Miss McEwen

librarian / writer / feminist

[missmcewen-blog]

My favourite books of 2017 (though there’s still two weeks to go, so more may be added!):

Fiction

Faithful by Alice Hoffman

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

Leave Me by Gayle Forman

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Gulf by Anna Spargo-Ryan

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Non Fiction

Things That Helped by Jessica Friedmann

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West

Depends What You Mean by Extremist by John Safran

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? By Alyssa Mastromonaco

What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Short Stories

Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein

Pulse Points by Jennifer Down

Young Adult

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black

Freshers by Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison

Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais

Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood

Landscape with Invisible Hand by M.T. Anderson

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

Poetry

No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay

The Year of No Mistakes by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

Graphic Novels

Deep Dark Fears by Fran Krause

Mooncop by Tom Gauld

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfield

Plumdog by Emma Chichester Clark

[librarianproblems]

TRYING TO EXCEED MY YEARLY READING GOAL

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6 books to go!

[reading-out-loud]

I’m old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised. ― Wisława Szymborska

[missmcewen-blog]

I couldn’t imagine anything better!

[missmcewen-blog]

I have found that sometimes teenagers need to access to sensitive information privately. They may not want to do so online because parents or teachers are monitoring their internet history. They may not want to go to a section of a bookstore or library with a gigantic label that says SELF-HELP and draw attention to themselves. 

Sure, THEY MAY BE confident doing that, and that’s great, but we also need to cater for those who aren’t. Teens deserve privacy and sensitivity.

That’s why at my school library we buy LOADS of good books for helping teens deal with any life issues they may come up against. We have up-to-date, healthy, vetted (which is more than I can say for most of the web) info about everything from birth control to bullying. 

And then we also let them know where to find the books without having to ask!

This poster is up all around the library in tucked-away spots, so kids can find what they need. I’m really proud of it and think all YA libraries should have their own version!

ALSO here are my recommendations for some great non-fic books for teens on stuff like mental health, body image, puberty, sex, relationships, friendship, stress, gender and sexuality:

Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be by Gemma Cairney

Notes on Being Teenage by Rosalind Jana

Anything by Juno Dawson but especially Mind Your Head, What is Gender? and This Book is Gay

Almost Adulting by Arden Rose

The Girl Guide by Marawa Ibrahim

Good Thinking: A Teenager’s Guide to Managing Stress and Emotions Using CBT by Sarah Edelman

[arsnaturaveritas]

Lucy Knisley, Displacement. A Travelogue, Fantagraphics, Seattle, WA, 2015, p. 28.

[missmcewen-blog]

One of my all-time favourite graphic novelists. I can’t wait for her new book Kid Gloves!

[mykindabook]

EXCITING NEWS!!

We can FINALLY share the extremely gorgeous and VERY sparkly cover for a brand new @rainbowrowell book, illustrated by the wonderfully talented @siminiblocker!!

Almost Midnight is a UK short story collection, including 2 previously released festive short stories -  "Kindred Spirits" and “Midnights” and we cannot WAIT until we can share it with you all!

Almost Midnight it out 2nd November, and you can find out more about this SUPER EXCITING BOOK right here.

[missmcewen-blog]

What a beautiful cover! 

[petrasvonkant]

Isabelle Huppert in L’Avenir (2016)

[librarianproblems]

Millennials Are Keeping This One Dying Industry Alive

Millennials are the group most likely to use library services – and this is a big deal.

“Dying Industry”?

[missmcewen-blog]

Great news, bad headline. Libraries are thriving, not dying!

[missmcewen-blog]

You can buy my three new reading-themed zines here for just $5! (or $2 each)

[missmcewen-blog]

I did not read as much as I should have these holidays!!!! (I watched a lot of Girls, Broad City and The Hills instead....................................................) but the books I DID READ were excellent.

The Smart One by Jennifer Close - I have read all three of her books in the past few months and I am ADDICTED to Jennifer Close’s writing. This one gets horrible reviews on Goodreads for some reason, but I love it. I really like the one she creates complicated family relationships and drama, and builds tension between different characters.

Mooncop by Tom Gauld - the sweetest/saddest little graphic novel about a cop living on the moon.

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King - this book is indescribable but it means a lot to me, and I think you should all read it. Insanely good. I have been really fussy with my YA lately, and have had real difficultly getting into anything... but A.S. King is just perfect.

Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - a beautifully written letter about how to raise a feminist. I don’t have a daughter, but I think I can apply these suggestions to the students I work with and even just those around me. This book helped me feel more confident in discussing feminist issues.

[librarianproblems]

WHEN I GIVE SOMEONE A LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEY LIKE NONE OF THEM

[missmcewen-blog]

You just can’t come back from this. Dead to me.

[stickyinstitute]

Message from @karysmcewen:

Hello friends!

Please join me to launch my three new reading-themed zines, including Found in Books vol 2.

There will be snacks and book chats, plus a bookish playlist to enjoy (including the Belle & Sebastian song in the title of this event!)

The zines will be $2 each or $5 for all three, cash only.

Bring your friends! xxx

[missmcewen-blog]

Come along!

[lastnightsreading]

Janet Mock at @nypl, 6/27/17

[missmcewen-blog]

For the Australian Library & Information Association's (ALIA) 80th anniversary they're calling on librarians to write tributes to the libraries that shaped them. 

I wrote a little piece about the Harvey Library.

[coffeemages]

Your daughters do not exist to give you grandchildren

[librarianproblems]

WHEN A PATRON WHISTLES TO GET MY ATTENTION

[missmcewen-blog]

That or, “OI MISS!!”

[franceymorgan]

You have to do this or that, but meanwhile life is just passing by

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I have never ever been affected by a film in the way I was with Toni Erdmann. 

It is so feckin weird but so incredibly moving (in a very odd, indescribable way). 

There’s some mature content and it is three hours long with subtitles (!!!!) but honestly, one of the best films of all time.