Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

New York: Simon Pulse, 2005

425 pages

So, after months of starting and stopping this book I FINALLY finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. My inability to read the book up until this point had nothing to do with the quality of the book. The book was great! Rather, my extreme delay can be attributed to the dangerous combination of a busy Summer and a long list of "must read" books. Since Uglies was a friend's copy (and not a library book) it kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list. Now that I've thoroughly bored you with unneccesary information, it's time for the actual review....

Set in a futuristic society where all citizens get a surgery on their 16th birthday to turn them from "uglies" into "pretties," Uglies tells the story of Tally Youngblood. Tally has been counting down the days until her 16th birthday. Unfortunately, she is forced to change her plans when her new friend Shay runs away the night before her surgery. The city's authorites (known as Special Circumstances) give Tally a choice: either help them bring Shay and other runaways back, or stay ugly forever. Tally has no choice but to leave the comforts of the city and make the treacherous journey to the "Smoke," a city run by uglies of all ages that ran away before the surgery could change them. Tally's time in the Smoke slowly begins to change her perceptions about the city and being pretty. Especially when she learns the startling news that people lose a lot more than they gain when they are changed from ugly to pretty....

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I've been a big fan of YA books lately, so this was a perfect choice. From self-discovery, to free will, to oppression, to appearance and self esteem this dystopia can easily lend itself to further discussion.

I highly recommend this book, and can't wait to read the sequels.

Yeah, its been a while....

So, it's been almost 7 months since my last post. I could blame my lack of posting on the heavy end of semester workload that led into the busy Summer wedding season, but in reality I haven't posted in a while because I can be a bit of a slacker at times...

New semester, new start - right? Now that I'm back in school mode, I hope to get in the habit of writing posts more regularly (fingers crossed!). The ideas are churning, I just need to get everything down. Stay tuned....

Librarian Wanted - Glasses & Bun Required.

I was well aware of the librarian stereotypes before I started school. While I assumed that the impact of these negative stereotypes were discussed within the greater library community (e.g. journal articles, conference topics), I didn't really expect to discuss image and stereotypes in school. Well, not only was a lesson in my Foundations class devoted to image, but I also had to write a paper on the topic. My professor's lecture and the articles I dug up during my research kept referring to society's image of "Marian the Librarian." I vaguely remembered the character from watching The Music Man years ago, but felt that I could benefit from a bit of a refresher. Here's what a quick Google search produced:

(I know that 7 minutes is a big time commitment, but I highly recommned checking it out if you've got some time to kill.)

OK I need to take a timeout to address a couple of things:

1. Is it just me, or is this a really catchy tune? Like infectiously catchy? It's actually been in my head for the past 2 days - no joke.
2. There are actually a lot of people who really think of librarians as rigid, bun-sporting, bespectacled shushers. (BTW - did you catch the line "For the civilized world accepts as unforgivable sin, any talking out loud with any librarian"??? Ummmm, yeah I'm not going to even attempt to address that...)

Most of the librarians that I know don't fit in the "Marian mold," yet the image continues to persist. The general public really has no idea what a librarian does, let alone the fact that a person actually needs a post-graduate degree to actually be a librarian! So what do we do to fix this image issue? Is this something that the profession as a whole should try to tackle, or should the library community accept that most professions have negative stereotypes to consider and move on?

I know, I know. I've been a slacker...

With no new posts in over a month, I fully admit that I've been a huge slacker. In my defense things have been hectic. At the beginning of March I started my job as a Circulation Clerk at a local library, and last week I was offered the opportunity to help a library consultant part time with small projects (e.g. research, proofreading).

The two jobs and my classes are providing me with lots of material, so stay tuned...

"I love technology, but not as much as you, you see...but I STILL love technology...always and forever."

Hello, my name is MEB and I'm addicted to technology. Like any other addiction it started out slowly. An IM here, a phone call there. It wasn't a big deal. I could quit anytime. Before I knew it I was checking my email as soon as I woke up in the morning, letting my work pile up while I read my favorite online columns, and losing sleep while I checked Facebook "one last time" before I went to bed. It was a slippery slope, and I slid down fast. Without realizing it I had developed a full-blown addiction. The weird thing is, I would never classify myself as a "techy" person. I've never had to have the latest and greatest gadget. In fact, my first cell phone (circa 2000) was affectionately nicknamed the Zack Morris phone.

(For those of you that missed this pop culture reference, please stop whatever you are doing and immediately find DVDs of Saved By the Bell - possibly the greatest TV show of the early '90s.)

A girl that had a Zack Morris cell phone when everyone else had those tiny Nokias was not technologically advanced...

I have no idea when things changed, but I didn't realize how far I had come until I took a quiz for one of my classes. My professor sent out a link to a Pew Internet Quiz. (BTW - If you're not familiar with the Pew Internet Project, you should really check it out. It's a great resource.) Here's the link for the quiz:

http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/quiz.asp

And here are my results:

Where do you fit?
Your Results
Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Omnivores typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic.

Omnivores make up 8% of the American public.

Basic Description

Members of this group use their extensive suite of technology tools to do an enormous range of things online, on the go, and with their cell phones. Omnivores are highly engaged with video online and digital content. Between blogging, maintaining their Web pages, remixing digital content, or posting their creations to their websites, they are creative participants in cyberspace.

Defining Characteristics

You might see them watching video on an iPod. They might talk about their video games or their participation in virtual worlds the way their parents talked about their favorite TV episode a generation ago. Much of this chatter will take place via instant messages, texting on a cell phone, or on personal blogs. Omnivores are particularly active in dealing with video content. Most have video or digital cameras, and most have tried watching TV on a non-television device, such as a laptop or a cell phone.

Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.

Who They Are

They are young, ethnically diverse, and mostly male (70%). The median age is 28; just more than half of them are under age 30, versus one in five in the general population. Over half are white (64%) and 11% are black (compared to 12% in the general population). English-speaking Hispanics make up 18% of this group. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many (42% versus the 13% average) of Omnivores are students.

Apparently the days of outdated technology are way behind me. And I am realizing that if I want to be successful in this industry, I have to stay on top of things. Not only do I need to educate myself on what is out there, but I need to use it too. If you're not current, then you're irrelevant.

My dirty, little secret.

I read my horoscope everyday. To be honest, I actually read my horoscope from two separate sources (Yahoo and MSN) on a daily basis. Don't think that I'm a person who plans her life around horoscope predictions. It's a fun habit, but I don't get worked up when it's all doom and gloom. That being said, sometimes I do find that my horoscope is really applicable to what's going on in my life. Today was one of those days. My Yahoo horoscope was:

Sagittarius
11/22 – 12/21
Overview
When you see a chance to get ahead today, take it! The time for being conservative with your actions is over. If you want to make a mark at work, catch the eye of that cutie, or just get a better seat on the bus, you've got to make it happen. Stop waiting for others to invite you. Now you've got to reach out and become a part of the action, not a passive viewer. Right now you are meant to be proactive and aggressive. You simply must go out and get what you want.


(BTW - Did you pick up on the red font? It's because Sagittarius is a fire sign. Super clever, I know.)

With about a month of school under my belt and my new job starting on Monday, today's horoscope really resonated with me. It was such a great reminder that I'm the only one responsible for my life. If I want to be successful, I need to work at it. Feeling inspired, I followed my horoscope's advice and did some networking. Nothing big, just a couple of emails and a phone call. Stay tuned to see what the universe has in store for me next.

Public servants are great, job hunts not so much.

I officially start my library job next week!!! After almost 4 months of hunting for a part time, entry level job I was offered a position as a Circulation Clerk in a branch at one of the local library systems. Is it glamorous? Nope. Am I a glorified shelver? Yep. Am I thrilled? Words can't begin to describe. Not only does this job mean that I will finally get resume-worthy library experience, but it also means the end to my job search. Wooooohoooo!!! Praise the Lord!

I had assumed that looking for a job in a library would be just like looking for a job in any other industry. Wow, was I wrong. A couple of things I learned the hard way:

• Public libraries move slowly. Really, really slowly. I expected it to be a slow hiring process, but I really wasn't prepared for the time frames that I experienced. Coming from an industry where decisions are made on the fly, I am accustomed to quick turnaround time. I thought it would take (at most) a couple of weeks for a library to review resumes and schedule interviews. I wasn't prepared to wait a month or more just for acknowledgement that my application had been received. A perfect example - the application deadline for my job was 12/9, I didn't interview until 2/11.


• Some resume formats are more successful then others. Looking back this shouldn't have been a surprise. I assumed that the resume format that I've successfully used for the past 5 years was still applicable. Big mistake! I began to rethink this idea as the rejection letters (without even an interview!) started to pile up. Luckily, I stumbled across a great resource: Resume Writing And Interviewing Techniques That Work!: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians by Robert R. Newlen. I didn't want to shell out the $55 listed on amazon.com, so I reserved it through the library. Specifically written for library professionals, the book includes sample resumes divided by experience level and library type (i.e. special library, public library). I thought the resume tips were great. The interview tips were also helpful, but more of a review for anyone who has had prior interview experience. This will be my first stop the next time I apply for a job.

Now that I'm happily employed, I can nurse my bruised ego back to health, file these lessons away for my next job hunt, and pray that it will be at least 6-12 months before I have to go through all of this again.

New start, new blog.

Welcome! This is my first attempt at blogging, so we'll see how this turns out. I'm a 28 year old aspiring librarian who recently came to librarianship after a career in the insurance industry. Never a girl who does only one thing at a time, I'm still working in insurance (until the end of the month), going to school full time, and about to start my first job in a public library. Things are absolutely insane right now, but I function best under pressure.

My hope/idea for this blog is to chronicle my journey as I navigate my way through grad school and take my first steps into the library community. My goal is to update at least a couple of times a week, but whether this actually happens is another story.

Here goes nothing...