The Book Stacks

Have you ever heard of Harry and the Potters? No? Well, they are a band made up of two brothers which plays Harry Potter-related songs. (Yeah, the name was a dead giveaway wasn’t it?) With the movie and the new book coming soon, I thought that you might like to see a bit of this band in concert. Enjoy!

Harry and the Potters

I know that you’re asking yourself: King Elvis and the Alien Space Ducks?!? What do they have to do with books? Well, let me tell you a wee story, and all will become clear. Well, mostly.

Once upon a time, I was a Young Adult Librarian in Vacaville, California. During my five and a half year tenure, I designed, helped with, and ran many different kinds of library programs. One of these programs was the Teen Book Club. We read our way through many different books over the years (mostly Fantasy, though, because frankly we liked Fantasy.) Now, after the Teen Book Club had been going on for a while we realized that we had a little problem. Our members were incredibly busy folks. Sometimes they couldn’t quite make it all of the way through the book before it was time for the Book Club meeting to begin. And sometimes those folks didn’t want the ending spoiled for them. I mean, they still wanted to come to Book Club to talk about the parts of the book that they had read, eat cookies, and socialize. What were we to do?

Well, one night we began to invent crazy endings for the books that they had obviously missed by not finishing in time. I believe that it was Mike who originally suggested that Elvis appeared just in time to save the day. Well, over time Elvis became King Elvis. (Because Elvis is King, you know?) Not long afterwards, Elvis acquired some helper ducks. Wouldn’t you know it? Those ducks turned out to be aliens! That’s right, Alien Space Ducks! Before long we started discussing where Elvis and his friends could be located in each book we were reading. How did Over Sea, Under Stone end? King Elvis and The Alien Space Ducks swooped in with their space ship and defeated the bad guys, of course! I’m sure that you realize King Elvis and The Alien Space Ducks defeat Voldemort at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book isn’t even out yet, and I know that.

Last Christmas I gave my folks each one “Alien Space Duck” (Devil Duckies from Archie McPhee were the closest I could get). A couple of months later I left to take a job closer to home, but I will never forget my Teen Book Club folks (I miss you guys!!)…or King Elvis and The Alien Space Ducks.

Now, I hear that our intrepid heroes did not make an appearance at the last Book Club meeting (yes, my spies are everywhere), so I have decided to make sure that they are not forgotten by using them for my book club on The Book Stacks: Cover to Cover. Henceforth, when I do not wish to spoil the ending of a book, or really, just for fun, expect the appearance of King Elvis and his feathered friends during Cover to Cover discussions. Be sure to join us tomorrow for a conversation about The Eyre Affair. See you there!

Vacaville, California, Teen Book Club, Devil Duckies, Archie McPhee, King Elvis, The Alien Space Ducks, The Book Stacks, Cover to Cover, The Eyre Affair

Well, apparently I’ve been tagged in an ongoing meme, by JM over at Fiction Scribe. JM has asked that I post 7 random facts about me. In an effort to keep this post on-topic, I will attempt to make that 7 vaguely Book-related facts. Hmmmm. Well, here goes…

1. My Favorite book is Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key.

2. I have never yet finished writing a novel, but I have a couple that I’ve begun.

3. I write poetry. I even have one titled “Heirloom Tools.”

4. My first story was called “My Favorite Characters Meet.”

5. The single most driving factor behind my desire to be a published author is a guy in 7th Grade who said I would never be a writer. I plan to dedicate my first book to him.

6. I am a librarian, like my parents before me.

7. I have never read the Da Vinci Code.

Well, there you go, JM. I hope that’s what you were looking for.

I Tag:
The Folks at Book Chronicle
Catslyn at SCA Life
The Folks at Silliness.org
Juli over at Juli’s Cinema Spot
Mallory over at Mallory in the Middle
Bess from Tea and Complexity
DaveP at Pop Buzz UK

The rules:

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to then report this on their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. They then need to tag 7 others and list their names on their blog. They are also asked to leave a comment for each of the tagged, letting them know they have been tagged and to read the blog.

Chris, a frequent commenter on this site, pointed me towards this amusing video yesterday. In the style of “March of the Penguins,” it’s the “March of the Librarians.” This video features footage filmed during ALA Midwinter in Seattle, and a documentary-style narration on the habits of the observed librarians. It looks sort of like the PLA (Public Library Association conference) I went to one year in Phoenix, AZ. Trust me, it is quite a sight to see so many librarians in one place. Just think of the amassed brain power! Okay, I’ll shut up about my profession now. Enjoy the video.

March of the Librarians

Well, I have another book-related silly link for you today. It’s called Peep Research A Study of Small Fluffy Creatures and Library Usage. So, imagine that a bunch of marshmallow Peeps go to the library for the first time and need to try out their research skills. They get a few things wrong as you might imagine. I mean, what do they know about proper library behaviour? If you like libraries and Peeps, you should check this out.

Peep Research, Library Usage, Peeps

So, I just took another silly quiz that one of my friends pointed me to. It’s called Which Science Fiction Writer Are You?. It turns out that I’m Gregory Benford. I wouldn’t trust the results too much, though, as apparently Gregory Benford took this quiz once…and it told him that he was Arthur C. Clarke. Just so you know, the quiz is a bit US-centric. Enjoy, and be sure to let me know who it thinks you are.

Which Science Fiction Writer Are You, Gregory Benford, Arthur C. Clarke

Well, if you don’t have much time to read, RinkWorks offers you a Book-A-Minute. These “Ultra-condensed books” range from extremely silly to randomly insightful. They currently offer Sci Fi/Fantasy, Bedtime Stories, and Classics. So, now you have no further excuses. Go read something.

RinkWorks, Book-A-Minute

A friend e-mailed me the link to this video today, and I thought that I’d share it with you all. It’s a day in the life of St. Joseph County Public Library set to Madonna’s “Ray of Light“. I laughed so hard. I want to work there.

St. Joseph County Public Library, Ray of Light, YouTube, Library

Two of my favorite things are cats and books. It’s a bit difficult to see in the smaller version of the picture here (click on the picture for the larger version), but these are three kittens named Merry, Pippin, and Sam who have decided to sleep squeezed between the top of the books and the bottom of the next shelf. Now, on the subject of cats and books, I should tell you about the Library Cats Map. It’s a site that features information about cats that live in libraries. There are even pictures of many of the cats. Some of the cats have passed on, but others are still around. The map even tells you where these libraries are if you should wish to drop by for a visit. The map includes the whole world, although some places currently have no cats listed. So, enjoy! And if you have information about cats that they don’t have listed…you might let them know.

cats, books, Library Cats Map

At my last book club, a couple of people brought up a flash presentation of a book report about To Kill a Mockingbird in conversation. I was informed that it starts out almost normal, and then takes a very silly left hand turn. Boo Radley, for example, turns out to be a pirate. The Mockingbird looks more like a helicopter. There is also a great deal of fire, for some reason. Burning, flying sharks and Ninjas that turn into fireballs are not what I remember from this book. Any way that you look at it, however, this flash “book report” is really funny. I’m glad that the folks in book club took pity on me and sent me the link. It really does get sillier and sillier as it goes along. So, if you need a good giggle, and you can handle Scout turning from a girl into a boy robot, check it out.

flash presentation, To Kill a Mockingbird

Take the book quiz and find out which book you are!
(I am Ulysses by James Joyce for some reason…)

the book quiz