Cupcakes, social networking, and hamburgers

I just ordered the last three books for Popular Reading this year. And how did I choose these landmark volumes?

Well, I'm on Twitter. It is the Voice of the Universe. I made that up but it is true that whenever I sign in to it, I hear from people all over the world (well, mainly the US but Canada, Australia, England--I even get news flashes from Le Monde in Paris, written in French, which I sort of understand). And, of course, some people are from right here in ND.

What do I hear people talking about?

CUPCAKES! I'm telling you, cupcakes are The Thing. Cupcakes this, cupcakes that. So I ordered the neatest looking cookbook called Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse:Cupcakes, Small Cakes, Muffins, and Other Mini Treats. Yum, the stuff in there looks good! Almost--yes--almost good enough to eat!

SOCIAL NETWORKING! Well, of course they're talking about social networking since it's Twitter, but take a look at this book: CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World. It's about using social networking for making a difference. I like that! Log on and change the world!

HAMBURGERS: I've always said that if it weren't for bacon, I'd be a vegetarian, so I thought this book sounded interesting: The Compassionate Carnivore: Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat. Sort of covers it all, doesn't it? I sure want to find out how to reduce my HOOFprint, don't you?

I can't wait for them to arrive! Don't they sound great?

--Janet

Same time, the next year

I've been reminiscing about being a "popular librarian" the past year. It's been great -- meeting authors, reading people's comments, and -- best of all -- having coffee, um WORKING with Janet. I was re-reading a posting I made almost exactly a year ago titled We Need More Book Reviews! The same is true today--we need your reviews. We started this blog to give UND community members a space to talk about books. The postings don't have to be long and they don't have to be only on books in the popular reading collection. Write about a book popular (or not) with you and send it in an email, we'll post it.

On another note, Janet and I and the other librarians are spending time in the Memorial Union with laptop in hand, ready to answer questions as you finish up term papers, research projects, etc. Please stop by to say "Hi" at the very least. We'll be at a table near the Union info desk 10:30-1:30 until May 7th.

Kristen

Shopping for you

Kristen and I get to spend this week doing something absolutely yummy. We're going shopping! (Thanks, Student Government!)

We're buying cybercarts full of books, books for you! Bestsellers, mysteries, fantasy, whatever we think you'd like.

Our mind-reading skills are a bit rusty, though, so we want to make sure we're getting your book wishes right. So here's what we'd like you to do:

Comment back what you want to read. If you don't want us to publish your comment, we respect that, and we won't. But this is a great way to let us know what you've got a hankering to read. (Wow, I haven't used the word "hankering" in, well, you know what? Ever!)

So let us know what you'd like to see in the Popular Reading collection. Don't make us mind-read. Right now your minds are full of things like chemical formulas and thesis statements and DSM-IV disorders. It's been a long semester, hasn't it?

And until we hear back from you, have a good holiday break, and may all your bunnies be chocolate.

Janet