Comment Challenge + keeping up with what's new

So the official Comment Challenge Check-in Post was yesterday, but yesterday was also a killer day at work, so here's my post on it so far:

I've made 33 comments on 23 blogs, and most of those blogs are new ones I discovered through the bloggiesta! Considering that the goal is 5 a day, I'm just barely below that - I can easily catch up.

And of course, that comment count doesn't begin to take into account the number of comments I've left on my own posts in response to some of the great comments I've been privileged to receive.

I hope everyone's enjoying this challenge as much as I am!

This weekend is ALA's midwinter conference - oh, how I still wish I were going! Of course, from a non-librarian's perspective, the best part of the conference is all of the new books that are on display and galleys free for the taking (okay, that's probably the best part even from a librarian's POV!) The latest and upcoming books are going to be on display. Now, I'm someone who is terrible at keeping up on what's coming out soon - I only memorize release dates for highly anticipated books (ahem, 8/24/10 for the final Hunger Games book!). For the past year, I've been picking up most of my books for review through the library after I've seen someone else review them or they show up on the nominations list for some award or another. One of my goals for this year is to be a little more ahead of the game, so I ask you, my fellow bibliophiles, how do you keep up on what's coming out next? If you're not a blogger (or heck, even if you are!) is it important for you to be on top of what's newest?

Feel free to chat on this throughout the weekend and rack up some comments for yourself to count towards that Comment Challenge!