May 2020 Starred Reviews

Book award season is in full swing now! The Kirkus Finalists and the National Book Award Longlist have both been announced. The online Mock Award Community has also started picking up steam: SLJ’s Heavy Medal is back with posts providing in-depth analysis of possible Newbery contenders as is the Pondering Printz column. Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott announced their plan for this award year earlier in September.

And me? I’m still behind, but plugging away at trying to get caught up.

May 2020 stars tally:

• 668 books published in 2020 have been awarded 1051 starred reviews and 4 books published in 2021 have been awarded 8 starred reviews as of the end of May.
• 3 books with 6 starred reviews; 8 books with 5 starred reviews; 30 books with 4 starred reviews; 57 books with 3 starred reviews; 132 books with 2 starred reviews; 438 books with 1 starred review.
• 14 books are entirely new to the list: all with three starred reviews.

April 2020 Starred Reviews

I’m back with the April stars list! If you click through to the spreadsheet, you’ll see that due to the pandemic messing with publication dates, we have some 2021 titles already.

We’ve also got another title with six starred reviews joining the Fleming books – The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead.

April 2020 stars tally:

• 567 books published in 2020 have been awarded 892 starred reviews and 3 books published in 2021 have been awarded 4 starred reviews as of the end of April.
• 3 books with 6 starred reviews; 5 books with 5 starred reviews; 26 books with 4 starred reviews; 50 books with 3 starred reviews; 112 books with 2 starred reviews; 371 books with 1 starred review.
• 18 books are entirely new to the list: 2 with four starred reviews and 16 with three starred reviews.

March 2020 Starred Reviews

So. Obviously it’s been awhile, but it’s time to start catching up. Many thanks to those who have reached out to check and make sure I’m ok. I’m very lucky to be fine. But I struggle to focus when I’m not working and when almost my entire job has moved online it is difficult to convince myself to spend more time on my computer when I get home. What this means for this blog is that Newbery and Printz posts are going to have to wait until I can get caught up on the starred reviews spreadsheet.

Honeybee joins The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh with six starred reviews – it’s a good year to be Candace Fleming!

March 2020 stars tally:

• 455 books published in 2020 have been awarded 714 starred reviews as of the end of March.
• 2 books with 6 starred reviews; 6 books with 5 starred reviews; 14 books with 4 starred reviews; 44 books with 3 starred reviews; 95 books with 2 starred reviews; 294 books with 1 starred review.
• 25 books are entirely new to the list: 2 with five starred reviews, 3 with four starred reviews and 20 with three starred reviews.

February 2020 Starred Reviews

With the Illinois stay at home order extended until April 30, I’ll be working from home for the rest of the month. Trying to adapt library services and programming to an entirely remote model is keeping me plenty busy and I am very grateful that I am able to stay home and remain employed. Keeping busy has helped my mental health so far and I’m struggling to focus on reading anything, so I’ll be continuing to update my spreadsheets and this blog in my off-work hours. I hope you are all able to find your own ways to cope with this changed world and wish you as much health and safety as possible.

Only 12 more stars for the 2019 list and they are all single stars. With the accumulation slowing down, I’ve cut the 2019 list from this post and going forward, but I am still including the 2019 tally for now. 15 new titles for the 2020 list though so lots to look for there although I know access is sparser than normal for most people.

February 2020 stars tally:

• 1106 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1805 starred reviews as of the end of February.
• 2019: 5 books have 6 starred reviews, 18 books have 5 starred reviews, 58 books have 4 starred reviews, 102 books have 3 starred reviews, 224 books have 2 starred reviews, 699 books have 1 starred review.
• 336 books published in 2020 have been awarded 522 starred reviews as of the end of February.
• 2020: 1 book with 6 starred reviews; 2 books with 5 starred reviews; 12 books with 4 starred reviews; 26 books with 3 starred reviews; 85 books with 2 starred reviews; 210 books with 1 starred review.

January 2020 Starred Reviews

Just a couple changes to the 2019 list, but a lot of movement on the 2020 list including our first book with 6 starred reviews already!

January 2020 stars tally:

• 1094 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1793 starred reviews as of the end of January.
• 2019: 5 books have 6 starred reviews, 18 books have 5 starred reviews, 58 books have 4 starred reviews, 102 books have 3 starred reviews, 224 books have 2 starred reviews, 687 books have 1 starred review.
• 245 books published in 2020 have been awarded 369 starred reviews as of the end of January.
• 2020: 1 book with 6 starred reviews; 1 book with 5 starred reviews; 8 books with 4 starred reviews; 16 books with 3 starred reviews; 59 books with 2 starred reviews; 160 books with 1 starred review.

December 2019 Starred Reviews

Not a ton of movement with the December reviews, but I went ahead and kept the 2019 titles because there were a few additions to the three starred reviews.

December 2019 stars tally:

• 1072 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1759 starred reviews as of the end of December.
• 2019: 5 books have 6 starred reviews, 17 books have 5 starred reviews, 57 books have 4 starred reviews, 101 books have 3 starred reviews, 221 books have 2 starred reviews, 671 books have 1 starred review.
• 162 books published in 2020 have been awarded 227 starred reviews as of the end of December.
• 2020: No books with 6 starred reviews; no books with 5 starred reviews; 4 books with 4 starred reviews; 8 books with 3 starred reviews; 37 books with 2 starred reviews; 113 books with 1 starred review.

November 2019 Starred Reviews

Obviously I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus lately, but it was for a fun reason. This year, for the first time, I served on the reader panel for Illinois’ Lincoln Award – the reader’s choice award for grades 9-12. It was a fascinating process – the best part was hearing the teen reading panel voice their opinions on the titles up for consideration. The final list for 2021 should be released in late February or early March. Now that I’ve been through the process once, I’m super excited for next year. I already have plans on how to improve managing my reading and note taking while still keeping this blog going.

While I was gone, the ALA Awards were announced. Check out the complete list of winners here. Unfortunately, since I’m so far behind, I’m going to be focusing on catch up rather than analyzing the winners and how they compare with starred reviews and best book lists. Luckily Anne over at My Head is Full of Books has you covered on the starred reviews for the young adult titles at least!

I’m still including 2019 titles on this November post because there were several new additions. The December reviews post might switch over to just 2020 titles – we’ll see how much movement we get in 2019 titles once I’ve entered the December information.

November 2019 stars tally:

• 1061 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1741 starred reviews as of the end of November.
• 2019: 5 books have 6 starred reviews, 17 books have 5 starred reviews, 56 books have 4 starred reviews, 99 books have 3 starred reviews, 221 books have 2 starred reviews, 663 books have 1 starred review.
• 108 books published in 2020 have been awarded 123 starred reviews as of the end of November.
• 2020: No books with 6 starred reviews; no books with 5 starred reviews; 1 book with 4 starred reviews; 6 books with 3 starred reviews.

October 2019 Starred Reviews

2020 starred reviews are starting to come in, but nothing has three starred reviews yet.

Five of the Best lists that I track have been announced – just waiting on the Bulletin’s list to arrive. In the meantime, you can see the five lists on the Best Books 2019 spreadsheet.

October 2019 stars tally:

• 1022 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1666 starred reviews as of the end of October. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 15 books have 5 starred reviews, 56 books have 4 starred reviews, 97 books have 3 starred reviews, 212 books have 2 starred reviews, 640 books have 1 starred review.
• 34 books published in 2020 have been awarded 39 starred reviews as of the end of October.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 3 books move up to 5 starred reviews from 4 and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 3; 7 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 2 books with 4 starred reviews are entirely new; 9 books have been added with 3 starred reviews.

September 2019 Starred Reviews

So. Far. Behind. That’s the story here and it means that unfortunately, I’m not going to be adding Printz and Newbery posts anytime soon. I need to get caught up on starred reviews first! Plus, I have started my spreadsheet tracking 2019 Best Books lists from the same six journals I track for starred reviews. Right now it has Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal and Horn Book titles listed (although I’m missing a few age ranges on the Horn Book titles – I’ll fill those in when I find them). I’ll fill in the best lists from the other three journals as they are released and I have time.

September 2019 stars tally:

• 977 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1574 starred reviews as of the end of September. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 11 books have 5 starred reviews, 50 books have 4 starred reviews, 96 books have 3 starred reviews, 201 books have 2 starred reviews, 617 books have 1 starred review.
• 7 books published in 2020 have been awarded 7 starred reviews as of the end of September – no duplicates yet, but I expect 2020 reviews to pick up with the October journals.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; 1 new book with 5 starred reviews and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 4 and 1 book moves up to 5 starred reviews from 3; 11 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 2 books with 4 starred reviews are entirely new; 25 books have been added with 3 starred reviews.

August 2019 Starred Reviews

It’s book award season once again! The National Book Foundation has announced its longlist and finalists for Young People’s Literature. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on November 20. The Kirkus Prize Finalists have also been announced with winners to be announced on October 24. Heavy Medal is in full swing and SLJ’s Pondering Printz column has returned.

In other news, this blog is now an IndieBound Affiliate. All that means is that if anyone purchases books at IndieBound after following a link from here (starting with this post and going forward), I get a small commission.

August 2019 stars tally:

• 892 books published in 2019 have been awarded 1403 starred reviews as of the end of August. 2 books have 6 starred reviews, 8 books have 5 starred reviews, 38 books have 4 starred reviews, 83 books have 3 starred reviews, 189 books have 2 starred reviews, 572 books have 1 starred review.
• No new books with 6 starred reviews; no new books with 5 starred reviews; 5 books move up to 4 starred reviews from 3 starred reviews and 1 book with 4 starred reviews is entirely new; 14 books have been added with 3 starred reviews