Some things don't change

Isn't this the most amazing picture?

At the moment, most of the Cranford Library's young adult collection is gracing the top of an overcrowded bookcase in my foyer. Actually, it's more of a half bookcase; one of those whimpy four shelf jobs my husband won't let me throw out. Ugh! Anyway, I feel guilty if I keep my books longer than I need them and I needed to pick-up an interlibrary loan--How to Say Goodbye in Robot.

Whenever I need to go into the library as opposed to just dropping my books in the book drop out back and peeling out of the parking lot just 'cuz I can, I like to go in and shop around. After all, it's free and I get to handle real books when I read!

Digression! Digression!
I love the Kindle, but one problem with it is that it makes the real book experience that much more exciting. My fingertips now have pulp lust.

I've been reading NPR's book page and one of my favorite features in My Guilty Pleasure where the bloggers confess to all the non-literary books they've read for fun. The Amityville Horror made the list and I realized that I've never read it. Summer is almost here, so I thought, why not?

Since I managed to work an entire year at The New York Public Library without learning the Dewey Decimal System, I walked into the Cranford Library, took in the book smell, and headed for the catalog computers. A group of girls sat at a table behind me. It sounded like they were having a very lively study group.

When I glanced at the computer screen, I noticed that someone had left the catalog computer without taking it back to the main search screen. I hate that! Then, I saw the book they'd been searching for and smiled: Go Ask Alice by Anonymous. Did you know they're selling it at my local Target too? Talk about a classic guilty pleasure. I read that when I was 12, maybe(?) Anyway, that made me smile. The other thing that made me smile: I'll bet the person who was looking for it has no idea that it's not a real diary (sssssh!)

Final note: I think someone at the Cranford Library is stalking my interlibrary loan requests because I noticed that their YA section has gotten much cooler since I started going there. Shouldn't I get a finder's fee or something? Come on people!

Check back at http://www.1600words.com for the latest updates on YA reads and the writing life.