Just Another Nonfiction Monday, ooo-wa-ooo

Ok, first off, why did I not know that the new Last Apprentice book, Wrath of the Bloodeye came out in AUGUST?

YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THESE THINGS PEOPLE!!! I found out because my boss and I were talking about new books (I'm in charge of displaying them and some other things with new non-picture books) and he's all "by the way, the new Last Apprentice finally came in, but I checked it out." Had I not been standing in a library, I might have screamed. And had I not been wearing a skirt, I might have writhed around in agony on the floor. Ok, not really, but... how did I not know? Ok, it was probably good that I didn't-- it saved me lots of agonizing over whether to wait until it came in or to just go buy the darn thing.

I'm getting a copy from another branch.

Also, banned books people, hold onto your hats. Internets have been super-spotty lately. Winners will be announced as soon as the cable guy comes and fixes the cable! And internets!

Anyway, it's nonfiction Monday, so here are some books for your reading pleasure!

Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume ed. Jennifer O'Connell

Basically, this is a series of essays by current chick-lit type authors, telling of the effect that Judy Blume's books had on them, both growing up and as an adult.

It was so fun to dip into these stories about how much girls took from such favorites of mine as Deenie, Blubber, Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, and of course Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Forever . . ..

The essays are thoughtful. Some are sad and some are funny, and many wish for books staring their beloved characters as grown-ups, so Margaret and Sally and Katherine, et al could continue to show us how to live, or at least reassure us that we're normal. (And there's a sentiment I echo--did these girls, who we saw so much of ourselves in, turn out the same way we did? What choices and experiences did they make and have to make them different?)

A great book for Judy fans, especially for those of us whom she had a huge impact on.

Also, I had totally forgotten about the Judy Blume diary, but a totally had one. It was a great diary.

Round up is at Picture Book of the Day!

Opposite of Fate Recap

Currently Reading Longitude Dava Sobel

Ok, I finished up Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan yesterday. I liked it. It's a bunch of essays by Amy Tan, not all of them new. She's fairly neurotic and it's a bunch of essays about herself so it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

If you've ever wanted an (auto)biography of Tan, then you'll like it. If you like Amy Tan and want to seperate fact from fiction (for instance, her mom's life story plays out in Joy Luck Club and Kitchen God's Wife fairly heavily) then, hey read this book. If you want to feel better about your relationship with your mother, read it, because to say Tan and her mom have issues is putting it mildly.

It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if it is, it's pretty good.

I've moved onto Longitude. I'm not that far into it, but so far, so good, except for one glaring omission. How can you write a book about the history of LONGITUDE for chrissakes and not include a map. I mean really. These navigation stories would be a lot more interesting if I could remember my Age-of-the-Explorers geography. Which I can't, because I'm no longer in 8th grade.