bookshelves of doom

Lookalikes.

 

Okay, so they don't look all that much alike. But, you know. Two hearts made of broken glass: That's got to count for something.

I loved Twenty Boy Summer. (But never wrote about it? The horror!)

Haven't read the Amanda Grace book, yet, though.

Today at Kirkus...

...I've rounded up a few of my favorite YA noir titles, and put the call out for recommendations -- so give me some, either in the comments here or there!

I also wrote today's quiz -- and as it happens to be Ed Westwick's* birthday, it's devoted to the Mean Girls of YA.

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*AKA Chuck Bass.

Oooo! And also squee.

The new Gillian Welch album is streaming on NPR.

So, Martin Freeman...

...looks pretty danged awesome as a hobbit.

Zounds! Will every news outlet jump on the bandwagon?

Looks like Slate's figured out the magical formula:

Somewhat annoying article about YA fiction = INSTANT SPIKE IN TRAFFIC!

Whatevs. Despite the broad assumptions made in the Slate essay, I'm sure that every author — regardless of the age range s/he's writing for or the genre s/he's writing in — has a different technique and viewpoint and vision and experience and outlook.

Not everyone has to take pride in what s/he writes, and not everyone writing has to have strong knowledge of the market s/he is writing for. If some authors assume that there isn't any crossover between YA and "literary" fiction, then, heck: That's their loss.

UPDATE: Annnnd... flounce.

Amazon's first list of Essential Books for Young Adults...

...includes The Book Thief, Thirteen Reasons Why, Monster, Speak, The Giver, Part-time Indian, Crank, The Golden Compass, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

I don't know.

Some of them seem kind of... dangerously dark.

Aha ha h ha ha ha ha aa!

Sorry, sorry.

Post-lunch punchiness.

Patrick Ness has been awarded...

...this year's Carnegie medal.

I'm going to post some quotes from his acceptance speech on my Tumblr, but the whole thing is worth a read!

Oh, goody.

James Patterson has entered the chapter book realm.

Pottermore has been revealed!

It looks like it will be, in part, a game:

I didn't expect this reaction, but... the cool animation and the idea of Pottermore itself have me more interested and excited about Harry Potter than I have been in years.

And it sounds like -- other than the ebooks and the audiobooks -- it's going to be free?

I refuse to go strapless, but...

...as a general idea, I'm in love.

(I think I'd want some slight crinoline underneath, though, to give it just a bit more puff. And I'd go with tights rather than leggings. But then, I hate leggings.)

Do not -- I repeat -- do NOT miss...

...this fantastically entertaining (and, yes, even inspirational) blog post about a librarian, a ten-year-old, New York's threatened library budget, and a series of postcards:

So, in case you didn't see the leaked news about Pottermore...

...it looks like it will be, indeed, a game.

Unless it was a sneaky fake leak.

 

Three more dwarves...

...three more cool guys get a paycheck:

Eddie Izzard, Toby Jones and BAMF BOB "THE MAN" HOSKINS!

I love Bob Hoskins.

If you don't... well, just don't tell me.

Dammit. I really wasn't planning on seeing this movie.

Maybe I can just Netflix it and fast-forward to the dwarf scenes.

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[ETA: Oh, wait: Ray Winstone, too!]

[ETA 2: I can't believe I just said BAMF.]

Does BACA have to take action...

...if the book is hilarious?

AND KEANU FOR THE WIN!

MotherReader, as BACA president: Please advise!

Speaking of Footloose*...

...here's the trailer for the remake:

 

Really, it just... looks like a slicker, updated version of the original. I recognized a ton of the dialogue and scenes, and obviously Ren's car and his adorable tie, so it looks like they recognized that they were working with a classic.

However. Bus explosions? And I do feel kind of weird about seeing Ren and Ariel, like, grinding. But maybe that's just because I'm old.

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*Oh, wait, that wasn't in public.

Tanita, I'M SERIOUS: It's rad.

There. Now it's in public.