Greetings, from sunny Santa Barbara! I’ll be back in Pittsburgh in just a few days, but for the past week and a half I’ve been from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff to Long Beach, and of course I’ve managed to read a few books along the way. Here are a few things I brought along to read while on vacation:
- Love and Rockets: New Stories #2, by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez: I can’t get enough of the Hernandez Brothers’ graphic series, and I was excited to have some free time to read this volume of new comics. As always, the only disappointment was finishing this and having to wait for more stories to be published. The characters pop off the pages, and events from the mundane to the supernatural make for some fantastic reading.
- Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger: I’ve been saving this novel for the plane ride home. I recieved The Time Traveler’s Wife as a gift after getting my degree in Library Science (after all, the main character is a librarian!), and I’ve been waiting for a new novel from the author ever since. This time Niffenegger writes a gothic story that takes place in London, where twin sisters discover a ghost and a mystery when they arrive at the estate of their late aunt to claim their inheritance.
- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg: After reading Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, by Lizzie Skurnick, I’ve slowly been making my way through many of the books she mentions. This was one that I haven’t given much thought to in years, but I was pleased to discover that I liked it just as much now as I did as a child! A sister and brother run away from home, live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (where they take baths in a fountain and sleep in antique beds!), and uncover a mystery regarding a statue that may or may not be the work of Michelangelo. This is a great, quick read that stands up to the test of time.
The one blight on my vacation was learning about the CLP branch closures that will be happening at home. Please advocate for the library! For more information on how to help, check out our Sustaining Our Future web page.
See you in a few days,
-Irene
Eleventh Stack 