What day is it again?

I'm on vacation, mostly without internet access. More importantly, my brain is on vacation and I don't think I could write a coherent review of Hop on Pop right now, much less my pile of books awaiting review. In fact, I just messed up when cooking Hot Pockets in the microwave, because I misinterpreted their use of the word "unwrapped." The three-hour time change from west coast to east coast flattens me every time.

So, I thought I'd post a little update on what I'm reading. Not Hop on Pop, you'll be happy to know.

I just finished Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same, by Mattox Roesch, to be published September 8th. It's about a kid named Cesar whose mother moves him from a troubled life in L.A. to the remote Alaskan village where she was raised. Cesar is part native but never identified as such. Kind of Northern Exposure with a gang-involved teenager instead of a doctor. The writing style is deceptively simple, and the character development is both delightful and heartbreaking. I loved it, and I'm bummed that I'll miss Roesch's book tour stop at Annie Bloom's Books in Portland on September 10th.

Hey, I think I just reviewed a book.

I'm currently reading NurtureShock, which delves into various counter-intuitive facts about children and how to raise them. It's research-based and I'm finding it fascinating reading. How does praise affect the way kids learn? Why do kids lie, and how do they get good at it? How does being marked as "gifted" in kindergarten impact performance in third grade and above?

This book will affect how I parent and how I homeschool, and if my kids were in school it would heavily impact my decisions about their schooling. I'm looking forward to writing about the specifics in depth, but this advance copy contains explicit instructions not to share the specifics of any of the research until the book is released, which will be September 3.


I just started Kathleen McCleary's House and Home and it kept me up too late last night because I had to know what was going to happen. From the publisher: The story of a woman who loves her house so much that she'll do just about anything to keep it.

Ellen Flanagan has two precious girls to raise, a cozy neighborhood coffee shop to run, terrific friends, and a sexy husband. She adores her house, a yellow Cape Cod filled with quirky antiques, beloved nooks and dents, and a million memories. But now, at forty-four, she's about to lose it all.

After eighteen roller-coaster years of marriage, Ellen's husband, Sam--who's charismatic, spontaneous, and utterly irresponsible--has disappointed her in more ways than she can live with, and they're getting divorced. Her daughters are miserable about losing their daddy. Worst of all, the house that Ellen loves with all her heart must now be sold.

I have mixed feelings about this one so I won't say any more about it until I've finished and had some time to think it over.

I have guest posts scheduled here and there throughout the next couple of weeks. If any of my readers are interested in contributing an additional guest post, I'd love for you to submit a post to me at worducopia/at/gmail/dot/com between now and September 8, 2009.

Great bestsellers by 1940s novelists you probably never heard of(Guest Post by Linda Gorton Aragoni)

I'm sipping tea in a lakeside cabin in New Hampshire. In my absence, Linda Aragoni was kind enough to write a guest post focusing on some great books from another era. Linda is an educational communicator whose work includes the website YouCanTeachWriting.com. For fun, she reviews bestsellers of 50 or more years ago on their anniversary years at GreatPenformances.wordpress.com.

The 1940s produced some wonderful novels, including some by novelists whose bestsellers have been all but forgotten. Here are are 10 novels from that decade’s bestseller list that are worth digging out today.

The Family (1940 #10). Russian ex-pats in Tientsin, China run a boarding house for a rag-tag assortment of people of various nationalities. Nina Fedorova writes with wit and sensitivity about the struggles of people whose lives consist mainly of looking for work and doing without.

Many novels tell about how slavery degraded slaves. The Sun Is My Undoing by Marguerite Steen (1941 #4) tells about how slavery degraded the slave traders. A mediocre novelist couldn’t have envisioned a story whose lead character is a slave trader, let alone written it.

In 1900, Kings Row was a good place to raise raise children. Author Henry Bellamann takes us behind the lace curtains of the little Midwestern town for a different view. When you read Kings Row (1942 #9), you don't just imagine it happening: you stand beside its lead character and experience it.

Mrs. Parkington (1943 #6) celebrates the art of growing old by living every day well. Mrs. Parkington, 84, is the very rich widow of a larger-than-life scoundrel whom she adored. As she puts her affairs in order, events trigger memories through which Louis Bromfield lets readers see how an innocent Nevada lass became an indomitable woman.

Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith (1944 #1) is a simple love story in a setting where nothing is simple. Nonnie is black, Tracy is white, and they live in 1940s Georgia. Lillian Smith shows that the most important factor in race relations in America is human choice.

Thanks to Adria Locke Langley’s decision to let Verity Martin tell the story of her charismatic husband’s political career, A Lion Is in the Streets (1945 #7) is a political novel the a-political can enjoy. Much of the plot has to be grasped from innuendo. You’ll need to read slowly, picturing the scenes, but the novel is worth the effort.

Mary Jane Ward’s The Snake Pit (1946 #10) takes readers inside the mind of mental patient Virginia Cunningham as she tries to cope with ordinary tasks that seem hopelessly beyond her. In a quiet way, The Snake Pit is as terrifying as anything by Stephen King.

House Divided by Ben Ames Williams (1947 #7) follows the Currain family of Virginia as they attempt live down the shame of distant kinship to “the black ape,” Abraham Lincoln. Williams produces believable characters, high drama and superb dialogue, all resting on an extensive base of facts of the War Between the States.

The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw (1948 #10) is a superbly plotted novel about three solders in World War II: a cultured German, an American Jew; and a clumsy, idealistic American playwright. War defines and intensifies each one's essential nature. There are no stereotypes, no heroes or villains from central casting. The men are so distinctive, you feel almost as if you actually knew them.

In The Point of No Return (1949 # 4), John P. Marquand explores the one time in his life when investment banker Charles Gray almost stepped out of character. Marquand is so skilled a writer that he makes an entertaining novel out of experiences that didn’t excite even their participants.

The Sunday Salon: A Bevy of Book Bloggers

What a week it's been Chez Worducopia! First, I was delighted to have Trish, Teddy Rose, Wendy, and Kristen join some of us Oregon book bloggers (me, Gabe, Bethany, Gilian, and SuziQ) for a mini-convention. I would tell you all about it, but the Rose City Reader did such a good job of summarizing the weekend that I'll let you read her version instead.

One of the things we saw in the library's special collections room was an artsy copy of Katherine Dunn's Geek Love. I'm sure Trish will have pictures of this up on her blog eventually, because she was literally jumping up and down with excitement. Jim Carmin, our presenter, mentioned an article about Katherine Dunn in today's Oregonian--I'm posting the link for Trish, in case she didn't see the paper, and also because it's a fascinating interview and article.

The day before our flock of book bloggers gathered for dinner, I realized that those nice emails which told me that somebody had actually nominated me (me?) for Book Blogger Apprecation Week awards, in fact had a deadline for submitting posts that would prove (or not prove) my worthiness for the awards. And that this deadline was Friday. And that midnight actually meant 9:00 pm in my time zone.

So, I was in the middle of scrambling to get those put together when another email came in, informing me that I'd been nominated for yet a third award which I needed to submit links for! Meanwhile, Florinda was Tweeting that the deadline was 7 hours away and I was due at dinner in two. Thrilled and panicked, that was me.

There are so many fabulous blogs out there that I don't expect to even make the short list, but the fact that even one person thought of me is a total heart-warmer. So, thank you. And to the person who nominated Striving for Greatness for best post: you made my day. And it was already a great day to begin with, so that's saying a lot. If it was you, Mom, don't tell me.

And while I'm all thanking people and bragging and stuff, thanks to Jessi for the Zombie Chicken Award (whose button I've been wanting an excuse to post for ages!) and to Rebecca for the Lemonade Stand Award. Right back at you, ladies! I admit to mixed feelings about these things. I never pass them along because I can't do it without worrying about whose feelings are being hurt by being left out, but I'm always delighted to see my name on someone's list. And Zombie Chickens and Lemonade stands--does it get any better?
Edited to add: I'm passing this award combo along to Jodie of Book Gazing! (See the comments for why).

Jodie, zombie chickens have set up a lemonade stand on your blog! It's your choice whether to offer the lemonade to your blogging friends, or keep it all for yourself.

(Anyone else want some Zombie Chicken Lemonade? I'm happy to share.)

C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll Call: We're looking for a few good men

For this week's question, I'd like to take a comment from Doret and put it out there for the group to work on. Doret (The Happy Nappy Bookseller) has been a regular contributor to the Roll Call as well as reviews for the Diversity Rocks reading challenge. In the comments of my summary of the Gender & Book Cover posts, she had this to say:

One thing I have noticed regarding gender. Most YA featuring people of color, with the stories set in another country, tend to have a female protagonist. I am having a difficult time finding many with male leads of color set in other countries.

I wonder why this is so. And I would love any suggestions.

Okay, team, this one's for Doret. Let's get out there and find her some titles! We're looking for titles and descriptions (publisher's blurb or link to a review is fine), not necessarily books you've read or can vouch for. Could be fiction, memoir, biography, and so on. The criteria again are:

• Has appeal to young adults (an adult book which might appeal to a teen is fine)
• Setting is outside the U.S.
• At least one person of color figures prominently
  
• Lead character is male
  

Ooh, I just thought of one! It's a book I reviewed, where the main character is a black American male, the setting is a foreign country to him. Can anyone guess what it is?

I've also featured another book where the main character is a male person of color, most of the book takes place in the U.S. but there are some scenes in a foreign country--maybe more than I realize since I have yet to finish the book.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. The next assignment will be posted in two weeks at Color Online.

A Prayer for Owen Meany--John Irving

My first pass at A Prayer for Owen Meany was in June, 2007. I have friends who rave about John Irving, and all I'd read was The World According to Garp, which my best friend had loved but I'd hated. Loved the movie, though! Then again, I was 14 at the time. I gave Irving the benefit of the doubt and started Owen Meany with high hopes.

Here's what I wrote on LibraryThing at the end of that first pass:

I'm on page 196 of 641 and it's due back to the library. I'd like to love John Irving, but I don't. He makes me laugh out loud, which is a good reason to like an author. But in between bouts of laughter, I'm wondering where we're going and why I'm supposed to care. According to the flyleaf and all the foreshadowing, something extraordinary and terrifying is going to happen to Owen Meany. Until then, some of the segments drag on. Some of them, you think are finished and then 50 pages later you're revisiting that scene again. And then the library wants it back, so you return it, and maybe one day you'll check it out again and easily pick up right where you left off because, frankly, not much has happened.

As time went by and my stack of books to read grew, I was less and less inclined to give the book another pass. But then Care asked what to read, and Owen Meany was on her list. I commented that she should read it and tell me whether it was worth finishing. Instead, she started a mini book club, with scheduled discussion days and everything. I felt my arm being twisted, though with very little effort on her part, but all my library's copies were checked out. So, I went to the bookstore and picked it up. Literally, I picked it up off the shelf . . . paged through it to page 196. REMEMBERED HOW OWEN'S VOICE GRATES ON MY BRAIN BECAUSE HE SPEAKS IN ALL CAPS. And set it down again.

I got home and got on Twitter: Went to bkstore to buy #Owenmeany. Reread a few pages & couldn't do it. Trying the library.... and I'd forgotten how Owen grated on me. I can hear his voice all too well and it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

But the library came through for me with a copy, and I steeled my nerves against Owen's screechy voice and dove in approximately where I'd left off.

And, it wasn't so bad.

I wasn't blown away by the Big Thing that Irving kept teasing the reader with in the first 196 pages, though I hadn't predicted the specifics. Owen's fatalistic outlook combined with the ANNOYING VOICE continued to grate on me throughout the book, to the point that I had a hard time seeing past that to view him as a hero/martyr. Which probably says more about me than it does about Irving.

But Johnny, the narrator, grew on me. His story grew on me, too (including the way Owen's actions and beliefs affected him), especially as snippets of his later life put the memories into a different context.

I probably won't seek out another book by Irving, but I was glad to have finished this one. Then again, there are an awful lot of great-looking books waiting to be read on my shelf. And my desk. And my other shelf. And my other other shelf. What do you think, did I waste my time? Have you ever made a second attempt at a book that didn't work for you the first time?
-----------------------------------
This post was inspired by Becky's Weekly Geeks assignment, and by Care, Softdrink, Jessi, and Lu.

A Disobedient Girl--Ru Freeman (book review)

A Disobedient Girl is two tales in one, of two different women struggling for independence in Sri Lanka. Readers who are drawn to this book because they're interested in global women's issues won't be disappointed. Freeman puts these two women's daily struggles into a historical, political and social context that is unique to Sri Lanka, but many of the issues they face are universal--the impact of class on relationships, the driving need for respect, the power of maternal love, and the pain of loss.

Biso is traveling across Sri Lanka by train with her three children, escaping an abusive husband. Her love for her children and her pride are evident on every page of her story. The other storyline follows Latha, who's been taken in by a family and raised as a cross between daughter and servant, which is confusing to her throughout her life.

She scowled. Why [the family's chauffeur] insisted on talking to her as if she were an equal she had no idea. Didn’t he notice that she sat in the back seat with Thara when she accompanied her on occasion? Not next to him like the gardener did?

“I don’t know why you suck your teeth like that. It’s such an ugly habit.”

The driver snorted. “Madam is in for trouble with you isn’t she? Sending you to school and all that. You better watch your attitude. Soon…”

The two stories are interwoven but take place within vastly different time scales: Biso's covers about twenty-four hours, and Latha's spans decades. Both stories are equally interesting, and the intersection of the two becomes clear near the end. Fans of mysteries will likely enjoy the intrigue; others may find the disparate timelines disconcerting, and the insertion of red herrings frustrating when trying to predict the relationship between the two.

This book isn't bursting with likeable characters. Latha's situation is understandably intolerable to her, but the things she does in response are cringe-worthy. This is an effective way of forcing readers to look at the larger issues, the societal factors that make this character who she is. But readers who are looking for characters to connect with will prefer Biso's storyline--that is, until the end.

The Soundtrack: I'm hoping to ask Ru Freeman for suggestions so this may change, but for now I'll go with a song by Ranidu, the first Sinhalese artist to be played on BBC's Radio1 and MTV.

This review is part of a promotional book tour, which I am participating in as a volunteer. The opinions are my own, and have not been endorsed or approved by TLC Book Tours, the author, or the publisher. Other stops on the tour can be found at the TLC Book Tours site.

From Thug Love to Little House and Nancy Drew (Because that's how my mind works)

So, I've been reading my very first book that I'd classify as "street fiction." I don't normally go for the more commercial paperbacks, but I was offered copies of two of Wahida Clark's books to give away for the Diversity Rocks challenge and I thought, I should know what I'm giving away. So, I started reading and here's what I've been impressed with: the dialogue. I can hear these characters talking so vividly, even though their mannerisms are very different from the people I hang out with. It's gritty and sharp and real. Also, there's no holding back on the cussing.

Clark started writing the first in this series while serving an 8 1/2 year prison sentence for money laundering, wire fraud, and mail fraud. Working in the prison library inspired her to give writing a try, in hopes of making enough money to support herself and her children when she was released.

Here are some thoughts from Ms. Clark on how what started as the desire to get one book published evolved into what's now a four-book series:

My latest, Thug Lovin’, is Part 4 to a series that came about unexpectedly. When I submitted my first book, Thugs and the Women who Love Them, it had so many pages, that the submissions editors’ first response was, “we have to turn this into two books.”

The way I ended Part 2, I had no choice but to do a Part 3. There are four couples who are all intertwined, but lead lives of their own. My readers love them, and I make sure that they always want to know what happens next. Added to that, the series took on a life of its own.

In my experience, the pros of writing a series surrounds the characters. In a sense, you don’t have to develop new characters and character profiles. I hate that task!

The cons are you have to make sure you develop your characters more. You have to grow with them. You can’t keep them stagnant, and in doing that, your characters may change…and sometimes drastically. When the fans have grown to love them as they were in book 2, but now in book 4 or book 5 their favorite has done a complete 360, the readers are at their wits end screaming, “What happened? Who is this imposter? Ms. Clark how could you do this to me???

I remember as a kid being taken aback by all the changes Laura in the Little House books went through over the course of the books. When Laura got married, 9-year-old Ali was floored! On the other hand, the Nancy Drew mysteries drove me crazy because Nancy and her friends never aged, never changed, and yet had far more adventures than anyone had a right to have in one lifetime.

Have you ever read a series where the characters changed too much or too little for you tastes?

C.O.R.A. Round Up

I'm late in announcing this, but the new C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll Call is up on Color Online--Susan has us looking at either memoirs, or books about food. There's still over a week left on this topic, so plenty of time to participate.

I also wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who participated in the previous Roll Call.

The Liar cover: what can I say? When I suggested creating a new cover as one way of addressing the "Liar" cover controversy, I thought I was kidding. But that's exactly what they did. Allison, Jodie, Miss Attitude, Rasco, Nymeth, Doret, Renay, Jen, and Julia's words were some of the many drops in the sea of posts that inspired the first phrase of the Publisher's Weekly article about the change: Proof of the power of the web.

If we can help inspire a change in book covers, folks, surely we can help inspire greater readership and publicity for diverse books as well. Yes, we can.

**

By the way, Bloomsbury made another selection, but here on Worducopia the Firefighter cover easily won the poll, with 50% of the votes.

**

Our other topic was gender in children's and YA books, and the response to that topic was equally powerful, in my opinion. In fact, we'll likely revisit that topic at some point because we just touched on one aspect of a huge subject.

Kenai weighed in just today with her thoughts about what the "Harriet Potter" series would be like--if Harry were Harriet, would Ron have to be Rhonda? Would Dudley have to be Dudlette?

Zetta Elliott gives an author's perspective on gender issues for writers. Be sure to read the insightful comments on that post as well.

For suggestions of books with appeal to both boys and girls, we have the following posts:

For very young children:
Rebecca, Lost in Books
Susan, Color Online

For early readers:
Doret, Happy Nappy Bookseller

For middle grade readers:
Evelyn N. Alfred
Rebecca, Lost in Books

For young adult readers:
Jess, Lost in A Book
Evelyn N. Alfred
Happy Nappy Bookseller
Rebecca, Lost in Books

The Sunday Salon: Who put the "Adult" in Young Adult?

It was brought to my attention by The Story Siren that some teens--or one, anyway--resent the fact that adults are reviewing "their" books. I believe "Lena's" exact words were, "You old bloggers need to give up and let the real teen voices be heard. How can you have the same views as a teen when you are not one."

As an Old Blogger who regularly reviews Young Adult books, I thought I'd take a moment to explain why. But first, allow me to share a little secret of the publishing world.

Don't tell Lena, but YA books are (with a few exceptions) actually written by adults. They're also agented, edited, published, and printed by adults.

Even after that process is finished, "real teens" won't get much of a chance to read the books unless they're first bought by adults. I'm talking about the librarians and bookstore owners, many of whom love YA lit too, which is why you can find a variety of books there instead of just the old standbys that are sure to sell. These folks base their purchasing decisions on the ARCs they receive and the buzz created by the publisher's publicity department (made up of, believe it or not, more adults!) which also decides whether and which bloggers to send ARCs to. Believe me, Lena and friends: you only stand to benefit when we treat "your" books with the respect they deserve rather than passing them over as kid stuff.

So, why do I read and review YA lit, more than two decades after graduating from high school?

• Because the authors are my cohorts and I find it inspiring to see what they're doing. If my book is ever published, I'll be pretty bummed if other adults don't bother reading it.
• Is writing with younger people in mind incompatible with writing a beautiful and engaging book? Of course not. Literature is literature. If I suspect a book of being fluffy or trashy, I'm not likely to read it--but there are as many of those to avoid in the adult genres as in the YA category.
  
• Adolescence is a crucial and fascinating stage of life--teens are an archetype of our power as humans to transform. I don't want to be sixteen again, but the challenges people face at that age still have relevance to me as an adult. My response to them is different than it would be if I were younger, but no less legitimate.
• I think it's worth sharing an adult perspective on what's being marketed to our kids. I don't hear teens complaining that certain themes in a currently popular vampire series are a disastrous blow to girls' self esteem. Does that mean it shouldn't be said? (I'd say it's an argument for the fact that it needs to be said).

I do take teens' reactions into account when I review a YA book. When I reviewed The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, I wasn't sure whether teens would appreciate the novel's voice, so I checked teen reviews and incorporated that into my review. Later, I blogged about a teen/adult discussion of that and other YA books at my library's Mock Printz Award workshop.

I encourage all teens who love books to make their voices heard. I love reading the reviews written by eloquent teens like Steph, Ari, Vanessa, and others, but there are many other ways for teens to make their opinions known. Talk with librarians and bookstore owners (some bookstores offer free ARCs in exchange for teen input on which books to buy), twitter or email publishers and authors, leave comments on their facebook pages and on book review blogs.

But don't get mad at the ex-teens of the world for "stealing" your books. Consider them a gift, from the many people who put so much heart and soul into making them happen, to you. Enjoy.

ADHD & Me--Blake Taylor (book review)

It was the subtitle that got me: What I Learned From Lighting Fires at the Dinner Table. That, and the fact that Blake Taylor was 17 years old when he wrote this memoir/guide to living with Attention Deficit Disorder with hyperactivity.

Having navigated through expulsion from preschool, a disastrous move in 6th grade, and the San Francisco Bay in a sail boat, Taylor offers advice on handling the obstacles many people with ADHD face (and, as an added bonus, why sailing into the San Francisco Bay without permission is a bad idea.)

Taylor organizes ADHD & Me by typical traits, with chapter headings like Being Bullied and Being Disobedient. Each chapter has three parts: a personal anecdote, a description of the cause and effect of the trait, and suggestion solutions. The anecdotes are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always well-written and insightful.

This would be a great book for parents and teachers dealing with ADHD, or for middle- or high school teens who tend to be disorganized or not to fit in with their peers. Taylor is young enough to be a peer to these kids, and successful enough (now in college at Berkeley) to be an inspiration.

The Soundtrack: Footloose, by Kenny Loggins.
You're playing so cool
Obeying every rule
Dig way down in your heart
You're burning, yearning for some
Somebody to tell you
That life ain't passing you by

Publication Info: 2007, New Harbinger Publications, 176 pages.

The Sunday Salon: Integrity

I'm not signing the pledge.

The "Blog With Integrity" pledge is, among other things, a promise to disclose whether items discussed on a blog are provided by a company attempting to sell their product. Across the internet, bloggers are displaying a graphic that indicates they've signed the pledge, and some book/lit bloggers are now disclosing the source of every book as part of their review. Not me.

Here's why: In my opinion, stating that a book came to me from the author or publisher implies that this is information you need in order to fully evaluate my review. It implies that there's a difference in how I might write about a book, depending on where I got it.

As I wrote to author Jack Regan, when he requested that I review his book, T'Aragam:

I'm going to ask my boys if they're willing to try it out with me. I usually do joint reviews with them for kids' books. . . . Fair warning: if my boys don't like a book, they're not cagey about it (see our reviews of Sharon Creech's Castle Corona and Chris Mould's The Icy Hand, for examples of books they didn't like). Whether we write a review of a book has more to do with whether we have anything interesting to say about it, rather than whether we liked it or not.

For the record, Castle Corona was from the library; The Icy Hand was sent by the publisher at my request. And I thought enough of T'Aragam to write a fairly detailed critique of it.

There are factors which might unduly influence my reviews, however. Maybe I should be disclosing whether I saw the author give a reading, whether I read their blog or Tweets, and whether I've ever seen a funny video they made. Also, I should probably disclose the fact that I may allow myself the luxury of a snarkier review if the author is long dead, or so famous and beloved that my words can't possibly hurt their feelings.

I've considered writing an end-of-the-month summary, which could also disclose how I came upon the books, without cluttering up the reviews with that info. For now, I'll go ahead and follow the trend that's been appearing on various book blogs, beginning with The Boston Bibliophile: Here are the past 20 books I reviewed and where they came from. I decided to also indicate whether the book is written by a person of color, by putting those in italics.

Secrets of the Red Lantern: library, from browsing the shelves
$20 per gallon: free review copy, requested in response to publisher's offer on book blogger site, combined with publisher-sponsored promotional giveaway.
Kampung Boy: library, after reading blog review
T'Aragam: free audio download (available to public), at request of author
Back Creek: free review copy, publisher query
Down to the Bone: library, after reading blog review
A Worthy Legacy: free review copy, author query, as part of author-run blog tour
Rowan of the Wood: free review copy, author query
Writing the Life Poetic: library, after attending author talk. The author did give me a free copy of this book and her poetry book after reading my review, though.
The Local News: free review copy, TLC book tours
Boy Toy: sent by author for me to give away
A Home at the End of the World: Library, after shelf browsing
My Heartbeat: Library, after shelf browsing
At Swim, Two Boys: Library, LibraryThing recommendation
The Lost language of Cranes: Library, LibraryThing recommendation
Something Beyond Greatness: free review copy, TLC book tours
Alive and Well in Prague New York: bought from Powells for Nerds Heart YA
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: Library, for Nerds Heart YA
Aya: Library, after reading blog review
Into the Beautiful North: review copy, requested from publisher via Twitter, attended author reading

Totals:
10 library books
8 review copies (3 author queries, 2 requested from publishers, 2 book tours, 1 publisher query)
1 sent by author for giveaway
1 purchased

7 written by authors of color, 13 by white authors.

And here's my pledge: If I suddenly come out with a post about how much we enjoyed new Goopy Soup during our breakfast read-aloud--I'll mention the fact that somebody sent me a free sample to blog about. If the Sylvia Beach hotel offers me an all-expenses paid weekend in Newport if I blog about their book-themed rooms, I'll disclose that, too. As for the book reviews, I'll continue my current mix of critique, supportiveness, and honesty. Rest assured that I'll never out-read my reliable source of continuous free books, which has no preference as to how or whether I review them.