I received this note in my inbox the other day and thought my readers might be interested:
Teenreads.com is again collaborating with the Children's Book Council (CBC) on the 2010 Teen Choice Book of the Year, offering teens an opportunity to share their five favorite books of 2009. The five titles that receive the most votes will serve as the finalists for the CBC’s 2010 Teen Choice Book of the Year.
A list of nominees can be found at http://www.teenreads.com/features/ccba_nominees_2010.asp, where readers also may find information on how to nominate other titles published in 2009. As the deadline for nominating books is fast approaching --- February 1, 2010.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Giveaway: Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Today, on the final day of my blogoversary, I'm giving away my favorite book of 2009 and possibly favorite book of all-time - Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert If you haven't read this book, you really should!!
To enter:
+1 leave a comment with your email
+1 for being a follower
+1 for tweeting/blogging (please leave a link!
Final Guestblog: Stephanie Kuehnert
Wow! I can't believe January is over already! Today's guest blog is by one of my all-time favorite writers, Stephanie Kuehnert. Both of her books, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Ballads of Suburbia, are AMAZING. (If you follow my on Twitter, you know how much I love Ballads.)
---
I’ve been keeping a diary since I was seven and my mom got me the Beezus and Ramona diary since the Ramona books were some of my favorites. Back then my entries were pretty much limited to talking about the books and movies I’d gotten out of the library. I wrote stuff like, “I read Black Beauty. It was great!!! I love horses! I’m checking out the movie today.”
Of course as I got older my entries changed. I wrote about my problems with friends, my unrequited crushes, and all sort of confused feelings. When I had a hard time writing directly about my feelings, I wrote poems or short stories that expressed them. I also started making ‘zines. I was in high school in the early nineties when people were only starting to get email addresses and my internet usage was limited to AOL forums and chat rooms where I discussed punk bands and feminism. When I talk to teens about my ‘zines now, I compare them to an early form of blogging because that was what my ‘zines were at least—basically a journal that I distributed to the public. Sometimes I wrote reviews of books or music, but I’m not that great of a reviewer. To this day when I’m asked to write a blurb for a book or I love a book so much that I feel I have to blog about it, I anguish over the task because honestly my reviewing skills have not progressed that much past that Black Beauty review I wrote when I was seven. I admire all the book bloggers out there in a huge way because for some reason it is really hard for me to put that emotional response I have to a book or a song into words.
And yet, for some reason, I can rant for pages about emotional events that stir me. That is what I did a lot of in my ‘zines. I did it to the point that I made people uncomfortable and even lost some friends. I was brutally honest. I wrote about things that a lot of people didn’t want to talk about, things like abuse and self-injury and rape. Sometimes I felt like maybe I was oversharing, getting to personal, being too truthful, but I couldn’t help it. It was my firm belief that bad things continued to happen in our world because we didn’t talk about them, face them, and take action.
My early blogs were like my zines. I had a Diaryland site and I treated it like a diary. I purged my feelings in there and posted the writing I was working on. If you followed me back then, around 2000/2001 you would have been reading a very early version of my novel BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, except it was more like thinly veiled autobiography. I felt like it was anonymous. Only my closest friends and strangers read it. Then someone I knew in high school stumbled upon it and said some nasty things, so I shied away from blogging for awhile.
I started blogging again regular when I sold my first novel, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE. I knew I was going to be published, knew fans of my writing would seek me out, and my blog would be public, so I wondered if I should tone things down. Maybe I should just write about my writing process or my books or benign things like my pets and the vacations I take. And if you visit my blog (stephaniekuehnert.blogspot.com), you will find some of these things. But you’ll also find my brutally honest truths. When one of my dear friends died, I wrote about him, raw and grieving and unfiltered. When I was overwhelmed by bad memories of it, I blogged about the abusive relationship I was in during my sophomore year of high school. When BALLADS OF SUBURBIA came out, my book that deals with self-injury, I wrote about my own battle with cutting. Sometimes I wonder if it is TMI, if I should censor myself, but I can’t. If you are familiar with my books, you know that I don’t hold back. I let my characters be raw and real. They swear, they do things they shouldn’t do, they get hurt, and they fight to survive. I believe in honesty. That’s what I wanted to read as a teen. I’ve always hated feeling lied to or feeling like things are being sugarcoated. So I can’t do it. Not in my fiction or in my blog. So maybe my blog is different from other YA authors’ blogs, maybe it gets a little too heavy at times (though I do try to balance it out with fun pictures), but I guess that’s just who I am and my blog reflects it.
What about you guys? Do you get personal in your blogs? Do you like blogs that get personal?
And again, three cheers for Harmony Book Reviews and all of the book blogs out there. Believe me, we need you, those of you who are better at describing books than “It was great! I love horses!”
---
I’ve been keeping a diary since I was seven and my mom got me the Beezus and Ramona diary since the Ramona books were some of my favorites. Back then my entries were pretty much limited to talking about the books and movies I’d gotten out of the library. I wrote stuff like, “I read Black Beauty. It was great!!! I love horses! I’m checking out the movie today.”
Of course as I got older my entries changed. I wrote about my problems with friends, my unrequited crushes, and all sort of confused feelings. When I had a hard time writing directly about my feelings, I wrote poems or short stories that expressed them. I also started making ‘zines. I was in high school in the early nineties when people were only starting to get email addresses and my internet usage was limited to AOL forums and chat rooms where I discussed punk bands and feminism. When I talk to teens about my ‘zines now, I compare them to an early form of blogging because that was what my ‘zines were at least—basically a journal that I distributed to the public. Sometimes I wrote reviews of books or music, but I’m not that great of a reviewer. To this day when I’m asked to write a blurb for a book or I love a book so much that I feel I have to blog about it, I anguish over the task because honestly my reviewing skills have not progressed that much past that Black Beauty review I wrote when I was seven. I admire all the book bloggers out there in a huge way because for some reason it is really hard for me to put that emotional response I have to a book or a song into words.
And yet, for some reason, I can rant for pages about emotional events that stir me. That is what I did a lot of in my ‘zines. I did it to the point that I made people uncomfortable and even lost some friends. I was brutally honest. I wrote about things that a lot of people didn’t want to talk about, things like abuse and self-injury and rape. Sometimes I felt like maybe I was oversharing, getting to personal, being too truthful, but I couldn’t help it. It was my firm belief that bad things continued to happen in our world because we didn’t talk about them, face them, and take action.
My early blogs were like my zines. I had a Diaryland site and I treated it like a diary. I purged my feelings in there and posted the writing I was working on. If you followed me back then, around 2000/2001 you would have been reading a very early version of my novel BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, except it was more like thinly veiled autobiography. I felt like it was anonymous. Only my closest friends and strangers read it. Then someone I knew in high school stumbled upon it and said some nasty things, so I shied away from blogging for awhile.
I started blogging again regular when I sold my first novel, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE. I knew I was going to be published, knew fans of my writing would seek me out, and my blog would be public, so I wondered if I should tone things down. Maybe I should just write about my writing process or my books or benign things like my pets and the vacations I take. And if you visit my blog (stephaniekuehnert.blogspot.com), you will find some of these things. But you’ll also find my brutally honest truths. When one of my dear friends died, I wrote about him, raw and grieving and unfiltered. When I was overwhelmed by bad memories of it, I blogged about the abusive relationship I was in during my sophomore year of high school. When BALLADS OF SUBURBIA came out, my book that deals with self-injury, I wrote about my own battle with cutting. Sometimes I wonder if it is TMI, if I should censor myself, but I can’t. If you are familiar with my books, you know that I don’t hold back. I let my characters be raw and real. They swear, they do things they shouldn’t do, they get hurt, and they fight to survive. I believe in honesty. That’s what I wanted to read as a teen. I’ve always hated feeling lied to or feeling like things are being sugarcoated. So I can’t do it. Not in my fiction or in my blog. So maybe my blog is different from other YA authors’ blogs, maybe it gets a little too heavy at times (though I do try to balance it out with fun pictures), but I guess that’s just who I am and my blog reflects it.
What about you guys? Do you get personal in your blogs? Do you like blogs that get personal?
And again, three cheers for Harmony Book Reviews and all of the book blogs out there. Believe me, we need you, those of you who are better at describing books than “It was great! I love horses!”
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Books to Swap/Sell
I'm finally reaching the point where I *really* need to get rid of some books. So I've decided to sell all the books that I have bought myself or had from other swaps or anything like that. For ARCs, I ask that we either swap or you pay for shipping. If you're interested in anything below, please email harmonybookreviews@yahoo.com
For Sale:
*All books are $1 unless otherwise marked.
Girlfriends - Carmen Berry
The Cheat - Amy Goldman Koss
Cry of the Icemark - Stuart Holl (.50)
The Misfits - James Howe
Ella Enchanted (.50)
The Wanderer - Sharon Creech (.50)
A Question of Trust - Marion Bauer
Bearstone - Will Hobbs
The Fall - Garth Nix
Wonder's Promise - Joanna Campbell
If I Asked You, What Would You Say? - Eve Bunting (ex-library copy, hardcover, .50)
Hatching Magic - Ann Downer
Miracles on Maple Hill - Virginia Sorensen
A Time Apart - Diane Stanley
The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods - Ann Cameron
The Fire Rose - Mercedes Lackey
Here on Earth - Alice Hoffman
Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
Phantom Stallion: Desert Dancer - Terri Farley (brand new, 2.50)
Chinese Cinderella (read once, like new, $2)
ARCs:
Break - Hannah Moskowitz
Ash - Malinda Lo
Hold Still - Nina LaCour
Peace Love and Baby Ducks - Lauren Myracle
Things Are Gonna Get Ugly - Hillary Homzie
Destroy All Cars - Blake Nelson
Beautiful Americans - Lucy Silag
Giving Up the V - Serena Robar
Lipstick Apology - Jennifer Jabaley
Hershey Herself - Cecilia Galante
Pysch Major Syndrome - Alicia Thompson
Talent - Zoey Dean
Freeze Frame - Heidi Ayarbe
If you're interested in any, please email me at harmonybookreviews[at]yahoo.com
For Sale:
*All books are $1 unless otherwise marked.
Girlfriends - Carmen Berry
The Cheat - Amy Goldman Koss
Cry of the Icemark - Stuart Holl (.50)
The Misfits - James Howe
Ella Enchanted (.50)
The Wanderer - Sharon Creech (.50)
A Question of Trust - Marion Bauer
Bearstone - Will Hobbs
The Fall - Garth Nix
Wonder's Promise - Joanna Campbell
If I Asked You, What Would You Say? - Eve Bunting (ex-library copy, hardcover, .50)
Hatching Magic - Ann Downer
Miracles on Maple Hill - Virginia Sorensen
A Time Apart - Diane Stanley
The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods - Ann Cameron
The Fire Rose - Mercedes Lackey
Here on Earth - Alice Hoffman
Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
Phantom Stallion: Desert Dancer - Terri Farley (brand new, 2.50)
Chinese Cinderella (read once, like new, $2)
ARCs:
Break - Hannah Moskowitz
Ash - Malinda Lo
Hold Still - Nina LaCour
Peace Love and Baby Ducks - Lauren Myracle
Things Are Gonna Get Ugly - Hillary Homzie
Destroy All Cars - Blake Nelson
Beautiful Americans - Lucy Silag
Giving Up the V - Serena Robar
Lipstick Apology - Jennifer Jabaley
Hershey Herself - Cecilia Galante
Pysch Major Syndrome - Alicia Thompson
Talent - Zoey Dean
Freeze Frame - Heidi Ayarbe
If you're interested in any, please email me at harmonybookreviews[at]yahoo.com
Friday, January 29, 2010
Guestblog: Cherry Cheva
Today's guestblog is by Cherry Cheva, who wrote one of the few books that made me crack up uncontrolabley. (It's called She's So Money - check it out).
--
HAPPY TWO-YEAR BLOGOVERSARY TO HARMONY BOOK REVIEWS! And since this a BLOG and not a CHILD, I am sure these twos will NOT be terrible at all! Let us reflect on the awesomeness of Harmony, shall we?
1) Harmony is the mastermind behind the whole 1-ARC tour thing, which is like the greatest thing EVER. Seriously. When I first heard of this, it was all I could do not to jump out of my chair and go "That's genius!" In fact, I may have done that. I mean, it's such a ridiculously great idea that I have no idea why people haven't been doing it since the dark ages, except for the fact that in the dark ages, they didn't have mail, so how would one send the ARCs around, and did they even have books, because when was the printing press invented, and also, could anybody read? I'm bad with history. Anyway, I have been fortunate enough to join many other authors in having our ARCs sent around in this manner, and knowing that our limited number of review copies end up in so many more hands because of Harmony's work rules. RULES!
2) Harmony is also the name of a character from the Whedonverse. See: Buffy, Angel. This is awesome.
3) Harmony is something that sounds pretty when sung. See: Glee. Also awesome.
4) Harmony contains the word "harm" which perhaps sounds like a negative but is actually a neutral statement because what if you're doing harm to an EVIL person or thing, like Voldemort? Exactly.
5) Harmony also contains "mony" which is either half of the serviceably catchy 80s tune "Mony Mony" or just a very slightly misspelled "money" which is something that we can all use to buy more books. Thus, a positive.
6) Harmony can be rearranged to spell "hay morn." This conjures up images of a sunny beautiful day on a farm. This is pleasant. Harmony can also be rearranged to spell "may horn." This sounds sort of like the punchline to a dirty joke involving unicorns. Dirty jokes are good, and unicorns are just dandy. Unless you're team zombie, but I'm getting off topic.
7) Harmony is a book blogger, and book bloggers are heroes-- especially to us authors who don't have zillions of our publishers' marketing dollars being thrown at us every five seconds. Some of us don't get to have our books in every bookstore. Some of us aren't in any. But bloggers help our words reach readers who might not otherwise hear about us, and for this, we are bigtime grateful. I mean, blogging takes WORK. First of all, it's writing, which is hard enough to do anyway, but it's even harder to do on top of school and/or jobs and/or life's general activities and/or whatever else. PLUS, book reviewing also requires a massive amount of reading, which, sure, is fun and you were doing it anyway, which is why you started the blog in the first place, but then to spend time crafting a well-thought-out review, posting it up for the world to see, and then reacting to and interacting with that world as opinions and counteropinions fly in, not all of them necessarily positive? That's effort, people. That's effort and bravery and dedication, and for this, bloggers deserve not only polite, classy golf claps, but also a rousing standing ovation, and perhaps even some loud cheering and screaming and some rowdy throwing of chairs and starting of riots. Bloggers ROCK, y'all. They rock! So HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY TO HARMONY and kisses and hugs to book bloggers in general! :D Keep up the good work! *throws chair* (see, told you it was worth some chair-throwing) :)
--
HAPPY TWO-YEAR BLOGOVERSARY TO HARMONY BOOK REVIEWS! And since this a BLOG and not a CHILD, I am sure these twos will NOT be terrible at all! Let us reflect on the awesomeness of Harmony, shall we?
1) Harmony is the mastermind behind the whole 1-ARC tour thing, which is like the greatest thing EVER. Seriously. When I first heard of this, it was all I could do not to jump out of my chair and go "That's genius!" In fact, I may have done that. I mean, it's such a ridiculously great idea that I have no idea why people haven't been doing it since the dark ages, except for the fact that in the dark ages, they didn't have mail, so how would one send the ARCs around, and did they even have books, because when was the printing press invented, and also, could anybody read? I'm bad with history. Anyway, I have been fortunate enough to join many other authors in having our ARCs sent around in this manner, and knowing that our limited number of review copies end up in so many more hands because of Harmony's work rules. RULES!
2) Harmony is also the name of a character from the Whedonverse. See: Buffy, Angel. This is awesome.
3) Harmony is something that sounds pretty when sung. See: Glee. Also awesome.
4) Harmony contains the word "harm" which perhaps sounds like a negative but is actually a neutral statement because what if you're doing harm to an EVIL person or thing, like Voldemort? Exactly.
5) Harmony also contains "mony" which is either half of the serviceably catchy 80s tune "Mony Mony" or just a very slightly misspelled "money" which is something that we can all use to buy more books. Thus, a positive.
6) Harmony can be rearranged to spell "hay morn." This conjures up images of a sunny beautiful day on a farm. This is pleasant. Harmony can also be rearranged to spell "may horn." This sounds sort of like the punchline to a dirty joke involving unicorns. Dirty jokes are good, and unicorns are just dandy. Unless you're team zombie, but I'm getting off topic.
7) Harmony is a book blogger, and book bloggers are heroes-- especially to us authors who don't have zillions of our publishers' marketing dollars being thrown at us every five seconds. Some of us don't get to have our books in every bookstore. Some of us aren't in any. But bloggers help our words reach readers who might not otherwise hear about us, and for this, we are bigtime grateful. I mean, blogging takes WORK. First of all, it's writing, which is hard enough to do anyway, but it's even harder to do on top of school and/or jobs and/or life's general activities and/or whatever else. PLUS, book reviewing also requires a massive amount of reading, which, sure, is fun and you were doing it anyway, which is why you started the blog in the first place, but then to spend time crafting a well-thought-out review, posting it up for the world to see, and then reacting to and interacting with that world as opinions and counteropinions fly in, not all of them necessarily positive? That's effort, people. That's effort and bravery and dedication, and for this, bloggers deserve not only polite, classy golf claps, but also a rousing standing ovation, and perhaps even some loud cheering and screaming and some rowdy throwing of chairs and starting of riots. Bloggers ROCK, y'all. They rock! So HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY TO HARMONY and kisses and hugs to book bloggers in general! :D Keep up the good work! *throws chair* (see, told you it was worth some chair-throwing) :)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Guestblog: Khy
Today, I have another one of my blogger friends guestblogging on, well, me.
--
One of the Many Reasons Why Harmony is Totally Awesome
First off, thanks to Harmony for asking me to guest blog! I love Harmony and her amazing blog so I am ~honored~ to be a guest here. :D
If you know Harmony, you know that she is awesome. But did you know that she is also the master of sekrit projects? SHE IS.
Since I am basically a twitter addict, I am constantly checking my twitter for updates. And more times than I can count, I have seen a tweet from Harmony saying “working on a sekrit project!” or “sekrit project will be revealed soon!” or something along those lines. She’s always plotting something! They are always a million projects!
I still don’t know how she manages to do all these projects. She must not sleep. Maybe she doesn’t need to. Maybe she’s a superhero. I don’t know. All I know is that Harmony is always plotting something.
And her plots are always awesome and helpful! PAPAYA (yes I am still calling it that), for example, is super win, and is one of Harmony’s totally huge awesome sekrit projects. I think it is her most awesome, really.
I cannot wait to see what the Master of Sekrit Projects has up her sleeve for the new year, because I’m sure she is plotting more, like she always does. :D
[Harmony's note - she's right, I'm plotting again!)
--
One of the Many Reasons Why Harmony is Totally Awesome
First off, thanks to Harmony for asking me to guest blog! I love Harmony and her amazing blog so I am ~honored~ to be a guest here. :D
If you know Harmony, you know that she is awesome. But did you know that she is also the master of sekrit projects? SHE IS.
Since I am basically a twitter addict, I am constantly checking my twitter for updates. And more times than I can count, I have seen a tweet from Harmony saying “working on a sekrit project!” or “sekrit project will be revealed soon!” or something along those lines. She’s always plotting something! They are always a million projects!
I still don’t know how she manages to do all these projects. She must not sleep. Maybe she doesn’t need to. Maybe she’s a superhero. I don’t know. All I know is that Harmony is always plotting something.
And her plots are always awesome and helpful! PAPAYA (yes I am still calling it that), for example, is super win, and is one of Harmony’s totally huge awesome sekrit projects. I think it is her most awesome, really.
I cannot wait to see what the Master of Sekrit Projects has up her sleeve for the new year, because I’m sure she is plotting more, like she always does. :D
[Harmony's note - she's right, I'm plotting again!)
Giveaway: Break by Hannah Moskowitz
Today I'm giving away a copy of Break by Hannah Moskowitz. I never reviewed this but it was one of my favorite books last year. Hannah has amazing talent and I think everyone should check this one out.
To enter:
+1 leave a comment with your email
+1 for being a follower
+1 for spreading the word (please leave links
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