Future Librarian

public library worker, book reviewer, and overall bookish enthusiast 📚

[futurelibrarian537]

19 Love Songs by David Levithan

This book is a collection of short stories that David Levithan writes for his loved ones as Valentine’s Day gifts every year. The short story that I’m listening to at this very moment follows a gay character during the 2017 march after President Trump was elected. It’s purpose? To stand for issues the President does not, such as women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights, to keep it a bit general.

As the main character is looking around at the masses of people who have come out in support of this, he notices there are a lot of librarians present, and he kind of wonders why.

For those of you who are also wondering about this question, here’s your answer: because we welcome everyone. We care about everyone. We see you. We hear you. And we will always help you and march.

This. This small moment in the eyes of this character illustrates why I love libraries so much. And why I am so proud to be a part of it.

[futurelibrarian537]

May the force be with this reader. ✨

[futurelibrarian537]

Sticker Magic

A part of my job I really enjoy is handing out stickers to kids, mostly because it’s adorable to watch how excited they get. One day, a mom and toddler came in and starting sliding items through our indoor book drop. I noticed the toddler was very shy and decided to present a sticker offering.

Me: [squatting so I could talk to him while holding out the stickers] “Hi there. Would you like a sticker?”

Mom, to her son: “Oh honey, she’s offering you a sticker! Would you like one?”

Little boy, hiding behind mom: [nods]

I stood and handed our small sticker basket to mom, and she helped him pick one he liked. After placing the sticker on his shirt, his little face was radiant with happiness. Without warning, he ran out from behind mom and towards me, grabbing my legs in a hug.

Best. Day. Ever.

[futurelibrarian537]

Love Letter

I was checking in book drop one morning when I found a letter being used as a bookmark. Patrons use all kinds of things to hold their place in books, and I like to make sure the item isn’t something important before I recycle it.

I opened the letter and read: “Dear ....., I love you and I want to be with you.”

I quickly closed the note after that in order to give what I assumed to be a young patron some privacy. It was only then I realized what the title of the book was.

“No one else can have you,” by Kathleen Hale.

[futurelibrarian537]

Sexy Things

*phone ringing*

Me: “Hello, this is Grace. How can I help you?”

Patron: “How old do you have to be to send sexy things over the phone?”

Me: “—um. I think you need to be 17, but I’m not sure. Would you like me to transfer you to reference?”

*click*

[futurelibrarian537]

This book. 💗 To all the giggles and mhmm’s that I shared with my coworkers as we passed this gem around!🥂 A huge thanks to Gina at @iworkatapubliclibrary for sharing it all. I’m so excited to have my own copy! Now the world can know what it’s really like. 😂

[futurelibrarian537]

Cardigan

Me: *struggles to explain what a cardigan is to best friend*

Me: *sends multiple pictures of me in different cardigans*

Me: ...[overall struggling internally and externally]

Best friend: “Oh, so it’s the thing librarians wear??”

[futurelibrarian537]

Did you know? Librarians have their own tape! ••• Okay, not really, it’s just regular tape but we DO fix ripped pages with glue!

[futurelibrarian537]

Who loves to read and eat?? 🙋🏼‍♀️ I know I do! This Cookie Monster donut from Hurts Donuts is probably one of the best sweets I’ve ever gotten to enjoy while reading. I think it also takes the title of “Most Stinkin’ Adorable,” too! 🍩 What are your favorite snacks to eat while reading?

[futurelibrarian537]

Book Monkey 🐒

While I was standing at the circulation desk, a mom and her daughter approached me.

Mom, to her very hesitant daughter: “Go ahead, honey, ask her.”

Me: [grinning] “I promise I don’t bite!”

Daughter: [very shyly] “Do you have any Barbie books?”

Me: “We sure do! If you’d like to follow me out to the stacks, I’d be happy to show you.”

I led the young girl to where our different Barbie books were located.

Me, after the Barbie need was satisfied: “Please feel free to come up to the front if you need anything else!”

After this first encounter, she came back up to the desk four other times and I helped find books on dinosaurs, animals, Junie B. Jones, and Mo Willems.

Needless to say, I was a literal book monkey, but she was so sweet I enjoyed every minute!

[futurelibrarian537]

This series I’m re-reading is really floating my boat! ;)

Book pictured is Of Enemies and Endings, the last book in The Ever Afters series by Shelby Bach! Be sure to check it out at your local library!

[futurelibrarian537]

Leopard Print

A male patron came in one day, and after seeing my leopard print shirt, decided to tell me that a coworker of mine wore leopard print once as well, and he “growled” at her.

He then proceeded to growl at me. While I’m pretty certain he was joking, I have not worn that shirt to work since.

[futurelibrarian537]

Broke Car

I am in charge of checking an email account for my library branch. This is the email I found waiting for me:

Patron: “I will not be able to return the books on time. My car broke down. It is in the shop. You can come get them if it’s a problem.”

[futurelibrarian537]

Summary: After almost two hundred years of men on the throne, America finally has it's first queen. While the Washington family and the whole country struggles to come to terms with life after the death of their beloved monarch, change is in the air for all four of our fierce females. Beatrice struggles with the reality that her father is gone, while also trying to do a job that many men, including the dreaded Lord Chamberlain, believe they could do better than her. Samantha continues to adopt her "party princess" persona in order to not care about any of the things that have rocked her world. Daphne persists in her climb up the social ladder by orchestrating events to finally fulfill her dream of becoming a princess. And Nina attempts to avoid the spotlight after her horrifying debut in the media as not only Princess Samantha's best friend, but Prince Jefferson's girlfriend. With so many events occurring at once and a new monarch on the throne will America survive our leading ladies?

Review: I am so excited to say that I think Majesty was even better than American Royals! I loved the character arcs for Beatrice, Sam, and Daphne because I felt like they all really grew into themselves. Nina's arc could have been improved a little as I felt like she was mostly there in order to give Daphne a punching bag. She is portrayed as unique and strong, yet all the major stuff that happens to her has to do with her romantic life. Now, a lot of this series does have to do with our ladies' romantic interests, but I feel like Nina's love life is controlled by Daphne throughout the two books and she exists just for Daphne to manipulate. I want more for her especially as our one true "commoner." She deserves something powerful! In addition, I found myself much more content with our shift in leading men because they quite simply made much more sense for their respective lady.

Overall, Majesty was a delight to read as I enjoyed a story that was expertly woven together with drama that carried on shamelessly and made me more and more gleeful the further I read. I anxiously await what I hope will be a third installation to the series!

This book is set to be published on September 1, 2020.

**I received this book free from Netgalley and it's publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[futurelibrarian537]

Summary: In this sequel to the Teen Titans origin stories, we get to enter the world of Beast Boy. In the midst of facing anxiety about his body, popular kids at school, and animal rights issues Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy, manages to save the day with his humor, wit, and maybe just a little bit of beastly help.

Review: I absolutely loved this addition to our Teen Titan origin stories. The artwork in this series continues to be absolutely fantastic; Picolo is truly the best artist for the job and I particularly love how he assigns a color to each Titan and focuses much of the art around that color. In addition, I started reading this graphic novel and was shocked at the difference in character between Raven and Beast Boy. I felt like I was reading an entirely different author because the two are so vastly different. I even thought while reading, "This is totally a dude book," and I did not have that thought while enjoying Raven. Now of course, some of the details of the plot stayed the same which helped connect the two existing origins thus far, but overall I really delighted in the diversity. I appreciated all of the issues covered in this graphic novel that focused on what teens face today in high school such as body anxiety and popularity. It's extremely important to talk about these kinds of issues and break the stigma that they are something to be ashamed of or topics to be avoided. I especially appreciated the zeal for animal rights: not only is that an important issue today but it is also completely on brand with our beastly friend. I think both our author and our illustrator work very well together and their combined talents will help make this series stand out. I am highly anticipating the rest of the Teen Titans and look forward to when all of our young heroes are brought together.

This book is set to be published September 1, 2020.

**I received this title as an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review.

[futurelibrarian537]

Review: I absolutely adored this new and refreshing take on Sense and Sensibility! Having previously read Manga Classics: Pride and Prejudice I knew this was one I didn't want to miss. The story, though slightly dramatized, is brought to the reader in a way that presents us the beloved original by Jane Austen while also using creative license to add some exciting and unexpected twists. Instead of detracting from the classic I love so much, I found that these additions only add to the story line and make it more fantastic. In addition, the artwork was incredible! Without revealing any spoilers I will say that each character was drawn in a way that immediately hinted at their character and role in the manga classic. As a reader familiar with the story, I delighted in seeing these characters portrayed in a way brought chills to my skin as I recognized and reveled in the way the drawings hinted to their personalities. All in all, I am sensing a great desire in myself to add this manga classic (along with perhaps some of its sister novels) to my personal collection. What a job well done!

This book was published on August 19, 2014.

**I received a free eARC (so to speak, even though this book is already published) from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[futurelibrarian537]

Summary: Join Cora, Elio, Anders, and Wren as this rag-tag group of four sets off across the galaxy to search for infamous keys that lead to a priceless treasure...or at least one that may make them very, very rich and win them their freedom.

Review: This is a very hard book for me to give thoughts and opinions on. For the better half of the book I had to drag myself to my kindle to read, and found myself needing to take several breaks from it because I desperately did not want to continue. I was very disappointed because, despite what is suggested in the summary of the book, it was nothing like the Lunar Chronicles and resembled a very watered-down version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. It wasn't until maybe the last 30% of the story that I felt like it really picked up pace and I got interested in what was going on. I also got extreme whiplash from what I perceived to be a sudden plethora of Guardian references and comparisons towards the end (not super obvious, just inferences I can make after seeing the movies so many times). Those things being said: I really enjoyed the dynamic between our four crew members and I feel like they really developed as a team and family towards the end of the story (as did the plot and pretty much everything else). This was a fluffy and predictable book that provides another option for readers who are normally averse to the fluffy and predicable of the romantic variety in their reading.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book for younger YA readers, if not some juvenile as well mostly because content-wise there isn't a whole lot to be concerned about. We have a few cuss words and hand gestures thrown in, but the romance stays pretty innocent making it perfect for readers who may be ready for a mild introduction to YA.

This book is set to be published August 4, 2020.

**I received this book for free from its publisher and the Netgalley website in exchange for an honest review.