Fooled

I recently finished reading The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory. This is the next book in the Boleyn Inheritance series, and begins many years after when The Other Boleyn Girl finishes. Princess Mary is nearing 40, Princess Elizabeth is in her early 20s, and young King Edward is nearing death’s door.

The story follows young Hannah Green, the daughter of a printer who dresses as a boy. Hannah’s infrequent visions are noticed by a nobleman and his tutor, and she is begged as a Holy Fool. Afraid that her family’s dark secret – that they fled Spain after her mother was burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition, all because she was Jewish, Hannah accepts her fate.

When King Edward dies, Hannah becomes fool for the new monarch of England – Queen Mary. Hannah spends her time between Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth, trying to serve both, as well as Lord Dudley, the man who begged her for a royal fool.

To me, this story was not nearly as interesting or intriguing as The Other Boleyn Girl. I think this is due primarily to two reasons: 1. Hannah Green was not a real person. I love that aspect of The Other Boleyn Girl, and often looked up the people mentioned in the book to find out more of the history. 2. There wasn’t as many affairs as there were in the previous book, so the plots just weren’t as exciting. What can I say? Sex sells.

Regardless, I have started the next book in the series The Virgin’s Lover. This is the tale of Queen Elizabeth and Lord Robert Dudley. It begins during Queen Mary’s reign. And that is all I know about that.

Bulletin Boards and fall programming

As Summer Reading Club is coming to it's end, it is time for me to focus on fall programming...and to change all those blasted bulletin boards! Although SRC doesn’t technically end until tomorrow, I started a little early, and changed one of my boards today. This is the easiest one of all, as it doesn’t require me to stand sideways on a ladder and use countless pins, bruising my fingertip in the process.

Throughout the month of August, we will be showing 13 movies at this particular branch. Of those 13 movies, 11 are animated and 8 are specifically for children. Due to this, we all calling the month of programming “Animated August”.

Here is the board I completed today, which lists all of the children's movies:



The list of movies we are showing in August:

Monday Matinees
1 p.m.

Monday, August 4
Spongebob Squarepants:
The Movie
rated PG

Monday August 18
The Iron Giant
rated PG

Cinema Saturdays
1 p.m.

August 9
The Ant Bully
rated PG

August 16
James and the Giant Peach
rated PG

August 23
Book to Movie Discussion Group:
Maltese Falcon
not rated

Wednesday
Family Movie Nights
6 p.m.

August 6
Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
rated G

August 13
Brother Bear
rated G

August 20
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
rated G

August 27
Lady and the Tramp
rated G

Weekday Movie Madness
(Days and times vary)

Thursday, August 7
Persepolis
rated PG-13
5 p.m.

Tuesday, August 19
New Release Night:
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
rated PG-13
5 p.m.

Thursday, August 14
Tim Burton’s
Corpse Bride
rated PG
5 p.m.

Thursday, August 28
Spirited Away
rated PG
3:30 p.m.

Libraries and you...

I came across this blog post today - I think while reading an email from ALA, and it has me wondering...how does your local public library help you?

and those readers who work in the library...let's think beyond "my public library helps me by providing a paycheck every two weeks." heh.

current reads

Since I enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory so much, I'm reading the next book in the series: The Queen's Fool. While I enjoy the historical aspect of the story - I'm often checking wikipedia and other sources for more info about various characters - the tale itself isn't as intriguing as the previous novel. Maybe it will get better.

I'm also listening to a book - this one a teen novel. Poison by Chris Wooding is a fantasy novel. I've just finished the first CD and so far I'm very much enjoying the story. Yay!

A quest for a better book...

I finally finished Queste by Angie Sage. I would have finished a few weeks ago if not for a few things: 1. I was out of town – and not driving – for several days, meaning I wasn’t listening to the book. 2. I had company staying at my house for several days, and I drove most of the time. I don’t listen to audiobooks with others in the car…unless they are sleeping! 3. The book was boring and annoying me too much. Often I switched it off and just listened to the radio.

So, yes…I wasn’t too pleased with the 4th installment of the Septimus Heap series. I thought Jenna was especially annoying, and wanted to tell her to shut up and listen to her companions. Other characters annoyed me, but not nearly as much as Princess Pratty Pants.

And I was bored. The narrator seemed to drone on and on, which usually caused me to turn the CD off after 5 minutes and just listen to music for the remainder of my drive home (usually about 10 more minutes). *yawn* Ho hum, pig’s bum. Next story, please.

So, I am not sure if I will bother listening to a 5th book…if there is one. I am assuming there will be.

Now…what to listen to next? I wanted to listen to Tithe by Holly Black, but we don’t have it on CD in my system (Hey, Sarah...can you fix that for me?). Off to check the shelves for a quick listening fix!

Babymouse

Recently, I finished Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. It was, of course, a quick read for me, since it is a graphic novel - and a children's one at that.

In this graphic novel, Babymouse must choose between attending the most popular girl in school’s sleepover, or hanging out at her best friend’s house watching monster flicks.

I love the illustrations. They are adorable! The story is a lesson in true friendship, but not so heavy handed that the story isn’t fun. There are several more books in the series. I plan to check them all out!

Stop in the Name of Pants!!

I was tres vair excited to receive the next installment in this series. I LOVE Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, and pretty much every one of the sequels. Louise Rennison has done a wonderful job writing about the life and loves of Georgia Nicolson.

Stop in the Name of Pants is the ninth book in the series. Yet again, Georgia is in on the rack of love. The Luuurve God is visiting his family in Italy. The Sex God has been cast off, and Dave the Laugh is, well, still frequently in her mind (and kissing her a time or two as well). What is a future backing dancer to do?

While I found it quite funny at times (and a little sad, too), it wasn’t nearly as great as the previous 8 books. I really hope that the next one more than makes up for it!

Greetings from Sunny California!

Greetings, my few and faithful readers! I am typing from my motel room in the original land of Disney – Anaheim, California, where I’ve been for the past six days.

Let me tell you about the books I finished before the trip.

Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett was fantastic. I plan to read a few other titles in the series. It isn’t too often that a story has me often laughing out loud while reading it…and this one did. The talking amphibian (who thinks he was human once, but can’t remember for sure), the Wee Free Men’s fear of lawyers, Tiffany’s first, second and third thoughts…all had me guffawing.

The other book I finished recently was The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. This book - which was written for adults, but something teens may enjoy as well - has been very popular lately, as it was made into a movie. Now that the wait lists have subsided, I was finally able to get a copy from work.

There were times that the book was slow, but overall I really enjoyed the tale. Although I studied history in college, I concentrated more on the ancients (primarily Greece, Rome, Egypt and before), so there was much I didn’t know about the court of Henry VIII. I knew the basics…His spilt from the Roman Catholic Church…The many wives (and the beheading of a few)…The lack of legitimate sons, etc. But, I hadn’t heard the story of Mary Boleyn.

This is a work of fiction; however, it has a basis in factual history. I enjoyed Gregory’s embellishments, and respect that research she did in preparation for this novel. I plan to read the rest of the books in the “series”.

Before leaving for California, I was listening to book 4 of the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage.

That’s all for now. A good friend Robyn lent me Emma by Jane Austen to read on the plane, so I will probably start on it tonight.