Happy returns

This is the first week that I didn’t make my challenge - not even close. Considering that the PLA conference was about nothing but books for four days straight, it seems perverse, but there you have it. I managed to read exactly 26 pages the whole time I was away.

As for the conference itself, it was AMAZING. You must imagine 11,000 public librarians descending upon a city the size of Boston (population 590,000, according to the municipal website). They were everywhere, and I daresay people were playing the ‘spot the librarian’ game (I know I was… it is how I found my way out of the airport). Tomorrow I go to work and turn it upside down. There is much to be done…

The one book I did finish hit the spot, I tell you. It’s been on my shelf for months, and was recommended by one of the Dewey Divas. Only today was I finally in the mood to take it down, and I'm glad I did. Jonathan Coe’s The Rotters' Club was terrific (the follow-up to it, Closed Circle, came out last year). If you like Nick Hornby and Brit Lit in any kind of way, then this book is for you. It also qualifies as ‘lad lit’, and I shall definitely be passing it along to my hubby.

Basically, the story takes place in working class Birmingham (England), where a group of adolescents struggle to find love, friendship, belonging, and a future. What I really liked about the book is the vivid picture of 1970s Britain it paints. Political turmoil is interwoven with the personal lives of the characters. You are in the centre of it all: IRA bombings, union strikes, the emergence of punk-rock, racism, and the dawn of the Thatcherite era. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Until then, I am completely knackered. Things should all go back to normal in the days to come, at least in terms of reading and posting. Cheers to all of you. It’s good to be back.

Comments

[Lon Benattar]

I assume that use of the word Knackered is due to the recent british influence?

[The Library Girl]

Actually, the use of 'knackered' comes from two degrees in British history! I was going to use the word 'zonked' but then found it too harsh-sounding. 'Knackered' conjures up images (at least in my head) of creaky furniture, which is what my body felt like yesterday.