebook in Strand, the famous bookstore housing 18 miles of books.  Lily’s original message in the notebook is bold and witty, yet we learn that she didn’t write it at all, but is a creation of her brother to get her to meet a guy. 

Lily is essentially the opposite of our (and Dash’s) first impression of her and as the book goes on, I kept kind of wishing I was following the girl I’d met in the notebook rather than the slightly immature, meek girl we were supposed to be falling in love with.  She was the kind of girl who’s sweet, but I couldn’t imagine actually spending more than a couple hours with because her perky nature would drive me insane.  Similarly, Dash’s hipster ways were kind of grating after a while.  His friend Boomer seemed like he was only there to inform us that he was actually a good guy and not perpetually “snarly.”  

While I liked most of the side characters (Lily’s aunt in particular is awesome), I didn’t get Boomer at all.  Was he challenged in some way?  How can he not have simple conversations without getting confused?  He was like a five-year-old stuck in a sixteen-year-old’s body.  I found myself getting distracted by worry for the kid, running around in New York City about to get mugged at any moment or get taken advantage of in some way, rather than invested in the budding romance.  Also of a concern:  the Macy’s Santa.  There’s a moment with Dash and Santa that Cohn and Levithan brush off as “huggy” which made me recoil and want to call To Catch a Predator. 

I kept expecting to relate to the characters like I did Nick and Norah, but it just didn’t happen.  I didn’t dislike them, really, but I just didn’t care much if they ended up together or not.  And because I couldn’t get invested in them, I also couldn’t understand how they were getting invested in each other.  They didn’t have much chemistry to speak of.  Yet, Cohn and Levithan’s writing is snappy and witty enough to keep me turning the page, wanting (but not eager) to see what happens next.  I don't think Christmas worked as a common denominator between the two characters like music did with Nick & Norah.  There was a certain amount of love and youthful adoration for something bigger than themselves that was missing.

I do, however, love the way they use New York to their advantage, finding all the nooks and cranies (and crazies) of the city and making you feel like you belong.  I hope they do another novel like this together because the small shout outs from Nick and Norah made my day.  I feel like their creating their own New York and I want to see more.

While I enjoyed the Christmas theme (any non-cheesy holiday books are few and far between), and I wish I had read this before Christmas instead of after, I feel like more dynamic characters might have made this a bit more enjoyable.  

Lit Snit Verdict: C+

That cover, on the other hand? A+

Bloggiesta Update!

Well, this frigid weekend is coming to a close.  Books have been read, blogging has been done, and tequila has been consumed.  So how did I fair?


Write at least 2 reviews  Half check.  I unfortunately only got one done, but that was mostly because I haven't read as much as I'd like to lately.
 
Update the “Reviews” list  Check.  I think.  There were a lot of them missing.
 
Get the tags under control  We now only have one tag for reviews instead of four so I call that progress
 
Sign up for a challenge or two.  I've signed up for two so far.  More on that later in the week.
 
Network!  Check.  I've found so many awesome new blogs and helpful tips as a blogger from sites like Word Lily, My Friend Amy, Jenn's Bookshelves, and Horribly Bookish.
 
Finally, see my fellow bloggers.  Check!  Janelle, Daniela and I had a lovely brunch and then Daniela and I checked out Strand and spent too much money on books neither one of us has any room for.  Here's my haul (sorry for the quality, my phone's camera's pretty bad. And that To Say Nothing of the Dog was actually a lend from a friend...I forgot to take it out of the stack).  I was pretty excited to get that America's Test Kitchen Cookbook for only $20!  And I don't know if I'll be able to wait until I finish Welcome to the Goon Squad before I start Across the Universe.

To top it off, Christy helped me get some SEO things sorted out so all in all I'd say it was a productive weekend.  Thanks so much to Maw Books Blog for hosting such an awesome event.  Can't wait to do it again!

Bloggiesta Weekend

Okay, I said I didn’t have time to participate in Bloggiesta via Twitter, but I’ve changed my mind. Mine will be a mini-bloggiesta! Bloggiesta is a weekend-long blogging, well, fiesta, where you fix those little bugs on your blog you’ve been meaning to get to, write all those rainy day reviews, and whatever other bloggy things that need to be done.

My goals are simple:

• Write at least 2 reviews
• Update the “Reviews” list (I’ve been lazy lately)
• Get the tags under control (I think we’ve been using multiple tags that all mean the same thing)
• Sign up for a challenge or two. I know I said I wasn’t into challenges, but I’ve seen some awesome ones out there and some purposeful reading might be a good thing.
• Network! There are so many awesome blogs out there and I feel like I’ve been lax in my commenting, book-related twittering, and just generally getting into the community. Plus, there are a lot of great blogs that are talking about blogging organization and how to keep on top of your blog that I really want to check out.
• Finally, see my fellow bloggers. (Sadly, sans our newest Lit Snit-er Christy who’s a few hundred miles away) It’s been far too long since Janelle, Daniela, and I have seen each other and caught up on both books and life so I’m looking forward to some good ol’ brunching this weekend. (Don’t worry, Christy, we’ll have a mimosa for you!)

So those are my Bloggiesta goals. Nothing too fancy and entirely achievable…hopefully.

Check out some of the other participants this weekend to see what they’re up to!

In other news, the always hilarious Tahereh is giving away two $100 Amazon gift cards over at her blog. Can I just say I would do horrible, horrible things to a $100 to Amazon? And by “horrible things” I mean, I would buy A LOT of book. So, mostly horrible for the dwindling shelf space in my apartment.

Now, I think my mini-bloggiesta weekend calls for a stop at the grocery store after work for some chips and salsa and some tequila! (like anyone needs an excuse for tequila)

Review - Juliet by Anne Fortier

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy.

This key sends Julie on a journey that will change her life forever—a journey into the troubled past of her ancestor Giulietta Tolomei. more

Review: A lush adventure/romance exploring the story that inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In alternating chapters, we meet a modern woman, Julie, who is searching for her family's history (and hoping for treasure too) and meeting friends and enemies along the way, and we hear from Friar Lorenzo, Giulietta Tolomei and Romeo Marescotti as their story unfolds in 1340 AD (similar to Shakespeare’s but with some differences).

Both of these tales take place not in "fair Verona" but in the equally gorgeous Siena, Italy. Settings don’t get much better than this. Siena is a city rich with history and beauty, the sort of city you fall in love with and never want to leave. In fact, the author’s bio on the back flap of the book says she wrote the book for her mother who “considered Verona as her true home until she discovered Siena.” In this book, we tour Siena with Julie, visiting cathedrals and piazzas and concert halls. We learn about the vast underground aqueducts and the palio (a traditional medieval horse race). Gorgeous.

In this book, you never quite know who to trust (which does work against character development a bit). Feuding households and curses on both houses have spilled over from the 1340s to modern times, and Julie (who learns her birth name is actually Giulietta Tolomei) has to figure out what happened to the original Giulietta, what really happened to her parents, and who she should trust now as she uncovers the secrets of Romeo and Giulietta.

The plot's a bit clumsy at times (with convenient coincidences and characters who could have saved a lot of trouble by just explaining things in the first place), but it’s fun anyway. Though for a tale that rewrites the origin of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, I could have done with a little less consensus among the characters that our modern Julie is pretty much the Juliet simply because she is the first of the female line in 300 years to have the same name as the original Giulietta. As in, since she's “Juliet”, she must be destined for a man named Romeo who is also descended from the original Romeo. But ... didn't "Romeo & Juliet" itself say, "what's in a name?”

Bottom line: it’s a fun action/adventure/romance that retells a classic story.

Lit Snit Verdict: B+