recommended
Hi. My name is Edgy, and I'm a bookaholic. Please do not confuse me with a bibliophile. I do love books and reading. However, whereas a bibliophile can sate his or her thirst for books at the library, I cannot; I must own books. I don't remember when it began, but it is a growing issue that I must face and deal with daily. I currently have 932 books on 9 bookshelves (3 in the office, 2 in the bedroom, 1 in the living room, 1 in the bathroom, and 2 at work--okay, so the one in the bathroom doesn't count since it doesn't have books on it, but I have to have someplace to put the magazines). I regularly must reorganize my books to reshuffle them to try and create a little space here and there.
It is for this reason that I should not be permitted to attend writers conferences. I especially shouldn't be allowed to attend UVSC's Forum on Children & Literature. Because there I'm confronted with people recommending books. And since I am weak, I must then buy those books.
So at last week's conference, I hit Pat Castelli's annual presentation on the Top Books of the Previous Year. Fortunately, I had an epiphany this year--the list consists primarily of those books that won awards (ALA Notable, Newbery, Caldecott, Batchelder, Siebert, King, Printz, Schneider, Belpre, Geisel, Horn Book, Greenaway, Carnegie, Beehive, Blue Ribbon, Gray, Edgar, Golden Kite, Fleischman, O'Dell) plus those that she feels were neglected. That's a relief to learn. Granted, it doesn't change the fact that I now need some books:
Poetry
- Cyrus, Kurt. Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water.
- Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons.
- Janeczko, Paul B. A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms.
- Nelson, Marilyn. A Wreath for Emmett Till.
Picture Books
- Lester, Julius. The Old African.
- Muth, Jon J. Zen Shorts.
- Reichert, Amy. While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat.
- Wormell, Christopher. Mice, Morals, & Monkey Business: Lively Lessons from Aesop's Fables.
Middle Grade/Teen
- Allison, Jennifer. Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator.
- Anderson, M. T. Whales on Stilts!
- Broach, Elise. Shakespeare's Secret.
- Creech, Sharon. Replay.
- Gardner, Sally. I, Coriander.
- Stone, Jeff. Tiger.
- Whelan, Gloria. Listening for Lions.
- Wiles, Deborah. Each Little Bird That Sings.
Teen
- Green, John. Looking for Alaska.
- Gruber, Michael. The Witch's Boy.
- Holub, Josef. An Innocent Soldier.
- Lanagan, Margo. Black Juice.
- Lubar, David. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie.
- Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief.
- Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere.
- Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger.
Nonfiction Picture Books
- Rosen, Michael. Michael Rosen's Sad Book.
Nonfiction
- Aronson, Marc. The Real Revolution: The Global Story of American Independence.
- Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow.
- Giblin, James Cross. Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth.
- Partridge, Elizabeth. John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth.
- Walker, Sally M. Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H. L. Hunley.
Books for Grown-ups About Children's Literature
- The Art of Reading: Forty illustrators Celebrate RIF's 40th Anniversary.
Now, just because I have this monster list doesn't mean I'm going to actually buy every single one of these books, but it does mean I'm going to check them out.
And it also doesn't take into account the final session of the conference, "Our Favorite Books That We Didn't Write or Publish." Sigh.
Jennifer Holm, author, Our Only May Amelia
- Couloumbis, Audrey. The Misadventures of Maude March
- Ghigna, Charles. Mice Are Nice.
- We Three. (This is a graphic novel.)
Janet Stevens, illustrator, Tops & Bottoms
- Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. The Yearling.
- Latimer, Jim. Going the Moose Way Home.
- Rylant, Cynthia. Dog Heaven.
Mark McVeigh, editor, Dutton's Children's Books
- Minarik, Else Holmelund. Little Bear.
- Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House.
- LeBlanc, Adrian Nicole. Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx.
William Sederburg, president, UVSC
- Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley.
- Piper, Watty. The Little Engine That Could.
- Peck, M. Scott. The Road Less Traveled.
- Peck, M. Scott. America Restored.
- Martin, Martin E. When Faiths Collide.
Margy Layton, owner, Read Leaf Bookstore
- Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak.
- DuPrau, Jeanne. City of Ember.
- DuPrau, Jeanne. The People of Sparks.
- Slonim, David. He Came with the Couch.
Carla Morris, librarian, Provo City Library
- Rylant, Cynthia. When I Was Young in the Mountains.
- Rylant, Cynthia. The Stars Will Also Shine.
- Lum, Kate. What? Cried Granny.
- Kloske, Geoffrey. Once Upon a Time, the End: Asleep in 60 Seconds.
And, yet, this still doesn't take into account any other books that may have been mentioned in passing.
A. E. Cannon, "Points to Ponder When Plotting"
- Schoen, Steven. The Truth About Fiction.
Mark McVeigh, "What Makes a Dutton Book"
- Marcus, Leonard S. Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom.
- Pinder, Margaret. But I Don't Want to Be a Movie Star.
- Libby. Blood Confession. (not yet released)
Mark McVeigh, "Publishing Etiquette"
- Simmons, Michael. Pool Boy.
Kimberley Heuston, "Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing Today"
- Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River.
- McLarty, Ron. The Memory of Running.
I'm thinking this should keep me busy for a while.
9 comments:
If you want to borrow "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, I have it... if you don't mind post-its and notes in the margins.
And you can't get that one at the library, at least at the BYU library, at least you couldn't in 1998. It made me feel cool to do a research project on it... almost like it was a banned book.
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Really? BYU doesn't have Hill House? How bizarre....
That is the only book among those you mentioned that I've read. The only one I own is Shakespeare's Secret. Which paucity I am quite proud of.
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So I just went to the HBLL site and looked and sure enough, no Hill House. Or not exactly.
They have two copies of the 60s film. They seem to have everything else she wrote (except maybe the second book about her kids?) even the volume of lost stories from about ten years ago and a picture book adapted from her work.
And they have Hill House. Sort of. They have a Reader's Digest condensed version from 1960.
This is such a bizarre oversight. Someone needs to embarrass a librarian. I have to believe they have no idea they're missing it.
This reminds me: I bought a book on Friday that made me think of you. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby. It's a series of articles he wrote about the books he buys and the books he reads and the books he doesn't read. . . I'll bring it Thursday
Yay! Another recommendation! And for Hornby. You're my Hero of the Day.
Wow, they have some of her books now? That's great! The only thing they had when I was looking for her stuff was the movie, (the 1960's which is the ONLY version that people should watch. Shirley Jackson spiraled in her grave when the new one came out-- I have "The Haunting" on DVD if you don't feel like reading the book) and a collection of her short stories.
When I spent a semester researching SJ I had to order "And Baby Makes Three," "The Road Through the Wall" and "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" from the UofU interlibrary loan, because her only book available at B&N was "The Haunting of Hill House" The librarian on BYU staff told me that probably the purchasing librarian in the 60's didn't like her work, and that was why they HBLL didn't have any of her stuff. Sad, because she is very good, and a major influence of the time. But, good to know they have her stuff now, maybe they did get embarrassed that they had to borrow from the U.
Sorry, Edgy... didn't mean to borrow so much of your blog comment room.
from Divided Details:
Can you be a bibliophile and a graphophobe at the same time? I am getting to a point in my schooling where I can't stand the thought of writing another thing, but I'd be happy to sit around reading all day. On another note, I have a roommate who is a turophile. She has all kinds of the stuff lying around our house.
I've also noticed that your wish list doesn't have enough Jaqueline Woodson, Walter Dean Myers, or Sandra Cisneros. Gotta get more multi-cultural, Edgy. I also throroughly recommend Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos. "How I went to prison on drug-smuggling charges and became a children's writer" doesn't begin to describe it.
You can't blame me for the lack of multicuturality on the list; this is just what was presented.
And I'm not a huge Walted Dean Myers fan. I liked Monster for its experimentation, but I don't really get into his writing. Angela Johnson, on the other hand . . .
You have given me the motivation to TRY to count all my books. I know I'm no where near you, but I'd still like to see how I measure up. :)
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