You know, the problem with moving Library Day from Monday to Tuesday is that, on Monday, I used to go to the library in the evening, just before dinner. So, after the library, I would come home and make dinner, and then make my post. (yeah, right. Because I was always punctual on Mondays!). But, on Tuesdays, I'm going to library in the middle of the afternoon. (which is nice, incidentally. There's noone else there. Which isn't true, but there are fewer people there, anyway. Actually, right now the library is busy as a FEMA data collection point, so people are coming into the lobby to talk to FEMA folks about the property they lost in the flood. Today, there was also a computer class in the back of the library, upstairs. So there were people wandering in and out.*) So, I get home much much later, and the books I've selected, I've forgotten already. Hmmm.
Anyway. Two books this week.
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
I thought, since I read his adult fiction debut, it would be good to go back and take a look at the books that made Colfer famous. Artemis Fowl is a YA caper novel (in that Artemis is a thief, who steals things), with fairies. Not the nice kind. There are several books in the series, and Colfer clearly rode on the Harry Potter wave. That is to say, this was a series of YA novels that were a) inordinately popular and b) had this huge publicity thing driving each release. Lots of authors benefited from Ms. Rowling's success, which is the way it should work. Good for her, and good for them, and good for us!
Steve Turner - The Band that Played On
This is a book about the band on the Titanic. I think, actually, that more or less says it all. My dad is a huge Titanic buff (he's a naval engineer, so I think it's partly a professional thing), so I sort of grew up around Titanic stuff, but not much of it rubbed off. Anyway, this looks like an interesting way into the Titanic story. I hope it's better written than the last non-fiction I picked up.
*(left a dangling footnote there. Oops.) This is a perfect example of why supporting your local library is a fantastically good investment for local government. It's not just a big building full of books. Last year, our City Hall had some sort of renovation accident which resulted in toxic dust throughout the building. While they cleaned up, the City Council met in the library (we had to go through metal detectors to get into the library for a month - it was trippy.) The library is a meeting place for essential services at the city, state, and even the federal level (like FEMA). It's a place to offer classes which help people develop job skills, or personal independence, or both. A couple of weeks ago, we acquired a kitten for my eldest daughter. We found the kitten through craigslist (which my spell check recognizes as a word, incidentally), and the provider of the kitten wanted a safe public place to meet to do the kitten delivery - we met at the library. All this AND a building full of books!
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