beloved and i are both home sick today with sore throats.  i’ve already finished a book, started another book, gotten halfway through that book and cast it aside in disdain, and gotten halfway through a third, much better book. in between that, i took two naps and drank a quart of orange juice mixed with sprite zero. beloved is watching season 7 of the gilmore girls while working on his thesis and gorging on cherry cough drops. nina the cat is in cat heaven. she loves when we stay home all day.

i’ve been the happy recipient of several teen fic ARCs lately, and i think it’s time to share some of the best. i am, however, going to be honest.  it’s my duty, both as an english lit major and a librarian.

i give you…

GEEKTASTIC: Stories from the nerd herd
edited by Holly Black & Cecil Castellucci!

first off- how amazing is that title? i know, right? and second- i read an ARC. the final product may change.
as with any collection of short stories written by several different authors, i had difficulty rating this. the stories celebrate the various lifestyles of teen geek, taking the reader from cons to the rocky horror picture show, with several stops for (sadly unfunny) comics along the way. my reactions to the stories were as varied as the stories themselves.

lowlights included the opening piece, in which a klingon and a jedi fall in lust at a con. which is unfortunate because…its the opening piece, and the idea for the story is what launched the whole anthology. it’s a great idea, but weakly executed. i was so bored with scott westerfeld’s piece that i didn’t even finish it, but i plugged on through the collection because i knew that john green was waiting for me in the second half! and yet…while his story had a handful of my beloved green zingers, i found the effort rather uninspired…dare i say even lackluster?

i know, i know. john green whose very feet i would kiss.

so how did this turn into a four-star review? well, i’ll tell you: david levithan’s story “quiz bowl antichrist” which made me feel so many feelings i nearly wept. garth nix, lisa yee, & m.t. anderson were also highly enjoyable. and KELLY LINK, OH MY GOD, KELLY LINK!!! perfection!! and barry lyga! man, can that guy celebrate geekitude! and wendy mass’ piece about astronomy geeks which put me in raptures! and a solid finish with libba bray!

overall, definitely worth picking up, though i suggest skimming and skipping in tune to your personal tastes.

random note: i’m also pretty sure that james kennedy ought to have participated in this somehow. that’s a compliment, james.

rating: four stars!

i was going to add a photo of the cover but it has been so long since i’ve blogged that i can’t figure out how. plus, i’m bored again and i’d better publish this before i wander off and lose it to our fickle internets.

of special interest is this post, from a library in michigan–

http://notalwaysright.com/high-altitude-expectations/1440

it’s probably not our library, but exchanges like this are common in this wonderful line of work. and frankly, i love it.

“porn please.”

“edward cullens is HOT.”

i am actually considering discontinuing the teen anonymous suggestion box.  i never get any good suggestions. but it does crack me up.

namely, floss my teeth (i have a dentist appointment at the end of the month) and resurrect the blog. maybe?

it helps that we changed internet service providers. now our internet service provider actually provides internet service. also, i’ve had time to adjust to my new post-grad busy life: working full time and raising an extremely moody kitty cat. things don’t seem quite as hectic.

SO: shall we begin again? hi! i’m kricket. i am a happy teen services librarian living with a cute architect and an extremely moody kitty cat. i read lots of books and sometimes make borderline wearable crafty things. i am looking forward to the printz award announcements and i have frequent nostalgia attacks.

stay tuned.

haha.

in the teen fiction section, there is a suggestion box. today i went to empty it out for the first time.

my favorite suggestion:

“NEEDS MORE PICTURE OF BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.”

my other favorite:

“you should get some jonas brothers book marks!”

i’m self-absorbed, so i’m going to start out with one of these meme thangs.

What were you doing five years ago?

hooooo boy. summer after my sophomore year of college, i was back home with my parents, dating an extremely hairy boy, and working as a sushi waitress with my best friend pixi. my work uniform consisted of polka dot warrior headband, hairnet, kimono, white capri pants, and white slip-on sandals from walmart. pixi and i were also night custodians for her father’s company, which was hilarious. and gross.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

• walk down to the pharmacy and get some soda.
• go visit rae, mr. rae, and little e.
• clean out cat box.
• read book on front porch.
• convince beloved to go car shopping

What are five snacks you enjoy?

• whole grain pop-tarts
  
• yogurt smoothies
  
• chocolate soy milk
  
• cheez doodles
  
• greek yogurt with honey
  

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

• pay off student loans for myself and beloved (one practical thing)
• spend a summer in crete lying on the beach and eating yogurt
• spend the fall in athens writing a book and drinking wine
• buy a condo in downtown seattle
• shop shop shop for myself, beloved, family and friends.

What are five of your bad habits?

• hatred of exercise, except for walking and monthly tennis
  
• addiction to diet soda. my bones are slowly being replaced by aspartame.
  
• always making someone else drive
  
• cannot pass used-book store without buying something
  
• am anti-social when in the middle of a really good book.

What are five jobs you’ve had?

• waitress at old folk’s home
  
• assembly line at rear-view mirror factory
• sushi waitress
  
• barista
  
• librarian!!

tah-dah.

got me this sweet two-year-old at the local animal shelter. she is perfectly healthy and perfectly well-behaved now that i have taught her not to eat houseplants. beloved and i are both completely infatuated with her.

more to come.

so. hi! i am officially a master of library science now, and beloved and i are officially moved into below house, and we have both officially started working full-time, which means we might officially be adults.

unfortunately we are also officially comcast customers, which is terrible. the university internet hookup spoiled us rotten, and now it takes about three hours to download a PDF, youtube is a forgotten dream, and last week i broke personal records by going a whopping 5 daytime hours without checking my email. because i couldn’t.

so i would post pictures of the new pad but y’all wouldn’t see them until next wednesday anyway.

I’M KITTY SHOPPING! my grad gift from beloved is a kitty cat. we always considered ourselves dog people, but i have been meeting so many lovely kitties lately. i think because i hang out with so many librarians. we don’t even necessarily want a kitten, which seemed like it shouldn’t be too hard, but i’ve had a disappointing experience with craig’s list—probably shouldn’t have contacted someone called “princess_troy69” in the first place.  in the meantime, a neighborhood cat has adopted us, mewing on our porch in the evenings and sitting on my lap and purring while i read. i called the number on the collar to see if he was lost. later his owner left a message saying he wasn’t lost but he’s been staying outside lately and they were looking for a new owner for him because of allergies. i called back and left a message saying PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR KITTY, I LOVE HIM.

i’ll let you know what happens.

and as soon as things get calmer i’ll put more reviews up…

yes friends, the lower half of this fine structure is where beloved and i will be housing our books. i am very half-assedly packing them tonight. we still have a good week until The Big Move and i just can’t be certain what i’ll want to read until then.

pictures of interior later.