Perhaps you’ve seen them at ALA, those glossy editions of RHI magazine focused on subjects such as “Reaching Reluctant Readers” and “Promoting Citizenship” and “Censorship and Banned Books.” If you’ve flipped through them you’ve no doubt read original articles by professionals in various fields and cherished Random House authors and pieces by then Senator Barack Obama and literary great Maya Angelou.

Now RHI is back and going green for the fourth edition. Take a look at the new RHI Magazine on the Web focusing on environmental education (appropriately) and also allowing readers to chime in. You will also find original pieces by such notable authors as Stephen Rinella (American Buffalo), Matthew Pearl (The Last Dickens) and an introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

You may also download past issues of RHI Magazine via the highschool webpage. Be sure to check back often as new and wonderful content is always forthcoming!

Earlier today Erica shared with me a link from a Publisher’s Weekly post by Shelftalker’s Alison Morris. In it  Morris points us in the direction of what she calls “The Best Blog You (Probably) Haven’t Been Reading.” She is talking about Baby Name Wizard author Laura Wattenberg’s blog. An extension of her awesome book and website, this blog is for more than expectant parents and baby-friendly folks (of which, I’m neither. Really. OK, well maybe that last one.) Termed “The Art and Science of Baby Names” is an armchair linguist’s dream. And Wattenberg, a software developer and mother, designed the software that backs her approach, making it all the more interesting!

Recent posts have included her projections for the most popular names in the year 2019 (and Laura, I noticed that Marie is NOT on that list), an analysis of the names chosen for the characters in the popular American Girl historical book series, and the “Oprah Name Club,”  a list of folks who, shortly following their birth, have had their intended names changed by typos and misspellings. If you have ever asked yourself the question, “What’s in a name?” or you want to ponder just how popular your own name is, this site won’t let you down. Enjoy!

Also, be sure you have a copy of The Baby Name Wizard on your shelves. First published in 2005, it has been recently updated and will help your patrons get past Jason and Jennifer and Madison and Mason.

-Marie

This is George. You might recognize him as Jen's son. According to BabyNameWizard.com, the name George reached its peak in the 1880's. Marie reached its peak in the 1900's. I say keep rockin' that classic name, George!

Two librarians from my home state of Michigan (after some Googling, the Salem-South Lyon Public Library?) have started an amusing blog called AWFUL LIBRARY BOOKS. If you think there’s no such thing, well, take a look. And anyway the authors do explain themselves…

So in answer to some questions:  No, the books on this blog are not necessarily “awful”, its just that “books-that-should- be- reconsidered- under-interpretation-of-current-collection developement-policies-and-retired”  is not  a fun name for a blog that is just trying to instigate a discussion on quality library collections! 

I think I remember having seen some pretty ridiculous titles in my local libraries. Add it to your RSS feeds, and feel free to submit covers if you have some “questionable” books in your library.

-David

The LA Times Blog, Jacket Copy, has posted a collection of photos of two of my favorite things: books and cats! You really need to check this out. They also have one for books and dogs!

-David

One of the biggest “surprises” in the publishing industry recently has been the success of a book called Stuff White People Like, based on the eponymous blog covering the eponymous subject. However, its success came as no surprise to me, because, being a young Brooklynite, I’d heard so much about this blog before, and also because two friends had asked me to try to get them a copy before it even went on sale.

This, however, hasn’t been the first book based on a blog. There has been quite the influx of them in the past few years. Parisian cookbook Chocolate & Zucchini published in May 2007 by Broadway comes from chocolateandzucchini.com. Bar Mizvah Disco came from the hilarious barmitzvahdisco.com. Yeah Dave’s Guide to Living in the Moment came from yeahdaveyoga.com. (That’s not this Dave, by the way. I can barely touch my shoelaces.) “Mommy Confidential” came from themommyblog.net. Et cetera.

So, yes, it happens. Is your blog going to get picked up? Maybe! Is this blog going to become a book? OF COURSE IT IS.

Just kidding. But be sure to have as many of these as you can in your collections to draw in the young and Web savvy.

-David