Cover art for Hunger Games #3 revealed — and here’s how you’ll know when you can put a hold on it

Is it mean to tease you with the cover of a book that isn’t available yet? Maybe. But I thought you’d forgive me since now fans of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games can ramp up the anticipation for the August 24 release of Mockingjay. Read all about the trilogy at the Scholastic blog.

Now, you know that The Seattle Public Library will have this book, but how will you know when you can place a hold on the item? Here’s a sweet little trick:  Go to this Library catalog link for all books by Suzanne Collins; scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the orange “RSS.” You’ll have options on how to add an alert whenever SPL adds a new title by Collins to the catalog.

Of course you can do this for any author. Here are the steps:

• Go to our Library catalog for the “begins with” search
• Type in the author’s name (in this case, “Collins, Suzanne”)

Since I use gmail, it’s easiest for me to add this to my Google Reader. Every morning I have just one stop to quickly look through blogs and other updates. I get RSS updates from SPL when new mysteries, audio books and children’s books are added to the catalog. (And that’s how I found out this morning that the Puzzle Lady is about to have a showdown with the Sudoku Lady in this book by Parnell Hall, with puzzles by Will Shortz. Now I am in the know.)