The Number One Rule of the Ninja

Greetings!

Welcome to blog that's all about me... Well, almost.

Yesterday, I attended the first ever Youth Hui held by Auckland libraries. Youth and Children's librarians from all of our 55 libraries attended and valuable lessons were learned.

The number one lesson for me? The importance of reader's advisory and passing on your valuable skills. Now, without trying to sound too self-righteous, I am an avid reader of YA fiction but I have two HUGE faults:

1. If I am honest, and I really am trying to be, I stick to predominantly one genre: life and friendships which centre on romance. To be fair, I used to read teen angst. But I got tired of the dreary grey cloud that seemed to follow all of the book's characters - I longed for happiness. What better form of happiness is there than predictable, formulaic teen books that focus on friendships and relationships?

While I am confessing, I almost always read books written by American authors, and I KNOW this reflects the websites I use to access up-and-coming, yet to be released YA fiction: Teen Reads and Teens Read Too.

And... I'd hate to say it, but I am not a very patriotic Kiwi. I don't read NZ teen fiction. I blame my years at school for this. Teen books in the early 90s were dry and boring. It is a very hard feeling to shake and one I need to get over.

2. I read. LOTS. At least 2-3 YA books per week (however this may soon change). BUT I do not review them online. In case you haven't guessed, I am a very wordy person and, if I'm not careful, the reviews of the Book Ninja turn out to be miniature book dissertations.

Admittedly, I do review them at our monthly YA meetings and weekly staff meeting. The only downfall is that review slots are very minimal - for our staff meetings about 20 seconds max, so the staff who are not YA readers are quite disadvantaged when it comes to acquiring reader's advisory skills from these sessions.

What are my goals in creating this blog? To provide succinct reviews of all the books I read from here-on; to vary my reading choices...and to incorporate at least on NZ YA book per month (and maybe instil some patriotic book pride while I am at it).

However, the number one rule of the Ninja now applies here: Be Patient and you will be allowed to pass. For the next two weeks I have to be patient and put aside my fiction books in order to concentrate on my upcoming MIS assignment. For, if I am not patient, I may not pass! (a little Ninja humour for ya).

Until next time *Ninja salute*