Sense of Childlike Wonder

"Libraries are so AWESOME! You get to go in and pick out a ton of books and they let you leave with them FOR FREE! And you can take them home and read them and it's GREAT!"

Seriously, I said this to my husband while skipping (SKIPPING!) out of the Cambridge Public Library. I had a tote bag so stuffed full of books that I had to stop twice to rearrange so they weren't digging into my ribs. Nothing ignites my sense of childlike wonder quite like a trip to the library, and the CPL is particularly awesome. Their teen reading room is KILLER.

It's housed in the original, historic section of the CPL, hence the crazy amazing windows and exposed brick. And this picture doesn't even do justice to the great lounge/meeting spaces, the computer terminals, and the walls and walls of books. It's such a dynamic space, and their librarians there totally rule. I wrote quite a lot of Meant to Be surrounded by awesome YA lit at the CPL, and (lucky me!) it's located between work and home for easy stops. Like yesterday, when I collected a bunch of holds I'd requested.

 

My haul:

Are You Going to Kiss Me Now? by Sloane Tanen

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster

Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita

Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando (not pictured)

I know I wax poetic about my Kindle all the time, but between ARCs and trips to the library, I'm definitely still a reader of real, live books. Are they as easy to burn through on my train commute? No. But the smell of a good library book (and the thrill of finding that oh-my-god-dying-to-read-it treasure in the stacks) is just too good to let go. My Kindle is taking a mini-vacation right now, charging on my bookshelf while I make my way through this treasure. Look for reviews of these to come! 

Right now I'm a couple chapters into the new Sara Zarr, How to Save A Life. I got the ARC from the School Library Journal (thanks guys!), and I can already tell you that it's awesome. If you loved any of Sara Zarr's other stuff, you will want to read this book. And who knows, maybe when I'm done, I'll give it away!

Don't forget about my contest to win an ARC of The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler! Simply leave a comment on this post, and you're entered to win. Contest ends June 23rd.