Battle 2011 Round 2 Shortlist (and a trailer too)

Well, here it is as promised. After several weeks of delays I am pleased to announce both the shortlisted titles that are moving on to Round 2 for the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle, and reveal our battle trailer. If you've forgotten the contenders, check them out first here at the post about the battle's longlist.

In case you hadn't guessed yet, this is the small suprise I hinted at in yesterday's post. One of the reasons the shortlist took so long is I was trying to get the trailer just right (like last year's awesome video), so I hope you enjoy the result.  If you like the way it turned out, let me know, I'm always happy to know something I worked hard on was enjoyed:









(for thsoe who would rather watch on YouTube, you can find it here).





For those of you who don't watch videos, or the link isn't working, here's the shortlist in text form:

Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland
John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles
Kathleen's Story (Angels in Pink) by Lurlene McDaniel
Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth
Keturah And Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kristen Miller
Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Polly and the Pirates, Volume 1 by Ted Naifeh
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Stork by Wendy Delsol
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman
The Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan
Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

So what now?  Judge confirmation emails will be going out in the next day or two and after a (hopefully) brief organization period, we'll get Round 2 of the battle underway!

Best Book Trailers of 2010

Book trailers have come a long way. The first time I saw a book trailer was in 2007 I think, and it wasn't much more than a bunch of pictures and some text. And while there's nothing wrong with that kind of trailer, they've also gotten lots more sophisticated over the last 3 years.

So my first 2010 wrap up is sharing with you (in no particular order) my top 10 book trailers of 2010. I haven't read all of these (actually I haven't read most of them) but they sure do make me want to read them all right away!

So which trailers were your favorite this year? Any you really liked that I missed?

Breathless Reads (The Eternal Ones, The Replacement, Nightshade, Matched, and Sapphique)


The Karma Club by Jessica Brody


Heist Society by Ally Carter


Vixen (The Flappers) by Jillian Larkin


Matched by Ally Condie


Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale (not actually a 2010 book, but I saw the trailer on Shannon Hale's blog in Feb of 2010, which is why it makes the cut)


The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood


Mistwood by Leah Cypess


Hearts at Stake (Drake Chronicles, Book 1) by Alyxandra Harvey (also technically a 2009 book, but I saw in Feb 2010)


The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa