Book Log

One of the ideas I have for blogging is to create a Log of what I'm reading, and what I want to read. I've been a prolific reader as long as I can remember, and I wish I'd started keeping track years ago. I could've charted my reading patterns...the years I spent wallowing in trashy romance novels, the ongoing fascination with science fiction that caused me to put a "Beam Me Up Scotty, There's No Intelligent Life Down Here" bumper sticker on my car in 1985, the vow to read every Newbury Award book-just think of creating that content map!

Rumor has it that I was initally hired at the library because I was there so much that the other patrons thought I worked there already. Whatever the reason, I've been there part time for over three years, am almost halfway through my MLIS at Simmons, (for an idea of how long this is taking me, take a look at the title of this Blog) and the best part of the job is seeing what everyone else is reading. I've got scraps of paper in every pocket, scribbled all over with titles and authors I want to try next. I have to hold myself back from putting books on hold for friends and relatives that I think they'll like. I love to troll through book catalogs and put yellow stickies on every page to remind me to put this or that book on hold.

I only learned recently that talking with people about books and helping them find new ones to read is called Reader's Advisory. I've always thought of it as a guessing game: "I'm looking for a book, my sister read it and said it's great...it's got recipes in it, and the title has something to do with chocolate and drinking...can you help me?" If you got "Like Water for Chocolate" out of that then we're on the same page-it's like a puzzle, fitting the right book to the right person. It makes my day when I can put a book in someone's hand and have her say "That's exactly what I was looking for!" Even if that person is just me.

So stay tuned for notes on what I'm reading, and let me know what you're reading!