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This Week in Reading: Volume 12

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It’s been more than one or two weeks since I did a round-up of recently-received books and links I’ve been reading and thinking about around the web.

This is only part of what I could remember showing up since the last round-up, and I know I’m missing a few things. Links go to Goodreads.

I Love, I Hate, I Miss My Sister by Amelie Sarn: This had been on my radar but I kind of forgot about it. Someone on Goodreads recommended it to me based on my tastes, and I’m excited to read it. It’s surprisingly short. 

From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grognan (August 4): Shannon and I are part of a critique group and I read this book as a manuscript in a few different forms. Now it’s in ARC form and I can’t wait to see where it is. It’s a mystery and there’s loads of baking involved (the sweets it’ll make you crave!).

Whippoorwill by Joseph Monninger (November): A dog story for YA readers! 

Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger (April 28): This is a companion to The DUFF. 

NEED by Joelle Charbonneau (November 3)

Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (June 2)

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb (May 26)

Sophomore Year is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin (April 21)

Everybody Knows Your Name by Andrea Seigel and Brent Bradshaw (March 10)

I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore (April 7)

The Tenderness of Thieves by Donna Frietas (May 26): I’m really excited about a new Donna Frietas book! 

Kalahari by Jessica Khoury (February 24)

Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler (May 26) & The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes (June 9): Both of these I’d picked up at ALA just days before. Both of which I’m really excited to read.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been tearing through books. I’ve read This Side of Home by Renee Watson, Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman, El Deafo by Cece Bell, Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier, and Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles, among others. All of these were good reads, so they’re all worth putting on your radars. I’ll be reviewing many — but probably not all — of them in the next few weeks. 

Links Around the Web:

  • Leila talked about book reviews and criticism in a really great blog post this week. I’m going to talk more about this in the future, but her thoughts are outstanding and thoughtful. Once you read that post, go read part one and part two of Malinda Lo’s analysis of book reviews for diverse titles in professional trade journals. There is a lot of great food for thought among these three blog posts. 
  • I love everything about this interview between Faythe and Morris Award Winner Isabel Quintero. My favorite thing Isabel says comes near the end of the interview, about how she and Gabi are similar and different: “I wish that I had been less afraid to question the expectations that had been placed on me. That I had been brave enough to question the double standards and act on them-to not be afraid of boys. I was totally boy crazy in high school. I had a crush on so many boys but as soon as one showed interest I’d be scared shitless. I couldn’t believe that a boy would like Isabel, the fat girl. Why would he? It wasn’t until college that I realized it was okay to think about sex (I was normal!) or to like so many boys or that I was pretty awesome and guys were interested-for reals. So, to me it made sense to have a character who embodied this idea earlier on.”
  • This was announced a while ago, but if you missed it, here are the Edgar Award Finalists, which includes a nice selection of YA titles. 
  • Though this isn’t book or reading related, this essay spoke to me so powerfully that I can’t not include it. Sarah Hollowell wrote about being fat and getting laid. It’s outstanding. 

This Week in Reading, Volume 11

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It’s been more than a month since I did a “This Week in Reading. In the interest of getting to what I really want to do — share a pile of links from around the web — I’m limiting the books I’ve received to just things this week. I went on a little bit of a buying spree at the end of the year, and I hit up the library for a bunch of things that got added to my “to read” list. All links go to Goodreads.

From the library:

A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernandez — I’m most of the way done with this and really enjoying this memoir of growing up in a Colombian-Cuban household and being bisexual. The way she talks about intersections and about divergencies in culture are fascinating.

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

For review:

The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe

Tunnel Vision by Susan Adrian

Purchased:

I think my “getting it together” and “getting organized” and “being super productive” kicks are evident here.

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg — My husband raves about this book. Then the cat ate our copy. So, a new one so I can read it.

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey

Listful Thinking by Paula Rizzo

Around the Web:

There’s been so much good stuff piling up in my bookmarks. Enjoy!

  • This isn’t about books or blogging, but it’s about careers, the arts, writing, and feminism. This interview with Carrie Brownstein reminds me why I love her so much and it’s a really inspiring piece about making and having a creative life. 
  • Along with some other librarians and YA enthusiasts, I helped build a feminist YA romances list, as requested by Jessica Luther. She posted it up on her blog. 
  • While we’re on feminism, Feminista Jones tweeted out and rounded up a pile of books to read to educate yourself on Black Feminism. 
  • Molly Wetta and Dahlia both put together resource lists on upcoming LGBTQIA YA novels. 
  • Libertad Araceli Thomas wrote this awesome piece about being a Black Latino that is really, really worth reading. 
  • Rin Chupecho’s Smugglivus guest post about “strong female characters” goes places where that phrase normally doesn’t go, and it’s awesome. 

This Week in Reading: Volume X

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This is a big old round-up of the last two weeks in books I’ve bought, borrowed, or received in the mail. I’m breaking it up into a few different pictures for organizational reasons and because I want to talk a bit about the books I got at Toronto International Book Festival at the First Nations bookstore in a little more depth than usual.

First up, the library books:

Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett: A contemporary YA about teen girl writer working through grief and it’s got a Sara Zarr blurb. I think that checks more than one of my boxes. 

Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter: An adult novel about a teen girl friendship. That cover is awesome, and the reviews suggest this is an intense book.

Paper Airplanes by Dawn O’Porter: I read this one this week and was really let down. It did some of what Fiona Wood’s Wildlife did in terms of being open about sexuality and toxic friendships between teen girls, but the budding relationship between the two girls here felt rushed and underdeveloped. I got bored about 3/4 of the way through.

The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson — I picked this up at the book festival and it’s a Canadian children’s classic. 
Ignite by Sara Larson (January 6) — I’ll probably pass this on to Kimberly. 

Walking Home by Eric Walters — Another title I picked up at the book festival. The Kenyan setting was what caught my eye.

The Swallow by Charis Cotter — This is a middle grade ghost story that came highly recommended by a couple of people at the book festival, so I bought it.

Strong Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag — I’m here for this graphic novel!

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (March 24) — I read this one, and then I got into a conversation with a fellow Book Rioter about it, and I realized how much I need to read this a second or third time before I can write about it here. I found a REALLY interesting detail that made me requestion something I’d read, and I know this is Suma’s trademark, so I’m excited to follow this path again.

Seed by Lisa Heathfield (March 10) — Cults! Enclosed communities! This sounds a little bit like Gated by Amy Christine Parker.

Things I’ll Never Say edited by Ann Angel (March 24) — There’s gotta be a trend on short true stories by YA authors now, between this and Love & Profanity.

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon (January 6) — A novelization about Malcoln X, co-written by his daughter.

Read Between The Lines by Jo Knowles (March 10) — This one wins for one of the best YA covers I’ve seen.

These are the books I picked up at INSPIRE: Toronto International Book Festival at the First Nations book store. Aside from the bottom title, all of these are tough to track down in the US, and I know that there are others who might be interested in checking the store out and discovering First Nations titles from Canada.
The store has a website, GoodMinds, and they do ship worldwide. It is a Native owned business, as well. I popped into their store before the show officially opened on Sunday, so I didn’t get a chance to ask for book recommendations, but Ana and Thea of the Book Smugglers said that the staff was exceptionally knowledgable and helpful in recommending titles to them, based on their interests and tastes. I suspect the same would be said through contacting them on their site. 
A couple of these books I would never have picked up based on the covers, but because I was in Canada for a show, I wanted to put that aside and pick up the books that sounded great. This is what I decided on:
The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor — A Native gothic novel? Yes, please. 

Nobody Cries at Bingo by Dawn Dumont — A coming-of-age story. The cover was tough to pick up, but I read the description and kept coming back to pick the book up. I figured if I didn’t buy it, I’d be mad later.

Peace Pipe Dreams: The Truth and Lies About Indians by Darrell Dennis — I wanted an easy-to-grasp non-fiction title and this fit the bill.

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth — I’ve been meaning to read this one, and I saw a copy, so I bought it.

Aside from Paper Airplanes, I also read an early copy of I Am Not A Slut by Leora Tanenbaum, a non-fiction exploration of slut bashing and slut shaming. I didn’t agree with the entire book — at times her exploration of what slut shaming is and isn’t actually is slut shaming in and of itself (which was weird) — but in general, a solid read for anyone who works with teen girls and is interested in the problematic term “slut” and why it can’t and shouldn’t be reclaimed at this point.

Around the Web:


  • 23 things I’d rather read than another think piece about what’s “wrong” with children’s literature made me laugh so hard. I got an even bigger kick out of the male who reblogged this from the Book Riot tumblr and asked what toxic shock syndrome was. 
I’m putting the final touches onto Contemporary YA week here at Stacked, which will run December 1-5. I am thrilled with the guest posts I’ve gotten so far, and I’m so eager to share them and the ones that are rolling in soon. These are all fresh topics, fresh takes on topics, and should spur some great discussion. 

This Week in Reading: Volume IX

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I’m heading to Toronto this coming week for the INSPIRE!: Toronto International Book Fair. I’ve got a post set up for later this week talking a bit more about the trip and what I’m looking forward to seeing. Before that, though, here’s a look at this week in reading. 
For review:
  • Love & Profanity edited by Nick Healy (March 1): Carrie Mesrobian gave this to me, and it’s an anthology of real life stories from a wide variety of YA authors about being teenagers. It looks really great. 

  • Breaking Sky by Cory McCarthy (March 3): They’re selling this as a “debut thriller.” It’s not McCarthy’s debut novel nor her first YA. But it’s her first thriller. That “debut” word needs to stop. 
Read this week/currently reading:
 

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka: This YA novel in translation is quite similar in tone and execution as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which it was compared to. I mean this in a good way. I quite liked it, and more, I liked that it’s part of a series, but the entire story was self-contained. There’s a lot going on in the main character’s backstory we don’t get to know . . . but that leaves those sequels an opportunity to give us more about Lumikki. I will definitely pick up book two. I plan to write more about this book soon.
The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer: I thought the voice was funny, but then I didn’t find myself caring about any of the characters. I quit this one half-way through. It felt a little like the author’s voice came through too much and that got in the way of some authenticity. 
The Good Sister by Jamie Kain: I’m reading this one right now and am being optimistic that some of the things I don’t like — the magical dead sister who knows everything and the two other sisters who feel a little cardboard — end up changing and surprising me. I’m enjoying the story itself. The writing is nice and tight, which I appreciate. 
Around the web:
  • I love this short interview with Amy Poehler, where she’s asked if she’s a feminist and what she thinks about the feminist question more broadly. So good. 
  • Since I’ll be traveling next weekend, I can’t take part in the 24 in 48 Read-a-Thon, but you should. 
I debated for a long time whether or not I’d do another contemporary YA week this year — putting the series together takes a lot of work and energy, and I wasn’t sure I had it in me — but it will be happening. December 1-5, it’ll be all contemporary YA here at Stacked, featuring 5 really exciting guest posts from voices who we’ve never had here before. In addition, there will be a big series of book lists, interesting discussions, and more. 

This Week in Reading: Volume VIII

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It’s been two weeks since the last update, so there are a lot of new books that showed up in my house. I think this is everything I still have hanging around. I know I’ve already returned Amity by Micol Ostow and 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith, both of which I blew through in the last week (and both were enjoyable — I’ll write more about each in a big roundup soon).

Here’s what I’ve purchased/received/checked out/bought in the last couple of weeks:
Captain Marvel: Volume 1 by Kelly DeConnick
Ms. Marvel: Volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson — This was great and I can’t wait to keep up with this series. 
Yes Please by Amy Poehler — The hardcover edition of this is so nice. The print quality, the paper, the design, everything is really lovely. The book itself was great, too. I love how much Poehler celebrates and encourages other women.
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
In The Woods by Tana French
Stone in the Sky by Cecil Castellucci (February 24) — I’m eager to read this duology all at once. 
Alex As Well by Alyssa Bergman (January 20)
Those Girls by Lauren Saft (June 9)
The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker (June 2)
Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys) by Amy Spalding (April 14) — I got to read this one early and I loved it. It might be my favorite Amy Spalding title to date. 
Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (May 19) — I am so looking forward to this one.
A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery (July 7)
After The Red Rain by Barry Lyga, Peter Facinelli, and Rob DeFranco (August 4)
Court of Fives by Kate Elliot (August 18) — This is pitched as (wait for it) Game of Thrones meets Hunger Games meets Little Women, which means…absolutely nothing to me. 
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood (August 11) — I loved Wildlife and can’t wait to read the companion novel. 
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (January 8) — This is getting a massive push and I’ve seen some good reviews, but can we knock off the Eleanor & Park meets The Fault In Our Stars thing? Because that’s actually a turn off for me.
Currently Reading:
I started Sara Farizan’s Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel last night and while it’s imperfect — there’s weirdly timed info-dumping and not all of that info feels consistent — the voice is young and sweet, and I love that the main character is Iranian and working through how to best express her sexuality. This is lighter reading, which I am really in the mood for right now.
Around the Web: 

  • I’ve been reading like crazy the last month or so. I think I was finishing a book every other day in October. I wanted to get through as much horror as possible, and because of all the reading, I decided I wouldn’t pressure myself to write up reviews of everything. If you’re curious about what I read in horror — some YA and some adult — here’s a visual peek on my Tumblr. After I posted it, I realize I didn’t add Rachel Klein’s The Moth Diaries. That was a better read than it was a movie, for sure.