Heads Up! The Cybils Awards are Coming!

 

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill (Nonfiction)

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel (Nonfiction)

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (Chapter-a-Day)

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah (Fantasy)

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith (Nonfiction)

If you are observant, you may notice that I am still reading the exact same books I was reading last week. How the Word is Passed had to be returned to the library before I was finished, but happily I got another copy later in the week. 

Still, I haven't finished any of these books. 

And why? I got distracted by new books coming in...

I had a really good reading week, starting and completing four books, all new releases.

It was fun to read The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, set near where I live outside of Houston; while The Bodyguard storyline felt highly improbable, it had some great life wisdom. 

I was shocked to see what life was like under an autocratic leader in 1970s Romania in Ruth Sepetys' latest historical novel, I Must Betray You. 

I wasn't expecting to love the middle-grade historical fiction story of a girl with Native American ancestry whose parents divorce in the early 20th century, but I ended up being completely taken with The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson. 

I raced through A Life in Light, the memoir of psychologist and writer, Mary Pipher, as she tells the story of all the great difficulties of her life and how she found light in every situation.

Yes, a fantastic week. 

I wonder if you have read any of these.

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: Back to the Y, plus Gratitude Daily and Happier Now

Book Titles that Are So Complex and Oddly Compelling that You Can't Seem to Stop Yourself from Reading the Story

There's More to France Than Paris: The Loire Valley

The news from Texas libraries is mostly bad this week:

Cy-Fair ISD votes to allow parents to ban their children from checking out library books

Students Must Now Have Parent Permission to Check Out Books in Houston-Area School District Libraries

See Every Book Banned and Challenged in Texas School Districts

Apply to be a Cybils Awards judge on August 17!

Find out more about being a Cybils judge here.

I am Category Chair 

for the Cybils Awards Fiction Picture Books/Board Books 

again this year.

I didn't go to the movies for two and a half years. Then, last week, I went twice, and I enjoyed both movies.

Good Thing #1

The Cybils are coming! The Cybils are coming!

Apply to be a judge next week.

Good Thing #2

I've been a Cybils judge every year since 2008.

I've been a Cybils judge for fifteen years.

I've been a Cybils category chair for six years.

Good Thing #3

It's time to be thinking about books to nominate for the Cybils Awards.

Nominations will open on October 1.

More about nominations is here,

but, for now, keep reading those wonderful 

children's and YA books published over the past year.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.