Now, I just KNOW you’ve all been keeping up with the Cybils blog, so this should come as no surprise, but it’s almost time for NOMINATIONS!! That means, between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15, you should visit the Cybils site and nominate your favorite book in each category! It means you should be thinking about your favorites published over the past year, and have your finger poised over your mouse-clicky buttons and ready to get those books some love! Can I use any more exclamation points? No! I cannot! (Oh, wait…) Anyway, Monday is the day, so if you have any questions about what types of books belong in which categories, check out the blog for category descriptions, and don’t forget to nominate.
Monday’s a big day in the Kidlitosphere, as it turns out. Guys Lit Wire will be holding another Book Fair for Ballou HS in Washington, DC. Says Colleen about this latest book fair: “In case you haven’t heard, the budgets for DC’s libraries were cut
earlier this year (many libraries are being completely shut down) and so
Melissa Jackson (Ballou’s librarian) has even less money then ever to
buy books.” It will run for two weeks, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to help a needy high school stock its library with books from Powells. Read more about the book fair efforts here, and don’t forget to visit GLW in the next couple of weeks and contribute!
One last item of note: Author Shannon Hale put up a recent post about writers, blogging, and self-censorship. She raises a lot of interesting questions about how personal opinions about the author can affect how we experience their writing. It’s a topic I’ve often mulled over, not only with respect to this blog, but also my personal blog, aquafortis. How much do I want people do know about me? How much do they even WANT to know about me? I don’t know what the answer is, but Shannon asks:
What are your thoughts? Do you wish authors remained anonymous and you
only knew them through the words on the page? (if you’re reading an
author’s blog, then probably not?) Does an author’s public persona
enhance/diminish your reading? Those of us who are older grew up with
books alone, and now social media allows us to feel we know the people
behind the books. How has this changed your reading experiences?
There are a great many interesting and thoughtful comments, too, so if you’re looking for something to read on this Friday, check out “Should writers just shut the crap up?” (How can you NOT click on that title? Love it.)
