The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World

 The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World by Jan Louch and Lisa Rogak

Pages: 274

5 out of 5 stars

In this true story of Baker and Taylor, two library cats who not only lifted the spirits of the library staff struggling to meet the demands of a rapidly growing community, but the community itself, Jan Louch shares how the library came to have the two cats, how the book company Baker & Taylor came to use them as their mascots and make them feline celebrities. The cats even became pen pals to school children in another state and helped encourage reading and writing. 

For everyone who loves cats, but especially for those who also love books and libraries. 

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

...an alchemist with golden hair who performs transmutations....
...Insert FMA gif

Atlantis vibes.
Sari is thirsty...same
When you hear the title of the second book in the first one..
I don't even know what to put down cause I love it and everything's pretty and the writing is pretty and my babies deserve the world. The cute innocence and finding joy in things. Someone protect them. Someone protect Lazlo and Sarai.
This is up there with the Night Circus.
560 Pages

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I am loving this world and the concept. I love Erin's writing style. She has like twenty-seven million stories going on and it's perfect. Her descriptions.. chef's kiss
Alexa play "Into the Unknown"
....Am I the only one getting tons of LOTR references.
But seriously they are living the dream. *Insert gif of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast raising his arms yelling "and BOOKS!"
Cats...I love the cats.
The kitchen *sobbing*
Eleanor *more sobbing*
Simon *uncontrollable sobbing*
I'm fine.
I knew there was going to be a Pirates of the Caribbean reference...Now if only I can find the jar of dirt...

512 Pages

Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life by Annie Spence

Summary: "In Dear Fahrenheit 451, librarian Annie Spence has crafted love letters and breakup notes to the iconic and eclectic books she has encountered over the years. From breaking up with The Giving Tree (a dysfunctional relationship book if ever there was one), to her love letter to The Time Traveler’s Wife (a novel less about time travel and more about the life of a marriage, with all of its ups and downs), Spence will make you think of old favorites in a new way. Filled with suggested reading lists, Spence’s take on classic and contemporary books is very much like the best of literature―sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes surprisingly poignant, and filled with universal truths. A celebration of reading, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is for anyone who loves nothing more than curling up with a good book…and another, and another, and another!" - Amazon

This book is fun.  Pure and simple fun.  Of course, you're reading about someone else's love, peeves, questions, and thoughts about the novels they've read, so I didn't always agree, but I definitely could relate!  Annie Spence writes with an honesty and snarkiness I totally love.  The first part consists of her breakup/love letters to those books she's read, weeded, recommended, etc.  The second part is made of reading lists that are super funny.  For example, one list is made of various excuses to give out to friends when you want to stay home and read.  Each excuse is accompanied by a recommended book.  Again - fun!  I think my favorite letters are those to Frog and Toad (I totally identified) and a blood-splatter book requested and received through inter-library loan (who hasn't gushed over a weird gross book and then wondered about the person asking for it!).       

So worth the read. 

5/5

256 pages

The Librarian's Book of Lists

 The Librarian's Book of Lists
edited by George M. Eberhart
Pages: 128

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

George Eberhart has collected  amusing trivia and arcane librariana over his years editing American Libraries and the many editions of The Whole Library Handbook. This collection is a nice mix of fun and serious topics. It's a fun read for anyone interested in books and libraries.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a good story, ideal for someone who loves books and words and who can handle a story about grief. It had some spectacular moments, but it fell shy of perfection for me. While I enjoyed the majority of the story, I would not be likely to pick it up and read it again, which is why I've gone with 4 stars on this one.

There are some things in this story that went unexplored that I wish had been explored. I think that's what is lacking for me, even though it was interesting overall. The end is probably what brought it down for me, and I don't mean any specific thing that happened at the end of the book. I just mean that it lost ground for me in the last 20% or so of the story, despite having held my full attention up until that point.

Pages: 273

"Sleigh Ride" by Heidi Cullinan

Opposites attract in this second book in the Minnesota Christmas series.  Gabriel Higgins is the lone librarian in small Logan, MN, but he loves his job.  He excels at it but hasn't really made any friends outside of the library.  When one of the library volunteers decides to raise money with sleigh rides in a real sleigh, Gabriel balks at the idea because she wants him to play Santa's elf to her son's Santa.  Arthur Anderson does not want his mother to play matchmaker, especially when she tells him that he'll be Santa with the lanky librarian playing his elf.  However, the library desperately needs the money, so both men relent.  As they get to know each other, Gabriel introduces Arthur, who doesn't enjoy reading, to graphic novels.  The best part of the book, in my opinion, is when Arthur's young nephew wants a doll, but the boy's mother refuses because of what others will say.  When Gabriel hears this, he decides to do a children's story time about it.  He brings his own dolls that he had as a child and explains to the children and parents that boys who have dolls will grow up to be loving fathers.  The author does a fabulous job with this part of the book; so well that it brought tears to my eyes.  It was a wonderful portrayal of the way good librarians, especially in small, isolated towns, can change children's lives.  229 pages (Kindle edition).

"Twelve Days" by Isabelle Rowan

In this follow up to "A Note in the Margin", John, David, and Jamie are still running the bookstore Margins and are getting ready for Christmas.  David continues to deal with the repercussions of living on the street and is trying to rebuild his relationship with his son with the help of John.  Jamie is worried that he's going to be alone forever and feels especially bad that this will be the first Christmas not spent with his mom.  I was glad to read about all three men and how they've progressed since the first book.  The ending was especially touching.  64 pages (Kindle edition).

"A Note in the Margin" by Isabelle Rowan

John McCann has taken a one year leave of absence from his job in the Australian corporate world to manage a small bookstore called Margins to get his stress under control.  One of the store's regulars is a quiet man named David who occupies a chair all day in the used books section.  At first, John wants to get rid of him and the reading chairs, but the store's owner's son, Jamie, has befriended David and talks John into leaving him alone.  David is homeless, something John has never had to deal with, and it makes him uncomfortable.  But one very cold night, John's humanity starts to reemerge when he lets David spend the night on his couch.  John soon realizes that beneath the scruff and dirt is a talented artist and sensitive man who needs help to get his life in order.

This was a wonderful story about the power of friendship, patience, and love that wasn't always an easy read.  David's homelessness and what he does to earn money are tough to read.  He has been horribly abused on the street, and it has caused him to run away whenever he feels scared or stressed.  He trusts no one, but John and Jamie do their best to convince him that they won't hurt him.  My only complaint is that the story was told from multiple points of view, and it was not always clear whose view the author was taking which sometimes confused me.  However, it was still a compelling and well-told human drama.  276 pages (Kindle edition).

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

9-year-old Liesel Meminger doesn’t know how to read when her mother leaves her with a foster family in Molching, Germany in 1939. On the train that takes them to Molching, her little brother dies, and after he is buried, she finds a book dropped by one of the grave diggers. This is her first book theft. Her foster father teaches her to read using this book, which happens to be ‘The Gravedigger’s Handbook’.

Liesel’s story continues through the war years, through bombings, a Jew hidden in the basement, and her foster father being conscripted into the German army. Through it all, she continues to find books to steal and read, even reading them aloud in the bomb shelter during air raids to distract her neighbors.

This is a very good book about the everyday lives of ordinary German citizens during the Nazi regime.  Most World War II stories are about the Germans as aggressors; it is seldom that the average small-town person is depicted in literature.

578 pages