2012 Book Report: First Quarter

It's a new year and a (mostly) new slate of books. Again, my target is to read 100 books in 2012—I hope I have the full year before the world ends. You'd think by the lack of posts on the blog I'd have spent more time reading, but ... well, you'll see.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; R: Romance; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

01/02/12: Sarah Rees Brennan, The Demon's Lexicon (F, YA, 1)
01/07/12: Rees Brennan, The Demon's Covenant (F, YA, 1)
01/15/12: Nathan Wolfe, The Viral Storm (NF, 1)
01/18/12: Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (F, YA, 1)
01/26/12: Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake # (SF, 1)
01/29/12: Rees Brennan, The Demon's Surrender (F, YA, 1)
02/02/12: Steven Johnson, The Ghost Map (NF, 1)
02/06/12: Jennifer Carson, Hapenny Magick (MG, F, 1)
02/09/12: Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman, Why We Broke Up (YA, 1)
02/13/12: Michael Grant, Hunger (YA, SF, 1)
02/16/12: Grant, Lies (YA, SF, 1)
02/19/12: Grant, Plague (YA, SF, 1)
02/23/12: Kristin Cashore, Graceling (YA, F, 1)
02/26/12: Grant, The Call (MG, F, 1)
03/06/12: Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies # (NF, 1)
03/12/12: Cashore, Fire (YA, F, 1)
03/16/12: Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games # (YA, SF, 3)
03/18/12: Collins, Catching Fire # (YA, SF, 2)
03/21/12: Collins, Mockingjay # (YA, SF, 2)
03/25/12: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (SF, 5ish)

Wow, only 20 books for the quarter. It didn't feel like I was working like crazy, or that I wasn't reading. I guess I've just been slow. A lot of the YA books were by people I was profiling for work, but I chose them because they looked interesting, and they were. Still, it's hard to pick my favorite book of the quarter; there weren't any real stinkers, and a lot of very good books, but nothing that jumped up and grabbed me and made me want to share it with everyone around me. The closest of the first-timers I read was probably Sarah Rees Brennan's The Demon's Lexicon, which had a great voice, a cool urban fantasy world, and a fantastic twist I didn't see coming. If urban fantasy is your thing, I recommend it.

2011 Final Book Report

Here's where I go into a little more detail about the books I read in 2011, as well as pick my favorite book of all the books I read this year.

102 total books read (1.96 per week)
76 books read for the first time
47 books of nonfiction/biography/memoir
40 books read for work
24 read on the e-reader
18 books for children or young adults
17 sci-fi books
7 fantasies
5 Austen-related
1 classic for first time

Pretty interesting when I compare to 2010; the percentage of books I read for the first time was 75%, almost as good as last year (77%) and better than 2009 (71%). Unlike last year, when the majority of books I read were for young adults or children, this year the biggest portion of my reading material (46%) came from nonfiction, mostly books I read for research. Sci-fi was up by a couple of books and fantasy down by almost two-thirds. Classics and Austen-related books also took big hits, as I didn't have time to write about them in my blog.

The most interesting number, I believe, is the new line item: 24 books read on the e-reader, which I received for Christmas 2010. I've purchased a few e-books online, checked out several from the library, and got a big hunk of the ones I read from  CDs included with the latest volumes of my favorite series from Baen publishers. It will be interesting to see, especially with no big research project looming, how much that e-book number grows in 2012. You'll just have to check back in a year to find out! In the meantime, here were my favorite books of 2011:

Favorite book of the first quarter: E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, a funny YA school story with lots to say about friends and gender roles.

Favorite book of the second quarter: Ian McEwan's Atonement, both a historical novel and a meditation on writing.

Favorite book of the third quarter: Louis Sachar's Holes, the 1998 Newbery Medal winner (I'm a little behind) and still a wonderfully plotted book with great characters.

Favorite book of the fourth quarter: Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why (fiction), a moving mystery about a girl's suicide; and Erik Larsen's Devil in the White City (nonfiction), an intertwined account of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the murderous doctor who haunted it.

And my favorite book of 2011? Of course, I have to choose Atonement. Beautiful language, epic scope, and a doozy of a final twist—all to explore the role of the author and the act of writing. How could I resist?

2011 Book Report: Fourth Quarter

Last quarter, despite the crush of work for my book project, I managed to get 74% of the way to my 100-book-year goal. With my project completed, did I read enough to meet my goal, or did I laze about reading nothing but magazines? Check out my list below.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; R: Romance; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

10/03/11: Clare Vanderpool, Moon over Manifest # (MG, 1)
10/15/11: Roger Zelazny, Nine Princes in Amber (F, 10-15?*)
10/17/11: Zelazny, The Guns of Avalon (F, 15-20?*)
10/19/11: Zelazny, The Sign of the Unicorn (F, 20-25?*)
10/22/11: Zelazny, The Hand of Oberon (F, really, I've no idea how many times I've read these*)
10/22/11: Zelazny, The Courts of Chaos (F, 15ish*)
10/24/11: John Gardner, On Becoming a Novelist (NF, 1)
10/26/11: Mary Burchell, A Song Begins (R, 5-10)
10/27/11: Burchell, The Broken Wing (R, 5-10)
10/28/11: Burchell, When Love Is Blind (R, 5-10)
10/31/11: Liz Murray, Breaking Night (memoir, 1)
10/31/11: Burchell, Music of the Heart (R, 5-10)
11/01/11: Burchell, Unbidden Melody (R, 5-10)
11/04/11: Burchell, Song Cycle (R, 5-10)
11/06/11: Burchell, Remembered Serenade (R, 5-10)
11/10/11: Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks # (NF, 1)
11/13/11: Charlie Price, Desert Angel (YA, 1)
11/17/11: Price, Dead Connection (YA, M, 1)
11/21/11: Jay Asher, Thirteen Reasons Why # (YA, 1)
11/26/11: Walter Mosley, Futureland # (SF, SS, 1)
11/30/11: Gregory Maguire, Wicked (F, 1)
12/04/11: Asher and Carolyn Macklin, The Future of Us (YA, 1)
12/05/11: Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs^ (bio, 1)
12/06/11: Price, The Interrogation of Gabriel James (YA, M, 1)
12/12/11: Price, Lizard People (YA, 1)
12/22/11: James L.Swanson, Bloody Crimes # (NF, 1)
12/26/11: Erik Larsen, In the Garden of Beasts # (NF, 1)
12/30/11: Larsen, Devil in the White City # (NF, 1)

That's right. I cheated. It was the middle of October and I saw I had read only one book, despite being freed from the constraints of research reading. My brain was tired. I didn't want to think. I turned to two favorite series I re-read from time to time; it's like comfort food. Now, just because each book in these series was only about 200 pages doesn't mean ... oh, yes, it does. I cheated. A book a day! Sometimes two! I read each of them all the way through, so these books definitely count, but they were short. I didn't have to think. And so I reached my 100-book goal. Actually, the final count for 2011 is 102 books.

So what was my favorite book of the quarter? That's actually a tough one, and I think I have to go with a tie. My favorite fiction of the quarter was Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, a young adult novel that deals with an extremely serious subject—suicide—without being preachy, treacly, or otherwise "issue-y." It's frank, occasionally funny, and always emotionally true, and the characters really stuck with me.

My favorite nonfiction book of the quarter was actually the last book I read this year: Erik Larsen's Devil in the White City. It dealt with an era that's become very familiar to me this year—the 1890s—and intertwines the story of the building of the Chicago World's Fair with an account of one of America's first serial killers. It builds suspense and evokes horror as well as any novel I've read, and makes even potentially dry subjects (the history of landscape architecture, anyone?) extremely interesting by focusing on the people behind the history. This is the best kind of nonfiction writing, and the other Larsen book I read this month, about the American ambassador in Berlin in the 1930s, was equally captivating. Nonfiction rules!

At least, I'm pretty sure it did for me this year. Check back soon for my final assessment of my year's reading.

2011 Book Report: Third Quarter

Last quarter I managed to get halfway to my 100-book-year goal, thanks (or no thanks) to research for my history project. How did I do this quarter, and I did read anything for fun? Check out my list below.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

07/04/11: David Weber, More Than Honor# (SF, 3 or 4)
07/08/11: Weber, Worlds of Honor# (SF, 3 or 4)
07/18/11: Weber, At All Costs (SF, 2)
07/20/11: Weber, Changer of Worlds# (SF, 2)
07/22/11: Michael Kazin, A Godly Man^ (William Jennings Bryan bio, 1)
07/22/11: Weber, The Service of the Sword# (SF, 2)
07/23/11: Carrie Bebris, The Intrigue at Highbury (M, 1)
07/26/11: Richard Cherny, A Righteous Cause: The Life of WJ Bryan^ (NF, 1)
07/31/11: Weber, The Shadow of Saganami# (SF, 2)
08/07/11: H. Paul Jeffers, An Honest President^ (Cleveland bio, 1)
08/09/11: Henry F. Graff, Grover Cleveland^ (NF, 1)
08/15/11: Nick Salvatore, Eugene V. Debs^ (NF, 1)
08/22/11: Samuel Gompers, 70 Years of Life and Labor^ (memoir, 1)
08/23/11: Weber, Storm from the Shadows# (SF, 1)
08/25/11: Edward Renehan, Dark Genius of Wall Street^ (Jay Gould bio, 1)
08/29/11: Richard Stiller, Queen of Populists^ (Mary Lease bio, 1)
09/03/11: Weber, Mission of Honor# (SF, 1)
09/05/11: Jean Strouse, Morgan: American Financier^ (bio, 1)
09/11/11: Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.^ (bio, 1)
09/13/11: Louis Sachar, Holes (MG, 1)
09/16/11: Craig Phelan, Grand Master Workman^ (Terence Powderly bio, 1)
09/18/11: Powderly, Terence, The Path I Trod^ (memoir, 1)

Only 22 books this quarter; as you can see, I was doing a lot of research for the biography portion of my book. My deadline was September 27 and I was working weekends and nights to meet it, so I didn't get a lot  of extra reading in. (So much for the "lazy summer.") Only 10 of the 22 books were for "fun," and of those, only four were for the first time.

Although some of the biographies were well written and interesting, I have to pick Louis Sachar's Holes as my favorite. It's not a new book—it won the Newbery Medal in 1998 and was made into a movie that I saw when it came out in 2003—and I'd had it sitting around the house so long I thought I'd already read it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading and realized it was new to me. It's a wonderfully plotted book, with compelling characters and a language that is simple but interesting.

So at 74 books for the year I'm just shy of my goal of 100 for the year. With my book project—and the need to research—all done, will I make my target for the year? Check back in three months to find out.

Janespotting: Aunt Celia by Jane Gillespie

Jane Gillespie is one of those authors who has dipped into almost all of Austen's works as inspiration for her own, including a fun if forgettable take on Mansfield Park, a look at the naughtiest characters from Northanger Abbey, and a sweet, witty take on one of the neglected characters from Sense and Sensibility. So how would she approach our lovely Emma and her shenanigans?

Again, Gillespie eschews he main character and follows one of the more overlooked characters from the original, Mr. Weston, father of Frank Churchill and husband of "poor Miss Taylor," Emma's former governess. This novel opens almost two decades after Emma, with the widowed Mr. Weston and his nearly-adult daughter, Celia, anticipating a visit from Frank and Jane Churchill and their large family. Celia wonders if she still will be friends with the Churchills' eldest daughter Stella, who is two years younger and livelier than her "Aunt" Celia.

Besides these visitors, who are staying at the larger Donwell Abbey, the Westons are hosting the widow Mrs. Petteril. Mr. Weston, a kind soul, thinks Celia needs female company after her mother's death. Celia would be just as happy to spend her time cheering her father, because Mrs. Petteril is not a very sympathetic lady. In fact, the impoverished widow is scheming to have her wastrel son Henry marry Celia, and then marry Mr. Weston herself.

While Celia manages to escape these machinations—mostly—she does not find comfort with her relations, either. Her Uncle Frank is rather severe (family life has made him responsible and boring), and her Aunt Jane is occupied with her younger children. The Churchill boys are a bit rambunctious, and barely under the control of their tutor, James Aske, who hopes to devote some of his time to poetry. Stella is a bit of a flirt and a flibbertigibbet, and enjoys teasing James about his ambitions; she is egged on by Henry, who has his own plans to find a rich wife. Celia is sympathetic to James, and is further intrigued when his brother, Captain Aske, shows up to drag his younger brother back home to their parents Lord and Lady Langleigh. Nobility? Oh my!

Captain Aske is a rather humorous, straightforward type. There is no urgent reason for him to bring James home, except that he has promised to do it and is impatient to finish the job. A chance meeting with Stella in the village leads him to enlist her help by passing a message to James. The message goes astray and causes a misunderstanding; in her panic Stella lies and says Celia was the intended target of improper intentions. She runs away and is taken in by Henry, who runs away with her. She is not discovered as missing until Celia has managed to be falsely accused of involvement with three different men and cleared her name. The serious Captain Aske takes the blame and goes in pursuit; Celia discovers James is intrigued by her as well; and Stella is returned home, abashed, unblemished, and ready to settle down.

Scheming villains, innocent maidens wrongly accused, and happy endings with wealthy and handsome young men ... we can check off many of the elements that make a good Austenish read. This one had the added benefit of a very appealing heroine; Celia is considerate and patient (without being a doormat), so seeing her triumph over the plans of selfish people to make herself and her family happy was a pleasure to read. So another thumbs up for a Gillespie "sequel": fun if not earthshaking.

2011 Book Report: Second Quarter

Research for my history project helped me reach 28 books read in the first quarter, a good start on my 100 per year goal. How did I do this quarter, and I did read anything for fun? Check out my list below.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

04/03/11: Jane Austen-Leigh, A Visit to Highbury (H, 1)
04/10/11: John Steele Gordon, The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street^ (NF, 1)
04/12/11: Kenneth D. Ackerman, The Gold Ring^ (NF, 1)
04/18/11: Clark, Judith Freeman, The Gilded Age^ (NF,1)
04/23/11: Joan Aiken, Jane Fairfax (H, 1)
04/24/11: Charles R. Morris, The Tycoons^ (NF, 1)
05/01/11: Jane Gillespie, Aunt Celia (H, 1)
05/05/11: Robert C. McMath, Jr., American Populism^ (NF, 1)
05/14/11: David Weber, Field of Dishonor# (SF, 5 or 6)
05/18/11: The Rise of Big Business and the Beginnings of Antitrust and Railroad Regulation, 1870-1900^ (NF, 1)
05/20/11: Weber, Honor in Exile# (SF, 5 or 6)
05/25/11: The Great Strikes of 1877^ (NF, 1)
05/27/11: Robert V. Bruce, 1877: Year of Violence^ (NF, 1)
05/27/11: Weber, Honor Among Enemies# (SF, 5 or 6)
05/29/11: Weber, In Enemy Hands# (SF, 5 or 6)
05/30/11: Milton Meltzer, Bread—and Roses^ (NF, 1)
06/01/11: Weber, Echoes of Honor# (SF, 5 or 6)
06/07/11: Weber, Ashes of Victory# (SF, 4 or 5)
06/16/11: Paul Krause, The Battle for Homestead, 1880-1892^ (NF, 1)
06/21/11: Ian McEwan, Atonement (1)
06/26/11: McEwan, Solar (1)
06/26/11: Pete Hautman, Godless (YA, 1)
06/27/11: R. Hal Williams, Realigning America^ (NF, 1)
06/29/11: McEwan, On Chesil Beach# (1)

I'm amazed I managed 24 books this quarter. It felt like all I was doing was reading history books to research my project, but when I look at the stats, only ten of the books I read (just over 40%) were for work. (To be fair, though, I probably read part or half of another dozen books that I didn't list.) I did manage three variations on Emma—although I've only managed to blog about one of them—and just to give my brain a break I read half a dozen books in one of my favorite sci-fi series.

Which brings me to an aside: I attended a workshop by author Pete Hautman (see the 6/26/11 entry) in May, and we talked about how people read. He asked if anyone skipped a lot while reading, and said he often skipped whole chapters in books, or put a book aside altogether if it didn't hold his interest. I thought I'm not like that at all—I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've started a book for fun and not finished it—but then while I was re-reading these books I realized I was skimming quite a bit. Every time there was a long description of a space battle, with the captains giving commands about acceleration and heading and gravities, I started skimming. I wanted to get to the more personal bits, the character development and political intrigue, which are what I really like about the series. Granted, this was the fourth or fifth time reading some of the books, so I knew I wasn't missing anything, but still ... I skim on occasion.

So anyway, of the few (7) non-research books that I read for the first time this quarter, which was my favorite? It was clearly Ian McEwan's Atonement, which was made into a very good film a few years back with James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. I actually saw the movie first, and was reminded I liked the other books of McEwan's I had read while I was living in England. I wrote a piece on him last summer, so I decided to read a few of his more recent works. Atonement has a historic sweep (it's mainly set before and during World War II), characters driven by strong passions, and a doozy of a final twist. Even more intriguing to me was how it was a meditation on writing, and it inspired this weekly haiku from me:

Words: a blend of sound
and revelation; with them
we remake the world.

So with 52 books for the first half of the year, I'm on pace for my goal of 100 books. Will I keep up during the "lazy summer" months, or will my not-so-lazy summer be too filled with writing for reading? Check back in three months for a progress report.

Janespotting: A Visit to Highbury by Jane Austen-Leigh

To begin my review of the various sequels to Emma, it's only appropriate I start with this one penned by Austen's own great-great-great-grandniece. A Visit to Highbury is subtitled "another view of Emma," and that's exactly what this provides, retelling the story from the point of view of Mrs. Goddard, who runs the school that Harriet Smith attends. The novel is epistolary, meaning it is told entirely in letters, which can provide charm but also have limitations.

Because Mary Goddard is well outside Emma's inner circle—she is the one left keeping Mr. Woodhouse company when Emma goes off to parties without him—her view of the novel's events is fairly tangential. But she speculates and passes along gossip in letters to her sister Charlotte Pinkney, who is living in London with her new husband and wondering if she has made the right decision in marrying him. In her letters back to Mary, she clamors for more gossip, looking for ways to entertain herself because her husband treats her as merely a housekeeper. Mary complies, speculating about the mysteries of why Mr. Elton has suddenly run off to Bath, who gave Jane Fairfax a piano, and why Frank Churchill has stayed away from Highbury so long. She also admonishes the tart-tongued Charlotte to be more dutiful and open towards her husband.

In Charlotte's letters, we get a few outside views of events, as the Pinkneys share an apothecary with John and Isabella Knightley, and on a trip to Bath they encounter the future Mrs. Elton and her family. Mostly, however, Charlotte Pinkney writes of her growing accommodation with her husband and their new friendship with a young girl who is being mistreated at the girls' school next door. She claims their sympathy by being the daughter of a missing naval officer and by sharing the name of Charlotte, and gains their friendship because of her sweet nature. As the elder Charlotte makes small overtures to Mr. Pinkney on the younger one's behalf, she discovers there is more depth to him than she had bothered to notice, and they grow closer. Mrs. Pinkney even shares the mysteries of Highbury with her husband, who has some very perspicacious theories.

The novel concludes with several happy endings: besides the three matches in Austen's Emma, we get one for the young Charlotte, whose father reappears and can bless her match with a young naval officer. We also get true love between Mrs. Pinkney and her husband, an expected baby, and—most desired throughout the book—an upcoming visit between the two sisters, which brings an end to their letters.

I found this a charming little novel, approaching Austen in tone and wit and giving a little embroidery to the events of Emma. Mrs. Pinkney is open enough in her letters to make her an interesting character, while the gently chiding Mrs. Goddard keeps a bit of the formal flavor of an Austen novel. If you're the kind of Austen fan who hates to see people take liberties with the original characters, this is the kind of "sequel" for you.

2011 Book Report: First Quarter

New year, new book count. Will I be able to hit that magic 100-book count this year (last year I read 104 books), or will I be swallowed up by research for the book I'm writing? Will I read more books on my new e-reader, or will paper still rule? Let's check my first-quarter progress.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

01/02/11: E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (YA,1)
01/07/11: Margo Lanahan, Tender Morsels (YA, F, 1)
01/08/11: Matthew Josephson, The Robber Barons^ (NF, 1)
01/12/11: Robert W. Cherny, American Politics in the Gilded Age^ (NF, 1)
01/13/11: Terry Pratchett, Nation (YA, H/SF, 1)
01/16/11: Melina Marchetta, Jellicoe Road (YA, 1)
01/19/11: Sean Dennis Cashman, America in the Gilded Age^ (NF, 1)
01/22/11: David Weber, The Short Victorious War# (SF, 5?)
01/24/11: Alan Trachtenburg, The Incorporation of America^ (NF, 1)
01/29/11: Adam Rapp, Punkzilla (YA, 1)
01/29/11: Mark Wahlgren Summers, The Gilded Age, or, The Hazard of New Functions^ (NF, 1)
02/01/11: Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith (NF, YA, 1)
02/06/11: James T. Wall, Wall Street and the Fruited Plain^ (NF, 1)
02/09/11: Charles. W. Calhoun, From Bloody Shirt to Full Dinner Pail^ (NF, 1)
02/11/11: Rick Yancey, The Monstrumologist (YA, Hr, 1)
02/13/11: Calhoun, editor, The Gilded Age^ (NF, 1)
02/15/11: Libba Bray, Going Bovine# (YA, 1)
02/20/11: Jack Beatty, Age of Betrayal^ (NF, 1)
02/22/11: John Barnes, Tales of the Madmen Underground (YA, 1)
02/23/11: Elmus Wicker, Banking Panics of the Gilded Age^ (NF, 1)
02/28/11: T. J. Stiles, editor, Robber Barons and Radicals^ (NF, 1)
03/02/11: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age^# (classic, 1)
03/11/11: William C. Davis, The American Frontier^ (NF, 1)
03/15/11: Jane Austen, Emma# (classic, 6-7?)
03/28/11: Stephen Ambrose, Nothing Like It in the World^ (NF, 1)
03/29/11: Andrew Carnegie, The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie^# (NF, 1)
03/30/11: M. John Lubetkin, Jay Cooke's Gamble^ (NF, 1)
03/31/11: Roy Morris, Jr., Fraud of the Century^ (NF, 1)

That's a whopping total of 28 books read this quarter ... and if I was adding up half a book here and there, it would be more. I thought that might be cheating, though, so I only counted the 17 books I read cover to cover for my current project.

So what was my favorite book of the quarter? I bet you were thinking I'd choose something exciting like Banking Panics of the Gilded Age, but the one I really enjoyed was the first of the year: E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. It some ways it was a typical funny school story of relationships and hijinks, but it also had interesting things to say about friends and gender roles. It was both a lot of fun and thought-provoking, something I always enjoy in my reading.

I'm going to be provoking lots more thoughts next quarter; I still have a stack of 9 books for work to browse through, with more to keep coming. Will I have much time for anything else? Check back in three months and see.

The Printz Award Winners: 2010

This is the last one of these reports for a while; although the ALA recently announced the 2011 Printz winners, they're in demand in the library and it will be a while before I can get to them. I did manage to finish the 2010 books that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," and here are my thoughts.

Winner:
Libba Bray, Going Bovine
Honor Books:
John Barnes, Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973
Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

Adam Rapp, Punkzilla  

Rick Yancey, The Monstrumologist 

Barnes's Madmen Underground: I wasn't wild to crack open this book, maybe because it pained me to see 1973—a year I can remember—described as "historical." (Actually, I was probably just burned out from historical research.) But once I started, I had trouble putting it down. It wasn't anything narratively unusual, just a first-person account of a boy's first week of school. But when the boy is a member of the "Madmen Underground"—a group of students put into psychological counseling throughout the years—and he has a drunk for a mother, a late father who was the town mayor, and five jobs, his struggles to find his place are compelling and fascinating. This novel is pure YA just for the voice, which was strongly opinionated, funny, and believable. This was a long book, but the pages flew by.

Heiligman's Charles and Emma: If there's anything I love more than a good story, it's a good true story. While many books have examined the life and work of Charles Darwin, author of The Origin of Species and the theory of evolution, this is the first to look at the relationship Darwin had with his wife, Emma, and how it framed and supported his work. While the writing style tends to be simple and abrupt (I do love my compound sentences), it's meticulously researched and endlessly fascinating. I would recommend this book to readers of any age who are interested in natural history and Darwin's work. (Charles and Emma also received a National Book Award honor citation.)

Rapp's Punkzilla: This is one of several YA novels by Rapp, who's also known for his stage plays, and I have to admit I didn't get it. It's an epistolary novel written by a 14-year-old military school dropout who is traveling cross-country to see his older brother, who is dying of cancer. I didn't mind the graphic language or sex, or the portrayal of the difficult times that young Jamie—street name Punkzilla—has experienced on the streets and on the road. But there's an inherent weakness in the story-through-letters format; first, everything feels very episodic (and when it doesn't, it feels very un-letter-like), and second, we can't see the denouement firsthand, when Jamie finally arrives at his brother's home. The format felt very self-conscious to me, and the climax-after-the-fact it necessitated was unsatisfying.

Yancey's The Monstrumologist: This book was a surprising inclusion on the list for me, not because it wasn't well-written—it was—but because of what type of book it was: horror, filled with suspense, lots (and I mean LOTS) of gore, and breathless plot turns. It's the kind of book I'd expect to see on the bestseller list, not an awards list. But Yancey's writing is so lush and precise, easily evoking the Victorian era of his setting, that it was a pleasure to read about his vicious, headless monsters devouring their human prey. The human characters are interesting, as well, as is the fast and twisty plot. I enjoyed it very much; it just wasn't the kind of thing I expected to see on an awards list, which doesn't usually reward popular fiction.

Bray's Going Bovine: I went into this book blind, as it was the first e-book I ever borrowed from my library and there was no cover or jacket flap to clue me in. The opening was like many a YA novel, with high-school outsider Cameron giving a funny account of his irksome days in school. But then it took a strange turn, which the title kind of gave away: the narrator discovers he has variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, better known in cattle as "mad cow disease." There's no treatment for this brain disease, which leads to growing dementia and then death, so Cameron escapes from the hospital and goes on an increasingly picaresque journey in search of a mystical cure. His adventures get wilder and wilder—involving a teenaged little person hypochondriac, a talking garden gnome which is actually the Norse god Balder, a punk angel guide, a strange cult obsessed with happiness, and possibly universe-traveling physicists. As each adventure gets weirder, we're more inclined to think they occur only in Cameron's head, and that the possibility of a "happy ending" is less likely. When I got to the end, though, it still felt satisfying, and the ride to get there was endlessly imaginative and even funny.

So, overall a pretty good year for Printz books, with a wide variety to please lots of different tastes. For now, though, my taste is going to return to Janespotting. As I said, I'm having trouble acquiring the 2011 Printz winners, and my busy schedule means I'd rather not have to read five books for one blog entry. So look next week for my review of Emma, and all the books and movies it has inspired. That should keep me busy for a while!

How do I love thee, Library? Let me count the ways...

You've probably noticed I haven't been very active on the blog recently. I think I already said it's because I'm writing a historical reference book, and it's requiring a LOT of research. But I thought I'd take a little break from my recent immersion in stacks and stack of history books to write an ode to the place that is making this job possible: my local library.

My local library is one of the biggest single-branch libraries in the state, with a wonderful collection of books, videos, and I borrow items regularly just for my own entertainment. But my library is also part of a state-wide consortium, the Michigan e-Library (aka MeL), that lets me borrow books from any member library ... for FREE. So when I'm working on a major project like this one, I search the MeL database, put in a request, and they mail the book I want to my local library, where I pick it up as I would a book from my home library. For this project, I've received books from libraries at Oakland University, U of M Dearborn, Grand Valley State, MSU, Wayne State, West Bloomfield, and St. Clair Shores, among others. I can't imagine how I'd get access to those books otherwise.

The library also subscribes to various databases, so that I can search them for biographies, reference books, and newspaper articles that might be useful--and they will be, when I get around to writing the biographies for this book.

But wait! There's more! I recently got an e-reader, which I love and call Shiny (because it is shiny and I love it). My library belongs to another consortium which lends e-books and audio files, so all I have to do is log in and download something to read. Last week I "checked out" my first e-book, read it comfortably in one hand while using the exercise bike, and "returned" it.

Now I must end this love letter to my library, as it's time for a visit ... I need more books! Research materials! Audio books for a long drive! And maybe a treat from the in-house coffee shop! Swoon! I'll see you soon, my love!

2010 Final Book Report

Here's where I break down the 104 books I read last year (104!), and look at totals and trends.

In 2010 I read:

104 books total (exactly 2 per week)
80 books for the first time
59 books for children or young adults
19 fantasies
14 science fiction
12 Austen related
10 were nonfiction/memoir (5 for work)
4 classics for first time

These are good numbers compared to 2009; not only did I read 12 more books over the year, more of them were books I was reading for the first time. While last year 71% of my reading was new books, this year I reached 77%. A majority this year were for young audiences, and it was great to see the quality of writing in the genre. Not that there was ever any doubt in my mind about that, but now if anyone ever pooh-poohs YA books to me, I can say, "Yeah? Have you read X? or Y? Z? or the whole alphabet, for that matter?"

I'm not sure I'll be able to get to 100 books in 2011, although I'd like to. I'm going to be working on writing a reference book, and that means I'll be doing a lot of reading for research. So you're going to see a lot of nonfiction on my lists ... hopefully the fun stuff won't get squeezed out. In any case, here's my summary of 2010:

Favorite book of the 1st quarter: Empire of Ivory, by Naomi Novik, a dragon fantasy set during the Napoleonic Wars that does a great job of world-building and thinking of alternate cultures. 

Favorite book of the 2nd quarter: Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, a compelling portrait of a teenage girl battling anorexia.

Favorite book of the 3rd quarter: Freewill, by Chris Lynch, an amazing experiment in second-person narration that makes the plot's central mystery even more compelling.

Favorite book of the 4th quarter:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, by M. T. Anderson, a fresh historical approach to the American Revolution.

Favorite book of 2010: Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly, a seamless weaving of contemporary teen trauma and fascinating historical fiction, set in modern-day New York/Paris and Revolution-era France.

Again, the majority of my best books were written for young adults. You're only young once, but you can read YAs forever—and with more people using e-readers (making it easy to hide what you're reading on the bus), I predict a continuing rise in popularity for the genre.

2010 Book Report: Fourth Quarter

So did I manage 100 books in 2010, or did my extremely busy fall defeat my best intentions? Check out my reading list from the last quarter.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; V: Verse novel; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^for work; #e-book.

10/05/10: Gary Schmidt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (YA, H, 1)
10/14/10: Kenneth Oppel, Airborn (YA, F, 1)
10/18/10: Meg Rosoff, How I Live Now (YA, 2)
10/24/10: Lois McMaster Bujold, Cryoburn (SF, 1)
10/26/10: Margo Lanagan, Black Juice (YA, F, SS, 1)
10/31/10: Marilyn Nelson, A Wreath for Emmett Till (P, 1)
11/05/10: Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger (YA, 1)
11/10/10: Elizabeth Partridge,  John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth (YA, NF, 1)
11/18/10: Sonya Hartnett, Surrender (YA, 1)
11/26/10: Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese (YA, graphic novel, 1)
12/05/10: M.T. Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Vol. 1 (YA, H, 1)
12/11/10: Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Vol. 2 (YA, H, 1)
12/13/10: Justine Larbalestier, Liar (YA, 1)
12/16/10: A.M. Jenkins, Repossessed (YA, F, 1)
12/18/10: Judith Clarke, One Whole and Perfect Day (YA, 1)
12/22/10: Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (SF, 3)
12/24/10: Stephanie Hemphill, You Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath (YA, V, 1)
12/26/10: Geraldine McCaughrean, The White Darkness (YA, 1)
12/28/10: Emma Donoghue, Room (1)
12/29/10: David Weber, On Basilisk Station (SF, 4 or 5#)
12/31/10: Weber, The Honor of the Queen (SF, 4 or 5#)

Total for the quarter: 21 books, giving me a grand total for 2010 of 104 books! I feel very pleased to have made my 100-book goal, despite a very busy fall. Again, most of these books were young adult books I read for my Printz Award project, which means not only did I read a lot of quality books, I got a lot of market research done.

So what was my favorite book of the quarter? I think it would have to be M. T. Anderson's two-part historical novel, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Not only is the historical aspect really interesting—it's set in Boston during the American Revolution and told from the point of view of a slave—but so is the form, which is full of re-created "journals," letters, and articles. I love a good historical, especially one that can bring a fresh perspective to a familiar era.

Check back in a couple of days for my final accounting of my year in books, as I break down what kinds of books I read and look forward to 2011.

The Printz Award Winners: 2008

I've been plugging away at the list, using the cold weather as an excuse to stay inside and read while using the exercise bike rather than going outside to run. That means a little more reading time, and I've made it through the list of books from 2008 that the ALA deemed were those that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature."

Winner:
Geraldine McCaughrean, The White Darkness
Honor books:
Judith Clarke, One Whole and Perfect Day
Stephanie Hemphill, Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath
A.M. Jenkins, Repossessed
Elizabeth Knox, Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet

Clarke's One Whole and Perfect Day: Another Aussie makes the Printz list, with a book that didn't feel YA to me at all. Sure, the main character is a teen, a girl who feels like her family is totally crazy and hopes that maybe her grandfather's upcoming birthday party might be a chance to have something go right for a change. But her point of view isn't the only one: we get scenes from the point of view of her mother, her grandparents, her brother, her brother's girlfriend, her brother's girlfriend's mother (and father)—characters with a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. YA books are usually in the first person, and even when they aren't they're usually focused on one character's point of view. To include the thoughts of—gasp! adults, especially adult family members—seems really really unusual. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book, it was fun and the characters were interesting, I'm just not sure how open most teens are to reading about the enemy's, er, their parents' or grandparents' side of things.

Hemphill's Your Own, Sylvia: The author labels this a "verse novel" that is based on the life of the poet Sylvia Plath, who famously committed suicide via gas oven at age 30, with her children in the next room. I've mostly known about the controversy surrounding her death and her legacy (her estate was controlled by her husband, poet Ted Hughes, from whom she was separated at the time of her suicide), and the whole kerfuffle turned me off of wanting to know more. Hemphill's verse novel/biography combines poems, sometimes in the style of Plath's own work, with brief explanations of the biographical facts behind the event described in the poem. The triumph of Hemphill's work is not just the wonderful poems which trace Plath's life and work, envisioning her and the people around her, but that it made me think I've been missing something. The poems moved me, both as verse and as story, and made me want to go to the library.

Jenkins's Repossessed: It seems like YA has been flooded with supernatural fiction over the past few years,  what with all the vampires, angels, werewolves, fairies, and other creatures starring in their own novels. This book features a demon—sorry, a fallen angel—who tires of tormenting souls in hell and decides to take a vacation on earth. He assumes the life of a slacker teen scheduled to be creamed by a bus, and discovers the fun of having a physical body, and the complexities of having feelings. After a few philosophical discoveries—has anyone noticed he's left Hell? does God pay attention anyway?—Kiriel leaves Earth behind, having tried to make a difference in a couple of people's lives. This book was a pleasant-enough read, but I didn't find it revelatory, having left that kind of philosophical angst behind during my own teen years.

Knox's Dreamquake: Although I had access to this book, I didn't think I could fairly judge it without reading the first volume, which was checked out of the library. Rather than wait, and postpone this blog entry weeks and weeks, I took my first pass for a while. Too bad; this fantasy looked interesting.

McCaughrean's The White Darkness: Wowee. I had no idea what this book was about when I cracked it open—I had some vague idea it might be a fantasy, given the dreamy-looking cover and the acclaimed British author's previous work in retelling myths—but it turned out to be a contemporary adventure set in Antarctica. The story is told by Sym, a 14-year-old Brit who is fascinated with both Antarctica and the polar explorer Lawrence "Titus" Oates,  who perished on Scott's fatal expedition in 1912. Sym feels estranged from her schoolmates, most of whom are obsessed with boys and clothes—we don't discover she is partially deaf until a few chapters into the book—and often talks to Titus in her head. When her "uncle" turns a weekend in Paris into a trip to Antarctica, Sym is thrilled at first. As she discovers more about her uncle's true intentions and his past relationship with her family, the novel turns into a terrifying, hallucinatory journey into the cold and the blinding white of Antarctica. It was an intense story of survival, and even if it did push the boundaries of disbelief in places, it was a fascinating portrayal of one of our planet's last frontiers.

So overall, I didn't think it was a great year for the Printz books. A couple of them I thought were interesting enough to read once, but kind of forgettable. The National Book Award winner from this year was Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which I have read and do think will endure, while the runners-up included Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl, which I thought would speak more to teens, especially girls. Of the Printz books I read, I'd probably pick Hemphill's as my favorite ... but as a writer I may be inclined to favor books about writers.

I would say at this point I've only two more years of award-winners to read, but the 2011 awards will be announced in February, so I may not finish by then ... keep posted to see.

The Printz Award Winners: 2007

It's been tricky finding time to read, but luckily I'd already read two of the books on the 2007 list that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association. It was an outstanding year for Printz books.

Winner:
Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese
Honor books:
M.T. Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party
John Green, An Abundance of Katherines
Sonya Hartnett, Surrender
Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief

Anderson's Octavian Nothing, Vol. 1: This is an extraordinary historical novel set during the American Revolution, with its title character not a rebel or a loyalist, but a slave. The story is told through diary entries and letters, all with a formal language that enhances the historical feel. Octavian's story is told in four parts, and that's how I consumed the novel. The first part was fascinating, as we see Octavian's childhood growing up as an experiment in a research college. He is taught Latin and Greek and music (and has his poop weighed every day), while his mother, an African princess, is treated like a lady. Of course he has a gradual discovery of what their slavery really means, especially after smallpox ravages the college and his mother dies in part two. Part three covers his escape to rebel forces, and part four his recapture. The depth of the character and story kept building with each part I finished, and I eagerly turned to Vol II. You'll have to wait for the 2009 reviews for that one, sorry. (Octavian Vol. 1 also won the National Book Award for Children's Literature.)

Green's An Abundance of Katherines: Green floored me with his dark Printz-winning debut, and I enjoyed his second novel just as much, although it had a completely different tone. Colin, the narrator, is a former child math prodigy who has been dumped by 19 girls named Katherine. The later dumping has occured after high-school graduation and Colin, afraid he will never demonstrate any genius again, goes on a road trip with his friend Hassan. They end up in Tennesee and take a job for a woman who owns a tampon-string factory, and Colin discovers mathematical formulae cannot substitute for (or explain) love. I loved the comic tone of the book, which used footnotes and other asides to enhance the humor, and although I'm not thrilled with Green's reliance on the manic pixie dream girl archetype, I really enjoyed the novel. The nerd jokes were right up my alley.

Hartnett's Surrender: This novel by an Australian author really floored me. I'm not sure how to describe it without ruining the story, because it's a psychological thriller that's more of a mystery than a pure thriller. At least I can give you the opening setup: a young man named Gabriel lies dying, wondering if his old childhood friend Finnegan will visit him before the end and bring his dog, Surrender. Years before, back when Gabriel was known as Anwell and was involved in a horrible tragedy, the two boys made a pact: Anwell/Gabriel would embody the good for the two boys, and Finnegan the bad. Now that human bones have been discovered in a forest nearby, however, things start to unravel, leading to a surprising and violent climax. The mystery was engaging and the resolution, and although it's the kind that gives more questions than answers, was very satisfying. It's a haunting book that stays with you.

Zusak's The Book Thief: Another gem of a book from Australia (and again much different than his previous Printz honoree), this story set in Nazi Germany and narrated by Death hit bestseller lists around the world. Death is fascinated by young Liesel, whom he first encounters when her young brother dies on a trip when the two siblings are being taken to live with foster parents. During the trip she steals her first book, a guide for gravediggers, and her new foster father teaches her to read using the book. She is soon stealing books from book burnings and the mayor's house, reading and writing being a way for her to cope with the increasingly difficult conditions under the Nazi regime. She has two other encounters with Death, who at the end notes "I am haunted by humans" like Liesel. Even if you think you have fatigue with WWII/Holocaust stories, this one is so powerful and hopeful—attesting to the eternal power of words—that I think you would enjoy it.

Yang's American Born Chinese: The winner this year was actually a graphic novel, a field that's always been popular with YAs, but only lately has branched out to broader topics. This novel is three related stories in one, beginning with the trouble young Jin Wang, son of Chinese immigrants, is having in assimilating into his American school. The second story builds on the Chinese folk character of the Monkey King, who in the book keeps accumulating power to prove he is more than just a monkey. The third story is presented like a television sitcom starring Danny, a blond American teen who keeps changing schools every time his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, an amalgam of Asian stereotypes, comes to visit. As the novel bounces back and forth between the three stories, we see the connections as each character struggles to define their identities without denying their origins. I thought it was very cleverly presented, although I didn't find it that revelatory, being somewhat far removed from my own teenage struggle for identity (ie, old and irrelevant). I certainly can see why it's considered a groundbreaker in graphic novels for young people, although there has been great work in the genre for years.  (American Born Chinese was also a National Book Award finalist, and won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New.)

So all in all, a superlative year for YA literature, and I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite among these books. I suppose it would depend on my mood, because there was something for my inner history, math, and book-loving geeks, and they're not very good at fighting it out.

The Printz Award Winners: 2006

The pace of fall hasn't slowed any, but I have with a twisted ankle ... meaning instead of running, walking, or TKD I've been using the exercise bike. I can read while I bike, and I've  made it through the books from 2006 that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association.

Winner:
John Green, Looking for Alaska
Honor books:
Margo Lanagan, Black Juice
Marilyn Nelson, A Wreath for Emmett Till
Elizabeth Partridge, John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography
Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger

Lanagan's Black Juice: This collection of short stories from an Australian writer was trippy, wild, imaginative, and right up my alley. The author used all different kinds of fantastic settings, but only one was what you might think of as traditional fantasy, with a medieval-type setup. Sometimes it took a little patience to figure out the setting—one was futuristic punk, one seemed an African or aboriginal setting, one I didn't know how to describe—but they were all worth it. Lanagan creates snapshots of wildly different worlds, all with something interesting and powerfully moving at the center. I gobbled this book up very quickly. (Black Juice also won two World Fantasy Awards, for best collection and best short story for "Singing My Sister Down.")

A Wreath for Emmett Till: I'd heard of this book before, and was familiar with the subject—the fourteen-year-old African American boy who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955—but I didn't know that Nelson's book was actually a cycle of 15 interlinked sonnets, a form called a heroic crown. The last line of the first sonnet made up the first line of the second sonnet, etc etc, until the 15th sonnet, which is made up of the first lines of the previous fourteen. The format itself is impressive—especially when you see the first lines of the last sonnet spell out "RIP Emmett Till"—but the poetry is just as exhilarating. She uses imagery from popular culture, mythology, and history; links the hate of lynching to the attacks of 9/11, imagining a grown up Till becoming a hero in the towers; and calls for an end to hate. I read the book through once, then again with the notes the author includes at the end, explaining some of her references, and was thoroughly impressed. This book should be read not just by kids who need to understand the civil rights era, but by kids who don't think they like poetry. It's a wonderful, wonderful book, and the first thing I wanted to do after finishing it was share it with someone else. (A Wreath for Emmett Till also won a Coretta Scott King Honor citation from the ALA.)

Partridge's John Lennon: this heavily illustrated biography was one of the books that has led a renaissance of sorts in nonfiction for kids, as it seems lately there is at least one nonfiction book (if not more) that scores a major honors every year. And this is a very appealing book, liberally supplied with photos, that tells the story of Lennon's life from the time he was born until his murder in 1980. As someone who writes a lot of nonfiction, I really admire Partridge's judicious use of historical context, giving us just enough history to understand the events in Lennon's life without interrupting the flow of the story. The  structure is simple, the pacing quick, and the subject compelling, making for a good read for any age.

Zusak's I Am the Messenger: this novel by an Australian novelist felt more like what they're now calling "new adult" literature rather than "young adult," as the main character, Ed, is out of high school and struggling to find purpose in his life. Chance seemingly sets him on a new path when he inadvertently thwarts a bank robbery, leading someone to send him playing cards in the mail with strange messages. The cards set Ed a series of tasks in which he is to help people, sometimes by directly intervening in their lives and sometimes just taking small actions that send a powerful message. Ed is an interesting character, and his struggle was compelling reading, but as the novel progressed and he learned more about who was sending him the cards, I found the story taking a metafictional turn that I found irritating. It was an entertaining read, but left me slightly unsatisfied at the end. (I Am the Messenger also won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award.)

Green's Looking for Alaska: This novel, I think, was another game-changer in YA fiction, for its frank depiction of teenage "misbehavior." At the very least it introduced an incredible new voice in the genre. The "Alaska" of the title is not the state, but a girl that Miles "Pudge" Halter meets soon after starting classes at an Alabama boarding school. Alaska is wild and mysterious and Pudge is soon head over heels ... but the relationship doesn't last (because of a twist I won't reveal), and he and his friends are left trying to piece together why. The book has often been challenged by censors for its portrayal of teenage sex, smoking, cursing, and drinking—but none of these behaviors are gratuitous, and we see the consequences of the characters' poor choices, so these elements only strengthen the emotional honesty and power of the novel. I read this novel last year, and quickly sought out Green's other books.

So how might I have voted among this books? I have to say that I thought this year's finalists the strongest across the board since the first year of the Printz Award, and it would have been a hard decision. But I think Alaska is likely to be the longest lasting of the bunch, so I think I would have had to agree with the panel.

Can I manage to get to 2007 by the end of the month? I'm certainly going to try ... only four years of the award left to cover, and I'd like to get there by the end of the year.

The Printz Award Winners: 2005

It's taken me a while, but I've finally made it through the books from 2005 that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association.

Winner:
Meg Rosoff, how i live now
Honor books:
Kenneth Oppel, Airborn
Allan Stratton, Chanda's Secrets
Gary D. Schmidt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Oppel's Airborn: I don't know where I've been that I hadn't heard of this guy's work before, but this fantasy novel was right up my alley. It's set on an alternative Earth where zeppelins are the dominant form of travel, and follows the adventures of Matt Cruse, a cabin boy on one of the spaceships. These adventures include rescuing a damaged air balloon, encountering pirates, crashing on a lost island, and discovering a new species of winged creature. Although the adventure is great fun, it's Matt's relationship with his co-discoverer, Kate de Vries, and his struggle to finally accept his father's loss that make this a great read. (Airborn also won the Canadian Governor-General's Award for Children's Literature.)

Stratton's Chanda's Secrets: Another Canadian author, a completely different genre. Set present-day in an unnamed African nation, the novel follows teenager Chanda as she tries to unravel many of the secrets that surround her family and friends. She doesn't really have secrets of her own, except that she suspects the truth about her mother's illness: HIV/AIDS, the initials no one around her will discuss even though it is ravaging her neighborhood. Omigod, you may be thinking, AIDS in Africa, this is one of those "issue novels." But it isn't, really, because Chanda is a real character and we learn about how the disease affects her family and her country through her experiences, not through any lectures. The facts are dire, but the ending is hopeful, making for a satisfying read.

Schmidt's Lizzie Bright: Oh, how I wanted to love this book. Schmidt is a Michigan author, and I enjoyed his more recent Newbery Honor book, The Wednesday Wars. And Lizzie is a historical novel with an unusual setting—an island town off the coast of Maine in 1912—something that usually hooks me right away. And it's not that I didn't like the characters (a minister's son who feels he doesn't measure up, an African American girl from a nearby island who befriends him) or enjoy the writing. But somehow every time I put the book aside, I wasn't in any hurry to pick it up again. And as I got further into the story, I understood why: because the novel is based on real events, I knew it wasn't going to end well. Bad things were going to happen to these nice characters—really bad things. Worse things than I'd imagined, really. So while the story was interesting, and built tension, and developed all the characters (even some initially "bad" ones), I wasn't in the mood to read the sad (but admittedly logical) ending. Excellent book, just not what I wanted to read just then. (Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy also earned a Newbery Honor citation.)

Rosoff's how i live now: I'd actually read this a year or two ago, because the premise sounded so intriguing: an American girl is visiting relatives in the English countryside when war breaks out and she and her cousins are left alone to manage on their own. I love post-war/apocalypse stories (maybe I'll blog about that later), and this one was very enjoyable, with a different angle (the teen in a foreign country) I hadn't seen before. The voice was very strong in this first-person narrative, and so Rosoff could break all sorts of rules that writers are always told to follow, the main one being "show don't tell." Her narrator, Daisy, relates the whole story from her own point of view, and so there's little dialogue (except what she summarizes) and many scenes she's telling second-hand. While normally I'd get annoyed when someone breaks this rule, Daisy's voice was so strong and compelling that I didn't really notice. In addition, the story itself goes along at breakneck pace, and Daisy's growth as a character is natural and organic. It was an extremely entertaining book, even the second time around, when I knew what was going to happen.

So how I would have voted this year? I'm not ashamed to admit the two genre books were my favorites, and I think the fierce, original voice of Rosoff tips the scales in her favor. Again, it's interesting to note that as in 2004, there was no overlap between the Printz and the National Book Award lists. This, although three of the five books (but not the winner) were for young adults. But if I were to read all those as well, I'd never get to the end of these posts! I'm making progress on 2006, already, so look for that in a couple of weeks.

2010 Book Report: Third Quarter

The quest continues to read 100 books in 2010; I was one behind halfway through the year, so did I catch up during a lazy summer, or get slowed down by the crazy fall? Here's my list of this quarter's reading.

Key: C: Children's; F: Fantasy; H: Historical; Hr: Horror; M: Mystery; MG: Middle Grade (ages 8-12); NF: Nonfiction; P: Poetry; SF: Science Fiction; SS: Short Stories; YA: Young Adult (age 13+); *not in the last ten years at least; ^read for work.

07/02/10: David Almond, Skellig (YA, 2)

07/03/10: Walter Dean Myers, Monster (YA, 1)

07/03/10: Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Beguilement (F, 4)

07/04/10: Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Legacy (F, 4)

07/05/10: Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Passage (F, 3)

07/07/10: Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Horizon (F, 2)

07/08/10: Ellen Wittlinger, Hard Love (YA, 1)

07/09/10: Louise Rennison, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging (YA, 1)

07/11/10: Carol Plum-Ucci, The Body of Christopher Creed (YA, M, 1)

07/12/10: John Green and David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (YA, 1)

07/13/10: Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion (F, 5)

07/16/10: Bujold, Paladin of Souls (F, 4)

07/17/10: David Brin The Practice Effect (SF, 5 or 6*)

07/19/10: Chris Lynch, Freewill (YA, 1)

07/21/10: Peter Dickinson, The Ropemaker (YA, F, 1)

07/21/10: Virginia Euwer Wolff, True Believer (YA, 1)

07/22/10: An Na, A Step from Heaven (YA, 1)

07/24/10: John Joseph Adams, editor, Federations (SF, SS, 1)

07/25/10: Terry Trueman, Stuck in Neutral (YA, 1)

07/27/10: David Almond, Kit's Wilderness (YA, 1)

07/29/10: Virginia Euwer Wolff, Make Lemonade (YA, 1)

07/31/10: Garret Freymann-Weyr, My Heartbeat (YA, 1)

08/03/10: Sara Zarr, Story of a Girl (YA, 1)

08/05/10: Nancy Farmer, House of the Scorpion (YA, SF, 3)

08/07/10: Jack Gantos, Hole in My Life (YA, memoir, 1)

08/09/10: Aidan Chambers, Postcards from No Man's Land (YA, 1)

08/13/10: Lois McMaster Bujold, The Hallowed Hunt (F, 3)

08/14/10: Carolyn Mackler, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (YA, 1)

08/18/10: Jennifer Donnelly, A Northern Light (YA, 1)

08/21/10: K. L. Going, Fat Kid Rules the World (YA, 1)

08/22/10: Angela Johnson, The First Part Last (YA, 1)

09/02/10: Simon Winchester, A Crack in the Edge of the World (NF, 1)
09/03/10: Allan Stratton, Chanda's Secrets (YA, 1)
09/16/10: Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay (YA, SF, 1)

Total for the quarter: 34 books, mostly read in July and August—so I've had both the lazy summer and the crazy fall. With 83 books total through three quarters, I'm definitely on target for 100 for the year, although I'll have to do a lot better than September's 3-book pace or I'll fall short. Most of the books I read this quarter were young adult novels, for my Printz Award project, although I did sneak in a couple of series by my favorite author as well as a lone nonfiction work.

So what was my favorite book for the quarter? Looking back over the list, there isn't one that strikes me as amazing or life-changing, but there was one I greatly admired as a writer, and that was Chris Lynch's Freewill. The more I think about his experiment with the second-person narrator ("you look around and see..."), the more impressed I am with its execution. He took something that could have been tiresome and experimental and made it integral to the plot and characterization. I think anyone curious about writing techniques should read it.

Check back in three months for my year-end survey, to see whether I made my 100-book goal.

The Printz Award Winners: 2004

Time again to check out the books—this time from 2004—that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association.

Winner:

Angela Johnson, The First Part Last

Honor books:

Jennifer Donnelly, A Northern Light

Helen Frost, Keesha's House

K.L. Going, Fat Kid Rules the World

Carolyn Mackler, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

Donnelly's A Northern Light: I was really looking forward to reading this one, ever since I got my hands on an advance copy of the author's latest, Revolution, my favorite book of last quarter. This was a completely different type of book, being a pure historical rather than a modern-historical-magic realism (maybe?) hybrid, set in northern New York in 1906. It was inspired by the notorious murder that also inspired Theodore Dreiser's classic An American Tragedy, and opens with the discovery of Grace Mae Brown's body in Big Moose Lake. It is assumed that she and her male friend, two guests at an Adirondacks hotel, both drowned after an excursion on the lake. But hotel maid Mattie Gokey comes to suspect something different when she peeks into the letters that Grace asked her to burn before she died.

This seems like a straightforward mystery—and one that will be easily solved, once Mattie gets the courage to look at the letters—but the greater mystery actually lies in Mattie's own background. Although the novel opens with a body at the hotel, there are frequent flashbacks to Mattie's life on her father's farm, taking care of her three younger sisters despite a burning desire to write and go to college. Mattie made a promise to her mother on her deathbed to take care of the family, so each time we see Mattie in the present, working at the hotel despite her father's disapproval, we wonder not only what she will do about the letters, but how did she ever get here? With each flashback we think we have a better grasp on it, but only at the end does everything come together for Mattie, with each plot strand contributing to a satisfying conclusion. It's a wonderful example of how to use structure to amplify your story, as the use of flashback enhances the mystery and character development. (A Northern Light also won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for YA fiction and Britain's Carnegie Medal, under the title A Gathering Light.)

Frost's Keesha's House: Grrrr. My library didn't have this, and it looks interesting: a series of stories, all told in different poetic forms, about teens who find refuge for their various troubles at the inner-city home where Keesha lives with an unofficial guardian. I'm always interested in what people can do with poetry, so maybe I'll get this on loan later.

Mackler's The Earth, My Butt, etc.: I heard the author speak at this summer's SCBWI conference (an engaging talk on writing though good times and bad), and got my very own autographed copy of this honor book. The voice of her book's narrator, Virginia Shreves, was equally engaging as she opens the book by relating how her not-quite-boyfriend almost made it to second base with her—and all she could think about was whether he would see the bubber underneath her shirt. Virginia is a plus-sized girl in an average-sized family of overachievers, and she is having difficulty coping with their expectations, as well as the usual high school social pressures. For a while she tries to conform and get along, but a shocking accusation directed at the older brother she idolizes leads her to start standing up for herself and discover who she actually wants to be. It was a satisfying to see Virginia grow and change, without having the "makeover" ending you would get in a movie.

Going's Fat Kid Rules the World: Was the Printz committee having body issues this year? Another book told in first person by an overweight teen living in New York, that doesn't end with them miraculously slimming down and transforming their life? The similarities are superficial, though: whereas Mackler's Virginia is from a upper-middle-class, two-parent family, Going's Troy is from a poorer neighborhood and is living with his brother and their widowed father. His story opens as he is considering jumping off a subway platform into a train; he is stopped by a grubby, skinny older kid who turns out to be a legendary musician from Troy's high school. Curt sees something in Troy, inviting him to become his drummer, and despite his lack of self-confidence Troy responds. Curt has his own troubles, though, and Troy has to muster the guts to save his life in turn. While I found Curt's character a little unbelievable—kind of a drugged-out, male version of the manic pixie dreamgirl archetype, existing more to enable Troy's character development than to have a life of his own—Troy himself seemed fully realized and his story was very entertaining.

Johnson's The First Part Last: This is another novel that makes great use of a dual timeline to create mystery and add impact to the story. It's narrated by 16-year-old Bobby, who is alternately exhilarated and exhausted by his new baby daughter, Feather. His struggles to be a good parent alternate with flashbacks to the days when he was carefree and hanging out with his friends. When he discovers his girlfriend Nia is pregnant, they (with the help of their parents) decide to give the baby up for adoption. Therein lies the mystery: if they had decided on adoption, why does Bobby now have Feather, and why does he parent her alone? I found the answer, which comes at the very end of the book, both unexpected and moving. Johnson also subverts a lot of stereotypes with this novel: not only do we see a young man feeling tender and paternal, but her African American New Yorkers are not fatherless ghetto kids, but middle-class achievers who have the loving support of two parents (although one set is divorced). I think too often when people think of books with African American characters, they think of inner-city or historical settings, so it's nice to read one that shows a broader experience. This was a short but very powerful little book. (The First Part Last also won the Coretta Scott King Award for Fiction in 2004.)

So, how might I have voted this year? All the books I read were enjoyable, and while Johnson's First Part Last was a little gem, I have a thing for historicals, and Donnelly's A Northern Light was not only interesting as a historical but also as a mystery and as an wonderfully structured piece of writing.

An interesting note: this year there was no crossover at all with the list for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, even though four of the five NBA finalists, including the winner, Pete Hautman's Godless, were YA novels. More evidence reinforcing how subjective these kinds of awards really are.

The Printz Award Winners: 2003

In this installment of my survey of those books that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," according to the American Library Association, I consider the honorees from 2003.

Winner:

Aidan Chambers, Postcards from No Man's Land
Honor books:
Nancy Farmer, House of the Scorpion
Garret Freymann-Weyr, My Heartbeat
Jack Gantos, Hole in My Life

These four works couldn't have been more different, but they were all excellent reads.

Farmer’s House of the Scorpion: this is a brilliant piece of speculative science fiction, of the kind you rarely find in books for children or young adults. While fantasy is extremely popular for this audience—fairy tales are some of the first tales we tell children, after all—it seems many authors are hesitant (or unable) to explore the more complex ideas posited by sci fi. The idea Farmer explores—cloning, and whether clones are human and deserve the same rights—could be very complicated, but the way she approaches it makes it simple: she tells the story from the point of view of Matt, a four-year-old living in isolation with his caretaker in the middle of a poppy field. Matt doesn’t know he’s a clone, he only knows he is supposed to stay hidden, even from the local children who happen by. When he can’t resist their invitations to come play, he gets injured and they take him home. His escape shows him two different things: that he is both valuable—everyone around him is worried for his safety—and yet also an “animal” who is filthy and not fit to be among humans. After a period of isolation where he is caged like an animal, he is rescued and learns the truth: he is the clone of El Patrón, an elderly but brutal drug lord who has the power to ignore laws requiring that a clone’s brain be destroyed at “birth” (clones are grown inside cows, and thus not legally “human”), and raise him instead as a real boy.

The book continues to follow Matt from age 4 to age 14, as he learns who and what he is, eventually discovering (and trying to escape from) the dangerous implications of being a clone. The brilliance of the book is that it works for readers of varying sophistication. More mature readers will understand right away that clones are intended for spare parts, and that Matt only has a future as long as El Patrón’s health holds out. Younger readers may not grasp this concept, but they gradually learn about it as Matt does. No matter how much the readers understand of the idea of cloning, they both experience a sense of growing dread, and both find a rewarding reading experience in sharing Matt’s coming of age story. The ALA recognized this broad appeal, awarding the book not only a Printz honor but a Newbery honor as well (the first of only two books so honored); the novel also won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Freymann-Weyr's My Heartbeat: this novel presents an interesting triangle: although 14-year-old Ellen is in love with her brother Link's best friend James, she recognizes they are devoted to each other and she is lucky to be included in their activities together. Things change drastically when a friend at school asks if the boys are "a couple" and she can't put the idea out of her mind. She asks them directly if they are "together" and their differing answers cause a rupture. Ellen becomes James's confidante (and eventual lover) while she struggles to understand her brother's behavior and his role in the family. This is a very mature and thoughtful book—maybe a bit too mature, with a 14-year-old narrator who seems more perceptive than most girls her age—but it was an interesting look at complex characters.

Gantos's Hole in My Life: and for something again completely different, we have this memoir by the award-winning author of the comic "Joey Pigza" series for middle graders. There is little to laugh about in the subject matter, however, as Gantos relates how he lived on his own in a welfare hotel during his senior year of high school before joining his family on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. After briefly working for his father, the aspiring writer agrees to help sail a ship filled with a ton of hash up to New York. He hopes for adventure but instead finds an FBI investigation that results in a smuggling conviction and hard time. Gantos has to decide how he will cope with jail, and what kind of person he will try to become.

I didn't read this book, but listened to it unabridged, read by the author. He relates his story in a blunt and simple style (and lots of humor, despite the serious subject); even so, I was impressed with some of his turns of phrase, like how he created a “blazing bonfire of blame” during his first week in prison. He effectively communicates how thoughtlessness led to one huge mistake without sounding preachy, and the memoir not only works as a "scared straight" story but as the account of a writer's birth. I don't think I've read a more brave and honest book, the author revealing things about himself most people would rather hide.

Chambers's Postcards from No Man's Land: Chambers has been writing groundbreaking novels since the late 1970s, and in 2002 won the Hans Christian Anderson Award, awarded biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People for "lasting contributions to children's literature." This is his most acclaimed novel, also winning Britain's Carnegie Medal in 1999. You'll notice it took a couple of years for it to make it over the pond, and I'm not surprised: it has a very complex structure that relates several interweaving stories. The first is of British teenager Jacob, who is visiting Holland both to attend a commemorative service for the battle of Arnhem, where his grandfather fought, and to meet Geertrui, the Dutch woman who sheltered his grandfather after he was wounded. He begins with a few misadventures in Amsterdam (his belongings are stolen), and his story is interwoven with Geertrui's, a first-person account of how the British paratroopers landed in their neighborhood and how she came to shelter and then fall in love with a wounded soldier left behind during the British retreat. This passages are themselves interwoven with a few actual war accounts from paratroopers, many of whom were teenagers themselves, recounting their experiences of the Battle of Arnheim.

So we have Jacob finding himself during his travels in Amsterdam and Arnheim, Geertrui experiencing first love, and a few assorted soldier's accounts of battle. An impatient reader might get lost in the complex structure, but each character is distinct and clear, and their individual struggles are compelling to read. It was a very interesting and satisfying novel to read, although it could be challenging for some young teen readers. It has a lot of crossover appeal for adults, and I can understand why it won a ton of awards.

For me, however, I can't get over how much I love Farmer's House of the Scorpion. It does such a good job of taking the all the things I love about science fiction—interesting ideas that inspire creative answers to that eternal question "What if?"—and making it accessible to readers of all ages. I not only enjoy her book as a reader, I admire it as a writer, making it my clear favorite of the bunch.

The Printz Award Winners: 2002

Continuing my look through those books the American Library Association considers books that "exemplify literary excellence in young adult literature," I look at the honorees from 2002.

Winner: An Na, A Step from Heaven

Honor citations:

Peter Dickinson, The Ropemaker

Jan Greenberg, editor, Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art

Chris Lynch, Freewill

Virginia Euwer Wolff, True Believer

Dickinson’s The Ropemaker (honor book): Brit Dickinson is another award-laden author—winner of two Carnegie Medals, Britain’s highest honor for children’s writers—that I probably should have read long before this, but somehow never got around to it. He writes in a variety of genres both historical and fantastic, and The Ropemaker is a fantasy in the epic quest vein. When the magic that has protected the Valley’s peaceful people from the Empire’s oppression begins to wane after twenty generations, Tilja and three other descendants of the Valley’s last questers leave to find the magician who can renew the forest magic. At first Tilja feels out of place because she has none of the Valley magics shared by her companions, but she gradually discovers she has a power that may be the only way for them to achieve their goal. Tilja is a very thoroughly drawn character, but the plot itself was a fairly standard—if vividly imagined—quest story.

Greenberg's Heart to Heart (honor book): as this was more of an art book and a collection, I passed on checking this one out.

Lynch’s Freewill (honor book): This was a very interesting little book (about 150 pages). While normally books are told in either third person (he did, she said) or first person (I did)—the latter is almost a given for YA books—this little gem was an unusual experiment in second-person narrative (you did, you said). While generally I find these kind of experiments extremely self-conscious and/or overly literary, this one really worked well with the subject and tone of the book. The main character (named Will, as you might expect) is a young man who is extremely confused and almost dissociated from himself and other people following a family tragedy. The book opens with someone complimenting him on a table he made in wood shop class—a piece he doesn’t remember making: “Why are you here? (the narrator says) Whose table is that? Why are you in wood shop? You are meant to be a pilot.” When the strange wooden totems Will is making in class start turning up at memorial sites of a string of local teen suicides, things become even more confusing. Is Will predicting their fate? Is he orchestrating it subconsciously? Is his work and his confusion being used by someone else? The second-person narration not only keeps the reader guessing throughout, it serves extremely well as a way of communicating Will’s precarious state of mind. This wasn’t an easy book to get into (the second-person narration does require adjustments in the reader), but it was fascinating to read.

Wolff’s True Believer (honor book): Ack, this is a sequel, and I really didn’t have time to read the first in the trilogy, Make Lemonade, although I’d heard good things about it. Like Lemonade, True Believer is told in verse from the point of view of LaVaughn, a teenage girl who is determined to go to college someday as a way of escaping the challenges and dangers of inner city life. One thing she is determined not to do is get distracted by boys (a baby would derail her college dreams), although when her childhood friend Jody returns to the neighborhood she finds it difficult not to indulge her romantic dreams. LaVaughn also faces challenges from new classes at school and from old friends who are growing apart—pretty standard fare for a YA novel, but LaVaughn’s honest voice, and the free verse with which she tells her story, raise it several levels above the usual YA. It made me want to go back and find time to read the first (and third) novels in LaVaughn’s trilogy. (True Believer also won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.)

Na’s A Step from Heaven (winner): This debut novel from a Korean American author is short but memorable, chronicling one girl’s immigrant experience through a series of short scenes. Young Ju is four years old when we first meet her, experiencing the ocean’s waves for the first time, and when her parents talk of leaving their home for Mi Gook—America—she thinks they are talking about heaven. Her adjustments to a new land, a new language, a new school, and a new family dynamic are told in a voice that grows along with Young Ju. The narration was really outstanding in this book: Young Ju is believable whether relating her earliest memories in simple and straightforward language, or sharing her terrifying experiences with domestic violence as a mature teenager. Interestingly, my library shelved their copies of this book in the adult fiction section, and I wonder whether this book might hold more appeal for adults because of its broad scope. It covers much more time than most YA books, and focuses not so much on telling a specific series of events as on revealing a character. In any case, I found it fascinating. (A Step from Heaven was also a finalist for the National Book Award.)

So overall, my thoughts on this year’s books? I think they demonstrated a higher caliber than the previous year’s, and I might have had a very difficult time choosing between the four I read. The voices in Freewill, True Believer, and A Step from Heaven were all so different and yet all so memorable, it really seems a matter of personal preference. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all three of these books endure for quite some time.