Makes Me Wonder

I was visited today by a book vendor that we've done business with for several years. He's a super nice guy and is usually able to cut me some pretty good deals on books we purchase from him. Today my aide asked him about a series of books that I was already planning on buying from another vendor, so I was a little annoyed at first. But then I told him I had a quote from this other company and he assured me that he could beat it. And he did.

He then proceeded to give me a great deal on the other books I was looking at ordering through him and he threw in a free book on the order (as he usually does).

As he was starting to pack up, he handed me a Halloween book as an additional freebie.

We continued to chat while he loaded books back into his containers and I ran into my office to make sure that I had received his emails with the quotes. When I returned to the table, he handed me yet another free book that I had been looking at.

I thanked him profusely as he was on his way, but I was left wondering...

Exactly how much are books marked up that our book vendor is able to give me such great discounts, beat competitors quotes, throw free books in on the orders, and still hand me two more free books as he goes out the door?

Fraud

I feel a little like a thief today.

I bought a book at Barnes and Noble on Monday, read it last night, and returned it today.

This week is educator appreciation week at Barnes and Noble, so I used the extra discount (25% as opposed to the typical 20%) to pick up a few new titles for the library. One of these titles was Prey, the lastest book by Lurlene McDaniel. I had personally never read one of McDaniel's books, but they practically fly off the shelves in the library. I don't really understand it, as just reading the titles (such as Mother, Please Don't Die, Too Young to Die, and Telling Christina Goodbye) kind of makes me want to either kill myself or drink heavily. But I digress.

Reading the book jacket of Prey intrigued me, hinting that the story might contain an inappropriate relationship between a high school freshman and his history teacher. I checked the reviews online, and found that it was recommended for ages 12-18, so I figured I was safe. I might have to limit it to just 8th graders, but that is nothing unusual. However, something told me to read the book myself before we processed it. I decided that, if it was too edgy, we might just hand it off to the high school library.

I'm so glad I read it first.

Prey was a real page-turner. I read it cover to cover in about four hours and I was fixated the entire time. But I knew by the time I was halfway through the book that it would NOT be going in my library. I'm not even sure if I would have put it in a high school library given my penchant for stirring up trouble (which is why I didn't send it over to them).

While none of the scenes are graphic, Ryan and his teacher, Lori, carry on a sexual relationship throughout the majority of a school year. While they are ultimately revealed and Lori is convicted, neither character shows any remorse and the final chapter leaves the reader wondering who the "bad guy" really is.

Don't get me wrong. I really liked this book. I recommend it highly... to adults. But you will not find it on the shelf of my school library, which is why I could not justify spending school funds on it and I had to return it. I feel a little bad that I read a book, then returned it, but I'm sure that Barnes and Noble will see me spend that money in their store again.

Holy Geez... It's Been A While!

And I can't say that it's likely to be much more frequent now.

It dawned on me that I didn't post at all in the month of December. I kept meaning to. Not that I had anything to post about, but I at least had good intentions of posting to explain why I, uh... wasn't posting.

So I guess I'll tell you now.

I got pretty burned out by NaBloPoMo. Anyone who attempted to read my pointless drivel and cop-out placeholder posts during the month of November knows that all too clearly. Let's just say it wasn't my finest work. So I took a break for that reason.

The other reason I haven't been writing isn't a lack of things happening in my life. In fact, my life has been pretty darn full as of late. But the problem is that, most of the things that are currently occupying my thoughts are not mine to write about. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that I have some friends whose lives are in turmoil. And because there are people who read this blog on occasion who either know the parties involved or actually are the parties themselves, it wouldn't be right to discuss their business, even under the cloak of pseudonyms.

There were things that are my business that I could have written about, but I refrained because I was in fear of two things: I would either jinx myself, or other involved parties would somehow stumble across my blog and I would die of embarrassment. As it turns out, I don't think I have that topic to discuss any longer, so we'll just leave it at that.

Which brings us to today. I wanted to, at the very least, update my reading list. I didn't quite make it to my goal of 50 books for the year, but I don't think it was a bad showing. And I still think I should get to count Harry Potter books one through six since I re-read them all before book seven came out in July. At any rate, with any luck I'll make it to 50 this year.

So that's where things stand. I can't promise to be back any more often than I have been in the last month, but I'll do my best. Who knows? Maybe the kids at school will keep me more entertained than I expect!

Read? I Don't Have Time to Read! I'm a Librarian!

Ironic, isn't it? I'm sure there are people in the world that think it's easy to be a school librarian, and, to be perfectly honest, it's not a terribly difficult position. It's easier for some than others... it all depends on how you do the job. But my point here is that, anyone who thinks that all a librarian does is sit around and read is sorely mistaken. I've actually had less time to read since school started because my day is filled with administrative duties, which means that the lesson planning and paper grading for my two core classes all has to come home with me each night. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't. But the point is that, I'm not finding myself with a lot of time for just plain reading!

I'm currently working on the book Extras by Scott Westerfeld. It's the fourth book in a trilogy. Yes, I realize what that says. See, Mr. Westerfeld apparently found that his trilogy was so lucrative that he needed to add a fourth book to it. I thorougly enjoyed books one (Uglies) and two (Pretties) in the trilogy and the third one (Specials) was okay. It was okay with me that the trilogy was complete, but when I found that there was another book I thought that would be fine as well. The jury's still out on this one, but so far I'm thinking that he should have left well enough alone.

I've had Twilight by Stephenie Meyer sitting on the coffee table for several weeks now. I wanted to read this series this summer when its latest installment arrived in stores, but I waited until I had access to the school library again, thinking that we had a copy. As it turned out, we don't own it so I thought I might buy it for us, but I started hearing mumblings that, perhaps, it wasn't appropriate for our middle school library. I finally broke down and bought a copy to read for myself, and if it does turn out to be a good choice, then I will donate it to the library. But in the meantime, I need to find some time to read it!!

And today I brought home another selection. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray arrived last week with a shipment of books ordered by my predecessor. When our student aide was starting to process them, she commented that her mother wouldn't let her read it. This surprised me as our aide is a mature, avid reader. If her mother didn't want her reading it, perhaps there is a reason. I checked out some reviews online and found some that said ages 12 and up, another that said grade nine, and still another that said grades 11-12. The book looks really good to me, but it's now on my list so that I can determine if it is indeed appropriate for my library.

Anyone have any input for me on these two titles?

And We're Off!!

Personally, I think it is a testament to my blogging dedication when I am sitting here typing instead of packing up the Jeep with my suitcases and pet paraphernalia like I should be. I was just afraid that, if I didn't update now, I might not get a chance again for a while. See, in the next hour or so, I will be departing for my parents' house. Tonight is my fifteen year high school class reunion, and tomorrow, I am headed for Hawaii!! I'm really hoping to have at least occasional internet access on my trip or else I will be having some serious withdrawal issues. You probably wouldn't know it from how infrequently I post, but I am majorly addicted to the internet.

At any rate, a brief recap:

• My iPod chose this week to crash on me. It pretends like it is syncing to the computer when I plug it in, but, when all is said and done, it has no music on it. Or rather, the files are there (because it shows that the correct amount of the hard drive is being used), but it is not recognizing them as music or something. I tried everything to get it to work again, but to no avail. It might be fixable, but I can't spend 20 hours on a plane over the next two weeks and not have my tunes, so I bought a new one yesterday. I can't believe how much money I have spent this month.
• Speaking of money, at least I avoided this purchase... not that I wanted to. I found the cutest sundress yesterday and it was on sale!! But do you think they had one that fit me? No way. Lots that were one or two sizes too small and one that was a size too big, but none that worked for me. I hate that.
• I joined the midnight insanity at Barnes and Noble last night to buy my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I originally intended to just go pick it up this morning, but decided that I would still be up packing anyway and it would save me a trip this morning. I haven't started reading it though due to lack of free time... maybe this afternoon. But for now it is packed in my laptop case and will be cracked open no later than tomorrow morning on my flight to Minneapolis (and then on to Honolulu after I meet up with Heather).
• Copper is going to have her first boarding kennel experience while I'm gone. She and Coal will be at my parents' house the majority of the time, but Mom and Dad are going to a tractor show next weekend and we don't think she'd handle that kind of stress very well. They take their own dog, but she has gone to them since she was a puppy and is used to them. Copper was a wreck after watching a small town parade a few weeks ago. I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to drop her off there... I think I'd cry!

So, I may be posting next from the Big Island of Hawaii... or Oahu... or my parents' dining room... or maybe right back here at home! Only time will tell.

Whaddya Think?

So I've begun re-reading the Harry Potter books in preparation for the release of book seven next month. My dilemma is this: Can I count these books on my list over there to the right? I've read them all before, but it's been several years. I know I re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, so it's been two years since I've read both of them. And I think I re-read the first four books before book five was released, but I may not have gotten to all of them. Maybe I just re-read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? I really don't remember as that was four years ago.

Perhaps I shouldn't count them because I have read them all before, but if that's the case, I will be missing out on at least a couple weeks of prime reading time when I could be adding more new books to my list.

Yes, yes, I realize that ultimately it is up to me whether I count them or not, but I just don't want anyone to call me a cheater if I do decide to list them. Opinions?