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I always thought I was doing an adequate job building a diverse classroom library. Then
A Fine Dessert and
A Birthday Cake for George Washington happened. Franki and I started having conversations with each other and with teachers around our district about the importance of building more diverse classroom libraries -- libraries with books that can serve as mirrors where students can see themselves, and libraries with books that can serve as windows, giving students an accurate look at others' lives. As I browsed through the chapter books in my classroom library in preparation for a PD I was co-leading in my building on this topic, I was dismayed by the lack of diversity. To quote Maya Angelou, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better."
Next week I'm going to lead my class in audit of my classroom library, both for gender bias and for racial bias. I was inspired by
this post. I think the conversations will be incredibly powerful.
In the meantime, here is one book that's sitting at the top of my #summerbookaday TBR pile and two others that I have pre-odered on Amazon.
Save Me a Seatby Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Scholastic, May 2016
"Joe and Ravi might be from very different places, but they're both stuck in the same place: SCHOOL.
Joe's lived in the same town all his life, and was doing just fine until his best friends moved away and left him on his own.
Ravi's family just moved to America from India, and he's finding it pretty hard to figure out where he fits in.
Joe and Ravi don't think they have anything in common -- but soon enough they have a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and a common mission: to take control of their lives over the course of a single crazy week."
by Grace Lin
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 4, 2016)
"Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most exciting tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller.
Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Determined to have her grandmother returned, Pinmei embarks on a journey to find the Luminous Stone alongside her friend Yishan, a mysterious boy who seems to have his own secrets to hide. Together, the two must face obstacles usually found only in legends to find the Luminous Stone and save Pinmei's grandmother--before it's too late.
A fast-paced adventure that is extraordinarily written and beautifully illustrated, When the Sea Turned to Silver is a masterpiece companion novel to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky."
by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (June 28, 2016)
"From the critically acclaimed author of Anything But Typical comes a touching look at the days leading up to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and how that day impacted the lives of four middle schoolers.
Ask anyone: September 11, 2001, was serene and lovely, a perfect day—until a plane struck the World Trade Center.
But right now it is a few days earlier, and four kids in different parts of the country are going about their lives. Sergio, who lives in Brooklyn, is struggling to come to terms with the absentee father he hates and the grandmother he loves. Will’s father is gone, too, killed in a car accident that has left the family reeling. Naheed has never before felt uncomfortable about being Muslim, but at her new school she’s getting funny looks because of the head scarf she wears. Aimee is starting a new school in a new city and missing her mom, who has to fly to New York on business.
These four don’t know one another, but their lives are about to intersect in ways they never could have imagined. Award-winning author Nora Raleigh Baskin weaves together their stories into an unforgettable novel about that seemingly perfect September day—the day our world changed forever."
I believe in the power of series books.
I believe in the power of graphic novels.
Here are three next-in-the-series graphic novels that are on my TBR pile for the first week of June:
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Alamo All-Starsby Nathan Hale
Amulet Books, 2016
It was fun to sit and listen to a group of girls talk about the merits of
this series last week. They are good readers and detail-oriented, so the amount of smaller-font text doesn't put them off. They each have a different favorite in the series, but none of them has read Donner Dinner Party yet (my personal favorite). They talked about how this is the kind of series where it's important to read the first one first so that you understand why Nathan Hale (the historic character) is telling all these stories (to delay his hanging). After that, you can read them in any order.
Thank you, Nathan Hale (the author) for making history fun and accessible!
by Judd Winick
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2016
This is book two. The first book in this series ended on such (SUCH) a cliffhanger that I can't believe I'm not reading this book right now. (And as I typed that, I just guilted myself into taking this copy to school for the last 8 days so that every child who groaned audibly upon finishing it will be able to read book two before going on to middle school.)
HiLo is my new favorite superhero. Read this series; he'll be your favorite, too!
by Mike Maihack
Scholastic GRAPHIX, 2016
Don't get me wrong. There's a place for
Babysitters' Club. I'm just loving these strong, capable girl sheroes.
By: Stefanie,
on 3/16/2016
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Many book bloggers had posts up Tuesday about top ten books on their spring TBR lists or something like that. And casting around for a topic because I remain firmly in the middles, I thought, hey! TBR, I have one of those! Actually I have more than one of those. There’s the real life books such as the ones on my poor reading table that I am supposed to be reading this year but somehow am not doing a very good job of it. Then there are my many many TBR lists scattered around the virtual world. Anyway, I had to ditch the post because it involved my library TBR lists and for some reason I kept getting errors every time I tried to login. But tonight my friends, tonight you are going to get lucky! (Not that kind of lucky, get your minds out of the gutter!)
My library. They allow me to create wishlists. Last year I began using this feature far more than I probably should. But the way I see it, it is better to put an interesting book on my virtual TBR list than to buy it and have it sit around for years and years and years. My library wishlist began as just one list called “Default List.” Seriously, that is what the list is called. I never bothered to change it and now that there are 297 books on the “Default List” I am terrified to try and change the name for fear the list will go *Poof!*
Once Default began to get large and a bit unwieldy, I started creating other lists like one for poetry and one for nature and gardening books. I also created a “priority” list to help me keep track of the books I really really want to read but just can’t right now. My priority list currently has 45 books on it. See how well it works? Now, given that I read about 65 books a year, it will take me most of a year to read all those priority books and we all know that’s not going to happen. Because more books will be added and there will be books that don’t get added because new and shiny and I have to read right now and contrary to popular belief I do, on occasion, actually read a book I already own. I can conceive in some, probably not so very distant time, that I will make a move to create another list and call it something like “immediate priority.” And then when that gets too big there will be another list, “the first priority.” And it will just keep going on and on becoming more and more absurd because that’s the way I roll.
But for now, there are 45. Do you want to know what some of those 45 books are? I’ll give you ten:
- After Nature: Politics for the Anthropocene by Jedidiah Purdy. “Nature no longer exists apart from humanity. Henceforth, the world we will inhabit is the one we have made.”
- Cities I’ve Never Lived In by Sara Majka. Linked short stories.
- A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab. Adventure, magic, parallel universes. You can almost tell me parallel universes and I am likely to bite.
- Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside. A murder mystery, rare reading for me!
- Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan. A graphic novel set in modern day Tel Aviv.
- Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. This is a climate fiction novel set in California where disasters love to happen. Since I was born and raised in California I am totally allowed to be delighted about any kind of California disaster scenario, especially ones set in Los Angeles. And yes, I totally love 1970s disaster flicks! Also the one with the volcano under LA. I always knew there was something weird going on under the La Brea Tar Pits!
- Montaigne by Stefan Zweig. No explanation needed.
- Potluck Supper with Meeting to Follow by Andy Sturdevant. Essays about the midwest, including Minneapolis.
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. Political science fiction. Oh how I lurve political SF.
- The Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud. A fictional response to Camus’ The Stranger.
Essays, fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, a mystery, a graphic novel. All sorts of yummy goodness to look forward to. It’s all a priority. Obviously I am a little fuzzy on the definition of that word.
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By: Becca Fowler (PivotBookReviews),
on 1/18/2016
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From Becca's Shelves...
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke & The Bookish.
This week's topic is TOP TEN BOOKS BECCA HAS RECENTLY ADDED TO HER TBR, (I just looked at my goodreads list) which turned out to be an interesting combination of books for 2016. Most of them are highly anticipated reads for me, and I'm curious to start hearing some buzz about them!!
GOING GEEK by
By: Shelley Workinger,
on 1/1/2016
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Ah, yes. A new year means new resolutions (or goals, amibitions, false promises - whatever you choose to call them).
I have all the standard personal betterment aims: more time with family, exercise, sleep, veggies...you get the idea. Heck, it's your idea, too!
I also make all the usual writer pledges: I will finish one (at least!) of my pending manuscripts, launch it to the literary masses and sell a gazillion copies, etc., etc., etc.
But, as readers, I'm sure you're really only interested in my TBR list for 2016. In the spirit of full disclosure-ship, I admit that I do not believe I will summit this mountain of text. However, if I can manage to carve out even a third of the great book behemoth, I am planting a flag in my front yard. Or perhaps my
back yard, right by the spot where a new hammock should go to help me devour more delicious reads in 2017. ;)
Here's the list I've put together in the past 10 minutes:
Jeremy Bates - White LiesRobin Benway - Emmy & OliverCarin Berger - The Little Yellow LeafKate Jarvik Birch - PerfectedCynthia Blair - The Banana Split AffairKiera Cass - The HeirSandra Cisneros - The House on Mango StreetLisa Colozza Cocca - ProvidenceJames Dashner - The Journal of Curious LettersRichard P. Denney - A Girl's Guide to Falling in Love with a ZombieRachel DeWoskin - BlindAnita Diamant - The Red TentAnthony Doerr - All the Light We Cannot SeeKathleen Duey - Sacred ScarsAlexandra Duncan - SalvageKate Forsyth - Bitter GreensE.R. Frank - DimeNeil Gaiman - The Graveyard BookBen Goldacre - Bad ScienceS.A. Harazin - PainlessCharlaine Harris - Dead Until DarkE.K. Johnston - A Thousand NightsMindy Kaling - Why Not Me?Clinton Kelly - Oh No She Didn'tJessi Kirby - Things We Know By HeartDarragh McKeon - All That Is Solid Melts Into AirRichelle Mead - SoundlessSusan Meissner - Secrets of a Charmed LifeFaye Meredith - Becoming EdwardStephenie Meyer - Life and DeathChristiana Miller - Somebody Tell Aunt Millie She's DeadEmma Mills - First & ThenBeth Moore - The Law of LovePaula Morris - RuinedMike Resnick - Witch FantasticCelia Rivenbark - You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the MorningDonald Rumsfeld - Known and UnknownSarah Elizabeth Schantz - FigRobin Schneider - Extraordinary MeansBen Sherwood - The Survivors ClubJackie Lea Sommers - TruestJoann Sowles - LaneyJames M. Tabor - Frozen SolidSabaa Tahir - An Ember in the AshesSuzanne Weyn - The Bar Code TattooNicola Yoon - Everything, Everything
By: Stefanie,
on 11/13/2015
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The lovely Elle of Elle Thinks has tagged me for a TBR meme. It’s been a long time since I have done a meme, so why not? Besides, who doesn’t enjoy talking about their TBR piles?
How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
Now that I got that off my chest.
When I talk about my TBR I am talking about two different forms, the actual pile of books that I have bought and a mass of lists I keep because there is no way on earth that I could ever actually buy all the books I want to read and even if I could, I have nowhere to keep them all. If I have bought the book, I generally catalog it at LibrayThing and then put it on a shelf above my desk. However I have more TBR books than will fit on this shelf so they also live on a large library cart in the basement library as well as on the basement library bookshelves because the cart isn’t big enough either.
When I don’t buy a TBR book, a thing that is becoming the norm, I place the title on a WorldCat list or on a list at my public library. But whether I own the book or put it on a list, once either of those occurs, I tend to forget all about it. So I keep track, but in reality keeping track is only an illusion.
Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
See above. When it is not an actual print book, it is on a wishlist so neither print nor ebook but only a dream of a book.
How do you determine which books from your TBR to read next?
The library usually decides for me. If I actually get to choose then it is by what mood I am in and that is usually keyed off how busy life is and what else I am reading at the time. So first I think of fiction or nonfiction and then I decide genre and then I think of all the books in that category I’ve been wanting to read and then I narrow it down and pick one. Once I pick one I slap myself in the forehead and yell doh! because throughout this entire process I did not bother to look at my TBR lists or shelves.
A book that has been on my TBR the longest?
Yeah, I have a science fiction book I bought as a teenager, Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany, that I have not read yet. That was over 20 years ago. I still mean to read it!
A book you recently added to your TBR?
The most recent physical book I added is The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar: Essays on Poets and Poetry by Helen Vendler. The most recent book I added to a TBR list is Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi.
A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
Uh, none at the moment.
A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
Every book that goes on my TBR I plan on reading. There are currently more books on my TBR than I can actually read should I live an average human lifetime.
Good thing I am not an average human.
An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
The Cabaret of Plants: Forty Thousand Years of Plant Life and the Human Imagination by Richard Mabey.
A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
Almost all the books on my TBR were recommended in one way or another and most of those recommendations come from other people’s blogs. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am when I read a blog about a book and the book in question does not end up on my TBR!
A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?
Currently it seems like H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald.
A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Absolutely all of them. But at the moment the one I am anticipating most is Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. The library has not seen fit to make my turn come round yet. But I am up to number ten in the holds queue which is progress since earlier this week I was number thirteen.
How many books are on your TBR shelf?
Shelf? Try Shelves. There are far too many to count and I will not count them because it would make me feel sad and guilty and those are two things one should never feel in relation to one’s books. In terms of my TBR lists, hundreds.
***
Well that was fun! I won’t tag anyone directly but if you’d like to play along, please do! And link back so I can find you.
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Out Now: Falling For Alice YA Anthology, Celebrating 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland
Denise Jaden, along with four other authors, are celebrating their unbirthday of their new Alice-in-Wonderland themed anthology with you! To celebrate these five new YA stories, she's giving away an entire BOX of great YA fiction to one lucky winner on her blog!
She's honored to have her story among some amazing other authors, including Dawn Dalton, Shari Green, Kitty Keswick, and Cady Vance. You will love all of their stories!
Here's a little bit about the anthology...
From the modern Alice dumped in the Aquarian Age of the late sixties, to the present day Alice, tormented by body image and emotional issues, to the Alice of the future, launched forward through time and space, FALLING FOR ALICE offers five fresh takes on Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. For 150 years, people all over the world have fallen under Alice in Wonderland’s spell. Now, follow five Young Adult authors down the rabbit hole to discover Alice like you’ve never seen her before. One thing is certain—this is not your mother’s Alice.
And if you have not seen it yet, here is the book trailer...
Here are a few places where you can purchase the anthology:
Or ask your local bookstore or library to bring in a copy. Follow these five authors down the rabbit hole, and happy reading!
By:
Sue Morris @ KidLitReviews,
on 4/26/2015
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To Attack the Stack . . .
Months of health problems, of which rehabilitation and recovery have finally begun—”YEAH!”—a knee injury, and now gout in the large (large and red) knuckle of my big toe—yep, all on the same leg—(conservatively) stopped 130 book reviews, not that the current TBR stack has anywhere near that number of books.
Needing—wanting—to get these books to local school kids, honor my commitments to several wonderful publicity/marketing directors, and give myself a smidge of breathing room, most non-publisher review and tour requests—meaning predominantly self-published authors—have been turned down or asked to request again at a later date. This means not helping deserving writers, and robbing my loyal readers—yes, you—of some excellent stories from these creative, on-their-own writers. Even though reviews are 
currently free, I feel increasing guilt with each “request denied” reply written.
That said, whenever themes emerge or similar genres can be grouped, one post may contain two or, less often (except the next post), three reviews. My lower word count* goal is still my goal. The shared post, really a summary of my thoughts, will not devalue any title’s review simply because it must share the
stars. Each title will have its own post and you can choose which complete review(s) to read.
I hope you will also choose to leave your own thoughts, opinions, and humorously crazy comments. 
Each one is much appreciated, read, and will receive a reply. Mr. This-Kid-Reviews-Books is fantastic at replying that same day (a goal I cannot seem to reach), but honestly, each comment is read and I promise, each will receive a reply . . . though not at the speed of James Patterson’s pen.
Therefore, please, I beg you, er, don’t make me beg!? Leave your legacy! Write thy witty words. Post perplexing prose. Rooaar, hisssss, or SNAP if dis-grrrrunt-tled. Like everyone who writes, I wait with baited breath for your comments; your review of my work; your words of wisdom; your ona . . . onomate . . . onomatopeaa . . . onomatopoeia.
Tank you and take care,
x
Sue
x
(Dang it! I know, this salutation needs twicked; dare I admit, needin you’re assistance. Many of you wonderfully loyal and precise, uh, preshous—oh heck, you, reader are a much better writers than I, I meant, me? . . . I? . . . . wee? . . . . . (Ugh, does I need a superhero!)
Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved
*Word count = 392.
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I'm a bit behind on blogging about all the books I put stars next to when I'm doing collection development work. They're the books I want to read myself.
Sisters of Heart and Snow by Margaret Dilloway. It's a novel that explores the relationships between adult sisters and aging parents while weaving in the (true!) story of a female samurai. It pubbed last week.
She Will Build Him a City by Raj Kamal Jha. 3 stories (that I assume bump and touch against each other) in today's New Delhi in a style that Booklist compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magical realism. Out now.
Black Diamond by Zakes Mda. A biting social commentary that examines race, gender, and class in contemporary South Africa, in a package with an enjoyable plot? Yes please! Out now.
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison. Um, it's by TONI MORRISON. Pubs on April 21.
Prudence by Gail Carriger. A new series about Alexia and Conall's daughter? That takes place in India? It's out now, and my hold just came in on it. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, start with Soulless.
All Involved by Ryan Gattis. Gangs use the 92 LA Riots as chaotic cover to settle old scores. Intriguing. It pubbed last week.
Diamond Head by Cecily Wong. Family secrets. Multi-generational saga. Wealthy shipping family in China and Hawaii. 3 catnips, 1 book. Out on the 14th.
Madam President by Nicolle Wallace. Awful cover aside, it's about what happens when major terrorist attacks happen while a crew is filming a day-in-the-life thing on the President. I'm hoping it's like the Access episode of West Wing, but cooler. Plus, it's by a former White House communications director. Pubs on April 28.
Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick. It's a romance that involves solving a murder among the wealthy elite. Nice. Pubs on the 21st.
Perfect Match by Fern Michaels. A former NFL player takes over a matchmaking business? I assume hijinks and smooching ensue. Out on April 28th.
The Thunder of Giants by Joel Fishbane. In 1937, Andorra stars in a biopic about Anna, who lived 100 years before. Both are giants, but led very different lives. Pubs on the 14th.
Meadowlands: A World War I family saga by Elizabeth Jeffrey. Aristocracy in WWI. Pubbed at the beginning of the month.
The Jazz Palace by Mary Morris. Jews and mobsters in Jazz Age Chicago. And all the catnip! Out now.
Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian. A PEN finalist and debut about the Armenian genocide and family secrets. Out now.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. A Viet Cong agent in LA int he 70s spies on refugees. I love stories that explore how wars never really end. Out now.
What's new or coming out this month that you can't wait for?
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I have a subscription to The Horn Book Magazine and it is one of my favorite things. I spend a couple of hours reading each issue. No matter how much I keep up online and with friends about new and upcoming books, The Horn Book always alerts me to books I haven't heard about. I always end up adding several books to my To-Read Stack. Sometimes I get most of the book titles from the reviews, sometimes from the ads, and sometimes from the articles. If you haven't picked up The Horn Book lately, it is well worth in terms of what is offered in every issue.
Over Spring Break, I read the newest issue of The Horn Book. And I found lots of new books to add to my stack! I find that mostly, the books I find are books from favorite authors--I am always thrilled to see new books by authors I already love! These are the books I want to add to my stack after reading
I had seen
Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith but for some reason I had thought it was more middle school/YA. After reading the 5 Questions Interview (a Horn Book Feature that I LOVE), I added this one to my list. It looks too good to miss and definitely good for older elementary readers. This is Lane Smith's first novel!
Bob Shea has a new series coming out for beginning readers.
Ballet Cat looks to be fabulously fun. I love Bob Shea's other books and am excited to see a new series from him. This one is more early chapter book, I think.
Yard Sale is a new picture book by Eve Bunting. As with all of her books, this one looks to be a great conversation starter. It will give kids lots to think about.
Knit Together by Angela Dominguez is one that drew me in because of the topic. A little girl loves to draw and her mothers loves to knit. This seems like a book that can invite great conversations around creating, creativity, following your passion, etc.
And who wouldn't want to meet two new duck characters from Olivier Dunrea.
Gemma and Gus looks as fun as the others!
I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell looks like a picture book my 3rd graders might like. It is described by a few reviewers as "creepy". The Horn Book describes it as clever. Seems to be just the kind of humor I like in a picture book!
I was very excited to see
Look! by Jeff Mack coming soon! I love Jack Mack and am thrilled that his new book is about books and reading! What fun!
I'm not a big fan of The Stupids and this book is being compared to it. But I am a fan of Sara Pennypacker so I definitely want to read
Meet the Dullards. Looks pretty funny to me! (Love that the cover says "Extra Boring Edition"! How could this not be hysterical?)
There are LOTS more great books reviewed and discussed in this issue (and EVERY issue) of The Horn Book Magazine. There are just some of the titles I am adding to my stack after reading the issue. I imagine when I pop through the issue again, I'll add more. I highly recommend reading The Horn Book from cover to cover 6 times a year!
Here's what's in MY to-read stack!
I am looking ahead to spring break reading and am hoping to get to lots of books on my stack. There have been so many great middle grade novels that have been released recently. Many are by authors whose work I love. I doubt I'll be able to read a MG novel a day over break but this is my Spring Break wish list--the stack I am hoping to get to.
Looking through the upcoming hardcover adult fiction lists for work, here are some books that caught my eye:
Paris Red: A Novel by Maureen Gibbon. A novel exploring Olympia--the model the posed for it, the painter who painted it, and how it changed everything in their lives. Pubs April 20
Mademoiselle Chanel: A Novel by CW Gortner. A fictionalized biography of Coco Chanel. I've recently made my peace with fictionalized biographies (they're literary biopics!) and they're a fun way to read more about someone I wouldn't necessarily read an actual biography of. Pubs March 17
The Scapegoat: A Novel by Sophia Nikolaidou, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich. Based on a true story, a school student is assigned the task of finding the truth in the murder of an American journalist in Greece in 1948. The killer was found, but after serving his time, claims his innocence. Out now
Me and My Daddy Listen to Bob Marley: Novellas and Stories by Ann Pancake. I've been getting into short stories lately and these take place in rural Appalachia--a place that is so geographically close to me, but is a whole different world. Out now.
A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab. Library Journal gave it a star and this part of a sentence is what sold me "the three Londons we see (and rumors of the one we do not)..." Pubs February 24
Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: A Novel by Judd Trichter. Eliot fell in love with an android, and she's been kidnapped and sold off for spare parts. Now he has to buy up the parts, reassemble her, and then hunt down the people who did this to her. Out now.
Bones & All: A Novel by Camille DeAngelis. Kirkus said this coming-of-age story about a ghoul who keeps eating people read like a cheesy episode of Buffy. Like that was a BAD thing. Pubs March 10.
The Last Flight of Poxl West: A Novel by Daniel Torday. Eli idolizes his uncle Poxl--debonair fighter pilot and WWII hero, but as Eli learns more, he realizes that there is a darker side to Poxl's life and the legend he's built up for himself. Pubs March 17.
A Love Like Blood: A Novel by Marcus Sedgwick. Um, Marcus Sedgwick wrote an adult book. The only other thing you need to know is that is it's out now.
The Prince: A Novel by Vito Bruschini, translated from the Italian by Anne Milano Appel. The most promising of a handful of mob books on this month's lists. This one covers the true story of how mafia began in Italy, Irish and Italian gang turf wars in New York, and WWII. Pubs March 10
A Dangerous Place: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear. New! Maisie! Dobbs! Pubs March 17.
The Devil's Detective: A Novel by Simon Kurt Unsworth. A detective novel about a serial killer--but it takes place in Hell. Intriguing. Pubs March 12.
The Mouth of the Crocodile: A Mamur Zapt mystery set in pre-World War I Egypt by Michael Pearce. It's the subtitle that got me--pre-WWI Egypt. This is the 18th in a series I'm unfamiliar with, so I'll have to start at the beginning with The Mamur Zapt & the Return of the Carpet). This new one pubs on March 1.
Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe: An Elizabethan Spy Thriller by Kathy Lynn Emerson. Ladies in waiting that double as spies? Elizabethan England and the Russians are involved? Please download this into my brain ASAP. Pubs March 1.
Duet in Beirut: A Thriller by Mishkla Ben-David, translated from the Hebrew by Evan Fallenberg. A spy thriller written by a former Mossad agent. Ben-David's a best seller in Israel and this is his first novel translated into English. Pubs on April 14.
Leaving Berlin: A Novel by Joseph Kanon. Alex fled the Nazis for America, but in the McCarthy era, his pre-war activities mark him for deportation. He strikes a deal with the CIA--he'll return to Berlin, as their agent, and earn his way back to the US. But the CIA wants him to spy on those it was hardest to leave the first time. Pubs on March 3.
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So, I thought I'd start a new feature here where I talk about upcoming adult fiction I'm interested in. I'm not a collection development librarian, but I am on the adult fiction selection committee at work, and here are some of the titles that I marked because I want to check them out when they publish:
Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale by David Duchovny. Remember this summer when news broke that Duchovny wrote a children's book about a cow, pig, and turkey who somehow bring peace to the Middle East and even then it was a hot mess? Turns out, it's a 224 illustrated book FOR ADULTS. Obviously, this is going to be so terrible it will be amazing. Pubs. February 3.
The Price of Blood: A Novel by Patricia Bracewell. This is a sequel to Shadow on the Crown: A Novel, which I haven't read (yet) but historical fiction about Emma of Normandy and English royalty in the half-century before the Norman Conquest? Yes, please! Pubs February 5
The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty: A Novel by Amanda Filipacchi. A group of friends struggles with the role beauty plays in their quest for love (one struggles with being too beautiful, the other with no being beautiful at all) and then it turns out one of them is a murderer. Sounds intriguing. Pubs February 16
Prudence: A Novel by David Treuer. Here's what I know about this book (the description's rather vague) WWII, Northern Minnesota, an escaped POW, an act of violence with long-range repercussions, a Native writer. Pubs on February 5.
The Swimmer: A Novel by Joakim Zander. Already an international best-seller, this is about a deep-undercover CIA agent who had to give up his infant daughter to maintain his cover. Now she's grown and an EU aide who's seen something she shouldn't have. She's in grave danger and the only person who can save her is the father she never knew. Pubs on February 10
A Price to Pay by Alex Capus looks at 3 historical figures (Felix Bloch who worked on the Manhattan project, Laura D'Oriano who was a spy, and Emile Gillieron who was an art forger) starting in Zurich in 1924 through WWII. Out now.
The Firebird's Feather by Marjorie Eccles. Debutantes! Murder! Suffragettes! Russians! Family Secrets! What more do you need to know? Pubs tomorrow.
The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya. I'm a fan of her songwriting, and now she's written a book about growing up in the 70s in Soviet Azerbaijan and becoming disillusioned with the Party? Can't wait! Pubs on February 3.
Our Lady of Infidelity: A Novel of Miracles by Jackie Parker Magical Realism in the southwest when a window installation turns into religious vision--everyone sees a vision in the window, but they all see something different. Meanwhile, 7-year-old Luz needs a real miracle--her mother, her only surviving family member is dying of kidney disease. Out now.
Fatal Feast (A Merlin Mystery) by Jay Rudd. Camelot in the Middle Ages. A knight is poisoned at dinner and Guenivere is blamed. Will Merlin come out of seclusion to prove her innocence? Pubs on January 21.
Above Us Only Sky: A Novel by Michele Young-Stone. A young girl was born with wings that were then removed. As a teen she tries to find herself and discovers her Lithuanian routes, and a long line of bird women. And it also some how covers over a century of Lithuanian history. Pubs on March 3.
And a bonus nonfiction title! (This one just caught my eye as I was flipping past)
In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China by Michael Meyers. I *loved* his The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed, which covered the destruction of Beijing's hutongs, of which Meyers was a resident. Turns out, he then moved to a small village in Manchuria and this new one covers the changes (and his life) there. Very exciting! Pubs on February 17
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Tis the season of booklists. I make it a general rule to avoid looking at the best of the year lists. My book piles are already too high to begin with and the lists tend to be so very same-y with books I have heard of already so there is no reason to even bother. This belief and bad attitude has served me well for years. While all of you have been frantically adding books to your piles and lists, I’ve been sitting back all smug-like and superior — suckers!
But if literature teaches us nothing else, it reveals time and again that even the mighty fall.
And I fell.
Hard.
It all began with NPR’s Best Books of 2014. I’ve read so many good books this year and am still waiting patiently in the library hold queue for a number of others that my curiosity got the best of me. Are my favorite books of the year on the list? Why yes, yes they are. Hooray! Oh, but what’s this book? How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson looks interesting. Oh, and The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. Euphoria by Lily King, haven’t heard much about that but Margaret Mead is a character. Have to check that out. Oh my gosh! Octavia Butler! A collection of previously unpublished stories, Unexpected Stories. Squee! And. And. And.
You get the picture.
Then I made the mistake of thinking it was only a minor slip even though I suddenly found about ten more books on my TBR list than were there previously. I was back in control with nothing to worry about so why not look at the New York Times 100 Notable Books? The list will be so conventional and uninteresting I won’t be tempted at all.
Yes, I am that daft and delusional.
I don’t even know how many more books I added to my TBR list. I lost track after five. This all happened over the weekend and I have since regained my balance and have resisted the lure of any further “best” lists I’ve come across.
But now, now just when I am recovered, fellow bloggers have gotten me messed up once again and I was completely unsuspecting. I don’t usually get overly excited about upcoming book releases but in one day I managed to fall swooning over a shelf-load of books that will be published in 2015. I don’t want to point any fingers (Ana! Jenny!) but you all need to cease and desist. Immediately. Just stop it.
In case anyone else is planning on doing an upcoming list, let me beg you to please, please, please change your mind. Keep it to yourself. Really. I don’t need any more of this nonsense. I am contrite. I have learned my lesson. Show some compassion to this fallen previously smug reader.
Don’t make me plot revenge. Cuz I will. Mean and ugly. I much prefer being kind and friendly. So I am pleading, please, don’t make me go there or we will all regret it.
Therefore, allow me to thank you in advance for your benevolence.
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I love October. October 3 (my wedding anniversary) and October 31st (the best holiday of all!) are my favorite days, but today, October 21st, is really giving them a run for their money because not one, but TWO books that I've been eagerly awaiting are coming out. I seriously couldn't be more excited about these books if they were my own: ROOKIE YEARBOOK THREE, edited by Tavi Gevinson, and THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE, the YA debut by my hilarious, brilliant, amazing, simply-not-enough-cool-adjectives-exist-to-fully-describe-her critique partner, Vanessa Barneveld!
Let's talk about the amazing Vanessa and her book first. My books would basically not exist if not for Vanessa--well, they definitely would not be as good. We became online critique partners (Vanessa lives in Australia where I really hope to visit her one day!) shortly after I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE sold in 2007. She's read multiple versions of both of my books (and some not-published manuscripts as well) and was a total lifesaver during the revisions of BALLADS OF SUBURBIA in particular, reading and immediately responding to the changes I was making at 3 am (this was where it was very convenient to have an Australian CP). She's got an eye for character and an ear for voice, which have helped me a ton, but those plus her incredible sense of humor have made her manuscripts a blast for me to read over the years and I AM SO FREAKIN' EXCITED that readers EVERYWHERE get to be swept into one of Vanessa's worlds.
Here's the lowdown on THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE!
When the one boy you crushed on in life can't seem to stay away in death, it's hard to be a normal teen when you're a teen paranormal.
Sixteen-year-old Keira Nolan has finally got what she wanted—the captain of the football team in her bedroom. Problem is he’s not in the flesh. He’s a ghost and she’s the only one who can see him.
Keira's determined to do anything to find Jimmy's killer. Even it if means teaming up with his prickly-yet-dangerously-attractive brother, Dan, also Keira's ex-best-friend. Keira finds that her childish crush is fading, but her feelings for Dan are just starting to heat up, and as the story of Jimmy’s murder unfolds, anyone could be a suspect.
This thrilling debut from Vanessa Barneveld crosses over from our world to the next, and brings a whole delightful new meaning to "teen spirit".
Here's the book trailer:
I devoured THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE. It was funny, it was sad, it kept me turning pages, and best of all, it reminded me of my own teenage years when I was obsessed with the Ouija Board and longing for the psychic abilities that Keira has. If you are looking for great ghost story with laugh-out-loud moments and more thrills than chills, this is it.
To celebrate her launch, Vanessa is throwing a big, online bash on her blog from tomorrow, October 22nd through October 31st. It will be filled with guests, including me! I'm doing a post and a giveaway (of an anthology featuring a ghost story I've written) on October 30th. I hope to see you there!
And now.... (drum roll)... on to ROOKIE!!!!
I've had the privilege of being a part of Rookie magazine since it launched in September of 2011. (Remember this super-excited blog post when it debuted?) I'm still in awe of everything that we do. The Yearbooks feature the best of the best of our online pieces for each year as well as some cool added bonuses. This is our first Yearbook with Razorbill and since I'm a Penguin/Random House author too now, I'm think that's pretty awesome. I also have two essays in this one, which feels like a huge accomplishment.
Here's the lowdown on ROOKIE YEARBOOK THREE!
is a website created by and for young women to make the best of the beauty, pain and awkwardness of being a teenager. When it becomes tough to appreciate such things, we have good plain fun and visual pleasure. When you're sick of having to be happy all the time, we have lots of rants, too. Every school year, we compile the best from the site into a print yearbook. Behold: our Junior year!
In
Rookie Yearbook Three, we explore cures for love, girl-on-girl crime, open relationships, standing for something, embracing our inner posers, and so much more. Featuring interviews with Rookie role models like Sofia Coppola, Amandla Stenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Kim Gordon, and a bonus section chock-full of exclusive content including a pizza pennant, sticker sheet, valentines, plus advice and contributions from Lorde, Shailene Woodley, Dakota and Elle Fanning, Grimes, Kelis, Sia, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City, Haim, and more!
I know!!!! Amazing, right? Can't wait to go home and pore over my copy!
And if you are in the New York or Toronto areas, there are events celebrating the release TOMORROW, October 22. There is also an event in Brooklyn on November 5th. All of the details are on
the Rookie Events page. Go if you can and tell me how fabulous it was!
FOREIGN EXCHANGE is out NOW!
Denise Jaden's new young adult novel, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, is officially available to the world! It is an Editor's Pick and for a limited time, it is available on the Evernight Teen website for only $4.49!
Here's a little more about the book:
Jamie Monroe has always played it safe. That is, until her live-for-the-moment best friend, Tristan, jets off to Italy on a student exchange program. Left alone with her part-time mother and her disabled brother, Jamie discovers that she is quite capable of taking her own risks, starting with her best friend's hotter-than-hot older brother, Sawyer. Sawyer and Tristan have been neighbors for years, but as Jamie grows closer to the family she thought she knew, she discovers some pretty big secrets.
As she sinks deeper into their web of pretense, she suspects that her best friend may not be on a safe exchange program at all. Jamie sets off to Europe on a class trip with plans to meet up with Tristan, but when Tristan stops all communication, suddenly no one seems trustworthy, least of all the one person she was starting to trust-Sawyer.
And here's what people are saying about FOREIGN EXCHANGE:
"Denise Jaden's newest novel, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, is a must read for contemporary YA fans. The characters leap off the pages and readers will furiously turn pages to keep up with the fast pace and intriguing premise. Definitely add a copy of Foreign Exchange to the top of your reading list."~ Janet Gurtler, Rita Finalist and Best Selling Author of I'm Not Her
"I loved the well-drawn relationships in Foreign Exchange - the tension between Jamie and her mother, Jamie's tenderness with disabled brother Eddy and especially the intense chemistry between Jamie and Sawyer. Their off-limits attraction and the increasingly dangerous hunt for his sister had me racing through the final chapters."~ Jen Nadol, author of The Mark, The Vision, and This is How it Ends
"Foreign Exchange takes you on a thrilling ride through the exotic streets of Europe into the dark side of the fashion world. Our charming heroine will stop at nothing to save her best friend. A sweet dose of romance keeps it light."~ Lee Strauss - author of The Minstrel Series"Foreign Exchange is a fresh contemporary YA that will keep readers compulsively turning pages until the very end. Combining international intrigue with a steamy forbidden romance makes for a can't miss read."~ Eileen Cook, author of Year of Mistaken Discoveries."A pitch perfect voice and delicious chemistry between the characters kept me turning those pages!"~ Tara Kelly, author of Amplified and Encore"Foreign Exchange is heart pounding and suspenseful...the teenage dream of escaping the boredom of suburbia by travelling Europe and spending quality time with a hot guy shifts into a dangerous nightmare."~ D.R. Graham, author of Rank and the Noir et Bleu MC series."Denise Jaden is a force to be reckoned with! I loved her new book so much. This one is a thrill ride with full realized, lovable characters, and a refreshingly unique premise."~ Rachel Shane, author of the upcoming
Alice in Wonderland High
Have you seen the trailer yet? It's here too!
Help Denise celebrate online today and spread the word about her new book baby.
By: Stefanie,
on 10/17/2013
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I don’t generally expect to come across a book that talks about the works of Robert Lewis Stevenson, Jules Verne and William Morris on a science and technology website but oh the wonders of the internet! MIT historian Rosalind Williams writes about the three authors in her new book The Triumph of Human Empire: Verne, Morris, and Stevenson at the End of the World. The book examines their responses to technological and social change.
Stevenson, for example, apparently wrote a letter to Henry James in 1890 explaining that his disillusionment with technology and rapid change is what prompted him to go live in Samoa. This from a man who came from a family of civil engineers.
We think of our own times as being one of rapid change, but Verne lived through the introduction of trains, trams, the telegraph, telephone, phonograph, steamship, and commercial electricity.
Williams sets out to examine the literary works for insight into how people respond to rapid social change.
Doesn’t that sound like an interesting book?
Just a short one tonight. It’s one of those evenings in which my mind draws up blank and reading is so much more appealing than trying to write about reading.
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I know I have mentioned many times before that I am an inveterate list-maker. You might, then, be able to imagine my surprise, shock, and offended “that can’t be right!” when I clicked on a Boing Boing feed article on the science of to-do lists that declares research proves they don’t work.
I find to-do lists work great for me, maybe because I generally only make them for what I need to do that day, sometimes that weekend, rarely for the whole week. At work I don’t use to-do lists, I set tasks in my calendar with due dates and work the tasks accordingly.
But I don’t want to talk about to-do lists per se. I want to talk about TBR piles and lists. Because a TBR list is, essentially, a to-do list of books. And a TBR pile is a TBR to-do list incarnate. While I am so good at my other lists, my TBRs utterly fail me. Let me rephrase that, I utterly fail at working my TBRs. I think a good many of us do. Am I right? We are great at adding to them — the books we had to have pile up unread around us and the list(s) we keep just get longer and longer. One or two books from the pile get read and four more appear. One or two books from the list get scratched off and a dozen are added. Stop the insanity!
The Boing Boing article has a link to a Harvard Business blog article about why to-do lists don’t work so I had to click through. Even though it is not meant for TBR lists, it still struck me as having some useful information.
There are five problems with to-do lists, not all of them can be transferred to TBR lists, at least not for me, but four out of the five hit all too close to home. You know what the number one problem is? Too many things on the list. The paradox of choice comes into play and suddenly the brain short circuits from having too many things to choose from. Oh yes, I can totally relate. My eyes glaze over, I ignore the TBR pile and hide my list away and borrow a book from the library instead. I get TBR paralysis. It is too much work to choose from the abundance in front of me so I get something that I saw mentioned on a blog post recently or in a book I am reading or that just popped into my head from the deeps of memory. You see, I have discovered the only way out of TBR paralysis is to completely ignore the TBRs. But the piles and lists keep growing anyway.
Then there is the “heterogeneous priority” problem. Except in the case of my TBRs it is more like a homogeneous priority problem. Instead of having too many books with varying priority I have too many books with the same priority: I want to read them all now. Because all my books have the same priority — read now — none of them get any priority. Therefore my habit of reading at whim, picking up whatever I feel like instead of deliberately choosing something from the pile or list. I have tried various methods to create priority, you can see one of them over on my sidebar right now in the form of a “2013 Reading Plan.” See how many are crossed off? (3) Aren’t I doing great? (nope) My reading plan is just a smaller TBR to-do list fail.
It could be, in part because of a lack of context. In other words, it is just a list of titles that doesn’t help me determine priority. Why did I want to read that book in the first place? Where or from whom did I hear about it? How long has it been on the list? What is the book about? These questions are easier to answer when the list is a pile, but if the pile is large I don’t want to spend the time going through it. Sure, I love browsing my own books but when I want to start reading a new book right now I don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring out which one, I want to be reading.
All of this combined with “lack of commitment devices” means I am doomed from the start. Commitment devices lock you in to a course of action. Some books come with built in commitment like a book group read, a challenge like RIP, and group readalong, or a class assignment. Those books in my TBR piles and on my lists though, no commitment devices. There is no course of action attached to them, no plan, no read by date that prompts me to you know, actually read them. I don’t have to read them, so I don’t. I read everything else instead.
The solution to all these to-do list problems apparently is to not make a list at all. But since I am going to make a list anyway, the thing to do is to make a schedule. Eek! I know right? Schedule my reading. But you know what, years ago I had a calendar that featured a different woman writer each month and I decided at the beginning of the year that during each month I would read at least one book, two if I could, by the featured writer. The calendar usually mentioned the writer’s most well-known book so I would choose that and then, if it was short and I had time, I would get a free choice of another book by that author. And you know what? It was a great reading year. I stuck to the plan and read a bunch of new to me authors and authors I had meant to try for ages as well as a few favorites. And there was still room for plenty of other books.
No doubt my reading goal list would work a lot better if I had committed to when I would read each of the books on it. Can you tell I am about to hatch a plan? It’s too late to resurrect that list, or at least the whole list. We are in October now after all. But I am going to figure out what books I really want to read by the end of the year and then put them on my calendar. See how it goes. I am not going to figure out every book for the rest of the year, just a few priority choices like Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood and my NYRB subscription books. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for at whim choices, but there is a little bit. And if it works, then next year’s reading goals will be a new and improved list.
If it doesn’t work, then it just goes into the “it was worth a try” pile and I go back to my old profligate TBR list-making ways.
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0 Comments on Sunday Salon: reviews that made me want to read the book as of 1/1/1900
Looks like some great spring reading! kaye—the road goes ever ever on
Most of these are new to me, but they sound excellent. Sounds like a lot of great spring reading. Enjoy!