Five by Five

A sorta weekly feature of things I co-sign:

(1) Against Enthusiasm: The epidemic of niceness in online book culture. I've been thinking this myself. How much nice is too nice? I think it should be two bad things said for every one good. Oh wait, that is not the golden rule. (Also Emma Straub's response.)

(2) The Best Blogs for Young Adult Books. A definitive list, finally! If I'm only following two of the top ten, does that mean I have crappy taste in YA blogs?

(3) Once Upon a Time: The lure of the fairy tale. The best article I've read all year about the Brothers Grimm. Coincidentally also the only article I've read all year about the Brothers Grimm.

(4) Jessica Corra. A personal blog of a YA author that is both introspective and well, personal. It reminds me of back in the day when blogs were intimate and quiet. Start with this entry, "Worth and the Writer." Jessica's After You comes out Spring 2013.

(5) Social Media is Not the Bullet. If social media is supposed to be a marketing tool, I've been weaponizing it all wrong. Wait, it's not for posting overly enthusiastically about things?

(*) Also, this NPR Best-Ever Teen Novels is such a sham. Don't people see that it's all link bait? Don't you see?! "Voting is now closed. Check back next week to see the list of 100 winners." A hundred winners? C'mon. We all know the real winner here is NPR. (I would vote for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and Where the Red Fern Grows but one would probably be deemed too violent and the other too sad for today's impressionable youth.)