Connie's Halloween Party

Every Halloween I thow a party for the family.  My old stand by is "Dead Man over Worms" and "Bleeding Cementary Cake".  This year, however, I decided to be a bit more conventional:
 

Witches Fingers & Toad Stool

Served with Ranch dip

Snake Bites
Served with your choice of venom or vampire-blood dipping sauce

Zombie Eyeballs Served chilled with a sprinkle of paprika

Goul-lash Salad & Zombie Brains
(Wiggly worms served upon request)

Witches Brew & Blood CupcakesThe brew is served chilled. The cupcakes are frosted with whipped ghosts and topped with colorful candied body parts & sweetened bat ears

Teens, Tween, and E-Readers!

Marketing research shows more teens are picking up e-readers than ever before!

It looks like teens across the country ripped open  Kindles, Nooks, and other popular e-readers for their holiday gifts this year, because Young Adult ebook sales have exploded since last December! According to articles in The New York Times and on the YALSA blog, more and more teens are choosing  e-readers over print books, and more YA ebooks are being downloaded than ever before.

While we’re all used to the idea of teens hanging out and spending  the day with a good paperback, NYT writer Julie Bosman thinks that idea might not last much longer:

“That scene may be slowly replaced by tweens and teenagers clustered in groups and reading their Nooks or Kindles together, wirelessly downloading new titles with the push of a button, studiously comparing the battery life of the devices and accessorizing them with Jonathan Adler and Kate Spade covers in hot pink, tangerine and lime green.”

 

And it’s not just teens either. YA lit as a whole is being downloaded more and more frequently.  Adults with e-readers say they now have more options and more freedom to choose different subjects with the touch of a finger, and many are finding the insightful and awesomely addicting plotlines of YA lit!

Of course, a lot of things play into this: e-readers are getting cheaper and cheaper, more books are being offered (sometimes for free!) in ebook form, and some schools are even offering ebook readers loaded with titles ready to check out from the library.  Although some people are still hesitant with ebook technology, it looks like it’s taking the YA world by storm!

Does anyone have an e-reader program at their school or office? Has anyone just found the joys (or sorrows) of ebook reading? This is such an exciting topic, and we’re so curious!

To read the full articles, visit The New York Times and the YALSA blog.

Remember March is E-book Month!

Check out you local public library and check-out :-) the 'digital offerings'.