I sat on the couch last night with my two best girls. While one was reading the Baby-Sitters Club and the other reading Divergent, I was focused on catching up on one of my favorite blogs, the Recovery Diva.

There is only one person I turn to when I need to know what should be at the top of my domestic disaster reading list – Claire Rubin, the Recovery Diva. I had a chance to speak with Ms. Rubin by phone a few days back and found her to be whip smart, savvy about how to educate her readers on recovery issues, and with a wry and awesomely funny sense of humor.

She says that she has hit upon a formula for getting readers to think beyond relief and into recovery. “I found that people like to know about current or recent disasters… and from those disasters, I could extract key teaching moments or points to highlight.” She continued by saying, “the blog had to be short, almost like serving up appetizers – a couple of paragraphs, sometimes personal commentary, always trying to be fair and even-handed.” In continuation of her appetizer metaphor she talked about choosing the right ingredients to extract a lesson that was meaningful and current by sifting through the ‘junk’ and serving up only the best morsels.

Ms. Rubin has nearly 40 years of experience in the fields of emergency management and homeland security – and every word that makes it onto her Recovery Diva blog demonstrates that expertise. Her role as blog curator and steward is to post articles and pieces in a fair and systematic way, always seeking to call attention to the long-term recovery process after disasters. She is a mediator, sifting through new and old research. Selective about what she posts, Ms. Rubin says she is opinionated and succumbs to sin by omission as she will not touch research that is poorly done or rehashed. With every post, Ms. Rubin tries to put forth news and research that is notable and that people should be paying attention to.

My trust in Ms. Rubin’s ability to track, curate, and analyze current events, governmental reports, and research findings in a manner designed to call attention to the long-term recovery process after disasters is unsurpassed. Not only does she bring forth the best and brightest reports, articles, and news stories, but she does so with the lens of a seasoned social scientist.

SO – I invite you to head on over to her blog and sign up to receive her updates. The Diva will not disappoint!