Some of you may know that I just completed my last class for my Master's of Library and Information Science degree. So, now I join the ranks of the many unemployed librarians. Yay, me! Lately, it seems that libraries have become focused on technology and that's all well and good and any first year library student will tell you, as Ranganathan proclaimed all those years ago, that libraries are growing organisms. As much as I think libraries need to change and evolve with the times and technology is very much a part of that, I also think books are still very important. I love technology and enjoyed my technology centered classes, but it seemed that my degree was creeping towards an end and I hadn't really taken a class that centered around books. Therefore, taking a class called Library Materials for Young Adults that completely focused on books, was a much needed and very relevant way for me to bring my degree to a close.
Anyway, this class was more than a good way to end my degree as it introduced me to a number of fantastic books (50, to be exact) and got me into reading again. Yes, I had become a library student who didn't read all that much, but now I am a library school graduate who has rediscovered my love of reading. And even though I'm no longer reading 5 books every week (yes, I had to do this for this class), I have been aiming for one 1 book per week. Now before I ramble on any more, I need to say that a few of the books that I read for this class, have taken on the lofty roles of some of Anne's favorite books. Yes Oprah, we regular folks have favorite things too. We also read books, even those that don't have Oprah's Book Club stickers on them. In fact some of us feel that books that aren't sullied with those stickers are even more worthy than those that have been branded with that big "O" word.
Now on with this post before I forget to talk about my chosen book. One of the books from my class reading list that I loved the most was The Absolutely True Diary of a part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. Why did I love this book so much? Well, if I could just be lazy, I would say it was absolutely lovely. Why was it lovely, Anne? You need to be way more specific. Well, for one thing, the protagonist, Junior, was one of the most likable characters that I had encountered in a long time. He is, in a nutshell (I never use that term), a young Native American boy, growing up on a reservation who decides that he is going to transcend his circumstances. He is surrounded by underachievers and he decides that he wants to be an achiever. He starts this journey by making the decision to attend the school in town. By doing this, he alienates himself from a lot of the reservation folk, but he never, in the process, acts like he is better than any of them. He is just doing this, basically, because he has to. Although the white kids in the school do not accept him with open arms and things are not always easy, he perseveres and eventually does win many of them over (yes, I am going to end this sentence with a preposition, basically because I am lazy). The book is funny (Junior's cartoons that are scattered throughout the book are amusing and really add to the story), eye-opening and heart-wrenching. Junior's life isn't easy, but it he deals with its trials and tribulations with humor and I guess you could say, grace. This book, although labeled as fiction, is very much an autobiographical look at the author's life. As I've already said in so many words, but one cannot stress this enough, the book is funny and poignant and a fantastic read. I very sneakily left this book with my very smart friend who rarely reads. She sat down and read the book in two hours and she really liked it (I won't say "loved" with her as she never uses that word to describe things). So yes, reluctant readers out there, young and old, there is a good chance that you will really like, or even love (if you're so inclined) this book.
So, here ends the first post of Anne's book blog. Hopefully, my reviews will get a bit better with practice. Let's just consider this one a trial run.
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