Library Loot: Defeat Snatched From Victory

I am still rather overextended at my local libraries, with no hope in sight. So clearly I need to buckle down and exercise some discretion, especially since I am hoping to get a lot of books for Christmas. So I've been grabbing chances to duck my local libraries (both of them).

Thursday my kids came home from school with my sister, so our regularly scheduled library run didn't happen. I made it to the local library to drop some things off, and managed to squeak out with only a few picture books.

• Come Along Daisy, from the KG reading list
• Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa, from the 1-2 grade list
• On Angel Wings, which was wildly mis-shelved and I SAVED it by checking it out as an act of mercy. Christmas books are very seasonal.

That evening I had several school-related meetings, so I couldn't get over to our regular branch of the county library. Luckily another branch is located over by one of the schools (our school zoning is a bit insane, so our "neighborhood" schools are anything but), and I dropped off the ultra-due books. I was a bit early, so I browsed around and found some interesting books, but I didn't check anything out. Because I'm so mature and good at delayed gratification and all. No problem.

On Friday morning I noticed I had a library hold about to expire at the regular branch. So I swung by after dropping off the kids at school, but on my way to volunteer at another school library. There were two books on the hold shelf, and somehow I noticed two other books on the recommended shelf, but no real problem. After all, I had dropped of a bunch of books.

• Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West, 1848-1861. I saw this in the local paper review section (on hold).
• Dragon Actually. Discussion book for Dirty Sexy Books, a blog I found recently (on hold).
• The Private Patient. Newish (to me) Adam Dalgliesh mystery by P.D. James.
• Blood Memories. Fun looking vampire book.

At this point I was feeling smug and in control. Even borrowing a book from the school library didn't chill my buzz.

• Millicent Min, Girl Genius, by Lisa Yee.

Unfortunately, on Saturday I noticed that I had forgotten to pick up the Transformer DVD also on hold. Through an unfortunate combination of circumstances, I ended up heading over to pick it up with all four kids, knowing that we'd go straight from the library to piano lessons. How to entertain three kids for an hour while a fourth kid took a lesson? A and P each had 30 minute lessons, and lately have been forcing me to play chess during the wait. Horrors! So I grabbed a few books for each kid from the shelves, and also noticed another book for me on the hold shelf. Curse you, efficient librarian!

• The Iron Ring, by Lloyd Alexander. Aimed at the eleven year old, seems to have missed.
• Party Shoes, Noel Streatfeild. Aimed at any literate child, but doesn't count because I own it and am returning it since they can read my copy even if they got interested, which so far hasn't happened. Doesn't count at all.
• Floating Jellyfish, non-fiction picture book. Aimed at 1st grader, solid hit.
• Sea Critters, non-fiction picture book. Again, read and enjoyed during the lessons.
• One Big Ocean, non-fiction picture book. Any guesses as to current obsession of the first grader? Another win.
• If You're Happy and You Know It! Picture book read with great enjoyment by third grader to first grader, although a few hushes were needed during the more exuberant bits.
• Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey. Picture book enjoyed by the fifth grader. OK, not my target audience, but it turned out to be very text dense.
• Merry Christmas Ollie. Picture book that the first grader stalled out in, because whiny goslings aren't as interesting as personal speculations on one's own Christmas prospects.
• Yoon and the Christmas Mitten. Picture book, not chosen during piano lessons.
• Who Wants to Be a Poodle? I Don't, Picture book by Lauren Child, not chosen but I have better hopes for bedtime.
• The Kids Are All Right, by Amanda & Liz Welch , with Dan and Diana Welch. Book about rich orphaned kids, I think. Recommended to me somewhere (hold shelf).
• Honestly, Mallory!, by Laurie Friedman. Requested by third grader.
• Who Is Stealing the Twelve Days of Christmas?, by Martha Freeman. Aimed at a third grader, who has carried it around but I'm not sure if he started it. I found it on the shelf with the requested book.
• And that Transformer DVD, something about MiniCons, or something.

So, that was a bit of a lapse, but it was because of the emergency situation. And since I managed to avoid playing chess, it was all worth while. However, the fifth grader had hoped to find Xenocide on the shelves, since he has been reading the Ender Wiggen books by Orson Scott Card. And I had to spend the afternoon in our little downtown area, right next to the local library. Of course I peeked in to see if I could make his day. Not quite, but almost. There was a slight bit of collateral damage, of course.

• Ender's Shadow, a different book by the same author and about the same people. The boy was happy.
• Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, by Lisa Yee, which is a book about the boy in the Millicent Min book I got yesterday. I love these parallel stories, and I think there's a third about the other main character.
• Son of the Mob, by Gordon Korman. I got this while helping my sister get her own copy of our book club book. I've been meaning to read it for ages now.

Library Elf puts me at 81 items out. And it says I have another hold ready... Off to sign up for the Library Loot linky, so I can see people worse off than me.