Nominate Your Favorite Children's & YA Books for the Cybils, Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon is Coming, and Win Free Books for Life

Nominate Your Favorite Children and YA Books for the Cybils Awards Now! Have you read some wonderful children's books this year? Fabulous YA books? Did you know that anyone can nominate a wonderful children's book or a fabulous YA book for the Cybils Awards? The details about nominating are here, and the guidelines for each category are here, but basically the book you nominate must be published in the US or Canada between Oct. 16, 2015 and Oct. 15, 2016. You can nominate one book per category. The categories are Audiobooks, Board Books, Early Chapter Books, Easy Readers, Elementary Nonfiction, Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Juvenile Nonfiction, Middle Grade Fiction, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Poetry, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Graphic Novels, Young Adult Nonfiction, and Young Adult Speculative Fiction. (If you are an author or a publisher, please wait until after October 15 to nominate your book.)  This is my tenth year working with the Cybils. Over the years, I've nominated many, many books in many, many categories, but I'm proud to say that eight of my nominees have been finalists and one book was the winner in its category.  It's easy to nominate a favorite children's or YA book published in the last year. Go here and nominate away! Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon is Coming! Have you ever tried reading in Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon? Dewey's Read-a-thon was the first blogging event I participated in, way, way back in 2008. I visited other blogs, "met" other bloggers, played book-ish games, won book-ish prizes, read books, and blogged. It was over-the-top fun.  Since then, I've participated in lots of read-a-thons. I've only read for twenty-four hours one time, but I've won lots of prizes and had oodles of fun.  Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon is coming up on Saturday, October 22, 2016. Could you read for 24 hours straight? How much could you read? Could you win some prizes? Play some book-ish games? Sign up now here. Win Free Books for Life! I don't play the lottery, but this giveaway made my heart go pitter-patter and I had to share it with you. Heywood Hill Bookshop in London is giving away free books for life. To celebrate the shop's 80th anniversary, Heywood Hill is giving one person the chance to win a recently published hardcover book each month for the rest of his/her life. The giveaway is open to anyone in the entire world. To enter, go here. The contest is open until the end of October. What are you reading today? What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon. The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week. Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week.   It is now being hosted here. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired. It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

A Cookbook That Just Might Make You a Vegetarian: A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones

I'm not a vegetarian, so don't think I'm the usual sort who picks up this cookbook. And my husband is light-years from being a vegetarian, so he will provide a perfect test subject for the recipes of A Modern Way to Cook: 150+ Vegetarian Recipes for Quick, Flavor-Packed Meals by Anna Jones.

I will say that you won't find everything you need in your cabinet, and you may even (I did) have to ask the checker at Kroger to send you in the right direction for a few ingredients. 

I read the book and I try a recipe. Soft Green Herb Omelet. It is in the very first section of the book, the one that promised a meal in fifteen minutes, a meal in the time it takes to set the table. Anna Jones is right. It takes no time at all. 

Jones asks us to start with four free-range or organic eggs. You can't get much more free-range or organic than these beautiful eggs, acquired from a friend who raises chickens as a sideline. Aren't they lovely? 

We crack our eggs in a bowl and then add salt, pepper, and two small bunches of soft herbs. I add mint, basil, and tarragon. We heat our frying pan over medium heat, and pour the eggs into the pan and allow them to sit untouched for twenty seconds until they begin to set. 

You don't have to fill the omelet but I do. I use a small handful of feta cheese with a good grating of lemon zest and a handful of shredded spinach. 

I finish by flipping the other side over to form a half-moon shape, and cooking for another thirty seconds.

Oh my. We are talking flavor, folks, and it isn't the kind of amazing flavor that fades once you start considering the harm you are doing to your body from the actual sugar, salt, and fat that often comes with those huge flavor sensations. No, this is intense flavor and it's the Good Jedi kind.

Yes, you may have to spend a bit of extra time to find what you need for this book. On the other hand, the meals are as fast as anything I've ever cooked, and you can creatively substitute this and that for what you have on hand. Nutrition and flavor are astonishingly high.

Final assessment from our test subjects (my husband and me): Two big (green) thumbs up.






For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Saturday Snapshot is now hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky below. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. 

My Fall TBR

I won't be reading-at-will this fall. I have lots of reading for upcoming events.


Books for the Margaret Root Brown Reading Series in Houston
     *Barkskins by Annie Proulx
     *Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
     *Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
     *Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vasquez

Books for the Texas Book Festival in Austin
     *Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
     *The Midnight Assassin by Skip Hollandsworth
     *Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
     *How to Be a Texan by Andrea Valdez
     *The Girls by Emma Cline
     *Homegoing by Yaa Guasi
     *The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell
     *Leave Me by Gayle Forman

Books for the Cybils
     Nominations for the Cybils start on October 1st. I will probably have to read and evaluate over two hundred children's fiction picture books. That will keep me busy!


Do you know any of these books? What do you hope to read this fall?

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

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Nothing But Picture Books and Could I Have Zika?

What I Read Last Week (Subtitled Nothing But Picture Books) Hey, That's My Monster! Ethan's little sister keeps getting out of bed to play,  so Ethan's monster feels compelled to scare her into getting to sleep. It's another scary...more My Grandparents Love Me Some books just scream, "Gift book!"  My Grandparents Love Me is one of these.  The story is filled with all the wonderful experiences that...more Creation by Cynthia Rylant Are there more beautiful words than the story of creation?  Could they be more beautifully illustrated than with the simple paintings Rylant made...more  Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story No, of course, it didn't take me (almost) a month to read this book,  as you might surmise from my Goodreads info;  I simply wanted to continue to have...more What I'm Reading Now  The Train to Crystal City: FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and  America's Only Family Interment Camp During World War II by Jan Jarboe Russell Here I Am: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer Could I Have Zika? I've had a painful ache in my arm for weeks now, almost like flu. I ended up going to have a massage, my first, this week, and the symptoms were completely gone when I left the massage workspace. As the massage therapist warned me, however, the symptoms recurred the next day, and so I am again feeling like my arm has the flu. What is at the root of this? Did I strain my muscle? Is it the flu, but restricted to one arm? Could it be zika? Oh my. Just wish I'd feel better. What are you reading today? What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon. The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week. Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week.   It is now being hosted here. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired. It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

Church Outside Taos

St. Francisco de Asis Mission Church was built four miles southwest of Taos between 1772 and 1816 by Franciscan fathers. It is the subject of several paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe and several photos by Ansel Adams. 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.

It's Me Again, Hank the Cowdog

What's my favorite audiobook series? No doubt about it. Hank the Cowdog. Who, you ask, is Hank the Cowdog? You ain't from Texas, is ya? If this were a perfect world, Hank the Cowdog would be up there with Harry Potter in sales. Hank the Cowdog has adventure. Hank the Cowdog has action. Hank the Cowdog has drama. Hank the Cowdog has humor. Hank the Cowdog even has a bit of romance. Hank the Cowdog has everything a good book needs. Hank the Cowdog author John R. Erickson at the Texas Book Festival. We first ran across Hank the Cowdog when my older son won a writing contest in elementary school. The winner got to meet the author of Hank the Cowdog, John R. Erickson, and got to hear Erickson read from his latest book.  Forever after this event, my husband, two sons, and I always dragged along several Hank the Cowdog audiobooks on every vacation. I've seen John R. Erickson at many, many book events over the years, including the Texas Library Association Conference and the Texas Book Festival. Erickson not only writes the book, but he writes the songs and does all the voices for the characters in the audiobook and publishes the books and audiobooks. Erickson is a one-man wonder. John R. Erickson at 2012 TLA What's the story? Hank is the Head of Ranch Security on a cattle ranch in far west Texas. He has a sidekick, Drover, who often resorts to opting out of Hank's more dangerous endeavors because of a bad leg. Hank's nemeses are the ranch owner's wife, Sally May, who Hank always seems to cross, and the ranch cat, Pete the Barncat. Hank dreams of the beautiful collie, Beulah. There are also Rip and Snort, the coyote brothers, and Wallace and Junior, the buzzards, and Slim Chance, the hired man on the ranch, and High Loper, Sally May's husband, and lots of other wonderful characters on the ranch. Hank the Cowdog author at TLA 2015. Here are my ten most favorite Hank the Cowdog audiobooks.  If you only have time for one, don't miss #8, The Case of the One-eyed Killer Stud Horse.    Here are excerpts from each of Hank's audiobooks. There's a website for kids, parents, and teachers where kids can join Hank's Security Force.  There's a Facebook page. Here's an interview with John R. Erickson: I hope you will give Hank the Cowdog a listen soon.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Happy Day! Happy News!

I'm in a daze. It's a daze of happiness. With a bit of fear. I got a call yesterday. The amazing Terry Doherty had to step away from her role with the 2016 Cybils unexpectedly and she offered the car keys to me.  I took the keys. I am...wait for it...the Category Chair for the Cybils 2016 Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards Fiction Picture Books.  Whew. You know me. Fiction picture books are my world. I've had many huge happy moments in the children's book world. I posted my Mo Willems and Me pictures from BEA in Chicago last May outside my school library and I had a gazillion people say to me, "You...met...Mo...Willems???" I was chosen as an onsite correspondent for BEA last year. I was asked to be the moderator for the Five Funny Guys panel at TweenReads last year. My school was asked to host Jon Klassen the year he won the Caldecott.  I won a grant to build five Little Free Libraries for children's books. I've been an author escort for the Children's Reading Tent at the Texas Book Festival many, many times. I'm over halfway through reading the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up.  And I've been a judge for the Cybils in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008, serving as a panelist for nonfiction picture books, easy readers, early chapter books, and, yes, fiction picture books.  But this is the Mt. Everest of huge happy moments in the children's book world.  Thrilled. And scared. I need to get busy. Judges for Cybils panels will be announced tomorrow. Nominations for the Cybils will open on October 1. I hope you will stop by and nominate away for your favorite children and young adult books.

What Arrived in the Mail What I Read Last Week

What are you reading today? 

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.

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Mabel Dodge Luhan House

The Mabel Dodge Luhan House has been a Taos, New Mexico center for the arts for almost a hundred years. Mabel Dodge Luhan hosted many amazing creative people over the years, including Georgia O'Keefe, D. H. Lawrence, Martha Graham, and Ansel Adams. The rooms are named after the authors and artists and dancers who stayed in the hotel. We stayed there last summer in the Frank Waters room. Do you know Frank Waters? I didn't either until we visited the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. I ended up reading two of his books, People of the Valley and Mountain Dialogues, while I was there.

Here's a quote from People of the Valley on the wall in the Frank Waters room:

"'Entiende, muchacha? I will say it for your simple ears. Life is a great white stone. You, a child, stare at it and see only one side. You walk slowly around it. You see other sides, each different in shape and pattern, fought or smooth. You are confused; you forget that it is the same great white stone. But finally you have walked around it, stared at all of it at once from the hillside above. Verdad! Then you see it: how it has many different sides and shapes and patterns, some smooth, some rough, but still the one great white stone: how the sides merge into one another, indistinguishable: the past into the present, the present into the future, the future again into the present. Hola! They are all the same. With wisdom who knows one from the other? There is no time, which is but an illusion for imperfect ages. There is only the complete, rounded moment, which contains all.'"

The Mabel Luhan House was a peaceful and lovely place to stay. I wish I'd taken a photo of the fantastic breakfast the next morning. Can you imagine frittata, raspberry crumble, bacon, yogurt, berries, sausage, and a croissant? The company was just as delicious as the food.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads.