ALA Youth Media Awards 2011

Snow Day, snow day!

Hooray!

I was kind of sad about not being able to watch the live feed of the 2011 ALA Youth Media Awards this year because I would have a class in the library (my very first!), but we got 3-1/2" of snow yesterday.  So, no school and I get to watch the announcement! 

It's always an exciting morning for me because I like to see if I did a good job with my collection development (when I was at the public library) and we have the books in our library already.  If we don't, we've got to get those ordered!

So...here's who I hope wins...
Caldecott--Jon Muth for City Dog, Country Frog
Newbery--One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia....though Mockingird by Kathryn Erskine will be in the running too
Geisert--We Are in a Book by Mo Willems

The rest I'm afraid I don't have enough knowledge to make a good guess.  So I'll just wait and see what happens! 

You can watch live by clicking here: http://alawebcast.unikron.com/.  There will be lots of flurry on Twitter and I'm sure facebook will have lots of action too.  I'll post back after the announcements are made the winners and my thoughts!

Comps are DONE! Time to READ!

Happy Day!  I took my comprehensive exam yesterday, concluding all the coursework and requirements for my M.S. Information Sciences.  All that's left now is to wait for the score to be posted, my diploma to be conferred and my teaching endorsement to be processed by the state. All these are out of my hands!

Any happy "Liz passed comps!" would be appreciated though.  I'm fairly confident I did okay, but there is always this sneaking doubt in the back of my head.  We'll just wait and see!

So..now I get to read for fun again.  Here are some things I've got lined up:

 Nightlife: A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon.  I'm a little bit into it, and it's entertaining.  If a reader was a Twi-hard, I could see it annoying them a bit. 

 Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes.  I heard the author speak at the Southern Festival of Books and I've been looking forward to reading this since then! 

I've got to re-read these!  Since I finished the last book, I wanted to re-read The Hunger Games trilogy in order back-to-back.  I'll get to it sooner than later!  

 I enjoy Nicholas Sparks' books, and I'm excited to dive into his latest work.  In his video talk on Amazon, he describes the book as being somewhat similar to The Guardian, which is my favorite of his novels.   Safe Haven was actually the first book I had planned to read post-comps, but I couldn't find my copy when I was packing for my trip across the state!  I'll have to remember where I put it.

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar has been on my list to read for a while, but after hearing Sachar speak at the Southern Festival of Books, it catapulted to the top.  

I saw Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie at my library and was interested.  There are a lot of home school families that visit the library, and a lot of people I know are choosing to home school their children and this just stood out to me.  I'm looking forward to this book!

So, there are the books up first!  I'm so excited to be able to read for pure enjoyment again, I'm sure it won't take me long to get through these.  

What's on your to-read list?  Share your list!   Is there anything you think I should read?  Let me know!

Top 100 YA Novels via Persnickety Snark's Poll

A while back, Persnickety Snark held a Top 100 YA Novels Poll and then tallied the results to create the Top 100 YA Novels. 

I didn't vote in the poll, but did check out the results.  You can see it below and I've bolded the books I have read.   It's 30 of 100, and there are LOTS of books I really want to read listed here! 

Sigh...my "to-be-read" list is never ending.

Top 100 YA Novels via Persnickety Snark's Poll
#100 The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (1985) 

#99 The Pigman by Paul Zindel (1969)
#98 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (1987)
#97 Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (2010) 

#96 The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (2009) 

#95 Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (2009)
#94 Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (2008) 

#93 Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher (2001)
#92 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1994) 

#91 The Astonishing life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party (2006)

#90 Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (2006) 

#89 A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle (1980) 

#88 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (2003) 

#87 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (2006) 

#86 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (1990)
#85 Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (2008)
#84 Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (2006)
#83 The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (2008) 

#82 Jacob I Have Loved by Katherine Paterson (1980)
#81 The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (2009)

#80 Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen (1998) 

#79 Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954) 

#78 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (2006)
#77 Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (1971) 

#76 The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares (2001) 

#75 Feed by MT Anderson (2001) 
#74 The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (1983) 

 #73 Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley (1978)

#72 Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (2009) 
#71 The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (2006)

#70 If I Stay by Gayle Forman (2009) 

#69 Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison (1999)

#68 Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (2008) 
#67 Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen (1999) 

#66 City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (2009)
#65 How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (2004) 

#64 Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1992)

#63 The Diary of a Young Girl (1947)
#62 Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block (1989) 

#61 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (1974) 



#60 Fire by Kristin Cashore (2009)

#59 Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (2006)

#58 Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (2007) 

#57 Dreamland by Sarah Dessen (2000)
#56 Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty (2003) 

#55 Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2003) 

#54 Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (2009) 

#53 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
#52 Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986)
#51 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (2000)



#50 The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (2000) 

#49 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997)
#48 I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948) 

#47 Forever by Judy Blume (1975) 
#46 Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margie Stohl (2009) 

#45 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling (2003) 
#44 Sabriel by Garth Nix (2003) 

#43 Evernight by Claudia Gray (2008) 

#42 The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (2000) 

#41 Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (2008)



#40 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2007) 

#39 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943) 

#38 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2009) 

#37 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (2000) 

#36 Paper Towns by John Green (2008) 

#35 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978) 
#34 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
#33 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (2008) 

#32 Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (1995)
#31 A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (2003) 



#30 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (2005)

#29 Harry and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (2005) 

#28 Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985) 

#27 Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (1983)
#26 The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien (1954) 

#25 Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (2001)
#24 Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007) 

#23 Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008) 

#22 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (2007) 

#21 Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (2009) 



#20 Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen 

 #19 The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999) 

#18 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (1999) 

#17 Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951) 

#16 On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (2006) 

#15 City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (2005) 

#14 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868) 

#13 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (2007) 

#12 Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (2006) 

#11 Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005) 

#10 This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen (2002) 

#9 Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2005) 

#8 The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (1967) 

#7 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006) 

#6 The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (2004) 

#5 Northern Lights [The Golden Compass] by Philip Pullman (1995) 

#4 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (1996) 
#3 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) 

#2 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (1996) 

#1 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)

I've been invited to participate as a presenter in a webinar that is coming up by my state library about YA Literature.   There are 5 of us who will be talking about our favorite YA novels, each of us specifically targeting our favorite genres.   I will be book talking my top 10 favorite realistic fiction books, and am working on my list of faves.  When I finalize it, I'll share!

What I Love

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to reread Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer before the movie came out.  I typically feel very guilty about rereading books as my list of books to read for the first time is quite long!  It doesn't help that I feel spectacularly under read, which does not bode well for my professions.

Of course, if I cut out some TV, this problem may be thwarted.  But, I digress.

So when I finished Eclipse, I of course needed to reread Breaking Dawn.  So I did. 

And here is what I love:

I LOVE when I know how a book ends (because I've already read it) but I cannot remember EXACTLY how the ending happened.  It was like reading it for the first time having the knowledge that everything will be okay.  The journey to get there was practically new!   All the details came rushing back, creating that sense of excitement and drama.  It was awesome.

This is a pretty exciting discovery.  I've decided that I will reread the entire Harry Potter series comes out before November when Harry Potter 7, Part I comes out.  So while I know what happens, I'm excited to dive back into Rowling's world and relive all the wonderful details that creates the journey to the end.  It'll be almost like new! 

Top 100 Books...How I Fared

Elizabeth Bird over on Fuse 8 (A blog from the School Library Journal) has posted her Top 100 Children's novels.  You'll find the list below, and those in bold are the ones that I've read.  (Or recall reading...I think I may have read some of those Roald Dahl books but can't really remember.  So I didn't count it.)   I've read 44 out of the 100.  Not too shabby, but could be better! 

It's a really great list and there are a lot of titles on here I definitely want to read...and soon!  I'm glad to see that some of my favorite books are on this list!

-----------------------          -------------------------        ----------------------       

100. The Egypt Game - Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe - Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted - Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar (1978)

90. Sarah, Plain and Tall - MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)
88. The High King - Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday - Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief - Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)


80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)
72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy - Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)

60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart - Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)

50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)
49. Frindle - Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (1958)

40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me - Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor (1976)
36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000)
34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)

30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II - Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda - Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia - Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit - Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978)

10. The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes - Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 - Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)

Check this girl out...

I don't remember who directed me to this blog, but I'm awfully glad I found it.


This is Laura. I have not met her, and have no idea who she is...but she's an inspiration!

Laura has challenged herself to read every Newbery by the time she enters middle school. She was in second grade when she started, and now is almost finished as a fourth grader!

Go Laura go!

You've inspired me to read more of the Newbery Award winners I never read (which is, ahem, most of them). Thank you and keep up the great work!

Check out her blog here and see what she thinks of the books she's read.

Hooray for Jon Scieszka, Huzzah for Katherine Paterson

Today marks the last day of Jon Scieszka's term as the Ambassador for Children's Literature. This position was created to "raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education, and the development and betterment of the lives of young people."

I'd like to take a second to thank Scieszka for all the work he has done the last two years promoting children's literature! He especially does excellent work with his organization Guys Read that encourages males to read and promotes books written and intended for guys! Plus, he's just a great author!



Thanks Mr. Scieszka! You've been a great Ambassador!

Today, the new Ambassador was chosen: Katherine Paterson. What a wonderful choice and I know that she will do an excellent job with this position! She's another wonderful author and I'm excited to see what she does during her term.

One excited person

So, this morning as I attempted to wake up, I checked my Twitter feed. That's when I saw this tweet from Linda Braun (lbroun200), the YALSA president and educator who've I've had the privilege to hear speak:

"NYT on the return of The Babysitter's Club http://bit.ly/4FwKtI"

.

Needless to say...I woke up quickly after seeing that!

Okay, here's the deal. When I was a kid/tween, I LOVED (loved, LOVED, LOVED) the Babysitter's Club. I had quite collection, and would literally start at Book 1, read all that I had, go to Sam's Club and buy the next set of four, read those, then start the process all over again.

The Babysitter's Club is why I'm a librarian who missed a lot of great books published during during my childhood and classics. I was busy reading the BSC! (Don't worry...I'm working on catching up on those now...in my 30's!)

I was kind of disappointed when the library I work at only had a few installments of the series. When I ran across 85% of the series at the farmer's market for a quarter a book, I jumped on that deal! Now the library has a decent set of the series and they've been checked circulating pretty well. We also have the BSC graphic novel set. (Which are pretty stinkin' cool!)

I'm so excited to get this new set for the library and especially read the prequel: The Babysitter's Club: The Summer Before, due out April 1, 2010 according to Amazon.



How exciting that a whole new generation will get to enjoy a series of books their mom's enjoyed!

Oooh, I can't Wait!

Oh, my! I just can't wait!

Summer Reading Lists

In this month's School Library Journal, they ran an article reporting on what many different authors are reading this summer. It's pretty interesting! You can read that article here.

After checking out these authors' list, I thought about what I wanted to read this summer! Here is my list...

*Handle with Care by Jodi Piccoult
*The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
*Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury
*The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
*Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
*The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
*Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff

There's no doubt that I'll add more as we get new books in at the library that I will just have to read. So we'll just have to see what else is in store!

What is on your list? Is there a book that you've read lately that I just have to read? Leave a comment and let me know!

YALSA Releases Best Books of the Year for Young Adults

Happy Day!

YALSA (Young Adult Services Library Association) has released their yearly Best Books of Young Adults.

You can check out the entire list here, or the just the Top Ten List here.

Again, I have a lot of reading to do!

Do Ever Wonder...

Do you ever wonder how someone reacts when they get a phone call saying their book just won the Newbery Medal?

Wonder no more.

Head on over to Neil Gaiman's blog and he'll tell you all about it.

Also, check out the video from the Today show when Al Roker interviews the Newbery & Caldecot medal winners. (We learn here that The Graveyard Book will soon be a movie!)

I'm reading his book now, so far it's good!

UPDATED: Oh MY! THIS IS COOL!!!

Click here and you can watch Gaiman READ his book online. I haven't tried it, I want to read it for myself first, but I will totally be trying this out SOON!

2009 Edgar Award Nominees

Check out this link to see what YA and Juvenile novels have been nominated for the Edgar Award.

The Edgar Award is the literature award awarded by the Mystery Writers of America. The award is named after Edgar Allen Poe and will be given in April 2009. There are a number of categories besides the youth divisions, adult books and even plays will be awarded with an Edgar Award. Click here to see the full list of nominees.

Sadly, I don't know much about many of the books listed, but I am pulling for John Green's Paper Towns to win the YA award! It looks like I need to start reading some good mysteries!

Breaking News...

Well not really.

Today Mo Willem's latest book Naked Mole Rats Gets Dressed is available for purchase.

The library got a copy in early, so of course I grabbed and have already enjoyed reading it! (Review coming soon!)

It's a cute one, so run out to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy today!



I am hoping to snag a signed copy from my favorite independent bookstore (that is far way, sad!) later this week. Either way, you'll be seeing a new book day post very soon!

Now back to regular programming, a new book review went up today below!

YALSA Literature Symposium

This weekend I will be attending the YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium in Nashville, TN. I am SO excited to get to hang out with some YA book lovers and hear what is the latest and greatest in that world. I'm looking forward to some great informative sessions and meeting some great YA authors!

Check back early next week for a wrap-up of my experience!!

Good Times at the Southern Festival of Books (and NEW BOOK DAY!)

Today my mom and I headed to the Southern Festival of Books at the War Memorial Plaza in Nashville. I have been looking forward to this event for some time now, and was seriously pumped the day was here!

I was looking forward to listening to a few authors in particular: Sherman Alexie, Patricia and Frederick McKissack, and Gloria Jean Pinkney. I was not disappointed in any of their presentations.

The first session we attended was entitled "Two Award-Winning Picture Book Authors Present Their Latest Works : Gloria Jean Pinkney, Patricia McKissack." Basically, these two incredible authors discussed their writings and other fun facts, such as the book business, their backgrounds and their writing process. Mrs. Pinkney even sang a little! It was incredible.

We stopped by the book sale table and picked up some books and both ladies personalized and signed the copies. These books are now treasured additions to my library!

The second session we attended was entitled "Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out: Mary Brigid Barrett, Patricia McKissack, Fredrick McKissack, Lynda Johnson Robb." This book is a collection of works from 108 different children's authors and illustrators around the theme of the US White House throughout history. Each president that resided in the White House is represented in the book, along with an abundance of White House facts. The four contributors that were present read their submission to the book as well as some other parts as well.

I had purchased this book earlier in the day and each of the contributors present signed my copy on the page their story was located. What is especially special about this book is a project of the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance, a not-for-profit literacy organization created in 1997 by award-winning children's book authors and illustrators. The talent that participated in the book will forgo all royalties and that money will go back into the coalition for future endeavors. (Which is reason enough to go get a copy now, not to mention how utterly awesome this book is!)

Finally, we attended the session entitled "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian : Sherman Alexie" where Alexie shared this book. This was the event I had been looking most forward to as I had read this book over the summer and absolutely adored it! (My mom is even reading the book now as I type!)

Alexie was absolutely hilarious as he shared his experiences and the audience seemed to be enthralled the entire time he spoke. I had my books signed, which was totally awesome.

So, overall it was an amazing day. There was so much to see, so much to do! We only saw a small percentage of the authors who were sharing, but felt like we saw the ones that mattered most to us. I cannot wait to go next year!



My loot of the day:
Daniel and the Lord of the Lions by Gloria Jean Pinkney, illustrated by Robert Casilla. (Signed by the author!)
Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. (Signed by the author!)
Our White House: Looking in Looking Out by various authors and illustrators. (Signed by four contributors!)
Flight by Sherman Alexie. (Signed by the author!)

We also got various bookmarks, postcards, and other fun things!



This is my copy of The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, now signed by the author.

Hopefully, book reviews will be posted in the near future for books shown here today!

Where You Will Find Me This Weekend...

I think you should join me!

Find out more about the Southern Festival of Books here and check out the authors that will be visiting here.

A New Page....

Hello Friends!

(Which I realize I am speaking to myself as anyone who ever followed this site gave up on it a LONG time ago as I stopped posting...)

But today is a new day and I'm starting something new.

If you know me at all, you know that I "heart" books. I love to read, which is good because I am a librarian! A children's librarian, which is seriously, the best job in the world.

Also, I am in graduate school diligently working on a MIS (Master's in Information Science), sometimes also called Information/Library Sciences. Many of the classes I have taken/am taking/will take require me to read lots of great books and write summaries for them.

Which is actually quite fun.

So, in a feeble attempt to be technological savvy and to keep the practice alive of writing book reviews, I have changed the content of this blog to just that...book reviews.

Hopefully you will find them interesting and it will encourage you to pick up a great read.

Please understand that I am a novice, and learning the fine art of writing superb reviews. I promise to do my best. And to update as often as possible! (Really.)

Enjoy!