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The 31 Days of December: Top 10 of 2021 young adult fiction edition

The focal point of my reading experience is young adult since I am a high school librarian. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am not including any nonfiction in my top ten’s for 2021 because of committee work, but it still left plenty of time to read fabulous young adult fiction. And here they are:

While Lee’s The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks is the end of her Montague Siblings series that was postponed from 2020 and an eagerly anticipated title, there are several on the list from 2021 that are becoming or could become series themselves. Gray’s Beasts of Prey has already had a sequel announced (Beasts of Ruin) and one of the first books on my TBR for 2022 is Jean’s Tokyo Dreaming, the sequel to Tokyo Ever After. Sharpe likely has no intention of a second book for The Girls I’ve Been however there was so much to Nora’s story that it could easily have a sequel. Her obstacles were no match for her will to survive, so I would love to know where she goes after the bank heist is over.

Adler’s summer romance Cool for the Summer is as hot as Playing with Fire but for different reasons. The history unpacked in both Moore’s The Perfect Place to Die (about H.H. Holmes’s killing spree) and Williams Garcia’s A Sitting in St. James as sweeping and atmospheric. While the last two not yet discussed– Take Me With You When You Go and Me (Moth) are centered around a relationship between two characters: siblings and strangers, respectively that unfurl deep-rooted connections which wreck readers by the end.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 29, 2021 in Authors, Blogging, Cover Love, Fiction, Verse, Young Adult

The 31 Days of December: Holiday vibes

26 Dec

Only recently did I create a bookshelf on Goodreads for seasonal/holiday reading because I don’t often seek them out intentionally or need to retrieve them often, however I’m finding I am more often. With that said, I know one person in particular, a coworker, who reads with holidays and seasons in mind. He first introduced me to Truman Capote’s three short stories (which I read as a collection): “A Christmas Memory,” “One Christmas”, and “The Thanksgiving Visitor.”

A few weeks ago we were again discussing holiday reading and he mentioned a tradition he has that includes Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” which I had never heard of and promptly put it on hold at my library. Serendipitously, it came in just in time for the holidays and I was able to settle in to read the short story on my couch, in my red and white striped pajamas at the foot on my tree, with a white cranberry mimosa. And it was delightful. I highly recommend the ambience and even more so, the short story itself which is exactly what you would imagine it would be from the title and the writer.

After this, I might be a convert to seasonal and holiday reading in a way that was never intentional before. All I know is that I now have a new memory and that one includes reminiscing about old memories and books.

I would love more season and holiday recommendations!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 26, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Childrens, Quotes, Reflections

The 31 Days of December: The death of Anne Rice

14 Dec

I woke up to the news in my Instagram feed and was flooded from memories of my teenage years. There are certainly books I remember reading over and over again in elementary school but as I moved into middle school Anne Rice was the author woman for me.

I don’t remember which book I started with but I have a sneaking suspicion it was The Witching Hour because while her career was made famous through writing about vampires, her witches trilogy I remember being taken away with. But I did read every one of her books on vampires too. And I know I’ll have a few who agree and many who won’t, but I dare say that Interview with the Vampire was better on screen than it was in the pages of the book. It doesn’t diminish the worlds she created, the character development, sharing deep desires and longings, and what immortality could look like. She built them with skill and passion. She embodied her work. I’m sad to have never met her. But 80 is a fabulous life in which most knew her name and the work she produced.

Is it any wonder that a newer batch of writers like Holly Black and Cat Winters are among my favorites as well? Probably not because they both wrote messages of heartbreak over the loss.

While you’ll have to buy me a drink to get my best Anne Rice reading story, rest assured I owe my teenage reading life to the many checkouts at the local public library of the queen of vampires, Anne Rice.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 14, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Fiction

The 31 Days of December: The popularity of Junji Ito

11 Dec

Regardless of what level you work at in a school library, as a librarian part of your goal is to have books in the library that students want to read. Popularity is sometimes obvious, re: Dogman and sometimes it’s geographical or site-specific. This was evident several years ago when Karen McManus broke out on the scene for young adults with her murder mystery One Of Us Is Lying. Students should feel comfortable requesting the purchase of certain books. And sometimes they make it loud and clear.

Enter Junji Ito, the GOAT of horror manga since he entered the field in 1987. His popularity in our library is a confluence of one of our senior electives called Horror Fiction and Film, the large showing number of students who attend Anime Club (of which I’m the faculty advisor), and that manga regularly makes the top circulated items in our library.

Ito is the GOAT for a reason. They are dark, mind-bending, frightful, and intelligent horror stories and short stories. I’m drawn to them as so many of our students are. We recently started getting in our newest order which is adding more of Ito’s books to the collection and replacing well-worn books that have been in circulation for several years. He’s someone that we will likely always have on order.

First, read at least one of Ito’s books if not all of them. Second, remember to listen to your students when it comes to what’s on the shelves.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 11, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Fiction, Manga

The 31 Days of December: Brain break

09 Dec

The celebrity memoir.

I don’t seek them out, but often I add them to my audiobook TBR (particularly when they’re read by them) when I see multiple recommendations or reviews with favorable reviews. I find they are the perfect brain break from more robust nonfiction audiobooks and my general reading.

Currently I’m a half an hour away from finishing Seth Rogan’s Yearbook after seeing it on a “best of” list. I am a lover of the brief but shining series he was in called Freaks and Geeks. Interest piqued and audiobook added to my list.

Within a day of adding it to the my reserve, it was available and I took a detour from my previously available audiobook, a collected anthology, to listen to this shorter (6 hour) audiobook as a way to take a little break from the epic fantasy adventure I had just finished.

And what a fun detour it has been. Celebrity memoirs are usually no-holds-barred entertainment leaving little to the imagination whether that’s the publisher expectation or what the celebrity wants. I’ve listened to Mindy Kaling and Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Nick Offerman, Dolly Parton and Anthony Bourdain with an emphasis it seems on comedians.

The best kind of brain break and when I might learn a thing or two, it’s bonus material.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 9, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Nonfiction

National Book Lovers Day: 5 photos

09 Aug

Pass up the opportunity to go back through the photo archives and share my favorite bookish pictures? Never! A story in five pictures. Share your favorite bookish photos too!

The only #bookface I’ve ever done and it was spectacular, probably because this book is one of my favorites.

My first YALSA *award* committee. These were the finalists (*Darius the Great Is Not Okay* by Khorram won) for the William C. Morris Award that year. I’ve sat on others and am currently the chairperson for the Excellence in Nonfiction Award Committee. This is in addition to the mountains of books I’ve read for Great Graphic Novels for Teens and Best Fiction for Teens, both selection committees. If you have the opportunity, lend your readership to these lists.

As a high school librarian, I get to play host for some amazing YA authors for our students who are book lovers too. Slater’s visit was a fabulous example of the power of nonfiction.

My love for books runs so deep and excitable that I often present about books: locally, state-wide, and nationally. It’s my favorite kind of presentation to do because the prep work is *reading*.

In addition to presenting, I write about books too. It’s one of the reasons you’re here on my professional blog, but I also spent time writing for our local newspaper’s Books Blog before it was retired. This was my cover photo among some of my personal library’s books.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on August 9, 2021 in Authors, Blogging, Events, Miscellaneous, Style

Outstanding book of the month for July 2021

31 Jul

I’m cheating a little for this month and choosing one graphic novel, one adult nonfiction, and one fiction title for my outstanding book(s) because I had some fabulous reading material (including the secret kind that I can’t tell you about). So here goes for the month:

This memoir is spectacular for its honesty and storytelling. Rosser grew up in West Philadelphia in a large single-parent family and discovered his love and talent for polo when his brother stumbled upon the Work to Ride program set up nearby. Rosser shares the discrimination he and his teammates faced as a Black team but also the resilience of a love of a larger community that wanted to see kids succeed.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish the finale to Lee’s Montague Siblings trilogy because it had all of the spectacular action and adventure, wit and tenacity as the first two. It was a delightful end as you follow the much younger Montague sibling (who didn’t know Monty and Felicity existed until the start of this book) on a fact-finding mission about his mother’s death and the spyglass that she had once carried everywhere.

You’ve got to appreciate sass and Charlotte’s got it in spades. She’s a teen detective on her way to *hopefully* win an award for her work until she’s caught up in a plot to frame her and take her down. Boom! Studios is always a favorite of mine with much of what they put out because I vibe with their artistry and bright colors, but also their spunky characters. This one didn’t fail as I continue reading the issues via Hoopla.

What were your favorites of the month?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on July 31, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Young Adult

Outstanding book of the month for June 2021

30 Jun

I knew I wasn’t going to create my book of the month post yesterday to post for today because I was in the middle of the book I was going to bestow that title to. I would carve out time today after an early morning walk with my librarian friend, Stacey, a little food shopping, and some other reading, to finish this book. And I was not wrong. And I was not disappointed. Behold, my June selection!

Published this past August, I have been on the wait list at the public library for quite some time. Once it came in, I brought it home and immediately felt the apprehensiveness of cracking the spine because I could feel the magnetic pulse of a book that would move me.

Nezhukumatathil is a poet, so it’s without question that she has a command of words. And as an avid lover of nature as evidenced by these vignettes, she has a command for sharing it with others. She’s like a literary Sy Montgomery and I say that as kindness for both. Montgomery is a scrapper, woman’s woman scientist who gets her hands dirty, her armpits sweaty in the forest, and rolls up her sleeves for the work. Who then parlays that into fascinating books for kids (and adults) about her adventures and learning from tarantulas to octopus. Nezhukumatathil is an explorer and an observer who won’t shy away from the experience, but isn’t in it for the scientific study but rather the enlightenment it will provide. And that is equally beautiful.

The vignettes of birds, plants, and animals are only several pages in length but leave a life lesson within each that pulls the reader closer to nature and asks the existential questions along with it. The writing was magical. The descriptions were breathtaking. And the muted illustration was a cherry on top to this tiny but powerful book.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on June 30, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Cover Love, Nonfiction

Outstanding book of the month for May 2021

31 May

More novella than novel, Sy Montgomery wins my heart over again with her magical storytelling about the most nonmagical magic– the natural world. Clocking in at 96 pages or just about two hours on audiobook, her newest: The Hummingbird’s Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and the Renewal on Wings is a special gift for readers and why it’s my favorite for the month.

Her deep connections to the animal world allowed her to weave her scientific escapades with her art of writing that allows the couch scientist to experience animals hidden deep inside jungles or the ones that we rarely think about right outside our windows. This story is a rescue mission; the rehabilitation of several hummingbirds by a friend of hers while she was able to help caretake alongside. The interwoven history of hummingbirds and their significance to groups worldwide is evidenced by their names in other cultures is given equal status in the book with the health of the bird’s of the story.

My recommendation would be to listen to Montgomery tell you the story via the audiobook version as I did because nothing can replace the emotional and logical approach to keeping the hummingbird’s alive. It’s an action-adventure in real life– will they or won’t they survive? What is the ethics of saving them? How do they experience the world? It’s all packed in this slim volume that feels as luxurious as a bite of dark chocolate.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 31, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Nonfiction

Outstanding book of the month for March 2021

31 Mar

Is it that time again? Looking at my calendar, it is! My outstanding pick was a recommendation from a kindred book friend who said I must listen to the audiobook. Now I’m recommending it to anyone who will listen that you must listen to the audiobook.

I was crushing on Barrie Kreinik and Peter Ganim who narrate Nancy Wake and Henri Fiocca. Kreinik brought the French accent by way of New Zealand perfectly along with the zest and spunk of the real-life Nancy Wake that Ariel Lawhon presents to readers in Code Name Helene. Wake was a woman on a mission of resistance living many lives at once at the onset of World War II. And Fiocca was the man she fell in love with and married. Ganim brings the sex appeal to their romance through the ears from the pages.

It’s not often that I feel a certain way about narrators as my friend Stacey Rattner does, but when they’re good, I can see how it can happen. Yet their presentation can only be built from the impassioned foundation of Lawhon herself to approach this subject matter. I was lost in the details, the adventure, the romance, the espionage. It was dangerous and it sometimes had to be funny. It needed to be bawdy but also indulgent. And the treachery!

If I’ve said nothing that has stuck, remember this: listen to Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on March 31, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Fiction