wrapped up in books

Sometimes I feel that the number of blog posts I write during a month is inversely proportional to the amount of ideas for blog posts I have. There’s way more sitting in my drafts folder than actually got published. That’s okay, because they’ll happen eventually.

Here’s what I did write about this month on the blog:

I reviewed a fantastic graphic novel The Undertaking of Lily Chen. 

I did a round up of some audiobooks that didn’t work for me (but might work for you!)

I made an ambitious summer reading list.

I rounded up some lists of feminist graphic novels.

I shared the music I’ve been listening to lately.

I mused about the terrible irony of librarians not citing their sources and appropriating (my) work.

I also started doing tweets of the week at The Hub once a month.

At the library, I wrote about how I came to love YA as an adult and why you should read whatever the hell you want. This post was in conjunction with an author talk we hosted. I moderated a discussion with Tessa Gratton, Bethany Hagen, Natalie Parker, and Mary O’Connell about writing and reading young adult literature. They are all smart, fabulous ladies and you should totally check out their books.

I also put together a book list featuring feminism and women artists for the Young Women Artists show at Wonder Fair.

Really, this post is going to mostly be about ALA. I learned so much, and I came home inspired and energized about working in libraries. I got to spend two hours hanging out with Nancy Pearl. I went to sessions on makerspaces and YouTube and readers’ advisory. I got to talk about tumblr and connected learning and Teen Read Week programming ideas. Over the next days I’ll share more about what I learned, but here are the highlights.

Vegas is beautiful, but also crazy and kitschy. 

ALA is full of fancy publisher events. 

I went to the Random House 75th Anniversary of Batman party on Friday night at the Da Vinci museum at the Venetian. There was wine and cake and creepy replicas of Da Vinci inventions and paintings. Saturday night, I went to the Sinner release party at the Wynn and ate fancy grilled cheese and drank sinner sunrise cocktails and hung out with Holly Black, Laini Taylor, David Levithan, and of course, Maggie Stiefvater. I’m going to read the rest of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, even though I wasn’t in love with the audiobook of Shiver. Maggie talked about writing this novel after fixating on the first line: “I am a werewolf in Los Angeles” and vacillating between love and hate for the City of Angels. I can totally relate, so I anticipate enjoying Sinner.

The best part of ALA is hanging out with fellow librarians.

 

I got to have a lovely, relaxing dinner with fellow Hub bloggers at Society Cafe at the Wynn. It was nice to meet librarians who I work with remotely but (mostly) had never met in person before. And the absolute best was getting to room with Rebecca, who I used to work with at LPL (she has recently moved to Chattanooga).

The exhibit hall is fun. 

But mostly because of the people you meet, not the books you get. I took home a few ARCs, but mostly I got to meet lots of publicists (like Talia from Macmillan Library, who loves cats as much as I do and gave me a kitten sticker for my badge). The vibe is so much better than Book Expo.

I’m glad it’s over, because it’s an exhausting week. 

I wore myself out, and I’m really excited to be home (and to see Spike).

Did you go to ALA Annual? What were you up to this month?