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Writer's pictureJennifer LaGarde

đŸ€© Among The Stars: September Update

Updated: Nov 1

Ugh! I'm behind, y'all! While I typically try to post this update at the end of the month, my recent travel schedule made that goal unattainable. That said, (for the moment anyway!) the starred review spreadsheet that Donalyn Miller and I curate is up to date.


As a reminder, Donalyn and I curate and collate the starred reviews from six trade journals: 



We realize, of course, that other sites/blogs award stars, too... but these are the journals we've chosen to focus on.


THE STARS SO FAR

As always happens this time of year, I've had to create a new sheet (at the bottom) to start recording reviews for books that won't be published until 2025. Although the reviews are coming out in 2024, those stars will count towards next year's totals. With that in mind, here's how the 2024 numbers currently shake out. As of this post, we've recorded 1670 reviews representing 1,111 unique titles. Here's the star distribution so far:


  • 4 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

  • 8 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

  • 23 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

  • 91 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

  • 250 ⭐ ⭐

  • 735 ⭐


You may recall that last month, only three titles had received five stars from all six of the journals we curate. This month, that number has risen to eight, which is an exciting jump for book nerds like me. And speaking of book nerds...


NATIONAL BOOK AWARD STARS

Since my last update to the starred review spreadsheet, the National Book Award Foundation announced both it's long and short lists of honorees. Now, it's no secret that I love the National Book Award announcements. Not only do they mark the beginning of book award season, but the committee always selects at least a few books that weren’t on my radar previously. This year, however, I was curious:


How many starred reviews did the titles selected as semi and finalists for this year's NBAs receive? So... I did a little math and here's what I came up with:

Note: while all 10 of the NBA semi finalists appear in the image above, the five finalists are featured on the bottom row.


So... what does this mean? Absolutely nothing!


And yet... I find it fascinating! AND I think it's a good example of how starred reviews, like any review, are just one data point that we can use to help inform our reading lives and/or collection development decisions. While I find the work of curating starred reviews to be meaningful, I also know that it's important to remember that many, many wonderful books never even get reviewed by trade journals. What's more, each review represents one person's opinion of that book. Ultimately, I continue to believe that the myriad ways books connect us to one another, and to the essential parts of ourselves, remain more important than any review. That's why, whenever I share the starred review spreadsheet with educators, I always provide time for us to also share books that may not appear on the spreadsheet, but have found their way into our hearts.


WHAT DID WE MISS?

Last month, a few people used the form I created to let me know that I had missed a star - thank you! As you might imagine, this project takes a lot of time and it's easy to make mistakes. I appreciate your help as I do my best to make sure the final product is as accurate as possible. That said, to be clear, we're not taking notes on misspellings, etc., but If, after at least a month**, you notice that we've missed a starred review from one of the journals we curate, please use this form to let us know. 


**,Why do we ask you to wait a month? Some reviews appear online before that journal's official issue has been released. Waiting the month helps us avoid duplicating reviews.


Finally, as we near the end of another calendar year, I've made a few changes to the 2025 spreadsheet that I hope will make it both more useful for you AND a lighter lift for me. I'll write more about these changes later. For now, thank you for using and supporting this project. And remember, if you reach out with suggestions... be nice!


Happy reading, y'all!


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