I haven’t blog-faded! I’m back!

A very belated Happy New Year, everyone! Now, let me dust off the cobwebs and update you all.

So the end of the year was… overwhelming. 2019 was a heck of a year for everyone, wasn’t it? For me, it included going back to a library that I loved, getting into the swing of things here, and increasing my involvement in the profession. All great things, but very, very overwhelming when it all seems to happen at once. Throw in the usual family wackiness, holiday craziness, and life in general, and by the end of the year, I was in desperate need of some downtime.

While I took my vacation, I was sure I was going to get ALL THE REVIEWS done. But that was not to be. Once I started indulging in self-care, I realized how much I needed it. So I read stuff, did some research I promised myself I was going to do, and kept life to a bare minimum.

Of course, that’s when the blues hit. Because the beginning of 2020 was, for lack of a more educated term, BANANAPANTS. But I’m working on my brain, I’m continuing self-care, and, most importantly, I’m ready to read and blog about books again. So thanks for sticking around, even during the quiet time. I’m looking forward to talking about library stuff, books, and life in general with everyone in 2020. Some quick updates that I’ll be covering in future blog posts, in addition to reviews:

I’m finally incorporating Bookstagramming into my Instagram account, which has previously been me sharing pictures of my kids, my cat, and once in a while, my library. It’s a spot for me to talk about grown-up books that I read, and right now, I’m taking the lead from a few librarian friends and keeping count of each book I read for the year using Instagram, so there’ll be mini-reviews. I’m trying to figure out how to get the widget to appear on this blog, but in the meantime, find me on Instagram @roesolo.

I’m heading to ALA Midwinter in a couple of weeks! I’ll be Instagramming and Tweeting, and together with my ALSC mentee, Samantha, we’ll be blogging for ALSC. This is super-exciting, because I haven’t been to ALA Midwinter since 2016. Sadly, I’ll be leaving before this year’s Youth Media Awards, but my friends and colleagues, including Samantha, should be attending, so I’ll be retweeting whatever they post.

I’m a CYBILS Judge again! Once again, I’m happy to be a second round judge on the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category; this is one of the strongest groups of books I’ve seen yet. I’ve just finished Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, which blew my mind, and I’m working through the hilarious Homerooms and Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell now.

Are you a Youth Services librarian with a program you want to talk about? Are you into the geekier side of life, and want to talk about a pop culture program you’ve got going on at your library? (Come on, where are my gamers and my geeks?) The New York Library Association (NYLA) is accepting program proposals for the 2020 conference, with a deadline of January 31st. I’m the Secretary of NYLA’s Youth Services Section (YSS) and the Vice President of NYLA’s Pop Culture Roundtable (PCRT), and I’d love to see folks at our conference later this year! Get more information about the program proposal process here, and submit your proposal here by January 31.

More NYLA YSS stuff. The Spring Conference is coming up on May 15, and will be held in Clayton, New York this year. We have scholarships! Apply here!

I’ll be talking more about the nuts and bolts work of the profession this year, as I’ve been lucky enough to get involved with some of the major organizations in our profession. More to come on those.

And now, to get to work on reviews….