CGHS Library

Soulless (FIC Carriger)

Soulless by Gail Carriger is wonderfully woven story set in the Victorian steampunk age, where vampires, werewolves, and humans live together peacefully. Alexia Tarabotti is soulless, giving her the ability to cancel out vampire and werewolf supernatural abilities. With her blatant Italian looks and uncanny wit, she tries to unravel the mysterious disappearances of the loner vampires while unsuccessfully attempting to avoid the impossible Lord Maccon, an alpha werewolf employed by the queen. You’ll find yourself swept away into a world of the flamboyant vampire Lord Akeldama, the atrocious hats of Miss Ivy Hisselpenny, and the mysterious wax man. (Review by Grace Wohlschlegel)

 

Student Research Central for Kansas Students: Start

When you want to search magazines, newspapers, or other material on the State Library of Kansas site, begin with Student Research Center. This is an EBSCO database, and it is easy to navigate and very, very useful.

As you can see from the screenshot below, you can easily control your search. You can search by topic, conduct a visual or advanced search, limit your results to magazines, newspapers, books, biography, media transcripts, maps, primary source documents, country reports, state reports, or film. I recommend that you click on the full text check box so you only get results that have the entire article. You can also just search certain dates. If you want something that is simple to read, you can control the reading level.

Paper Covers Rock (FIC Hubbard)

I bought this book for the library because it was attracting all kinds of attention from "people who know." The reviews were great, and there was some buzz. I had to see what all the fuss was about so I read it, but I was a little disappointed, not because this is a bad book, but because it is the kind of book written for young adults that literary types (publishers, reviewers, and librarians) are all excited about but that genuine young adults typically avoid like the plague. And don't even get me started on the cover. It practically screams, "If you read me, you'll be sorry."

Though Paper Covers Rock does contain some grim humor, the book is mostly just grim, and the themes of sin, guilt, and redemption are anguished and painful. More satisfying is the motif of Young Author Finding His Voice, and I think most literary people of all ages would enjoy the discussion of literature and creation. If you find joy in symbols, this is the book for you, because it is filled with them. Miss Dovecot, a large rock, a watch, water: you name it. Think about any image or person Hubbard uses in the book for any length of time, and it morphs into something else. 

I felt so sorry for Alex, the narrator. I kept waiting for him to do the right thing, but he never did. In the end, well, you will have to see if he finds any peace in the end for yourself.

Arcanum (FIC Moulton)

A funny spoof, Arcanum is light fantasy. In an interview on the blog Great Minds Think Aloud, the author, M. C. Moulton says “There’s a touch of sci-fi in there as well, not to mention a whole slew of modern and pop-culture references. . . . I’d say it’s a cross between Lord of the Rings and Family Guy.” Skyler Stevenson has read the book and says that real life and mythology are mixed in as well. “They have radios but no guns, only swords.” The book is basically a mishmash of whatever the author decided to include.

Skyler says, “Arc Arcanum and his companions actually know they are in a book. At one point, they say, ‘This is only the eighth chapter, but we’ve been in jail three times.’ “ And M. C. Moulton does not hesitate to make light of himself. One character asks another, “Where are you from: The Book of Cliché Superheroes?” And later on in the story Arc is looking through Prince’s library, and he finds an actual Book of Cliché Superheroes.

Though Moulton says that he has heard that expectations can lead to crushed hopes and dreams, Arcanum is going to be a five book series with a sixth planned prequel. Book Two should be out the end of this year.

Student Research Central for Kansas Students

The State Library of Kansas provides terrific resources for high school students, and they are free for you to use any time. During the next six weeks or so, I will be sporadically highlighting different databases included here because, as you know, nothing warms a librarian's heart like a good database.

Ready Player One (FIC Cline)

I have heard so much about Ready Player One that I had to read it. Yes, it is a book about '80s culture and gaming set in 2045. And, let me tell you, everything is pretty much falling apart in 2045. No, I am not and have never been, even by the wildest stretch of yours or anybody else's imagination, a gamer. Some of my best friends are gamers, though. I find they are very low maintenance friends since they are usually in their parent's basement gaming. 

But I digress.

This book is a wild ride, even for non-gamers like me, and I imagine people who ARE gamers would love it enough to stop gaming long enough to read the book. (Warner Bros. is making a movie which ought to be out in a couple of years, and gamers will probably want to stop gaming long enough to watch the movie too.) The characters are interesting and amusing, and you gotta' love the narrator, warts and all. 

Let me introduce you to him. Here he is, right in the first few pages of the book.

"I spent a few hours blasting through wave after wave of Brains, Spheroids, Quarks, and Hulks in my unending battle to Save the Last Human Family! But eventually my fingers started to cramp up and I began to lose my rhythm. When that happened at this level, things deteriorated quickly. I burned through all of my extra lives in a matter of minutes, and my two least-favorite words appeared on the screen: GAME OVER."

The best thing about this book is that the author seems to be having so much fun writing it! Since he is having fun, you will too. (MHouse)

Plagiarism Is Bad

This Infographic is from Kate Hart's blog. Read her additional remarks about plagiarism because they are 1. true and 2. entertaining.