Hey, all!

I’m in the mood to read some short stories, but I don’t want just any short stories. I do not want stories that leave you depressed and raw and empty at the end of them. I want stories that make you laugh or that make you feel life is worth living or that just end happily. But at the other end of the spectrum, I decidedly do NOT want sappy, saccharine-filled Chicken Soup for the Soul-esque pap.

There have to be literary, upbeat short story collections out there somewhere. Can you help me find them?

The Broke and the Bookish‘s Tuesday meme asked this week for you to consider your favorite ten characters in a specific genre. Since so much of my recent reading has been for the Cybils, I figured I’d focus there, even though that’s not technically a genre.

So without further ado, here is my list, in no particular order, of favorite characters among the 60 Cybils nominees I read:

1. Maddie from Code Name Verity, because you couldn’t ask for a more loyal friend
2. Autumn from Pinned, because she was self-confident despite her lack of academic prowess
3. Micha from The Storyteller, because a little girl should always feel like a princess
4. The entire Garrett clan from My Life Next Door, because if you could move in with a fictional family this is the one you’d pick
5. Boy21, aka Russ, from Boy21, because he returned from the edge to be a better friend than he ever could have thought
6. Louise’s grandparents from The Boy on Cinnamon Street, because quirky senior citizens rock
7. Max from Messy, because she surprised herself
8. Charlie Dickens from Dodger, because the wordy English author could have been more bad-ass than you think
9. Howie from I Hunt Killers, because what other hemophiliac do you know who’d confront a serial killer?
10. Verity from Code Name Verity, because she did exactly what she needed to do

You may not be able to play along in my category, but I’d be interested to hear about some of your favorite literary characters.

As you know, I was a first-round judge of realistic young adult fiction for the Cybils last fall. Our panel cumulatively read nearly 200 books and passed along our consensus of the top seven among them to the shortlist panel. They had the challenging assignment of picking a sole winner among that group, a task that seems herculean to me.

Narrow it down they did, however, and tonight the winner was unveiled: (more…)

Which of these books do I want to read next:

• Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
• Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
• On Writing by Stephen King
• The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
• Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
• Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
• The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Drink the Tea by Thomas Kaufman
• The Fairies Return by Peter Llewelyn Davies
• Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
• Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly

I have to face facts: I’m not going to get caught up in reviewing the books I read last year.

However, I’m not going to let that prevent me from doing some summarizing and some recommending. If I’ve reviewed the book, I’ll include the link. But if we don’t go this route, I’ll still be contemplating my year-end post next fall (like the 2011 best reads post I never published last year).

I finished 100 books last year. These are the 10 best (with a few honorable mentions): (more…)

If it’s Thursday, it’s time to look back at three beautiful things from the past week:

1. The UConn-Notre Dame women’s basketball game was on tv, which prompted Rudi to see when UConn would be in town to play Georgetown. Turns out it was Wednesday. It was great to see some of the Huskies’ newest talent, including spirited play from first-year student Moriah Jefferson. Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers, who is being talked about for this year’s WNBA draft, was everywhere on the court, keeping the game far closer than I’d expected. (By that I mean UConn only won by 25 or so points.) If this is the last year the Huskies come to town (due to Georgetown’s imminent departure from the Big East), I’m over the moon that we got to see the game.

2. I hit both the Arlington and D.C. libraries to return (most of) the last of my Cybils books. And I took out books that I picked out and that I wanted to read. The first time since September!

3. Russian Christmas was Monday, which marked the end of the holiday gift-giving season between Rudi and me. To celebrate, he gave me Jasper Fforde’s The Last Dragonslayer, which I’d had to put off because of Cybils reading (and which I plan to devour this weekend), and my favorite tiny notebooks, purple and the perfect size for carrying in back pockets, purses, and knitting bags.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?