The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine is a Scheherazade of a story layering stories within stories within stories in a complex pattern that blends fantasy and reality together in one brilliant package. Osama, now an engineer in Los Angeles, travels home to Lebanon to be with his father during his final days. During his visit with his family, he remembers stories of his grandfather, a hakawati, or storyteller. Weaving in and out of his family story are the fantastical stories of Fatima, a slave girl and Baybars, a slave prince which pull together the threads of past and present reflect the modern day Beirut.

This is one of the best novels I have read this year.

Blog Day

Happy Blog Day!

BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2008and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org/

Since I read hundreds of blogs I thought I would pick one blog from a couple of my major categories.

Music Blogs - Covert Curiosity is a great blog with lots of new music to discover as well as free downloads of the recommended music. I follow a lot of music blogs but this is the only one I read religiously.

Book Blogs - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is always a good choice for feeding my inner snark and the fact that I always find some good romance novels to recommend to customers is just a nice side benefit.

Odds and Ends - Crazy Aunt Purl - I don't knit but I love her voice. She isn't afraid to be silly or to laugh at herself, a totally endearing quality the blogosphere.

Social Networking and Tech blogs - Mashable is the blog I would follow if I could only pick one. I always find something interesting to talk about and I particularly loved that Facebook vs. Myspace evaluations.

Professional Development - Stephen's Lighthouse - Stephen is great at repackaging library and technology news for the library crowd.

Make sure you link back to Blogday.org with your post, and share your five new blog picks for this year.

Great list of Palin resources on the net from mashable.com

FollowTheMoney.org
Governor of Alaska
National Governors Association
OnTheIssues.org
PalinForGovernor.com
Sarah Palin Politician Facebook Page
VoteSmart.org

Copied from Mashable

Free E-Book Friday

The shortage the world will soon face won't be oil but water. Blue Planet Run shows stunning examples of this in Blue_Planet_Run.pdf (38 MB)

For ways to get involved http://blueplanetrun.org/

Political Bedfellows 2

Batman Dead End

For all of you comic book dorks who can't get enough Batman:)

Free E-Book Friday

Rare and acclaimed Doctor Who novels available to read for free!

All feature brand new artwork and extensive notes by the original authors.

Free e-book Friday

Download a free copy of the e-book Eight by Katherine Neville.

Hometown Hostesses

Fred Harvey reinvigorated his restaurant chain by hiring women servers in 1883 because "they don’t get drunk and get in knife fights like men." Tom Taylor leads this historical examination of the iconic waitresses and their patron, paired with a fashion show demonstrating their flair with fabrics led by Bonnie Hansen.

The Harvey Girls takes place on Tuesday, July 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Waldo Branch, 201 E. 75th St. RSVP: http://www.kclibrary.org/rsvp/2008/orderup/

Friday 7/18/08

I forgot to keep track last Friday so I am doing this Friday instead so ignore the date in the title:)

Fridays are usually spent working the desk, doing paperwork and other assorted librarian type things that pretty much mirror the rest of the week. I spent most of my morning working on another incident report and spent most of the lunch hour covering staff breaks. The one big difference this week was that I didn’t have to work from 8:15 – 6. I had a branch manager meeting about security issues that met at 4 p.m. so after that I headed home and changed into theater in the park clothing. Packed a bunch of snacky foods and am heading out shortly to see my friend Amy sing in Annie Get Your Gun with my UMKC friends.

Thursday 7/17/2008

• Slept in until 9 am.
• Ran on the treadmill while watching Lars and the Real Girl and checking Twitter/reading blog posts on my mobile Google Reader (on my phone).
• Noticed a lovely toilet bowl leak and put out an SOS to local bloggers and friends, myspyderweb and her hubby, Kanga (aka: my wonderful, new handy-person)
  
• On the way to work I stopped to buy soda and paper goods for upcoming programs.
• At work, I checked in with the morning supervisor and talked with last night’s supervisor about training issues for the newly hired security guards.
• Checked work email.
• Proofread next month’s branch calendar.
  
• Talked with owner of the security company about security guard issues.
• Worked on letters, email’s and faxes for publisher letters requested review copies for the Notable Award.
• Ate dinner and browsed the blogs.
• Went out and worked the desk for the 5-6 pm rush.
  
• Continued working on contacting publishers.
• I always try to work the desk for the last hour we are open on my late night.
• Went home.
  

Added later: Completely forgot about the girls night out event I was supposed to attend after work.

Wednesday 7/16/2008

Welcome to hell day...otherwise known as the day I work my regular job and then go work a reference desk at a university for my part-time job.

At 8:15 a staff person called in sick. It's a little late to get a substitute so I spent the morning working the desk. Most of the time I actually enjoy working the desk and would like to spend more time out there and less sitting at a desk on the phone or staring at a computer screen. We check books in and out, help people with computer problems, help people find the book they need 0r want (my favorite thing to do) and help people find information/answer questions.

When additional staff appeared I ran off to our neighborhood business association meeting. Since this is a lunch meeting it basically consists of eating lunch, socializing with my community and then listening to a presentation. Today's was about the green building going up in the neighborhood with a environmentally friendly design and a roof planted with native grasses. Very cool and when it is finished I will need to schedule a trip to my local neighborhood bar (conveniently located in the new building).

When I got back from schmoozing at the meeting I checked email (both personal and professional) and chatted with a staff person about the value of the workshop she just attended on urban literature. Since I was feeling a little tired from my late night last night I grabbed the "missing list" again so I would be up and moving around.

Finishing up my day I ate another lovely apple, yogurt dinner and headed off to the part-time job. This time of year is challenging because students have settled in, asked many of their questions and are now in the paper writing part of the process. That means that I spend this time reading blogs, investigating social networking sites, catching up on answering email for both jobs and reading professional journals while I wait for the occasional question.

One question answered all night (apart from the occasional "can you sign me on to a computer as a guest" questions).

I am now heading home where I will do a couple loads of laundry, put on my pj's, spend a little quality time with the cats, read a little and then get to sleep a little on the early side tonight. Tomorrow is my late day so I will also get to sleep in and catch up on my sleep from last night's awesome concert.

Tuesday 7/15/2008

• Started to listen to The Dybbuk on Book on Tape to prepare for the Jewish Literature program
  
• Arrived at work at 8:15 and talked with the assistant branch manager about upcoming employee time off requests, discussed repair issues with facilities staff and worked on the hold list before opening the branch at 9 a.m.


• Read Librarian by Day’s post and realized that I no longer remember the password for the branch library Flickr account and have no idea what random birthday I used. Now I can’t re-request the password.
  


• Worked the circulation desk for a while. It's a good day when I can talk to a customer about books.
  


• Met with the Public Affairs department to look at meeting room space and discuss layout and event issues.


• Ate lunch and started a new (to me) series… His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. Apparently this series is hot. How did I not know that?


• Talked with administration and co-workers about the bike theft issue and a plan for checking out bike locks is in the works. I also asked Human Resources for some advice about a staffing issue.
  


• Every once in a while a person needs a soothing no-brain task so I grabbed a list of books that had been marked missing and spent some time checking the library shelves for them.


• Went through a couple of book review journals and marked books that were suitable for the branch, the reading award....and a few just for me. This is one of the most dangerous tasks I undertake because it often results in a flood of personal book orders for me.


• Talked with a staff person about personnel "issues".


• Went home, changed and joined friends at a much needed Dropkick Murphys concert.
  

Monday 7/14/2008

• Got up and got ready for work.
• Checked work, Twitter and personal email accounts on my Trio.
• Marked email that needed attention.
• 15 minute drive to work.
• Got the deposit ready to go to the bank.
• Worked on the list of customer holds that needed to be pulled.
• Opened the branch.
• Answered a customer email.
• Sent out a message to staff about the importance of collecting accurate statistics.
• Sent out self-evaluation questions to staff person to complete for upcoming evaluation.
• Investigated an online book club management system and created an account, inviting a few of the current book club participants to join.
• Worked on a staff evaluation.
  
• Called downtown to get clarification on new statistics gathering system.
• Worked the customer service desk for about an hour where I got to answer a Reader's Advisory question (yippy!) I also checked in and out books, answered a couple of basic reference questions.
• Dealt with a customer disturbance issue and filed an incident report.
• Worked on Notable Award list.
• Ate a rather boring but nutritious lunch…hummus, carrots, peach…awhile skimming KC blogs, library and book blogs for interesting tidbits..
• Worked on finding a second leader for the newly expanded Jewish Literature program, found and invited second book discussion leader.
  
• Talked with staff about the proper way to structure an incident report.
  
• Talked to an upset customer about overdue fines.
• Had a staff "birthday cupcake" and a little social time.
• Cleaned up a portion of the “Missing Book” printout.
  
• Worked the customer service desk.
• Wrote a blog post about the Jewish American Literature program.
• Talked with Public Affairs about various promotional details for the program.
• Dealt with three bike theft issues and wrote another incident report
  
• Stopped at the grocery store, ran home and then headed downtown for a library program.
• Listened to my smart librarian friend do a presentation and cheered wildly.
  
• Got home at 9'ish, read a bit of a notable read and then went to bed.
  

I took these notes last Monday as part of The Day in the Life project first seen on the Librarian By Day blog.

Food For Fines

For those of you who may have incurred a library fine or two this year (and you know who you are), you will be happy to know that our semi-annual Food For Fines program will start on Monday, August 18th and run through Sunday the 24th. Each can of food reduces your fine by $1 and all of the food goes to Harvesters. I thought I would give you a little extra advance warning this year since a few of you complained that I didn't give you enough time last year.

All Right! Rock on!!

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Another free ebook

Periodically I crave a good vampire book (preferably romance) to cleanse the palette between more literary books. Sherrilyn Kenyon is always a good choice:)

If you want to try one for free, you get a free copy of the "Seize the Night" ebook. It's
also available in a free Kindle edition on Amazon. Use this link:
http://www.yearofac heron.com/ ebook.html

A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn

An animated version of Zinn’s essay, Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire.

Blogger Meet-Up

I won't be there for this one but anyone who blogs is invited:)

Tuesday July 22nd at 5 pm

Fred Garcia Tarahumara Mexican

10001 W 87th St

Overland Park, Ks

913-403-9211

Come for the food, come for the drink, come for the conversation. Just come!Please let Spyder know if you are planning on being there so that she can warn them

Going off the Notable Grid

I will be spending quite a bit of my blogging energy on a blog for the Jewish Literature program so I may not be posting as often (at least for a while). If any of you have something significant to say about the authors, history, trivia or books on the Jewish Literature program be sure to let me know. I can use the creative help and inspiration.

And now for my ALA fun reads!

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - I finally finished reading my free downloaded copy of this book and then promptly went out and bought a hard copy for my 18 year old nephew. This young adult novel has a lot to say about the 9/11 America, homeland security and personal freedom. It is fast paced, has engaging characters and is suitable (and recommended) for adults as well as teens.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - This fantasy novel was named "best fantasy novel of 2007" by the American Library Association "The Reading List" Award committee. It follows the life of Kvothe, living incognito, after his larger than life heroism goes horribly wrong. There are daring rescues, evil villains and enough magic to satisfy the most demanding of readers.

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge - If you like hard science SF, this is an author you will want to try. Rainbows End is set in 2025 and the main character has been "cured" of Alzheimers. Starting over, he must learn to use the new technology close enough to what he remembers to be familiar but difficult to navigate and learn. His granddaughter is determined to teach him in spite of his curmudgeonly way. In the meantime he stumbles into a secret plot to take over the world....or maybe not? I really enjoyed it and I do want to try more of his Hugo award winning novels.