Celebrating Libraries and Reading!

It's National Library Week...and I've got no planned celebrations.  Boo.  But, I thought I'd tell everyone to head out to a library this week.  Appreciate the services offered by them (and, you know, the librarians, cause they are awesome too :).

If you're looking to find out what great libraries are near you, check out these links from Find the Data to find and compare local public or academic libraries.  It's kind of fun to look at stats of the libraries nearest you.

Anywho, get out and celebrate libraries and reading, because it's Support Teen Literature Day today!  So if you want to Rock the Drop (ie leave a book lying around for someone else to enjoy) please do!  I think I'll take a few ARCs and leave them around my town for someone to discover.  Lots of great things to celebrate this week!  (And I have a giveaway coming up later today - be sure to come by later to find out more.) 
What do you plan to do to celebrate National Library Week or Teen Literature Day?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Does Book Advertising Sway Your Reading Choices?

MOST EAGERLY ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR!!!
I've been wondering lately about book advertising.  I don't know if it's just that I'm more aware or if it's been increasing more, but what is with all the crazy and sometimes overwhelming advertising surrounding new books?  I've started to be annoyed with some of the campaigns; they just seem a bit over the top.  I think maybe it's a sign I'm getting old and grumpy or something. :)

There are so many superlatives (most, best) and adverbs (eagerly, highly) thrown out there describing new releases that they begin to lose meaning.  Does using these words/phrases actually make people want to read them?  Does this convince us as readers to seek out these books, describe our NEED for them, and otherwise blog about them well in advance of their release date?  I know I'm often convinced by the big campaigns, the flashy ads, and the "highly anticipated" description of a book.  But sometimes, most often lately, when I see those ads telling me a book is the "most eagerly awaited," I want to avoid it.  I almost wanted to avoid seeing the Hunger Games movie because the obnoxious Capitol products and advertising kind of annoyed me.  (I saw it, of course.  And it was good, of course.)

And what about those author blurbs?  If "NY Times Bestselling Author" said this book "made them stay up all night to read" or "made them green with envy over the writing" or was just "plain good," do you care?  Do you make you want to read it more or less?  What does make us want to get our hands on a book months before it will ever hit shelves? 

I admit, I've been swayed by all of those things.  Favorite Author said it was "Awesome?"  Bring it on.  Publicity is saying this is the Next Big [fill in the blank]?  I might be a bit more leary, but will keep my eye on it still.  Do you find yourself skeptical or eager when you see things like this?

I've discovered books on my TBR, added for whatever reason, that I honestly can't remember why I would have put it there.  It might have been some advertising/blogging/blurbing/something that caught my eye.  But, what makes a book go from TBR to actually read?  What moves things up on that list?  For me, I think it is a combination of things - plot, bloggers, and hype.  Yes, even the hype.  I am, unfortunately, not one of those cool enough to say "I won't read this book, because everyone says it's amazing and I want to swim against the current." 

Usually, I'll take the blog raves with a grain of salt, depending on the blogger raving.  There are bloggers who I know don't rave unless they find it absolutely necessary, and there are those who will rave about anything and everything, so long as it's popular and in their hands (I'd like to note that I think I'm somewhere in between these two).  Also, summaries, even though I don't usually religiously read them, will often be what attracts me.  I like a smart concept, sometimes even just a snippet like "future world where chocolate and coffee are banned" and that can  move a book right to the top of Mount TBR. 

But enough yapping, I want to hear your opinions.  What you think of ads touting the "best/most eagerly/exciting/acclaimed/award-winning" book of the year, blogger buzz, author blurbs, summaries, and anything else about books that make you want to pick them up (or throw them across the room)? 

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

How to Format Your Images Into Rows - My Bloggiesta Tip

I've actually had a few people ask me about formatting photos, which is totally surprising, considering I'm not exactly the most savvy of bloggers.  So, I thought I'd tell you a little about how I do it (obviously in blogger).  Plus, bloggiesta is the perfect time for that, even if I'm not really participating due to moving this weekend.

Want your images to line up like this?
First, nearly all of my book cover photos come from Amazon affiliates pages, so that's what I'll show first.  To get them all lined up in the middle, here's what I do:

I can usually only fit about three across (of the large sized covers) on my blog format, so that's what I stick to.  You can play around with yours to see how many fit on your blog.  I copy and paste the html from the amazon links (um, in html mode, obviously).  They generally come without any alignment formatting (ie not automatically centered), but with loads of weird extra code, so both good and bad.  I usually will paste the three photos all in a row, putting one space between their codes. 

Then, when I have all three together, I will center them, by putting the html text in instead of using blogger's centering feature (ie: <div style="text-align: center;">).  I've had issues with blogger's centering option when I try to get all three centered together, so typing the code myself is generally the easiest.  This puts the three images all in the same <div> and centers them all together in a row.  To do multiple rows, I generally do one hard return between each set (<br/> in html), but more space can easily be added either in html mode or compose mode.  Then I start a new <div style="text-align: center;"> for the next set of three and so on.  Here's what the code looks like (in html mode, of course):

<div style="text-align: center;">
<img 1 code> <img 2 code> <img 3 code>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img 1 code> <img 2 code> <img 3 code>
</div>

Now, for images that you add using blogger's insert image button, these will come automatically formatted, which can be good or bad.  They generally don't let you line up images neatly together, but put only one per row.  This is what the code looks like when an image is uploaded:

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="IMG LINK" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="192" src="IMG LINK" width="320" /></a></div>

Some of that extra stuff just gets in the way of what I want, so here's my method of fixing that:
Essentially, I will put the three images (or however many you want per row) all in one <div> - and I usually replace the <div class> code above with the shorter and simpler one from above, <div style="text-align: center;">  Putting multiple uploaded images in the same <div> will require you to delete the <div> code from the other uploaded images, since they all come with it attached (both the opening tag <div class, etc> and the closing tag </div>).  I also usually change the "margin-left" and "margin-right" to "0em", since I find it adds a little buffer around the edges of images that interferes with my alignment.  So here is what three uploaded images' code would look like:

<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="IMG LINK 1" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="192" src="IMG LINK 1" width="320" /></a> <a href="IMG LINK 2" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="192" src="IMG LINK 2" width="320" /></a> <a href="IMG LINK 3" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 0em;"><img border="0" dea="true" height="192" src="IMG LINK 3" width="320" /></a>
</div>

And that's it!  There is obviously other code there I could likely get rid of, but since I'm not sure what it all does, I figure it doesn't hurt to leave it :)  You can also change the size of the images from the code as well, but be warned it doesn't keep the height/width ratio the same, so they could look stretched. You can also put the images all together on the right or left by changing "center" in the <div> code to "right" or "left."

Anyway, hope this helps some of you align your images into rows!  Let me know if this was totally confusing or if you have any other questions.  

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Be My Valentine, Cybils Winners

What better day to announce the Cybils winners than a day devoted to love!  Since I already posted a heart-loving list yesterday, I figured today should be a post about my love of Cybils

This year marks my third time participating as a Round II Judge (I'm not quite up to the crazy that those Round I folks do) on the MG Sci-Fi/Fantasy panel.  Every year is different, but so much fun!  I love the diverse and wonderful books the Round I judges pass on to us.  I especially love discovering fabulous new books that I might not have picked up otherwise.  Chatting with the other panelists, hearing their opinions and seeing things from a new point of view is also one of my favorite things.  And I'm so pleased with the books that won, particularly our panel's choice, The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale.  I'll let you read the beautiful blurb one of our members wrote, since it explains so well why we all loved this book.  I'm hoping to get my review up for this delicious book today or tomorrow.

Check out all of the winners for all of the categories (shout out for Blood Red Road and Amelia Lost taking home prizes) and then express your love for those winners or for the Cybils or just for reading in general.  It's the perfect day for it.

What Cybils winner are you loving?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

In Which I Talk About TV *gasp*


I know that lots of other book bloggers talk TV, but I watch very little compared to many, so I usually have nothing to talk about.  However, I got sucked into a new series recently and joined (er, invited myself to join) a group watch with Suey and Kailana for the newest Sherlock Holmes BBC series.  I checked the first season (or series as they call it in Britain) out from the library and watched all three episodes nearly back to back.  And what a crazy show it is!  Be sure to check out Suey's and Kailana's recaps, since they had lots more to say.  Here are some excellent questions the others' threw out to get my brain juices flowing:

-- Favorite thing about this show?
Watson.  I love how complicated he is and also, how I feel just like him - totally lost about what Sherlock is doing.  He makes the show more human.

-- Least favorite thing about the show?
Sherlock :) No really, he's a big old jerk and while I'm totally fascinated by him, he annoys me every time!  And he does some very weird things.  He's almost too quirky.  Almost.

-- Are you most into the stories? Or the characters? Or the actors?
I think the stories are the most fascinating, though I got lost a few times on some episodes, especially the second one.  What brings me back to it is the characters.  Mostly Watson.

-- Have you ever read the original novels?
With the exception of The Hound of the Baskervilles, no.  I read Hound so long ago I don't remember a thing from it, either! 

--If you haven’t, does watching the spin-off shows and movies make you want to read the books? 
Actually, yes!  I'm interested to see what jerky things Sherlock did in a previous era, and what things they stayed true to (and could stay true to in this modern reinterpretation).

--Which was your favourite episode of the 3?
I'd have to say the last one, The Great Game, was the most exciting, though the first one, A Study in Pink, was pretty fun too.  The middle one, The Blind Banker, didn't do anything for me.

--Did you like how the show is set in the present day?
I loved this aspect!  Maybe it's because I'm on a retelling kick (see Classic Double Challenge), but I love to see modern versions especially.  I like the update this one got.

--What do you think of how while Sherlock is thinking, words appear on the screen instead of the watcher being left in the dark
This made me feel like I was a part of things and I think it requires more cleverness on the part of producers, since they have to find more subtle ways to surprise us. 

--What do want to see in the second season?
More Watson.  Sherlock making a mistake (and not just socially).  Great stories.

Have you seen this new version?  What do you think?


If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

A Wrinkle in Time 50th Anniversary Blog Tour: Sharing A Wrinkle in Time

One of the best parts of reading is sharing what we read.  We form book clubs and start book blogs and become librarians in order to experience the joy of sharing our favorites.  But what I find even more fun than just blabbing on about a book I loved to a (sometimes) astonished friend/patron/stranger is something a little bit more: putting the right book at the right time into the right hands. 


A Wrinkle in Time, which is celebrating its 50th year of publication with an awesome new edition (see the features below), is such a unique book!  It has a little bit of everything and doesn't quite fit anywhere, rather like the main character Meg feels.  Part fantasy, sci-fi, religious allegory, even dystopian at times, this book has it all.  But what makes it survive the test of time are the relatable characters.  Meg, who doesn't quite fit in, who doesn't do things "right" at school, who doesn't feel comfortable in her own body.  In short, nearly every young girl or boy at some point in their life will feel like Meg. 

So why is this book not universally loved?  There are many people who did not love this book.  Even hated it.  Several of my siblings expressed loathing for this book years after having read it, admitting they remember nothing about it except that hatred.  It is an odd book, quirky, difficult to feel comfortable with.  Universal love is not what makes a book "good" or "classic" or "enjoyable."  That is why connecting just the right kind of reader with just the right kind of book at just the right time is essential. 

When children or young adults or not-so-young-adults feel like Meg, like they don't fit into their own life or their own world.  This book could remind them they have a place, that they fit somewhere in this universe.  That they are not alone.

The right readers for this book (and millions of other books) are out there waiting. It could be someone you know or someone you don't know, aching to find the right book at just the right time.  Put it in their hands.
_____________________________________

Check out the other blogs on the 50 years, 50 days, 50 blogs tour

 
A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition features:
  • Frontispiece photo*†
  • Photo scrapbook with approximately 10 photos*†
  • Manuscript pages*†
  • Letter from 1963 Caldecott winner, Ezra Jack Keats*†
  • New introduction by Katherine Paterson, US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature†
  • New afterword by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis including six never-before-seen photos†
  • Murry-O’Keefe family tree with new artwork†
  • Madeleine L’Engle’s Newbery acceptance speech 
* Unique to this edition                † never previously published

And check out the book trailer!
 

What kind of Wrinkle reader were you?
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

(Still) Wrapping up 2011: Stats and Challenges

You know, if I were more on top of things, I'd have done all this stuff before today.  Alas, I'm not. 

I really love to analyze the stats from my reading during the year, so here are a bunch of numbers (and a few more graphs) that show a bit more about what I read.

Total number of books read: 150 

(my favorites of the year are listed here)

Fiction: 142, 95%
Non-fiction: 8, 5% (ouch, I really need to up this number)



Age Range:
Middle Grade (or younger): 56
Young Adult: 78
Adult: 16


Sorta Genres:
Historical Fiction (ish): 19
Mystery (vague, I know): 2
Realistic Fiction: 20
Sci-Fi (ish): 2
Paranormal: 22
Horror (ish): 1
Magical Realism (in my opinion): 5
Fairy Tale Retelling (straight up, anyway): 3
Steampunk: 1
Fantasy (ish): 44
Dystopian: 20
Graphic Novels or Illustrated: 11
(Of course these "genres" won't add up to 150, since some cross over and some don't fit and so on.)

Authors:
Male: 38
Female: 114 
(Also not adding up because there are one book with a male and female author, three books with two female authors, one book with two male authors, and one book with three male authors.) 

Most Read: Catherine Fisher (4 books, the Relic Master series)

Most Read Runners-Up in a ten-way tie with 2 books each:
Richard Peck, Christopher Paolini, Lois Lowry, Kieran Scott, Jonathan Maberry, Cinda Williams Chima, Mary Pearson, Stephanie Perkins, Sophie Jordan, and Ursula Vernon

Source:
Books read for review: 69, 46%
Books from the library: 73, 49%
Books from my collection not for review: 7, 5%
Books borrowed: 1, <1%


Format:
Audiobooks: 14 
E-Books: 18
Print: 118

Other:
Published in 2011 (US): 72, 48%
Debut Authors in 2011: 23, 15%
Debut Authors in 2012: 1, <1%
Rereads: 10, 7%
Did Not Finish: 6, 4% (out of 156)
Books part of a series: 80, 53%

And while I'm wrapping up, here are the challenges I signed up for in 2011.  I just wanted to say: I finished them all!  The only one I nearly didn't was the historical fiction challenge, which definitely challenged me to pick more HF books.
 
Debut Author Challenge, hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren:
completed with 22 debuts (see the list here).
 
Middle Grade Book Challenge hosted by Cindy's Love of Books:
completed with 45 books (see the list here).
 
YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss:
completed with 11 books (see the list here).
 
2011 E-Book Challenge hosted by The Ladybug Reads:
completed with 18 books (see the list here).
 
100+ Reading Challenge, hosted by Home Girl's Book Blog:
completed with 150 books (see the list here).
 
I was also "participating" in two perpetual challenges, which I didn't do so well with.  The Local Author Challenge, hosted by Suey at It's All About Books, I read at least 2 by authors from my new locale, Arizona:
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann and Slayers by C.J. Hill
And I think I got about 5 or 6 Utah authors too! (Ok, this year it will only be Arizona authors that count.)
 
For the Printz Project, I only managed to read one Printz book, the winner for the year, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.  I've gotta work on that a little better this year!

Whew!  Now maybe I can get some reviews posted.  Congrats if you made it this far!  What stats do you love to keep? 
 
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Holiday Swap Happiness


I was most pleased to see this lovely arrive last week. It certainly made a drudging week much better! Thanks very much to my "Secret" Santa, Janel of Biblophibian.

Cute little package

I loved these wrappings!

But I loved what was inside more: a favorite book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, along with some chocolate!  Thank you again, Janel, it was just what I needed :)

And thanks to the organizers of this delightful Book Blogger Holiday Swap!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Interested in Joining a New Challenge?

Update: I'm thinking I'll get the ball rolling for this challenge.  I'm working on compiling book companions for this, so feel free to leave more suggestions.  And watch the blog for more to come!

So, I'm thinking of starting a new challenge for 2012.  It might be a little obscure or niche, but I thought I'd see if there is any interest.  It would be to read at least two books that were related in some way.  One of the books could be a "classic" meaning it was published probably quite some time before the other.  This could be reimaginings or it could be sequels or it could have some other tie-in.  Very vague, I know, but I think it's clearer with examples:
 
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  The first is kind of a "classic" and in the second, the main character loves A Wrinkle in Time and it plays a part in the plot. 
 
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel.
More obvious, since This Dark Endeavour is a prequel of sorts to Frankenstein.
 
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Jane by April Lindner.
Jane is a retelling of Jane Eyre, set in modern times.
 
I think this would be a way to get folks to read a classic or just a great older book and a newer one as well.  I could come up with a list of possibilities (and welcome any suggestions you have as well). 
 
What do you think?  Any takers?  Should I just do this project on my own?
 
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

A Bookish Halloween

I was planning to post about my bookish Halloween, but kept putting it off.  But, at least it's not even a week late yet. Anywho, here is evidence of just how deep this weird bookish obsession goes (as if becoming a librarian was not proof enough).
The costume:

(My head's cut off mostly because my facial expression was so horrifying I just couldn't publicize it.)  Don't I just blend right in with the background?  People who knew me at the one party I attended thought it was funny.  Others just thought it was really boring.

The pumpkin:

It's not that great, but I gotta encourage reading, no matter what. Unfortunately we had zero trick-or-treaters (!) so no one enjoyed it but me and my hubby. And pardon the bad photos, I'm not that good with the camera.

What is your ideal bookish costume? Did you dress up?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

I'm a Fantasy Kind of Gal...I Think

So, I've not done any kind of discussion post in...let me check...two months.  I'm not good at them and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I like lists and reviews - I'm comfortable with them.  Discussions?  Not so much.  Plus, my brain is so fried sometimes at the end of a work day I honestly don't know if I could come up with relatively new and interesting ideas that often.  Even so, here's what I've been thinking.

I decided to do a little stats analyzing (oh, my inner nerd) to see if those genres I tend to like get more 5 star reviews than genres I don't normally like.  And, of course, if the reverse is true of 2 star reviews.  Specifically, I wanted to see if fantasy had more positive reviews and realistic fiction had more negative.  Here's the breakdown from my blog in pie chart form (see above parenthetical exclamation): 


As I expected, fantasy topped the charts as the highest number of 5 star reviews with 31%.  Since I consider fantasy to be my favorite, I thought that was pretty awesome.  I was a bit surprised by how high realistic fiction was too, with 14%!  Then I did the same calculations for my 2 star reviews:


And discovered that fantasy also tops that list.  Mind you, I found that I nearly equally give 2 star reviews to each genre.  In fact, the only genre that seemed to move up a bit in comparison to 5 star reviews was paranormal (which, I kind of expected).  As this kind of disproved my initial theory, I thought I'd better look at my overall reading by genre.  I only did reading for this year since the data was the most complete.


As you can see, fantasy does top my list at 31%, though I was a bit surprised by how low dystopian was on the scale (only 13%).  It feels like I've been reading lots of that, but I guess not in comparison to fantasy and paranormal.  Based on this, it makes sense that fantasy tops both my 5 and 2 star reviews.  I read quite a bit more of that genre than any other, so I should have more reviews in general of that genre, both good and bad. 

If you've stuck with me thus far, bravo for you!  Do you find yourself reading more of a certain genre or thinking you give more negative reviews of a specific genre? 

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Community Events: Stuff I Should Have Posted About Earlier

So, I'm completely slower-than-average about posting community events, but I just wanted to do the better-late-than-never shout out to two I'll be participating in:
 
 
First up, Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon is coming up on October 22nd and I will be hosting the Book Puzzle Mini-Challenge again.  I seriously doubt I'll have much time to commit to reading this time, but I can't seem to pass the event by completely.  If you're partcipating, be sure to drop by and check out the mini-challenge, even if you don't plan to do it.  If you haven't signed up yet, be sure to head to the sign-up page and do it (you know, if you want, no pressure :)
 
 
And second, it's Cybils time!  Nominations for books are open (if you haven't heard, they've been open for a while now) so check out what's been nominated and get your favorites on the list!  Also, I'm on the Round 2 Judging Panel again this year for MG Fantasy/Sci-Fi, so be sure to nominate some awesome books in that category :)  I'm so excited to do this again, since it's always a treat working with people to pick a book we can all agree best fits the Cybils criteria. 
 
Are you participating in these events?  Any other community events I should know about?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

There's No Accounting for Taste

Today I was thinking about the many varied tastes we all have in books.  This is one of the things I love most about book bloggers is that everyone has opinions and most of them time they are very different.  Specifically, though I was thinking about when it seems like you have an opinion that is different from most everyone else's.  This usually happens when:

1-You love a book that everyone else hates, OR
2-You hate a book that everyone else loves.

To me, it seems like #2 happens a lot more than #1.  But either way, I was wondering what your response is.  Often, I will feel somewhat uncomfortable with my opinion and a little apprehensive in posting my reviews, for fear of retribution, though honestly I've never had any truly negative responses to my opinions on books, so I'm not sure why I have that fear.  I'm thinking this simply comes from my personal discomfort in having vastly differing opinions from all of you smart people!  (I'm realizing how silly this makes me sound, but I'm sticking with the truth here.)

I'll usually, when I have said reaction, stop and think about why my opinion is different.  Often, I'll check out reviews of the book to see what other people had to say.  I always try to retain my original opinion, but I like to see reasons for others' opinions.  This helps me understand why people hated or loved it and I had the opposite reaction.  It helps me think slightly more objectively and recognize the good or not so good things I might have overlooked.  I think this makes me a more balanced reviewer and I like that.  

What do you think?  Do you worry when your reactions are so different from the majority?  Do you look at others' reviews before you publish yours?  Any thoughts on this?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

In the Mood to Read

So.  Here's something I've been thinking over for quite some time now and I'd love to hear your opinions.  It's something that affects nearly every reading experience I have.  It changes how I look at, how I react to, and even what I think about a book.  It is my mood.  

How much does mood affect your reading of a book?  Or what about feelings?  Personal circumstances?  I know that our differing backgrounds and past experiences can influence us to relate more to a character than others who have not experienced those things.  What about the book you just happen to pick up when things are going badly at work?  Or the one you were reading when you learned a family member had passed away?  Or even the one you read while recovering from a sickness?  

Are these kinds of reactions to books that aren't solely based on the book's merit but on your own individual circumstances valid?  Should they be considered as objective as ones we read when we were happy or enjoying good fortune?  It is impossible, in my experience, to put aside personal feelings entirely.  

Now think about a book you read when you were stressed or feeling pressed for time.  A book you had to rush through and couldn't spend time pondering it over or thinking it through.  If you read something simple and light, perhaps it wasn't much of a problem.  But, what if it was a more complex book, requiring time and effort?  Would you have loved it if you'd read it at a different time of your life?  

I know that I've changed my opinions of books when I reread them.  Is that because something in my circumstances changed or does it relate to how well I read the book the first time?  Does it matter if we acknowledge these reasons or don't even recognize them? 

I've been posing a lot of questions in this post, and honestly I haven't got many answers.  I know that absolutely my reading is affected by mood, circumstance, time of life, and many more environmental and personal factors.  I absolutely think these reactions and thoughts are valid.  We should be able to recognize some level of skill or ability on an author's part no matter the circumstance (though that opens the whole can of worms involving the subjectivity of "good").  But should we post "reviews" of books that we had moody reactions to and that we recognize as such?  Do they need a disclaimer?

Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever posted a review of a book I haven't had a moody reaction to.  That's probably one reason I began having a positives section and a negatives section in each review - to force me to think about both the good and the bad in a every book.  After all, each review I post here is 100% my opinion, subjective, and may or may not be helpful to you.  

What are your thoughts? 

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Top [fill in the blank] Favorite Reads of 2010

You know, I really struggle to pick a perfect number of books that fit such a category as "favorites" or "best."  So, I figured I'd just list the books that I loved this year and sort of not care about the numbers.  I did manage to group them into categories (and subcategories) though!

Young Adult Books
Fantasy/Paranormal:
A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce
Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
White Cat by Holly Black
The Lost Saint by Bree Despain

Dystopian:
Incarceron and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Inside Out by Maria Snyder 

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien 
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Matched by Ally Condie
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner


Contemporary/Realistic Fiction:
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams


Middle Grade Books
Fantasy/Steampunk:
The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel
The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Historical Fiction:
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson 


Contemporary/Realistic:
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Nonfiction Books
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett


Adult Books
Fantasy/Paranormal/Dystopian:
Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield


Historical Fiction:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley


Rereads (I figure if I loved it enough to reread it, it should be a favorite)
Harry Potter 1-6 by J.K. Rowling (on audio)
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare 
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

2010 Great Series Ends:
Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (A Conspiracy of Kings)
Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer (This World We Live In)
Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness (Monsters of Men)
Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (Mockingjay)
Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (Keys to the Demon Prison)
Glass series by Maria V. Snyder (Spy Glass)
Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong (The Reckoning)
Incarceron duology by Catherine Fisher (Sapphique)

2010 Great Series Starts:
Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Angel)
Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa (The Iron King, The Iron Daughter)
Curse Workers series by Holly Black (White Cat)
The Agency series by Y.S. Lee (A Spy in the House, The Body at the Tower)
Inside Out series by Maria Snyder (Inside Out)

It is apparent that I either really enjoy fantasy (true) or I don't read enough of anything else (probably true).  Also, I was kind of surprised I had no YA historical fiction favorites.  I don't think I read many of them, but hopefully it isn't because I don't generally like that particular flavor of YA.  And creating this post made me realize that I have some 30+ reviews from 2010 that are waiting to be posted - some of them favorites!  Gotta get moving.  

What are your favorites, top ten, or best of 2010?


If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

2010: A Year in Review

If you are not very interested in knowing someone else's reading numbers, you may feel free to skip this post.  I'll list my favorites of the year in another post either later today or tomorrow.  

Total books read in 2010: 206

Reading challenges completed
100+ Reading Challenge (206)
Young Adult Reading Challenge (122)
Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge (122)
Banned Books Reading Challenge (3)
YA-D2 Dystopian Reading Challenge (5, though I haven't reviewed them all)

Perpetual challenges I worked on:
Support Local Authors
Printz Project

Still working on:
Read, Remember, Recommend Challenge (6 of 10 books read)

Stats:
Young Adult books read: (122) 59%
Middle Grade books read: (54) 26%
Adult books read: (28) 14%
Children's books read: (2) .01%
Nonfiction books read: (7) .03%

Audio books: (8) .04%
E-books: (12) .06%
Review copies/ARCs (74) 36%
Owned (not for review) (7) .03%

Approximate genre stats:
Fantasy/paranormal: ~45%
Realistic Fiction/Contemporary: ~23%
Historical Fiction: ~19%
Dystopian/sci-fi/futuristic: ~13%
Other genres: ~1%

As you can see, most of what I read is young adult fantasy and still the majority comes from my library, which is just fine with me.  This year, I would like to read more nonfiction and more adult books (probably "classics").  Other than that, I decided not to define specific goals (after all, I am participating in a few reading challenges this year; those are goals, right?).  

Welcome to a new year of reading!


If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Challenging Reads

As a continued celebration of Banned Books Week, I thought that I'd give a short review of a challenged book I just reread and as a bonus, I've linked to reviews of other challenged books I've reviewed here previously.  It turns out that I've read many more challenged and banned books before the blog than I have since starting it.  I plan to work on that.
 
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Publication date: December 1958
ISBN: 9780440995777 (mass market paperback)

Source: personal copy

The Witch of Blackbird Pond 
Kit Tyler is leaving the only home she's known in Barbados for the unknown New England coast, in search of her mother's only sister.  When she arrives, she is shocked at the austere and meager home her aunt and uncle have created; it is so different from her free and wealthy upbringing.  She struggles to fit in with those strict Puritans, especially when she befriends an old Quaker woman that everyone believes is a witch.

Things I Liked:
This is probably at least the twentieth time I've read this book.  It was one of the first books I remember reading and falling in love with.  I still adore the way Speare brings to life what it was like to live in Puritan New England with all the prejudices and the inner strength of the people.  I've always been a fan of Kit, both because she is unconventional and because she so obviously has flaws.  She is just as set in her ways as her aunt and uncle are in theirs.  I also noticed, on this read, how much more was going on in the book than I ever would have picked up on as a kid.  There was the political discussions and religious undertones and prejudices and much more.  I just love how well Speare has created a story that we enjoy and also slipped in bits of learning as well.  Still so deserving of its Newbery award, I think.  I assume it was challenged for the discussion of witchcraft.  Rather ironic, I think, because there is no witchcraft that actually takes place in the book.


Things I Didn't Like:
I noticed also that the ending is so neat and perfect.  While this is what made me love the book as a child, as an adult I find it just a little unrealistic.  But, definitely still makes me happy.  


Read-alikes:
The Bronze Bow or Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none


mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->
some minor incidents

Overall rating: *****

And, here are more reviews to help you get your Banned and Challenged Books fix:

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling 

Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
Squashed by Joan Bauer
Stuck In Neutral by Terry Trueman
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
 

Most of these are taken from the list found at University of Illinois' list of challenged children's books.

How are you celebrating your freedom to read?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
 
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