Loving you for who you are

With February’s theme being all about love, I wanted to end this month on a really positive note.    We might think about Valentine’s Day in February, love, and love stories, but it’s important to remember that love is also about loving ourselves.   Basically, loving who you are for who you are.   It’s not something that’s always easy for everyone, and it’s not something that happens all the time.  In fact, it can be easy to focus on everyone else but yourself, and if you do think about yourself, to focus on anything you find negative.

But it’s important to be kind to yourself.  And love yourself a little (or a lot!).  Sometimes, it can help to read about other teens who might be struggling a little with this kind of thing, or get some ideas from someone on how to give yourself a boost.   We have a lot of resources in the library, so here are just a few: and romantic

Artichoke’s heart by Suzanne Supplee (Jh SUP)
Defying the diva by D. Anne Love (Jh LOV)
Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin (TN MAR) Go figure by Jo Edwards (TN EDW)
Gorgeous by Rachel Vail (Jh VAI)
Keeping the moon by Sarah Dessen (Jh DES)
The list by Siobhan Vivian (Jh VIV)
The skin I’m in by Sharon Flake (Jh FLA)
This book isn’t fat, it’s fabulous by Nina Beck (TN BEC)
The Ugly One by Leanne Statland Ellis (Jh ELL)

Adios, Barbie : young women write about body image and identity (158.1 ADI)
Dear teen me (Jh816.6 DEA)

Books with a TN may be found on the lower level, back wall (Teen book); Books with a Jh may be found on the second floor, in Youth Services; 158.1 may be found in Adult nonfiction in the lower level.

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More love stories —

February’s feature on love is a great opportunity to showcase some of the great love stories you can find in the library.   In today’s post, I’m including a few books that we have that are GLBT teen love stories:

Boy meets boy by David Levithan (TN LEV)
Two boys kissing by David Levithan, David (TN LEV)
Promise me something by Sara Kocek (TN KOC)
Empress of the world by Sara Ryan (Jh RYA)
Ash by Malinda Lo (TN LO)
Ask the passengers : a novel by A.S. King (Jh KIN)
Boyfriends with girlfriends by Alex Sanchez, Alex (TN SAN)
If you could be mine : a novel by Sata Farizan (TN FAR)

Books with a Jh may be found in Youth Services, on the second floor; books with a TN may be found on the lower level, against the back wall.

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How about some love stories?

February’s feature is all about love — and you know we’ve got loads of love stories here in the library.  Here are just a few:

Dash & Lily’s book of dares by Rachel Cohn (TN COH)
What they found : love on 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers (TN MEY)
The summer I turned pretty by Jenny Han (Jh HAN)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Jh ROW and TN ROW)

Titles with a Jh can be found in Youth Services, on the library’s second floor; titles with a TN can be found in the Teen books, on the lower level, against the back wall

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How about some animal love?

Since our display down near the Teen section is all about love this month, I thought I’d include a post about the dogs, cats, and other animal companions that touch people’s lives.    For people who have had an animal companion in their life that they found special, there’s nothing like that relationship.   So, today, I’m highlighting just a few of the great books in our library’s collection about special animals and the people who love them.    You can find all of these books in our Adult nonfiction section (lower level of the library).

Bad Dog: A Love Story by Martin Kihn (636.7 KIH)
Devoted : 38 extraordinary tales of love, loyalty, and life with dogs by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca (636.7 ASH)
Dewey’s nine lives : the legacy of the small-town library cat who inspired millions by Vicki Myron (636.8 MYR)
A street cat named Bob and how he saved my life by James Bowen, James (636.8 BOW)
Horses never lie about love : the heartwarming story of a remarkable horse who changed the world around her by Jana Harris (636.1 HAR)
Wesley the owl : the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl by Stacey O’Brien (598.08 OBR)

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

So, whether you celebrate it or not …. and how you may choose to celebrate it …. it’s Valentine’s Day today.     But just who was Saint Valentine?   Here’s some trivia about this holiday:

• The Catholic Church lists several different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One story is that Valentine was a priest who defied the Roman Emperor Claudius and performed marriages in secret (and when he was discovered, was put to death).
• Whichever Saint Valentine there actually was, Valentine’s Day is speculated to be not on the date of his death, but on a date to coincide with the pagan fertility festival of Lupercalia.
• Whatever the reason for Valentine’s Day actually is, people in a number of different countries celebrate it. Statistics from 2013 show that 145 million Valentine’s Day cards were purchased, which keeps it in line with the consistent statistics that indicate it’s the second largest holiday when cards are sent (Christmas is #1).
• Necco Candy Company produces about 100,000 pounds of those little candy conversation hearts every year, when they sell about 8 billion pounds of them.  No word on what dentists do to celebrate this in the months after Valentine’s Day.

You can find more facts and trivia about Valentine’s Day here and here

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Teen Read Thursdays: Hot title — Cruel Beauty

This is due to hit the New Teen Books display soon (lower level, across from the Connection Desk), and fits in with this month’s theme of Love:   Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge   (TN HOD)

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl’s journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love. (summary courtesy of Goodreads)
 

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What makes a song a love song??

So what is it that makes a song a love song?  Is it the words?  Is it the melody?   Maybe it’s a combination of words that talk about love combined with a tune that we can’t get out of our head.

But maybe it’s the memory that we attach to it.

If you look for “Love Songs” in the library’s catalog as a subject, you get CDs like “Seduction: Sinatra Sings of Love” by Frank Sinatra, and “The Love Songs of Motown” by various artists.    But are these what all of us think of love songs?  Maybe.  Maybe more like classic love songs.  For a lot of listeners, they would agree that Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye have a way with romantic songs.     Some people might think of artists before they think of individual love songs.   For example, maybe I say “love songs” and you think of someone like Justin Timberlake,  Taylor Swift, or Bruno Mars.

But when I think about songs that I think are my own personal love songs, they range all over the place.  I think about songs that were popular when I had my first crush in high school, and the albums I associate with ex-boyfriends.  I think about the song that my husband and I call “our song,” which is personal just to us.   And when I think about some of those songs, they aren’t about love at all; but when I listen to them, I think about a person that I was with, or a moment in time.

So here’s my sample of songs and artists for today:  “Lovesong” sung either by The Cure, or covered by Adele; “Brokenhearted Savior” by Big Head Todd & The Monsters; “I’ll Fall with Your Knife” by Peter Murphy; “I Feel You” by Depeche Mode; “These Days” by Foo Fighters
and just about anything by Howie Day, Adele and Annie Lennox

I’m hoping for some comments on this post — what are some of your favorite love songs??

And I should mention, speaking of music, that we have a great CD collection, both in Adult Services and in Youth Services.   So, if you’re looking for some music, or some suggestions for something to listen to, come see us!

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