First Look at Katniss!

I still think she's a little too old, but man, what a little hair dye and costume does! What do you all think?



Full Entertainment Weekly article.

via Hollywood Reporter

Fave Reads This Week

Need something to read? Here are two books I really enjoyed.

Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy) - Lauren DeStefano

Dystopian future? Check. Incurable virus? Check. Forced polygamy? Check. Accept my new life? Never.

In a dystopian future, sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped by the Gatherers to become a bride. Against her will, she becomes part of a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape...

Intrigued? Click here to request this book.

Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

Greek mythology enthusiasts, here's one for you!

Set in New 2 (post disaster New Orleans), this dystopian & paranormal novel is filled with a mix of gods and monsters. Born with teal eyes and silver hair, and having bounced around foster care, Ari is seeking an understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search leads her to New 2, where she quickly makes friends with other misfits, becomes embroiled in local politics and is forced to fight for her survival (against a goddess!).

Sound awesome? Click here to request this book.

It’s looking Grimm out there

I was watching Tangled last Friday and realized that as the giant wheel of trends turns ...it seems we have come back to Fairy Tales. Yay! While I've never been a big fan of faeries (spiteful, vain creatures), I love fairy tales. While I especially like the trauma-inducing dark and twisted originals, I'm also mushy enough to appreciate the Disney spins. Here are some recently published titles that feature some of the lesser known tales:

Cloaked by Alex Flinn. 2011.
In the vein of "Beastly" comes Flinn's next fairy tale retelling--an edgy, fast-paced romantic adventure with elements of The Shoemaker and the Elves, The Frog Prince, and more! Seventeen-year-old Johnny is approached at his family's struggling shoe repair shop in a Miami, Florida, hotel by Alorian Princess Victoriana, who asks him to find her brother who was turned into a frog.

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. 2010.
In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches. Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. 2010.
New York high school student Elizabeth gets an after-school job as a page at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository," and when she gains coveted access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.

There are also two TV shows scheduled for the fall. NBC has scheduled Grimm (from Buffy writers; filmed in Portland), which is described as “a dark but fantastical cop drama about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist.” Meanwhile, ABC will offer Once Upon a Time, “a modern-day take on fairy tales, with a female protagonist who comes from a unique background, the series will be set in a small town in Maine and will feature an ensemble cast.”

YALSA's Teen Top Ten Nominees for 2011

YALSA has announced the 2011 Teen Top Teen nominations. You have all summer to read these books before voting on your favorites August 22-September 16, 2011.


This year is special for us, as one of the Teen Top Teen book groups is stationed at our own Mukilteo Library, lead by the fabulous Kathleen.

To make it easy for you to get these books, you can find them here, linked into the catalog, for easy reservations :)

(Not that I get to vote, but) so far I've read Before I Fall, Mockingjay, Matched, Sister's Red, and The Sky is Everywhere and they were all GREAT.

Which ones have you read?

What Kind of Reader Are You?

I'm going to oversimplify things a bit by asserting that there are only two types of readers. Allow me to set the stage: The other night I was lying in bed and having trouble going to sleep. After finishing the book I was reading I was still unable to drift off, and mired in a state of half-crazed sleep deprivation. Under these circumstances I obviously experienced a brilliant epiphany - I decided that there are two types of readers in the world: Those who prefer the first line of a book, and those who prefer the last.

First liners appreciate how important the initial words are to the reader. They set the tone for the entire book. They can pull you into a story, or they can make you turn up your nose and move on to something else. The first line can be a lot like the smell wafting off of the Thanksgiving turkey that you waited ever-so-patiently on as it FINALLY arrives on the table.

Readers who favor the final line understand that the entire plot and purpose of a book can be summed up perfectly in just a few words when a good closing line is written by a skilled author. It's an author's last, best chance to tell the reader EXACTLY what they were trying to say. Last liners want closure, but aren't afraid to be challenged by the author to think a little more about what they just read.

Not sure which sounds more like you? I've made a little quiz that features 5 famous first lines and 5 famous last lines from classic books there's a good chance many of you have read before. See if you can identify the book or the author from the line. If you score higher in one of the sections, you might have the answer to whether you're a 'first liner' or a 'last liner'.

*Check out the comments section for the answers; I didn't want to put any spoilers in the post.

5 Famous First Lines

1. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

2. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

3. "Call me Ishmael. "

4. "All children, except one, grow up."

5. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

5 Famous Last Lines

1. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

2. “He loved Big Brother.”

3. “He would be there all night, and he will be there when Jem waked up in the morning.”

4. "But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. "

5. "He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance. "

When you check out the answers, let me know if you're a first liner or a last liner. I'm a last liner myself, but I'm curious to see what the majority of you consider yourselves.

Listen to This!

Until recently, I never listened to audio books. I found them boring and tedious to listen to. This may stem from a bad book (I won't name names because it was quite popular at the time) during a cross-country road trip. A long commute and an epic to-read pile has since changed this, along with the discovery that a good narrator totally makes the book.

Case in point: Have you read Swim the Fly by Don Calame yet? Or the sequel Beat The Band? Both books are absolutely hilarious.

In Swim the Fly, best friends Matt, Coop, and Sean have one goal this summer: to see a girl naked. Their mission is not quite as easy as it sounds, especially since none of them have actually even dated a girl before. Meanwhile, Matt has to master the 100-yard butterfly in order to impress Kelly West, a popular girl with a meat-head boyfriend.

In Beat the Band the boys are back with another slapstick adventure. Coop has been paired with "Hot-Dog Helen" for a semester-long health project. The only way to save his reputation is to have his band win the school's Battle of the Band competition. Too bad his band (comprised of Matt and Sean) totally sucks, but a little help from his dad and new lead singer might be enough to win.

I listened to both of these on audio during my commute and on more than one occasion nearly got into an accident because I was laughing so hard. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't listen to these while on the road.

Ali Marcus - Live in Concert!

Interested in an afternoon of fun, FREE entertainment? Look no further than the Oak Harbor Library this Saturday, May 14th. Anacortes based musician Ali Marcus will be here to play her special blend of folk inspired original tunes at 2:00 pm.

If the weather is good - let's hope - we'll hold the show outside.

Even if you don't live in Oak Harbor grab your friends and take a road trip for an afternoon of great music. Spring finally seems to be here and it's time to get out of the house!

What's your favorite road trip music?