Cybils Shortlists and a Reading Challenge
Okay, I knew I wouldn’t last long before I came up with some kind of reading plan for the year…what’s a nice clean slate for if not to write on it?
See, I just had a fun idea: now that the eagerly-awaited 2010 Cybils shortlists have been announced, how about a Cybils Shortlist Reading Challenge?
If I’m counting correctly, there are a total of 76 books shortlisted across the 11 categories. (The odds of my having counted correctly, mind you, are slim. Feel free to correct me.) That means if you haven’t read any of them—and you’ve probably already read at least a few—you could read all 76 titles by tackling six or seven books a month. Many of these books are picture book and early readers, remember, so seven is a totally attainable number.
Of course those of us who served on a first-round panel (or who read lots of new books) will have a head start. I haven’t yet counted how many shortlisters I’ve read in total, but I did see several books I enjoyed on the lists already. I think I might only have to read four or five shortlisters a month to complete the challenge.
If you’re game, please chime in in the comments!
Serving on the YA fiction panel was a joy and (speaking of) a challenge. I gave up fall gardening—and here in San Diego, that’s one of our best garden seasons—in order to keep up with my reading responsibilities. (People are always asking me how I find so much time to read, and there’s your answer. Something’s gotta give. My ‘something’ usually has more to do with cooking and floor-scrubbing, but those are things that gotta give during ordinary times, and a stint on a first-round Cybils panel is not an ordinary time.) My fellow panelists are wonderfully insightful readers, women with wit and wisdom. We enjoyed our three months of book discussions so much, in fact, that when it was all over, we decided to keep this good thing going via monthly book-clubbish conversations. Maybe some of these other-category titles will provide some of the fuel for our sparky talks.
I hope to write more about our panel—and our selections—in the days to come, but for now if you’d like a peek behind the scenes, here’s a writeup by Kelly Jensen of Stacked.
“Being a part of this panel was some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time. It was completely exhausting and at times emotionally draining, but after three months of reading wildly, it all came down to a 4.5 hour discussion the day after Christmas.”
Kelly, Amanda, Ami, Cheryl, Jackie, Justina, I loved getting to know you, laugh with you, argue with you, read with you. I look forward to many more lively fights conversations to come. Also: In-and-Out burgers!
Updated—Okay, got my tally! Chagrined to see I’ve only read three of the other shortlisted titles (plus the seven from our panel). They happen to be three of my favorite books of the year, so I’m delighted to see them among the finalists in their respective categories. (SHARK VS TRAIN, SMILE, MIRROR MIRROR, all of which I’ve raved about here this year.)
76 books total
minus the 10 I’ve read =66 finalists left to read in 2011. Fun!!
katie mitchell says:
Let’s go!
On January 1, 2011 at 10:46 am
Mary Ann Scheuer says:
What fun! Great idea!
On January 1, 2011 at 10:53 am
kelly says:
cannot wait to see you next week!
i am game on the cybils challenge. it’ll help me beef up my younger level reading for sure!
On January 1, 2011 at 11:52 am
kelly says:
PLUS, we’re already 7 books in š
On January 1, 2011 at 11:53 am
beth says:
I’ll try it! Although I hope they get the PDF of finalists up soon, so it’s easier to keep track.
On January 1, 2011 at 11:56 am
Melissa Wiley says:
@beth, I know, me too! I’m in the middle of compiling a checklist on my listography, but it’s lazy: no authors, no links.
Just noticed there’s a picture book by Jeanne Birdsall (Penderwicks author) on the list! How’d I miss that she had a picture book out?
And very happy (& not a bit surprised) to see Shark vs. Train on the shortlist.
On January 1, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Melissa Wiley says:
@Kelly, re 7 books in, yippee! š Re seeing you next weekend, double yippee!
On January 1, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Nancy Piccione says:
I’m in! This sounds like a great idea. Excited to see a Jeane Birdsall book, but when is the next Penderwicks coming out? We are waiting…
On January 1, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Greta says:
Count me in! Looking forward to sharing some of these with my boys.
On January 2, 2011 at 11:58 am
Amy @ Hope Is the Word says:
Ooooooh–me, me, me! Now, if I can just get my hands on them. . . .
On January 5, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Amy C. says:
I’m in too (and so are the girls). Thanks for the kick-start to our reading year!
On January 9, 2011 at 8:39 am
beth says:
I’m just checking in — I finished 10 books so far. You are still ahead of me. I’m having fun watching my sons grab many of the books, although I’m occasionally left wandering where my copies went.
Also, I have no idea how I’ll know when I finished Meanwhile.
On February 18, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Beth says:
I just noticed that you are missing a Middle Grade Novel finalist. Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg is not in your listography. I think your final count is right, and that you only have 75 books listed, but my eyes are blurry so no guarantees.
On June 30, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Beth says:
I’m done! I read them all. I dragged my middle schooler along for most of them, my fifth grader son along for some, and my fifth grade niece along for her selective few. The third grader thinks anything I like is probably lame, so I had to sneak in his participation — he owes you his love for Elephant & Piggie.
Whew. Now I’m all ready for New Years and the new list.
On December 20, 2011 at 12:01 am