Juxtaposition

Herman Cain's message to Americans: "We need a leader, not a reader."

Barack Obama's choice of where to shop on "Small Business Saturday": a bookstore. And might I personally commend his choice of books, including The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia?

(On a side note, can you imagine if you had to factor into your choice of books that it was going to be published (and cared about) by news outlets around the world? Would probably make me choose a little differently, kind of the way some people fudge their Nielsen rating reports with more PBS and Discovery Channel shows than is probably strictly accurate.)

Conversation & Obama

Actual conversation overheard at a school librarian conference yesterday:

Librarian 1: This librarian was telling me that Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is popular. HAve you ever heard of her?

Librarian 2: [shaking her head] No.

In other news, Maureen Johnson has started a "YA for Obama" ning.