I very rarely do this so know that I mean it. Last week I came across
The Book Lantern blog which only started last month. In the interest of full disclosure, I stumbled across it as they'd listed Persnickety Snark in their blog roll (yes, I have Google alerts).
Out of narcissistic interest I followed the link over.
Two minutes later I was already entering their html address into my Google Reader.
Why?
I am partial to discussion posts. They are the element of Persnickety Snark that I loved writing the most. They are apparently the one element of Persnickety Snark that you enjoyed reading (recommending and linking) the most.
(I have statistical evidence of this, I am not trying to be a cretin). I am not a blogger who typically reads many reviews, I am much more engaged by what people are saying about the genre, the topics and the news.
So
The Book Lantern was like a dream come true. Well written, clearly argued positions on various elements of youth literature. I might be in whole hearted agreement, or shut down / arms crossed denial, but I respect their ability to discuss different topics in an intelligent and supported way. They tend to reference a whole gamut of titles when discussing topics, no matter the author. Yes, there is a bent towards referencing paranormal titles but that's YA as a whole.
Four contributors write for the blog and as a result it's updated regularly with quality posts. There isn't anything whiz-bang, gee whiz about The Book Lantern it is just purely well crafted, knowledgable and smart reflections on YA. Something that we can always have more of.
Brava, The Book Lantern!
