Bookshelf Traveling - May 22, 2020

It's time for more Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which is hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.

The idea is to share your bookshelves. Any aspect you like, as long as you are entertained, including:

1. Home

2. Books in the home

3. Touring books in the home

4. Books organized or not organized on shelves, in bookcases, in stacks, or heaped in a helter-skelter fashion on any surface, including the floor, the top of the piano, etc.

5. Talking about books and reading experiences from the past, present, or future.

 

This is not a shelf but a pile of advance readings copies (ARCs) I brought home from the ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia back in February.  There are few things as much fun as picking up books that have not yet been published but I had to carry everything back on the bus so I was fairly restrained. I still filled three bags and shared some with my sixth-grade niece, an excellent reader.  In no particular order:

Above All Else by Dana Alison Levy – YA fiction about teens climbing Mt. Everest

A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison – YA fiction - When her parents take in a troubled teen boy, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames.

The Golden Key by Marian Womack – A historical gothic mystery set in the Norfolk Fens in 1901.  This one definitely caught my eye because of the beautiful cover!

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman – My friend Bettina had just recommended this offbeat thriller about a drug dealer so I was surprised and pleased to come across it.

The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith - I recognized this author’s name from Flygirl, which I liked, so snagged it at once.   It turns out to be a historical YA novel set during WWII about two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war.

The Mystery of the Masked Medalist (Kudo Kids #1) by Alex and Maia Shibutani with Michelle Schusterman - I am a big fan of the Shib Sibs so had to pick up this middle grade mystery set at the 2020 Olympics.  Which got postponed.  Which is sad for this Olympics groupie, not to mention all the athletes worldwide.  I realize 

Jo and Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz – This is a YA retelling of Little Women.  I hope that Jo doesn’t reject Laurie in this version!  No spoilers!

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper.   This is historical fiction about the first integrated women’s Olympic team, and these women’s journeys to the 1936 summer games in Berlin, Nazi Germany.

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry – I had heard about this book and was hoping to find a copy at the show. Set in the coastal town of Danvers, Massachusetts, where the accusations began that led to the 1692 witch trials, it follows the 1989 field hockey team, which will do anything to make it to the state finals—even if it means tapping into some devilishly dark powers. 

Because I often review books that are older or out of print, I thought it would be interesting to look at these new unread books (the stack was bigger in February before I started reading them).  Some of them have been moved by their publishers from spring to fall 2020 so they won’t get lost during the pandemic.  I hope bookstores are open again (safely) soon!

I am excited that my friend Judith read And Both Were Young, which I recommended in my last post, and she really liked it.   What is more satisfying than sharing a book with a kindred spirit?