I took this off of WORD for Teens blogger Nicole. I think I’ve been at a loss lately as to what to blog about, not because I have nothing to say but because I have too much to say. So we’ll stick with this for a now.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:
Sometimes. I snack a lot. If I’m snacking while reading, it’s usually cheddar and sour cream chips or chips and dip or something in that vein. Or M&Ms. Or Sweetarts. Or, well, I’m sure you get the picture.
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Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Category: Young Adult ; Teen Fiction ; Fantasy
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children, March 2010
My Starred Review: 4 out of 5.

With the exception of the Harry Potter series, I tend to stay away from fantasy fiction, so I was hesitant to read this, even though my friend Danielle recommended it to me. But to be honest, I really did enjoy this book. Usually, I have a problem with YA protagonists (even my own give me trouble and headaches) because they often act, on one hand, like the girls in high school who I didn’t like, and on the other hand, like emo-teens whose problems really aren’t world-ending at all. It seems as though there is no middle ground for YA protagonists, especially girls. Regardless, I don’t identify with many of them and get very exasperated.
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This photo is from my first “photo shoot.” I decided to take my camera and my tripod to the playground near my house. It was deserted and littered and made for some very interesting photos. There was graffiti in the slides and on the plastic tic-tac-toe board.

I really liked how this photo turned out, both with the angle and the slight blurriness of the background. I played around in Photoshop with the coloring (though the photo above is unaltered) to try and give it an even more gloomy and barre feeling. I wanted to draw the focus to the empty cigarette carton, so I left that color bright and the rest dull.

Looking back at this now, I really enjoy the way the original photo turned out sans alteration. I think it looks like a horrible representation of an abandoned playground, which is pretty much what I was going for.

Sometimes I get worried that printed books will eventually become obsolete. It seems that ebooks are all the rage. You can get an ereader for your ipod, your iphone, your Blackberry, Mac, PC, Droid. You can buy a kindle or a nook. In one small device, you can house an entire library — more books that you’ll ever have the time to read. It’s so easy that with just a touch of your finger or a click of a button, you have the latest bestseller on your phone or nook.

What does this mean for libraries or printed books? Does it mean anything or nothing at all?
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Title: Hex Hall
Authors: Rachel Hawkins
Category: Young Adult, fantasy, paranormal
Notes: My friend Danielle recommended this book to me via goodreads. We usually have similar tastes in books, especially in YA books (with a few notable exceptions: I loved Percy Jackson and she did not), so I figure I’ll give it a go. I haven’t read more than the first couple paragraphs so far, and I think I’m hesitant because I’m so into my non-fiction and research right now. But we’ll see.
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