Thursday, July 21, 2005

Finished...
...reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today. The death in 4 (or was it 5?) made me way weepier than this one. I was surprised by who the Half-Blood Prince turned out to be.

So the question is: will I start reading all the "HP6-spoiler" messages on my YA listserv, or will they be too fan-geeky for me? I guess it depends on how busy NP is tomorrow. I do have a set of 70-some non-fiction YA books to consider and select, and a 200s cart (i.e., shopping list for all branches) to create. Plus, you know, people need help working their e-mail and finding books and stuff.

I feel like I had at least 2 cool reference transactions today, but at the moment, I remember only the woman with a Zane book in hand. She wants to be a writer. Most of the so-you-want-to-be-a-writer books are at area (bigger) libraries, but I set her up with a grammar book, thesaurus, and a book on writing.

Capital City weather: hot; thunderstorm
On the Muzak at Ukrop's: "Louie Louie"

2 comments:

Daniel said...

Zane is one of the many banes of my existence. (I could probably do some sort of teacher rap involving "Zane" and "Bane," but I'd rather not.) My students--who officially hate reading anything, for the most part--love Zane, because the books are "about real life." Having skimmed a couple of them, they're about real life if you're a fifteen year old pregnant chick being pimped by her thirty year old crack dealer boyfriend. That ain't real life, folks.
I'm also bemused by the concept that my kids only want to read things that are about people whom they perceive to be exactly like themselves. I can't imagine how dull my reading selections would be if every last book I read focused on a W&M grad from Maryland, of somewhat ambivalent sexuality, living in a faded neighborhood and desperately attempting to stave off the ill effects of aging by insistently wearing shorts and fraternity letters year 'round.

Anonymous said...

Oh Dan...You are too funny. Since Lee Smith graduated from Hollins am I reliving my Hollins days if I read "The Last Girls"? Sadly, the "Shopaholic" series might be a little more true to life for me. How was I ever put in charge of teen reading habits?

"HP & HBP" has been compared to novel 3 for its complexity (yeah, I said it) and for the fact that it sets up the final novel with a "no turning back now" vibe.

So, now that the HP craze has passed, have ya bought yer copy of "Eldest" yet? Oh, and did you see the list of books about cutting that passed across one of the YALSA lists?