The Desolation of Smaug

So here it is, the trailer (well, one of many more trailers to come, I'm sure) for the second part of the Hobbit movies.  The Hobbit is one of my favorite books, so I'm slightly bummed that the fim version doesn't follow that storyline very closely, but I get that the movies are supposed to sort of encompass the entire LOTR universe.  That's cool, I guess.  I can get on board.

So, I don't know about anyone else, but I think Bilbo Baggins is pretty crush-worthy.  First of all, despite the hairy feet, he's kind of adorable (why yes, I will happily admit that Martin Freeman, the actor who plays Bilbo, happens to be one of my few celebrity crushes.  I mean, he's been in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie, Sherlock the tv show, Hot Fuzz (one of my favorite movies), AND he's Bilbo?  Who DOESN'T love this guy?!).  Second, Bilbo is a seriously badass and epic hero.  Yes, he starts out wanting to sit around in his little* hobbit hole drinking tea and eating biscuits and making nice floral arrangements (okay I don't know if he actually does this, but arranging flowers seems like a hobbit-y type of thing to do).  He's not into the whole adventure scene, going out and fighting scary things and slaying dragons and rescuing looted treasures and stuff.  But that's sort of exactly what makes him a freakingly awesome hero.  Right? Because anyone who's INTO that kind of stuff can go out and do it and maybe be pretty good at adventuring and all that; but you kind of have to admire Bilbo because he's terrified and uncomfortable and doing something so far beyond what he ever imagined he would or could do in his  life--and THAT takes some serious guts.  THAT, I think, is what being a hero is about--being ballsy and sticking up for and rescuing your friends and standing up against the bad guys, even when you're terrified.

The movie comes out in December!  Can't wait.

Put the first movie, The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, on hold at APL or
find the book in our catalog

*I say "little," but let's be honest, that hobbit hole is HUGE and pretty freaking luxurious.  I'd trade my tiny little apartment for Bilbo's hobbit hole any day.

Books, please!

Anyone read a great book recently?  I just finished the graphic novel Cardboard, and I'm looking for something new to read.  Heck, I'll even take a "just okay" book!

Edit (6/15/13): A few of the books you recommended for me.  Can't wait to get to them!

YA Book Review: "The Probability of Miracles" by Wendy Wunder

So this book was recommended to me by TAG's own Caitlyn* and yes, she assured me, Wendy Wunder IS the author's real name (I totally didn't believe it was her real name, because doesn't it sound like a superhero name or like, a bad stripper name?).

Anyway, The Probability of Miracles is a book about cancer, and nothing says fun summer read like YA books about teens with cancer!  But really, sort of like John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, this book is actually incredibly witty and lots of fun, though obviously yes, there are terrible, incredibly heartbreaking moments as well (because, you know, CANCER).

Campbell Cooper is 15, lives in Disney in Florida with her mom and younger sister, and she has cancer; she's also completely sick of being dragged around from hospital to hospital and healer to healer to find something, anything that will help make her better.  She's slowly dying from her illness, and there's probably pretty much nothing that's going to change that.

Except....Except Cam's mom hears of a town in Maine that's nearly impossible to find but supposedly possesses healing powers, and so the family packs up and heads north for the summer in Cam's little car and a U-Haul to lovely, beach-y Promise, Maine (which they do find, but barely, after picking up some milkshakes and whoopie pies from a Dunkin Donuts which, by the way, is one of my most favorite places ever).

Soon Cam is noticing all kinds of things -- flamingos nesting in Maine (if you've never been to the northeast, I guarantee you you'll never see a flamingo up there that isn't in a cage), the astonishing reappearance of something that'd been missing, the fact that is, in fact, feeling so much better -- things that her mother and sister swear are miracles, but which Cam just writes off as coincidences.  The thing is, Cam doesn't believe she can afford to have hope.  How can she hope for a miracle when she's pretty sure she won't live to see her 18th birthday?

Enter a guy (an adorable guy named Asher); old friends (well, really just one old friend**); a cast of new friends; and the "Flamingo List," Cam's list of stuff she'd like to do before she dies, like have an awkward moment with her best friend's boyfriend--all of which change Cam's life in ways she never thought possible.

Seriously, I love Cam's sarcasm, her little sister's funny way of being both weirdly mature for an 11-year-old but also adorably young (she has this ridiculous theory on why unicorns obviously exist), and Asher's sweet naivety.   Despite the heavy topic, I think this actually is a great summer read, and I'm really glad Caity recommended it to me.  Two thumbs up.

Find "The Probability of Miracles" at APL

*Spelling fixed, thanks!**That is, someone Cam's been friends with for awhile, not someone she's friends with who's like, a hundred years old.  Just clarifyin'.

"House of Hades" Book Cover!

Here it is!!!!  As I'm sure many of you already know, the official House of Hades book cover was revealed on May 31st, just a few days ago.  What's going on on the cover?  Well, it looks like Percy half-holding, half-dragging Annabeth through "the house of Hades."  Annabeth also appears to be wearing some kind of weird, fish-looking outfit, though I'm assuming it's actually just armor.

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Here's the info that's on Rick Riordan's website:

*** WARNING!  Contains mild spoilers if you haven't read the first three books in the Heroes of Olympus series! ***

Heroes of Olympus, Book Four

Coming October 8, 2013

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?
They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Did I mention that I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK?!  Also, why is every amazing- book-release-that-I-am-anticipating-more-than-other-book-releases (like Allegiance, the last "Divergent" book!) happening in October?  Must practice my speed reading skills....

YA Book Review: "One Came Home" by Amy Timberlake* **

1871 is a big year for 13-year-old Georgie: her older sister has disappeared with a group of pigeoners and instead of bringing Agatha home, the sheriff returns to their Placid, Wisconsin town with a body half-eaten by animals and missing a face and both hands, but still recognizable by its dress, a beautiful, shimmering, turquoise green gown hand stitched for Agatha by their mother.  For Mrs. Burkhardt and Grandfather Bolte, the dress is indisputable proof of Agatha's death; she is buried the next day.

Georgie suffers through her sister's funeral, but refuses to believe Agatha is dead -- Agatha, who craved a life of education, rather than marriage; Agatha, who climbed up into trees and down into caves and could survive nearly anything; Agatha with the red, red hair.  For the past year, Georgie's worst fear has been the possibility of losing her beloved sister to a husband or to the university, but death?  She knows her sister would never leave her that way, and with her rifle, a mule, Captain Randolph B. Marcy's The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-Book for Overland Expeditions, and a heart nearly collapsing with guilt -- Georgie had betrayed her sister not long before Agatha vanished; had she been ultimately responsible for whatever fate her sister met? -- Georgie sets out to prove that Agatha is alive.

Joined by Agatha's former beau on a journey to Dog Hollow, Wisconsin, Georgie unravels mysteries and discovers others, and is changed in ways she never sought or believed she would be.  One Came Home is a beautiful historical coming-of-age story full of mystery and adventure (Georgie just happens to be the best 13-year-old shot in Placid, if not in all of Wisconsin).  Recommended.

Find "One Came Home" at APL

* I would just like to point out that I wrote this book review for APL Youth Services's more "mature" blog for adults, which is why it doesn't sound like me and lacks all my favorite words to use, like "totally" and "yeah, so" and "awesome."  Rest assured, though, that this book is seriously awesome.  I highly recommend it!

** Also by the way, Amy Timberlake is also the author of the picture book "The Dirty Cowboy," illustrated by Adam Rex.  It's a children's book about, well, a dirty cowboy and it's been challenged, restricted, and/or banned in a handful of libraries, as well as by parents around the country, because it depicts a "half-naked" cowboy who's getting ready to take a bath.  Well I gotta say, librarian or not, I'm on the side of the parents here.  Taking clothes off to take a bath?  Never!  I don't know about anyone else, but I always shower with my clothes on.

Makes Me Wish...

...I knew how to ride a bike.  Oh, by the way, did you know that your teen librarian never learned how to ride a bike?  (I also don't know how to ice skate.)  My guy Kris tried to teach me how to ride a two-wheeler last fall, and it was kind of a disaster, not because I fell a lot (I don't think I fell once, actually), but because the seat was REALLY uncomfortable, and I could barely walk for like, two week afterwards.  I'm thinking we might go the tandem-bike route--Kris gets to do all the work, and I get to happily sit on the back of the bike, pedal, and pretend I'm actually doing something.  Works for me!

So basically, what we've got here is a 2-story high bike named the Stoopid Tall bike by its creator, Richie Trimble.  

Let me stop here to say that there are times in my life when I'm just utterly tired of humanity (one of my dreams in life used to be to move to rural England to become a sheepherder with Kris; he wasn't as into the idea as I was).  People do terrible things to each other -- war and violence and abuse and poverty are very real and very terrible and there are people who experience these things every day of their lives.  Then there's the smaller stuff that's just annoying, like the jerk lady who honked at me yesterday even though I had the right of way.  And when my cat throws up on the floor and it's disgusting and slightly stinky, and I have to clean it up and it makes me late for work.

And then you have something like THIS.  This utterly bizarre and completely wonderful giant bike that makes you glad there are strange and creative and smart people on this planet.  Apparently, Trimble had to climb a series of beams just to reach the seat.  I wonder if his bike is still functional and if so, whether we could convince him to come visit us in Ames for a demonstration?  I do have a little money to hire a performer....

TAG Meeting Minutes: May 17, 2013

People:

Maria, Fletcher, Izanna, Benji, Alex, Zoe, Maya, Kira, Jordan, Angela

Percy Jackson Plan:

Start out by dividing all participants into either Romans or Greeks Five gods will have activities, Hades, Ares, Apphrodite, Posidean and Zues

Hades: Treasure Hunt Tag

                -start point and end point (door to underworld)

                -person as Hades to be tagger

                -pick up treasure on the way

                -person with most treasure in the end wins