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Links of Note

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve spent the last two weeks glued to the best reality television in the world: the summer Olympics. I don’t even care what the sport is, who the athletes are, or what country they represent, I just enjoy watching people do amazing things. All of this is to say this biweekly roundup of links is a little less meaty than usual. And it may include non-book stuff. I don’t apologize for that.

  • Have you read any of the Top 10 Most Difficult Books yet? I read parts of both Spenser’s The Faerie Queen and Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake, the first in a Lit Survey class in undergrad and the second as part of a creative writing class (because as much as it’s hard to understand, the language is something!). I perused the Woolf title on the list the few times it was assigned to me but I never actually read it. 
    •  Joan Rivers is not immune to the challenges of having her book stocked. In fact, she was so irate about Costco choosing not to stock her new book, she handcuffed herself to a shopping cart to protest. I wanted to include a link from Sarah Rees Brennan in this bullet point too, but it appears the post she wrote this week about her forthcoming Unspoken not being stocked on the Barnes and Noble shelves is no longer on her blog. Although I have little sympathy for Rivers in this case, these examples highlight something kind of big, and that’s that not every book published will be stocked everywhere. There is probably a blog-length post here about how librarians, bloggers, and other book lovers have an opportunity/responsibility in spreading the word about books that matter. When it’s not on a bookstore shelf, it’s impossible to discover. But via word of mouth, readers can speak up and demand the titles, thus helping give them some space in the future. Ideally, at least.
    • So NPR’s popularity contest ended, and here are the “100 Best-Ever Teen Novels.” It’s a super misleading title, since it should be called “Favorite Maybe-Maybe Not Teen Novels as Voted on by NPR Listeners.” Either way, that’s not the story here. For me, the real story is in this piece from The Atlantic, asking why female authors dominate YA fiction. I didn’t plan on reading the article, but then I did. It’s very poorly written and connects many things together it shouldn’t, and I walked away with this lingering and problematic thought: if YA books are about optimism, joy and escapism and they are the books that feature female MCs so prominently, what does that say about females in adult mainstream fiction? I do not think that was what the intended message was but that is what I walked away with and have been chewing on for days. 
    • Are we too nice on social media? Are we giving up critical reviewing and criticism in favor of being cheerleaders? Note those are two separate links, but the first refers to the second. When I read these, I rolled my eyes. First, the suggestion that readers cannot be both fans/supporters of writers and then still read with a critical eye is insane. It sure makes readers look like they’re one-dimensional and suggests that they can’t separate art from artist. I was glad to see this very thoughtful response from Salon about how social media isn’t killing books or reading culture at all. I’d argue that social media has made me a more critical reader, connection to authors or not, and I think it’s incredibly important to be supportive and encouraging if you believe in a person, whether or not you always find their art works for you.     
    • Have an idea for a 2,000-4,000 word short story and you’re unpublished? Saundra Mitchell has a hell of an opportunity for you then, as you could have your work published in the anthology she’s editing for next year called Defy the Dark. All of the details are on her blog. 
    • Did you know it is FREE to attend this year’s Kid Lit Con? All of the details are here. Also, you still have a few days to get in a proposal for a presentation, too. I submitted one with one of my dream co-presenters so fingers crossed! If you’re in the NYC area or can get there, I highly recommend this event. It is, hands down, my favorite conference. 
    • I’ve been thinking about this post since it went up early this week, and I think it was really brave of Justin to write it: what is your librarian identity (and even if you’re not a librarian, this post is relevant to identity more broadly). 
    • I’m not sure I buy into all of the conclusions and assumptions that come up in this piece, but it is worth the read and worth thinking about: why do female crime writers explore such gruesome topics? The suggestion is it’s about something ingrained in women and fear and violence, but the takeaway I got was that women should stop because it will make them and male readers more immune to violence. Also we really have to stop using the word “porn” to describe anything that is visual, gritty, or somehow taboo/outside our cultural norms. It devalues the word itself and what it is truly meant to be. 
      • Rather than bombard you with a ton of bullet points to interesting non-book related stories, I’ll round up all the things that caught my eye in one place. And yeah, most are Olympics related. Here are Olympic gymnastics as told through Legos. If you missed out on Samuel L Jackson’s Olympics tweets, here are some of the real gems. Then there’s this, my favorite piece to come out of the Olympics/gymnastics: why McKayla Maroney is not a mean girl. I have admired her since the start because she wears a game face and competes with a fierceness that is hard not to respect. But what that story does is really get to the heart of it: she defies what we expect of a female athlete, particularly someone so young. She expressed sheer disappointment in her shortcomings and did so without disrespecting someone who did better than her. While she got a ton of slack for her appearance and in her supposed attitude on the medal stand, it wasn’t because she was angry. It was because she was disappointed in herself. It’s something we don’t expect to see.          

      Now I ask a favor, if you’ve made it this far! I’m working on my portion of a presentation for YALSA’s YA Lit Symposium. If you’re aware of any dark contemporary YA being published between November of this year and March/April of next year, I’d love to hear from you. You can comment here or contact me privately.

      Links of Note

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      You should all be pleased to know there is a new Lana Del Rey video to share with you in this edition of Links of Note. I know that’s why you all come and visit, so fear not. I’m going to make you read through some other stuff before we get there, though.

      • Kate Hart is amazing, absolutely amazing. This time, it’s because of her publishing road map infographic. If you are interested in writing, in getting published, in blogging, in librarianship, there is something here for you. The whole graphic is well done, but I’m particularly enjoying the “Link Bait Leviathan” image.
      • Is there such thing as a balanced reading diet? According to Harvey Schachter there is. Can you hear me gagging? This is why some people hate reading. There’s no prescription. Read what you want, when you want, and in the style you want.  
      • Put this on the list of things that left me speechless: Hunger Games inspired weddings (that’s two links for two different HG wedding inspirations!). Uh. Aside from missing the entire point of the story, to me, this looks like it’s more, how to say, Earth inspired than Hunger Games inspired. This…really? That’s all I can say.
        • School Library Journal is hosting a virtual day-long teen lit conference called SummerTeen. There is a cost to attend, but it’s reasonable, and the program itself looks like a great opportunity to learn for both new YA lit folks and seasoned YA lit folks.     
        • Shortlist asked artists to consider alternate covers for classics, and here are the 30 favorite results. Some neat ideas going on here. The cover on the right here might be my favorite (I hate Romeo & Juliet so much so you know but don’t they look way older than 14 here?).
        • The Guardian offers up ten “feel good” books with happy endings. I’ve actually read three of these. I don’t remember much of any of the three I read, either. Happier books don’t tend to stick with me as much as books that require a lot more of me to find some sort of satisfactory conclusion (happy or not!).
        • How this news slipped past me in May I don’t know, but here it is: did you know Caroline B Cooney is writing a final book in the Janie series? She explains why and what it might look like. I’m not sure I’ll read it or I’m interested, since it’s been so long since I read the series in the first place. I don’t want to go back and reread for fear of thinking they’re no longer worth the time. There’s something to be said about nostalgia remaining that way. 
        • I really liked this post by Paul Hankins about all of the “F-words” he has known. It’s not really about F words in the profane sense but in the opposite sense — those F words we find when we read a book that aren’t there to see and feel explicitly. He writes with his students in mind, but what he talks about is on a much grander level about the power of the right book in the right reader hands. 
        • Another Shortlist link, and this one is to famous meals from literature. In photographs.  
        • What happened to the Sweet Valley Twins when they grew up? What about the kids who went ahead and plotted to kill their teacher a la Lois Duncan? Well, now you know.  

        And now what I know you all came here for in the first place: the promised Lana video. This is for “Summertime Sadness.” I’m not a huge fan of either the song nor the video (so much falling) but I do it for you:

        I know there is a ton of stuff I missed from the last two weeks about reviews and Goodreads and bullying and I’ve been silent on the whole issue. My comment on that is this and only this: I know how much it sucks to be bullied when you post your opinion on something. It. Stinks. This has been a long month, and I feel for everyone getting the brunt of this and it’s not going to go away for a while. Let your words and your beliefs stand for themselves.

        Links of Note

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        I won’t lie: there’s a lot of links this week. A little bit of everything. And if anyone’s curious, I haven’t forgotten about Audiosynced this month; it’ll be up and live tomorrow.

        • I don’t think this is a new story and I feel like I’ve linked some iteration of it before, but in the event you missed it, a good book can change you. I still don’t know if there are any books I can point to and say that it changed me. Impacted me, sure, but changed me? I don’t know. I still wonder about the quantity of books vs. the ability to cause change. 
        • Have I ever talked about how much I love Franz Kafka and The Metamorphosis and how I devoted probably half of the papers I wrote in college to that story? Or that I made art from it? Or wrote haiku about it? Anyway, I love it because it is so bizarre. As enjoyable as the story itself is this fun pie chart about The Metamorphosis.
        • This is by no means a new post, but it popped up on Twitter last week and I thought it was neat enough to share again: 23 band names inspired by literature. I didn’t know a lot of these. 
        • Amy Reed raises a really interesting question over at the Writers Read blog: is there such thing as literary YA fiction? I absolutely agree with her assessment of Adam Rapp’s The Children and the Wolves falling into that category if there is such a category (and I think that there is). I believe this year, more so than many years in recent memory, has had a lack of real literary YA titles being published. The field’s been a lot more about commercial fiction. Can you think of any other literary YA from this year? Or favorite literary authors? This seems like a rich topic. 
        • Funny Tumblr alert: You Chose Wrong. The endings where you didn’t get to continue the adventure. Either you will get this or you won’t. But it is amusing. 
        • Check out the segue into the next link then, which is an interesting post written by Bick about whether or not YA books are more “powerful” than other books. I think she raises a really interesting and valid point. I don’t just say that since she was kind enough to link back to one of my posts, but because I do think there is a tendency to over-inflate the power of YA books. They’re powerful to those who read them in the same way that adult books are powerful to those who are passionate about adult lit. In other words, no type of book is more “powerful” than another; all books are powerful in the hands of the right reader by their own merit. 
        • Another HuffPo post to share, and this time, they’re looking at 16 characters and their Myers-Briggs personality type. For a long, long time, I always registered as an INTJ, but over the last couple of years, I’ve become a much harder INFJ. This is particularly amusing when you note what the book is for INTJ. If you know your MB or you take the test, do you agree or disagree with the characteristics? I do. But I think that your MB can change over time says as much about the fluidity of personality as whatever the description of your type is, too. Not related to books, though, is this great blog post about what it means to be an INFJ, if anyone else is and ever has that feeling they’re alone. You’re not.
        • The Chicago Tribune on book trailers. I’ll leave that at that. I know the three of us here have a lot of thoughts on book trailers and what does and does not work. There’s been a post in the making for months. 
          • So, Tracey Neithercott is one of my critique partners, and I harbor such a love for her blog and the way she talks about writing and reading. This week she posted a roundup of some of her most popular/unpopular posts, and they are worth reading if you are at all interested in writing or thinking about writing. She was one of the forces behind those awesome “Go away, I’m reading” book covers you may have seen — and don’t worry. The link to those is in this collection. 
          Via last week’s Postsecret.
          • Did you know that Wednesday was red head appreciation day? I’m a red head! It always makes people comment (and yeah, it’s naturally red, even though I like to play with different shades of red via a box once in a while). Anyway, here’s a story on famous red head characters in kid lit. You know, I always hated Mallory Pike. But I guess that was because when I was reading BSC books, I was blonde (little known fact: I was born blonde and was blonde until high school where suddenly my hair turned red — how does that happen?). 
            • And to end this biweekly roundup of interesting reads around the internet that don’t involve that three-letter-word-I-can’t-stand, Sarah Andersen has a fantastic post asking what about the teen readers?  
            • Actually, one more thing. The Robbins, Illinois library recently had their AC unit dismantled and stolen. Robbins is an incredibly poor and tough community to live in. This loss is huge and devastating to them and to those who use their library. I grew up only 15 minutes from Robbins, and it’s one of those towns where you just know things aren’t easy, where places like the library are truly places of refuge, especially for kids. If you can, please consider making a small donation to the fundraiser to replace their AC. I do truly believe this kind of thing can make the difference in someone’s life — there’s a reason it was stolen in the first place.  

              I’m sorry but this week, I don’t have a new Lana Del Rey video to show you. Perhaps you could go revisit the last one?

              Links of note

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              I always say this and then I’m always a liar, but this biweekly installment of links you should read will be shorter than most. I missed out on a lot of noteworthy posts this week because of ALA and, if you want to know the truth, because I am recovering from what may be known as being overwhelmed with response to my carefully constructed, worded, and conceived-of blog post on Thursday. I think it’s really unfortunate how much my words have been twisted and made into something they’re not, but that’s the risk of writing, isn’t it? And if you want the truth, I still stand by every word I used and every thought therein. I will go as far as to say I’m proud that this became an issue, and even though the sort of backlash I received has been less than fantastic, the fact it’s being discussed at the rate it is makes it worth it.

              But let’s move on!

              • Nova Ren Suma wrote what might be one of my favorite blog posts in a very long time, about what it means to be a woman and to chase ambitions and goals that aren’t necessarily the same ones everyone else looks for. I related to so many of the things Nova talks about in this post — about the way society looks at women who are married or don’t keep a wide circle of friends or who don’t necessarily have a “career” and who find their centers with things that don’t necessarily come with a reward to them except self-satisfaction — and because of that and the bravery with which she writes it, it’s worth reading. 
              • I love a good book set in the Midwest. This is where I grew up and it’s where I live now. Flavorwire offers up 10 of the best books set in the Midwest. I’ve only read two of them, but a couple of titles I’d add to the list include Jenna Blum’s The Stormchasers and Ann Patchett’s The Magician’s Assistant (though technically, that’s only half in the midwest). Oh, or The Horizontal World by Debra Marquart, though that’s a memoir. Or what about Capote’s In Cold Blood?  
                • Nathan Bransford asked his readers last week what they thought about him switching from full RSS feeds to partial RSS. His reasoning was he felt that discussions had gone down because people in RSS don’t bother to click over and comment. If you know anything about me or have been reading this blog, you know I am very against partial RSS feeds because I read every blog through an RSS reader. It keeps me organized, allows for quick perusing, and it lets me hit everything when I want to in one place. I also have no shame of unsubscribing the second that a feed goes partial — no matter how much I like the blog. Why? Well, I think partial feeds are self-serving and work to do nothing but bring hits to a blog. People who read your blog via RSS are your regular readers. Think about it this way: RSS readers are like those who subscribe to your magazine and get it in their mailbox. They get it every time there is a new issue and it’s there for them when they are ready to read it. People who go to your blog without an RSS aren’t better or worse; they’re just choosing to go to the store to buy the magazine whenever it comes out. So when blogs choose to stop giving a full RSS feed, in favor of a partial feed, they’re asking their readers to go to the store for the whole story. And for me? That’s an extra step. When I’m reading hundreds of blogs, I am not going to go to the store specifically for yours, especially when I was already getting it regularly in my mail. If it’s numbers and stats that concern you because of this, let me remind you that your RSS subscriber numbers are easy to find. Ultimately, Nathan chose not to pursue partial feed, but I am really resentful of his dig at his readers here: “I do have to chuckle a bit at the people who couldn’t! possibly! be bothered to click through under any circumstances. I’m not judging because I make decisions like that all the time, but it’s kind of hilarious how we can no longer spare those extra two seconds.” 
                • As part of their YA for Grownups feature, The Atlantic Wire asked a number of people to contribute the books they read that stand up to rereads. Also, I’m going to link to their post of books that feature empowered females. Aside from thinking it’s a good post, I’m going to give them some major kudos — and you know how I feel about this publication and giving kudos. When the post went live, I noted they misattributed the source of their story. They were then informed that Jackie had brought the entire “How to Survive” issue to light, and they edited their post accordingly. 
                • Amazon’s compiled their top ten YA books of the year so far. So one of them was actually published in 2011, but who is looking at that. Also, it seems like “best books” really means “best selling” and “biggest budget” titles. But there it is.
                •  It’s been quite a few years since I’ve read The Great Gatsby and with the movie coming out (holding all comments on it or the production or the interpretation), it’s a book I plan on revisiting. The Chicago Tribune wrote a really lengthy — but interesting — piece about the book and how it’s been read and interpreted over the years.  

                • Here is probably one of my favorite discussions to come up lately: blog tours. Lit agent Kate Testerman probably has the best round up of the story on her blog, and the links she provides are each worth a stop. Leila chimed in on the topic, too. Here’s my perspective: we participate when it’s a book or an author we really support. This is why we do very few blog tours because rarely are the pitches we get for that. Often, they’re for new authors who we don’t know yet or haven’t read their books. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t like the pressure of reading something and potentially disliking it (I have bowed out of a tour because of this before) and I really dislike guest posts which aren’t on topics I’ve proposed. I also HATE character interviews; they’re so off-putting for anyone who hasn’t read the book. The simple reason is I don’t read them myself. The other thing I dislike about blog tours is this — if I happen to post a review of  a book during that blog tour and not as part of it, it gets lost in the noise. I really understand the point of tours and think they can do a lot for a book or author if done right, but rarely are they done right. Also, I don’t really read them myself unless, well, it’s an author I know or a book I like. I know. The truth is, I think blogger-initiated features and tours just do a better job.
                • And let’s look at the worst book covers ever. I’m laughing about this one because the final book on the list is one I’ve shared before because it is just so….classic. 
                • I got this link sort of late while making this post and only got the chance to skim it, but I liked it enough to share it. Over at Comics Alliance, to celebrate the end of Gay Pride month, there’s a round up of the 50 most important LGBTQ comics and characters. 
                • Maybe these covers are inspired by the Twilight phenomenon or not, but there’s a piece in the NYT about new covers for the classics. Okay, let’s have a moment here. How long ago were the Twilight books published? And a huge sensation? They are definitely still popular, but the teens who had these books as their “big books” of teen hood? They aren’t in high school anymore and aren’t reading the classics in high school classics. So I think it’s a bit misleading in the headline. I think the new covers are great and I think the commentary in the story is worthwhile — that they actually show the somewhat right age of the book characters — but the headline! Come on. I think YA lit gets a lot of flack over Twilight and of course it’s because it’s an easy reference point, even if it’s not the right one. 
                  • It’s been a really long week, guys. REALLY long. So you know what that means? You get to enjoy the new Lana Del Rey video in this links of note roundup because I like it: 

                  I’m not sure why I feel guilty having “so few” links this time, but I hope something here is worth reading! Also worth noting: Audiosynced is going to be late this month. I’m hoping to have it next weekend — the number of posts I collected for this roundup is huge because June is audiobook month. So forgive me; it’s coming! 

                  Links of Note

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                  I wasn’t going to post a series of links for this week, but I had a few that came up that were too good not to pass along. Here’s your bi-weekly mix of the fun, interesting, and newsworthy book stuff from around the web. After linking all of these, I realized there’s probably a whole week’s worth of reading here, so grab a meal and a drink before diving in.

                  • To honor the death of Ray Bradbury, Slate has a nice slide show of the cover art from Fahrenheit 451. I know. I had slide shows too, but this one is worth it, especially if you like cover designs. Oh, and then you can check out which of those covers of Bradbury’s book make ShortLists’s compilation of the 50 coolest book covers.
                  • Remember a couple weeks ago I wondered whether the reissues of the Truman Capote books would get new covers? Turns out they are. Some of these are great and some, like the one for In Cold Blood, I don’t care for as much. It fits, but I prefer the original one (actually, both earlier ones — and hey, one of them made the ShortList compilation linked above, too). My favorite is the one to the left over there. It’s creepy as hell. 
                  • Two things on digital books and digital reading. First, Craig Mod has a post about how book covers aren’t dead in the digital world, and he has some interesting ideas of how digital books can delight readers who like design in different ways. It’s a little lengthy, but the gist of it is: opportunity! There are new and neat things to be accomplished. The second post on this topic worth reading about got really overlooked because of another post I’ll share, but Jackie Parker has a great piece on enhanced ebooks and how they can be such a great treat for readers. See, John Green shared at BEA how enhanced books aren’t necessary because the story is enough. What he failed to mention or consider, though, is how sometimes the story is so good that readers just want more, and that’s why enhanced books are emerging.  
                  • Guess what, bloggers? You have no obligation to “be nice.” You can be, of course, but there’s no obligation. A great post about what bloggers do over at Gossamer Obsessions. Biggest takeaway from that post is this: honesty trumps positivity. This post stemmed from the keynote given by Jennifer Weiner at BEA Blogger Con, which takes me here. . .
                  • Let’s talk about BEA Blogger Con. First? From what I’ve read in the recaps, it sounds like Weiner did a pretty good job undermining the hard work of bloggers by proclaiming Oprah was like the first one because she became a reader-raver. That doesn’t sit with me, but since I didn’t get to hear the whole context of the speech or that comment, I’ll go ahead and link to a few of the awesome recaps of BEA Blogger Con. I have been a little disappointed with BEA Blogger Con for a while, and not necessarily because of what I’ve read here — I was invited to be on the critical reviews panel. Note that: I was invited by the organizers to be on the panel. When I said I could not make it but could I attend virtually, I was told nope, sorry, no way, despite there being a panel on using new tech in your blogs. What bothered me about this was how I was approached. I was asked to be on a panel — I didn’t apply, didn’t put my name in consideration, didn’t register for BEA Blogger Con — and then when I said I couldn’t make it and offered an alternative solution, I was simply shut out. From a professional standpoint, it seems sort of backward to invite someone before you know they’re attending (I didn’t ask for a stipend or financial assistance; I simply asked to Skype into the panel). And that’s all I’ve got to really say on the topic, but I’m saddened to see that the BEA Blogger Con wasn’t quite what it could have been. You know. A conference on blogging. 
                  • I lied. I have more to add about the BEA Blogger Con, and it’s pretty well summarized in this post about the blogger-publisher relationship. Rather than offer up commentary on that post, I’d like to direct readers to this post. It’s stuff like that which makes all bloggers look pretty greedy and selfish and I ask this, and I ask it with sincerity: why is it every discussion about blogging somehow devolves into ARCs? It’s not currency. I mean that in both senses of the word. I’d like to add, too, in regards to the first post and the topic of the publisher-blogger relationship that there are so many other ways to “judge” a blog than on stats or on Klout (seriously, that was brought up).

                  • You’re probably looking for something worth laughing about at this point, right? Here’s something: Courtney Summers has some tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse. I’m buying stock in toothbrush companies right now.  
                  • Flavorwire has a list of 30 books you should read before you’re 30. I’ve read 13 of them, and a handful of them are books I’ve actively avoided for all my reading years. I suspect at age 30, I’ll fail this list at about the rate I’m failing it now at 27.
                  • Over at io9, they’re celebrating (?) death week, and they offer up a list of a few children’s books that look death right in the eye. One of the books notably missing that I remember dealing with this topic and making me cry pretty hard as a kid was Bridge to Terabithia (that may be the only book as a kid I remember having such a reaction to). 
                  • One of the best bloggers I’ve “met” this year has been Sarah over at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves. Aside from being a great reviewer (I really love how thoughtful she is and how she presents her reviews), she writes some really intelligent posts on big topics. Her commentary on the notion of guilty pleasures and gendered language is worth reading. If her blog isn’t one you’re regularly reading, you should fix that.
                  • Liz Burns wonders what impact will be had if YALSA chooses to go ahead with making a couple of their selection committee virtual. That’s one of the topics they want to bring up at Annual this coming week. The other noteworthy items on her blog post about the Board Docs worth paying attention to are the changes to the YALSA award list access (they have collected 16,000 email addresses, friends — that’s huge). For me, one of the items that caught my eye in the Board Doc was looking into finding a source of revenue for the YALSA blog and YALSA’s The Hub through advertisement. Here are my thoughts on that: if the organization is going to profit from the blog posts that members write and post, I will no longer be posting there. I do not pay to be a member of the organization and then write in order for them to earn more money, wherein I receive no benefits for doing so. I mean, I can’t even access the award lists anymore without having to log in a few different times and come across a number of error messages before ultimately just Googling the lists.
                  • I’m posting this one for selfish reasons and legitimate reasons. Random House made this video about how a book goes from the hands of an author into the hands of a reader, and more than one person kindly forwarded it to me and said check out the screenshot of STACKED at 5:25. I like what they have to say about how bloggers can make the difference in a book’s success. Did you read that? I emphasized it to help. I wish they’d left out the qualifiers of “oddly enough,” but I think that they bring it up at all is pretty substantial, especially in light of a lot of what came out of Book Blogger Con and what’s come out lately in the blogging world. Also, our blog looks really great on screen! 
                  • I haven’t read a Haruki Murakami book since college, which was when I really fell in love with him, but after checking out this bingo card, I’m ready to visit some of the novels of his I haven’t read. 

                  I like to think there is a little of something for everyone here this week!