Archives

Yep, I did it – April A to Z complete! (reflective) #A2Z

swirl logo for Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2010-2024 a-to-challenge.com

For the 13th consecutive year, I posted a new, original book review based on letters A to Z over 26 days in April (with Sundays off, amen), except that darn Y (I promise I’ll post that book soon)!

Thirteen years of A to Z.

Fifteen years of BooksYALove.

Over 1,200 book recommendations, countless hours of reading and writing, paying for my own website… for what?

For you, the readers.

Getting the right book into the hands of the right reader at the right time – that’s why I’ve been a librarian for over four decades, whether “working for money” or not.

I’ll keep reading books “beyond the bestsellers” for tweens, teens, and everybody (including the many, many adults who read YA) , and I’ll keep writing about the best of them. But don’t look for 6 new recommendations a week – until next April!

What’s next on your “to be read” stack?
**kmm

Y is for yesterday & before – yikes! #A2Z

Did you hear about the big storm systems that raced across the central USA this weekend?

Luckily, we didn’t get any tornadoes here in my corner of northeast Texas… but the winds knocked down large trees which took out our electrical power on Saturday.

Luckily, the incredible lineworkers in our rural region got our electricity restored in a few hours… but when it came on, the internet router breathed its last.

Luckily, our rural telephone co-op owns the router and provides great service… but it was Monday afternoon before they could get to us and restore internet access.

gray cat gazing to the right with half-opened eyes while laying on a stack of old books - from Dover illustrations collection
courtesy of Dover Publications

So I got to spend time reading instead of writing a Y book recommendation for today… but I’ll wrap up #AprilAtoZ tomorrow with my planned Z book.

p.s. have YOU backed up the photos on your phone lately? I had just finished when the power cut out – yikes!
**kmm

Ta-da! Another April #A2ZChallenge in the books! (Reflective) #A2Z

BooksYALove.com logo = heart, 3 upright books, cat

Another April, another double-dozen book recommendations for y’all!

I pointed out 25 wonderful new books and a pair of free audiobooks this month (download them free by Wednesday, of course).

Was the effort of participating in #AprilA2Z blogging challenge worth it?

Well, it was good to get back in the groove of writing every morning early, before facing the news and email demands.

I posted a link to my blog post with the Challenge hashtags on social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Spoutible – every day. Every, single, day that I posted.

Got a nice handful of comments through the month, thanks to the AprilAtoZ Blog Challenge List here, a great place for you to find new blogs of interest to you.

I do wonder if anyone reads these recommendations which are my own summaries, not just copied from publishers or the book cover blurbs.

Going forward, I’ll aim for 3 posts a week, including the remaining 12 weeks of AudioSYNC summer free audiobooks.

Which AprilA2Z recommendation made you want to go grab that book?
**kmm

It’s A2Z time again!!

April Blogging from A to Z challenge 2023 participant

Yep, it’s almost April, which means the big April A to Z Blogging Challenge is just hours away!

As I have for the past 11 years (over a decade?!), I will post 26 new book recommendations on an alphabetic schedule, starting tomorrow with A – and never give away the ending!

You’ll discover middle-grade and young adult titles, all-age picture books, and graphic novels from the US and abroad – beyond the often-duplicated bestsellers lists and well worth your time to read.

If you want to join the challenge, go here http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ before April 9th to sign up – it’s free and can bring lots of new readers to your blog.

Check out the wide variety of blogs participating in April A to Z on the Master List here https://tinyurl.com/3we8aa84 where mine is #148 – with 39 different categories, you’re sure to find interesting new blogs.

Ready to read?
**kmm

Inspirations for A PATH TO THE WORLD: BECOMING YOU, edited by Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos (Nonfiction book review)

Book cover of A Path to the World: Becoming You / Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos, editor. Published by Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/ Simon & Schuster | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Why are you… you?
How do you become a better person?
What does it mean to be yourself?

These fundamental questions about being human are considered, argued, and partly answered in this collection of 30 essays by famous folks and new writers.

Trying and trying to replicate her mother’s dal recipe might help Geeta Kothari answer “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?”

Valerie Gribben explains that “Practicing Medicine Can Be Grimm Work” as fairy tales gave her insight into the injuries and pains of her patients.

Retired businessman Freddy Schumann became the loudest person in Yankee Stadium and revitalized their fans in the late 1980s as “The Octogenarian Cheerleader” interviewed by Scott Pitoniak.

A 1790 letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island notes that their new national government “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” and sends his appreciation for their welcome and support. (p.72)

KellyNoel Waldorf’s university experience was much different from her peers – “I Came to Duke With an Empty Wallet” and the effects of growing up poor still inform all her decisions.

Be sure to read Anna Quindlen’s advice “Get a Life” which concludes “All of us want to do well. But if we do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough.” (p. 85)

What advice would you share on “becoming you”?
**kmm

Book info: A Path to the World: Becoming You / Lori Marie Carlson-Hijuelos, editor. Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/ Simon & Schuster, 2022. [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

#AprilA2ZChallenge complete – for the 11th year!

April A-to-Z Blog Challenge logo. Blogging from A to Z

Every year, I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with the A2Z Challenge.

Every year, I do recommend a double-handful of new middle grade and young adult books in April that might not be on your radar if you rely on bestseller lists for recommendations.

Every year, a few more folks stop by and comment on the titles I’ve highlighted – welcome!

Thanks again to the #AprilA2Z organizers for providing great graphics, inspiration, and a hub for us bloggers to congregate around as we keep on working to communicate our particular passions to the world.

Now – back to my regular 2-3 times weekly posting schedule, even though there are SO many great new books to recommend!

What was your #AprilA2Z favorite? (Check the tag A2Z for all my April recommendations)
**kmm

Almost time for the April #AtoZchallenge!

#AtoZChallenge 2022 alternative badge

The calendar is sliding toward April, so #AtoZChallenge is just ahead!

This will be my 11th year of participating in the blogging challenge to post alphabetically themed entries throughout April (with Sundays off).

My 2022 #AtoZChallenge theme is… books beyond bestsellers!

For y’all, this means a double-handful of new recommendations of middle-grade and young adult books, plus a few surprises.

You have time to sign up your blog for this free Challenge, too – more info here.

As I wrap up my 12th continuous year of recommending books – without giving away the endings, please let me know which April selections go on your wishlist to find at your local library or independent bookstore (remember – no affiliate links here – ever!).

Happy reading to all!
**kmm

Whoosh! 11 years of BooksYALove, a decade of April A2Z!

text reads: reflection- Blogging from A to Z April (2021) Challenge http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Like that snowball rolling downhill toward a cartoon character, growing larger and faster as it goes, time seems to pass more swiftly as the calendar pages flip over.

Eleven years ago today, I stepped out into the then-new world of blogging, thanks to the encouragement of Michelle Rafter’s Blogathon in the early 2010s and the repository of book recommendations that I had written for Barb Langridge’s awesome kids’ book discovery site www.abookandahug.com (still going strong – be sure to take the Reader Personality Type quiz here!).

Ten years ago today, I looked back at a whole month of posts (every day but Sunday) pegged alphabetically from A to Z – wow, I really could create content on a daily basis… for at least one month of the year during the April AtoZ Challenge!

At the end of March every year since, I’ve pondered whether I could really complete another AtoZ, not missing a single alphabetical day (X is so hard). And for 10 years straight, I’ve decided that I should try, and I have succeeded!

Book bloggers don’t get medals or awards for our work promoting books, authors, and illustrators.

Most of us don’t get any money for our writing, some of us get review copies from publishers (thank you, thank you!), and many of us pay out of pocket to host our sites.

We all spend innumerable hours reading, deciding which books to write about, looking at our growing TBR (to-be-read) piles of books…and the books waiting for a review.

Book reviewers may never know whether our recommendation of a specific book led someone to read it… but one review and one book may be what makes life better for one reader – and that is enough for me as I begin my 12th year of BooksYALove.

Have you read any of the 1000+ books that I’ve recommended?
**kmm

Almost time for A2Z Challenge – 26 book reviews in April!

logo of 2021 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

Every year, I debate with myself about committing to the April A-to-Z Challenge – posting 26 alphabetic entries during April (every day except Sundays).

But after my recent posting doldrums (too much news, not enough sunshine), I knew that I could use my TENTH consecutive A2Z Challenge to refresh my writing routine and bring y’all wonderful books from my To Be Reviewed shelves.

If you want to participate by blogging A to Z about what you love, sign up on the Master List here by April 7 – or just keep on writing!

April #AtoZChallenge, here we come!
**kmm

Nine years of #books… did it!

logo of 10th April Blogging A to Z Challenge

Yesterday, I wrapped up my 9th April A to Z Blog Challenge – 26 new books reviewed in a month. Nine years in a row!

Thank you to the A2Z organizers for providing annual graphics, badges, sign-ups, and promotion for free. During this pandemic, having a scheduled daily task was especially welcome.

Every year, I wonder if I should push myself to post every April day but Sundays, forcing books to fit into that A to Z progression (X, I am looking at you), and every year I am glad that I did it so y’all have 26 more books worth seeking out.

And today marks the beginning of my TENTH year of blogging about books beyond the bestsellers as BooksYALove!

Big thanks to Michele Rafter, whose Blogathon caught my attention in late April 2011 so I could start my very first blog on May 1st and learn the ins and outs of blogging during that May and several to follow.

Huge thanks to Barb Langridge, who asked me in 2010 to join other librarians in writing reviews for her book discovery site for kids www.abookandahug.com. Building up a digital folder of no-spoiler Young Adult and middle grade book reviews to post on my new blog was a true gift.

Much appreciation to the publishers who provide review copies and who have begun bringing us more books by #ownvoices authors, people of color, underrepresented populations – still a long, long way to go, but it’s a start.

All the love to my daughter Emily who designed the BooksYALove logo, helped me move this blog to self-hosting several years ago, and is the best kind of tech support always – mwah!

Will I post every day from now on?
Probably not.

Will I seek out books that are #ownvoices or beyond bestsellers, always worth your attention?
You bet!

Will I promote libraries and independent booksellers over other options?
Always, always, always!

What’s new in your book-reading world?
**kmm