UCM’s SOLIS Book Club: Our pick for Fall 2026

In Fall 2026, SOLIS Book Club will read and discuss Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. We’re the only VIRTUAL book club at the University of Central Missouri and our discussion is open to students, faculty, alumni, and staff.
https://youtu.be/Tfh4lj4lhxA

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West Coast’s ‘largest book club’ to feature ‘They Called Us Enemy’

One Book, One Coast is a shared community reading program among more than 194 library systems in California, Oregon, and Washington that will read and discuss George Takei’s graphic-format memoir “They Called Us Enemy” this spring. Contact your local library system and encourage it to join in if you don’t see it listed among participating systems.

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Read-A-Thon coming to SRCSA

An exciting development leading up to Scholastic Book Fair at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts: Our parent’s group, SACO, is going to host a Read-A-Thon during February 2026.
https://youtu.be/a-w5ugvM5po

‘Read Harder’ Challenge: Some books I’m reading in 2026

I’ve set a goal to read 60 books in 2026. Many of the books will be applied toward prompts for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.
https://youtu.be/wERb3kVZ85A

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Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge

For 2025, I’ve completed all prompts in Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. There are 24 prompts, which average out to two prompts per month, and they “invite readers to explore formats, genres, and perspectives that might go beyond their reading comfort zones.”

Unboxing: Dav Pilkey’s ‘Power Up with Reading Kit’

SRCSA library received fabulous books and other fun materials courtesy of Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council, through an amazing team-up with Dav Pilkey and Scholastic. Just in time for Children’s Book Week, taking place from Nov. 3 to 9 in 2025.
https://youtu.be/IGjpWnpepVo

UCM’s SOLIS Book Club: What shall we read in Spring 2026?

The National Book Awards recently announced its Longlist in the Young People’s Literature category. I want to suggest reading and discussing one of these books for Spring 2026.
https://youtu.be/w4aisCWJd0I

Summer reading 2025 at Sonoma County Library

The school year is nearing its end at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts, but there will be plenty to do and read through the summer reading program at Sonoma County Library.
https://youtu.be/TpGwDQgmCnE

UCM’s SOLIS Book Club : Our pick for Fall 2025

Poll results are in and we have a winner! In Fall 2025, UCM’s SOLIS Book Club will read Life Hacks for a Little Alien, by Alice Franklin. Franklin wrote this book in the second person and, in an interview with NPR’s Scott Simon, Franklin said she “wanted readers of the story to feel as much empathy as possible” with the titular “Little Alien.”
https://youtu.be/GP3OdRWoj5g

SOLIS Book Club : What shall we read in Fall 2025?

During Spring 2025, University of Central Missouri: we had another enjoyable meeting of the SOLIS Book Club (that’s an online book club among students of LIS). Looking ahead, what book do we want to read for Fall 2025? Here’s a brief overview of three potential candidates.
https://youtu.be/sz_Wak6dSu8

Envisioning an ‘Autistic Book Club’

As part of my studies of Action Research in libraries, I want to look into creating an “Autistic Book Club” through my public library. The problem that this would address for me is actually very personal: it’s that as an autistic person, I face challenges when trying to socialize with other people.

UCM’s SOLIS Book Club : Our pick for Spring ’25

In the Student Organization of Library and Information Services, University of Central Missouri: Our next book-club discussion will be I Must Betray You, a work of historical fiction by Ruta Sepetys.
https://youtu.be/oQpaztvJ338

Book Riot’s 2024 Read Harder Challenge

This is my third year of completing the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, a set of 24 prompts “that invite readers to explore formats, genres, and perspectives that might go beyond their reading comfort zones.” I employed a genre substitution to complete one of the prompts, but otherwise, I remained true to each prompt’s objectives. Here is my list of books to meet the 2024 Read Harder Challenge.

Summer reading, 2024!

In my approach to youth librarianship, one important emphasis for me this time of year is to promote my public library’s summer reading program. Sonoma County Library is hosting its summer reading program from June 1 through Aug. 10, 2024. Readers of all ages can log their minutes spent reading via the Beanstack app or by completing a paper log.
https://youtu.be/Q701MRlc3A4

UCM’s SOLIS Book Club : Poll winner for Fall 2024

The poll has closed and TJ Klune’s House in the Cerulean Sea was the top vote-getter for SOLIS Book Club to read and discuss in Fall 2024.
https://youtu.be/vhJV6ug8EcY

Book Riot’s 2023 Read Harder Challenge

For 2023, the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge invited readers “to explore settings, characters, formats, genres, and perspectives that might be outside of their reading norms.” Here are some books I read to meet the 2023 challenge.

Developing readers’ self-identity

When Bang-Jensen informally interviewed 12 upper-elementary students, she related that the students “had a lot to say about the role their peers play in their own book selection” (2010, p. 172). She cited one fifth-grader, Megan, describing a “chain reaction” of reading. “When kids hear how good these DCFs are, they start reading. And when they start reading and then tell other kids to start reading, it is a chain reaction of reading books” (Bang-Jensen, 2010, p. 169).

Readers’ choice awards

Part of my studies were focused this week on readers’ choice awards. Bang-Jensen (2010) focuses on a specific readers’ choice award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award for children in the state of Vermont.

Creating a culture of reading among young people

The Library Science class I’m taking is talking this week about building a culture of readers. In her article for Knowledge Quest (2017, p. 24), Karen E. Smith asks: “How do we create a culture of readers without driving them away?”

SOLIS Book Club at UCM

UCM’s SOLIS has formed a Book Club, which will meet this fall and discuss All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. That was a highlight, for me, of the SOLIS members’ meeting on March 29, 2023.