TFIOS

Emerald Green

When Gwyneth Shepherd turns 17 she learns she has inherited a time traveling gene passed down through her mother's side of the family.  This is a problem because everyone thought it was passed to her cousin Charlotte.  Charlotte has spent her entire life training and preparing for traveling into the past.  So, when it actually happens to Gwyneth, no one is prepared.  Now Gwyneth must carry out the plans to close the circle of twelve.  When that happens, it is believed all of humanity will be positively affected.  However, the two members of the circle before her have disappeared, taking an important time traveling instrument with them.  She begins working with her male counterpart, Gideon, who she quickly falls in love with, to find these two members at different points in the past.  She quickly learns that everything is not what it seems and the secrets of the secret society meant to protect the circle, may not be what everyone thinks.
This is the third book in the Ruby Red trilogy and concludes Gwyneth's story.  I loved the first two books.  Gwyneth is a normal teenager, who is thrust into a wild situation.  I enjoyed her as a protagonist.  I love historical fiction, so the time traveling aspect was something new and different.  However, this book was not that great.  It moves very, very slowly.  It is more than half-way through the book before Gwyneth actually travels to an important ball that gets the action moving.  Up until that time, she is crying over Gideon, and trying to figure out what the Guardians are really up to.  Some of the characters' actions are so over the top it's humorous.  The story is wrapped up neatly and I was satisfied with the ending, it just took too long to get to that point.  Lots of non-essential plot points.  I do recommend the first two books, so I would recommend this one as well just to finish out the story.  With that being said, I am so glad I am done!

Top Ten Time Saving Tech Tips

New Books!

I returned from Thanksgiving break with 15 new boxes of books!  Hurray!

This is a part of my job that I absolutely love, going through the boxes and pulling out clean, ready to read books.

These books came in Dewey order, so I was very careful to keep them that way as I put them on the carts.
I then check the books with my order, to make sure I received everything.  I also begin to think about which books I can't wait to read first.  Here are a few on my radar:

Emerald Green is the final book in the Ruby Red trilogy.  Gwenny discovers she inherited a time traveling gene and begins to go back in time.  Her cousin Charlotte was supposed to have it, so Gwyneth is completely unprepared when it actually happens to her.  I loved the first two books and this one became my first choice! 

 Rainbow Rowell's book Eleanor and Park has been on my radar for a long time now.  And this, her second book, is receiving rave reviews. 

This book just looks really interesting to me.  I love books about summer, and being on the beach, and September Girls is about those two things.


I put Stickers on the spine labels that say New and place the books in the middle of the library.  I go through the books and add them to categories, so they will come up in students' searches.  Zombies are a popular genre now, so I want students to be able to locate those books easily.
Students get so excited to see new books, especially the series they have been waiting to finish.  Talking with  them about books is definitely my favorite part of being a librarian.

Incarceron

Incarceron is a prison unlike any other- it is its own world full of cities, forests, and oceans.  It was created to be a perfect society, or so it was presented to the people.  Criminals, miscreants, and dangers to society were placed inside, and the prison was locked.  However, the prison quickly detiorated and it became a nightmare.  The Sapienti, the wise men trained to enlighten the criminals and reform them, created Incarceron as an experiment.  After 150 years, the experiment has failed.  Although the people living outside of the prison have no idea how terrible it has become.  Only one person has ever escaped, Sapphique.  He is a legend in Incarceron with stories and songs to praise his living in the "outside."
Finn Starseer is a prisoner inside Incarceron, but he believes he came from the "outside."  He has faint memories of stars, cake, and ringing bells.  He lives among the Comitatus, known as Scum, who kill, plunder, and steal to survive.  They are ruthless, but Finn must stay with them in order to survive.
Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron.  Her world is the exact opposite of Finn's, full of luxury.  The world she lives in is a replica of the 17th century, all modern technologies have been forbidden and everyone must follow protocol.  Claudia has been betrothed to Casper, the prince of the realm.  He is cruel, arrogant, and spoiled, the last person Claudia wants to marry.  To get out of it, Claudia, along with her trusted tutor Jared, try to figure out the secrets of Incarceron.  She believes Finn is the key and is determined to get him out.
Incarceron is very, very complex.  Incarceron is not described completely until a little later in the book, so I had a hard time figuring out what exactly was going on in the beginning. The book jumps between Incarceron and Claudia's world, telling both sides of the story.  I enjoyed Claudia's chatpers the most, she is very intelligent and works to figure out solutions to problem.  I find Finn to be a difficult character to like.  Even though he feels he must stay with the Comitatus, and feels guilty for some of the things he does, he still does them.
This book was published in  2007, so I'm a little late to the game.  I have never enjoyed fantasy that much, but I'm trying to expand my horizons, so I chose this one.  I found myself skimming towards the end, just trying to finish it.  The book ends on a cliffhanger, with the sequel Sapphique finishing out the story.  Fantasy readers will definitely enjoy this book, but it does have a depth that might be out of the league of some readers.