Booknerd is back beyotches!

Okay, clearly the blog has been on unofficial hiatus since August 2008. I've decided to dust her off and start her up again, because...well...I need to share my nerd with the world.
The blog started as a New Year's resolution back in 2007 as a way to document all the stuff I was reading. First post is here. I was in library school (yes, that's a thing) at the time and I was reading all kinds of stuff from Library textbooks (also a thing) to lots of YA to straight up trashy romance. The blog back then was pretty much straight book reviews, and then I expanded with some trailers and movie reviews and related nonsense.
Five years later I am an official librarian at a great high school that I am very lucky to work at. I am also a writer, working on my first YA novel. I still read a lot, tons of YA books, lots of Stephen King and no shortage of trashy romance novels either (don't judge me, it's called a guilty pleasure because it's pleasurable!).
Sooo...the point of the new and revamped booknerd blog is still to review books, but I'll also be writing about being a librarian, the writing process, and other nerd-tastic stuff.
Also...when I'm a shamefully famous published YA author you can be all "I knew her before she was mainstream..." etc. You'll love it.

Like this guy, only about me...whatever, you get the point.

Anyway, you're gonna love it.
Coming up next:
Book review: The Plot Whisper

I'm back, bitches

Okay, so here's the deal. I'm back. For real this time. Blogging starts: now. I was struggling with depression and my crohn's disease for a long time and feeling generally craptastic. But I'm better now (and on summer vacation!) and ready to deliver snarky reviews straight to your monitors. That is, if I haven't alienated those of you who used to read me :)
Anywho: the books that I have read in the interim (and yes, I have been reading) will be reviewed when I write them up and filled in over the next month or so. Promise.
But I just finished a book that's so good I have to review it.

I'm not dead

Hi loyal readers (all 3 of you). Just a quick note to apologize for the grievous lack of posting lately. The truth is that I have been having some health issues and haven't been up to being witty and snarky lately. I am taking care of myself and I have been feeling better this week.
Tomorrow I am leaving to visit the half of my family that resides in Florida and when I get back next week I promise that I will begin posting again.
So, you can look forward to reviews of the books that I have read this month:
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Bringing up the Bones and Contents Under Pressure by Lara M. Zeises
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Also: the recounting of my yearly trek to the Teen Book Festival and my awesome chat with Lara M. Zeises/Lola Douglas (whom I now have a big-time crush on.)

Not to mention whatever I read in Florida (so you know I have more books than pairs of shoes in my luggage - I am such a nerd/horrible at being a girl).

See you soon, my lovelies!

Book Meme

The Vampire Librarian (who I have a nerd-crush on) had a meme on her blog which I have (stolen) volunteered to re-post. Mostly because I have a book on my desk, and it's the next one I'll be reviewing so it's like a little sneak peek.

Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pgs.)
2. Open the book to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people

This is from City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

"Mostly insects," said Doon. He told her about his collection of drawings and the worm he was currently observing.
To Lina, this sounded far less interesting than an undiscovered city, but she didn't say so.

I'm not gonna be presumptuous and tag people, so if you're interested let me know in the comments and I'll link to you.

Update:
My babe Bridget is in :)

Blogoversary!

That's right, guys and ghouls, it's been one hot sexy year of blogging for this booknerd.
Also, remember how I did a 50 book recap? Well, after this post my next review will bring it up to 99 books in a year. Not too shabby.
I started the blog last year as a way for me to keep track of what I've read. I wanted to be able to look back and see, and I honestly didn't think anyone would read it. So, thanks, my lovelies.
Some fun facts:

• I have read 26527 pages this year.
• I have given the bee seal of approval 9 times.
• The biggest tags on my tag cloud are: Supernatural and YA
  
• Many of the books I read since the 50 book benchmark are series, for example: His Dark Materials, The Twilight Saga, the Abhorsen Trilogy, and of course, Harry Potter.
  
• I added a tag called "In which I claim to be dating someone famous" because I like to say that people are my boyfriend all the time. Here's the ranking on that so far: Stephen King - wins it with 5 times. Trent Reznor - 2. Snape/Alan Rickman - 3. Tim Curry - 1. Laurie Halse Anderson - 1. My actual real life boyfriend? Yeah, I mentioned him once. Only to tell you that he's a slower reader than me. Pwned!

In addition: I have been contacted by two different authors of books I've reviewed this year. Because I am fucking awesome. Who are they? Guess. Seriously. Okay, I'll tell you. Laura M. Zeises commented on my review of her book: here. Graham Joyce sent me a meebo message and friended me on myspace (I'm basically goddamn famous). This gave me major warm fuzzies and a hugely big head. I'm now sitting around and waiting for SK or Mr. Gaiman to waltz on by and ask me to tea (or not).

Also, please enjoy another booknerd recap feature: What keywords brought you here? The following are keywords people used and ended up here. Last time there were lots more sex ones, seems I'm loosing my touch, or, people are getting better at finding internet porn.

• wikipedia warm fuzzies (aw)
  
• whats cher doing lately does she have a boyfriend (i dunno, but she's probly not gonna date you)
  
• invisible man movie sex (huh? perv. i think)
• sexy indian
• dark witchraft (spooky)
• sexy lines stephen king books (heehee)
• sexy male pictures
• rebels rape pretty girls (yucko)

So, Merry New Year, my darlings, and thank you for reading. Please allow me to suggest some resolutions for you: add booknerd to your RSS feeds. Tell a friend about this kickass blog. Comment on booknerd. Talk to bee on meebo (cause she's nice!)
Seriously, thanks for reading.
Cheers!

P.S. the nerdy cake images are from a blog post, here. If you're interested in baking me a cake I would like a Labyrinth theme cake, please and thank you (Bridget, I'm looking at you).

Luna by Julie Anne Peters

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316011274
• ISBN-13: 978-0316011273
• List Price: $7.99
• I finished this book on Nov. 17

Okay, this is why I love writing this blog. I did not realize that the green guy on the cover had as much significance as it does until i did my research for you, my lovelies. Oh, what? Maybe I should tell you what the book is about first. It's about a teen boy who is transgendered. And he only gets to dress up at night so he calls himself Luna. So, moth on the cover for the whole coming out of a cocoon thing and it's a Luna moth. Awesome.
So, here's the thing, Liam (or Luna) obviously has a really hard life not being able to be who he knows he really is. Not to mention that his dad is all about the male chauvinism. But, what this story is really about is Reagan, Luna's younger sister. Reagan is the only one who is in on the secret for their whole lives. She feels like Liam/Luna is her sole responsibility. Because of this she does not feel like she has any part of her that is for herself. She is so out of the loop that when a boy, Chris, begins to flirt with her and asks her out she totally has no idea how to react. Things progress with Chris, though, but Reagan's new life as a member of society with a possible boyfriend are put on hold by her concerns for Luna. As Luna becomes more unhappy with her life as a boy and more determined to transition to a female form, tension mounts. Then, some crazy shit goes down.
The whole time I could not honestly predict what was going to happen, and when the end came I was sort of tearfully happy about it. Also, their dad is a super-douche. I mean it. His super powers include: telling horrible jokes, and being a goddamn homophobic asshat. Also, their mom was not too cool either. She was a bitch, actually, and I feel she probly should have dumped that dad. Argh.
Either way, I thought that the characters of Reagan, her brother and their best friend Aly were all very realistically created. I also sort of like Chris, except there was one scene in which he acted totally out of character for just about any high school boy. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Anyway, this was a powerful and moving story about a girl who is under a tremendous amount of pressure from her family and her brother's horrible struggle. This should be in any library and could probly be read by middle school kids (though they might not understand the whole bloke in a dress thing).
P.S. I am Spartacus! This is Booknerd's 100th Entry. Woot! Thank you for those of you who check in regularly. And, if you got here accidentally by looking for gay porn, stay and hang out a while. I'm nice!
Also, leave me messages on Meebo and talk to me when I'm actually there. I promise I'll be funny and nice :)

The R.I.P Challenge

Hey Kiddies. So, its' time for the R.I.P. Challenge over at Stainless Steel Droppings. This is a challenge to read spooky stories brought to you from the Master of Awesomery, Carl, who also hosted the Once Upon a Time Challenge I did this summer. You may read everyone else's reviews over here at the R.I.P.ing Yarns Review site.

I'm gonna do Peril the First: which is to read 4 books from any subgenre I choose. Soooo, here are my choices
Edit: This is my new list, updated on Oct 29. (I had to make some changes due to my schedule and book availability. Also, cause I am lame.)
1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
2. Dead on Town Line by Leslie Connor
3. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
4. Sweetblood by Pete Hautman

Goodreads

Hey kiddies: I found a cool site online and I thought I should share it with all of my fellow bibliophiles. It's called Goodreads and it's a sort of social networking/book review place. You can rate books, write reviews and see what friends are reading. If you sign up you should friend me. You can find my profile here. Love to Patty and Jason for letting me know about this coolness.

Shamelessly asking for money

Hi kids, it's your favorite booknerd here. It's that time of the year when I have to start going around to people with a sad expression and ask for money to support my yearly charity walk.
My mum and I both have Crohn's disease, which sucks. Each year we do the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Walk to help raise money. It's actually pretty fun, and this year we are having it at the zoo! Keep in mind that if I don't raise enough money I will get kicked out of my family.
Those of you interested can donate via my goofy CCFA webpage, here. ( i know, i know, worst looking page ever. i wish i could design my own, but they make you use theirs.)
Good things happen to people who donate. Mostly, the good things involve me thanking them obnoxiously, or singing songs about them.
If you live in Buffalo, you should come to the walk on Sept. 8. Check out the page, here. There will be cool auctions, free food and um, I will also be there. If you're lucky I'll get you a t-shirt.
Alright, my lovelies, I'm done begging for handouts now.

Book Divas Author Visit

So, apparently there is a cool book site I somehow missed out on. It's called Book Divas and it's a book club for YA books. There is a very cool discussion board and a section for teachers and librarians. Even though I do not like to consider myself a "diva" I think I might just have to sign up.
Anywho: the reason I'm telling you this, my lovelies, is that they are having a online author visit on August 13th that I thought you might be interested in. I, for one, love schmoozing with authors, especially when it's free.
The author is Mellisa Marr, and her book is Wicked Lovely. I haven't heard of Mrs. Marr yet, but I am intrigued by the description of the book: fairies, delicious romance scenes? I'm in!
I just thought you might be interested, so you should check it out.
p.s. I'm sure you'll be seeing a review for this book from me, when I can get my hot paws on it.

Oh! I almost forgot! I have been thinking adding reviews of new movies made from books that I have read on the blog. Just a short blurb sort of comparing, cause there are lots of good movies based on books coming up. So, what do you think? Let me know.

Photos

Hello my lovelies! I'm back from Florida and you can expect more books to be posted on a more regular basis now.
Here's the thing, I'm not one of those people who's gonna try to make you look at pictures of my vacation for hours, or my awesome amateur photography (but if you're interested, I do have a flickr, and you can check it out here also, I am awesome and so are my pictures). Having said that in Florida and we did Disney and Universal. I have to say I think Universal is cooler, and they have something I thought you'd enjoy, so I brought you back some pics.
That's right, Universal has a whole section dedicated to Dr. Seuss! I thought you'd enjoy seeing some pics of the Lorax since I have reviewed it on this site. And yes, he looks even more like Wilfred Brimley in person. The third pic is the Once-ler's House, and you can actually walk through the garden of Truffula Trees and stuff. Cool! Well, anywho: enjoy!

bee's random ramblings

So, my astute lovelies, you've probably noticed that this post isn't a book review. And you'd be right. It's a love note from me to tell you that I will be out of town a lot during the rest of the month. I'm going on two separate trips to Florida, and will have only sporadic internet access.
I mention this because I like to think you'll miss me. The real moral of the story is that I won't be on my meebo chat so if have something really important to say you can e-mail me (check out my profile for the address).
In other news: I have been asked several times lately how I choose what to read next. Mostly, I choose based on two things: recommendations from friends/colleagues, or book reviews. I read lots and lots of book reviews at my job. Anywho: up till now I have collected titles of books I wanted to read on little post it notes (have I mentioned that I'm a school supply junkie? check out this cryptic quiz of movies made out of office supplies. it's good times.) Because the post it's have been taking over my life I have begun to make an actual list that I won't loose. You can peek at it here, please note that it's just a random listing of some of the post its I've collected with titles i want to check out. Also note that I hate capitalizing things. I'm not sorry. Feel free to give me more suggestions, I'm always looking.
Okay, one last thing to share with you: I totally stalk where people come from to get to my site and what search terms lead people here. Some of them are hysterical and I will now share them for your amusement.

• schmoozing geek
• what happens in the champagne room (no sex, that's what, son!)
• gay bum sex (heehee! I can't imagine why!)
• how to get an awesome ponytail (I'm number 2 - that cracks my shit up!)
• werewolf sex room (okay, that's too weird even for me)
  
• foxy librarian (that's me!)
• naughty greek gods
• homosexual priests
• inappropriate behavior
  

There are actually tons of ones about these two things: gay porn and man ponytails/80s hair.
So, if you've come here accidentally while looking for porn please stick around even though there is no boobage or naked men (but you know, there are some books about gay sex) If you've come here trying to find how to have an awesome 80's man-shag maybe, um, you should reconsider that look. Just sayin' So, lovely reader...how did you get here? (perv)
The moral of this post: I'll be on vacation but I promise I'll be reading a lot (finishing up my challenge books!) and I'll post when I can! p.s. pretend like you miss me!

Bee at Deliciously Clean Reads

Hello my lovelies. This is just a note from your beloved booknerd to tell you that awesome book reviews by me can also be seen at Deliciously Clean Reads. DCR is all about reviewing books that happen to not contain cursing and graphic sex. I know you're shocked right now. You're thinking, but Bee, you love books with cursing, one night stands, and of course...the gayest cover ever. And that's true, my sweets, but I also love a lot of very tame YA and children's books.
I will be a regular contributor over there, but of course, I review everything here, so the reviews there will be repeats (though I'm giving them a different treatment). For example, my first review there is of Elsewhere (go here to read my original review) But the blog is really good. Recently they've even reviewed some of my favorites, like Twilight. So, check it out if you'd like. They also take submissions, and guidelines are on their page if you're interested.

Once Upon a Time Challenge

Okay, my lovelies. Your esteemed nerd has been invited to join a challenge. I'm so excited! The Once Upon a Time challenge is to read books that of the following genres: fantasy, fairy tales, mythology and folklore. And, of course, since the challenge ends in June ( the 21, in fact, this bloggers' birthday - coincidentally) Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Well, this girl loves a challenge, and this girl loves her fantasy, so: I'm totally in.
Here's some of the books I plan on reading for the challenge, but of course, I am open to suggestions:
In no particular order:
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
Strange Happenings by Avi
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Subtle Knife/Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
and of course:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
knowing me, I will come up with others. I'm going to start tucking into these after I finish some of the Dresden Files books.
For more info on my nice new friends check out the the Once Upon a Time Challenge and Stainless Steel Droppings.

I'm a book nerd, are you?

So that's basically my story, I'm a nerd. I'm a librarian to be and I pride myself on being 'well read' though the irony of that is that I read a lot of trash and fluff. But it's so good. This year I resolve to read the same trash and fluff with fervor, but to also try to add some classics as well.
The following link will lead you to the Modern Libraries list of the 100 best novels (ever?). Way back in high school I was given a list like this in my AP English class and I decided to read them all. I totally never did. So, about 6 years later (how am I so old?) I have decided to revisit this list.
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
I'm not saying I will read all of them or anything, or that I will read only them, because I really only want to read Stephen King and J.D. Robb (I'm not sorry) but I will try to read a balance of something from the list and something I want to read.
In Stephen King's book Bag of Bones his main character said something about the books people read are a really good way of knowing who they are (worst paraphrase ever?) and I thought it would be a fun thing to write about the books I am reading this year. So I will put entries and links and little reviews about each book that I read all year, and I will try to tackle some of this list.
I'm not pretending that I'm an awesomely educated book snob whose opinion is important or anything, it's really just more for fun. However, I do occasionally write real reviews and I do have a print journalism degree for which I took a book review course. Please feel free to add comments about the books of suggestions.
thanks for reading
bee