TeenLibrarian.co.uk

This blog has been silent for a long time, while I was preoccupied with Bea's arrival & then being the London CKG Judge for 2017 & 2018. Instead of starting it back up again though, my mate Matt asked me if I'd come on board with TeenLibrarian.co.uk &, of course, I agreed! I've contributed the occasional article to the Teen Librarian Monthly newsletter but from now on I'm going to attempt to be a more regular blogger over there, so please do follow me over...

Carnegie 2016 - my personal shortlist

The official CKG shortlists will be announced on Tuesday 15th March, when shadowing groups around the country will suddenly burst into life and twitter will be abuzz with opinions and reviews.  Next year I wont be allowed to tell you my shortlist because I will be one of the real judges (woo), having to look carefully at the criteria instead of just saying whether I enjoyed it or not!  Normally I would have read all the choices before making my list but there were 4* I didn't get to (trying to keep up with things eligible for next year!) so they had no chance of making my shortlist, but those that have are a fabulously diverse range of titles.  I look forward to seeing how many make the real list:

One by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)

The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold (Bloomsbury)

Jessica's Ghost by Andrew Norriss (David Fickling Books)

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett (Penguin Random House)

Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders (Faber)

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (MiraInk, HarperCollins)

Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle (Atom Books)

There are a couple there that I think could be winners, the one winner is announced on Monday 20th June!

*I haven't had the chance to read these:

Book by John Agard (Walker Books)

The Earth Is Singing by Vanessa Curtis (Usborne)

Panther by David Owen (Little, Brown Book Group)

My Name's Not Friday by Jon Walter (David Fickling Books)

so who knows if they're shortlist-worthy?!

Carnegie Kate Greenaway 2016!

This blog was scheduled to 'go live' on Sunday but obviously didn't & I forgot about it! Never mind, means I can add a link to the real list plus BfK reviews which is slightly different to my own...

Dusting off my blog (regular twitter followers will know I have a better excuse than usual for not blogging: I called her Bea) to share my personal longlist for #Carnegie16.  The CKG nominations were announced in October and I had already read about half of the Carnegie, far fewer of the Greenaway, but decided not to read any more before the shortlists as my reading time has been pretty limited lately!  So of those that I'd read, these are my top 20.  Hopefully the official list (announced on the 16th February) includes a few of them...

Benwell, Sarah. The Last Leaves Falling
Crossan, Sarah. One
David, Keren. This Is Not A Love Story
Elson, Jane. How To Fly With Broken Wings
Fowley- Doyle, Moira. The Accident Season
Gayton, Sam (author) Cottrill, Peter (illustrator). Hercufleas
Hardinge, Frances. The Lie Tree
Lake, Nick.There Will Be Lies
Nadin, Joanna. Joe All Alone
Nielsen, Susin. We Are All Made Of Molecules
Ness, Patrick. The Rest Of Us Just Live Here
Nix, Garth. Clariel
Norriss, Andrew. Jessica's Ghost
Pratchett, Terry (author) Kidby, Paul (illustrator)The Shepherd's Crown
Saunders, Kate. Five Children on the Western Front
Stratton, Allan. The Dogs
Talley, Robin. Lies We Tell Ourselves
Wein, Elizabeth. Black Dove, White Raven
Wheatle, Alex. Liccle Bit
Williamson, Lisa. The Art Of Being Normal

My #CKG15 shortlist!

The official shortlist comes out on Tuesday, & having read all the longlist I thought I'd share my favourites:

My Brother's Shadow by Tom Avery (Andersen Press)
When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
Tinder by Sally Gardner (author) and David Roberts (illustrator) (Orion Children's Books)
More Than This by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
Trouble by Non Pratt (Walker Books)
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff (Penguin Books)
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (Electric Monkey)

There have been 8 on the list in recent years so I picked my top 8, I'm sure they won't all make the cut but I'm really looking forward to seeing how much overlap there is with the real one!

I honestly can't say which is my favourite to win, the judges have a difficult decision to make...

#CKG15 personal longlist

Tuesday February 10th will see the announcement of the official longlist for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway 2015 medals, woo!  It will also mean schools around the country start shadowing the award in earnest, something I'm not going to be involved in much this year because my maternity leave will begin shortly after the shortlist announcement...next year I imagine I'll focus more on the Greenaway :-)

Have a look at my post a couple of months ago about the nominations.  I've not done too badly with the reading list but there are still 33 of them that I haven't got to.  Of those there are a few that I think potentially could end up on the longlist, and of course there are some that I've read that will be on the real one, but these are my top 20:

Avery, Tom. My Brother's Shadow

Bedford, Martyn. Never Ending

Booth, Anne. Girl With A White Dog

Conaghan, Brian. When Mr. Dog Bites

Creech, Sharon. The Boy On The Porch

Crossan, Sarah. Apple and Rain

Crowe, Sara. Bone Jack

Dawson, James. Say Her Name

Doherty, Berlie. The Company of Ghosts

Doyle, Roddy. Brilliant

Earle, Phil. The Bubble Wrap Boy

Easton, T.S. Boys Don't Knit

Gardner, Sally (author) Roberts, David ( illustrator) Tinder

Furniss, Clare. The Year of the Rat

Hall, Tim. Shadow of the Wolf

Hardinge, Frances. Cuckoo Song

Ness, Patrick. More Than This

Pratt, Non. Trouble

Rosoff, Meg. Picture Me Gone

Slater, Kim. Smart: A Mysterious Crime, A Different Detective

Of the 60 or so that I read there are only two that I didn't think were really good books so I really struggled to make this list.  I can't wait til Tuesday to see how close to the real list I am!

#CKG15 nominations!

It is that time of year again, and I realise I haven't posted anything since last April!  The longlists are insanely long, 91 on the Carnegie, so I'm probably not going to see my good friend Matt for a few months as he gets through them in his official capacity of a judge.  So really quickly, I'm highlighting the ones I've read in red and the ones on my tbr pile in green, and at the end are my top picks from what I know of the list.  I've only read just over a third of them though, and some I know nothing about so my longlist is bound to change by February!

Angus, Sam. Captain

Avery, Tom. My Brother's Shadow

Baldacci, David. The Finisher

Barraclough, Lindsey. The Mark of Cain

Bedford, Martyn. Never Ending

Bergin, Virginia. The Rain

Black, Holly. The Coldest Girl In Coldtown

Blaxill, Gina. Saving Silence

Booth, Anne. Girl With A White Dog

Bowler, Tim. Night Runner

Boyne, John. Stay Where You Are And Then Leave

Breslin, Theresa. Ghost Soldier

Brooks, Kevin. The Ultimate Truth: Travis Delaney Investigates

Butler, Heather. Us Minus Mum

Buxton, Jamie. Temple Boys

Cain, Cate. The Jade Boy

Camden, Steve. Tape

Cantor, Jillian. Searching For Sky

Carroll. Emma. The Girl Who Walked On Air

Cassidy, Anne. Finding Jennifer Jones

Chan, Crystal. Bird

Christopher, Lucy. The Killing Woods

Conaghan, Brian. When Mr. Dog Bites

Cotterill, Jo. Looking At The Stars

Creech, Sharon. The Boy On The Porch

Crossan, Sarah. Apple and Rain

Crow, Matthew. In Bloom

Crowe, Sara. Bone Jack

David, Keren. Salvage

Dawson, James. Say Her Name

Day, Susie. Pea's Book of Holidays

Dickinson, Matt. The Everest Files

Doherty, Berlie. The Company of Ghosts

Don, Lari. Mind Blind

Doyle, Roddy. Brilliant

Earle, Phil. The Bubble Wrap Boy

Easton, T.S. Boys Don't Knit

Elson, Jane. A Room Full Of Chocolate

Furniss, Clare. The Year of the Rat

Gaiman, Neil. Fortunately, The Milk

Gardner, Sally. Tinder

Gavin, Jamila. Blackberry Blue: And Other Fairy Tales

Gemin, Giancarlo. Cowgirl

Gibbons, Alan. Hate

Gilman, David. Monkey and Me

Gleitzman, Morris. Loyal Creatures

Green, Sally. Half Bad

Haig, Matt. Echo Boy

Hall, Tim. Shadow of the Wolf

Hardinge, Frances. Cuckoo Song

Haughton, Emma. Now You See Me

Hearn, Julia. Dance Of The Dark Heart

Helsby, Genevieve. My First Orchestra Book

Howes, M.J. Feed

Ho-Yen, Polly. Boy In The Tower

Inglis, Lucy. City of Halves

Johnson, Catherine. Sawbones

Laird, Elizabeth. The Fastest Boy In The World

Landman, Tanya. Buffalo Soldier

Lewis, Gill. Scarlet Ibis

Lockhart, E. We Were Liars

Mason, Simon. Running Girl

Massey, David. Taken

McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Middle Of Nowhere

McGovern, Cammie. Amy and Matthew

McGowan, Anthony. Hello Darkness

McKenzie, Sophie. Every Second Counts

Mitton, Tony. Wayland

Moorhouse, Tom. The River Singers

Ness, Patrick. More Than This

Nicholls, Sally. Close Your Pretty Eyes

Pass, Emma. The Fearless

Pratt, Non. Trouble

Rai, Bali. Web of Darkness

Reeve, Phillip. Oliver and the Seawigs

Riddell, Chris. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse

Rix, Megan. A Soldier's Friend

Robinson, Hilary. Where the Poppies Now Grow

Rosoff, Meg. Picture Me Gone

Sales, Leila. This Song Will Save Your Life

Sedgwick, Marcus. She Is Not Invisible

Sharpe, Tess. Far From You

Slater, Kim. Smart: A Mysterious Crime, A Different Detective

Smith, Alex. Devilskein and Dearlove

Smith, Andrew. Grasshopper Jungle

Stevens, Robin. Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells and Wong Mystery

Sutcliffe, William. Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom

Suzuma, Tabitha. Hurt

Symon, Andrew. Jack Shian and the Mapa Mundi

Walter, Jon. Close To The Wind

Westcott, Rebecca. Dandelion Clocks

I will have definitely read more than half of them before the longlist is announced on February 10th, but at the moment my top 20 (that was how long the longlist was last time) are:

1. Bedford, Martyn. Never Ending
2. Bergin, Virginia. The Rain
3. Black, Holly. The Coldest Girl In Coldtown
4. Booth, Anne. Girl With A White Dog
5. Boyne, John. Stay Where You Are And Then Leave
6. Cassidy, Anne. Finding Jennifer Jones
7. Conaghan, Brian. When Mr. Dog Bites
8. Crossan, Sarah. Apple and Rain
9. Crowe, Sara. Bone Jack
10. Dawson, James. Say Her Name
11. Doyle, Roddy. Brilliant
12. Earle, Phil. The Bubble Wrap Boy
13. Easton, T.S. Boys Don't Knit
14. Gardner, Sally. Tinder
15. Hardinge, Frances. Cuckoo Song
16. Ness, Patrick. More Than This
17. Pratt, Non. Trouble
18. Rosoff, Meg. Picture Me Gone
19. Slater, Kim. Smart: A Mysterious Crime, A Different Detective
20. Smith, Andrew. Grasshopper Jungle

It was really difficult to get the list down as there are so many great books this year!

So many questions: can Tinder do the double - nominated for the Carnegie and the Greenaway?  Might we have a "middle grade" funny winner that no one will complain about? Will Patrick Ness win again? Take a look at all the details, including the fabulous Greenaway nominations, on the official CKG site.

#papervspixels April Challenge: thoughts

I have a Nook that I bought in order to use Netgalley.  I read far too much to buy every book so rely on libraries a lot and, if I were to ever pay money to read a book, I would always rather buy a 'real' copy so that it could live on my shelves at home rather than only exist for as long as the technology does...perhaps that is silly but when the power goes out who'll be laughing eh?  I've only read a few dozen books on the Nook in the year or so since buying it so when I saw the #papervspixels challenge on twitter I decided it would do me good to try and use it more!  So for the month of April I only read electronically...

Expecting to really struggle and be tempted to my massive TBR pile at home, I had a look on Netgalley  and requsted some titles.  I was pleased to see a couple of titles I had on my shelves so that I could kill 2 birds with one stone: 'Smart' by Kim Slater, 'Vango: Between Sky and Earth' by Timothee de Fombelle and Roddy Doyle's 'Brilliant'.  Some, 'Cuckoo Song' by Francess Hardinge, 'The Finisher' by David Baldacci and 'Echo Boy' by Matt Haig, I wanted to read anyway and others, 'Don't Even Think About It' by Sarah Mlynowski and 'Half my Facebook Friends are Ferrets' by J.A. Buckle I just liked the look of.  I also read a book that I'd bought in a K*ndle sale months ago on the app on our iPad, the wonderful 'Mr Penumbra's 24hour Bookstore' by Robin Sloan.

pros:

• I didn't miss the feel of books as much as I thought I would because the convenience of having it lying on the table made it really easy to read at the same time as eating
• much lighter bag to carry around
• easier to hold on a busy train or while waiting for one
• no panic about having a second book in case I finish the one I'm reading when nowhere near home or a library!
• I actually found it easier to decide what to read - in fact I just read them in the order in which I downloaded them
•  It was great to get round to reading things I'd intended to read for ages but because they're not physically in front of me other books kept taking precedence!

cons:

• constant fretting that the battery might die or the book corrupt (it has only happened a couple of times, but never happens with paper!)
• because they were proofs in some instances the formatting was wonky which could be distracting
• pictures never look as good electronically as they do on a real page
• I missed looking at the cover and reading the blurb before beginning reading (but often with proofs you miss that anyway)
• I might have skim read a little more than usual, and frustratingly often accidentally tapped the screen to turn the page before I'd actually finished reading the page...
• I can't pass it on to another reader (or wave the library copy under someone's nose)
• If I hadn't had access to Netgalley, i.e. I were any normal non-library/publishing/blogging person, it would have been a far greater struggle to find something worth reading because the library selection of eBooks is currently rubbish and I have a long term book buying ban that I will only break in extreme circumstances (e.g. when a new Pratchett is available for pre-order...)

I don't think the process of reading these books electronically affected my enjoyment of them although I definitely didn't prefer it to reading hardcopy books.  I actually preferred reading on the iPad to the Nook when sitting eating breakfast but when travelling the Nook was far easier.  I guess the point is that no one format is perfect for every occasion.  From a purely practical point of view eReading is easier but from a purely aesthetic point of view 'real' books are far superior.

What I liked best about the challenge was that I had a set list of things I would read that month so I'm thinking I'll do that again.  The books in my bedroom are always library books + those given to me that I want to read asap, but I often get distracted by the bigger pile downstairs or by new arrivals.  So for the next few weeks that pile is only going to shrink as I am not going to let myself look further than the bedroom set when choosing the next read until it is empty, then I can enjoy refilling it!  What should I pick first though?