Tag Archive | books

AprilAtoZ 2015 Challenge is in the books!

May1

graphic of April AtoZ blog challenge 2015 calendarI did it!
26 new books recommended in 26 days this April!
AprilA2Z Challenge 2015 is complete!

Was it worth all the effort? Let’s look at the numbers: Google Analytics says that my April readership was up 15% from March. Hooray! My Akismet site stats give a more detailed picture, showing a huge increase during first week of April, with lower numbers for the rest of the month, but page view total still about 20% above March 2015.

Of course, the opportunity (with deadlines!) to move 26 books from my “to be reviewed” shelf to the “y’all must read this & here’s why” files of BooksYALove is probably the main reason that I jump in to April AtoZ Challenge each year.

I might not have gotten to visit as many fellow participants’ blogs during the past month as I’ would have liked, since April also brings the Texas Library Association conference, but I will be visiting others during May and beyond because I do enjoy finding new ones to enjoy throughout the year.

A huge thank-you to the A2Z organizers who take time away from their own blogging to set up the challenge, visit participants’ blogs, retweet our #AprilA2Z tweets, and give us all a boost.

So, will I be posting 6 days a week from now on? No way! I plan to post frequently, with book birthday Tuesdays and audiobook Thursdays guaranteed, plus 1-2 more recommendations weekly.

You’ll definitely want to stay tuned to BooksYALove this summer, as SYNC and Audiofile Magazine once again will provide 2 FREE young adult audiobooks for you to download each week from May 7 through August 13. I’ll post direct links to each pair on Thursdays, starting next week; you can also sign up for reminders on the SYNC site here.

If you subscribe to BooksYALove by email or RSS feed, please do come over to the site occasionally and comment so that I know you’re out there! I don’t think that the site stats or Google stats can measure your smiles, trips to the library, or visits to your favorite bookstore resulting from my recommendations.

So many more great books coming up in the weeks and months ahead!
Let me know what you’ll be reading.
**kmm

Almost AtoZ Challenge time!

Mar30

logo of AprilAtoZ ChallengeAre you ready?

26 book reviews, alphabetically aligned, in 30 days!

This year’s AtoZ Challenge begins on April 1st, and I think that I’m ready…

You still have time to sign up and build your blogging muscles: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2015/01/the-2015-to-z-challenge-list-is-open.html BooksYALove is number 507, if you’re checking.

I’ll also be digging in to the 2015 Diversity Reading Challenge – 12 book categories to stretch perceptions and horizons (listed here).

And you have till April 10 to register for the great giveaway package at DiversityInYA’s blog here – 20 winners each get 5 books from their amazing list, which includes some I’ve recommended on BooksYALove, some on my upcoming list, and some that I can’t wait to read.

See y’all on the first!
**kmm

Ready! Set! Vote for Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards now!

Mar27

logo for 2015 Children's Choice Book Awardslogo of 2015 Teen Choice Book AwardsIf you’re disappointed that the recent kids’ or young adult book you adore hasn’t won any awards, take heart!

It’s your turn to vote for your favorites in the Children’s Choice Book Awards

Voting is open through May 3, 2015 in several categories:

Kindergarten-2nd grade
3rd & 4th grade
5th & 6th grade
Teen

Each category includes 5 nominees for book of the year, plus Children’s Choice Debut Author and Children’s Choice Illustrator of the Year.

Individuals may vote in each category (once only, please!), and there’s a special spot for group ballots from entire classes, families, and book clubs, too.

See all the categories on their cute staircase here, and get all the kidlit and YAlit fans you know to vote! May 3rd will be here before you know it.
**kmm

My AtoZ Challenge theme for April…

Mar23

logo of AprilAtoZ ChallengeOnce again, I signed up for the April AtoZ Challenge (see me at #507 here).

Posting 26 times in 30 days sounds straightforward enough, BUT the posts must follow the alphabet, with A on April 1 and so forth.

Using a theme for April AtoZ makes it easier for readers, since they know your subject for the month, and harder for writers, as we must find relevant posts for that tricky X on April 29th!

So, my April theme for 2015’s AtoZ Challenge is…

drumroll, please…

young adult books beyond bestsellers!

Ha! If you thought that I’d wander off into cat photos or recipes for two for a whole month, you must be new to BooksYALove! I’m pleased that many of April’s titles will have diverse characters or be set in other cultures.

Use the links in the right-hand column to subscribe to my posts or add to your blog-reader so you don’t miss any of these great books.

Counting down until April 1st – no fooling! (you can still sign up for the challenge here and build up your writing/blogging muscles along with hundreds of others)

**kmm

 

A to Z Challenge? Why not? (you should blog all April, too)

Feb10

logo of AprilAtoZ ChallengeEvery year, I wonder – should I blog AtoZ or not?

Twenty-six posts in just a month? Crazy!
Forcing my posts into alphabetical arrangement A to Z? Like a straitjacket!
Getting a couple of dozen books deserving a review off my TBR shelf and out to y’all? Priceless…

So… I said yes. And there I am as #507 on the April AtoZ Challenge sign-up list.

If you are a blogger (or want to become one), give the AtoZ Challenge a try – 26 posts on your subject of choice, going from A to Z during April (Sundays off, thankfully). You also have a ready-made list of active and interesting blogs to visit (the challenge folks suggest visiting 5 daily and leaving an encouraging comment – you may find new favorites that you want to follow long-term)

There’s a new 2015 AtoZ logo, loads of single-letter badges, banners, even a calendar to set as your desktop so you remember what letter goes on which day – all free here.

My advice after a few years of April AtoZing: Schedule posts in advance, feel free to phonetically pronounce your post title on that darn X day, and include the #AtoZChallenge hashtag and @AprilA2Z Twitter ID when you Tweet out link to your daily post.

See y’all more frequently in April! Let me know if I should be visiting your AtoZ posts then, too.
**kmm

Stranger, by Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith (book review) – humanity has changed, or has it?

Feb3

book cover of Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith published by VikingAfter the Change killed electricity,
unrooted societies, mutated many life forms,
Los Angeles survived as walled Las Anclas –
but will one teenage prospector doom them all?

This fast-moving dystopian tale with 5 narrators includes semi-sentient plants (so very deadly), Changed humans with amazing talents, unChanged ones who accept them, and those who don’t. A diverse cast of characters, families of all configurations, several love stories, and a madman, too.

Read chapter one here as Ross tries to reach Las Anclas alive, then get Stranger today at your local library or independent bookstore.

Don’t wait till the November 2015 paperback release – you must discover the secrets of Las Anclas now for yourself!

**kmm

Book info: Stranger (Change, book 1) / Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith. Viking Children’s Books, 2014. [Rachel’s site]   [Sherwood’s site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When a strange young man collapses outside Las Anclas, its citizens must decide whether to share their secrets with him or become targets of the madman pursuing him.

Ross knows that the book he uncovered holds information about lost technologies, if only he could read it, if only he can escape Voske’s bounty hunter through the ever-hostile desert.

Felicite plans to become powerful in Las Anclas, strategizing and smiling as her political parents do, praying that no one discovers her secrets.

Yuki survived shipwreck to land in LA as a child, but the prince of a distant land wants only to leave the walled town as a prospector, as long as Paco comes along.

Mia would rather solve mechanical problems than train with the militia, but the youngest Engineer in town history wonders if she’ll ever fall in love or care if she doesn’t.

Jennie took over the schoolroom when their teacher’s Change power became too dangerous, but her fighting skills as a Ranger are also needed by the town – will she have to choose?

These five teens have the future of their neighbors in their hands when Voske attacks Las Anclas with Changed humans, remade weapons, and treachery – is there a traitor inside the town’s walls?

This dystopian adventure twines together superpowers and prejudice, adult and family relationships of all types, the visceral rush and lingering mental pain of war, and possibilities of redemption amid sacrifice.  (One of 8,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day – windows & mirrors for us all

Jan27

Yes, books can be windows to other worlds, other lives.
Also they should be mirrors where we can see ourselves, yet the majority of kids’ and young adult books published in the US don’t reflect that. (see my June 2014 post here for statistics)

Today is Multicultural Children’s Book Day which aims to open eyes, spark discussion, provide resources, and spread the word about the available books with main characters who are not white, middle-class, and straight.

Visit the site to find myriad book lists by category, from Asian American Books for Kids of All Ages to Diverse Biography Picture Books, as well as book lists by geographic region and holidays.

You know that I recommend books outside bestsellers (where, let’s face it, the leads are most often white, hetero, economically comfortable), so I find wonderful diverse titles that lots of folks will enjoy. BookRiot’s recent article on “How to Read Diversely” highlights more ways to find good reads with diverse characters.

#ReadYourWorld or someone else’s with these recent books (click title for my no-spoilers recommendation):

book cover of If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth published by Arthur A Levine BooksIf I Ever Get Out of Here, by Eric Gansworth – Rez life, seeing into others’ lives, the Beatles

Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, by Joel Christian Gill – graphic novel featuring African Americans not shown in history books

Shelter, by Patricia Aust – trying to be a man without resorting to Dad’s violence

Orleans, by Sherri L. Smith – deadly Delta Fever is least of Fen’s worries in post-apocalyptic Gulf Coast

The Chaos, by Nalo Hopkinson – Jamaican-Canadian teen seeks her brother in city overtaken by mythic, storybook, nightmare beings

Riding Invisible, by Sandra Alonzo – escaping on horseback from violence at home

Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew – graphic novel of first Asian American superhero

Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel, by Diana Lopez – Mom’s cancer, Chia’s promesas, answers not always clear

Need more? Watch for Diverse Books as Genre in column on the right (under all the tags) – updating in progress.

What diverse books are your favorites?
**kmm

It’s National Readathon Day! Choose your books and get your read on

Jan24

logo of National Readathon Day 24 Jan 2015Ready!
Set!
Read!

Today is National Readathon Day – your choice of your books, reading bliss from 12noon to 4 pm local time.

Sponsored by the National Book Foundation and Penguin Random House, National Readathon Day is designed as a fundraiser (you can donate to this tax-exempt organization here) and as an opportunity for readers to share what they love as they take #timetoread.

So tweet out your #timetoread titles during the afternoon today (or any time – we all love a good book list, right?), and please support the National Book Foundation as it strives to create, promote, and sustain a lifelong love of reading in America.

**kmm
with my stack of to-be-read books at hand for #timetoread

Take Kids to the Bookstore Day is today! (we’re all kids, right?)

Dec6
sketch of open book with flowing bookmark by ee from openclipart.org

by ee from openclipart.org

Today is designated “Take Kids to the Bookstore Day” (well, officially “Take Your Child to the Bookstore Day” it says here, but I believe in arriving at book palaces en masse), so bring kiddos to your favorite bricks-and-mortar bookstore for a great Saturday outing (find your nearest independent bookseller using IndieBound search).

And what books should you point out to kids? Help young readers take www.abookandahug’s What Reading SuperHero Are You? short quiz, then discover new favorites tagged by their reader-type (or keyword or age) among the 7,000+ librarian-created reviews of books for babies, kids, tweens, and teens to start their own wishlists (I have over 300 posted there – search Manck).

If you’re heading for the bookstore alone to buy for kids, try Who’s On First  for anyone who loves baseball or funny books (my review here), Cornelia Funke’s Ghost Knight  for tweens hooked on mysteries or the medieval (review here), and Dave Roman’s Astronaut Academy series of graphic novels – Zero Gravity  (review) and Re-Entry  (review) – for the reader who’d enjoy Hakata’s classes in dinosaur-riding and fireball tournaments in space school.

Amid the holiday shopping frenzy of keyboard-clacking and mouse-clicking, please shop at the physical bookstores that bring authors to our own towns, plan fun events for all ages, and give us an opportunity to find that book we didn’t know we were looking for. Remember that BooksYALove always seeks out great YA books beyond the bestsellers for you (and never has ads or affiliate links).

Wishing you book serendipity all year!
**kmm

Author, author! Meeting a favorite writer in person!

Nov14
photo of Terra McVoy & Katy Manck (c)Katy Manck

Terra & Katy at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia!

Look!
It’s her,
it’s really her!

So cool to finally meet Terra Elan McVoy in person at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia yesterday!

Terra is a bookseller, author, and generally all-around fun gal – be sure to read her novels set in the Atlanta area: After the Kiss (an early BooksYALove recommendation), Being Friends With Boys  (my notes here), and Criminal  (my review here).

I have her most-recent book In Deep on my nightstand right now, but just cannot force myself to turn the page – I don’t want Brenn to make that bad decision!! (But Terra said that we know she’ll do it)

Have you met an author in person lately?
**kmm