THE BEST TEEN FICTION OF 2013: according to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, & School Library Journal (click for larger image!)

I LOVE this time of year, when all the various review outlets reveal their favorite books of the past twelve months. It also reveals how thorough my purchasing was throughout the year - I’m always oh-so-excited to see that yes, I chose well. It also grants me one last opportunity to purchase books before the ALA Awards are announced - I’m happy to say that in the seven years I’ve been doing this, I’ve always had the Printz winner on my shelf!

A few notes before we begin discussion: There are more books on several of these lists, especially since SLJ & PW don’t separate teen lit from children’s lit for their end-of-the-year lists. I have no idea why. Also! This is based on what my library believes is teen; several titles are listed in teen when in fact my fellow librarians & I have placed them in juvenile fiction. And one last thing - this is just the fiction, not the non-fiction.

As much fun as I have creating the annual teen lit word cloud, this is not a good indicator of what will win the Printz. Last year, my annual ritual showed The Fault in Our Stars as the clear frontrunner, and well, we know how that went (I will never understand why it didn’t garner an honor. I see the arguments against the whole prize, but c’mon. Seriously?). Year before, in 2011, it was between Scorpio Races & Between Shades of Gray; Where Things Come Back was in tiny little font, having appeared on just one list. So! Although I do dearly hope Eleanor & Park goes home with the prize on January 27th, don’t rely on this as a good predictor.

So what do we think, Tumblr? I find it interesting that Fangirl isn’t bigger - perhaps its rightful status as “new adult” hurt its place in more lists?

We love this lit cloud (and not only because we can see some of our books. It's been a great year for YA!

tmi fan? thg fan? ask me anything here

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BLOODY BRILLIANT BOOKS CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY

It’s been a while since I hosted a giveaway and as I’ve just passed a blog milestone I felt it was time for another thank you to you guys for sticking with me. I really appreciate the support you guys give me with my reviews and writing and I feel really lucky to have you. You guys are always sending me kind words and contributing to my stuff and I’m really noticing now how thank full I am of you guys as I’ve had so much time away from my blog recently. This time around I have selected 10 of my favourite books from 2013 as it’s been such a wild year for me and these books have all given me something special. I will be giving away one paperback copy to the winner of this competition and an ebook copy to a runner up.

I have chosen these books carefully using a mix of a few different genres to hopefully satisfy every reader. I’m hoping that this list can also be used as a recommendation list for those who do not win, as they are all perfect for general reading. I have chosen 10 books and next to them I have linked both the goodreads page and a link to my review for those of you more interested.

1. BETWEEN SHADES OF GREY GOODREADS MY REVIEW 2. FANGIRL GOODREADS MY REVIEW 3. DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE GOODREADS MY REVIEW 4. THE DARKEST MINDS GOODREADS MY REVIEW 5. GRACELING GOODREADS MY REVIEW 6. MISS PEREGINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN GOODREADS MY REVIEW 7. STOLEN GOODREADS MY REVIEW 8. THE BOOK THIEF GOODREADS MY REVIEW 9. SHADOW AND BONE GOODREADS MY REVIEW 10. CODE NAME VERITY GOODREADS MY REVIEW

THE RULES

* The winners will be able to choose one book each from those listed above which I will then send them. * As this competition is a thank you for my followers I will only choose you as a winner if you are following me; to go to my blog click here. * The ebook competition is open worldwide to all those with an Ereader and the paperback competition is open to all those living in countries that either The Book Depository or Amazon deliver to. * To enter you can both like and reblog; likes will only qualify for the ebook competition and reblogs will count for both the paperback and the ebook competition. * You can enter as many times as you like; there is no limit per day or in total but try not to annoy people by constantly reblogging. *The competition ends at midnight GMT December 27th and the winners will be contacted in the following 24 hrs. * The winners will have 48 hours to respond before I choose another, they must also have an open ask box as that is how I will contact them. * It is not necessary for the competition but I would be grateful anyone who wants to friend me on goodreads, link here. Or follow my second blog Flipping Fantastic Films because I’m really hoping to kick this blog off on a larger scale as we move into the next year. * If you have any queries leave a message in my ask box and I will respond and update this post with the answers.

Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!

You could win SHADOW & BONE!