About Me

A Short Bio of the Bloggerette
I recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a masters degree in Library and Information Science. I also received an English degree at Iowa. Currently I am a youth services librarian at a public library. Previously I worked as an intern in a library's children's department learning about early literacy, programming and reference. I also worked at my college libraries as a circulation and reference assistant. Look for my Musings of a Grad Student posts (in labels) to hear more about my education.

I was not always a reader. I was not one of those children constantly turning pages. I was most often engaged in imaginative play. Reading was "school work" and not something I thought of as fun. After high school I rediscovered the magic of reading. I found books I actually liked, characters I cared about and subjects I found appealing. My reading habits emerged from my general curiosity about life and love of all things imaginative.

Why I Blog
I’ve been blogging since late December of 2009. I first heard about blogging in an undergrad class. A guest speaker introduced the idea of using a blog for getting high school students to interact with each other about the books they read. I was inspired and began my own blog. I had no clue about how many book bloggers were out there! And I was thrilled to find a community as passionate about books as I am! I love to share my opinions on books I read and enjoy the discussions that take place in the comments.

What I Read and Some Favorites
I read mostly fiction but slip in non-fiction and poetry now and then. Favorite genres include: Victorian novels, science fiction, fantasy, American history and occasionally contemporary fiction. So, basically I have a wide range of reading interests. Genres I don’t care for are harlequin-style romances and anything that reads like a textbook.

Children's and YA books for grades 3-8 are of particular interest to me as I attempt to keep up with what's hot for kids to read.

Some of my favorite adult authors are Sherman Alexie, Tobias Wolff, Cormac McCarthy, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, John Steinbeck and Amy Tan.

Favorite children's/ YA authors include: James Dashner, Suzanne Collins, David Lubar, Gary Paulsen (select titles =), Garth Nix, Deborah Ellis...where to stop?

For contact information see my Contact Page.