And now for something completely different...

As promised yesterday, here's a picture of my cat with some comic books. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'll see you when I get back from my vacation on the 18th! :)

Book Club Title Options

Hi again! Here are the three books we're looking at for our next book club titles:

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas has a unique job: he disposes of vengeful spirits. Some of the ghosts Cas deals with are tougher than others though; Anna, the ghost of a girl who was murdered many years ago, has killed everyone who’s ever set foot in the house where she died. But when Cas goes looking for Anna, something unexpected happens: she doesn’t kill him.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Miles isn’t what you’d call a typical teenager, in the sense that his life has been notably uneventful. He doesn’t get in trouble, but he doesn’t have any real friends or romantic prospects either. Then he moves to a boarding school in Alabama, where he meets Alaska Young, a girl whose intelligence, recklessness, and beauty will change Miles’ life.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Cullen lives in Lily, Arkansas, where a birdwatcher thinks he’s discovered a woodpecker believed to be extinct since the 1940s. Cullen isn’t really interested in the ensuing woodpecker-related chaos though; he’s more concerned with the fact that his brother Gabriel has vanished. Meanwhile, in Africa, a young missionary has lost his faith. The way that these two very different stories are connected will definitely surprise you.

Be sure to vote on Facebook for the title or titles you want to read!

Hi everyone! Since I use blogs pretty frequently for work, I thought that today, I'd write a quick post about blogging. If you have a blog already, a lot of this stuff might still be helpful, especially if you're applying for jobs or college. First of all:

• Blogging can help you make important connections.

You'll hear this a lot both in college and at work; who you know matters. Having a network of people who you can turn to for information is important, because it can really help you out when you're looking for a job, trying to get scholarships, etc. Having a blog that tells people about who you are can help expand your network. This brings me to my next point:

• A blog is a great way to advertise who you are.

This is a pretty basic thing; if you're going to start a blog, I recommend that you write about things that you're interested in and things that you know about. (For me, that means blogging about YA books, graphic novels, and crafts.) Ask yourself a few questions when you start your blog, such as:

• What do I like to do?
• What kind of talents do I have?
• What kind of college do I want to attend?
• What kind of job do I want to find?

Most employers and colleges are going to ask about your hobbies and interests, and having a blog to point to is a great way to tell people about yourself. Of course, you don't want to share too much on a blog. This brings me to my last point:

• Be careful what you blog.

You've probably heard this about a million times before, but that's because it's true: think about what you do on the internet before you do it! Stuff you post on Facebook or on your blog really can come back to haunt you, so just be mindful of that. If you want to have a blog where you say whatever you want, fine: have a personal blog and a professional blog, and be careful to keep them separate. Don't feel like you constantly have to censor yourself, but when expressing opinions, try to avoid swearing or saying anything you wouldn't say in front of a boss or teacher.

• General Tips About Blogging

One last thing: if you want to start a blog, then try to make it uniquely yours. It's fine to reblog stuff that other people have created, but try to create your own content sometimes too. (Especially for a professional blog, most of the content should be yours.) You don't always have to do text posts, and I probably wouldn't add your resume to your blog; posting photos of you and your friends enjoying a hobby or of you at your current job is a more concise, and arguably more effective way to show colleges and employers who you are.

If you'd like an example of a professional blog, check out the one I run for the library: http://ripl-teen-book-reviews.tumblr.com/

And as thanks for checking out this long text post, tomorrow I'll post a cute picture of a cat. (This is the internet after all, so even on a professional blog, there's room for the occasional cute cat picture. :))

Question: How long should a book series last?

This post is about a question that came up at our last book club meeting: how long is too long for a book series to go on?

On the one hand, it seemed like most of us come away from reading series with 3 or 4 books in them wishing that they were longer. But on the other hand, after 8 or 9 books, most of us felt like a series was getting too long. In my own experience, if I'm on book 10 or 11 in a series, then chances are, I'm getting tired of it, but I've been reading it for so long that I just want to finish it! (Graphic novels are, however, the exception to this rule.) I think that my favorite series are probably between 3 and 8 books long (3 and below is usually too few, but 8 and above starts to feel like too many...)

Pictured below are three series I really love and which felt, to me, not too short or too long, but just right:

So, what do you guys think? How many books are in your favorite series? How long do you think is too long for a series to go on? Leave your comments below!

Goodreads

Hi guys! Today, I thought I'd write a quick post about Goodreads, which is a really fun site that I like to use to keep track of what I've read and what I want to read in the future. (It connects to Facebook too, so if you already have a Facebook account, it's really easy to use.)

Here's the site address: http://www.goodreads.com/

If you don't have an account, Goodreads will show you a bunch of different titles, and you can select which ones you've read so the site can gauge what kinds of books you like. If you create a Goodreads account (it's free), the site will recommend books for you, and you can also connect with friends through Facebook or Goodreads. I don't know many people on Goodreads, but it's fun to check out what some of my friends are reading or putting on their "to-read" list. :)

Here's what my profile looks like: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5953196-emily

So, if you're looking for a cool way to keep track of what you read and connect with other people who love books, give Goodreads a try!

Upcoming Book Club Titles

Hi guys! (FYI, from now on, I'll try to update this blog more than once a month.) Anyway, here's what we're reading for June:

Incidentally, the movie comes out on June 22nd. :) Anyway, for July and beyond, several people have voted on potential titles, and the following three books tied for first place:

So, question: do we want to pick two and then save the third for another time, or should these books become our Book Club titles for July, August, and September? Let me know what you think, but bear in mind that unless I hear a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about this, I plan to go ahead and order all three of these in the next week or so. :) (With the Summer Reading Program starting in just a few weeks, and all that's going to entail, I'd prefer to have several future titles figured out in advance.) Thanks for reading and talk to you soon!

Hi guys!

I'm going to try to start updating this blog more often, but for now, I'll just tell you that we now have a Tumblr too. You can see it here: http://ripl-teen-book-reviews.tumblr.com/ Talk to you later!