New Manga!

I started working here at the library just over three months ago, and in that time I have worked hard trying to learn all there is to know about manga and anime.

In my day (yeah, I'm old enough to have had a day and for it to be over, if just)we didn't have any of those things yet. Well, we had Dragon Ball Z. But that was it, and we thought (most of us) that it was lame.

I remember sitting in Algebra 2 during a test while the guy sitting next to me drew Dragon Ball Z characters all over his test with speech bubbles that said "Your guess is as good as mine," or "You'd like to know."

Understand that I am not advocating drawing Dragon Ball Z characters on one's test and turning it in. I promise you that doing so will result in a test score that is decidedly not over 9000.

We also had Pokemon, but the video game and not the television show. So my experience with anime and manga has been slight.

I therefore have had to educate myself. And it's taking a while. I placed my first manga order not too long ago, keeping up (or trying to) with the series we already have going. I started asking some of you what you were interested in when I saw you checking out manga, and I'm taking your advice as I proceed.

I'm also starting a new series, Death Note, because I love Death Note. My brother introduced me to that series when we were both in college. Definitely worth a look!

We now have Death Note 1: Boredom and Death Note 2: Confluence. And may I just say, I love L. He is too cool for words.



Here are all the other new ones!

Xxxholic 8


Fruits Basket 11

Bleach 7

Naruto 32

and...

Vampire Knight 5

Update!

We now have a sample of the necklace we will be making downstairs at the circulation desk. If you're interested, ask at the desk and they'll sign you up!

You should also take a peek at the new Summer 2009 issue of Stringing magazine at either the upstairs or downstairs circulation desks! Candie has four designs in this issue--look!

The jewelry making class is totally FREE to you, all you have to do is sign up and show up. All the supplies will be provided, so no carting beads from home, either (which I so would do, just for an excuse to show them off).

Sign up, sign up! Candie is only taking 15 students--it would be chaos otherwise. When the class fills up, we'll start putting names on a waiting list and I'll let you know by phone if there are cancellations and if we plan another program.

New Books!

I have new books for you again! I try to keep this going all the time, but it seems like summer reading has gotten the best of me...Sorry!

First we have Chasing the Bear. Those of you familiar with the author will know who Spenser is already. For those of you who don't know Spenser, the author, Robert B. Parker, has written a whole long series of books starring Spenser, a private detective, who has all kinds of fast-paced, action movie type adventures.

Those of you who love James Patterson's Maximum Ride books will like Parker's work, too. And if you feel like it, you can always read his adult novels while you wait for more young adult ones.


Next are The Lost Books by Ted Dekker. Dekker is well known for his Circle Trilogy, and The Lost Books fit into that universe. Don't let that throw you, though, because you don't need to have read the other trilogy to understand these novels.




I love the covers. I can't help it.

Summer reading club members will be happy to know that each of these books are worth 100 points. Read them all and that's 500, one more and you've got 600...and that earns you a paperback book of your choice.

You tell me what you want, and I order it for you. Crank or Twilight, anyone?

Happy reading...

Why We Love John Green

Does anyone (excluding me) follow John Green's blog? If you don't, you should give it a try. The guy is hilarious--not to mention smart--always a good combination.

He just posted a really neat video commentary on the elections in Iran. In the past, he's done a video titled "What Could You Do with a Poe Bust?!" when he won the Edgar Award for Paper Towns. Read it.

Go see!

Manga Again...

Since there is only so much about drawing that you can learn in the space of one hour, I (or rather, my brother) found something neat on YouTube yesterday that will take us all to the next step in manga drawing.

Mark Crilley, who is the author and illustrator of the Miki Falls manga series (as well as Akiko and Billy Clikk), has posted a ton of drawing tutorials. They are all quite well done, and they walk you through the various steps of drawing characters. He has a video to teach you how to draw wings, hair, eyes, clothes, etc.

Here's a little example...



See? That's so great!

I am easily amused...

I've been watching too much anime lately; I'm getting a bit obsessed. Check out Clannad, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Paprika!

Manga!

Our teen programming for the summer is well underway, and this week is our first special event.

We'll be learning to draw Manga starting at 4:30 at the library on June 10 (that's Wednesday). I've been getting clued in on Manga and Anime lately so that I am not the world's biggest idiot on the subject, and so far I'm really enjoying it.

I spent the last few nights watching Death Note, and tonight's special feature at my house is Paprika.

The art is radically different than the usual Disney-style animation; it's quite fun and very expressive. I'm interested in learning some of the techniques. Although I can't draw a straight line. Or a curved one. And that might make life a bit hard.

If you're interested in joining us, come by the downstair's circulation desk and register for the program!