Keeping busy!

I just got back from slightly-more-than-a-week's vacation on Tuesday. I was in South Carolina visiting my in-laws and doing not much else but shopping, eating, getting new glasses (and hopefully new contacts soon, w00t!), and watching TV. Well, and working out. I took a very fun kickboxing class at the local Y.

Now that I'm back, it's crunch time for the Mock Awards, which are January 3 (Caldecott and Newbery) and 4 (Printz) at the New Milford library. The shortlists are done, and now I have to start publicizing them. I've read eight of the twelve books shortlisted for the Mock Printz, which is not too bad considering all the other reading I do. The president of BCCLS was at the office yesterday and she told me how much she liked one of my personal favorite books of the year, Boy Toy by Barry Lyga. The post of my favorite books of 2007 will come in December.

I'm also speed-reading for Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. I'm reading for two lists this year, "Sex is a Touchy Subject" and "Get Your Game On," a sports list. I love that we're able to put together a list about teens' choices about sex. It's not just a touchy subject, but it's an important one, and one of the things we're working to ensure is that a wide variety of views about sex are represented. We want to keep the list positive and diverse, so there won't be lots of teen pregnancy stories but there will be romances (male/male, male/female, and female/female) and explorations of what sex is and how it affects us physically, emotionally, and socially.

On my lunch breaks, I'm reading Slash by Slash with Anthony Bozza. People are usually surprised when I tell them that my taste in music runs very similar to Dean Winchester's. I love classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush, AC/DC, Yes, Motorhead, and Blue Oyster Cult. I also like more modern bands with an edgy sound: Seether, Audioslave, Crossfade, etc., and for years I've liked Guns N' Roses and now, Velvet Revolver. I'm a percussionist by training, not a guitarist, but I believe that Slash is sort of a Jimi Hendrix for today, someone who's made the average person think long and hard about what the guitar can accomplish. So I picked up his autobiography and I'm sure it will be self-indulgent, overly detailed about the bad bad life of a rock star, and an enjoyable, quick read.