The Best Book Blurt Books of 2012

Alright everyone, this is something that I haven't done before, but something that was way too much fun to pass up. You know how everyone and their mother is posting a "Best of 2012" right now? Well my coworker, Miss Lauren, suggested that I do one as well.

Now, this isn't necessarily a list of books that were written in 2012; this is a list of books that I read in 2012 =D I try to read a book a week and then post a review of it on Wednesdays as Book Blurt. Even though I've done a much better job of that this year, I still only read 38 books this year. Of that 38, I've selected 9 books that I thought stuck out from the rest (plus 1 book's review that has been read more than any other this year). As I just can't decide which books are better than others, I'm going to put them in chronological order of when I read them.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 1/18/12

"While Asher does a good job explaining that we can never know how our small actions will negatively or positively affect others, he also writes that Hannah ultimately chose to give up on herself."

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 2/8/12

"It all started when Junior threw a dilapidated textbook at his math teacher's head. His teacher could have been furious, but instead, he was truthful. 'Junior,' he said, 'unless you get off of the rez, you are going to wind up like every other Indian here; drunk, hopeless, and going nowhere. But, if you get out of here, you could be someone.'"

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 2/22/12

 "Ultimately, we get an interesting look at how trying to avoid hurt by not caring might actually hurt more than pouring your life into someone else"

Divergent by Veronica Roth 3/28/12

"Veronica is only 22 years old and this is her debut novel, but it is amazing! She does a great job imagining a world where society members are split by personality, and how focusing on one virtue can mess us up instead of help us"


Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 4/11/12

"But, this is my take on it: Suzanne was just being true to the world that she created. From the very first chapter of The Hunger Games, Suzanne created a dangerous, violent, unfair and chaotic world, and when the stakes went up, these things took their affect as well; with disastrous consequences"

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers 5/2/12

 "I really, really liked this book! It wasn't what I was expecting at all, and it was pleasantly awesome. While the book is written from the perspective of the author (the author in the story, not the perspective of Aidan Chambers, but it might be some of that as well), we never find out the author's name because the book is really about Karl. The author slowly learns more about himself and Karl throughout the book, and the discoveries are hopeful, encouraging, and very truthful"

The Maze Runner by James Dashner 9/12/12

"Like many Dystopian books, the characters inhabit a dangerous world, full of high-stake choices and situations,  where one false move could get you dead. This excitement is coupled with the mystery, right up until the book ends, leaving you begging for the second one, The Scorch Trials. That is what happened with me anyway hehe."

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga 9/26/12

"This book dragged me in and wouldn't let me go. Lyga does an excellent job showing two troubled characters who might have problems with each other, but still find comfort in each other's presence and direction. Ultimately, Donnie finds that he isn't as alone as he once thought, and if you want to find out more about Kyra, you can read my post next week about Goth Girl Rising."

Every Day by David Levithan 11/7/12

"This book was just ridiculously readable. All of the every day events could happen in someone's life, but through it all you know it isn't normal because A is experiencing these things for people, and this gives the book a unique voice and perspective. While the world events seem commonplace, the way they combine to complicate A's life is really fascinating."

BONUS (The most read Book Blurt of the Year)


Lost and Found by Anne Schraff

"The simple writing style just tells you how things are, and even though the conflict is real, it isn’t traumatizing to read. Ultimately, I think it reads like a sitcom. The story takes us through problems that need to be dealt with, lessons that need to be learned, but everyone winds up happy at the end" 

Daybreak and Broxo: Some Zombie Stories

Daybreak by Brian Ralph and Broxo by Zack Giallongo

Why did I read it?

Daybreak: I referenced this book in my Teen Literature class for my Master's in Information and Library Science.
Broxo: It was an advanced reader copy that looked interesting.

What happened?

Daybreak: Your eyes snap open and you see a one-armed man walking toward you. He mentions that you don't want to be out in the open when night falls, so you follow him. After grabbing some food and meeting his dog, you settle in for the night. But sleep won't be easy with a horde of the undead outside...nor will surviving...

Broxo: Princess Zora has traveled way too long for her quest to be this pointless! Hoping to open negotiations with one of her fellow tribes, Zora had traveled for many months only to find the supposed home of the clan abandoned. All she finds instead is a lone warrior named Broxo, who has become accustomed to the harsh landscape and random undead that make life interesting. Even though Broxo doesn't seem to mind, Zora can't rest until she finds out what happened to the missing clan, and the real secret behind these monsters.

What did I like or not like?

You might be wondering why I put 2 reviews into 1 post this week. First of all, I'm taking a break for the holidays, so I figured I'd give you 2 books to try and hold you over lol.

The other reason was even though I heartily enjoyed both books, there wasn't a whole lot to make a review out of. The stories aren't too long, so I didn't want to give too much of the plot away.

But here are some things I can tell you. Both are graphic novels, and both include the undead, but that is really the only similarity between them. Daybreak is first person perspective (in a graphic novel which is cool), and Broxo is third person. Daybreak is more realistic fiction/sci-fi, and Broxo is more fantasy. Daybreak has a very limited color palette, and Broxo has a very lively color palette.

You know how sometimes you read a book and it wasn't necessarily heart-wrenching, hilarious, thought-provoking, or amazing, but was still enjoyable to read and worth your time? That is how I would categorize these 2 titles.

Let me know what you think when you read them, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

AsapSCIENCE: Show, don't Tell Science

You know that old idiom, "Show, don't tell?" Well it has finally been applied to science lol.

AsapSCIENCE posts a weekly video on an interesting science topic through YouTube, and has daily content posted to Facebook and Twitter. Their idea is instead of telling you about science, they'll just show you.

Their "showing" method is based on a whiteboard where characters and images are drawn. But, it is much more than that. A narrator breaks down pertinent facts while the drawing is going on, and studies and more information is always referenced.

I found several of the topics very interesting; Productivity, Alcohol, Zombie Apocalypse, and the Moon Illusion were just a few of them =D

Glancing through their daily content, they have some fascinating facts and pictures as well. I'm always looking for information and inspiration for my Ka-Boom program, and I think this will be another one to add to the list!

P.S. We're taking a break for the Holidays, so I'll see you again on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013 (weird much?) for a discussion of Slideshare. 

High School Literary Character Brawl pt. 2!

As promised in the first High School Literary Character Brawl post, I'm going to talk about the other challenges that we did throughout the night. But before I do, let me tell you a little bit more about how we set up the event.

When everyone walked in, we gave each of them a Brawl Card, and a Character Card. Their Character Card held their life points and defense points (each type of point was a paper clip), and the Brawl Cards were used to determine who would challenge who. Basically, the Brawlmaster (Yours Truly) would randomly shuffle the Brawl Cards, and lay them out in pairs. The pairs would then battle each other in the Brawl Round, or in the challenges in-between.

Each of our Brawl rounds had a slightly different stage. The first round, we gave the characters range of the whole room. Second round they were limited to half of the room, and the third round they were limited to a rectangle of tables that resembled a fencing match. After all of our participants had faced off in the appropriate round, we would move to our secondary challenges.

After our first Brawl round, we played some dodge ball. Brawl Cards were randomly assigned side 1 or side 2, and the side with the last players standing got coin. Those who got hit had to give up a life point. Secondly we tried a Book Cart Drag Race (some things are better shown than talked about). The losers in their heat had to give up a life point as well.

We then did a second round of Brawls with only half of the room available, and then moved onto Ninja (the link brings you to rules and an explanation). The short explanation of this game is taking turns trying to hit another player's hands. If you do, your opponent is out. After that, I had found some riddles (simply typed "riddles" into Google) that were ridiculous and fun. If you answered correctly, you got one coin.

Once our riddles were complete, the only thing left was Brawling in a rectangle of tables, and then counting up our spoils. The event was an absolute ton of fun as I said earlier, but there are always things that one learns while doing programs. So next installment, I'm going to give some participant suggestions that would make the event even more awesome!

P.S. As our next 2 weeks are filled with Holidays (YAY!) my next installment will be the week of January 7th. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Insurgent: Can Pain Lead to Strength?

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Why did I read it?

Because Divergent was awesome, and I couldn't resist reading it anymore =D

What happened?

SPOILER ALERT

Triss didn't have a choice, but it doesn't mean she doesn't regret killing Will. Why couldn't she just have shot him in the hand? There wasn't anything she could do to stop them, but why did her parents have to sacrifice themselves for her? How can she move on without them?

But move on she must. She and Tobias might have been able to stop the Erudite plot, but there is no telling what might be coming next. With Abnegation all but destroyed, the other three factions have to choice their side, and several of them have close ties to Erudite. Where can she and the other outcasts find safety?

Perhaps its with the factionless, those banished, exiled, or kicked out from their chosen faction. But despite what many said, the factionless aren't as helpless as they might have appeared. In fact, they might have been planning something. But what?

There are also the rumors that Triss has heard. Maybe the Erudite attack on Abnegation might have been about much more than a simple government takeover. It might have been about secrets that could rock their entire world.

What did I like or not like?

As far as Dystopian novels go, this series is one of my favorites. The society is brought to the point of destruction, and yet the characters are still led by values and convictions. The plot and action keep you interested throughout the novel, and the questions that the characters ask in their make-believe circumstances apply to all of our lives today. Ultimately, the book ponders the idea of who we are; what we choose to do, or what we have to do. 

Idaho Careline: Information and Referral Services

While I was bopping around my email, I found some articles on Digital Inclusion (They were very interesting, btw). One of them mentioned a service that sounded familiar but I wasn't completely sure about, so I decided to look it up and talk about it today.

The service is Idaho 211: Idaho Careline, and it is a free statewide community information and referral service. Ultimately, it is a program of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, but there are a lot of services in the database. The goal is to have information on health and human services in the local communities of Idaho, whether they be government, faith-based, or community resources.

As it turns out, 2-1-1 services are available in pretty much every state in the Union, but Idaho was the fourth in the nation to implement the service statewide.  In Fiscal Year 2012, the Idaho Careline helped 162,500 people. I was curious if the Hayden Library was included as one of the resources, and it turns out that we are. The information was obviously given some time ago, but it will still get you to the right place =D

So the next time you need a referral, try called 2-1-1 and see what they can do for you. Or, you could check out their Helpful Links. If you do, let me know how it goes.

High School Literary Character Brawl!

So, ya, this program was a ton of fun!

While we've been discussing programs at Next-Gen Advisory Team (NGAT), we thought it would be a ton of fun to dress up as literary characters and then have some sort of contest. Originally, we were thinking of playing Mafia (or Murderer or Body/Body or some variation of the bunch) around the library, but with emergency lights, I didn't think it would be dark enough to be ridiculously awesome.

Then I started thinking about Live Action Role Play (LARP) and Cosplay. I figured that basic idea would give a purpose to dressing up, and would let us have a contest. So after discussing my brainstorming ideas with members of NGAT, I set about building a framework for our High School Literary Character Brawl!

The basic idea for the night would be 1-minute rounds where two participants would battle with pool noodles. After each brawl, the audience (the participants waiting their turn to fight) would decide who won and who had lost. The loser had to give 10 of their coin (we used LEGO pieces) to the winner. After all of our brawl rounds and challenges, the person with the most coins would win!

We gave each participant 30 coin at the beginning of the night. They also received 10 health points (they lost 1 point after each brawl lost, and in a couple of our other challenges), and 5 defense points (each 1 defense point meant 2 less coins you had to give your victorious opponent). If our participants had either or those left at the end, a health point was worth 5 coins, and the defense points were worth 1 coin. 

While this program was ultimately pretty simple, there were a few different pieces to it. So, I'm going to be talking about it for the next few weeks on the blog. Check back next week for the other challenges we did in-between the brawl rounds =D

The Death Cure: No More Lies!

The Death Cure by James Dashner

Why did I read it?

My boss is an avid reader; she can go through several books in a week. But, sometimes she enjoys a series so much that she desperately needs someone else to discuss it with, and that is what happened with this series. I had read The Maze Runner for TeenBookWorms, but then she pushed me through The Scorch Trials and the prequel, The Kill Order, in addition to this title. I'm really glad she did.

What happened?

SPOILER ALERT

WICKED (World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department) has done terrible things to Thomas and his friends, and the more he remembers about his life before the Maze, the more he realizes that he was one of THEM! With solar flares and The Scorch threatening to destroy humanity, Thomas and others like him believed that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

But Thomas isn't so sure anymore. After surviving The Maze and The Scorch, friends dying around him, and his best friend betraying him, Thomas has had enough. WICKED might be saying the time for lies is over. They might be saying they will give him back his memory. They might be saying they are so close to developing a cure.

But Thomas no longer believes that "WICKED is good." He has seen the evil that has been perpetrated in the name of science, and he is not going to be a pawn in their game any longer.

What did I like or not like?

One of the awesome things about this series is the fast-paced action coupled with the slow revelation of what is going on, and this third installment is no exception. We have so many more pieces of the puzzle by the beginning of this book, but their are still many questions to be answered.

Have you ever gotten to the end of a series and thought, "I read through all of those pages and THAT is how you are going to end it? You have got to be kidding me!" I don't think that will happen with this one.

Its possible that you won't like it, but similar to my thoughts on Mockingjay (the third book in The Hunger Games series), I don't think the author could have ended it any other way. The ending is definitely bittersweet, but I think it was realistic for the world Dashner set up, and it was still way more hopeful than Mockingjay was =D

Experiment with Things that Glow under a Black Light

As the title suggests, here is my list of things that glow under a black light. After you've read it, you can keep reading for an explanation of black lights and my program, or you could move on. Either way, thanks for reading:)

Things that Glow Under a Black Light:

Tonic water
Laundry detergent
Area around the dark spots of a banana
Highlighter ink
Security strip on a recent US $20
Irish Springs soap
Petroleum jelly
Canola or vegetable oil
White paper
White LEGO pieces
Glow in the dark paint
Glow sticks (alright the last two already glow in the dark, but they glow even brighter under a black light)
Tooth whitening products
and believe it or not, Monster energy drinks

Every month I get the chance to do science experiments at a local private school. Typically my library program happens before I go to the school, which gives me a chance to see what experiments will work well in a classroom setting. But this time, I got an idea for my library program from the school program.

Glow in the Dark Experiments was my topic last month, and while I was there, one of the students mentioned that they had been using black lights to identify certain minerals in rocks. He thought it would be cool for us to experiment with other things that glow under black lights. I agreed =D

I'm sure everyone is familiar with black lights, but I wasn't quite sure how they worked. Black lights are emitting two kinds of light; light we can see, and light we can't see. The light we can see is the purplish color, and the light we can't see is called ultraviolet light. This ultraviolet light (UVA) is the harmless cousin to the harmful ultraviolet light (UVB) that gives you a sunburn.

If something glows under a black light, it is because it contains phosphors. Phosphors are a substance that emit visible light when exposed to radiation. So they are absorbing the ultraviolet light from the black light, and converting it to visible light.

Turns out there are quite a few things that glow under a black light, and I figured I'd list them for you here. My time at the private school was mostly spent seeing what would glow and what wouldn't. If you want to do this program, I would suggest grabbing a mixture of things that glow and things that don't, and see what you see. Also be willing to test things that are around the room...