On the News this Week: Enough books?

This week Yves Bolduc, the Education Minister of Québec, recently said in an interview, regarding the recent budget cuts, that libraries have enough books:

I would prefer [that libraries] buy fewer books. Our libraries are already well-equipped. Go in the schools. There are books… books that were bought last year, two years ago, 20 years ago,” Bolduc told Le Devoir.

This is true off course, libraries do have a lot of books, but one thing is too have a lot of books and another is to say that they have ENOUGH because...what is enough really? 

First of all, what Mr Bolduc seems to not have into consideration is that there are books coming out EVERY YEAR to say the least, and that off course includes books for children, MS and YA and off course text books. While the later sometimes have almost the same information from edition to edition, in science at least, theory can change a lot, and hence the book that the library has from, say, 2 years ago, might carry statements that are no longer valid.

As for books that are not text books, a lot of them that have appeared recently, tackle more and more recent events or situations and hence offer a completely different reading experience than a book from 20 years ago. This does not demerit the value of books from 20 or more years ago off course, but is not the same thing, and one person cannot say that because you have the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1950 at home, you have no use for a Wikipedia entry for Climate change.

It is normal that different entities have to go under budget cuts but is a sad thing when one of the first options is education. I grew up not knowing a public library until I was a full grown teenager. My school's (a private one) library was the only library I knew besides the one at home, and I consider myself lucky because of this. When I moved here and finally had access to a free public library system it was heaven for me. Demoting the value that books can have for children AND for their educators is not alright. 

What is your opinion on this situation? Is there such thing as enough books, particularly when it is related to children's education?

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens by Benedict Carey

I asked and received this book through NetGalley for free. This review is not sponsored nor influenced in anyway. The book is expected to be published on September 9, 2014

First impression

And it's when the brain lives with the studied material that it reveals its strengths and weaknesses-its limitations and immense possibilities-as a learning machine.

This is a non-fiction, full of facts little book that will give you an update on the past and most recent theories about learning. While it remains close to the research, the author does a wonderful job in vulgarizing the subject and then showing what we can use from this research and how in order to help us in our own learning experience.

Final thoughts

With simple diagrams and even fun exercises, the author takes you on a review of how our understanding of learning has changed in a fairly short time. How the brain responds to different methods of studying and how the ways we learn things affect the way we will later be able to call back such information.

Without lingering too much on neurological terminology the author manages to present the structure of the brain and how this "learning machine" storages all the information we give it, even if it is for a short period of time. He also brushes on education and psychology theories of learning and even with the role of sleep as a tool for retention of knowledge.

Because this was an ARC version, not yet ready for publication, some of the images were not available on my version, which made the experience to be cut short, and the footnotes seemed to be misplaced so sometimes wouldn't know what a certain sentence was related to.

If you are looking for an introductory book to the subject, this seems to be a good option. Very good work on the vulgarization and it gives you plenty of references if you feel like continuing your reading.

Bout of Books 11: Final Update

Sunday, it is the end of the Read-A-Thon and I am happy to report I managed all of my goals. Finished my 2 books, posted a review and, even though yesterday I didn't read or visit any blog since I was out of the house with no internet all day, today I compensated for both.

I had so much fun! And next one, coming on January 2015, will be my third and I will be officially a professional Bout-of-Booker.

Books started: 

• The Late Starters Orchestra: I received this one through LybraryThing and I really want to get to it before going on vacation next week, when I plan to read The Fever by Megan Abbott.

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :) 
• The Name of the Wind: This book was simply amazing! 
• How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happen: My third ARC finished for #ARCAugust. My review will be up soon.

Pages read so far: 960

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Bittersweet Enchantment
• Tantos Livros Tão Pouco Tempo

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

     Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

• Recreate a Book Cover by Spines & Covers:

     I chose to recreate The Taker by Alma Katsu

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Friday Update

You guys, today I am in an EXCELLENT mood; after months of work we finally submitted an article and now I am crossing all my fingers hoping it gets accepted. Also, reading has been very good today!

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 505 of 662. I've been devouring this pages, I am very tired after a big day at the lab so I won't be able to finish it, but soon!

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 722

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Bittersweet Enchantment
• Tantos Livros Tão Pouco Tempo

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

     Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

• Recreate a Book Cover by Spines & Covers:

     I chose to recreate The Taker by Alma Katsu

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books: Thursday Update

Hello everybody, the cold is almost 100% gone. Things in the lab are looking up so I have even a bit more energy to spend reading:D

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 304 of 662. Almost half way in and liking it sooo much

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 521 that is counting How we Learn, another Galley that I was already working on before the Read-a-Thon started.

Reviews posted so far:

• The Tumble Inn

Blogs visited today: 

• Infusions of Wit
• From Undergrad to Author

Challenges:

• Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

• One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

• Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

      The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

      The Fever by Megan Abot

      The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

      The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 

• Like This, Try this by Writing my Own Fairy Tale 

      If you Liked this: The Girl with the Dragon Tatooby Stieg Larson

      Try this: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

   Because they are both set in Sweden, involve very dark, grimy crimes and because actually Camilla Lackberg's noir novellas were out before the Millenium ones and they are pretty cool.

See you tomorrow!

The Tumble Inn by William Loizeaux

I asked and received this book through NetGalley for free. This review is not sponsored nor influenced in anyway. The book is expected to be published on September 15, 2014

First Impressions

This was the first Galley I ever got from NetGalley. It took me a bit to start it since I had several books from the library in queue and then some of the Galleys I asked for had earlier publication dates. So I finally got to it this week and I am glad I finally got to it. While it wasn't the type of book I usually go for it was a pleasant, light read with a bit of drama.

Final thoughts

This is a sweet story about how life can change. Is the story of the Finley's a couple of high school teachers that decide to give this up and become innkeepers in the Adirondack Mountains. Over there, they finally become parents, something that had been elusive for them before. Years go by and at the same time that they are dealing with their baby daughter Nathalie becoming a teenager, tragedy strikes and Mark has to learn, once again, how to deal with change.

The book is described as a drama, and it certainly has its fair share of sad moments. It is very descriptive of what life can be, including routines. However sometimes it felt, to me anyway, to descriptive in a way that it didn't give more to the story. One thing that I liked very much is that it felt like the person was sitting next to me, telling me his story, rambling a bit sometimes even. But when the rambling goes on for too long, it disconnects you from the whole story.

I have to say I thought the conclusion of the story felt a bit bland...in general I would compare it to a Hallmark movie, you know it is going to be sad, there will be a lesson to be learned but if you tune out for a while and come back to it is not a big deal. It is definitely not a book for me to fall in love with, but I know people who would enjoy it.

Bout of Books: Wednesday Update

Hello everybody, I am feeling better, thankfully so I managed to read a bit more today!

Books started:

• The Name of the Wind: I am at page 120 of 662. I am finally catching up with it!
 

Books finished:

• The Tumble Inn: I did not love it, but it was a nice read. I will do my best to post my review tomorrow :)

Pages read so far: 296, I think this is not bad considering the first 2 days I fell asleep, thank to my always trusty cold!

Blogs visited today: 

• I found a Hobby
• Kittens on Bookshelfs

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Create a sentence by Book Reviews by a Christian Gal. I tweeted my sentence, but just in case:

It was felling night, the first time, standing in a crowded elevator, Eilert Berg was not a happy man.

The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus

The Fever by Megan Abot

The Late Starters orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books 11: Tuesday Update

Hello everybody, I am feeling better, thankfully so I managed to read a bit more today!

Books started:

• The Tumble Inn: I'm 65% in and I think I will be able to finish it by tomorrow. This takes me to ~125 pages read in total
• The Name of the Wind: So I read 10 pages yesterday and apparently (says the boyfriend) fell asleep. I blame the cold medicine, because it was starting pretty nicely!

No reviews posted yet.

Blogs visited today: 

• The Reading Wench
• The Preppy Page-Turner

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters. You can see my pictures here

One True Pairing by Infinite Ink. Just in case I am spoiling it for anyone I will only say that my true pairing comes from Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

I am off to try to read as much as I can. Wish me luck!
 
See you tomorrow!

Bout of Books 11: Monday Update

Hello everybody, here is a short update on my reading for Bout of Books. Turns out I am sick guys! A nasty cold crawled its way into my system and here I am all sneeze and sleepy. But I will do my best to read and post...until Tylenol cold hits in.

Books started:

• The Tumble Inn: I just started it today and I haven't read more than 20 pages so it is too early to have an opinion on it, I will keep you posted.
• The Name of the Wind: This is this month's pick for my Sword and Laser Book club and I just got it from the library on Friday. Technically I haven't started yet, but I will as soon as I get into bed

No reviews posted since I just started the books ;)

Blogs visited today: 

• Reading the Paranormal 
• Falling down the Book Hole

Challenges:

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt by the Book Monsters

Here are my pictures:

A Book that begins with “B”  (for Bout of Books!): Bossypants by Tina Fey

 A book that has been made into a movie/tv show: Game of Thrones

A series you love: The Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu

An anthology of poems or short stories: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton

A book on your TBR shelf: 2 actually! The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfus and The Late Starters Orchestra by Ari L. Goldman

I am off to try to read as much as I can. Wish me luck!
 
See you tomorrow!

Mini review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

It is silly of you, for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about

First impression

After watching Penny Dreadful I realized it was time for me to finally read this book. It was a nice read, with very well constructed sentences. However I think I was expecting something a bit darker, if only because of all the times this character or hints to this character have been used.

Final thoughts

While it was not what I expected it was an amazing construction and evaluation of what shallowness can do to us. A book first published in 1890 but whose dialogues can easily be used nowadays. A critic to hedonism, with wittiness flowing out of the main characters. Again it was not what I expected but it was lovely to read. My first read by Oscar Wilde but I can tell you already it won't be the last. 

 

 

Bout of Books 11: Goals!

This is the second time I participate in the Bout of Books and I am really excited to do this again. This August I am also participating on the ARC-August hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat and I am still participating on the "Prequel & Sequel" Challenge. So once again I will be trying to merge this challenges and the Read-a-Thon! My goals are

Start AND finish at least 2 books one of which should be and ARC

Post at least one review of the books read DURING this week

Visit and comment on at least 2 different blogs that are participating in the Read-a-Thon(per day for a total of at least 14 visits/comments)

Ideally, one of the 2 books should be and ARC, I am thinking The Tumble Inn by William Loizeaux, since it has been in my dashboard for a while now. I am crossing my fingers that by then I will have my copy of The One by Kiera Cass, but it will depend on my library. I didn't increase my goals from last time, because I do have a presentation coming on the 29, and so my free time will be divided on the Bout of Books and that. Well, that's it! I can't wait to begin!

On the News This Week: Ralph Lauren promotes Kids Literacy

Hello, Hello everybody! Welcome to another "On The News" post. Here is our piece of news:

From August 5, 2014 through September 1, 2014, 10% of the purchase price from the sale of the apparel and accessories* in the Fall 2014 Children's Fashion Show will benefit Reach Out and Read as part of the Ralph Lauren Children's Literacy Program 

          -From Ralph Lauren website

When I first saw this on Twitter, my first thoughts were very positive. I love campaigns that promote reading particularly for children. Reach Out and Read promotes reading, early literacy really, through medical practitioners, such as pediatricians.  It is a great cause, and it sure deserves some extra support. It reaches "only" the United States and I am using quoting marks, because it is a lot, even is technically is only one country.

But then I went to see the collection. It is adorable, both the clothing for girls and boys. You can find clothes for your 2 year old toddler and up to 16 years old...but it can be incredibly expensive!!!

Sure, you are going to tell me, well It Is Ralph Lauren. Yes, they have very good structure in their clothing, good quality materials...they also have a fair amount of their clothing outsourced and hence their cost of manufacture doesn't really compensate their prices. It is all related to the lable. Off course I know this is not a situation unique to RL, I know the "power" of a label, not only in fashion...but right now I am looking at the adorable clothing and thinking: if I had a kid, would I want her/him to learn about this power so early in life? even if part of this money is going to help other children?

I do not have kids yet, and I know parents want to give the best of everything to their kids, including good example, supporting nice causes like this one, but a voice inside of me keeps telling me that I might as well just donate the 40$ that RL would give Reach Out and Read, instead of buying a 395$ Schoolboy Jacket...What do you think? I would love to hear your opinions as always.

The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy

I asked and received this book through NetGalley for free. This review is not sponsored nor influenced in anyway. The book is expected to be published on September 2, 2014

First impression

The cover of this book is what caught my attention. It works with the premise that the main character, Salome Montgomery, is afraid of winter ever since, at age 6, she had a horrible accident and almost drowned. Winter for her is also plagued of voices and as she approaches her 18th birthday things keep getting weirder; she sees stuff, voices everywhere, she feel evil is lurking. It is also hinted that faeries are involved and since I haven't really read fairy YA it seemed very appealing to me. The book however left me with a feeling of unreached potential.

Final thoughts

I wished this book would've worked the fairy side a bit more. While there are several hints at it and some direct situations, it felt like a backdrop and this was sad for me. Here you have tons of mythology that deal with Fays but most of the book, which is meant to take place along a single year, is dedicated to hinting to the world with only a real bit of it towards the end, so much that I was sure it was going to be a first book of a series...but no.

For the most part I liked Salome and Gareth. But even then, most of the characters could've used a bit more constructing. Again there was a lot to be inferred and that's ok in little doses, but so much was left unsaid that then when things happened they felt out of the blue, for me in any case. Sometimes Salome seemed oblivious of the rest of the world, including her family, which at one point is described as lovely nuclear family and then boom! It is not. I kept thinking things like this would've been developed further in the book (or the series, when I thought it was a series) but they were left hanging, giving a bit to the story but leaving so much potential for character building behind!

I liked that Salome managed to stand up to Colton the moment she notices "changes" on him (hopefully this is not too spoilery for you guys), but the whole love triangle (square?) appears once again there in your face at the beginning and even she keeps saying that ALL of the sudden this is happening. This "all of the sudden" situation was never really developed, which was sad for me, because I kept waiting for the author to explain the significance of her 18th birthday or the Rowan...but I had to look all of those up. Again, a bit of research is fine, but when I am reading my book, comfy in bed and something makes no sense until I look it up it really disconnects me from the story. Off course this could be just me

The end...I liked her decision...but at the same time it felt so abrupt! So in conclusion this was a good book, it was different, made me laugh a couple of times BUT some of the potential (and I saw a lot) was not developed.

Blood Diva by V.M Gautier

I asked and received this book through NetGalley for free. This review is not sponsored nor influenced in anyway. This book s expected to be published on August 10

First impression

When I read the description of the book at NetGalley I was really captivated: a French Courtesan from the late 19th century, becomes a vampire, she finds love and might want to go back to being human (this was a new thing). The book is also described as humorous, dark and sometimes erotic (usual on a lot of Vampire related books) and ends up with the question: can she find happiness?

And then I started reading the book...I found very little humor in the story. Some differences in personality amongst the vampire characters...and A LOT of sex, I would even say, TOO much sex.

Final thoughts

She understood it was her role as a woman to visually stimulate him[...]

Let's clarify first that I do not consider myself a prude. I am ok with sex scenes both in books and movies, even when they might be a bit graphic...but having a book that had sex scenes almost every other third page without this giving much or sometimes anything to the story I don't like. It bothers me as much as Sci-Fi books throwing out of the blue invented words just so it looks Sci-Fi. No, you shouldn't need to build your story around gimmicks like this, and for me Blood Diva ended up being a book that relied almost solely in the sex part.  

Other thing that was overused on the book was based upon their non-blood diet, which is vegetarian. So far this is fine, but I got tired of hearing about the organic this and the organic that, and the organic I don't know what. Again, it became a crotch in the story, and seriously, the idea of the vampires not being able to digest "dead blood" explained perfectly why a vegan diet, fine. But even then, do we really need to be told every time that they eat it was organic vegetables/fruits?

The character of Alphonse had potential, she often felt to me as a very (potentially) interesting character. But again, most of the characters were hardly developed. "Her kind" (which I think was an attempt to not overuse the word vampire, but it ended up being an overused term) was full of very different personas, but I never really got to know any of them because the moment they would be together they would humping like bunnies.

You might ask then, why I am giving 2 stars if there is so much I didn't like? Well, the book had potential, the part about her wanting to give up her immortal life was different, an approach I was not expecting and the consequence of this was probably the only twist I didn't see coming. I wish the opera related part of the story would've been worked a bit more, I think it would've give a lot to the story.