Di's Soapbox

Libraries are essential! Today has been one of the crazier days in my life so of course it is the day that news comes out that the President of the United States of America is not supporting libraries with his budget which is absolutely horrifying. I’ve been very good at keeping this website focused on books for the last fifteen years but by golly, it is time to speak out. If we want a future filled with readers, who care about the world around them, who know how to learn on their own, who can synthesize information and create new knowledge, we need to provide them with the laboratory for that learning. That laboratory is not only a place, not only a service, it is a library. Hopefully a library that reaches throughout the community it serves not confined to place but rather a state of mind.

School libraries are of special importance. With so much of what is needed for success in this world, not only personal success but success for the larger world, hinging on information literacy we need to fund school libraries. School libraries need librarians, people who can teach our kids how to find, use, learn, and create knowledge. If you care about the future of libraries, please contact your representatives and push for national legislation to put certified librarians in every school and funding to provide the necessary resources to keep our libraries alive and well. Buffy Hamilton, an extraordinary school librarian wrote an eloquent letter to President Obama today in her blog about the issue. Please read it.

Votes on this format or the glog style are finally in and this format won.

I've been reading a lot, mostly for Quick Picks, and haven't found a lot of books that I've loved. Unfortunately some that I did love, I postponed writing up and as a result have spaced out details.

I've been on Twitter for a while now and often find it usefull. I seem to use it and GoodReads the most. I also like Shelfari but LibraryThing has deleted my account again.

Genrefluent is your headquarters for information about Readers' Advisory and genre fiction for adults and teens.

Here you will find reviews on novels in a variety of genres including, crime, science fiction, adventure, thrillers, romance, fantasy, horror, paranormal, historical fiction, westerns, and romance.

Took off the Amazon widget because of their very weird censorship thing but all my reviews are still here or at GoodReads. Check the widget at the top right for Books of the Week.

Click on the teen page for reviews written by teens of current novels . There you will also find links for teen reviews of books nominated for YALSA selected lists.

Don't forget to read the free Reader's Advisor Online Blog to keep up with what reader's advisors will want to know every week. And, if your library hasn't tried one of the free trials of Reader's Advisor Online, please do. I think it is the best electronic RA tool in existance. I particularly love how well it works for fiction reference which is often one of the steps required when performing reader's advisory.

Check out Good Reads to see some of my other recent reads. Lots and lots of wonderful books have been coming my way lately so expect to see more here in the next few weeks.

Remember there is a search box at the bottom of this page. If you click on Genrefluent it will search this site. Check for reviews and teen comments on your favorite books or for suggestions of good reads.

My latest book, Fluent in Fantasy: The Next Generation (co-written with fantasy diva Bonnie Kunzel) came out last January.

Some of the reviews written by "my" teens and some of my own reviews are included in The Ultimate Teen Book Guide. It's pretty thrilling to be in a book with so many of my heroes.

Happy reading.

Last week's note.