Booky News

Hopefully, this is where you can find out what I'm reading and doing with my life in regards to booky things. That's only if the blog is found to be a non-spammy blog which it currently is quaranteed as being. It makes sense really. I shouldn't have posted so many posts all in a short time of each other. I just feel sorry for the people whose job it is to review spam blogs. That can't be a very fun job.

In other news, booky news, I've decided to become more scholarly! Enough with the wandering days off where I stay in my pajamas all day, sleep past noon, and watch random movies that I have, most likely, already seen. I want to continue expanding my mind (figuratively of course) and maintain my ability to write papers! I'm such a nerd! But you know what? I'm OK with that! I know I'm a snob when it comes to books and I know that I have a long way to go in order to become someone that pleases God and make a decent human being. However, I hope that pursuing my hobbies, no matter how embarassing according to popular world views, can somehow make me into a better person. This is actually something I've struggled with for a while. Balancing people, hobbies, and jobs is not an easy thing.

I've decided to focus on the following things (at least for the next month):

1) Certain readings (more on that later)
2) Friends and Family
3) Maybe signing up for a class to figure out my spiritual gifts and how I can apply them
4) Looking into volunteer organizations
5) Looking for a second job
6) Studying for the GREs
7) Keeping the appartment clean
8) Planning my birthday party with my sister
9) Researching library schools
10) Finishing Isaiah

OK...so that's a bit much and I know that I won't be able to succeed in it all. But I have a cunning plan, as they say in the 80s Scarlet Pimpernel movie (which is fantastic by the way). I shall elaborate:

1) Certain readings:

I have a desire to write academic papers, learn more about the world, read for pleasure, and read more in order to be a better bookseller and potential librarian. I have therefore taken the time to put together a reading timeline so I can accomplish some of these goals. Academically, I am most interested in Pacific Northwest Native American tribes-their history and their rights. I also am interested in Pacific Northwest history (especially Washington history), issues surrounding salmons, dams, and fishing (particularly in the Pacific Northwest), fairy tales and folktales (along with their retellings and translations), and (perhaps more randomly) Henry VIII's wives and Fidel Castro. So, as it is Christmas time soon, I plan to write my first paper comparing different translations of E.T.A. Hoffman's Nutcracker and researching how Hoffman's Nutcracker has been turned into a ballet, how different ballets put on the Nutcracker, how Hoffman's vision has been polluted by said ballets, and how certain ballets have stayed true to the spirit of Hoffman's book. I realize that if I presented this idea to my English professors they would say that I have to narrow my topic down and no doubt they would be right but hey! I'm not in college anymore so I can write a ridiculously long paper full of holes if the mood strikes! Yippee!

A part of me would also like to write a book one day about issues surrounding the Pacific Northwest and, while I was Washington, I picked up quite a few books about that area. Maybe one of those will be next. Possibly A Common Fate: Endangered Salmon and the People of the Pacific Northwest by Joseph Cone or maybe I won't go that route and I'll finally finish Guerilla Prince by Georgie Anne Geyer. The possibilities are endless.

I've also just joined a sort of online YA book group called AdBooks and they are voting for different books (off of a list) and discussing them. I would love to be able to participate. Although, I won't be able to read all the books by January, I hope to maybe read two or three. I plan to start with The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson and continue on to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Some others on the list include the sequel to Octavius Nothing (which I don't plan to read as I haven't read the first one), Graceling by Kristin Cashore (which I've heard good things about), The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I really, really like her books but The Hunger Games sounds pretty disturbing), Little Brother (which I've heard really good reviews of also but I think there is some graphic content in there), Paper Towns by John Green (everything he writes is supposed to be amazing. Looking for Alaska won the Printz award, afterall), Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (which sounds extremely graphic--think beastiality and rape but it's loosely based on the fairy tale Rose Red and Snow White so I may read it afterall), The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Nation by Terry Pratchett (which I probably will read eventually) and Impossible by Nancy Werlin (which sounds AMAZING and I really hope to read).

As for my job at the Children's bookstore, I want to find out more about books that people either ask about or rave about. Enter The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. I've actually be intrigued by this book for some time and I own it and its sequel so I'm finally reading it. So far it's pretty grim and I doubt I would recommend it to anyone simply because I hesitate to recommend grim books to parents. I don't want them coming in and slamming the book down on the counter and saying, "How dare you give my child this book! He/She's been having nightmares! This is trash!" Perhaps that is cowardly of me but there it is. If we had more teens come in the store looking for fantasy literature I would go all out with my favorite grim books: The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix, 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle, etc. But until then...

In addition to these books, I'm also hoping to listen to Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins on CD. The narrator, Paul Boehmer, is first-rate! I love his voices so much that I would like to own all the Underlander books on CD (I currently own them all in paper). Indeed, I don't know why I own them at all since I avoid reading them so I can listen to Paul Boehmer's voices.

2) Friends and Family

I hope to finally call everyone that needs calling/writing/visiting, etc.

3) Class on Spiritual Gifts

This is a good idea anyway but an idea has been growing in my mind for a few days about something I want to do and I have to talk to the right person about it, etc. and it may just be a pipe dream. For those of you that don't know (although if you are reading this blog you probably DO know) I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder...or at least I did. I'm not sure something like that ever really goes away but I'm doing miraculously better thanks to God's intervention, my parents' determination, and many, many years of medication and therapy. I really want to help someone (or many someones) who struggle with OCD. I hope to ask my psychiatrist about how I can help out (if I can help out). We'll see. I need to remember to pray about this and would appreciate anyone's prayers about this.

4) Volunteer Organizations

See above. I also want to do more for people. I feel like I'm stuck in a self-made limbo right now and I certainly know that I'm not doing nearly as much as I could for others and for God. Yes, I volunteer but it's only once every two weeks and once every month and a half at church. Not really much of a commitment there.

5) Looking for a second job

I don't want to go into details about this but I do have some options. Possibly working at a local library (I hope!) or working through a temp agency. I LOVE my job at the bookstore but I'm not getting enough hours to work only there. It's way past time to get a second job.

6) Studying for the GREs

BLEH! Double BLEH concerning the quantative math section. However, 4-12 weeks is the recommended study time for GREs and it's time to begin soon if I want to take them in March. I'm planning on making up a schedule sometime soon...

7) Keeping the apartment clean

HAHA! Yeah right! But seriously, this is kind of an issue. I'm very lazy about this sort of thing, particularly when it comes to the bathroom and my own room. Out of sight, out of mind I suppose. I did spend about an hour and a half today and I am not sure when I'll have time to work on the apartment anytime soon as I'm working close to 40 hours this week (YAY!). Still, maybe if I turn on some good music, I'll get something done.

8) Planning my birthday with my sister

I'm a twin, hence the sister element. We're thinking of an over-the-hill themed party as we are both turning 25 and 25+25 = 50. I also really want to have caroling and a white elephant. These clearly have nothing to do with an over-the-hill theme but my sister points out that if these can possibly be combined we will find a way, afterall, we've thrown a pirate party, a Scarlet Pimpernel party, a Scooby-Doo party, been part of a progressive dinner party, and thrown many a Harry Potter party. We'll figure it out.

9) Research library schools

More specifically the top ten ranked schools by U.S. News and World Report regarding Youth and Teen librarianship programs. I am aware of the shortcoming of U.S. News and World Report's rankings but I have to start somewhere and I don't plan on applying to eleven schools (I'm looking at San Jose State as well as the other ten).

10) Finishing Isaiah

I have a hard time getting motivated to read the really long books of the Bible and I'm currently stuck somewhere in the 20s in Isaiah. Of course, once I finish Isaiah, I have to go on to Jeremiah, another long book. Oh well. The Bible is important and the word of God afterall.

End Really Long Post.