*yawn*

Evil me. I've celebrated Book Blogger Week by being too busy to pay attention to it at all. Ah well, everyone else seems to be doing well. Maybe next year, when I have double digit readers, I can carve out time to do something interesting. I do have some bookmarks and other bits I'd be happy to send out. Skate, by Michael Harmon. ARC-- ancient. This was a pretty good book. I loved that it's set in my old home state. I loved that I know where Dusty, Endicott, and Hay are, but no one else is supposed to. The first part was definitely the stronger portion of this book, with the main character dealing with his difficult, every day problems. Once the boys run away, the book loses some of it's strength. My biggest complaint is that the area where the book is set is harsh, beautiful country, and the author could have made more of that, using the desert parts and the hills not just in descriptions but also as a literary device. The skateboarding was also not as big a part of the story as it could have been. I'm not sure why it was the title: the character happens to skateboard as a means of transportation, but that isn't integral to the story. A Taste of Magic, by Tracy Madison. I have no idea why I received this book: it just showed up in the mail last week, along with two bookmarks and a pad of sticky notes. No note of explanation as to why I had received the book. That kind of thing makes me nervous-- why am I getting it? What did I do? Do I have to pay? What is expected of me? This isn't an ARC, but isn't for the collection, as it is has an inscription from the author on the title page. For fluffy chick-lit, this was pretty good, actually. The main character is decent and actually experiences some growth. The way the magic works is new and imaginative, certainly one I haven't seen before. There are a few gratuitous scenes, but that's hardly uncommon with this genre. I didn't like how the character (narrator, since it's in first person) sometimes addresses the reader. It felt hokey and weird. And, as usual, if anyone had bothered to be honest about anything at all, the book would have been about 30 pages long. I thought our patrons would really like this book (and its sequel), but our copy hasn't circulated yet. Of course, that copy belongs to the Bookmobile so maybe doesn't get seen by patrons much. I'll order copies for Main and see how they do. I also forgot, before, about the 7 ARCs I have here at work, either in my office or hanging out in my locker. I am not allowed to check out any books.