Check Out these Links! The Government, 28 Days Later, BBW & AWAM :)

Attention All (Book) Bloggers and Readers: Starting Dec. 1 you (bloggers) need to start disclosing (if you don't already) any books that get sent to you for review. This is by order of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). For more details go here I understand why they want to do this (help people out by informing them that there may be some bias in the review), and it shouldn't be a problem since I think most of us book bloggers are pretty good at disclosing when a book has been sent to us. I'm going to make an extra effort to do that starting now, so it'll be a habit by December. Also, just because a book gets sent to me, doesn't mean it will get a good review. I'm going to be honest about how I feel about the book. After all, I wouldn't want someone to recommend a book that wasn't all that great to me, so why would I do the same to you guys?



In other non-government news....
The Brown Bookshelf is starting their 28 Days Later campaign. It's in honor of Black History Month. What you do is comment/email titles of books or authors that you feel should be recognized. Submissions accepted until Nov.1 Must be written/illustrated by an African American. For more details, check this out


Also, readergirlz wants to know your Fall Recommended Reads for 2009 Go share (and try and throw out some titles about poc!). I'm really starting to love readergirlz. The book of the month they feature is always interesting and I mean to read them all. In addition, I love their Community Service posts and their recommended reads. They are getting even more diverse and they are so informative and entertaining!

Finally a phenomenal review and commentary of A Wish After Midnight. If the synopsis alone doesn't make you want to read AWAM, then this +my review/awesome interview with Zetta (who is such a nice and great person!) should make you want to go out and buy it right away! I'm sligtly biased now, because I do email Zetta regularly, but when I wrote my review we had maybe exchanged two emails (that's my disclaimer?). Trust me, it's a fabulous book :D Another wow post by Justine is about The Advantages of Being a White a Writer. I'm sure some of you are bristling around. Now calm down, take a deep breath and just go read the post. Seriously, I'm not even going to comment on it yet (other than Go Justine, you rock!) because I want to devote a whole post to this subject when I've had time to really digest and reflect and (hopefully) write my best.

Oh and I totally neglected Banned Books Week which makes me sad. Here's a great post by Neesha Meminger on the subject. In my opinion, no books should be banned from libraries. We all have freedom of speech and freedom to read what you want to read (unless your parents don't allow you to read something, but that's another issue that I don't totally understand since my parents never monitored my reading. They trusted me to be mature and responsible and I was/am.) It really annoys me as to how adults are not satisfied with not allowing their child to read the book, but they also have to not allow any other child read the book. I've read some great Banned Books (Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, The Absolutely True-Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Great Gatsby) and furthermore, has it ever occured to anyone that hearing a book is banned makes children want to read it even more? I'll admit my interest has been raised in reading many books that have/are banned. People always want what they can't have.

Reading in Color News/Updates: I'll be featuring polls every couple of weeks in an effort to better my blog, so please vote! I need feedback so I can improve RiC. My goal is to really edit and spruce up my blog over Christmas break this year. I already completed one goal of mine; to link to poc contests/giveaways in my sidebar (part of the problem was a lack of giveaways, but more are popping up!). Suggestions? Concerns? Just want to say 'hey'? Email or leave me a comment :)