Happy New Year

Merry 2011 to you all! And bonus well wishes to anyone who can name the book that contains one of my most favorite NYE scenes:

We cleaned the house, finished making the snacks and dessert, and decorated the living room. Mom pulled out a box filled with corny New Year's stuff—funny hats, horns, even a cardboard baby wearing a diaper, and a banner. The banner read, "1979." I hung it on the wall anyway, since I thought it was cool.

My night (according to the text message invite I received yesterday) will be filled with "hangouts, wine, and a whole roast chicken." Until then, I will be doing laundry and reading Mary Anne's Revenge from the BSC Friends Forever spin-off series, which I just received via Paperback Swap. Buona sera!

Nothing's Better than Friends

New in my Etsy shop: Say Hello to Your Friends, a Baby-sitters Club fanzine! This one has been in the works for a long time, but I just now finally got around to folding and stapling. For more information or to order, click here and visit the Welsh Rabbit shop.

From the introduction: "One of the last courses I took for my Master’s program in Library & Information Science was called Resources for Children … For one of our final assignments, we were to select a 'resource' (book, series, movie, song, etc.) that we loved as a child and reflect on the experience of revisiting it as an adult. Of course I had to write about the Baby-sitters Club. What follows is the actual text of the paper I turned in to my professor."

Virgins and Brains

Scene: My living room
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.

--
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!

I am (Almost) a Librarian

The countdown is on! Three weeks from today, I will graduate with my Master's degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS, to those of us in the business) and officially become a librarian. So what I am thinking about? All the cool stuff I can get to show off my new title. That way, even though I'm unemployed, everyone will know.

Clockwise from top left: Librarian Necklace from Brookadelphia ($35), Librarian Pin from Fred Flare ($10), for the dudes: Sarah Utter Guybrarian Shirt from Buyolympia.com ($14.95), Library & Media Center Guard Pin from Award Emblem ($3.75), Lucha Librarian Tote Bag from Ophelia's Art ($21.99).

I Like It, I Love It

In which I tell you straight out my likes and dislikes. (In case you were wondering.)

I PRETTY MUCH LOVE
YA about girls, in general.
Sassy chicks. (Gingerbread; Alice, I Think)
Chicks with self-esteem issues. (The Princess Diaries; The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things)
Graphic novels about girls in realistic settings. (Plain Janes, Ghost World)
Music stuff. (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone; Audrey, Wait!; Beige)
Dorky/nerdy/smart kids. (Empress of the World, Paper Towns; Millicent Min, Girl Genius)
Boarding school. (Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; Prep)
"Multicultural" protags trying to figure out their identity. (Born Confused; Skunk Girl; The Fold)
Girls who are out of control. (Girl; Namedropper)
Funny chick lit. (Diary of a Chav; My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters)
Light-hearted mysteries. (Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls)

I SOMETIMES LIKE
Boy protagonists. (Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; Abundance of Katherines)
Dark-ish and/or depressing YA. (As Simple as Snow)
Vapid series books. (A-List; Pretty Little Liars)
Vampires -- serious and in love. (Twilight; The Silver Kiss)
Vampires -- silly. (Vamped)
Zombies. (Forest of Hands and Teeth)
Historical fiction. (What I Saw and How I Lied; Fever 1793)
Magical realism. (Elsewhere; Almost anything by Francesca Lia Block)
Science fiction featuring GIRLS. (Uglies)
Dystopias. (Little Brother)

I GENERALLY DISLIKE / DON'T READ
Characters with ridiculously unpronounceable names.
Fairies, angels, and most "paranormal."
500-page beasts.
Superhero graphic novels and/or comics.

Pssst

I'm not making this known anywhere else yet, but for you—my five (?) loyal readers—I will say: Guess what? I kinda started what I tend to think of as an "outfits pictures" style blog. Go see, and let me know what you think.

Top Nine of '09

I'm giving myself 20 minutes to write this. My personal nine best things that happened to me in 2009, in kinda random order:

1) I started my own Etsy shop to sell my zines at welshrabbit.etsy.com. It's been a lot of fun, and it's probably the closest I'll ever come to my dream of owning a boutique. I continued my library school zine Scatter Gram and started a new perzine called Winsome & Wise.

2) I took Resources for Young Adults, the most fun class of my grad school career. Ten weeks, 20 YA books. I got to read Sloppy Firsts; The Earth, My Butt & Other Big, Round Things; TTYL; The Princess Diaries and more—for homework!

3) I taught 10 workshops to university students, faculty and staff at my library internship, proving I am not completely incapable of speaking in front of a group of people.

4) I traveled north to Providence and Boston and south to Charleston, SC.

5) I became an album cover star when my friend Matt used a picture of me for his new CD, Spiteful Creatures.

6) I got a super-cute pink bike helmet and started riding in the city.

7) I dressed up as Lisa Simpson for Halloween. (Red dress and shoes, yellow tights, pearl choker, and yellow headpiece made from cardstock.)

8) I spent a lot of time working with little kiddies as a school library observer, summer camp helper, and kindergarten classroom volunteer.

9) I am going to ring in the new year with the cutest boy I know. (OK, that's cheating since it didn't happen yet.)

I Can Totally Do This

I have been a big fan of Lizzie Skurnick's Fine Lines column on Jezebel, and I was ultra-excited when her book Shelf Discovery came out. Just this week I finally ordered it from BN.com. (Yeah, I'm an Amazon girl, but I won a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card, so...)

Anyhow, the point of this is to announce that I will be participating in Booking Mama's Shelf Discovery Challenge. The deal is you have to read six books from Shelf Discovery over the next six months (well, less than six months because I'm joining a little late—but it's from now until the end of April) and of course, blog about them! It's going to be super fun. I mean, I already read this stuff anyway, but checking out everyone else's posts will be even better.

I'm not sure exactly which six books I'm going to do, but these are on my short list:

• My Darling, My Hamburger*
• From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Harriet the Spy
• Blubber
• The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
• The Westing Game
• Jacob Have I Loved*
• Homecoming
• My Sweet Audrina*

Most will be re-reads. If it's starred, that means I will be reading it for the first time. I haven't cracked open any of them in at least 10 years, but I'm hoping maybe over Thanksgiving I can dig out some of the old Judy Blumes and Paula Danzigers. Here's to you, Rachel Robinson! (Oops, that's not on the list ...)

My Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Education

With 179 books (including The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It; My Invented Life; and Hex Education) on my to-read list, I am finally gearing up for some new book reviews!

This spring I was busy reading two books a week for my YA lit class and writing them up for a different, more "professional" blog. And then I had to take some time to breathe and read some grownup books and some books that I didn't write about at all.

But now I'm ready to get unprofessional again (though I'm attempting to keep up the other blog, too), and I've already put some books on hold at the library. Not these three, not yet—but I just couldn't resist showing off their gorgeous covers. For some reason the close-up of a girl with writing upon her face is really selling me. Plus bubblegum and freckles and black nail polish. And green eyes.

7 Things That Make This Blog Rock

Sadako tagged me in this meme (name seven things that make your blog awesome, and then pass it on to seven other awesome people), and I have to say that the number SEVEN is somewhat daunting! But I'ma go for it.

1. I only post about once each week, so you don't have to wade through any filler. Just 100% Stuff I Consider Important Enough to Spend at Least 10 Minutes Writing About.

2. No real focus! That means you can read about Peaches Geldof one day, and Frida Kahlo's eyebrows the next.

3. Flashbacks: I got Taffy Sinclair, I got Jem, I got Slam Book Fever.

4. I work in a library. I like to borrow lots of books from the library. Especially YA fiction. And then I write about those books here. Except not right now, because I'm taking this really cool class in which I have to read 20 YA books in 10 weeks and write about them on a different blog. But the books will be back.

5. Check out For Reels. I'm rating every single movie I watch (for the first time) in 2009. The best so far has been Quinceanera. The worst? St. Elmo's Fire.

6. I know I'll never be as funny as FourFour or as smart as Feministing, and I don't try to be. I'm just doing my thing.

7. When you hear Mode a la Pie, you think about ice cream.

Who else is awesome in my opinion? Well, Crush Crazy Cute Down and Good Egg, to name a couple. And you know what, let's just leave it at that—I love being tagged, but I'm kind of shy about doing it myself. If Gidget or Kate sees this and feels compelled to do the meme, that will be awesome, too.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this little blog. Thanks so much to the two or three of you who actually read it! And in case you haven't been following from the beginning, here's a look back at the very first post. xoxo