busy week at the byustore
You may have heard, or may not have depending on how much you've burrowed out of your study hole in the last couple of weeks, but the BYU Bookstore has officially become the byustore. In an effort to rebrand, reach out, and reboot. It is our goal and our hope to recreate what the byustore is and how it interacts with BYU students, alumni, and everyone else. My personal favorite new goal for the byustore is that we will be sponsoring more fun events at the store to make it an exciting place to shop and to visit. As a writer for this blog, I would be more than happy to read any of your contributions and suggestions on how to make the byustore a more exciting place to visit. I love brainstorming! However, please note that I don't have nearly as much power as I might like.
Finals Are Fast Approaching and All I Want to do is Read A Novel: Some Tips on Staying on Track
How is it that finals are sneaking up on us and the school year is almost done already? Sometimes the weeks seem to go brutally slow but then all of sudden you're handing in final papers and filling out flashcards. For some reason while I was growing up I assumed that we spent a good chunk of our lives at college but older me has now fully realised how fast it actually goes. I didn't even know it was possible to learn so much in such little time. I didn't even know it was possible to feel this wiped out and honestly I'm ready to lie in bed all day watching movies and reading novels.
Since I needed motivation myself, I thought it might be a good idea to outline some helpful study tips and procrastination avoiders. Since being here I've stumbled across some pretty great (and definitely free) tools and if I'm being completely honest, I may have googled some of these to add more content to this post.
- Go to Quizlet.com, don't ask questions just go there. Save paper and enter your flashcards into this website and then play all the games! I speak from personal experience when I say that this increased my grade a good 20% from midterm to the other. It turns out my old way of studying wasn't as prime as I had thought it was.
- I don't want to encourage you to use Sparknotes but if you are an English major or any major with a ton of reading, this is a great website to use as a way to review what you've already read.
- If you still haven't figured out how to schedule very well then Schooltraq is ridiculously helpful! It is literally just an online planner that will help you remember everything you need to do and the importance in which you need to do them! Plus it includes a calendar and you can access it from your phone to.
- If you just need a simple to-do list the Wunderlist app is great!
- For all last minute papers: easybib.com is the place to go. If you haven't discovered this one already, you're missing out. It makes creating a bibliography simply a manner of minutes.
- For those with Apple software, be adventurous and try the SelfControl app. It will help you block out distracting websites and applications for a set time and there is literally nothing you can do to get around it.
One last thing, don't forget to keep your eye on the light at the end of the tunnel. Believe it or not, finals only last for a week. To keep you motivated and focused on this idea maybe use your free time to plan out some of your summer. Spend some time writing out a reading list and since I mentioned reading, let me just throw in that the books you read and hated in high school, you should read those again. Believe it or not but reading the classics as a little bit older and wiser really changes your perspective. Just don't spend too much time planning things out. Don't get the wrong idea and think I'm giving you excuses to procrastinate even though I really am.
Allanah Osborn is an avid reader with a bookshelf that costs way too much money to move from one apartment to the next. She is currently a BYU Bookstore employee and writes regularly for the Y Read Blog.
READ LOCAL
I love seeing local authors do well. Even more I love connecting with books that have been written by local authors. At the BYU Bookstore when I say "local read," I am laying claim to:
- Utah authors and illustrators
- LDS authors and illustrators as well as
- BYU alumni that are authors and illustrators
They are all of particular interest here.
Two locals who qualify in more than one of those areas are both Brandons – Brandon Mull and Brandon Sanderson. Both men have the loyalty of the BYU Bookstore. We recommend their books highly and with good success. The success I claim is more important than money; it is customer satisfaction. I theorize that writers who write first because they love to, and then to earn their way, tell a better story. Brandon Mull and Brandon Sanderson are authors who write because they love to. The stories they tell are loved in turn by their readers. They both have multiple new titles worth looking at.
Brandon Mull's Sky Raiders launched March 11. Sixth grader, Cole goes into what he thinks is a haunted house and ends up in the "Outskirts" involved with the Sky Raiders and the problem of how to get himself and his friends home. Don't let the sixth grade age limit your interest. I was thoroughly entertained by this book. It is book 1 of the new Five Kingdoms series. Spirit Animals is a new multiple author series and book 1 is written by Brandon Mull. Wild Born debuted September 2013. Brandon has done a great job of launching the story and the line-up of authors for the rest of the series is stellar. Brandon Mull creates worlds that we jump to believe in.
Brandon Sanderson writes books for young and old with ease. His fans love the books without regard to the target age. He loves to write and he loves his readers. It is a wonderful formula for success. Words of Radiance, book 2 of his Stormlight series launched at a midnight party hosted by BYU Bookstore this month, selling well over 700 books. His recent Young Adult books, Rithmatist and Steelheart are big favorites. I have confessed to a case of fantasy fatigue before I started Rithmatist. I picked it up out of loyalty to Brandon but admittedly in the mood for realism not fantasy. Even with that negative start, he had me enthralled before page 5. A sure cure for fantasy fatigue is well-written fantasy. Steelheart delivers intense action and fast-paced super-hero plotting.
These authors aren't just running with best sellers. They lead the pack.
- Anita
Anita is the Children's Book buyer for the BYU Bookstore and has worked at the BYU Bookstore for over ten years! Anita spreads her love of reading within our Children's Books department and with many local events.
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
I was required to read this novel for my creative writing class in my first year here at BYU. I had never heard of the book before, nor the author, and my professor was an interesting character so I was a little hesitant to dive straight into reading this one at first.
However, after purchasing My Name is Asher Lev, I had left it on my desk and my roommate saw it. She quickly exclaimed that it was one of the best books she had ever read. So, a little curious, I began to read it.
My Name is Asher Lev is about a young Jewish boy who grows up to become an artist. In this beautifully written novel the author, Chaim Potok, illustrates the internal struggle Asher Lev faces in trying to balance his love for his religion and his love for art. Eventually his obsession with the creative world distances him from his home, his culture, and his family.
Since I am a huge nerd for all things literature and art, I fell in love with Potok's novel quickly. He beautifully explains the clash between cultures, and the struggle of doing what you love versus becoming who your parents expect you to be.
I rarely make this claim but Chaim Potok has woven in a love of writing and a love of stories so incredibly well that My Name is Asher Lev is definitely well worth your time.
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