Blogging each day during a month has been a fun adventure to challenge me and I’ve decided February is a LOVE-ly month for another round using the theme of love. Have an idea for a post? Drop it in the comments.
This past Monday was the premier event in children and teen publishing: the Youth Media Awards. While it will undoubtedly look different next year without having a midwinter conference beforehand, it will continue to be an event to be viewed. It’s where winners of big awards that add seals to books get announced to the gasps, claps, and exuberance of all who are watching. There are years I’ve been “in the room” and years like this year that I was watching the livestream making audible noises and shaking my hands in celebration. Here were the titles that I was most excited to see come across the screen either because I devoured them (not having known about them previously in the days following the YMAs or precisely because I loved them leading up to the YMAs).
Ironic that I’m posting the day after Library Shelfie Day that looks to be the fourth Wednesday of January because yesterday was the day I should have taken a library shelfie! I was damn proud of spending a few days finishing up weeding nonfiction after having done a cursory weed of fiction about a month ago and the other section of nonfiction at the beginning of the year.
The work of actually deleting them from the system and moving them to free carts, teacher classrooms, donations, and new life in another library pales in comparison to the backbreaking (and knee burning) of the weeding itself. Plus of course the feeling of levity when the torn or yellowed pages, smashed spines, and seriously outdated books get tossed because no one needs to that on their shelf. It dulls the shine of the wonderful books on the shelves, so I’m glad they’re shining again.
Yet, like a tale or soap opera entitled “Ourshelves” it’s like laundry at home– the minute I think I’m done, there’s more to do. And in this case– the elegance of pristine shelves with all of the books sitting upright, sitting *just right* on the shelf, nothing backward or tipped over– will all be over as soon as students are back in full force on Monday. Do I wish it could last a few days? Of course, but then I wouldn’t be recognizing that the reason they’re messy is that they’re being used.
With the last day of the year, what’s better than a quick post of my favorite posts from this year because they were often about amazing moments or reads from this past year.
And it wouldn’t be the end of one year and the start of another without having my last book of the year and first book of the new year lined up. Several hours ago I finished the National Book Award winner Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. It’s clear why it’s a winner.
And as if Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan made a wish come true that I whispered into the ether or not, my first read of 2025 will be Saga #71.
There’s no doubt this will be the perfect way to usher in a new year of reading. If you haven’t hitched your wagon to Saga yet, make this your year.
Finally, the caboose to this best-of train are books written for adults. A treat and indulgence for a high school librarian like myself. It’s evident that I lean heavily into nonfiction but have been known to get sucked into a vivid fiction too. Oh, and comics.
For the third day of the four day event featuring the best of 2024, I’m sharing my favorites targeting young adults. One is an ongoing comic in which I cosplayed the main character, Erica Slaughter at a recent comic con. One is by the GOAT of YA, Jason Reynolds. Several romance titles that. One nonfiction about deadly plants. A few autobiographies in various formats. And last, one atmospheric fairytale.
Next up, the fantastically deep bench of awesome middle grade for 2024. I could have created an honors list in addition to the ten I’m featuring as my favorites of the year.
It’s that time of year! Where readers, social media influencers, publishers, libraries, and anyone related to books share their best books. I’m no different. Though my years-end lists always feature books published in that year, not what was read in that year. This year I’ve settled on four categories: picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult. I decided not to organize by format or genre but instead on audience. Here are my favorite picture books from 2024. Favorites because of their message, their art, and the way the art and words meld.
On November 24, 2023, I posted Over this next year that explained a challenge I was embarking on to read forty books that had affected me since I was turning forty. Challenge complete.
Pacing myself throughout the year, I listened to some of the books and read others but I did purchase a few of the titles that I hadn’t previously owned. As I read each one, I flipped it to show my progress over the year.
Ultimately, a few of them will not remain on my shelf because that’s the thing about rereading books, it’s not always the same the second time around. But I’m glad for it because it shows I’m not the same person. Tastes and interest shift in books the same that it does with food or decorating or clothing. That’s to be celebrated and one of the reasons I wanted to undertake the reflective practice of rereading because I rarely reread and prefer to remember the feelings about the books rather than the content. What I learned:
Mood as a literary device is important to me a reader. The books that remain impactful are a direct result of the book’s atmosphere such as The Virgin Suicides, The Girl From the Other Side, and Mudbound.
Nonfiction, especially food memoir, literally takes the cake. Read: Crying in H Mart and Dessert Can Save the World. But books about food are right next to them like Chicken Every Sunday, First Bite, and Lessons in Chemistry.
The classics on my list didn’t hold their own unfortunately. Sorry Brave New World, The Catcher in the Rye, and Jane Eyre. But neither did the epic first book in the Mayfair Chronicles The Witching Hour, though I heart Anne Rice forever and always.
Strong, whip smart, sassy, or otherwise memorable characters are hard to forget. Benny from Circle of Friends, Naomi from Out of Darkness, Maddie from A Northern Light, Lena from Between Shades of Gray, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Melinda from Speak, Carey from If You Find Me, Charlotte from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and Hazel from Anatomy: A Love Story.
Significantrelationships tug at my heartstrings which is why I carry a torch for all of the creatures in The House In the Cerulean Sea and Saga; the dystopian community in The Giver, Werther opining in The Sorrows of Young Werther, the ultimate friendship trio in The Serpent King, and the whole crux of what Turkle stands for in Reclaiming Conversation. And as long as there will be star-crossed lovers, there will be Edward and Bella from Twilight.
Innovative formatting or a unique approach to storytelling keep me thinking about a book long after I’ve finished it. Think The Lovely Bones‘ from beyond the grave, mental illness in Challenger Deep, Long Way Down‘s mystery elevator, Crank‘s verse, The Vagina Monologues‘ well, monologues, Milk and Honey‘s Instagrammable poetry and illustrations, the library in The Midnight Library, and Calvin and Hobbes‘ daily and Sunday strips.
Picture books say so much without having to say much at all. This is where pictures speak a thousand words and the author creates the write words to allow the pictures to shine which is why Farmhouse and My First Day by Quang and Lien were on my list. Both I’ve gifted several times over.
And let’s just say I ripped a page right out of The Power of Moments to create this personal challenge, which is why I’ve relished this project over this last year; celebrating book love by reading Book Love, which was a gift from a friend. I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling opportunity and urge others to find a moment to reflect on your own reading journey– whether it’s been a few months or years or a lifetime.
At a recent fortieth birthday party, the conversation turned to audiobooks while we sat down to eat. This particular conversation included my husband, my cousin’s husband, my dad and myself.
If you had told me as a teenager that I’d be talking to my dad about audiobooks when I was an adult, I’d call you crazy. But here he is, a semi-retired technician who was gifted a pair of Shokz bone conduction headphones by my husband and me recently and all I hear from my mom is that he loves his headphones and that he’s basically always listening to an audiobook now. What someone can do with a little extra time and a good pair of headphones– listen to audiobooks of course.
My cousin’s husband is an avid reader and a collector of presidential biographies and autobiographies. He’s an audiobook listener now more than ever and that’s because of his audiobook subscription. What someone can do with a specialized interest and a subscription– listen to audiobooks of course.
My husband, a casual reader more of magazines and avid consumer of YouTube videos and podcasts about food, health, and fitness, is now incorporating audiobooks into his routine, generally on his drives each day for work. Yes, he still has his radio programs that he has to listen to, but when those aren’t on, he’s got an audiobook on deck. The last few he’s read included one that our sons are reading for English class and a series of books written by a commentator he’s regularly listened to for years. What someone can do with wanting to learn deeply about a topic (or connect with another person reading the same book) and a free library card– listen to audiobooks of course.
And here I am. A high school librarian who thought I’d never listen to an audiobook while working out and now almost exclusively listen to an audiobook on walks and runs, who listens to most books at 1.5x speed, who will listen to just about anything as an audiobook EXCEPT a book originally formatted as a comic or graphic novel, who uses audiobooks as a way to squeeze in more reading especially if it’s in the car, folding laundry, or baking. What someone can do with an endless TBR pile– listen to audiobooks of course.
What would October 31st be without a few book recs to get us all in the Halloween spirit?
Sheets by Thummler: Because Wendell the ghost haunting Marjorie’s family laundromat is sentimental and sweet.
Gyo by Ito: Because anything Ito creates is the thing of nightmares and phobias.
The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe: Because Teacher is a creature that doesn’t eat or sleep with a deer-like skull for a head who is smitten with Shiva, a little girl he wants to protect is as innocent as it is dark woven perfectly in this manga.
Eternally Yours edited by Caldwell: Because you want creepy in bite-sized short stories.
Fangs by Anderson: Because a werewolf and a vampire fall in love.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by Romero: Because a verse novel about a ghost haunting a cemetery that a human teen befriends is my kind of book.
Ghost Book by Lai: Because creative storytelling in middle grade graphic novels couldn’t have gotten better than this book about lives lived, lost, and found again.
The Weight of Blood by Jackson: Because what book can get you to read another classic book (Carrie by King) with both bringing the gore and thrill.
The Night Easters by Liu and Takeda: Because there is so much to take in visually in this graphic novel backed by so much emotional and family baggage.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Horvath and Otsmane-Elhaou: Because an Eisner winning comic series about an unassuming bear in a small town with a penchant for murder is psychologically riveting from the first page to the last page.
Readers Be Advised 