Cybils Update

[lady_schrapnell]

For anyone who hasn't heard about the Cybils, here you go. For those who have, or have now, or want the short version (Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards) and would like to be fed a few of the lists of nominated books in various categories, I'll do my best for you!

First up: Fantasy & Science Fiction Nominations

This one is organised by Sheila of Wands and Worlds, who's also doing weekly round-ups of books reviewed by the nominating committee!




The usual - bold means I've read it, bold and star means I read it and loved it. Italics (just can't stick with the standard, oh no!) means someone v. close to me has read and reported - italics and star means they've convinced me to read it too. As I've run out of possibilities, TBR is going in front of those on my -- you can guess the rest.)

TBR - A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve

Abadazad: The Road to Inconceivable by J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Ploog

Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent by Alex De Campi

The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher by Bill Harley

Anatopsis by Chris Abouzeid (Liked it a lot, but not love)

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer

AutumnQuest by Terie Garrison

Avielle of Rhia by Dia Calhoun

The Beast of Noor by Janet Lee Carey

*The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson (Not my v. favourite of hers, but still loved it)

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup

Braced2Bite by Serena Robar

TBR - Changeling by Delia Sherman

Charlie Bone And The Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo

*Corbenic by Catherine Fisher

*Death of a Ghost by Charles Butler

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Dream Spinner by Bonnie Dobkin

TBR - Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton (not very urgently on the TBR pile though)

Enemies by Christopher Golden and Ford Lytle Gilmore

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye by Kaza Kingsley

Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz

The Eye Pocket: The Fantastic Society of Peculiar Adventurers by E J Crow

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

The Fetch by Chris Humphreys

The Floating Island by Elizabeth Haydon

*Gideon: The Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer (Report on the way)

Gilda Joyce, and the Ladies of the Lake by Jennifer Allison

Golden by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

TBR - Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Hellbent by Anthony McGowan

TBR - Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

High School Bites: The Lucy Chronicles by Liza Conrad

Homefree by Nina Wright

Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson

Horse Passages by Jennifer Macaire

Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner

*The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

TBR - Larklight by Philip Reeve

Last of the Wilds by Trudi Canavan

The Last Days by Scott Westerfield

The Last Dragon by Silvana de Mari

The Legend of Zoey by Candie Moonshower

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

TBR - London Calling by Edward Bloor

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

*The Lurkers by Charles Butler

TBR -Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier

Monster Blood Tattoo: The Foundling by D M Cornish

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Reading Twilight didn't leave me gasping for this one)

TBR - Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean (At some point. Possibly. Out of interest if nothing else.)

The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne Duprau

*Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

Pucker by Melanie Gideon

Quest for the Dragon Stone by Ami Blackford

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan

TBR - River Secrets by Shannon Hale

TBR - Samurai by Jason Hightman (I think. Oh right - adbooks-raved-about-book. Possibly.)

*The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Septimus Heap #2: Flyte by Angie Sage

Shadow in the Deep by L B Graham

The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu

Silver City by Cliff McNish

Sir Thursday by Garth Nix

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child by Michael Buckley

The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma

Stones of Abraxas by K Osborn Sullivan

The Summer King by O J Melling

Sword of Anton by Gene Del Vecchio

Temping Fate by Esther Friesner

TBR - The Tide Knot by Helen Dunmore (Read & loved Ingo)

Travels of Thelonious by Susan Schade and Jon Buller

Undine by Penni Russon

TBR - Voices by Ursula Le Guin (Loved Gifts - though not w/o quibbles)

Wabi by Joseph Bruchac

The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby

TBR - Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (have to start at the beginning of series though!)

Wolfproof by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood




Having read 10 is unusually good for me, as will be apparent when I post the marked-up version of the YA list. (Possibly others as well, but haven't checked them to see if I've read enough to make it worthwhile.) Okay, two are Charlie's, but I think it's possible that proportionally more of these are UK (and Irish!) authors than on other lists. That would need some investigation to verify though, so it isn't even quite a theory at this stage.


I really, seriously regret not being able to be involved in the Cybils, but signing up for the nominating committee would have been a major mistake, so I fought the temptation. Successfully, for once.

[Kind Steepholm let me know this appeared on my journal but didn't show up on his or other friends' friends' pages, so I've deleted and am reposting. Just when I think I've learned something about this place.]

Comments

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

You didn't love Pinhoe Egg either?

A lot of these aren't out here yet I don't think. I've got the Penni Russon book on hold at my library at the moment. It sounds lovely and I shall report back.

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

You didn't love Pinhoe Egg either?

No, I didn't. Not only in a 'It's not very good by DWJ standards but that still leaves it much better than most' sort of way, either. I wasn't fence-sitting in a cowardly way by not piping up on the list, btw - just that there's a certain person on it I very much distrust wrt things like reporting to/from DWJ.

Oh good - will look forward to the report on Undine!

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I was very disappointed by Pinhoe but I will still give it a re-read and see if it improves. In my first read I felt it was formulaic and flat and a lot of the characters did not appeal to me.

Just that there's a certain person on it I very much distrust wrt things like reporting to/from DWJ Oh no, I suspected that might be the case.

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

I was very disappointed by Pinhoe but I will still give it a re-read and see if it improves. In my first read I felt it was formulaic and flat and a lot of the characters did not appeal to me.

I find your willingness to reread admirable! And it made me think, in a self-critical way, about my own willingness or otherwise, to reread a book I hadn't liked. But - yes, formulaic and flat and there's the problem with the morality of the 'justice' dispensed at the end that C. mentioned - and for me, many of those unappealing characters were ones who shouldn't just have become pegs who can appear with their distinguishing traits and behave in a way necessary to move along the plot (whether it seems consistent with their previous development or not). No time to edit that sentence for running-on. I'll be interested to hear if your response does change at all on a reread.

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I'm re-reading as other DWJs have improved after the first read. Even to like it enough to remember it or want to buy it to lend out would be an improvement!

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

If you want to borrow some of those on your TBR list, let me know as I'd be happy to lend them to you!

I've got more books than I can possibly read before Jan. 1st - so you were very wise indeed not to get involved. I'm planning to volunteer for the Judging Committee next year (rather than being volunteered for anything), not least because I'll be writing a (non-fiction) book of my own next year and I will *not* have time to read an extra 87 (or more) books !!

Most of the authors you've tagged are not Americans, but most of the books are by American authors... One you might enjoy, which I've almost finished reading, is Lyn Gardner's Into the Woods - lots of fairytale references, some of them subtle, and a lot of fun too... My review will go up tomorrow.

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you! I'd love to take you up on a few of those. (A couple are here, in one or other daughter's possession, but not Into the Woods - which I'd never heard of.)

I think I read you comment that you'd read about 10 of the books at the start of the Cybils (might have misremembered that), but even if you don't have to read all 77 others, it's still a huge commitment! And I guess the buzz this year could make next year's even more popular - might well be two times that number nominated. I was wondering earlier today if anyone will suggest the deadlines be pushed a month or two later next year - this is such an extra busy time for almost everyone. Late January might be just the time to have a pile of books arrive on your door to be read!

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

I believe it was 10 or 12 that I'd already read (ie. earlier in the year/last year) before the nominations list closed. I've not checked since the nominations list closed whether it was more than that. I do know I'm now on my 20th book ! I'll email you a list of the books that I've so far received that you mentioned were on your TBR (in theory I should receive copies of everything I hadn't already got/read)...

As to next year - the plan is that the nominations will start to be made earlier in the year - this year it's a mad scramble because the awards were initiated so late in the year (mid-October) and the desire to announce the award as early next year as possible, but I've been given to understand the new process will start earlier in the year in 2007 !