2013 Whitney Award Finalists

It's that time of year again. The 2013 Whitney Award finalists were recently announced, and academy members are reading like mad trying to complete as many categories as possible so they can put in their votes.

I'm looking forward to posting some dual reviews with Tarah to see how much we agree or disagree on some of the finalists. We will mostly likely do these posts about each category (General, Historical, Romance, Mystery/Suspense, etc.), so they will come when we've both completed a category.

In the meantime, here are links to some of the finalists that I've already blogged about:

Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster

Ruby's Secret by Heather B. Moore

Esther the Queen by Heather B. Moore

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Longing for Home by Sarah M. Eden

Rocky Road by Josi S. Kilpack

I, Spy by Jordan McCollum

Echo in Time by C.J. Hill

Heart of the Ocean by Heather B. Moore

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Each year's finalists and winners are a great place to look when you are trying to find something to read. I haven't loved every book I've read since discovering the Whitney Awards, but some of my favorite books have been finalists and/or winners.

Happy Reading!

Young Adult Categories - 2012 Whitney Awards

In two weeks the winners of the 2012 Whitney Awards will be announced. Having 40 finalists in the running this year, I didn't have time to read all of them prior to the voting deadline, but I did get to read (or listen to) 32 of the finalists. I'm happy to report that there are a lot of very well written books among the finalists, and definitely something for everyone.

The Young Adult categories offer a good variety for a YA fan.

Young Adult General

After Hello	Finding June	The Space Between Us	The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back	V is for Virgin
Lisa Mangum	Shannen Crane Camp	Jessica Martinez	Sariah Wilson	Kelly Oram

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back really stood out to me in the Young Adult General category. It is hilarious! There are some emotional parts, but the overall feel is pretty upbeat. It's a quick, clean read, and perfect if you just want to "get away" for awhile. You can read my review here and my author interview here.

The rest of the YA General finalists are more serious reads, but aren't overly heavy with the issues they address. It was hard not to get emotionally attached to the sisters in The Space Between Us, and Sara and Sam in After Hello. Finding June is a fun story (although I couldn't help but be bothered by an age difference). V is for Virgin is one that I was hesitant to read. Some of the content made me a little uncomfortable, but it has a good message about abstinence.

Young Adult Speculative

Demons	Destined	Endlessly	Everneath	Feedback
Heather Frost	Aprilynne Pike	Kiersten White	Brodi Ashton*	Robison Wells

All of the YA Speculative finalists are parts of series. This pieces aspect has me particularly interested in seeing which book wins this category.

Everneath is the first book in its series, and I was lucky to have read the prior books in the rest of the finalists' series, except for Endlessly.

Even though Demons is the second book in its series, I found that it could stand on its own feet (although I do recommend reading Seers). It was a very enjoyable read that left me eagerly anticipating the next book.

Fantasy hasn't been calling to me lately, but if you enjoy stories with faeries, consider the Wings series (Destined is book 4) and the Paranormalcy series (Endlessly is book 3). If mythology interests you, consider Everneath (especially if you want to read a book similar to the Hourglass Door trilogy). Feedback is the sequel to Variant (which was amazing), but sadly isn't quite as amazing. If you like action though, this book is packed with it.

I hope to be able to read more of the 2012 Whitney Award finalists in the coming months, and am very excited to see which books win on May 11th.

General Category Finalists - 2012 Whitney Awards

The General category for the 2012 Whitney Awards is an interesting one. In a way, it's hard to compare these finalists against each other because they are so different. Looking for a commonality among them, I came to the conclusion that they are emotional, heavy reads. Some much more than others, but each of the books dealt with difficult circumstances, be it poverty, illness, divorce, death, mental disabilities, etc.

Dancing on Broken Glass	Paige	The 13th Day of Christmas	A Night on Moon Hill	The Rent Collector
Ka Hancock*	Annette Lyon	Jason F. Wright	Tanya Parker Mills	Camron Wright

While I enjoyed most of these stories, The Rent Collector by Camron Wright really stood out to me. It is enlightening and inspiring. Even through all the difficulties endured by those who live in this dump in Cambodia, there is hope. Knowing that it is based on real people makes it all the more touching. There are a few swear words, and the people of Stung Meanchey live in very harsh and violent conditions, but the positives of this story outweighed the negatives, and I'm really glad I read it.

If you prefer a lighter read, I would recommend Paige followed by The 13th Day of Christmas. Both are clean, and fairly quick reads with good messages of hope. The heaviness in them isn't overwhelming, and is more relatable than the other three finalists. Both stories show how good friends can help us, especially during hard times.

A Night on Moon Hill was a really unique story. I thought it was well written, although it was more of a downer than I prefer. There are a lot of issues in this story, and I was really bothered by the suicide-probably more so because of the emotional detachment of the main character (not that she could help it). Although the ending was pretty happy, most of the book was too down for me.

Dancing on Broken Glass was one that I actually decided not to finish. The story was interesting, but the swearing and intimate descriptions bothered me, not to mention that it just had an overwhelming depressing feel with the mental illness and physical illness included. My sister read it, so I called her to find out how it ended. I suppose one could say this book ends happily, but this just isn't my kind of book.

Mystery/Suspense Finalists - 2012 Whitney Awards

It is hard to pick a favorite finalist from the 2012 Whitney Award Mystery/Suspense category. Each of these books was appealing in many ways, and they are all clean! But, if I had to pick just one, I think I'd go with Tres Leches Cupcakes by Josi S. Kilpack. Deadly Undertakings was right up there, but Tres Leches Cupcakes was a little more comfortable to read (Luke did a great job of not going overboard with the creepiness; however Deadly Undertakings is definitely more creepy than Tres Leches Cupcakes). Tres Leches Cupcakes is book 8 of the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series, and the main character's quirkiness makes for some light spots in the midst of the mystery.

Banana Split	Code Word	Deadly Undertakings	Line of Fire	Tres Leches Cupcakes
Josi S. Kilpack	Traci Hunter Abramson	Gregg Luke	Rachel Ann Nunes	Josi S. Kilpack

This is a great group of books, and a mystery/suspense lover should definitely be able to find one they like among these.

Historical Category Finalists - 2012 Whitney Awards

I'm making my way through the 2012 Whitney Award Finalists, and last night I finished up the Historical Category (click the titles to see my individual reviews).

Espionage	My Loving Vigil Keeping	Spinster’s Folly	The Five Books of Jesus	Within the Dark Hills
A. L. Sowards*	Carla Kelly	Marsha Ward	James Goldberg*	Sian Ann Bessey

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and there are some great books among these finalists. It's hard to pick just one, but I'd probably go with Espionage by A.L. Sowards. I really liked learning about the old mining lifestyle portrayed in both My Loving Vigil Keeping and Within the Dark Hills, but Espionage's WWII European setting, and the American solider spying in enemy territory was very intense. The story has some religious/spiritual aspects, and I like the way they were included. It didn't detract from the rest of the story like it does in some novels. I did want more at the end, but it was well written with great characters, and a very enjoyable read.

2012 Whitney Award Finalists - Romance Category

It's that time of year again! Earlier this month the 2012 Whitney Award Finalists were announced. There is an additional category this year (Middle Grade), bringing the finalist total to 40. I took on a challenge last year to read all 35 finalists prior to the voting deadline, so I was able to vote for each category, along with best novel of the year and best novel by a new author.

I've read 18 of the 2012 finalists so far, but I'm not sure that I'll get all of them read by the April 29th deadline. And I'm ok with this. Hopefully I'll take more time to enjoy the books that most appeal to me.

The category I'm completely finished with so far is Romance (this probably doesn't come as a surprise-I'm a sucker for a good, clean romance).

Lady Outlaw	Of Grace and Chocolate	Smart Move	Twitterpated	Edenbrooke
Stacy Henrie*	Krista Lynne Jensen*	Melanie Jacobson	Melanie Jacobson	Julianne Donaldson*

While I enjoyed all of these books (you can click the titles to see my individual reviews), I absolutely LOVED Edenbrooke! It captured my attention right off, and held it the entire time! The writing is smooth and the story is entertaining (and totally sweet). I also really like how it appeals to a national audience, and does so without any questionable content.

If you are looking for a good book to read, consider picking one of the 2012 Whitney Award finalists.

Finished!

There is a great feeling that comes from accomplishing a goal (especially ahead of schedule). Just in case you missed it, here is a visual representation of my completion of the "Read 'em All" challenge.

If you followed any of my 2011 Whitney Award Finalist reviews, you'll see that I didn't love all of the books. But, the majority of the books were well written, even if they weren't a genre I cared for. I was happy to discover some authors to keep my eye on (and a few to avoid-although that wasn't a happy thing, but rather something helpful to know).

I am excited to hear who wins each of the Whitney Awards.

Romance Category Finished!

Borrowed Light marked the last book I needed to read in the Romance category. Assuming I can get my hands on a copy of all of the 2011 Whitney Award Finalists, I think I'm going to make this goal by the "Read 'em All" deadline!

*And, if anyone was wondering, this challenge has effected my resolution of reading as a reward after I accomplish other things. At least I still remember that I set the goal, right?

General Category Finished!

I thought I'd post an update about my progress with the "Read 'em All" challenge.

Having sick kids for over a week was really bad (high fevers and coughs), but since there was a lot of laying around, I was able to get a bunch of reading in. Having a deadline makes some of the reading more of a chore than a pleasure, but I have found several really enjoyable books.

There was a recommendation to read one category at a time, but I've been all over the place (availability of books has been a factor). The Evolution of Thomas Hall marked the final book for me in the General Category though, so I'm happy about that.

One disappointment with the Finalists has been that I expected all of the books to be clean, and some of them aren't. When I know an author is LDS, I expect more from their stories (morally). Part of "being in the world, but not of the world."

A (HUGE) Reading Challenge

It's no secret that I love reading, and I'm always looking for great books to read. Earlier this week I received an email from LDSWBR (a blog I'm subscribed to) about a reading challenge.

I have heard about books being nominated or winning Whitney Awards, but until the other day I hadn't looked into the details of a Whitney Award. From the WA website:

The Whitneys are an awards program for novels by LDS authors. Elder Orson F. Whitney, an early apostle in the LDS church, prophesied “We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.” Since we have that as our goal, we feel that we should also honor those authors who excel and continually raise the bar.

As I mentioned in my review of Olivia, I am always happy to find books written by LDS authors (especially if they're for a national audience). My excitement stems from hoping that I've found a good book that is clean (so many iffy books out there).

Anyway, I decided to take a huge plunge and join this challenge. It is to read all 35 books by April 23, 2012. You also need to become a member of the Whitney Academy (I was accepted!), and then you can vote on the best novel of the year.

This is a huge undertaking. I have already read 8 of the 2011 Finalists, so I think this goal is possible. Although, I am going to try to complete one category at a time (you can vote for the best in any of the 7 categories if you've read all 5 of the books in each category), because it is very possible that life will get in the way of meeting the goal by the deadline. But, I am definitely in for reading all 35 books.

So, there will be a couple of reviews posted on other books that I just finished reading, but then be prepared for Whitney Award Finalist reviews!