Rule the Book World in a Lunch Hour
No one has time to keep up with all the publisher websites, library
blogs, booknews blogs, and Twitter feeds. These are the blogs and
Twitter feeds that have my attention when I want to spend a lunch
hour with the book world. Always read your own library’s
webpage/blog first!
Blogs and Sites
RA for All—Becky Spratford posts nearly every day about all things
readers’ advisory. This includes brief book reviews, comments on what
she’s reading with great annotations, evaluation of book, library,
readers’ advisory news, reading maps, book group suggestions,
annotated lists of books, genre fiction, nonfiction, web resources,
anything that crosses her mind to blog about.
http://raforall.blogspot.com/
The Millions—an online magazine that focuses on books, art, and
culture. All the contributors are top notch writers who have worked for
some of the most well-respected and well-known magazines in the
nation.
http://www.themillions.com/
Between the Covers—Connie Ogle is the Book Editor for The Miami
Herald and writes this blog. She posts daily musings on books, what
she’s reading, the publishing industry, trends in
reading/readers/reading devices, and author profiles. I like this blog
because I like Connie’s attitude towards books and reading.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/between_the_covers/
Early Word—Nora Rawlinson started this blog she calls the
“publisher/librarian connection” in January 2008. Nora posts daily
much of the breaking news in the book world, i.e. books and authors
on TV/radio, which books are getting industry buzz and big marketing
pushes, publisher catalogs, publisher contacts, movie/book
connections, and lots of news from the book world.
http://www.earlyword.com/
Blogging For a Good Book—Williamsburg Regional (VA) Library’s
award-winning blog is written by a team of library staff who are
passionate about reading/listening/viewing. BFGB isn’t limited to
books, they’ll post about popular films and music occasionally. Read
this blog for pointers on how to write about books in ways that patrons
will find valuable.
http://bfgb.wordpress.com/
Book Group Buzz—One of Booklist Online’s family of blogs. Full
disclosure, I blog for BGB (not be confused with BFGB). I am one of a
cadre of bloggers with a passion for book groups and how to
make/keep them fun and challenging. Posts are uploaded almost every
day and all the writers have specialties and vast experience with book
groups. Get advice for good book group titles, resources in print and
on the internet, handling sticky book group situations (or readers),
and how to use award winning titles in a group.
http://bookgroupbuzz.booklistonline.com/
IndieBound—Not exactly a blog, but certainly a website to be
watched. All those word-of-mouth books our patrons love and demand
usually get their start here. Watch this site for the books book groups
will be demanding six moths from now.
http://www.indiebound.org/
LibraryReads—A librarian-vetted list of the top ten books published in
the current month that librarians across the country love. A new
reading list started in September 2012. Watch this list for the books
that will be the “word of mouth” best-sellers.
http://libraryreads.org/
Overbooked—A one-woman show of book news, starred reviews, and
other book-related information/resources. This site likes to highlight
readable nonfiction and all genres of fiction. Annotations are provided.
Currently the blog-owner is transitioning between jobs and taking a
brief hiatus.
http://www.overbooked.org/
Email Lists
Fiction_L—aimed specifically for RA librarians and RA topics, all
booklovers/readers welcome. Follow the instructions at the following
website to join: http://www.mgpl.org/read-listen-view/fl/flmenu/
Twitter Feeds
The easiest way to do this is click on the link to the list of Twitter feeds
I have in a list called Book News.
https://twitter.com/MarianLiberryan/lists/booknews-11
But here’s a list of some of the tweeters on the list:
Audible https://twitter.com/audible_com
BoldType https://twitter.com/flavorpillbooks
GalleyCat https://twitter.com/GalleyCat
NY Review of Books https://twitter.com/nybooks
NPRBooks https://twitter.com/nprbooks
Overbooked https://twitter.com/overbooked
RA/Collections Stuff https://twitter.com/readersadvisory
Read Watch Play https://twitter.com/readwatchplay
Shelf Awareness https://twitter.com/ShelfAwareness
Word and Film https://twitter.com/WordandFilm
Compiled by Kaite Stover, Director of Readers’ Services for The Kansas City Public Library. Links tested and
updated: 4/21/14
Twitter: @MarianLiberryan