On the Reading Phenomena Post-Potter

Where have I been? Pregnant. Sorry for the lack of updates this summer, or even since December but life has gotten in the way. Luckily other people are doing lots of my thinking for me, like in THIS great article on the post-Harry reading rates and raising readers. For more on raising a reader be sure to check out Jim Trelease's fabulous Read Aloud Handbook.

In other news, now that Harry has come and gone you may feel like an era has ended. However, there's no need to be upset. There are plenty of great books coming out, well, NOW! Check out, among others:

The Fox by Sherwood Smith This is the sequel to Inda which is soon to be available in paperback if you missed it the first time around.

There's also Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer, the third book after Twilight and New Moon, none of which should be missed. Meg Cabot has some funny thoughts on ANY romance that features vampires and humans, which you can check out HERE as well.

Speaking of Meg, well she's been a busy, busy gal as you can see on both her diary and on the bookshelves. This summer has brought us Pants on Fire, Queen of Babble 2 and the newly released Jinx as well as a contribution to the collaboration "Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned From Judy Blume." That last one's so true, for me at least, and worth picking up by title alone.

Meg Cabot's not the only one who's been busy. Newberry winner Shannon Hale brought out the fun Austenland this summer and has Book of a Thousand Days coming in just a few short weeks.

Last but not least, I don't have to advertise to some of my regular readers that L.A. Meyer has a new Bloody Jack book out for us. Mississippi Jack is sure to be as fun, and thought provoking, as all previous installments.

That's just for starters. I for one will never mourn Harry's passing into reprints instead of first edition mania. No matter what statistics say about kids (and adults) reading more or less, Jo Rowling proved to the industry that the people who DO read will read long books as well as short ones. This "simple" example has allowed many of my favorite authors to exceed their previously editorially mandated word counts to give those of us who ARE readers longer, better novels. Plus, true book lovers know they can always go back to Hogwarts by the simple expedient of picking up the books again, like calling an old friend...maybe easier, since it's a friend you know is waiting for you.