BBAW

BBAW: Forgotten Treasure

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What would a list of wonderful unsung books be without a couple of sources to find great less-popular (or less-well-known books) books, first?

Back in January, Kelly at YAnnabe organized a collection of unsung YA: books that are awesome, but just don’t get the press of the big stuff. Take the time to look through the list; there are some really, really good books there.

Secondly, a plug for the Cybils. It is truly, honestly, one of the best places to find excellent childrens books. Check over the shortlists from last year, and there are many, many great books to be had.

What are some of my favorite unsung books (everything here has under 500 ratings at Goodreads, which is just my way of making sure they really are unsung):



The Night Fairy, by Laura Amy Schlitz
The Lost Conspiracy, by Frances Hardinge
Saving Maddie, by Varian Johnson
Shine, Coconut Moon, by Neesha Meminger
Carter Finally Gets It, by Brent Crawford
The Year My Son and I Were Born, by Kathryn Lynard Soper

There you have it. What are some of yours?

BBAW: Two in One

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Since I missed Monday (due to a TLC tour commitment), I’m going to tackle that as well as today’s topic.

First off, I need to give props to another Kansas book blogger: Philip Nel’s a professor up at Kansas State University, directing the program in Children’s Literature up there. He also blogs at Nine Kinds of Pie. It’s a fascinating blogger.

Another blog I’ve found over the past year that I really enjoy reading is Books in the Spotlight; it’s more kidlit — mostly YA-oriented — books, but she’s thoughtful and reads books that I’d never think of picking up.

As for today’s question… I’m often pushed by other bloggers; it’s one of the reasons I like challenges. I wouldn’t have picked up mystery books without Iliana at Bookgirl’s Nightstand or horror (most notably Stephen King and Bram Stoker) without Carl’s RIP challenge (which I didn’t do on purpose this year, since I’m feeling way behind, but I really really really wanted to). Or reading more POC books or GLBT books. But if I had to pick something — one thing — in the past year, that a blogger has pushed me to read, it’d be books by Sarah Dessen.

I had heard of both of these before the past year, but had dismissed them out of hand: too girly, too chick-lit (and this is from someone who doesn’t mind chick lit now and again). But, I think it was Em at Em’s Bookshelf who pushed me to read my first Sarah Dessen. And… I loved it. I loved the way she writes characters, how the books are not fluffy at all but aren’t depressing either. They are a perfect balance between realistic and swoony. And now I can’t get enough of her.

How about you? What have you been pushed to try?

BBAW: 10 Questions for Teresa

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For the interview swap, I got a newbie again this year: Teresa from Teresa’s Reading Corner. From her profile blurb, she writes: “I am a working mom and wife who loves to read in the spare time that life allows. I love discussing books and have gotten so many fantastic book suggestions from the blogs that I’ve read. I decided it was time to take the plunge and share my love of books with others.”

I loved getting to know a new bloggger!

MF: I’ve not been to your blog before — one of the great things about BBAW! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m looking forward to visiting a lot of new blogs this week! I have been a reader as far back as I can remember. Both of my parents are avid readers so we know how that got started! I live in Colorado with my husband, my son and our dog. I don’t have a favorite genre that I always default to, but read a little bit of everything.

MF: How long have you been blogging? Why did you start?
I have been blogging for almost 7 months. I love chatting about books and thought that the blog would be an excellent avenue to spark conversation with others about books.

MF: Have you interacted with the book blogging community much? If so, what is it about the community that you like? (Any dislikes?)
I love the book blogging community. As I was starting out I asked a lot of questions and got a lot of support from many different bloggers. I think that it is great that so many were willing to reach out and help a newbie.

MF: What keeps you picking up the next book?
Reading is how I unwind. I love escaping into the story. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t read!

MF: Buyer or borrower? Why?
I tend to be more of a buyer. I love being surrounded by books and the experience of wandering around the bookstore looking at all of the covers.

MF: You work and you’re a mother: when do you find time to read?
I read whenever I can. Usually it is after my little monkey goes to bed or during my lunch hour while at work.

MF: And now for the round of five (if you can, five of each please…):
Foods/beverages you can’t live without?
Coffee, pizza, chocolate, steak, green chiles

Places to you’d love to go (fictional or non)?
Australia, England, Italy, New York, San Diego

Favorite characters?
Jamie and Claire Fraser from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon are by far my favorite characters.

Books you think everyone should read?
This one is a tough one. I think people should read whatever makes them happy as long as they are reading. I do think that people should try reading an author or genre before they claim that they don’t like it. Far too many people dismiss things based on assumptions that may or may not be true.

Thanks, Teresa! Be sure to pop by her blog to see what questions she asked me.

My Bloggy Goals

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Today’s BBAW question is a tough one for me:

Write in 50 words or less…what do you like best about your blog right now and where would you like your blog to be a year from now?

I have never been about bloggy goals. I get on, I write my reviews (and whatever else bookish I can think of), comment a few places and get off. I’ve been doing this for nearly five years. I started this blog for myself, and I told myself that I’d review everything I read, whether I finished it or not. Five years later…. I think those two statements still hold. I still blog mainly for myself (though I’m flattered y’all read it and like it), and I still pretty much review everything I read, whether I finish it or not.

So… in spite of my angst earlier this year, for right now, I’m just going to keep doing what I do: reading books and writing about them. Sure, I’ll probably do more Book-to-Movie posts, because I like doing them (when I remember). And I’ll keep doing at least one author interview a month (because I like the opportunity to “meet” people whose work I enjoy). But other than that? Don’t expect much different around here. (I don’t know… maybe I’ll break out and muse more often. Then again, I tend to blather… so maybe not.)

Do you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see me do? (I promise to think about any suggestions… which doesn’t mean I’ll actually implement them. Just so you know.)

Book Recommendations

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Today’s BBAW topic:

Today we encourage you to blog about a book you read only because you discovered it on another book blog. Preferably, this will be a book you loved! You might also write a bit about the blog you discovered it on!

I get the books I read one of three ways, these days: I’m sent them by publishers/publicists/authors; they’re for one of the book groups I attend; or (and this really is most of them), I’ve seen them on a blog I love somewhere.

So, to specify one book that I loved is not an easy task. Primarily because I have a hard time remembering who recommended what… but also because there are so many!! I did look back through my books that I’ve read this year, and here are ten that I loved that I can remember who recommended them to me! (Aside: I’ve read a LOT of fantasy this year. Who knew?)

1. Beastly — Corinne at The Book Nest. She read this one a year or so ago, and made it sound absolutely captivating. And, because I trust her taste, I stuck it on my TBR list. It just took a while for the library to get it in, but when it finally did and I got a chance to read it, I really liked it, too.

2. The Order of the Odd-Fish — Besty at Fuse #8. Actually, Betsy didn’t review this book; she just mentioned James Kennedy and linked to one of his posts in a Fusenews. I clicked through, and it was love at first laugh. The second the library got it in, I snatched the book and fell in love with it, too. (And, yes, I know I need to go buy the darn thing.)

3. When You Reach Me — Betsy again. The only downside to Besty recommending things is that sometimes she does it SO dang early. She reviewed this one back in April, and if she hadn’t have kept bringing it up, I probably would have forgotten about it. But she wouldn’t let us forget about it. I know I saw it other places (can’t remember where), too, before I finally got a chance to read it.

4. The Year the Swallows Came Early — Natasha at Maw Books and Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews. I think they were part of a tour, which means the tour did its work: I was interested by their reviews (and author interviews), and I found the book to read.

5. Graceling — I’ll pin this one on Abby at Abby (the) Librarian, though I’m sure I saw it elsewhere. It was one of those that got buzz that I mostly ignored until Abby gave me the push I needed to read it.

6. Hunger Games — Everyone! (Click through for the actual list.)

7 and 8. Fire and Hemlock and Poison Study — Kailana at The Written World. Actually, I’m not super sure about these, but Kailana’s the one I associate with them. I don’t remember how or why, and maybe it’s just because she commented and said she loved them. But, somehow they ended up on my TBR list, and I’m SO glad they did.

9. Babymouse — Pam at MotherReader or Jen at Jen Robinson’s Book Page. I’m pretty sure it was one of these two fine ladies that blogged about Babymouse, which prompted me to get them for C, which led me to reading them myself, which led to much Babymouse love around here.

10. We Are the Ship — School Library Journal Battle of the Kids books. See? Silly award contests do have a purpose in the blogging world! I wouldn’t have picked up this book otherwise. (Well, I shouldn’t say that: I’m sure I would have picked it up, eventually. The BoB just sped up the process.)

There you have it: some of my favorites this year, and the people who recommended them to me. How about you? What have you loved so far this year?

BBAW Meme-Thing

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Today’s BBAW task is a kind of meme. In short:

Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? Not ususally.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? Two words: library books. Also: it horrifies my husband.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Book darts.

Laying the book flat open? Sometimes

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Both

Hard copy or audiobooks? Hard copy.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? Depends on how demanding my kids are.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Nope. I’m all about context.

What are you currently reading? Three books at the same time.

What is the last book you bought? Catching Fire.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? Used to be one; see above for now.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? All day, anywhere.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? Stand alone.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Shannon Hale. Love her stuff.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) Hubby does: alphabetically by author.

10 Questions for Cass

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So, for BBAW, I signed up to do the partner interview, and I got Cass from Bonjour Cass as my blogging partner. She’s a new blogger, so here’s your opportunity to meet her (she’s pretty cool!). Then go by and check out her blog… (and leave a comment!)

MF: So, Cass: tell us a bit about yourself.
BC: I’m a twenty-something Bostonian (by choice, not birth–I grew up in northern Connecticut). I love city life, mostly not having to worry about driving, especially since I never got around to learning how to drive. I live with my wonderful partner and our two spoiled cats, Gino and Henry. I spend a lot of time reading (shocking, I know), exploring the city, and drinking far too much coffee.

MF: I love big cities, too, though I’ve never really had the opportunity to live in a really big one… How long have you been blogging? Why did you start?
BC: I made the tragic decision to start working in the financial sector last year, right before the recession hit hard, and I was laid off. I started my blog in July after months of following book blogs and feeling frustrated about not being able to discuss all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) books I’d been reading. My partner isn’t a reader and even my friends who claim to be read maybe five books a year. Of course, this is fine, but it’s hard to convince someone who doesn’t read much to tackle books you admit aren’t the best, just so you can discuss them. I use my blog as a way to put my thoughts into a concrete form.

MF: I think that’s a reason a lot of us started! What do you enjoy about reading? What keeps you picking up the next book?
BC: This is a challenging question for me because I don’t feel like I make a conscious decision to keep reading. It’s become a part of who I am, beginning when I was young and my mom would read Little Women to me before bed. I couldn’t wait to learn how to do it myself. I was an only child (now I have three significantly younger brothers from my father’s second marriage), and I was frequently the only kid in the room with a bunch of adults. I started pretending to read–I’d hold my mother’s hard cover copy of IT and mumble out words, pretending I was a witch casting spells–and I would hand write books like When You Give a Mouse a Cookie over and over, even though I only knew the story from memory. When you’re an only child, you learn to make up your own games to entertain yourself, and my games just happened to make me a book lover.

MF: Are you a buyer or a borrower? Why?
BC: Lately I’ve been reading so much I’d go broke if I bought every single book. We have a great local library, and I use the Inter Library Loan system to get everything I want. I buy used books from the independent book stores around–there are many–but I don’t buy many brand new books.

MF: Me either! (I really love my local library, too.) You mentioned in an email that you like YA books. Why? What is it about YA that pulls you into reading them?
BC: In high school I was the president of the town library’s Young Adult Council. They were trying to attract more teens to the library and recruited those of us who spent a lot of time there. Their YA selection was, well, embarrassing. Maybe a couple of Christopher Pike books, maybe some Lauraine McDaniels, but the selection was sparse. Mostly we took books out from the adult section. My favorite book at the time was Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, which I had bought myself, so that was one of my “wins” for the library. The group sparked my interest in YA books, and I just haven’t been able to let them go.
MF: Okay… lightning round… Do you have:

A favorite place to read?
BC: The train. Or a cafe with a good coffee. Or in the library. Or at my kitchen table. Or in my cozy armchair, snuggled with one of my kitties.

A favorite author?
BC: Officially I might say Toni Morrison or Margaret Atwood. Off the record, I might say Charlaine Harris.

A favorite genre?
BC: Lately I’ve been devouring fictionalized accounts of history, like American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (fascinating fictionalized autobiography of Laura Bush) and Joyce Carol Oates’ Black Water (based on the Chappaquidick tragedy).

A favorite food?
BC: My stepmom’s meatballs, one of the many benefits of being Italian.

Five books that you think everyone should read?
BC: Obviously, this is just the beginning.
  1. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: my favorite book of all time.
  2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  3. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Fienberg
  4. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff: I listened to the audiobook and the narrator made it very funny.
  5. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

MF: That is an impressive list. Thanks so much, Cass!
BC: Thank you!

I Heart My Bloggy Friends

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Happy BBAW, everyone!

We’re supposed to, today, spotlight blogs we absolutely love that didn’t make the shortlist of the BBAW awards. This was actually difficult for me, since many of my friends didn’t make the shortlist!

So, I picked a handful of people that I consider friends, women that if I really need a book recommendation, I turn to them first (sorry, Becky, you made the shortlist, so you’re not here!). I’ve also noticed that we have similar tastes in books, and that we read many of the same books, which makes commenting on their blogs fun (also pretty similar: “OOH! SO glad you loved it, too!”). Anyway, some of my bloggy best friends:

I feel like I really know Corinne at The Book Nest, Dawn at My Thoughts Exactly, and Tricia at Library Queue, even though I’ve never met either one of them, mostly because the four of us are part of an online book group that Corinne started three years ago. They’re all amazing women: smart, talented, inquisitive. Talking books (and other things) with them is part of what makes my blogging and book experiences so much fun.

Can I tell you how stoked I am because Abby from Abby (the) Librarian is going to the Kidlit Conference this year, so I actually get to meet her! Squee! While I don’t always see eye-to-eye with her on books, I completely trust and respect her opinion on them. Besides, how could I not love someone who also unabashedly loves John Green… which also goes for Suey at It’s All About Books. They are women who are made of awesome! (I do like Suey’s book reviews, too!)

I’ve been following Kailana at The Written World and Heather at A High and Hidden Place for quite a while, but it seems like in the last year — possibly because of Twitter? — I’ve been paying more attention to them and their musings (and well as their incredible reading habits!) in the past little while. I’m so glad I did: I’ve found a ton of books through both of them that I’ve either loved, or are desperate to read.

Alysa at Everead is one I discovered — by the benefit of being on the same panel as her — last year during the Cybils. Again, we have similar tastes, and I have gotten a lot of recommendations from her. I admire her passion for books, and her enthusiastic spirit. I just wish she was able to blog more!!!

And, last but not least: Melissa at One Librarian’s Book Reviews. Melissa’s a new friend — she’s a relatively new blogger! — and I think she found me first. But, I’m so glad she did, and she left a comment (or two or three), and that I clicked through to see who the “other” Melissa was. Not only do we share similar tastes, she’s a great writer, who writes interesting, thoughtful posts. And check out her posts from her trip to Europe this summer. Fabulous.

There. Now that you’ve been introduced, you can stop by and say hi to some of my friends!