To make it official

Just so you know, we'll be taking the month of December OFF and resume bookreading in January. A poll will go up later this week to choose the January book, giving you plenty of time to acquire and read it.

I'm going to clear out the Wish List books that have been voted down a few times and pepper it with some fresh blood. Add your own suggestions, please! What genres are we missing? (Nonfiction?)

Is getting the book a major obstacle for anyone? I'd love for more people to participate and, if that's the problem, we can easily switch to strictly paperbacks. I'm guessing that time is the issue, though.

If you know someone who might like to join, please invite them.

Better late...

Click the title to be whisked away to five (5) video segments of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards!

I haven't read ANY of those books -- not even the picturebooks! I miss hanging out with Simmons people at the bookstore and making intelligent picturebook conversation.

I found somethin' in the woods, pa...

The Body of Christopher Creed has a great hook -- there's the Title of Death and then Torey's Mysterious New Start at a new school where people don't stare at him. My mind jumped to all sorts of conclusions in that first chapter and was screaming with questions. Did Torey find the body? Was he responsible for the death? What really happened? Is Torey a reliable narrator? Etc. etc. It is an intriguing story -- even if Torey is a dumb nickname for a male high school jock.

I liked it, generally, though it's flawed; it reads like the first novel it is. Most of my frustration came from the writing style, with forced-seeming slang and oh-so-awkward dialogue. Plum-Ucci can claim some excuse for this, because, dude, Torey wrote the book; blame the amateur style on him. (As an English teacher, I'd mark Torey down for using "weird" and "weirdness" far too often.) That's not a valid excuse for me. If I'm cringing about the overuse of "DUDE" by page 23, that's probably overkill. Plum-Ucci was just trying too hard to be one of the cool kids. "Turbo-slut" was new to me, though the Urban Dictionary has three definitions; I thought she made it up.

Question: Is a high school student likely to remember a random (albeit dorky) kid using the word "winsome" way back in second grade? I'm not surprised that Chris Creed knew and used that word as a wee, nerdy second grader. What is out of character is self-professed dumb-guy Alex recalling that useage yonks later when he doesn't seem like the kind of person who even know what "winsome" means as a high schooler, much less a seven-year-old. There were multiple times when the personality of a character didn't match up with their actions or words.

I obviously have many bones to pick with Plum-Ucci's style issues. Moving on to structure, (oh boy!) the letters at the end were convenient devices. The last one successfully left me with a feel-good finish, but I don't think they were necessary. Hard to say now if I prefer the story without, but I don't know. Other opinions on Torey's replies?

The American Indian ghost stuff was...weird. No idea where that came from. I was very disappointed that immaculate decomposition is pretend. Or it is as far as I can tell; there are no references online.

I have many critiques about the book, but I did enjoy it. It's a thriller with a not-too-heavyhanded message.

We're all mad here.

Su Blackwell's art (book/cut sculpture) includes cutouts of copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Secret Garden, among others. Incredible.

It's what's in the bank

I was browsing Powells.com and discovered Random House is coming out with a 10th anniversary edition of The Golden Compass.

What?!

I adore this book (and already own two copies of each book in the trilogy) but this seems...is the word I'm looking for "money-grubbing?"

RH's site explains

Pullman created 16 pages of new materials (archival documents, scientific notes, and found letters of Lord Asriel) just for this edition, whcih [sic] has been illustrated and hand-lettered by renowned Bristish [sic again! Bad Random House!] artist Ian Beck. The deluxe edition also features a ribbon bookmark, colored endpapers, and Pullman's own chapter-opening spot art.

But with the movie coming out next year (and following movies in following years) there will be hideous MOVIE COVERS and all sorts of promotional garbage.

Can I get away with reading a library copy of all these new materials? Doubt it. RH wins and gets my money.

Meg Rosoff's top 10 adult books for teenagers

I've only read two of those and think it is cruel to have Catch-22 on this list. I should read some James Bond.

Over at Bookshelves of Doom, the conversation (spurred by Fuse#8) is about ChildLit books one does not like as an adult. I think we could build a HUGE list on that topic.

John Green article about "kiddie lit"

Presumably this is by the guy who wrote Looking for Alaska (unless there are two YA authors named John Green?). Written well, and interesting too, even though it's a few years old. And it made me feel smart because he says stuff like "You've probably never heard of..." and, of course, we have!