Favorite Websites: AuthorsNow!

There are so many great writing related websites out there that it's difficult at times to keep up with all of them. One of my new favorites is AuthorsNow! which lists debut Children's and Teen Authors and Illustrators that will launch in 2009 and 2010. It is an awesome site and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have one (or more!) of my own books lined up on that beautiful header showing the covers of the upcoming releases.

The site lists a short blurb on an upcoming book along with publisher info and release date as well as a link to the author's website. There is another interesting feature - a map of where the debut author's are located. I assume that the author's have agreed to release this information when they signed up on the site so it's kind of cool to see where some of these writers are located. There is one new book I'm looking forward to reading, Prada and Prejudice, that I learned about on VerlaKay. Turns out that author, Mandy Hubbard, only lives about 45 minutes away from me. Weird. It is such a small world after all. :)

Anyway, I was going to try and post a picture of the map, but because it has links where you can zoom into particular areas and then click on through to the authors but you just need to go to the map. This site is a great resource for the latest and greatest that will be gracing bookstore shelves near you soon - check it out!

YALSA Top Ten Books for 2008

It's a new year and the time for making resolutions and looking forward. But it's also a perfect time to look back and appreciate the good things we experienced in 2008. Like GREAT books. Here are the YALSA (Young Adult Library Association Services) Top Ten Young Adult Books of 2008:

2008 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Illus. by Ellen Forney. Little, Brown, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-316-01368-0; $16.99.

Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Sarah Crichton, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-374-10523-5; $22.00.

Downham, Jenny. Before I Die. Random House/David Fickling, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-385-75155-1; $15.99.

Hemphill, Stephanie. Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. Random House/Alfred A. Knopf, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-375-83799-9; $15.99.

Jones, Lloyd. Mister Pip. Dell Publishing/Dial Press, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-385-34106-6; $20.00.

Landy, Derek. Skulduggery Pleasant. HarperCollins, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-06-123115-5; $17.99.

Peet, Mal. Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal. Candlewick, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-7636-3488-9; $17.99.

Polly, Matthew. American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China. Penguin Group USA/Gotham Books, 2007; ISBN13: 978-1-59240-262-5; $26.00.

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel. Illus. by Brain Selznick. Scholastic, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-439-81378-5; $22.99.

Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. Illus. by Shaun Tan. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, 2007; ISBN13: 978-0-439-89529-3; $19.99.

To go to the YALSA site and read about previous year's picks as well as nominations for 2009 go here. I've read some of these picks for 2008 and loved them, but I haven't read the entire list. However, some will be added to my 2009 reading list. :) How about you? Favorites here? Or favorites not listed here?