Divergent took “favorite book of 2011″ and also “best YA fantasy and sci-fi” on goodreads this year.

I’m happy that this book won, but I’m also shocked. Favorite book? A YA book?

Well, 50% of Roth’s goodreads readers were 25 or older. Molly O’Neill, the editor of the book, tweeted about that.

I’m excited to hear that because, well, I’m over 25 (just a tad  ), and I liked the book. So it makes me happy that I’m not alone in this adult love for YA books. I’m also excited because since these are the books I read, they are also the books I write, and I like to see that there’s a market for them.

It’s always been there, really. The market was there before there was a YA category, I think. Amazon lists Anne of Green Gables as middle grade, but those books have always appealed to females of all ages. I’ve read them over at various ages, and loved them every time. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Narnia books I’ve also read many times, and they’re loved by young and old.

So I’m glad to see YA and MG books getting some notice from adults. Some adults put up their noses at children’s books, thinking they are of lower quality than books written for adults. But that’s not the case. Heidi is a great book. Airman is wonderful. The Star of Kazan and The Charlatan’s Boy and Little Women…and I could go on and on. These books are wonderful, wonderful books for people of any age.

So I love, that a YA book beat out all other books in all other categories for favorite book on goodreads. It’s not the best book published in 2011, I’m pretty sure. No one made that claim. I doubt we could even judge that. Who has the authority to make such a judgement? But Divergent was a favorite among the rabid readers at goodreads. And I’m thrilled to see this strong crossover market.

So many women and teens in my church loved the Harry Potter books. Then they loved the Twilight books. And those same woman and teens are now sharing more and more books. This is a good thing. I love to see mom’s sharing books with their children. My daughter and I loved the Hunger Games books. (I admit my daughter was on her own for the Twilight series. I read the first one and…um…chose not to continue.) We shared The Amaranth Enchantment (Ooh. Great hardback bargain price on that one. Buy some for your niece’s for Christmas.)  and Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter and Shannon Hale’s books. My son and I passed Gary Paulsen and Eoin Colfer and Treasure Island back and forth. We all loved the Gregor the Overlander books (look at the new price for this boxed set. Oh my!) and The Hobbit and The Wilderking books. (Oh my goodness. Check out the new and used prices on the third book of that series. I have a copy in good condition—I think I even have a signed arc. Maybe I need to have an auction.) Before all of those we were in love with the Little House books and Harry Potter. Some of my favorite moments with my children have come as we’ve loved and discussed books (and movies—any kind of story) together.

I’m so happy to see more and more adults sharing books with their children and even just reading children’s books on their own for the pure enjoyment of it.

So, yay for Divergent, and hearty congratulations to Veronica Roth.

What about you? Have your read Divergent yet? What’s your favorite book of 2011? Any genre.

I haven’t seen a news report, but across the Internet news is spreading that [wikipop]Diana Wynne Jones[/wikipop] has died after a year-long battle with cancer.

I haven’t read many of her books. But one, Drowned Ammet, changed the way that I write in a profound way and set me off on writing the book that later won an SCBWI grant and snagged me an agent. Her world felt so real to me because it had a history, and the people shared beliefs and traditions.

I put that together with what I loved about Hogwarts—Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and school books, and Wizard’s Chess—all the normal, everyday things that make a world feel real. Only manifested in a way that worked with the story world.

People go to church in our world and they should go to church in the story world. People walk their dogs in our world and they should walk their dogs in the story world. People exchange marriage vows in our world and they should exchange marriage vows in the story world.

With a twist. Always with a little twist. Because the story world is not the real world.

If you haven’t read The Dalemark Quartet, you might give them a try.

I think I’ll celebrate her life by reading Fire and Hemlock.

What about you? Any Diana Wynne Jones fans out there? What are your favorite titles?

Today I read a delightful picture book about William Bentley.

Snowflake Bentley, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and illustrated by Mary Azarian, was published by Houghton Mifflin and it won [wikipop]Caldecott Medal[/wikipop] in 1999.

And the pictures are very good. I’m not surprised it won the Caldecott. The pictures—the cover and the way the pictures inside were framed—are what drew me in and made me pick up the book.

But the writing is the thing I loved best once I actually dove into the book.

I liked the way it was written…

From the first page:

In the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light, there lived a boy who loved snow more than anything else in the world.

But I also liked what the book said about so many things…

About children pursuing their dreams when other think they’re a little…well, let’s just say, strange. About parents sacrificing to encourage their children and help them succeed. About a love for nature and art that overrides worries over what your neighbors think of you. And about a love of beauty and a longing to share it.

Considering we just had huge flakes falling a week ago—yes, all the way down here in Atlanta we had snow in March!—I thought this was a great book to look at. Give it a gander, it’s well worth the time.

For more great nonfiction books, head over to Lost Between the Pages.

The awards have been announced

ALA has given the press release and many happy authors have, no doubt, tweeted their joy.

Once again, the list shows how slack I’ve been in my reading. I read a lot, but none of the right books, apparently. My tastes are odd.

I will be buying these books, now and catching up.

Neil Gaiman stopped by last week to comment–he and I are such buddies.

I was happy to see him here, though, and I told him I like to use his name in my posts every so often because it’s good for business.

I’ve criticized him for his Susan Pevensie story, sure, and I’ve not gotten into his books (not because he lacks talent but because I hate horror)  but I saw this recently at Book Moot and thought it was great. He’s not only smart and talented, but he also has that cute accent.