Boyfriend: [Pointing at ARC of Zombies Vs. Unicorns.] So what's the deal with that book, anyway? Is it out yet?
Me: No. It's an advance copy.
Boyfriend: Huh. I feel like there's been a lot of buzz about it.
Me: There HAS been a lot of buzz about it. In our apartment! [Laughs maniacally.]
Or something like that. Apparently I have a talent for (very small) niche marketing, which includes strategically placing books around 1BR apartments in order to project hype to their 30-year-old male inhabitants. But anyway, Zombies Vs. Unicorns is an anthology of 12 short stories edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier in an attempt to answer the "age-old" question: Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? When Holly Black signed my copy at ALA, she asked which team I was on. Not knowing that she was captain of Team Unicorn, I replied, "Unicorns, but maybe after reading the book I'll be on Team Zombie." Oops.
Now, after careful consideration, I'm kind of torn on the issue. I enjoyed an equal number of unicorn and zombie stories, but it was a unicorn tale—Diana Peterfreund's "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn"—that I loved best. Maybe it's because I was never allowed to have a dog and always fantasized about having a secret pet that I could hide in my closet or sock drawer. Other unicorn faves: "Purity Test" by Naomi Novik (drunken non-virgin saves a litter of baby unicorns) and "Princess Prettypants" by Meg Cabot (girl hoping to get a car for her 16th b-day is gifted a unicorn instead).
Then again, Team Zombie has a lot to offer. Hilarity and an Angelina Jolie-like celebrity from Maureen Johnson ("Children of the Revolution"). Pirates and romance-novel intrigue from Carrie Ryan ("Bougainvillea"). Pop culture and high school crushes from Alaya Dawn Johnson ("Love Will Tear Us Apart").
That's not even mentioning the stories by Scott Westerfeld, Libba Bray, and Cassandra Clare. I'd say it's a win-win situation overall.
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On a personal note, I have a new job (yes, as a librarian!) and a new fiance (who was my boyfriend for a long while before that...including during the time when I originally wrote this post!). Both are going to require a lot of my attention over the upcoming months. I'll be blogging as much as is humanly possible, but that may not be as much as I'd like. Check Twitter for updates!
4 comments:
Congrats on the job and fiance!!!!! How exciting! What kind of library are you working at??
That book sounds good. i like unicorns.
Thanks! I'm working in a school library -- all age levels, K-12! So far I really like it.
Congrats! That's very cool. I just started my first semester of getting my masters in library science.
Unicorns vs. zombies, eh? Tough choices. I think if I had to choose I would be all about the unicorns, too.
Sadako, I sort of guessed from your tweets that you were in library school! Super exciting. What kind of library do you want to end up working in? Does your school have the option for a school library or youth services specialty?
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