Book Battle: Round 2 Series 1 Winners (Part 2)

Ready for more winners? Then you've come to the right place. It's time to announce a few more winners from our Round 2 brackets. Which book will come out victorious? Will there be more upsets? Who is the favorite to win? Read on to find out...

Bracket 7:
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce VS. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kristen Miller
Judged by Fantasylover from A Fangirl's Mind and Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st Century

I'll admit I had quite an interest in seeing how this bracket turned out.  I enjoyed once of Elizabeth Bunce's earlier books, and Kiki Strike is one of my favorite middle grade books (although the second one is better).  So which one would come out on top?

Here's what Judge Kristen had to say about the winner:

"I absolutely fell in love with this book. The writing is fantastic and the author does a excellent job of drawing you into the story quickly and reveals a little of Digger's past slowly over the course of the book. The characters were unique and intriguing, especially the bad guys. I really remembered their names even if the characters were minor. The plot itself twisted and turned and really widened into this huge plot that made me glad to find out that this is a series."

And Fantasylover adds:

"But on the whole, this book is fantastic and I don't know why it didn't become more popular. It has a great fantasy world-building that I adore, the writing is fantastic, there's a great sense of humor to it, it explores shades of gray, there are secrets and twists that I wasn't expecting as well as political intrigue and a sense that something big is coming."

Which book are the talking about?  The winner is...StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce!  So I'll admit I was a tiny bit disappointed to see Kiki go, but I haven't read StarCrossed yet.  If it's that good, I think it needs to go to the top of my TBR list.



Bracket 8:
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher VS.  Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Judged by Erika of Moonlight Book Reviews and Jessica from Nisaba Be Praised

This was another bracket I had my eye on.  I recently finished Threads and Flames myself and really enjoyed it.  And while I hadn't yet read Whale Talk, the judges from Round 1 who did read it highly praised its virtues.  So which one did the judges pick?

Judge Erika had this to say:

"We decided on [the winner] for it had the most emotional intensity and a story we thought needed to be told. I actually cried during the novel and as we know that doesn't happen often. I wish it was required that everyone read this book!"

And Judge Jessica adds:

"It's a bit unfortunate that Erika and I have similar tastes in books, really, because it meant that [one book] was an underdog from the start. Besides identifying more with [one book], however, I felt that [the other]...is a bit more well known. [The winner] needs more attention than it's received, and that's why we've chosen it to move on."

Both emotionally charged books, so which one was the one who came out on top. Perhaps you already guessed, but the winner is...Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner!  My sentiments are pretty much the same about Threads and Flames, so I'm happy to see it move on.  Sounds like Whale Talk was very good too, so maybe it's due for a resurrection in Round 4?  We'll have to wait and see...

StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce and Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner will both be moving on to Bracket 16 in Series 2, where they will go head to head with each other.



Bracket 9:
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer VS.  Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Judged by Raspberry and Trackgeek of Two and A Half Booklovers

Have I mentioned how many of these brackets I was anxiously watching.  Again, one of my favorite books (City of Masks) coming up against a book I've heard nothing but praises about.  These two were pretty evenly matched.  Two great adventure stories, one a historical fantasy, and one a historical... uh... historical.  This bracket was also unique in our judging pairs, with the husband and wife from Two and A Half Booklovers teaming up to judge the two books.  So which did they pick?

"It was incredibly difficult - as you can see, both books frequently got similar grades in each category. However, one was slightly better overall..."

Sounds like a difficult choice! So which one slightly edged out over the other? The winner is...Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman!So I'm happy with the result, and then yet again, sad to see Bloody Jack go. Perhaps that's another book that will reappear later on...

If you'd like to see what final category made City of Masks land on top, make sure you click through to read the full post. And check out all the other judges' posts too. There's some great writings out there, and you might find a new favorite blog.

More decisions coming tomorrow!

Book Battle: Round 2 Series 1 Winners (Part 1)

So despite a little delay, here's the winners for Series 1 of our Round 2 brackets!  I'm going to be splitting these up over the next few days so no one gets overwhelmed by all 12 on one day.  There were some excellent brackets this time around, so without further ado, here we go!

Bracket 2:
Keturah And Lord Death by Martine Leavitt VS. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Judged by Lieder Madchen from Songs and Stories

A bracket with a fairytale flair!  I've been meaning to read Keturah for ages now, and managed to get my hands on The Grimm Legacy last October and really enjoyed it.  This is one of those brackets that was hard for me to watch since I badly wanted both books to move on.  A difficult decision for our judge!

Here's what our judge had to say about both books:

"The plot [of one book] was good if a little confusing at times with twists and turns but nothing truly surprising, but mostly it was the characters and setting that made the book so much fun. I have handed this book off to both of my sisters and I am sure they will enjoy it as much as I did."
"[The other book] was an interesting read and I really enjoyed it, but I don't think it would be for everyone. It is frankly rather strange."

So which book won?

The winner for this bracket is...The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman! It will be moving on to Series 2, where it will come up against



Bracket 3:
Kathleen's Story (Angels in Pink) by Lurlene McDaniel VS. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Judged by Rachel from Jacob's Beloved's Books and Chloe from YA Booklover Blog

Just like our last bracket had a fairytale flair, this one seems to be all about contemporary books. Both were books I'd never heard before, and Kathleen's Story came highly recommended by our Round 1 Judges.  So an easy decision, or maybe a hard one?

Here's what Judge Chloe had to say about the two titles:

"While [the first book] was fun, romantic, and simple, it was nothing that special, and I know both myself and Rachel felt let down by the ending. Either way, I still enjoyed the book... But then I picked up [the other title], and it completely blew me away!"

And Judge Rachel adds:

"While the [winning] book does technically fit into the genre of YA, I really believe that everyone should read this book. I have never read anything like this, and hopefully I will remember to encourage my children to read this when they are old enough!"

So which book came out on top? Was it the Round 1 judges' favorite? Or the underdog?  Well, the winner for this bracket is...Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper!



Bracket 4:
The Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda VS. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro
Judged by Bookworm1858 from A subjective journal of what I've read and seen

You may have notice that Bookworm1858 sounds a little familiar.  She was one of our fastest readers for judging in Round 1, and kindly agreed to help judge Round 2 as well.  When her partner had to withdraw from judging, she shouldered even more of the judging burden.  So she's a judging superstar!

But what about the books?

"This was a tough bracket to judge because on the one hand, we have British, dark, action, paranormal, intersections of history and religion; on the other hand, there is American, light, comedy, romance, teenage angst. Totally different, right? But what it came down to was how connected I felt to the characters, which only happened in [the winning book]."

Which book has more connecting characters? The winner is...Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro Whoa, that was a bit of an upset I think! I certainly didn't see it coming! This book will be moving on to Bracket 14 in Series 2, where it will be going up against Bracket 2's winner, Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

That's it for this first roundup.  Keep an eye out in the next few days for the rest of the decisions.  And don't forget to click through on the links to all the judges' blogs to read their full posts.  There's a lot of great discussions out there!

Roundup Delayed... but still coming!

So I know the winners for Series 1 were supposed to be announced this week.  And if you follow any of our judges' blogs, then you probably already know many of the winners!  Unfortunately, I've been dealing with computer access issues this week, and although I can check my email at work, Blogger is not so friendly to the internet filters.  Add in a few other brackets I've been trying to chase down results for, and it's been a busy week! 

So... the round will start coming out tomorrow.  I will be chasing down everyone's posts, so if you haven't seen all (or any) of the winners yet, look for those coming starting tomorrow, and I promise this time.  :)  Meanwhile, our Series 2 judges are busy reading, so before you know it there will be more winners to announce. 

Here's hoping the technology just agrees with me this time...

2011 Bracket Announcements

As brackets are judged, the winners will be announced here.  So if you're looking for a one-stop post to find battle winners, this is a good one to bookmark!

This battle is going to be intense! Some of my favorites are in these lists, and yet they all can't win. But who will come out triumphant?

Series are listed in chronological order, so scroll to the bottom for the newest updates.

Series 1

Bracket 1:
Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund VS. Intrinsical by Lani Woodland

Bracket 2:
Keturah And Lord Death by Martine Leavitt VS. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Bracket 3:
Kathleen's Story (Angels in Pink) by Lurlene McDaniel VS. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Bracket 4:
The Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda VS. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro

Bracket 5:
Polly and the Pirates, Volume 1 by Ted Naifeh VS. Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Bracket 6:
Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth VS. Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Bracket 7:
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce VS. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kristen Miller

Bracket 8:
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Bracket 9:
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Bracket 10:
John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles VS. Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Bracket 11:
The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan VS. Stork by Wendy Delsol

Bracket 12:
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle VS. Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein

Series 2

Bracket 13:
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland VS. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Bracket 14:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Ferraro

Bracket 15:
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding VS. Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Bracket 16:
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Bracket 17:
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles

Bracket 18:
Stork by Wendy Delsol VS. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

Series 3

Bracket 19:
Intrinsical by Lani Woodland VS. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Bracket 20:
Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Bracket 21:
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. Stork by Wendy Delsol

Series 4

Bracket 22:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Bracket 23:
Stravaganza: City Of Masks by Mary Hoffman VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce (revived this round)

Series 5 (final round)

Bracket 24:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper VS. StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Book Battle: Round 2 Offical Starting Line!

Yikes! This is what happens when I'm creating a post and forget to hit the "publish" button. This one has been sitting around for almost a week!

So, although belated, this is the official starting line for Round 2 of the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle! Our 24 finalists from Round 1 have been organized into brackets, and a panel of 22 judges is currently reading their hearts out to try and pick a winner for each bracket. If you'd like to see which books are matched up, you can check out the bracket graphic below (click to make it bigger):



In case you need a little more clarity, here's how the whole thing will work: Each pair of judges has been assigned a numbered bracket. Each bracket has two books assigned for those judges to read. At the end of two weeks, each partnership will pick a winner. One book will move on, one will not. The one that moves on will become part of a bracket in the next round and will have a chance to move on or not depending on what the new judges decide.

While the judges complete Series 1, there won't be a lot of battle action going on. But once winners have been chosen, I'll be periodically posting the winners. So if you're waiting to see what happens, start checking back every few days in about a week.

Quick Reminder for Round 2 Judges

Just a quick note to any Round 2 Judges....

If you previously signed up to judge Round 2, and  you have not gotten an email from me confirming your spot in the last two days, then you are not currently signed up to judge.  Please send me an email right away at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com to let me know. 

Thanks!

Book Battle: Round 2 Ready to Go

After about 10 hours of collective work, the brackets for Round 2 have finally been organized!  Today is the official kickoff for the reading period of Round 2, so keep your eye open today or tomorrow for the announcement of the brackets.  Judges are being sent confirmation emails throughout the day, and I'm just waiting for some of those confirmations to come in before announcing anything. 

Meanwhile, there are still 8 spots left if anyone has not had the opportunity to be a judge and would like to be.  Just send me an email and let me know you want to participate. 

Let the battle begin!

Random Day 6: Two for the Price of One!

Okay, so it is 11:34 p.m. on Friday night and I am changing my plan for today's (Saturday's) post. I had originally intended something completely different to share today, but I just found something and I had to share.

This comes to you again courtesy of my brother, who is just as much of a Disney nut as I am. And he likes Star Wars too. And yes, it is a Disney YouTube thing again. But stick with me for a second.

For those of you who don't know, Disneyland and Walt Disney World just got brand new revamped versions of Star Tours (the Star Wars themed simulation ride in the Disney parks). There are some pretty funny Star Wars themed commercials out there, but this one has to be my favorite.

Darth Vader goes to Disneyland:


My favorite part? Taking a lightsaber to the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. Oh, and when he's watching the princess float in the parade with the Mickey balloon in his hand while the two stormtroopers have on their classic Mickey hats. I just about died laughing.

So if you scroll down a bit you'll see the entire post I had originally planned for today's date. So you get two bits o' random entertainment for the price of one!








Orignal Post:

Today is Day 6 of the Week o' Random Entertainment. 

For today's video I have something a little different.  One of my favorite Sunday comic strips is Pearls Before Swine by California cartoonist Stephan Pastis.  The series features anthropomorphic animals Pig, Rat, Goat, and Zebra as they bring animal life to suburban living. 

One of my favorite running gags is Zebra's next door neighbors the crocodiles.  Being natural predators, they are constantly trying to kill Zebra.  But they are also incredible stupid, which leads to some pretty funny situations.  A few Pearls Before Swine strips have recently started being animated, including these two, which are some of the best croc strips:



And that concludes our Week o' Random Entertainment.  I hope you enjoyed yourself at least a bit and I didn't bore you all too much.  Come back tomorrow for the kickoff of Round 2 for the 2011 YA Bloggers Book Battle!

Random Day 5: Muppets!

We're winding down the Week o' Random Entertainment, with today's entry as number five. 

I know I've featured a couple of the Muppet videos before, but I don't think I've posted this before and it's one of my favorites.  It's like the greatest YouTube spoof ever.  Not much left to say, so I hope it makes you laugh as much as it does for me:

Random Day 4: One Man Disney Movie

Welcome to Day 4 of the Week o' Random Entertainment.  I saved one of my favorites for today.  A friend tipped me off on this one, and I've been meaning to share it with you for awhile.  Here is the One Man Disney Movie.  Yes, it's another Disney clip, but I couldn't resist.  Disney is in my blood, you know.  ;)

This is Nick Pitera, and although he has lots of videos on YouTube, this is my favorite.  He's recorded himself singing the same set of Disney songs 6 different times, so it looks like 6 different people.  His vocal range is super amazing, and I like the arrangement too.  This is one you'll want to watch more than once so you can pay attention to the other "characters" facial expressions when they're not singing. 

Bonus points if you can name all 9 Disney movies too. 

Random Day 3: Harry Potter Puppet Pals

Today is Day 3 of the Week o' Random Entertainment, and today's feature is actually book-related.  Sort of. 

Have you heard of the Harry Potter Puppet Pals?  Probably a lot of you have.  But if you haven't, and you're a Harry Potter fan, this is definitely a group of videos you should see.  Today I present my favorite of the Harry Potter Puppet Pals features: The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Random Day 2: How It Should Have Ended

Today for our Week O' Random Entertainment... how it should have ended!

I know I've mentioned HISHE before on here, but for those of you who are new, this is an animated series that features ideas on how various movies should have ended.  What would really happen if you strip away all the Hollywood drama?  Well, the results are pretty humorous. 

About a month ago my brother talked me into watching Inception for the first time.  And it made my brain hurt.  A lot.  But I did ultimately enjoy the movie.  So here for your viewing pleasure today, how Inception really should have ended:

Random Day 1: New Pirates!!

Welcome to Day 1 of the Week o' Random Entertainment! 

Today I have a video my brother tipped me off on  from his blog post last week.  If you're a longtime blog follower, you know I'm a huge Disney fan.  And one of my favorite things about Disney is the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.  The new Pirates movie came out just a week ago (I've already seen it) and it is awesome! 

For those of you who aren't on the west coast, Disney's California Adventure (sister park to Disneyland in Anaheim) has a new nighttime show called World of Color.  I haven't seen it in person yet (my brother has, lucky kid) but the videos I've seen look super epic-y awesome!  And they just added a new section for the new Pirates movie.  It's pretty neat, so here's a video so you can see.  This actually goes through the end of the show too, just to give  you a glimpse of how amazing it is.  And it has the princesses too, which next to pirates is my favorite Disney thing.  :)  

So without further ado, check out this Pirate awesomeness. It begins with the new mermaid section from the fourth movie (and mermaids are scary!) moves on to feature the new villian Blackbeard, the one-of-a-kind Captain Jack Sparrow, and the pirates music you all love. Oh, and fire too. Lots and lots of fire...



Captain, I'd like to report a mutiny.  I can name fingers and point names.  Classic.  I love it.  :)

Plans for the Next Week

So, responses from my Round 2 judges have been coming in slowly but surely, so I'm still organizing the shortlisted books into brackets.  Hopefully after this week it will be all done.  :)  So if you haven't answered my email yet, you're not too late.  And in the same vein, if you didn't get an email, but think you should have, let me know.  Also, a few people have dropped out, so if you're still interested in being a Round 2 judge, check out this post for all the details to sign up. 

So what to do in the meantime?  My poor little blog has been so neglected as I've been busy organizing things this past few weeks.  I spend all my free time behind the scenes rather than posting much content.  So to make up for it, I'm holding a special event all week long.  I call it:

The Week O' Random Entertainment

What is that, you say?  I'll tell you.  Pretty much what it sounds like.  But here's where it came from.  One of my favorite things to do (other than read) is to watch random clips on YouTube.  Things my brother finds, things I've seen posted other places, etc.  I usually plan to do a random post about various videos, but oftentimes my plans get off track (for whatever reason).  But not this week!

Every day this week (starting Monday) I will be posting a random video for your entertainment.  It gives you something to watch while I'm busy setting things up for Round 2, and I get to share some stuff I've been wanting too.  Two birds with one stone. 

Some come back tomorrow to see what random video is in store.  And if you're not up for this sort of thing, feel free to completely ignore the blog this week.  And we hope to see you back here on the 5th for the Round 2 kickoff. 

Have a great week everyone!

Last Call for Volunteers

Now that the shortlist has been announced, it's time to get Round 2 of the YA Bloggers Book Battle running.  I have a few spots left for volunteers to judge Round 2, so if you haven't applied yet and you think you might be interested, pay attention to the information below. 

 

Those of you who are already Round 2 judges, your confirmation emails went out this morning, so look in your inbox for them and let me know if you don't get anything. 

 

So, think you want to volunteer?  Here's what it take to be a Round 2 Judge.  You'll find info on how to sign up at the very bottom of this post:

 

About Round 2 Judging
Round 2 of the battle will have 24 book finalists divided into five series of brackets. Each bracket will have two books which will be read by the judges for that bracket. The judges will decide which of the two books will move on, and the winner will move to the next series to face off the winner of another bracket. This will continue until only 1 book is left. In Series 4, one eliminated book will be chosen by battle spectators to be brought back into the competition for a final chance at the last spot.

 

Everyone will be working with a partner (if things go well). Partners will be paired up based on availability, access to shortlisted titles, and if necessary by time zone. Every judge will have two weeks to read their assigned books. If you can read faster than that, that’s great and helpful, but please don’t take any longer. Once you finish your assigned books, you will need to discuss with your partner which of the two books you think is better, and come to a consensus on which book will move on to the next series.

 

You will be responsible for gaining your own copies of books for judging. However, if you are having trouble finding a title, let me know and I will do my best to help you find a solution. In some cases we may be able to find a copy you can borrow via mail (or a digital copy) but please do your best to try and find the books on your own. If you’ll need help tracking down a copy, please let me know ASAP so we can have maximum time to get you one.

 

At the end of your series, each judge team will email me your decision. I will assign you both a posting date for your announcement. Then you will be asked to post on your blog about which book you chose and why on your assigned date.

 

As bloggers, you are welcome (and even encouraged) to blog as much as you want about the battle, and the process along the way. But please do not indicate which book you will choose to win the bracket before your assigned posting date. If you have any questions about whether or not a post reveals too much, you can always email me and ask.

Revised schedule (if things get organized quickly, this schedule will move up one week)
Organization period (to prep for Round 2): May 22nd-June 4th
Kickoff for Round 2: June 5th
Reading period for Series 1 brackets in Round 2: June 5th-June 18th
Series 2 brackets: June 19th-July 2nd
Series 3 brackets: July 3rd-July 16th
Series 4 brackets: July 17th-July 30th
Series 5 (final bracket): July 31st-August 13th

 

So, still interested?  If you haven't applied yet and you'd like to volunteer to be a Round 2 Judge, send me an email at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com with the following information:

1. Name
2. Email address
3. Blog URL (if you have a blog)
4. Any dates in the above schedule you think you may be too busy/absent from your computer and unable to participate
5. Any of the shortlisted titles you don't think you'll be able to get a copy of
6. Any of the shortlisted titles you have already read. We’ll try our hardest to get you in a bracket with books you have not read, but I have less control for brackets that come later in the competition. If you don’t mind rereading a title, please let me know you are flexible.

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!

A Bit of News

I know, I know, it's like I've fallen off the face of the earth.  I also know the battle is behind, so this post is in an attempt to catch things up a little bit.  But first...

Congrats to my little brother, who graduated yesterday.  We're all really proud of you!  (And that's partly why I've been gone, because I've been running around doing graduation type stuff for the last couple weeks).

So with that out of the way, here's an update on the battle.  I am (finally) done with the shortlist.  Yay!  That will be announced at noon tomorrow, and I know that for sure because I've already scheduled the post.  So come back tomorrow for that, as well as another little surprise revealed along with it.

I will be sending confirmation emails out to the Round 2 judges in the next few days, so if you signed up to be one, keep an eye on your inbox for that.  So after organizing everything into brackets we should be able to get the battle back on track.

So sorry for the wait everyone, but let's get ready to see things rolling off soon!

More Brackets? What Are Your Thoughts?

Hey everyone, I know I've been scarce, but I've been super busy with work and my spare time has been spent trying to compile the shortlist for the battle. 

So here's the thing.  There were 80 titles on the shortlist.  Each judge turned in a Top 10 list in order to narrow the list down, and counting each book that made it on a list at least once narrowed it down... to 69.  Counting in only those titles that were highly recommended cuts the list again... to around 30.

So here's where I'd like your opinion.  This year, since judging was broken up into two rounds, I had planned at having 16 books on the shortlist to be organized into four series of brackets.  Last year we had 24 books done in 5 series, with one eliminated book being "resurrected" in the fourth series. 

So this question goes out to you out there who are spectators this year (and judges too if you'd like to chip in).  Would you rather see 16 finalists or 24?  The latter option will add another two weeks (give or take) to the length of the battle, but there will be more chances for judge participation and a 8 additional books will get a chance to be highlighted. 

However, if we add more books to the shortlist, I will need more volunteer participation, since I don't have enough coverage with the volunteers I currently have.  So if you want that option and you haven't volunteered to judge yet, would you be willing to do so (or know of someone who might)? 

So what do you think?  If you'd rather not leave your thoughts in the comments here, feel free to email me or message me privately on Goodreads.  I really want to know what you all think, so let me know in the next day or two while I'm still working on the shortlist. 

Thanks!

Meet the 2011 Round 1 Judges: Part 2

Hey Book Battle Fans! 

Our Round 1 Judges have finished their frantic reading and have turned in their Top 10s.  So while I'm busy the next few days tallying up their decisions and organizing brackets, here's a chance to get to know a few more of the judges better.  If you missed the first Meet the Judges post, you can find it here. 

And now, some more of the totally amazing people who made this battle possible:

Pam from Bookalicious:
Pam blogs at Bookalicious and partners with her indie for events. Her house is an every growing grey goo of books. She lives in Northern California with her Dutch husband, her two kids and her awesome dog Jackie. When not blogging Pam can be found at the beach reading, baking horrendously ugly cupcakes or putting together an event for bloggers to get to know each other better. Pam believes she has gotten very good at speaking about herself in the third person.

Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century (Kristen is another return judge this year!):
Kristen is an Elementary School Media Specialist as well as a YA Book Blogger. She has a wonderful and supportive husband who deals with her obsession with books, even if he constantly complains of tripping over stacks of them and claims she has a serious problem. When Kristen took her hubby to the library to get all of these book battle books, he asked what she was thinking and she only responded that it was for "a blog thing" and he just nodded his head. Kristen was a strange little girl who played school and library with her older sister and had a card catalog system on notecards and would pretend to check out all of her books. While her older sister was always the teacher, Kristen was always the librarian. I guess she knew then that she couldn't grow up and do anything else that didn't involve books.

Andrea from Loud Words and Sounds (Andrea also designed our blog button this year):
I'm a high school senior actively involved in the music department and many other organizations at my school. Other than loving to read and play clarinet, I love writing and I'm currently working on a paranormal book called Conversions. When I decided to start blogging I wasn't sure what to do or who to follow, and then I found some blogs that helped me through the beginning process. And now here Loud Words and Sounds is (even if I'm going through a lull period right now because of personal reasons). It basically features YA and sometimes both Manga and Adult books, but also music too! I plan on majoring in both Business Administration and Secondary Education when I move into the college dorms of a beautiful campus this fall so that I can teach Applied Technology later on in life. I love the idea of this years battle because I know some very great books that are always over looked, and one of my favorites is on the master list too! I can't wait to see what the Round Two Judges do with the list they're given!

Erika from Moonlight Book Reviews:
Hello everyone! My name is Erika and my book blog is Moonlight Book Reviews. I love reading and have been in trouble by multiple teachers for reading in class. I currently have a TBR pile that is taller than me, and I am running out of shelf space. I am seventeen and a Junior in High School. I live in Michigan where the weather is unpredictable. For example last week the temperature was 60 Monday, and there was 5 inches of snow on Wednesday! The YA Book Battle Best Overlooked Book, is such a phenomenal topic. For there are a lot of books out there that in my opinion need more attention for they are AMAZING! So I am thrilled and enjoying my time as a Round 1 judge!!

A Small Update

I feel like I've been doing a lot of these posts lately.  I'm so sorry I've been absent lately, and my poor little blog has been so neglected. 

As I mentioned before, I started a new job Monday, so I've been trying to work into my new routine and stuff.  I actually had a couple posts planned for this week, but Monday after work I had the worst migraine headache I've had in about a year and a half.  It kind of went away by Tuesday morning, but still hung around pretty much all week.  So for the most part, I've been coming home from work every day and laying around tyring to get rid of a new headache. 

Plus, things are moving right along with the book battle.  Our wonderful, amazing Round 1 Judges will be turning in their picks by tomorrow (May 1), so I may be absent somewhat next week too as I compile the shortlist and get everything organized for that.  Another Meet the Judges post will be going up soon, hopefully tomorrow or Monday. 

Anyway, things will hopefully settle down soon.  You are such wonderful readers for sticking through this with me.  I appreciate it, I really do.  It's nice to know that even when my life gets crazy, I have this blog to fall back on as a way to escape craziness, even for just a little while. 

Meet the 2011 Round 1 Judges: Part 1

I put a lot of work into organizing the YA Bloggers Book Battle.  But I couldn't do that work alone.  I'm very blessed to have a lot of very talented volunteers on my side this year (we had over 50 people apply!).  Due to the sheer number of nominations this year, we added another round of judging to the festivities this year.  These Round 1 judges are currently tearing through the list of around 80 nominations, and they are doing a fantastic job! 

This feature is intended to introduce these magnificent volunteers and thank them for all their hard work.  Today, we're meeting four of the Round 1 judges, but keep an eye on the for future introductions too.  So without further ado, let's get to know some great bloggers a little better!

Natalie from Mindful Musings (You may recognize Natalie from last year's battle.  We're happy to have her back this year!)
My name is Natalie, and I'm a junior in college who's majoring in English Literature and minoring in Spanish. My blog, Mindful Musings, focuses heavily on all genres of YA fiction, so I'm super excited to be participating in the Book Battle as a judge again this year! The fact that this year's theme is Best Overlooked Book is awesome, and I'm hoping that the Book Battle will bring lots of new publicity to books that have yet to step into the spotlight.

Stephanie at Bookworm1858:
I am a soon-to-be college graduate (!) who has used blogging as relaxation from schoolwork. Although I read many genres, YA holds a special place in my heart and I've loved getting to explore its subgenres and virtually meeting others who love YA through blogging. I'm really excited about the battle this year because I missed most of it last year. As a Round 1 Judge, I've fallen in love with some amazing books that I probably would have never known about.

Mouseprints from Thick and Thin Things
I grew up in 5 different countries in Africa (Chad, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Lesotho), from shortly after birth until I left at 18 to go to university, and am so grateful to my parents that I had that opportunity. That experience shaped my life, especially when it comes to reading. I am passionate about good books: any knowledge that has stuck with me, I learned either from reading a good book or through first-hand experience.  After graduating from university, I joined the U.S. Coast Guard and served honorably for 4 years.  I married a fellow Coastie who served NO BOAT TIME (scandalous!) He was a crew chief on HH-60 helos. Now he flies a desk as a Project Manager for a building automations company.  Through some careful planning, I get to stay home with three amazing daughters (Olivia, Karina, and Susanna) and learn about whatever floats our boat.  I blog at Thick and Thin Things about books that my children and I are reading, and some (not much) of the etcetera of our lives.

Kailia at Reading the Best of the Best:
My name is Kailia and I’m 16. I love to read and write and I hope to one day have a book published. When I’m not reading I’m usually hanging out with friends or watching a movie or writing. I started Reading the Best of the Best because I loved to read and I loved sharing my thoughts about the books with other people.

Lets give our judges all a huge round of applause!

I'm Back!

Okay, so I've been back from my trip for a few days now.  But I've been so busy my poor little blog has been neglected.  Which brings me to my other big news...

I got a job! 

Okay, so I've had a job.  But working freelance is not the same as working a real-time, 9 to 5 job with benefits.  So I'm excited (and a little nervous).  I start on Monday so this week has been spent running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything ready for next week. 

So, what's coming up at the Shady Glade?  Well, the big news of course is the book battle.   Our Round 1 judges are burning through the 80+ books on the longlist like reading pros.  They'll be submitting their top 10 lists at the end of the month, and the shortlist (and brackets) will be announced shortly after that. 

In the meantime, I hope to be doing some review roundups of longlist titles in the meantime.  So definitely keep an eye out for that.  And I sent out emails to the Round 1 judges today for our Meet the Judges feature this year so as soon as I get enough responses I'll be posting some of those.  (By the way, if you're a Round 1 judge and you didn't get an email from me, please let me know). 

And I got some other ideas boiling around in the background too, so keep an eye out for those.  It kind of depends on how things go in the next couple weeks, so things might be a little crazy for a little longer, but hopefully won't take too long to straighten out. 

Ah, it's good to be back!

Gone for Bit

So I know I've been absent the last few days.  Unfortunately I got sick early Friday, and I've been spending most of the last few days in bed sleeping and feeling like a general slug.  Luckily today I've been feeling much better. 

Unfortunately, I just found out this morning that tomorrow (Monday) I'm leaving for a week-long trip to visit my grandparents in Idaho.  My grandparents are really anti-technology, and they live in a rural part of town where there isn't a wi-fi connection to be found for miles.  So although I'm bringing my computer, it's doubtful how often I'll be able to get on and check things. 

So everyone behave while I'm gone, and I'll try to answer emails as best as I can when I manage to steal some time on the internet. 

Back next week!