Forgive me ladies. Often we see names pass before us via email but rarely do we get a chance to meet face-to-face. I've met all who have signed on within the last few weeks and look forwarding to meeting future librarians through workshops, site visits and conference. But until we schedule a "face" meeting, let me ask that we all introduce ourselves, perhaps share our favorite books, authors or genre of literature. I suppose I should break the ice by starting first. *-)

You know me as the Assistant Administrator for Youth Services and read an earlier bio about my experience as a both a Children's & Young Adult Services Librarian in Atlanta, but what do I read in my spare time? I enjoy reading books by Sharon Flake, Gary Soto, Cynthia Rylant, Nancy Farmer, Julia Alvarez, Alex Finn. I don't have a favorite genre, although I admit that I just don't read a lot of sci-fi anymore. Which I find very strange now because I DEVOURED books by C.S. Lewis, Anne McCaffrey, Katherine Paterson, Madeleine L'Engle as a middle school reader. However, I do still read some books that have an alternate universe but the adult authors have been African-American lately--Octavia Butler, Tannarive Due, Brandon Massey and even Walter Mosley.

If I had to choose a favorite picture book illustrator or author, I would have to offer Mo Willems, Brian Collier, Ian Falconer, The Pinkney Family, Chris Raschka, David Wiesner, Kadir Nelson and Chris Van Allsburg but there's so many to name. A better question to ask would be, how long would I stand in line for this artist/author to authograph a copy of my book? *-)

So how about you? What and who do you enjoying reading?