What's Happening this Month? "A is for..."

A is for...

1. An ARC (Advance Reading Copy) Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
2. Adapting to Severe Change: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
3. Anthologies, Collections of Short Stories
4. An Alternate WWI: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 
5. An Abundance of Admirable Books: Great Back-to-School Reads
6. An Announcement
7. Another Announcement
8. An Accompaniment to I Am Number Four: The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
9. Traveling Back to Ancient Times: A Possible Review of The Missing Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix 
10. Astonishing Heat

A is for...
    11. AUGUST on The Bookshelf!

(image via)

What's Happening this Month?

Happy July! Summer has been in progress for many days, many hot days, now! I’m sure many of you have visited the pool, or have been to the movies, or, maybe a lucky few of you, have visited some foreign countries. Whatever you have on your long list of planned things for this summer, summer reading should definitely be one of them. Whether you’re going to read because the “newness” of summer has begun to wear off, or if you’re going to read to make summer even more exciting, you can always find a list of great books right here on The Bookshelf! 

Starting off July right, on Monday, Independence Day, there will be a review of a great 4th of July read: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson! Chains is a phenomenal perspective (written by a phenomenal author, might I add) of a young female slave during the Revolutionary War, the war from which the U.S. won its independence from Great Britain (not so Great now, are ya?). (I have to stop using parenthesis now. I don’t want to look too unprofessional.)

There will also be reviews of the following books: Countdown by Deborah Wiles – everybody should read this fun and smart book immediately; Mockingbird, a touching book about a child with autism, by Kathryn Erskine; and Wish You Were Dead, a mysterious, psychological murder mystery page-turner, by Todd Strasser.   

On to polls! The results of the RECORD-BREAKING Poll #7 will be published on Thursday, the seventh. As promised, it will be like the Guinness Book of World Records, but ten times greater (As long as you can look past poor graphic design… Drat! I’m using another set of parenthesis!) Poll #8 – We’re almost at double digits! – will be arriving in mid-July. The topic? Ereaders and Ebooks. [cue scary music] duh duh duh! You’ll hear my thoughts, my preferences, my likes, my dislikes, my compliments, my complaints, and my statements on Ereaders and Ebooks later this month.

(How do you spell “ereader”? Is it all one word? Two words? Hyphenated? Spelled with a lowercase “e” and an uppercase “R”?)

And July will end on a strong note, with STRONG Characters. Yep, that’s STRONG, in all caps. I will be writing about what it means to be a STRONG character in a book, how their thought processes work, and how they succeed, or at least face and overcome adversity. There will be three, maybe two, examples of STRONG female character and three/two examples of STRONG male characters from young adult novels. 

So. A Quick Summary for July: 4th of July Day book + review, three more definite reviews, polls and poll results, Ereaders (E-readers? e-Readers? e readers? eReaders?) and Ebooks poll/discussion, STRONG (all caps!) Characters, summer reading, and summer heat! 

– Jacob

(image via)

What's Happening this Month?

May is over, and June, along with the summer heat that it brings, is in full swing! Last month was Favorite Author Month on The Bookshelf. This month will be bringing many new reviews, recommendations, and, yes, finally, polls to The Bookshelf. Summer officially starts on June 21st, but summer reading starts now!

Summer (or late spring – what it is right now) is a great time to enjoy a novel outside in the fresh air, or a great time to enjoy a novel inside your home, 65 degrees, in front of a fan, set on high. Either way, summer brings many opportunities to enjoy great books and read reviews about great books right here on The Bookshelf.

This month will feature reviews of Divergent, an engaging book about identity and decisions, by Veronica Roth and The Diary of a Young Girl, the world’s most famous primary source of World War Two’s horrible extermination of Jews, by Anne Frank. In addition to these two reviews, more reviews will be coming towards the mid and the end of June. 

Reviews are nice (very nice, in my opinion), but I’m sure you must be wondering, “What happened to the polls?” I know, I know – I promised new polls in both March and May, and I didn’t follow up with my promises. However, June will be different. I have two polls already pre-planned – pre-planned so I can’t make up an excuse saying that, “Oops! I forgot!” Expect the first of June’s polls on… okay, maybe I shouldn’t give an exact date, just in case I can’t make the date. Despite not having an official date, polls will be put into place soon.

A Quick Summary for June: Two definite reviews, more reviews are highly likely to be posted, two polls, summer heat, and fun. 

– Jacob 

(Image courtesy of Donna Hopkins, PatchWork Photos)

What's Happening this Month?

Attention, attention! All readers near and far get ready, because The Bookshelf, on May 16th, will be turning one-year-old! I am so proud of all the progress that The Bookshelf, and I, have made. Looking at previous posts from last year, I can see how much I've grown and developed compared to newer, more recent posts. I have discovered amazing books, enhanced my writing skills, and have developed an (even) greater respect for literature. But most importantly, I believe I am starting to complete my goal: to inform the world of great books.

I am receiving more and more page views, from twenty plus countries, I am reaching out to people on different ends of the globe, I am discovering what a huge world it truly is out there, and how the people of that world can meet together and share and discuss and seek on one simple book blog. The Bookshelf is slowly, but steadily, becoming one of these meeting places. I am proud, and I am in awestruck of all of the book lovers, young, old, new, shy, loud, and all of the different literature they like, fiction, non-, realistic, fantasy, mystery, romance, poetry. For it is not me or the web or even books that keep this blog alive. It is the readers, the viewers, the commenters, the praise"ers", and the criticizers that keep this blog alive and thriving.

Thank you.

There will be many posts special just to The Bookshelf and me this month. Look forward to reviews/recommendations of Gary D. Schmidt, a favorite author of mine, a review of The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan, another favorite author, a review of Unwind by Neal Shusterman, yet another (no surprise!) favorite author, and I'm sure a few more reviews of spectacular books. (Maybe I'll make this month favorite authors month. Hmmm...) Also on the horizon: part 2 of last year's Stats, a new poll featuring graphic novels (aka, comic books!), and, most endearing to me, a poem-ish post on May 16th about all that happened in one year.

There you have it! May will most certainly be a historical month for The Bookshelf! Once again, thank you to all my readers, and I hope that I will continue to post here for quite some time.

- Jacob Hopkins

(image courtesy of Donna Hopkins, PatchWork Photos)