Posters, posters, posters

Buying books was fun!

I am on a train back to London after a day at Peter's Booksellers in Birmingham. It was my first trip to Peter's , had lunch and coffee laid on.

I spent £815 on books, not the most I have spent in a day but it was worthwhile nonetheless!

Tonight I am going to write some reviews and finish up the latest edition of Teen Librarian (almost) Monthly.

The Chronicles of Dekaydence: The Lost Journal

In Black Light, the first in the series, Planet Earth is dying – and a royal prince, a rock musician and a feisty journalist are trying to save it. But they're up against a global corporation, Dekaydence, which has other plans, including The Sticky Rock Café, a chain of environmental meeting places for teenagers with an enticing blend of great music and fashion. But are the cafes as well meaning as they appear?

There are other dark secrets about and within Dekaydence – and not only Tartan Guards, Eye-Spies and wild metal haggoids.

I first met Susie Cornfield - the author of the Dekaydence series at my first Youth Libraries Group Conference in 2008, we had previously corresponded via e-mail as she had written a brilliant Teen environmental awareness, sci-fi adventure novel called Black Light (the first book in the Chronicles of Dekaydence). This was followed up with the sequel Green Fire.

Now, keeping up with technological advancements she has released a prequel on the iOS platform, and until some kind philanthropist donates an iPad to my cause (blatant hint) it is something I will not be able to play with, which is a pity because it looks damn good.

Don't just take my word for it have a look at the promo video below!

Today I was the Bookstart Bear

Embassy of Japan

So the live blogging form the Manga Jiman event at the Embassy of Japan did not happen. I tried but there was so much going on I did not want to miss anything, the artwork of the finalists was phenomenal! I will link to the winning entries once they go up on the embassy website, I was shocked, aed and made exceedingly jealous by the range of talent on display!

It was also a great networking opportunity, I finally met the great John Aggs and caught up with Chie Kutsuwada who I do not see nearly often enough, we have worked together several times running manga workshops and she is one of the loveliest artists writing & drawing manga in the UK. Karen Rubins was also in attendance, she placed seventh in the Manga Jiman competition with a brilliant piece of work.

I also had the opportunity to speak to Simon Wright sernior coordinator for cultural affairs at the embassy, I may have the opportunity to work with him in the future to promote the competition to teen mangaka. I chatted to Susan Meechan from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and several of the finalists from the competition, it looks as if manga will feature high on my development agenda for 2011/2012 and I made the decision to enter the Manga Jiman 2011 competition instead of just supporting it.

Libraries and Linux

A thought just occurred to me - Libraries and Linux have a lot in common.

• They are both free (although there are some you can pay for)
• Sometimes it takes time to find exactly what you are looking for
• People that use them are passionate about them
• You get critics who cannot understand why they are used and say things like why not pay for (books/software etc) instead of getting them (legally) for free?
• It is actually easier to use them than it first appears (although libraries can be a tad easier all round)
• If you have problems with either you can ask for help and with both you can sometimes get stuck with a curmudgeonly expert who can't understand why you are having difficulties but who will help you (although jargon may be used)
• Both are used far more than a lot of people think

These are just some of the similarities - if anyone has other ideas please feel free to share them in the comments and I will add them at a later date.