As someone who is always trying to find out about the next new book, I used to read the hard copy of the paper, as well as talk to people about what they were reading and what they might recommend. However, as my life has become more busy, the ability to take five minutes to have a face-to-face conversation or read a review in a newspaper has disappeared.
Luckily, book reviews and conversations have grown with the times and become digitized.
In trying to engage my students in learning more about books (as well as letting others know about their choices), I have to say I am a fan of all the new ways to stay up on your books.
Here are a few that I recommend:
Shelfari -- One of my best friends from high school introduced me to this site. This site allows for you to keep track of all your books on a bookshelf. As I type this entry, I have 821 books listed on the site and I am guessing there are more out there that I haven't included yet. In addition to keeping track of books you have read, you can also note books you are reading or want to read. Beyond your own personal shelf, you can see other people's shelves, as well as join online book groups with different topics. Some groups I belong to are: YA Books That Adults Should Read, Moms Who Read to Escape Their Weary Lives, and 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Although I have yet to use Shelfari in my classroom, I know plenty of teachers who use this with students and have found it to be very successful in getting students excited about reading, as well as discussing what they read.
GoodReads -- Like Shelfari, GoodReads allows you to keep track of books, join groups, etc. Different from Shelfari (which is probably why I belong to both) is the ability to read blogs of different authors, as well as use its app on your mobile device. This is really cool because rather than write down that book you see at the bookstore you can just scan its bar code and upload it to your list of books to read. Lastly, many authors or professionals have accounts on GoodReads so you have the opportunity to look at their shelves/blogs as well. A couple of note are:
Blogs -- Many people have blogs that include "book talks" of sorts on a regular basis so you can keep up on the latest and greatest that is out there. Since Young Adult Fiction (YAF) is what I tend to read, I find myself drawn to these blogs, but there are plenty of them out there for picture books and chapter books as well. In addition, I also tend to read both professional blogs and blogs by authors. Some of my favorite blogs are:
Twitter -- Many authors and professionals have found a venue for letting us know about books and other literacy related ideas through their "tweets." As Donalyn Miller noted at a conference that I attend recently that Twitter is a great way to find out about things and you don't have to follow it all the time, but whenever you get a chance there is usually something you can find on it. Many authors and professionals "tweet" under the following:
- Donalyn Miller -- @donalynbooks
- Laurie Halse Anderson -- @halseanderson
- Kate Messner -- @KateMessner
- Teri Lesesne -- @ProfessorNana
- Penny Kittle -- @writer
- Jim Burke -- @englishcomp
- New York Times Books -- @nytimesbooks
- Neil Gaiman -- @neilhimself
Overall, I still prefer the smell of the newspaper or cup of coffee (if I am chatting with friends), but until I can slow my life down to appreciate those smaller details, as well as learn about books, I am excited to know that I can keep up books and what is going on in the world of literacy with my computer or smartphone. In addition, I hope it is a way to get students engaged in the conversation about books!
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