November Book Roundup

Books, books, and more books! Okay, there are only three, but here are the recommendations for the month.

Since I just can't run a blog without talking about books, at the end of every month, I'll give you what books I've been reading and what I've thought about them. This month has been a little slow, with school kicking into high gear, so I only have three books for you.

Amaryllis by Jayne Castle

            An early book of Jayne Castle’s (who also writes as Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick), this is a quick sci-fi romance. I can tell that it’s a bit less polished than her more recent romance novels, but it still contains all the suspense and, well, romance, that I love from her other books. This is the first in a trilogy about strong psychic talents and the female prisms they need to focus those talents.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

            Man do I ever love YA, and Rick Riordan is one of the best. The first in the Heroes of Olympus Series, the sequel to the much loved Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lost Hero exhibits all of Rick Riordan’s amazing wit. A whole new cast of characters joins the series in this book, along with some old favorites. This is my second time reading this book and it is just as great. Knowing what I do now, it’s amazing to see how things are set up for the following books.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

            I must admit that this book took me a while to get into. The premise is very interesting, but the action seems a bit disconnected. However, Wecker ties everything up nicely in the end, weaving in seemingly unimportant characters and events. The ending is a bit ambiguous, but just enough so that the reader can decide some of the details for herself without feeling like there was no proper resolution. All in all, a good read.

What have you been reading? Tell me in the comments! I'm always on the lookout for new books!

A New Way to Follow!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In my other post today, I mentioned that I use the Bloglovin app to keep on top of the many blogs I follow. Well, now you can follow me there, too!

Share Spotlight: Partners in Conservation

November is Native American Heritage month and the US Fish and Wildlife Service honors the impact of the tribes who work with them.

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This week's share spotlight comes from the US Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Region:
Partners in Conservation--Native American Tribes Contribute Essential Data to Elwha Watershed Restoration

I kind of grew up in the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the arm of the Department of the Interior that runs Wildlife Refuges, the places that are more for the animals than the people, as opposed to the National Parks, which tend to be more for the people than the animals.

This week's share spotlight showcases something that the USF&WS is getting increasingly awesome at: partnering with the community to make a difference. They know that conservation only works when the whole community is behind it, and the best way to get them there is to involve them, let them participate, learn, and see the results of their actions.

In this case, the major partner is a Native American tribe in the Pacific Northwest. Tribe members are essential to recording the data necessary for the USF&WS to monitor changes in the area.

Where have you seen Native Americans (or anyone) making a difference in conservation? Have you been to your local Wildlife Refuge? Odds are good there is one nearby.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Some Connection Required

After a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, I came out feeling that I was missing something essential: a human connection.

A few weeks ago, I went to DC on a field trip for my Master’s program. One of the focal points of the trip was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We had spent one class talking about articles and books about the museum and learning its history so that we would be prepared to study the museum as museum professionals. Quite frankly, I was not looking forward to this part of our trip to begin with, and the reading did not make me any more optimistic.

I am sorry to say that my expectations were realized.

Perhaps one of the problems was the crowds. We got there about ten minutes before the museum opened and there was already a line halfway around the block. Add the school groups to the tourists, and the crowds grew to the point of claustrophobia. This was only exacerbated by the way the museum was designed. The first exhibit space is a long narrow hallway with exhibits on both sides. It created a bottleneck and endless frustration as people stopped to look at exhibits and held up everyone behind them. Maybe I would have had a different experience if I had gone on a day with fewer people, and, if you go, I encourage you to find an off day.

But even the removal of the crowds could not have fixed what I found to be the fundamental problem with the museum: a lack of humanity.

For a museum completely about a people’s erasure of identity, it did a very poor job establishing that identity in the first place. Visitors are taken up an elevator and dumped into Hitler’s rise to power. There is no celebration of Jewish life before the war, no way to connect to these people as people. Without that visceral connection to the victims of the Holocaust, the museum becomes a horror show, or, if you can get past the horrors, a history lesson.

There were only three places in the entire museum that I felt something like that connection. The first was the Tower of Faces, photographs from the Eishishok Shetl (the name for a Jewish village). The exhibit lines a three story tower, looking like an album plastered to the walls, and ends with a startling message: Today, there are no Jews in Eishishok.

The second place was on the two glass bridges over the main hall. The first is etched with the first names of people who died in the Holocaust while the second is etched with the names of villages that were destroyed by the Holocaust. These are easy to connect to: “That could be my name up there,” or maybe “My name is up there” and “That could be my town on this wall.”

Finally, the Identity Cards. Visitors receive a card when they enter the museum, picking from piles sorted into Male and Female. It tells the story of the person in the card as you move through the museum. The cards are often criticized because they wind up in the trash as soon as the visitor leaves the museum, but for me, the card was where I connected most; I spent most of my time in the museum wondering if the person whose life I held in my hand had survived and her presence became a constant companion through the museum.

If you get the chance, go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Everyone should go once. But bring the personal connections with you. Learn about these people before you go. Maybe then, you won’t get wrapped up in the horrors, but rather the loss—of people, of culture, of serenity. And then you can walk out of the museum feeling the truth of their motto: Never Again.

Share Spotlight: Do You Ever Feel Like Wonder Woman?

 From When You Work At a Museum:
The opening reception for the new exhibition starts in 10 minutes, you’re wearing a dress and high heels, and you have to climb a 16 ft. ladder to rehang an installation. What do you do?

 As an "emerging museum professional" (at least that's what they called me at the conference I went to a few weeks ago) I am still learning the ins and outs of the field. For me, one of the big ones has been professional dress. In Texas, nice blue jeans and a pretty blouse are considered "business casual." Not so in New York (or anywhere else, for that matter), and so I have to sympathize with the occasional absurdity of women's fancy wear.

But! Every once in a while, you do get to feel like Wonder Woman.

I am distinctly reminded of a quote I once saw:
"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels."

What do you think? When have you felt like Wonder Woman lately?
Bonus points if the story involves fancy dress. :)

Share Spotlight: Surprised in Rome: Bravo Palazzo Massimo!

I've really gotten interested in blogs recently and currently follow 17 blogs of various types, from fashion and lifestyle to Catholic to comics to museums to Spanish language. I've got some wide interests. :) But I thought that it would be neat if I picked a post each week to highlight. I'll start with a link to the blog post, then tell you what I think of it.


 This week's share spotlight comes from The Uncataloged Museum.

Surprised in Rome: Bravo Palazzo Massimo!

I love museums (obviously, I'm in a Museum Studies Program) and I love to travel, but the two don't always come together as often as I'd like. This post was a vicarious way for me to travel to Italy, but was also a bit more than that.

As a budding museum professional, how a museum is presented to the public is incredibly important. As museums have shifted to an educational focus, the public becomes the primary audience, and if they aren't getting anything out of the museum, the museum isn't doing its job.

Imagine my surprise to read that Italy, the Mecca for art museum lovers, was so poorly interpreted! But Linda Norris, the author of The Uncataloged Museum blog, has found a gem. Palazzo Massimo sounds like a wonderful visit, whether you are a museum professional or not.

What do you think? If you've been abroad, how do foreign museums differ from American museums in interpretation? What about museums in the US? What museum have you been to that struck you as a gem?