A preoccupation

The last couple times I've been to the library, I've been interested in books about words or grammar. I only got one book the time before today. But then I graded a bunch of my students' papers and I think I became obsessed with grammar. So I sought out some grammar books today when I visited the library. I have the following language/word/grammar/punctuation books to read:

• Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words by John Bemelmans Marciano
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
• Foyle's Further Philavery: A Cornucopia of Lexical Delights collected by Christopher Foyle
• Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun & Spite by June Casagrand
• Mortal Syntax: 101 Language Choices That Will Get You Clobbered by the Grammar Snobs--Even If You're Right by June Casagrande
• Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey

Looks exciting, yeah? :)

A new favorite library activity

Okay, so it's not a totally NEW favorite library activity. I just started doing it more often recently. It is: browsing the new book shelves at the library!

I did this at AADL. It started while I was working there, mostly because shelving the new books was an activity I could do when things were slow. That, of course, lead to browsing and checking out the books that looked interesting. The fun part is that I end up reading books that I may have never discovered or would have thought about picking up.

I discontinued doing so once I got to the Branigan Library here in NM. Mostly because the new books sections never looked very large. I kept at it in the children's section, but most of those books, at least at Branigan, are not really new. After some wandering in the YA section one day, I discovered the YA new book shelf. And a book that I had really wanted to read on was there on it (I don't remember which book now)!

So I started browsing the adult fiction and non fiction new book sections in the last few months. Here are some gems I discovered:

• Dogs & Devotion by The Monks of New Skete (A-NF)

A very cool book of photographs and quotes.

• The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New by J.M. Dixon (A-NF)
• How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful by Diana Laurence (A-NF)

Clearly, I was in a vampire phase. Two very different and equally fascinating books...

• How to Be a Cowboy by Jim Arndt (A-NF)

Who wouldn't want to be a cowboy?

• The Oxford Project by Peter Feldstein & Stephen G. Bloom (A-NF)

A very neat photo book that had photos of every person is the town of Oxford from the 80s and in 2000 (I think those were the dates).

• Bear-ology: Fascinating Bear Facts, Tales & Trivia by Sylvia Dolson (A-NF)

Vital information. I can now tell the difference between a brown bear and a black bear.

• Fifty Dresses That Changed the World by Design Museum (A-NF)
• Fifty Shoes That Changed the World by Design Museum (A-NF)

I'm not a big fashion person, but these were pretty interesting!

• Americanos: Latino Life in the United States by Edward James Olmos, Lea Ybarra, & Manuel Monterrey (A-NF)
• Counter Culture: The American Coffee Shop Waitress by Candacy A. Taylor (A-NF)
• Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life edited by Graydon Carter & Risko (A-NF)

Books that contributed to my knowledge of Latinos, waitresses, and celebrities. Clearly, the knowledge of Latino culture was most useful to me, now that I am living in a place where Latino culture is so prevalent!

• Girl on the Rocks: A Woman's Guide to Climbing with Strength, Grace, and Courage by Katie Brown (A-NF)

This book spawned my interest in trying rock climbing. Haven't done it yet, but it's on my list!

• Workin' It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style by RuPaul (A-NF)

I love RuPaul! Would I have thought to look for this book if it wasn't on the new shelf? Probably not!

• We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion by Sep Kamvar & Jonathan Harris (A-NF)

Clearly, the best discovery so far. This book examines the use of feelings in blogs across the US. Blogs and their therapeutic benefits are one of my research interests. :)


And it won't end there. I'm still on the lookout. Some of my current check-outs are from the new book shelves and I look forward to reading them:

• The Lives They Left Behind by Penney, Stastny, & Rinzler
• White Like Me by Tim Wise
• Foyle's Further Philavery collected by Christopher Foyle
• Anonyponymous by John Bemelmans Marciano

Yay for cool new books! :)

book i've read april 2010

4.1.10

• Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell (PB)
• Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy & Carolyn Fisher (PB)
• Am I a Color Too? by Heidi Cole, Nancy Vogl, & Gerald Purnell (PB)
• Crocodiles Are the Best Animals of All! by Sean Taylor & Hannah Shaw (PB)
• Dragolin by Stephen Cosgrove & Robin James (PB)
• The Wizard, the Fairy and the Magic Chicken by Helen Lester & Lynn Munsinger (PB)
• Death by Denim by Linda Gerber (YA)

4.2.10

• Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life edited by Graydon Carter & Risko (A-NF)

4.3.10

• Gramp-Lop by Stephen Cosgrove & Robin James (PB)

4.5.10

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (YA)

4.9.10

• Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon (Y)

4.10.10

• Meanwhile by Jason Shiga (GN)
• Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight (Y)
• Frankie Pickle and the Pine Run 3000 by Eric Wight (Y)
• Heist Society by Ally Carter (YA)

4.11.10

• Crush by Carrie Mac (YA)

4.13.10

• We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion by Sep Kamvar & Jonathan Harris (A-NF)

4.14.10

• Workin' It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style by RuPaul (A-NF)
• How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell (Y)

4.15.10

• Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy (A)

4.17.10

• Goddess Boot Camp by Tera Lynn Childs (YA)

4.18.10

• All in the Family!: A Look-It-Up Guide to the In-Laws, Outlaws, and Offspring of Mythology by Steven Otfinoski (Y-NF)

4.19.10

• Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn (YA)
• Scandal by Kate Brian (YA)

4.23.10

• The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Stolen by Celia Thomson (YA)

4.24.10

• Bleach #30 by Tite Kubo (M)
• Need by Carrie Jones (YA)
• Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell (GN)

4.29.10

• Undead Much? by Stacey Jay (YA)

4.30.10

• Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur (Y)

04.10 total: 30

7 picture books; 10 young adult fiction; 3 adult non fiction; 5 youth fiction; 2 graphic novels; 1 adult fiction; 1 youth non fiction; 1 manga