Hey YA Readers!
Now that we’re into our final month of the year, I’d love to hear what books that published in 2023 were among your favorites. I love this little poll every year, and I’m dropping it here for you to fill out with two questions. They are easy—tell me your favorite book that you read published in 2023 and a book you think did not get much attention that published in 2023. Because there have been folks who’ve taken advantage of this “tell me about!” feature each year, I keep a couple of rules. First: if I see a suspicious book showing up again and again, it’s not being included (yes, I’ve had authors have their readers stuff this survey—that’s not fun or honest). Second: “did not get much attention” is obviously going to be subjective, so I do have a little hand in this one. I pull out books that landed on The New York Times bestseller list and/or were big titles across the bookosphere in other ways, such as being one of the books picked for Barnes & Noble’s YA Book Club. I want to give the truly quiet/under-the-radar titles an opportunity to shine. Books not published in 2023, I pull out myself as I go through responses.
So, to add your voice, hop over here and drop in your titles. I will compile both into one of the newsletters going out later this month, so the deadline to add your favs is December 14. I’ll drop a reminder in the next newsletter as well!
It’s happening, readers — we’re bringing paperbacks! Whether you (or a reader you know and love) hate carrying around bulky hardcovers, you’re on a budget, you want a wider range of recommendations or all of the above, you can now get a paperback subscription from TBR, curated just for you by one of our Bibliologists. The holidays are here, and we’ve got three different levels for gifting (to yourself or others) to suit every budget. Get all the details at mytbr.co.
Bookish Goods
Library Due Date Sticky Notes by PocketfulofProsey
Every month, when I do my review of books read over on Instagram, I use a library due date card. These sticky notes take a fresh twist on those very due date cards and, honestly, may be even more helpful and useful. Pick up a pad for yourself or to stuff a stocking. $16, with several colors to choose from.
New Releases
It’s broken record season around these parts, but given it’s December and publishing is wrapping up 2023 and preparing for 2024, the new releases *and* the YA news will be slow for the next few weeks. That does not mean there’s nothing good to share, though. Here are two great titles that hit shelves in paperback this week, and the full list of titles can be accessed here. You’ll note, of course, it is very short!
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
A diverse heist story set aboard the ill-fated Titanic? That’s right.
Our thief, Josefa, is not out for money, though: it’s a book encrusted in gems worth millions of dollars. Josefa recruits three other girls to help take the book. As much as securing the prize would ensure them all success down the road, their infighting, mistakes, and romantic side quests might put them in danger…and, as we know, that ship is also going down.
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman
Seelie might look just like her twin, Isolde, but she knows she’s different. She’s autistic, dropped in the human world by a fae as a baby. Seelie’s magic is a little unpredictable, but she’ll use it to her advantage as she and her sister take up the hunt for treasure. Too bad the girls end up in a heist that goes south and now, they’re discovering a bigger mystery connecting the world of the fae to humans.
If you like fairy tales, fae/faeries, mystery, and twins at the center of your fantastical world-building, this is written especially for you.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- Cassandra Clare ran a Kickstarter recently that set a record for a YA project on the platform. This will help bring to light a project of short stories set in the Shadowhunters universe. These were published for free online during the height of the pandemic, but now they’ll be available in a collection. This is a fascinating story.
- Brianna Peppins’s Briarcliff Prep has been optioned for TV adaptation.
- This is an interesting piece about the adaptation of Judy Blume’s Are You There God?, which somehow released *this* year.
- The hit TV show The O.C. turned 20 this year, and there’s a new oral history book out to commemorate the anniversary. Here’s a little peek at the book and the history of the show, which was such a huge YA show (…of my era).
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Saturday with some YA book deals.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen