Good librarians are natural intelligence operatives. They possess all of the skills and characteristics required for that work: curiosity, wide-ranging knowledge, good memories, organizational and analytical aptitude, and discretion.
— Marilyn Johnson, This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, p. 6
#Sonderbooks25
I found the quote above in a Sonderquotes post from 2010, which is the year I’m currently revisiting in my #Sonderbooks25 celebrations.
In October, I did finish posting about 2009., and revised my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs to make them easier for readers to explore. 2010 was the year I lost my library job and had to work in the Office for Children for six months. It was also the year my divorce became final, with some bitter accusations leading up to that.
But I can’t feel too bad about any of that now, because it led up to being happily single and getting a job that makes my heart happy.
48-Hour Book Challenge
Looking back at 2009 reminded me of my first 48-Hour Book Challenge – and I did another in October. (You set aside 48 hours and fill as much of them as you can with reading.) As usual, I realized that I can’t, in fact, read hundreds of books in 48 hours, even if I give it my best shot. But I did read a lot.
Library Insider Info
Yes, those second-grade field trips are going strong. And Dog Man is king of what they are checking out – I’m pretty sure every copy of every Dog Man book that happens to be on a shelf when the second grade classes walk in is not there when they walk out.
But I was a little surprised that when the materials checked out on the second grade field trips were compiled by collection – so far, there’s been more nonfiction checked out than anything else! Mind you, they’re checking out things from every children’s collection – chapter books, graphic novels, easy readers, picture books, and readalongs, as well as nonfiction. But I was happy to see this evidence of their thirst for information.
Another project from this past month was buying some new materials for soon to be reopened Culmore community library. They’ve been closed for renovations for over a year. (I think less than two years, but I could be wrong.) It was an unplanned closure when the air conditioning system completely broke – so there wasn’t money set aside for new materials when they reopened.
The happy part of that story is that we had some money to use for that – from our new Thriftbooks project. Last year or so, library administration worked out a deal with Thriftbooks that they will take our discards for us – and give us a portion of what they sell. This is instead of paying someone to take the discards to a landfill. It has been surprisingly lucrative and a great deal for the library – and we set aside $25,000 of the money to purchase some new books for the reopening library.
I got to spend $6,000 of that on youth materials – I looked at books published in the last few years with a high percentage checked out from what we currently have. They hope to reopen soon, and they’ll have some shiny new copies on their shelves.
Holiday Time
My coworkers and I were commenting on how little we work in November between Election Day and Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving. It’s even worse for me, because I’m going to my nephew’s wedding in California November 12-18. I’m perhaps naively hoping to get some reading and reviewing done while on my trip, but I won’t be getting library work done at that time. I took off Thursday through Wednesday in hopes of getting weekly orders done in the two days I am at work, but it will clearly be a challenge.
Reviews to Check Out
I posted 21 reviews in October, but apparently I only wrote 12 reviews – so my backlog is greatly reduced. In fact, with only 31 reviews written and waiting to be posted, I’m trying to convince myself to lighten up and not try to post every single night. I may be **gasp** caught up! (I started keeping track in January 2025, when I had a backlog of 104 reviews, so you can see that 31 is much better.)
Let me mention some favorites I’ve posted about since last time. This time I’ll mention them in reverse order from when I posted them, because I want to cover the review that seemed so appropriate for Election Day:
Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age, by Ibram X. Kendi, is a sweeping work of history and current events, tracing the global rise of Authoritarianism from its roots with the Nazi party and the current iteration of Great Replacement theory.
Threshing Day, by Rebecca Yarros, is a companion to her Empyrean series, telling how the main characters were chosen by their dragons. This one you should listen to! The production is lavish and sounds more like a radio play than an audiobook.
The Last Dragon on Mars, by Scott Reintgen, is another fantastic audiobook, this time in a science fiction adventure for kids with spaceships powered by dragons, and plenty of life-and-death danger. (I’m afraid I personally like it better so far than the first of the Rebecca Yarros dragon books. This is high stakes and well-written, but happens to feature a 13-year-old protagonist.)
Why Did Jesus Have to Die? The Meaning of the Crucifixion, by Adam Hamilton. Yes, this is written by the Senator-elect from Kansas. I think it shows his ability to find good even in views he disagrees with. He explains several theories of the atonement and asks what we can learn from each of them.
The Fall of Iris Henley, by Jennifer Graham, is a thriller about a cheerleader who’s accused anonymously online of killing her ex-boyfriend on a night she unfortunately can’t remember.
Yulu’s Linen, by Cao Wenxuan, translated by Helen Wang, illustrated by Suzy Lee, is a picture book you really have to see and feel for yourself to appreciate. It’s about a girl’s painting canvas that seems to have a mind of it’s own.
Birdy, by N. West Moss, is the book that carries my personal hopes for Newbery recognition this year. In the tradition of books like Anne of Green Gables, a girl and her little brother must live with some elderly relatives after their mother dies – and we gradually watch the love and trust build up between them.
Jesus: A Pilgrimage, by James Martin, S.J. looks at the life of Jesus from the perspective of the places where he lived. Written well before the current war, Fr. Martin shares his trip to the Holy Land with reflections on the gospels.
Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley, is an Old Favorite that apparently I last read before I started writing Sonderbooks. This time, I listened to an audiobook version and still found it magical.
The Librarians, by Sherry Thomas, is a thriller set in a library branch. Okay, some liberties were taken with what might really happen – but it was still a lot of fun.
The Duck Can’t Sleep is a poem by E. B. White, turned into an amazing picture book by artist Melissa Sweet. Come on, have I convinced any of you staid grown-ups to check out picture books yet?
Secure, by Amir Levine, is a follow-up to the author’s bestseller, Attached, full of tips to help you feel more secure in your relationships.
See? I may not have quite as much backlog, but I’m still reading some wonderful books!
Be sure to check Sonderbooks.com for more. And don’t forget you can subscribe to the blog to get daily, weekly, or monthly reviews. (This post is the monthly version.)
I normally post about these on Sondermusings – which is the substack where folks can subscribe to my Christian writing, but I’m rather pleased with the prayer I wrote for Election Day, not naming any political party, and mostly using Scripture. I think the answer to my prayer has begun, and my heart is happy.
How about you? Read anything good lately?
Thanks again, so much, for your support!
As always, Happy Reading!
–Sondy
I will be looking into Thrift Books for our school system; we’ve been debating what to do with our discards. A staff member used to take them to Liberia! Glad you are enjoying looking back at your 25 years of blogging. I still miss the 48-Hour Book Challenge. Sometimes I have my own, but it’s not the same without Mother Reader! And yes, some years are more difficult than others.
Thrift books has worked super well for us! Of course, we’re a huge county – the big money makers seem to be obscure textbooks that somebody donated to our Friends groups and they couldn’t sell. The best part is we used to *pay* somebody to take them away, but that’s included, and then they share the profits! Also, I love that Mother Reader gave me “permission” to do such a thing as a 48-Hour Book Challenge! I do one most years. I actually hired Mother Reader to work in my branch (from a part-time position in another branch) in 2020, and since then she got her MLS and is now a Youth Services Manager in a library near her home. She seems to be thriving. And remains an organizational genius.