Thoughts: My TBR Pile

Every librarian has one. Most people, in fact, do, in some way, shape or form. I'm talking about the TBR pile: the stack--or stacks--of books that are waiting to be read. When life intervenes on your reading, like it's doing for me this week, I look over my TBR stack and almost long to read. Instead, I'll just have to content myself with waiting until I can pick up a book again.

If you're curious, this is what's on my pile at the moment.

Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding--the last two books in the Betsy-Tacy series. I had never read this series, and I started after I read Meg Cabot's comments about these books set in a small Minnesota town in the early twentieth century. As so many people have discovered, these are delightful, charming books. I'm both looking forward and dreading reading these last two, because that means I'll be all done, and I won't have any new Betsy-Tacy books to read.

Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic--this is partly for me and partly for my book. I've been working away on a reader's advisory guide to YA historical fiction. The deadline for the manuscript is December 31, and I really have to make that deadline. Otherwise, I'll be working on the book at the same time as the Printz, and I don't see that ending with me retaining my sanity. And this book looks particularly good: a mashup of spiritualism and family relationships, set amidst the drama of the Titanic's sinking.

The A-List: Sunset Boulevard--out of all the readalike series that came after Gossip Girl, this series has remained my favorite. I honestly think it's better-written than most, and I've enjoyed the character relationships. Now that the series has been rebooted, it's taking me a little time to get interested in the new characters, but I think this second book will do the trick. I had the same experience with the Gossip Girl: The Carlyles series, and now I really enjoy that series. So here's hoping for more lifestyles of the rich and famous!

Libyrinth: A Fabulous Adventure on a Strange World of the Future--I heard about this book somewhere, and put it on hold. When I received it and read the jacket copy, I practically cheered at the thought of a science-fiction novel concerning books and libraries. On a world far from Earth, thousands of years from now, Haly lives in the Libyrinth, a library so vast people sometimes get lost in it and never come out again. A clerk to the Libyrarian Selene, she and all the Libyrinth's residents are dedicated to protecting the books, for within them rests the sum of all human knowledge brought from Earth in the distant past.

I think you can understand why I'm so eager to get back to reading. Hope everyone's been able to keep up with their TBR pile better than me!

Thoughts: Reading Post-Gossip Girl YA Literature

As someone who tends to look back, not forward, it's always interesting to me to look back and see how trends begin, and how they go in unexpected directions. I was reminded of this when I finished reading Rumors, the second book in The Luxe series, in preparation for book three, Envy, which is being published later this month. I remember picking up the ARC for The Luxe, looking at the cover, and then turning it over to the read the blurb. As I read, I thought to myself, "It's Edith Wharton meets Gossip Girl."

I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the blurb when it said The Luxe was "The Age of Innocence meets Gossip Girl." It's not often I get things so very right.

Yet what's more interesting to me is how Gossip Girl has become more than just one series; it's touched off ripples throughout young adult literature that goes beyond similar series like The A-List or The Clique. You have The Luxe, a historical twist on Gossip Girl, which is going so strong that it seems to have inspired it's own lookalike imitator, La Petite Four. And that's just one example of how Gossip Girl changed publishing.

I've been equally intrigued by how the Gossip Girl series has changed series publishing, as well. Those of us who grew up on Sweet Valley High know that paperback series never changed for the long-term. Yet Gossip Girl drew its original storyline to a close, and then did a reset, starting over with a new group of characters. It's a risky proposition, and I felt that Gossip Girl: The Carlyles was a shaky start. Happily, You Just Can't Get Enough, book #2 in the Carlyles series, was much stronger, and I feel that the Carlyles series will turn out to be just as addictive as the original series. I'm now waiting with baited breath to see how the reboot of The A-List turns out, as The A-List was my personal favorite of all these series.

What are your thoughts on Gossip Girl? For good or for worse, it's changed YA literature, in ways we're still figuring out. Do you think Twilight will have the same impact? Or is there something waiting in the wings that will surpass anything else?

(My apologies for the radio silence last week . . . life got in the way of blogging!)