Category Archives: Bookish Talk

The 2011 Indie Lit Award Winners

2011 Indie Lit Awards

The 2011 Indie Lit Award winners have been announced!

2011 Indie Lit Award Winners

Biography/Memoir

Winner: Little Princes by Conor Grennan
Runner-Up: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

GLBTQ

Winner: Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Krieger
Runner-Up: Huntress by Malinda Lo

Fiction

Winner: Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Runner-Up: Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney

Mystery

Winner: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Runner-Up: Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski

Non-Fiction

Winner:  Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckhoff
Runner-Up: Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe

Poetry

Winner: Catalina by Laurie Soriano
Runner-Up: What Looks Like an Elephant by Edward Nudelman

Speculative Fiction

Winner: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Runner-Up: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Thanks to the Directors and panel members for all of their hard work!

The Sunday Salon: Me Busy, Me No Like

Sunday Salon

It is almost mid-March! Can you believe it? Of course, with the time change and all, I feel totally gipped of a full weekend. I’ll get over it.

Here are some updates:

  • The Boy’s basketball season ended. We did not win the championship but it was a great season with great kids and a super coach We really enjoyed this season. Next? The Boy plans to go out for high school ball (frosh). There are some complications with that since the camp conflicts with his 8th grade DC trip. Why do they do that??
  • The Girl finished her Toastmaster’s speech and although she memorized it, she ended up reading the entire thing (according to her teacher). I think we had a week off from that and then BAM…a book report. The one with the dreaded biography DOLL that she (we) have to make. She chose King Tut. How does one make a King Tut doll? I am envisioning creative uses of tin foil.
  • Tuesday, they post the callback list for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. If the Boy and Girl get a callback, they will be auditioning again the next day. Cross your fingers for me. They each tried out for two parts. The Girl felt good, the Boy was not clear on how he felt. Boys! You have to really dig to get any info.
  • Still working out. Still enjoying it (a first). I did something to my calf muscle, which has been bothering me for a really long time. I figured I just wasn’t use to the exercise, but then someone said it might be a blood clot. Gasp. And here I was massaging the hell out of it. I took aspirin for three days and now it’s gone. Hmmm. If it comes back I am going to have to see a doc.
  • Doing lots of reading and finally catching up on the reviews. I normally write my reviews before work and since I have been hitting the gym, there is very little time to get them written but I am slowly catching up. I think I have like…12 to write. Eek. I am currently reading The Orphan Master’s Son. It’s very different than what I expected, but it’s really good. At least, it has been. I am about 60 pages into it.
  • Spring Break is almost here. We plan to hit Palm Springs and then right after that, The Girl starts volleyball, which is new for her. She took tennis last year. I thought she was pretty good but she wants to try something different this year.
  • It’s also gopher season and they have once again dug up our yard. The Hub has his black box trap and is going after them with a vengeance. Reminds me of Caddyshack but these gophers look nothing like that furry little imp from the movie. Think rats with long, long teeth.

Well, that’s pretty much it for me. I made pancakes (gluten-free) and bacon for breakfast and drank about 4 cups of coffee. Weeeeee, I am wired! I made meatballs last week to throw into the crock pot this weekend so pasta and meatballs for dinner tonight. Easy and good. I’m all for that.

Have a wonderful Sunday, I plan to stop by your blogs later today.