Goals update: August

Read 100 books in 2012.

Closing in on it, with #83. Ann Patchett's Run was a captivating set of insights into a family's complex bonds, including birth order, transracial adoption, and parental expectations.

Exercise for 90 minutes per week.
I'm managing a bit more walking, but no regular exercise. This year has been pretty bad for it.

September Bonus Round

In addition to my goals for 2012, I add month-long bonus goals.

For September:

Helping kids learn at the reference desk

Born Librarian has a new post with some cute stories -- go check it out!

About two weeks later two brothers of about the same age came running into tell me they had found a SNAKE! in their backyard. (Boys between age 4 and 10 are often only capable of pronouncing snake as SNAKE!)

A. dorable. As much as I'm not a big fan of snakes, I'd love to have this kind of experience with kids. It's so fun watching them learn.

Feeding the Grad School Monster by Selling Textbooks on Amazon.com

We all know that textbooks are expensive. But plenty of classes still require them -- so I usually rent instead of buying. But what if the textbooks you need aren't available to be rented? Then, friends, I suggest you head to Amazon to buy a used copy. If you're interested in graduating debt-free, or with a minimum of student debt, keep this in mind as a cost-saving tip: you can resell your textbooks from the previous semester for credit toward your current textbook needs.

Analytics Update

Addendum to my previous post -- and a special request.

Analytics of note, one year in

Crossing my fingers as I'm still counting down a few hours... but by the time this posts, it will have been a full week since the last time my blog's hourly page views hit zero.

Fall Semester Courses

Today is the first day of instruction for Fall 2012. I've gotten through a whole year of grad school! Now I start the second half. I think it's going to be just as busy.

Summer Semester Grades

Grades are in, with no surprises.

Free shipping on rental textbooks (and other discounts)

I have three new classes this term, and they ALL have multiple textbooks. That adds up quickly! I'll write a bit more about that later.

So, if you're a little behind this term -- maybe you didn't get your textbook lists until the week of classes -- here are some discount codes to help you with the high cost of textbooks.

Green Branch will be a bookmobile!

The board of directors has formally announced the next step for Green Branch Library.

"We are plotting and planning our next phase, a mobile book unit. We are excited to collaborate with Bay Area schools, after-school programs, and community activism groups to make our book collection super accessible. We will also be able to offer workshops for youth at our partner sites, and hope to launch the lending library component to our collection."

I'm excited to see Green Branch grow! If you're in town for the end of August, drop by the last two farmers' market reading rooms on the 18th and the 25th. You can also browse our wishlist on Amazon to see what kinds of titles are high on the social justice program -- and consider donating one of your favorites!

Summer term is over!

Phew! THAT was a VERY packed ten weeks. I finished my final project for 271A (of which my Top Ten list was a part) last week, and I turned in my final report about my internship at Green Branch yesterday.

Today I am rewarding myself by heading to the Imperial Spa and having a nice long soak, a Korean skin scrub, and a massage. And maybe some KFC. And I will re-read some classic Stephen King and not think about my Reading List numbers.

The rest of this week is full: date night, pastoral search committee meeting, meeting with a musician friend about a special arrangement, re-purpling my hair, housework. This Saturday I get to meet both a new baby and a new puppy -- yay! Sunday is, I think, for cooking freezer meals.

One week from tomorrow: Fall term starts. And then two months later (probably right in the middle of midterms), we have a wedding.


(I've been working on crafts.)

LIBR 271A Top Ten

These are my selections for the Top Ten Picturebooks for Older Readers (5th-12th grades) from my readings this term.

In no particular order:

The 9/11 Report, by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon

The 9/11 Report: a graphic adaptation
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
128 pages
©2006
New York: Hill and Wang
ISBN 9780809057382

Sita’s Ramayana, by Samhita Arni

Sita’s Ramayana
by Samhita Arni
illustrated by Moyna Chitrakar
152 pages
©2011
Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books
ISBN 9781554981458

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, by Jack Prelutsky

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems
by Jack Prelutsky
illustrated by Carin Berger
40 pages 
©2006
New York: Greenwillow Books
ISBN 9780060543174

The Wall, by Peter Sis

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Peter Sis
56 pages
©2007
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 9780374347017

Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll and Christopher Myers

Jabberwocky
reimagined and illustrated by Christopher Myers
32 pages
©2007
New York: Jump At The Sun
ISBN 9781423103721

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum, by Jessie Hartland

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum

by Jessie Hartland

40 pages

©2011

Maplewood, NJ: Blue Apple Books

ISBN 9781609050900

Mister Wonderful, by Daniel Clowes

Mister Wonderful : a love story

by Daniel Clowes

80 pages

©2011

New York: Pantheon

ISBN 9780307378132

The Wolves in the Walls, by Neil Gaiman

The Wolves in the Walls
by Neil Gaiman
illustrated by Dave McKean
56 pages
©2003
New York: HarperCollins
ISBN 9780380978274

After the Kill, by Darrin Lunde

After the Kill
by Darrin P. Lunde
illustrated by Catherine Stock
32 pages
©2011
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge
ISBN 9781570917448

Mirror, Mirror, by Marilyn Singer

Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse
by Marilyn Singer
illustrated by Josee Masse
32 pages
©2010
New York: Dutton
ISBN 9780525479017

Play It Again, Mozart!, by Geronimo Stilton

Play It Again, Mozart!
by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic)
56 pages
©2011
New York: Papercutz
ISBN 9781597072762

The Meaning of Life... and Other Stuff

Amelia Rules : The Meaning of Life... and Other Stuff

by Jimmy Gownley

160 pages

©2011

New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ISBN 9781416986126

Twilight: the graphic novel, by Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim

Twilight: the graphic novel, vol. 2
by Stephenie Meyer
art and adaptation by Young Kim
240 pages
©2011
New York: Yen Press
ISBN 9780316133197

The Arrival, by Shaun Tan

The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
128 pages
©2007
New York: Arthur A. Levine Books
ISBN 9780439895293

Love to Langston, by Tony Medina

Love to Langston
by Tony Medina
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
40 pages
©2006
New York: Lee & Low
ISBN 9781584302834

Us and Them, by Jim Carnes

Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America
by Jim Carnes
136 pages
©1999
New York: Oxford University Press
ISBN 9780195131253

Half Spoon of Rice, by Icy Smith

Half Spoon of Rice: A Survival Story of the Cambodian Genocide

by Icy Smith
illustrated by Sopaul Nhem
44 pages
©2010
Manhattan Beach, CA: East West Discovery Press
ISBN 9780982167588

Goals check-in: July

This is late 'cause I am swamped at the end of the semester. Sooo much work to do for 271A and the internship, church is having some administrative reorganizing, and we're about two and a half months out from the wedding. Ack!



Read 100 books in 2012.

Got up to #73. Slowly. Instead of my usual pleasure reading, I have been scanning a LOT of children's picturebooks for my internship and for 271A. I guess I can count the full-length graphic novels. I also had a few books that I just didn't finish! (One got taken back to the library; one is... somewhere around the apartment.) Currently working on Stephen King's Cell, which I had a vague idea was the story that got made into this hostage/sniper movie (not the Jennifer Lopez one), but apparently it's closer to zombie apocalypse.

Exercise for 90 minutes per week.
Nope. I walk about half an hour a day during my commute, but that's just necessity. I've been glued to the computer this summer with homework.

Same Difference, by Derek Kirk Kim

Same Difference
by Derek Kirk Kim
96 pages
©2011 (new deluxe edition)
New York: First Second
ISBN 9781596436572

Yeh Shen, by Ai-Ling Louie

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Tale from China
retold by Ai-Ling Louie
illustrated by Ed Young
32 pages
©1996
New York: Puffin
ISBN 9780698113886

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
by Barry Deutsch
144 pages
©2010
New York: Amulet Books
ISBN 9780810984226

The Silence of Our Friends, by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell

The Silence of Our Friends
written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos
illustrated by Nate Powell
208 pages
©2012
New York: First Second
ISBN 9781596436183

Americus, by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill

Americus
by MK Reed
illustrated by Jonathan Hill
224 pages
©2011
New York: First Second
ISBN 9781596437685

Around the World, by Matt Phelan

Around the World
by Matt Phelan
240 pages
©2011
Somerville, MA: Candlewick
ISBN 9780763636197

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups, by David Wisniewski

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups
by David Wisniewski
48 pages
©1998
New York: Lothram, Lee & Shepard
ISBN 9780688153397

If America Were a Village, by David J. Smith

If America Were a Village: a book about the people of the United States
by David J. Smith
illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong
32 pages
©2011
Toronto: Kids Can Press, Ltd.
ISBN 9781554533442