Newbery Update: 2000s

The end of the journey at last! These are the most recent ten books awarded the Newbery Medal, not counting this year’s winner, xxx by xxx. (comment on it later??)Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis – xxxA Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck – xxxA Single Shard by Linda Sue Park – xxxCrispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi – xxxThe Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo...
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Roundup

Closing the book on 2009–it’s been a good year. Interesting. Weird. Frustrating. You know, the usual. I did manage to read 135 books (some re-reads, but mostly new titles). I’m finally unstuck with the current WIP, and even though it’s moving more slowly than I’d like, it’s moving. We took a family trip to Washington, DC (awesome!), rode/survived the train,...
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Romance is the Shizz, Y’all

Check out this terrific blog about romances posted to DailyKos by Laura Clawson, a self-proclaimed romance lover who also happens to be an Ivy-League Ph.D. with, as she says, “nary a pink sweatsuit in sight.” She does a great job deconstructing many myths about romance novels and their readers. You know, the “porn for housewives” and “rape fantasy” memes that...
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Why Men Shouldn’t Write Advice Columns

My college roommate sent me this in an email, but the .jpg isn’t enlarging well. Here’s a transcript, and enjoy!Dear John: I hope you can help me here. The other day, I set off for work, leaving my husband in the house watching TV. My car stalled, and then it broke down about a mile down the road, and I had to walk back to get my husband’s help. When I got home, I...
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Merry Christmas

It came upon the midnight clear,That glorious song of old,From angels bending near the earth,To touch their harps of gold:”Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,From heaven’s all-gracious King.”The world in solemn stillness lay,To hear the angels sing. Still through the cloven skies they come,With peaceful wings unfurled,And still their heavenly music floatsO’er all the...
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