The Bookslingers Bookslinging Podcast #14: In Which Miss Corene Suffers from Political Distraction

Today is World Book Night! Day! Night!

If you're in the UK, US or Ireland, anyway. If you're not, it's just Monday.

It's the 60th anniversary of Charlotte's web!

Also, Charles Dickens and J.R.R. Tolkien's heirs are writing a children's book! It will probably be very long. (And probably also good! Which I say so that Corene won't hit me! (I kid. I'm sure it will be awesome. But she's a little... intense about Dickens. A little.)

Books from this week's podcast:

• The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
• Bud, Not Buddy by
• The View from Saturday by
• Circus Galacticus by Deva Fagan

Download the Bookslingers Podcast #14! (Right-click and Save As...)

New book! New book! New book!

*Swoon*

New Grace Lin! Starry River of the Sky looks to be every bit as gorgeous as Lin's last middle grade novel, the award-winning Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Starry River of the Sky is available on October 2nd, 2012.

The Bookslingers Bookslinging Podcast #13: It isn't that we hate ALL the books

The American Library Association has released their list of Most Challenged Books of 2011. On this year's list are Lauren Myracle's TTYL series (for "religious viewpoint," whatever that means, among other reasons), the ever-favoured (see what I did there?) The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, whose most hilarious reason is "occult/satanic" (WE HAVE NO IDEA EITHER) and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. Check it out! As responsible adults we are honour-bound to recommend you read every single one of these books, in the spirit of things-people-want-to-make-sure-you-can't-read-are-probably-worth-reading-for-one-reason-or-another.

This year's School Library Journal Battle of the Kids' Books has come to an end, and the winner is... *drumroll* Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt!

We... were not overwhelmed with awe and amazement over this week's Book of the Week. We promise, we're going to review a book we actually like for next podcast.

Books from this week's podcast:

• Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil and Kaja Foglio
• The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
• Freshman: Tales of 9th Grade Obsessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense by Corinne Mucha
• Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver
• A Study in Sherlock edited by Laurie R. King
• Twin Spica Volume 11 by Kou Yaginuma
• The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
• The Countdown by Deborah Wiles
• The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty

Download the Bookslingers Podcast #13! (Right-click and Save As...)

The Bookslingers Bookslinging Podcast, Special Video Edition: Nerds in the Wild; Emerald City Comicon 2012

Sorry guys, no download link for the video - yet. I'm still fighting with Premiere, which has gotten a good deal more complicated to use since I last used it in 2003. o.O

This week's Special Video Edition is brought to you on-location at Seattle's Emerald City Comicon, with Special Guest Host Pippa of coincidentalreality.com. Learn about cons (if you've never been to one), nerds in the wild, and watch as I conscript those around me into taking part. Good times!

Books from this week's podcast:

• Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
• Feed by M.T. Anderson
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
• The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
• The Wump World by Bill Peet