Maya Smart
Maya Payne Smart is an Austin-based book lover and reviewer. She’s thrilled to have a platform to recommend life-changing reads to world-changing women. An active community volunteer, she works to increase access to books and inspire a community-wide love of reading by serving on the board of the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation and the UT Libraries Advisory Council. She muses about literacy, literature and more at MayaSmart.com. Blog: Maya Smart Twitter: MayaSmart
Giving Picture Books a Fresh Look
August 14, 2016On appreciating the art and craft behind picture books as an adult.
Are You Raising a Reader?
March 30, 2016It’s hard to know where a parent’s work ends in supporting children’s academic achievement. Witness the helicopter parent next door ...
How To Be a Read-Aloud Rockstar
March 22, 2016I celebrated Dr. Seuss’s 112th birthday by donning a red and white stovepipe hat and reading The Cat in the ...
On Monochromatic Reading Lists
September 2, 2015Scanning through my Twitter feed recently, I came across a Time.com message touting 35 Books Everyone Should Read in Their ...
How A Picture Book for My Daughter Spurred Me to Deeper Reflection
August 1, 2015“You’re such a good boy,” Jazz Jennings’s mother always said. “No, Mama. Good GIRL,” returned Jazz, a transgender child who ...
Summer Reading: Five Amazing Books for Amazing Girls
July 12, 2015Each year authors Meg Medina and Gigi Amateau launch the Girls of Summer List of “amazing books for amazing girls,” ...
Can Reading Local Cure My Amazon Addiction?
December 28, 2014While we at the Riot take some time off to rest and catch up on our reading, we’re re-running some of ...
Can Reading Local Cure My Amazon Addiction?
November 14, 2014Here’s my confession. I buy 90% of my books from Amazon (gulp!), even as I diligently link to Indiebound.org on ...
The Case for Raising Your Reading Standards (If You’re Like Me and Don’t Have Any)
June 26, 2014A less-is-better ethic is taking hold of my life. Influenced by an eclectic mix of productivity gurus, leadership coaches, spiritual ...
On Reading Books You Don’t Expect to Like
June 16, 2014Sometimes a book just beckons you. It calls you to pluck it from the shelves, even when what lies between ...