Social Reading and "Book Stuff"

Good Reads

I have been a member of Good Reads for quite some time, but I haven't been faithfully using it for the past year.  So many great tools and ideas, and so little time!  This topic encouraged me to get back on and explore Good Reads though.  I updated my books read shelf, which I appreciate having gathered.  Sometimes it can be quite challenging to remember the titles of books I read recently.  Maybe this is a sign that I am getting older, but I can definitely see myself using this shelf to recommend titles to students...if I can remember to keep it updated!  
I also added a widget to my website (like the one below) with my latest "Good Reads" activity, which could help me remember to keep it updated also.  I like the transparency as well, and hope it gives me some accountability to keep reading and sharing what I read.  

Social Media "book chats"

I love #2jennsbookclub!!  I joined my first discussion last April, and had a blast.  They have such thoughtful questions, and I always love the opportunity to connect and collaborate with other librarians and readers.  The format of these Twitter chats is both engaging and overwhelming- I love the interaction, but sometimes the timing is difficult and the speed of posts makes it hard to keep up.

 I wanted to try something like this with my book club, so I created a question image for our April book selections and shared it through different social medias that I use (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) using our hashtag #LGreads.  I haven't gotten responses yet, but I hope to encourage this at our next meeting- perhaps modeling it during the meeting itself and then following up.  Our book group includes both junior and senior high students, so their experience with social media varies drastically.  In addition I created a book group within Good Reads, and included this discussion question there as well, for students who do not use social media at all, which I have several.  
I am also going to open this up to the larger school community with an online discussion comparing the book 13 Reasons Why and the Netflix show, while that is still a big topic of discussion.  I am hoping to launch that within the next two weeks.  

Reading Resources

Epic Reads is a resource that I use often, and the one I find most familiar to my readers.  This website is truly designed with teens in mind and seems to appeal to them.  They gravitate towards the format presented there, and sometimes share it with me.  Because of that, I try to stay familiar with what they are sharing and promoting.  While exploring it again during this project I discovered that you can create an account.  I haven't found the benefits of this account yet, but will continue to check back on what is new, and what I can provide my students through this resource.  

Library Reads was new to me, but I like the idea of hearing from other librarians on what is new each month, and keeping up to date on what is happening in the publishing world.  This is always a challenge, and anything to help along the way is appreciated.  I subscribed to their newsletter, and look forward to receiving their updates.