Picky Readers

Here are some upcoming author signings and book events in the Chicago area and northwest suburbs! I tried to find as many free programs as I could, but for most of the author signings on this list, you have to buy a copy of the author's featured book to get in. Julius LeBlanc Stewart [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Author: E. K. Johnston Book: That Inevitable Victorian Thing Venue: Anderson's Bookshop Downer's Grove Date & time: Monday, October 23 at 7 p.m. Price of admission: To attend, purchase a copy of the book from Anderson's Bookshop ($17.99) Hosted by:  Anderson's Bookshop Check out That Inevitable Victorian Thing on Goodreads! By Sadichhak (Own work) [ CC BY-SA 4.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons Author: Maggie Stiefvater Book: All the Crooked Saints Venue: Magic Tree Bookstore Date & time: Monday, October 23 at 6 p.m. Price of admission: To attend the event, RSVP and purchase any of her books ($9.95 to $18.99) on the Ma...

Photo credit: bookshelf by David Orban  (under this license ), text by Emma K. Here are nine great book-to-movie adaptations to check out! The books will almost always be better than the movies to me, but I know some people disagree. Either way, here are some great YA books and movies to watch, read, compare, and contrast. I'll also provide whether I prefer the book or the movie for every story. Note: some of the really popular book-to-movie adaptations are not included/have been included as honorable mentions because I either did not see the movies, or did not read the books. THE HUNGER GAMES Photo credit: Emma K. Though both the book and the movie have been considered too gruesome for the age group, The Hunger Games remains a classic book-to-movie adaptation. The protagonist of the book, Katniss Everdeen, is played by Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, and is joined by love interests Peeta and Gale, played by Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth,...

(Transcript: "To the average player, Warcross is just a game. But to a bounty hunter like me, it's about the thrill of the chase. But now I'm the target, and I'm learning that some games you play, others you survive. I'm a player, a hunter, and a hacker. Warcross is more than a game-- it's a revolution.") I picked up the ARC for Warcross  by Marie Lu at the ALA book conference this June and even got it signed by the author (who was really awesome to talk to!). I read it as soon as I got home, and I loved it . Then, when I saw the trailer for it, I loved it even more . The trailer perfectly captures how I had imagined the appearance of the main character, 18-year-old Emika Chen, with her rainbow hair and the tattoos lining her arms. It captured her personality wonderfully and it made me want to read the book a hundred times more. I did feel that it didn't do much to explain what Warcross, the game, actually was, so here's a bit more explanatio...

September 24-30 is Banned Books Week, and to celebrate, I've compiled a list of my favorite frequently banned/challenged young adult books. (For more information on Banned Books Week, check out my blog post  here .) 10.  Catcher in the Rye   by J. D. Salinger Banned for "sexual content, offensive language," and for being "unsuited to age group" (ALA;  2005  Top Ten #3,  2009  &  2001  Top Ten #6). Photo credit: Emma K. While I know Catcher in the Rye is a beloved novel to many, I had to put this one at the bottom of the list. It was just... too depressing. The premise of the book, for those who haven't read it (and I hadn't either until recently), is that sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from his fourth school in a row after failing four of his five classes (he excels in English but doesn't seem to bother with his other classes), and thusly spends his winter break feeling depressed and di...