Dame Librarian

2006-03-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous, sunny, and sunshiney today.

My first Italian class! It was a blast. I had so much fun. I really can pick languages up very easily. I hope I learn enough to be able to communicate a little bit while on vacation.

Buongiorno! Come sta? Sono vegetariana.

That's pretty good learnin' for the first class.

Today I finished Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. Frothy, easy, fun.

Tonight we are going bowling...in Norwood. Can't wait!

2006-03-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

I <3 Beth Ditto.

Went to see the Gossip last night. Amazing, amazing, amazing, as usual. Beth is the most gorgeous, talented, dynamic lady. She's so preeeeeetty. She always inspires me to dress up more. I love her clothes and the way she dresses and she had a little Hairspray-ish quality to her hair last night which was cute.

I'm just so in love with their new album. They opened with 'Standing in the Way of Control' which got everyone booty-shaking, but I thought that 'Coal to Diamonds' and 'Last Night' were the BEST, totally. There was a pretty good vibe at the middle east, even though it was so uncrowded, maybe just 1/2 sold. They had some great merch, too, Kelsey and I are now proud owners of Gossip tote bags.

There was one bizarre incident. A girl snaked through the crowd from the front presumably to go to the loo, and she was really pawing and petting everyone she passed. Now, I'm all for a pat on the shoulder to make someone move out of the way, but she had it down to a science and it entailed patting on the shoulder to get you to move, and then as she passed behind you, keeping her hand there and HONKING MY BOOB as she made her way back! She tried it with Kelsey, too. Gah, I don't want strangers touching my boob. But it also made me feel old, because I vividly remember being 18 and drunk and grabbing the hands of my friends making them touch the bottoms of complete strangers. I'm like someone's conservative granny now, I guess.

My Italian class starts tomorrow, so I am currently reading my Italian textbook, and also The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley.

On Saturday, Eric's birthday, we had a suburban adventure and went bowling in Norwood. It was so awesome. I absolutely love candlepin bowling, even though I am horrible at it.

I can't believe we live a 15 minute drive from a suburban bowling alley.

2006-03-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Eric and I have been trying to eat more vegan lately, and since I am now a housewife with nothing to do all day except watch Dr Phil and cook, I've been having lots of kitchen fun.

A couple of my favorite websites for inspiration are:

Vegan Lunch Box

The Post Punk Kitchen

The Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

All of these sites are excellent for inspiration and recipes, and I especially like the forums at the PPK because I can ask questions like "why does my seitan look like brains?"

Some of my biggest successes lately have been in the area of baked goods: bran muffins, chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, and to die for pecan and chocolate chip banana bread. Outside of the baked goods arena, tonight we had roasted eggplant burritos. You might not think that roasted eggplant would work in a burrito, but it was pretty awesome.

In this same vein, I have been lately reading books recommended on these vegan websites.

Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr Joel Fuhrman

Dr Fuhrman claims that his patients have been cured of everything from ear infections to ADD by placing them on his diet. I wholeheartedly agree that children should not be given the refined sugars and overly processed foods that make up most of what they eat today. When I worked at the library, the kids would come in carrying bags and bags of food from Wendy's EVERY day. The smell alone was nauseating. Anyway. The book contains many recipes, including one for a vegan cashew "cream" sauce.

May All Be Fed: A Diet for a New World by John Robbins

This book, by the son of one half of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire founders is an incredibly persuasive argument for veganism, full of facts and figures on how eating meat and dairy is detrimental to health AND the environment. Also contains recipes. The facts and figures part is pretty bleak. Most of it made me sad.

And just to "turn the page" entirely, I read another Hannah Swensen mystery, The Peach Cobbler Murder. Excellent twist to this one. Highly recommended.

The next in the series, The Cherry Cheesecake Murder has just come out and I'm on the waiting list at the library. In the meantime I'm about to start Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella.

2006-03-14T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, today marks my one week anniversary of being a housewife. I must say that it hasn't been all bad, and I'm really enjoying the downtime. Nothing makes me happier than a clean house, and now I have the time to clean and tidy the way I'd like to. Aside from my many social engagements, I've only left the house to go to the library, the post office, and the market. I'm terribly fixated on oranges, I must have at least one a day, and as lame as it is, walking down to the market to buy a couple of oranges is a good excuse to leave the house.

But that errand may soon be eliminated, because I'm awaiting my first delivery from Boston Organics, which is a local organic produce delivery service. You can choose the size box you'd like, the frequency of delivery, and the ratio of fruit to veg. We chose a $25 50/50 box to be delivered every week. There is no separate delivery charge. It's kind of like peapod, for produce, I guess, but you don't get to pick the contents of your box. Which I actually think is awesome, because you get to try things you might not normally pick up at the market, and it forces me to be creative with my veg cooking. You also can't pick the delivery day or time, but you don't have to be home when they deliver. I don't know, this is kind of the highlight of my week, sad as it is.

My next "big project" is to neaten up and redecorate and reorganize the guest room, and turn it into a craft room. Right now it's just a big black hole of storage mess and the cats have taken it over as their room. I think it needs wall shelves.

And now for miss Bani and anyone else who'd like to know what I'm reading lately...

I got super sucked in to this series of mysteries, which is unlike anything I would normally ever pick up, but I LOVE THEM!!! The author is Joanna Fluke, and they are the Hannah Swensen mysteries. They take place in a small town in Minnesota. The main character, Hannah Swensen, owns a cookie bakery and has the odd tendency to come across dead bodies. Because she's intelligent, tough, and very clever, she usually solves the crime before the small town detectives can. Also, there's an intriguing love triangle (will Hannah fall for the local dentist or the local detective? Um, if she solves the crimes before the detective can, my money's on the dentist), and cookie recipes sprinkled throughout. I just started the fifth book in the series today. Very enjoyable and highly recommended. There's a webpage to see the books at Murder She Baked . I learned recently that this type of mystery book is called the "cozy," now isn't that a very twee categorization. Ah, well.

2006-03-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

Well, my first day as an unemployed librarian. Or as a housewife. Stay at home mom of cats. Writer "between novels."

I ate some flax flakes and then headed into Cambridge where I got my eyebrows waxed, my hair cut and coiffed, my hands exfoliated and my nails manicured. And I do intend to go on as I've begun!

My big plan for tomorrow is to make big batches of vegan bran muffins, chickpea soup, and ratatouille. I just love batch cooking. Chuck it all in the freezer, and voila, delicious homemade vegan meals whenever you want them.

I can't wait to catch up on my reading, too. I have loads of books waiting to be cracked open. It's such a luxury to have all of this time. I can feel myself losing my crazy impatience...I was really okay waiting for the 66 bus today. After all, where on earth do I have to be?

2006-01-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

What does an exdelivery boy deliver?

X's.

What does an ex Young Adults Librarian do?

Why, solve mysteries, of course!

2005-12-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Getting older, getting...lamer?

Is it possible that only three years ago my favorite magazines were Sleazenation and Mojo? Is it possible that I actually had a subscription to Q? AND saved every issue?

Three years later...and I'm looking online to see where I can find the cheapest yearly subscription to Martha Stewart Living.

I think if the 23 year old me met the 28 year old me, she'd be disgusted. I don't think they'd have anything in common.

2005-11-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

I feel dreadful that I haven't been able to sit down and give Inkspell the attention it deserves. It should absolutely not be read in fits and starts. So far I've been utterly mesmerized by the descriptions of Dustfinger's world...the fairies and the fire honey, and the traveling band of minstrel performers, and Meggie has just entered the Inkworld with Farid, and I can't find enough time to devour this book!

I've been on a nonfiction side track. My father-in-law started reading my copy of Freakonomics when he was over for Thanksgiving, and I just had to finally pick it up and read it all in one day after he summarized it for me.

I've got a couple of others waiting to be read:

A Crack in the Edge of the World - Simon Winchester's newest

Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash - by Elizabeth Royte, recommended to me by a patron

Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary - Henry Hitchings

And then, when my husband is done with it, I'll probably start When in Boston: A Timeline and Almanacby Jim Vrabel

Hopfully, in between all of this, I will finish Inkspell. I also would like to re-read GoF and remind myself of all the plot lines and tiny details the movie left out.

On seeing the movie a second time, I totally noticed Phil Selway. That was awesome.

2005-11-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I felt like a pervy old lady for finding Cedric Diggory foxy. But the best part of the movie was seeing the Weird Sisters after waiting so long! Too bad Jarvis Cocker was only on screen for about a milisecond, and if you blinked you'd miss Johnny Greenwood. I certainly hope that when the dvd comes out they will have some sort of extra devoted to the band. Supposedly one of the songs can be found on a Radiohead fansite.

And to think that Franz Ferdinand was being considered for the Weird Sisters! For shame!

I think I was more excited about seeing Jarvis than the movie as a whole, actually. Different Class is my #1 favorite album of all time, ever. I was so, so excited when Ian Brown was in Prisoner of Azkaban (for about a milisecond). There was so much missing from the book. I think that might make the fifth movie hard to set up without extra exposition. As in, Bellatrix who?

My husband - who has never read any of this books, liked this movie better than PoA, which I liked the best out of all three. Which makes me wonder what the movies would be like if they were made entirely for book fans!

2005-11-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

I've just started Cornelia Funke's Inkspell. It's gorgeous, and I love it, but I am so hesitant to read it. This book deserves to be DEVOURED in one sitting, and I haven't had the stretch of time to devote to it yet. I feel like I'm cheating the book by hesitantly reading one or two pages.

She's a brilliant writer though, just wonderful.

2005-11-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

An Emma Forrest Novel...Starring...Emma Forrest!

I think it was my friend Suzanne who recommended Emma Forrest's first novel, Namedropper, on the grounds that when I read it, I would absolutely flip out I would love it so much. She was right. I did. It was one of those novels that just absorbs you. I was completely taken in, I think, for two main reasons. The first reason is Emma Forrest herself; young, hip, beautiful, and British. The second reason is the content and her characters; Emma Forrest knew Richey Manic personally, and that's rather all you need to know.

Cherries in the Snow is Emma Forrest's third novel. If you're reading an Emma Forrest novel, you are guaranteed that your protagonist will be young, beautiful, British, hip, and Jewish. It's difficult to read into any of her novels as more than thinly disguised autobiographies, but I won't hold that against her. I feel like she is creating the best version of her life; conversations she wishes she had, clothes she wishes she had worn, one night stands she wishes had turned into proper relationships. Such an idealized and perfect version of her life could make for saccharine characters and twee situations, but Cherries in the Snow has a deeper, sadder, and more hopeless protagonist than a simply flawless version of Emma Forrest herself. There is some late-March grey slush under the snow.

Our heroine - Sadie Steinberg - is a twenty-four year old British transplant working in New York City as the person who comes up with clever names for cosmetics (truly, for me at least, an enviable job!). She is employed by her childhood friend Holly, who created the Grrl line of cosmetics to be, well, ugly. Picture bruise-purple blush, jaundice-yellow eyeshow, bile-puke-green mascara with names like Junkie, Ass-Slappin' Pink, a face powder called Heroin that Robert Smith would love. She's very good at her job, but perpetually on the hunt for the holy grail of names for Grrl, that could be for Grrl was Cherries in the Snow was for Revlon. (I have to insert here that I bought a tube of Cherries in the Snow well before I read this book, thinking that it was, of course, the definitive red lipstick. It looked positively dreadful on me, far too fuschia. I look much better in Shanghai Express by Nars. Though I remain very disappointed.)

As she is also a gal-about-town, and as this is Emma Forrest's third and most marketed novel, Sadie has the requsite romances gone wrong, and then she meets Marley. Rocking her Cherries and a very Amelie haircut, she encounters Marley in a bodega where he is buying soymilk and tells Sadie that the freckles on her arm are in the shape of his favorite constellation, Pleiades. Thankfully, she doesn't give in to such a lame, lame pickup line, and when Marley gives Sadie his number, she doesn't call. But another chance encounter (Marley is hired to create a graffiti mural in the Grrl office), leads to Sadie falling completely in love with this slim, androgynous yoga freak.

Because this is an Emma Forrest novel, Sadie has daddy issues. Namely, she talks to her father a million times a day, is completely codependent even though he lives in Britain, is convinced that she needs her daddy to take care of her, and that she'll never find another man as great as her daddy. Sadie does have a mother, but she's relegated to the fringe. So when she falls in love with Marley, Sadie is completely unprepared to fight for his attention. Her opponent? Marley's nine year old daughter Montana.

This is where Emma Forrest takes a very "grown up" turn. Instead of Sadie falling in love, wallowing in the imperfections of it all, and spending her days just feeling sorry for herself, Sadie must learn to be a grownup in a grownup relationship. In a fight to be "daddy's girl" with Marley, it's obvious that Montana must win. As precocious as Montana is (When Sadie asks if she'd like a snack, Montana replies, "I would like a plum...I would like it sliced."), she is still a nine year old child. Sadie's seething jealousy (she rips Montana's tutu when trying it on) eventually subsides, but Stepmom this is not. My favorite character in the novel was Jolene (as in Jolene, Jolene...please don't take him just because you can); Montana's wisecracking yoga empress mother. She and Sadie strike up a very genuine friendship, without the bitterness usually found between two women who have shared the same man.

Unlike most chick-lit novels, Sadie is not entirely winsome. She's erratic, despondent, selfish, and, at times, kind of gross. She doesn't have the world at her feet, and it's a bit pathetic that at the age of twenty-four she hasn't a clue about what it means to be in a real relationship; she simply wants to be coddled and told how cute she is. Emma Forrest also has great depth as a writer, her turns of phrase are decidedly gorgeous and the conceit of cosmetic naming doesn't become tiresome. Fans of Candance Bushnell and Jennifer Weiner might be turned off by the darker elements of this novel, and that is testament to Emma Forrest's beginnings as a London club kid who also happened to be a journalist. Even London club kids can't be children forever. Eventually they have to grow up, move to New York, and write novels.

2005-11-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

I am sincerely enjoying Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. It is a beautifully written YA novel. I hope to finish it tonight and write a proper review soon.

This is the British cover...

...which I like much, much better than the American cover:

2005-11-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

We go way back...

I really do think that as human beings on this planet we are evolving a little bit every single day. I am not the same person I was yesterday, and I will not be the same person tomorrow that I am today. I am a married woman now and I am a very different person that I was in say, 1999 when I flew to Seattle by myself and heard Death Cab for Cutie for the first time in a little car parked in a lot at SeaTac. I am also a very different person from the girl who snogged a devastatingly handsome and devastatingly famous guitar player and pinched the bums of handsome boys just to be cute.

That said, I am still the sum of all of my experiences and I will never forget what it felt like, sitting in that little grey car, the first time I heard Bend to Squares. I've been a pop tart for as long as I can remember, and 1999 was certainly after I had heard Blur for the first time, Radiohead for the first time, Elliott Smith for the first time. But something about this album (no pun intended) just stopped me dead in my tracks. I think my heart stopped for about a milisecond. It was a transcendent experience.

I flew back to Boston and believed I was the only person on the east coast who had ever heard of this amazing band with the long, funny name. I holed myself up in my dorm room and listened to Something About Airplanes over and over and over and over again. I wrote Death Cab for Cutie a letter, the perfect letter that a silly twenty year old girl writes when she's in love with a band. And I never expected they would read it. But they did. Weeks later, I received a gorgeous reply, typewritten on Barsuk paper. I still get teary when I think about that letter and what receiving it meant to me. The sentiment was gorgeous but so was the honor that Chris Walla generously gave me - their first fan letter ever.

I'd like to think that my letter was part of the reason they came to Boston to play a show that summer. They played upstairs at the middle east, of course, and I went with a few friends. We got there early expecting a big crowd. There were about four people there. I was incredibly nervous - what do you say to someone who has sent you a significant letter? Mind you, this was in 1999 and as hard as it is to believe, email was still taking off. People did a fair share of proper letter writing still. I'm so grateful for that, because I still have this object, this perfect object, to actually hold in my hands. I recognized Chris Walla immediately. Blond thatch of hair, and looking like he needed a couple of hot dinners. It's very difficult for me to articulate what happened after that, but suffice to say, it was all very lovely and perfect.

I've seen Death Cab for Cutie play several times since then, including shows in Seattle. At each, I've been able to see Chris Walla and say a few words to him. The last time this happened was in September of 2004 at the Fleet Center. Death Cab for Cutie was opening for Pearl Jam, for crying out loud, but I was still able to see Chris briefly backstage. I told him, sincerely, that I was so happy for all their success, and that it was all well deserved. He dedicated a song to me, a song from their first album. It was precious, but it felt like a goodbye.

They signed to Atlantic, and their new album is going to be huge. They're appearing on the O.C. One of their songs is being used in ads for Shopgirl. 36 year old men from Iowa list DCFC as one of their favorite bands on Friendster. They have videos on mtv. It's like being on another planet.

I don't own Plans. I don't listen to Transatlanticism. Am I a true fan anymore? If I could talk to Chris Walla today, I'd want to tell him what We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes means to me. I would tell him that it's the ONLY cd I brought with me when I moved to London. It's the ONLY cd I brought with me when I moved to grad school. I would tell him how I think that Company Calls Epilogue is the most beautiful song ever recorded. How it just slays me every time I listen to it.

I can't relate to Death Cab for Cutie anymore. I don't listen to their new album. I'm so, so pleased for their success. They absolutely deserve it. But I'm not a part of it. And because it was such a big part of my life, I kind of mourn for the person I was when they meant the world to me.

I used to run around this city in knee socks and cardigan sweaters. I used to wear glittery eyeliner and miniskirts. I used to, like the song says, go out on Friday night and come home on Saturday morning. There is nothing remotely scandalous or dangerous or cheeky about my life right now. There's not champagne enough to make me a little bit more Patsy. Not lipgloss enough to make me more Emma Bunton. It's very difficult to accept.

2005-11-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

If librarians could catalog all the world's music...

It would probably resemble the Music Genome Project. Over 10,000 songs were listened to and characterized based on a number of factors. Once the songs were assigned their categories, users can type in the name of a song they like, and the MGP will suggest other songs like it. Even more, they will play these songs for you in a kind of personalized radio station. This could be a really fabulous tool for making mix tapes, almost as good as the browsable directory at Art of the Mix.

What a great idea! All based on cataloging! But how close can it possibly get? After all, if I go to the library catalog and type in a subject, I am guaranteed similar books on the very same subject. Cataloging and categorizing music seems so much more subjective. I always equate Belle & Sebastian's "Legal Man" with the Beatles' "Daytripper." To me, they are practically the same song. What would the MGP think of that? So I decided to test it, of course, because I am a librarian and this is what I do.

First test: She's Not There - the Zombies

What the MGP suggested:

Based on "mellow rock instrumentation," "a subtle use of paired vocal harmony," and "mixed minor and major key tonality" they chose:

Time of the Season - the Zombies
1921 - The Who
New York Mining Disaster - the Bee Gees
Just Another High - Roxy Music
Hold Me Tight - the Beatles

I think this is an excellent assortment. Moving on...

Next test: Help the Aged - Pulp

What the MGP suggested:

Based on "mild rhythmic syncopatoin," and "major key tonality," they chose:

Earthquakes and Astronauts - the Tourmalines
How Soon is Now - Snake River Conspiracy
Temping as a Shaman - Make Believe
The View - Modest Mouse

Wtf? No Scott Walker?

Next test: Lazy Line Painter Jane - Belle & Sebastian

They chose Counting and Crows and Sum 41. Now I'm ready to discredit the whole project. I mean, that's just completely ridiculous.

I'll give it another try.

Next test: Alone - Heart

What the MGP suggested:

Only Time Will Tell - Asia
Who Will You Run To - Heart
Chain of Love - Lou Gramm
Listen to Your Heart - Roxette

That's not too bad. A bit redudant including Heart. Further down the list was Bruce Springsteen. Odd, but not entirely inappropriate.

I really could do this all day, actually. Maybe I'll apply to be the Music Genome Project's "consistency checker."

It's free for ten hours, but then you have to pay $36 a year. Whoa, looking for Love Will Tear Us Apart, they offer the Joy Division version and the Nouvelle Vague version! That's pretty awesome. When I choose Joy Division, the first song they offer is Pretty in Pink. Awww. It's like they know it's me! Then New Order's Age of Consent. Not what I would have picked, but I'll listen to it.

You can skip songs - but only so many per hour, and you can rate whether or not they belong in the same category.

A big massive thanks to my handsome husband who knows how to keep me occupied at work.

Holy crow, they have Damien Jurado's Sarah, so for sure they have quite a bit of obscure titles. And for that one, they suggested Sebadoh. It's like I'm 14 again!

2005-11-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

A message to library patrons everywhere...

Check out this Dear Abby column in which a library director pleads with the public to be less intolerably rude.

Librarian Writes the Book on Etiquette for Patrons

In my brief time here, I have had some of THE RUDEST patrons anyone would ever wish to encounter. There was an article recently on cnn.com about how Americans are becoming more rude. I wish I could just blame cell phones, but it certainly goes deeper than that.

Some days I feel like I have a big neon arrow pointing down on my head that blinks on and off saying "Abuse your public librarian!"

2005-11-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

During lunch today, enjoying a fabulous falafel sandwich, I was thinking about what the best show on earth would be. I came to the following conclusion. It would feature, in this order:

*mirah
*the gossip
*sonic youth
*david bowie

That would be brilliant. It would be outside, like in my backyard. Mirah would play when the sky was still a little bit light. Phil Elvrum would join her, of course, and Calvin, and it would be sublime. And then the Gossip would play just as it was getting dark and fairy lights would come on and Beth would be cute and amazing and wearing enviable clothing, as is her wont. And then just as it was really, really, really dark, Sonic Youth would play and it would be like seeing them all the times I have seen them rolled into one best time (although seeing them in 2000 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire with Kim Gordon wearing this gorgeous sparkly dress and people screaming and jumping so hard the walls were shaking would be rather.hard.to.top), and they would play for hours, they would play absolutely everything including a 30 minute version of The Diamond Sea and nobody would get bored. And then it would be well into nighttime and then someone else would come onstage and start playing just one song and it would be this big surprise and you wouldn't even know who it was except that the song sounded really familiar and then there would be a huge firework explosion to reveal that it was J Mascis and he would play Start Choppin, but only that one song, and it would be over in a blink like it never really happened. And this is where I have a conundrum because it would be about two hours from dawn which would be the perfect time for Pulp to reunite and play in my backyard, but I really have to pull out all the stops here and have David Bowie play. People would be crying and dancing around and glitter would fall from the sky and we'd all be screaming Suffragette City in my backyard until the morning. And then I would invite everyone into my kitchen for banana pancakes. Even the vegans.

2005-10-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

A Good Yarn - Debbie Macomber
This novel is as cozy as a cup of tea and a sleepy cat in the window of a yarn shop. A Good Yarn is the sequel to Debbie Macomber's first novel on the subject, The Shop on Blossom Street, which was entertaining enough, but not terribly well written. In her second novel with the same main character, Macomber seems more confident as a writer; her characters are better developed and it moves along at a quick pace, but at its core, the novel is derivative chick-lit, easy escapism and not much more.

Lydia Hoffman is a two-time cancer survivor who invested her life savings in a yarn shop located on Blossom Street in an up-and-coming Seattle neighborhood. To offset her lonliness and increase revenue, she offers beginning knitting classes to a motley crew of women who, despite their various troubles, learn to lean on one another . Because as they learn to knit...they grow stronger...stitch by stitch...woven together...or something like that.

The characters in both novels are slightly cliched (and eerily similar) - there is always the older socialite, the harried young mother or newlywed, and the "troubled teen." When it comes to dialogue, Macomber is no Maeve Binchy, certainly her "teen speak" had me gritting my teeth. While I can't applaud this book (and perhaps planned series, she has been on the NYT Bestseller List), I can recommend it as the perfect rainy Saturday read.

Knitters, in particular, will enjoy the namedropping of various charitable organizations (Warm-Up America, the Linus Project), the "inspirational" knitting quotes that precede every chapter, and the knitting pattern at the beginning of the book.

2005-10-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it gets a bit more interesting, especially since I found this snippet at http://www.teenlibrarian.com/2005/07/alloy-entertainment-inc.html . I will copy the blurb from teenlibrarian.com here:

"Alloy Entertainment Inc.
An interesting article about the publisher behind hot teen series such as Gossip Girl, The A-List, The Clique and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (and, it turns out, Sweet Valley High). From the article:"Alloy Entertainment operates more like the romance novel industry than a traditional trade publisher. It has a staff in New York of about 10 editors who diligently research what's hot in the teen world -- what girls are wearing, the music they like, the TV shows they TiVo. . . Staff members are in charge of everything about the book, from creating ideas to finding writers, crafting proposals for publishers and creating the sleek cover art. The company then sells the book, but keeps all the other rights. As many as 50 are published each year."

So it's like factory farming for YA literature? As in, let's do the market research and then write novels to appeal to that market? Again, what does this say for novelists? I feel completely snowed. I loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I don't like feeling as though I'm a cog in the wheel of the marketing machine. Because, as a teen librarian, I'm an enabler. I've recommended SotTP to countless teens. I even took a group of teens to see the movie! I'm going to have to read that article and digest this further.

I have found this other article (long) through the Taipei Times.

"Alloy Entertainment stikes gold through solid researchThe company may be run by two thirtysomething men but it knows the teenage girl book market through paying scrupulous attention to fickle fashions
AP , NEW YORK Sunday, Jul 03, 2005,Page 12

Alloy Entertainment Inc President Leslie Morgenstein poses in front of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie poster last week in New York. Alloy Entertainment, a division of marketing and advertising giant Alloy, has developed a slew of hot book series, including Gossip Girl, The A-List, and The Clique in addition to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was made into a hit movie. The masterminds behind some of the most popular books for adolescent girls are a couple of thirtysomething men who work in an average office building full of white, Ikea-esque furniture.

But don't underestimate these guys. They are experts on teen crazes, and they know their limitations enough to hire young, female editors to develop ideas that jive with what a girl wants.
Alloy Entertainment, Inc., a division of marketing and advertising giant Alloy, has developed a slew of hot book series, including Gossip Girl, The A-List, The Clique and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was made into a hit movie and TV's Roswell.
President Leslie Morgenstein has built the company up to its current fever pitch, starting just out of college before it became an Alloy subsidiary. Known as 17th Street Productions, the company packaged the Sweet Valley High teen books popular in the 1980s, but has come a long way since the days of those California twins, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield.

Three of their books are in the top 10 of the New York Times list of best sellers for children's books, and Traveling Pants, is the No. 1 series.

Alloy Entertainment operates more like the romance novel industry than a traditional trade publisher. It has a staff in New York of about 10 editors who diligently research what's hot in the teen world -- what girls are wearing, the music they like, the TV shows they watch.

The hook common in many of the novels is a gaggle of rich, bratty, powerful schoolgirls. It's like an episodic reading of Paris Hilton and her friends, and who can resist a little peek into how the privileged live? Others strive to be more in the Judy Blume vein, focusing on strong friendships and life lessons. Either way, teens are devouring the books.

"Look at these books. They feel fresh today, but the themes girls face in the books are enduring themes," Morgenstein said. "We are really focused on what's a great story, what's an enduring theme and what's a hook."

Staff members are in charge of everything about the book, from creating ideas to finding writers for the books, crafting proposals for publishers and creating the sleek cover art. The company then sells the book, but keeps all the other rights. As many as 50 are published each year and are well distributed among the major publishing houses.

Alloy's methods may seem a bit unorthodox, especially to budding authors peddling a carefully crafted labor of love. Write a book that isn't your idea? That seems totally uncool.

But for many of Alloy's authors, it is a chance to do something they'd never do.

Lisi Harrison, author of The Clique series, was working at MTV when she was approached by Alloy to create books about wealthy, junior-high queen bees.

"Always being a closeted wannabe author, I jumped at the opportunity," she said. "I loved the idea. I never would have changed the course of my life had that not happened. There aren't a lot of opportunities for young authors."

She used 12 years worth of experiences at MTV as fodder for her books, which have made multiple best-seller lists. Publisher Little, Brown decided to buy eight books, and she was able to quit her job and write full time.

Harrison said that Alloy was great when it came to vetting ideas, and helped with story lines but was never overbearing.

"Once I was on board, they left me to my own devices. It's very much my book," she said.
Other successful series, such as Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl, are written by former Alloy employees.

Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar was part of the original pitch for the series. She was picked by Little, Brown editor and is now writing an 11-book series.

Her experience at a New York prep school helps her create the vicious, back-stabbing and juicy lives of the characters in her novels.

"They just sort of flow out of me. It's very easy to recapture your teenage years," said von Ziegesar, who is currently working on book eight.

She agrees that it may seem odd to some that she wasn't the inventor of the series. "People don't really get it -- it's such an unusual way to create books. But I'm very much the writer of my books, the final product is very much mine," she said.

Churning out best-sellers for teens can get a little exhausting, she acknowledged, and it's good to have other creative minds at work.

Alloy partners with most of the major publishing houses. Cindy Eagan, executive editor at Little, Brown books for young readers said they are a blessing. She already publishes four series with Alloy including Gossip Girl and The Clique, and is starting a new series in the fall called The It Girl.

"Clearly this works for us," Eagan said. "I feel we have a great partnership. Everyone on the Alloy team I talk to almost everyday about everything, book design, manuscripts, you name it."
Eagan said she receives a finished manuscript from some writers, and others are just outlines created by Alloy. Either way, the partnerships have been wildly successful.

"It's like a TV show, a series, except it's not on TV. But the concept is the same: working together to script something, to help the writer with ideas," she said.

Since the company has found a niche in the teen publishing market, Alloy is branching out to conquer movies and television. Alloy produced the new Traveling Pants, film, based on Ann Brashares' book. The film made more than US$23 million in its first two weeks at the box office.
"We were pretty hands off. It was our first attempt at producing a film," Morgenstein said. "Since Traveling Pants, we have become very involved, very hands on in the development [of films] alone or with partners, and in television as well."

The company has developed at least a dozen pilots for major networks and has about 10 feature films in development.

Parent company Alloy owns Delia's clothing store, several magazines and a Web site devoted to teens. Company CEO Matt Diamond says Alloy reaches 85 percent of 10-to-20 year olds through its Web site, or through advertising in college newspapers or media boards placed in schools or malls.

That's pretty helpful when promoting a new book or film.
"Everything we do in our company, we are now able to feed it into the marketing machine," he said. That means ads for books and the Traveling Pants films are placed in Delia's catalogs and in stores, and Web sites are built off the main site to create a buzz.

"We know what teens want," Diamond said. "And we know how to use what we have here to get it to them."
Copyright © 1999-2005 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ANY OF THIS?

2005-10-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a little odd.

Because I'm still thrown by what connection "producers" and "creators" have to YA fiction, I looked on google to see what else I could find out about Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn, thinking I wouldn't find much as it's not published until January, I believe.

But take a look at this. This novel hasn't even been published yet and it's already being optioned? Is every new YA novel a potential movie/fox tv show?

For a while, the imdb had a listing for Gossip Girl, with Lindsey Lohan as Blair. It's no longer on the site.

I have no problem with YA books becoming movies. I just don't think I really like it when the idea for the movie comes first, and then the book is written, published, and marketed. I think it devalues the novelist, and makes it difficult for first time novelists, especially first time novelilsts writing interesting, creative, and original literary fiction, to compete and enter themselves into the market.

2005-10-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Inside the mind of derivative teen fiction...

I've just finished Sarah Miller's Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn. It's very difficult for me to come to any sort of conclusion about this book. Generally, when I read fiction, I give each title a grade from A - F which serves as a good reference, but it's also the only way I can remember a particular title, given that I have a ghastly memory. I gave given ItMoGR a "?????" because I honestly can't tell whether I liked the book or not, and sometimes when I can't tell how I feel about a title, I can still decide whether I would recommend it to a patron or not, and still, I don't know about this one.

The premise is simple, in fact it's similar to another galley I recently read which is called Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything. In Fly on the Wall, the main character, a teenage girl, gets turned into a fly and spends her days on a wall in the boy's locker room, looking at their "gherkins" and getting an insight into the teenage boy. ItMoGr puts a teenage girl directly in the head of a teenage boy, and this is how the novel starts. I didn't have a problem with the premise, having seen Being John Malkovich more times than I can count. There's an interesting surprise to our inside-the-mind narrator, she is a featured character in the novel but she won't tell us which.

Gideon Rayburn is starting his junior year at a tony New England prep school. He comes from a blue collar background, and through the inside-the-mind narrator, we see him meet his roommates, smoke a lot of pot, ogle rich and beautiful girls, think about having sex with rich and beautiful girls, and question himself incessantly. Because he's slightly introspective and insecure (which is more pronounced in comparison with his incredibly wealthy and incredibly boorish roomates), the girl-in-his-head starts to fall in love with him. Because he's smart! And sensitive! And he doesn't sleep with girls even when he has the chance!

His roomates, the slightly cliched Cullen and Nicholas, think that Gideon is a loser, so they come up with a nasty bet, just to entertain themselves for the school year. Cullen and Nicholas remind me of the type of prep school boys who are constantly stoned and call each other "Son." The bet is: Gideon will lose his virginity by Halloween to the girl of their choosing. Gideon is obsessed with the wealthy and beautiful Pilar Benitez-Jones ("of the Patagonia Benitez-Joneses"), but Cullen and Nicholas decide Gideon needs a devirginizer a bit more in his league, so they settle on Molly McGarry, a haughty and smart librarian-type (I'd snicker, but she really is described this way). Along the way, Gideon parties with the rich kids and members of a British band called the Rutts. It's all terribly mundane, and I liked it a lot more, when it was Gossip Girl. We are left to wonder: will Gideon lose his virginity? Will he fit in at prep school? WHO IS THIS GIRL INSIDE OF HIS HEAD?

Now this is where I interrupt and insist that I am certianly not above reading ridiculous and indulgent teen fiction. I love silly novels with frivolous characters. I absolutely adore the Gossip Girl series, not only because the characters are well-developed but because the writing is really tight, well paced, and realistic. ItMoGR certainly tries to do this, but it's a bit more meandering and goes off on some rather boring tangents. But here is what confused me. Now, granted, I have a galley copy so things could change, but right on the front cover above the title it states, "Produced by the creators of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl." Produced? Creators? To me, this smacks of a big marketing meeting with people sitting around asking themselved what will appeal to the racy O.C. watching teens of today. It kind of cheapens the authors, if you ask me, and any original idea they might have had.

I'm going to spoil the ending for you here, only because it was ridiculous and unnecessary and I didn't see it coming. The girl inside of Gideon's head is none other than...Molly McGarry, the girl he sleeps with, the girl who has come to love him all along. I thought for sure that it was Enid, Molly's bug eyed, studious, Betsy Ross-obsessed friend. She was such a fringe character, I thought it was her for sure. But no, it's Molly. How convenient.

I wonder if the marketing team said, "What this novel needs is a little bit The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a little bit Gossip Girl and a little bit Prep, you know, just because it's selling so well." ItMoGR certainly mixes up those three novels, but it's so much less than the sum of its parts. It has two fleeting moments of really lovely writing, and the rest was just terribly frustrating and lame. I'm going to think super hard about whether I would recommend this to any of my patrons. I don't think that all the pot smoking and almost-sex would freak anyone out, frankly I think they would just be bored with the entire novel.

2005-10-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've got a gigantic pile of books I am trying to work my way through at the moment. They are quite piling up, though. I may have to make a list of ones to get back to later.

Currently, I am quite preoccupied with Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn by Sarah Miller. I received the galley (I think it's out in May) and I've been captivated from the start. However, I don't think I actually like the story, or the characters, too much. Odd, that, and I can't seem to put it down. The premise is that a girl finds herself in the mind of a new male classmate at her New England prep school (a bit John Malkovitch, I suppose). So it's billed as ooooh a look inside the mind of a teenage boy! It's a very trendy novel, marketed up there with the A-Lists and the Gossip Girls, but it's supposed to be a "boy" book. However, it's a really girlie novel. I'm not quite 1/2 way through, and I don't think I like the book, but I can't put it down. I'll have more to say when I'm finished, I suppose.

In the world of contemporary YA fiction, it seems as though prep school novels are definitely the new black.

I have only a couple more days to get my Halloween costume together. I'm going as Velma and my husband is going as Shaggy. I've gone as Velma before, but having a Shaggy with me is making me absurdly happy!

2005-10-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Recent Acquisitions:

Being the superhip teen librarian that I am, and having total purchasing power over my nonfiction collection, I'd like to share a couple of titles I'm really excited about receiving for the room. Book reviews to follow as soon as we get them in (don't hold yer breath waiting, though!)

2005-10-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is my dream job. Not to mention dream hairstyle.

A whole database of "Librarian Career Romances" can be found at http://www.jenw.org/home.htm

The only trouble being, of course, that I don't know how to drive. So taking over for the regular bookmobile librarian would pose a problem. I'd like to be a pedestrian bookmobile, I would just need a good pair of shoes and a large backpack.