Breaking out of her normal drive to work, speeding through the desert, away from cancer specialists and Mom’s insistence that everything is fine.
“Unfortunately, I seem to have packed all my emotional baggage for this impromptu road trip,” to where? Click to read more
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
Teen songwriter wants an ukulele and better days.
Teen’s long-gone dad wants to see her at last.
Teen’s hyper-organized mom wants him to stay gone.
As the Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want,” but be assured that the teens eventually do get what they need, even if they don’t know what it is Read on, read on!
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
Moving past grief means leaving Luke behind.
Tressa just can’t do that,
but she can’t find peace among the living either. read my recommendation
Mongolian Death Worm? Not my continent.
Sharktopus? Ain’t near the beach.
Firenado? Uh-oh, we’re in a high-risk area!
Whether you’re a fan of the Syfy TV-movie or just want to be prepared for every possible (or improbable) emergency, you will find plenty to chuckle about in How to Survive a Sharknado.
If you can’t find this tongue-in-cheek survival manual at your local library, check the Humor shelves of your favorite independent bookstore.
Which disaster – real or fictitious – worries you most?
**kmm
Book info: How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: Fight Back When Monsters and Mother Nature Strike Back / Andrew Shaffer, with contributions from Fin Shepard and April Wexler. Three Rivers Press, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy provided by BloggingForBooks/Crown Publishing; cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: As Mother Nature strikes back and epic disasters loom large, your best defense against Mega Pythons or a Polar Storm is to be well-prepared, using advice from those who know.
“Study – Avoid – Survive” – Sharknado expert Fin Shepard’s mantra for dealing with disasters is at the core of this clever guide by Andrew Shaffer, with info on the Unnatural Disaster Kit you should keep on hand, as well as Emergency Supplies list for your vehicle. Preparation for dealing with more traditional danger is also highlighted.
Unnatural Disasters include perils created by Mother Nature like the venomous Beeclipse and sea+land SwampVolcano. Among the Monsters are super-sized Mega Pythons and labwork run amok like RoboCrocs. Each entry includes ratings for Threat to Humanity, Risk of Encounter, and Fin’s Wow That’s Freaky Factor.
Each choice you make creates a fork in time,
a new path in the multiverse through history –
Which dimension holds Meg’s happiness? Read more about this new book
Stories about making people dead aren’t as interesting to me as the ones that talk about – or to – the dead. For Dia de los Muertos, a pair of dead/not-dead tales from the BooksYALove shelves.
High school can be frightful for some folks, and when you add in some ghosts who never graduate… just plain spooky! Tread the haunted halls in these BooksYALove faves (and watch your back)… This way to scary school stories
Another pair of scary BooksYALove favorites for the witching season: if blood-spatter and dire peril aren’t your thing, search the tag cloud (over there on right) for something else!