More awards!

A few more awards came my way in June and July, and it’s about time I posted about them...

Many thanks again to Ladybug from Escape in a Book, Vanessa from Today’s Adventure and Linda from Better with Books, who all awarded me the Proximidade Award in June. I really appreciate it!

This award invests and believes in proximity—nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.

It’s always hard to decide who to give awards to as there are so many great blogs out there... I’m going to pass on this award to eight relatively new-to-me bloggers:

• Brittany at Deckled Edges
• Eva at A Striped Armchair
• Meghan at Medieval Bookworm
• Nymeth at things mean a lot
• Sassy Brit at Alternative-Read.com
• Scrap girl at Serendipity
• Staci at Life in the Thumb
• Tiina at A Book Blog of One’s Own

Thank you to Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books, who awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award. To accept this award, bloggers are asked to make a list of seven favourite things and then pass on the award to seven other bloggers.

First, seven things I love:

1. dark chocolate with ginger
2. Häagen Dazs Mayan chocolate ice cream
3. naps
4. the Atlantic Ocean
5. lychee martinis
6. Gosford Park
7. raclette

I want to pass on this award to seven creative bloggers who have great blog designs:

• Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog
• Iliana at bookgirl’s nightstand
• Natalie at Book, Line and Sinker
• Jessica at Books Love Jessica Marie
• Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here
• J. T. Oldfield at Bibliofreak
• Kay at The Infinite Shelf

I’m really tired of my blog’s generic look and I’m pining for three columns, buttons at the top of the page and a unique look... Until I can figure out how to do that (or pay someone to do it for me), I visit these blogs and drool (and of course they have great content too)!

Passing on a couple of awards!

Last night I posted about several awards I received recently and there are a couple I wanted to pass on...

So I was curious to see how many comments I’ve gotten in the last two months, in part because I want to pass on the You Don’t Say Super Comments Award to my top commenters. But unfortunately the Top Commenter widget for Blogger just doesn’t love me (in other words, it doesn’t work at all on my blog), so I had to count all my comments manually (!). If I calculated correctly (and I was getting a bit cross-eyed at the end), my blog received 500 comments in the last two months from 135 different commenters! (Can that be right?) It’s no wonder I’ve been having trouble keeping up!













My top commenters to whom I award the You Don’t Say Super Comments Award (as well as the award below*) are:

Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog (30 comments)
Missy at Missy’s Book Nook (22 comments)
Jo-Jo at Jo-Jo Loves to Read (20 comments)
Jen (Ladytink) at Up Close & Personal with Ladytink (19 comments)
Jessica Marie at Books Love Jessica Marie (17 comments)
Ti at Book Chatter (16 comments)
Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books (14 comments)
Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here (14 comments)
Mary at Bookfan-Mary (12 comments)
Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit (12 comments)
Wendy (Literary Feline) at Musings of a Bookish Kitty (11 comments)
Luanne at A Bookworm’s World (11 comments)
Natalie at Book, Line & Sinker (11 comments)

Since I did these calculations late last night, it’s possible I’ve missed a few comments (although I did double-check all the top contenders).










And just because I can, I’m going to award the 2009 Friendly Blogger Award to all of the above AND to the runners-up:

Anna at Diary of an Eccentric (9 comments)
Donna (Myckyee) at BookBound (9 comments)
Jess at Barney’s Book Blog (9 comments)
Wendi B. at Wendi’s Book Corner (8 comments)
Marie at Boston Bibliophile (8 comments)
Melissa at Shhh I’m Reading (8 comments)

Whether you’ve commented once or 30 times (thanks, Kathy!), I do appreciate every single comment! Thank you all!

*In case it’s not clear, I’m giving both the You Don’t Say Super Comments Award AND the 2009 Friendly Blogger Award to the bloggers in this first list.

Award roundup

It has taken me a shamefully long time to write up this post, but I want to say a huge thank you to all the lovely bloggers who have given me awards recently. I do hope I haven’t left anyone out! I encourage you to check out all these great blogs if you are not already familiar with them. Without further ado...

From Missy at Missy’s Book Nook the 2009 Friendly Blogger Award...









From Lisa at minds alive on the shelves the Premio Dardos Award...















From Jessica Marie at Books Love Jessica Marie and Kristi at Books and Needlepoint the One Lovely Blog Award...











From Mari at MariReads the Let’s Be Friends Award...











From Melissa at Shhh I’m Reading... the You Don’t Say Super Comments Award...















From Ms. Ulat Buku at Ulat Buku in the City the I Love Your Blog Award...











And last but certainly not least, from Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books the Your Blog Is Enchanting Award...












Thanks again for all these fabulous awards!

More awards!

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been honoured with two more awards:

Honey at Coffeespoons gave me the Splash! award...











The Rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs that allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom your received your Splash award.

The Awardees:

I’m impressed by bloggers who speak their minds on their blogs, not just in their book reviews, but also in opinion pieces, whether they are expressing their thoughts on a personal matter, offering their opinion on a controversial subject or just bringing a topic to the attention of the book blogging community and asking what everyone else thinks. So I’ve decided to pass on this award to some of those bloggers and to link to a post in particular that impressed or interested me. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read these posts!

1) Florinda at The 3 R’s: Reading, ’Riting and Randomness (Substitute Teaching—be sure to follow the link to her post at ...and the pursuit of happiness)
2) Alyce at At Home with Books (To Meme or Not to Meme?)
3) Bethany at B&b ex libris (Cool and Not Cool!? Talk to Me!)
4) Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews (Why Keep Blogging?)
5) Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog (We Remember)
6) Spacemaurader at Bits of Things (You Never Blog Anymore)
7) Natalie at Book, Line and Sinker (Are Readers Born or Bred?)
8) Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? (In Which I Rant about Fair Use)
9) Amy at My Friend Amy (Why I Blog)

... and Aerin at In Search of Giants gave me the Let’s Be Friends award...











Blogs that received the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.

The Awardees:

I thought I’d pass it on this award to several (relatively) new-to-me bloggers whose blogs I am enjoying discovering:

1) Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea
2) Jessica Marie at Books Love Jessica Marie
3) Honey at Coffeespoons
4) Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here
5) Aerin at In Search of Giants (right back at ya!)
5) Missy at Missy’s Book Nook
6) Jena at Muse Books Reviews
7) Teabird at Tea Leaves
8) NotNessie at Today’s Adventure

Thanks again, Honey and Aerin, for these awards!

Awards, awards, awards!

I was awarded three different awards by five different bloggers last week! Whoo-hoo! Thank you so much to all of you!

From Sheri at Bookopolis and Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books, the Friends Award...











From Mo at Unmainstream Mom and Alyce at At Home with Books, the Premio Dardos Award...















And last but definitely not least, Carrie at Books and Movies awarded me the Sisterhood Award...











I have already passed on the first two awards to other bloggers, so I won’t do so again, but I hereby pass on the Sisterhood Award to:

Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books
Donna at BookBound
Tina at Bookshipper
Jen at Up Close & Personal with Lady Tink
Natalie at Book, Line and Sinker

With thanks to Amy at Passages to the Past, who inspired the layout of this post! (I had been tearing my hair out over how to incorporate the award pics into it and she provided me with the solution.)

Another award!

Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here kindly bestowed the Friends Award on me for commenting on her first author interview (with Efrem Sigel, author of The Disappearance—if you haven’t read her interview yet, go check it out. Thank you, Jenners, I really appreciate the award (and it was a pleasure to comment on your excellent review!).

I want to pass this award on to all of you, my readers, with apologies for my recent failure to respond to your comments in a timely manner. (I do intend to eventually get caught up!) Please don’t think that my silence means that I don’t appreciate your comments!

Awards!

I received three awards in January (yay!) and it’s about time I spread the love...


Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books gave me the Butterfly Award. Thank you, Cindy!

The rules for this award are:

• Put the logo on your blog.
• Add a link to the person who awarded you.
• Award up to 10 other blogs.
• Add links to those blogs on yours.
• Leave a message for your awardees on their blogs.

I’m going to try to pass on this award to folks who haven’t received it yet:

• Betty at Betty’s Books
• Caite at a lovely shore breeze
  
• Danielle at A Work in Progress
• Dorothy at Of Books and Bicycles
• Margaret at BooksPlease
  

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these cool blogs!

Lena at Save Ophelia gave me the Premio Dardos Award (and said she was one of my biggest fans! Thank you!). The Premio Dardos Award “aims to acknowledge the values that every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.”

The rules:

• Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.
• Pass the award to 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment

I’m going to pass this award on to some of my favourite blogs:

• Alea at Pop Culture Junkie
• Anna at Diary of an Eccentric
  
• Amy at My Friend Amy
• Bethany at B&b ex libris
• Dar at Peeking Between the Pages
  
• Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books
• Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog
• Marie at Boston Bibliophile
  
• Michele at A Reader’s Respite
• Ramya at Ramya’s Bookshelf
• Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog
  
• Sandra at Fresh Ink Books
• Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit
  
• Tara at Books and Cooks
• Ti at Book Chatter
• Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
• Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty

There are so many other great blogs out there, but I had to stop somewhere (especially since I’m already over 15)!


And last but certainly not least, I’m “Tink Approved”! I’m honoured that my blog has been sprinkled with Jen’s fairy dust. Thank you, Jen! Check out Jen’s blog, Up Close & Personal with Lady Tink.

Thanks again, Cindy, Lena and Jen! These were also great early birthday presents, since my birthday was on February 1!

Bookworm Award

Kylee at Kylee’s 2009 Blog has given me the Bookworm Award. Thank you, Kylee!

Here are the rules:

Open the closest book to you—not your favourite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment—to page 56.

Write out the fifth sentence as well as the next two to five sentences.

Pass this on to five blogging friends.

The book closest to me is Weaving a Way Home: A Personal Journey Exploring Place and Story by Leslie Van Gelder, which has been on my TBR pile for a shamefully long time. The excerpt from page 56 is from chapter 4, “Always Leaving, Always Coming Home”:

For some, the displacement is an act of politics as one group in power moves another across the land. For others, countless immigrants around the world, the move is voluntary but perhaps no less wrenching, as the separation of person from place simultaneously severs and reinforces what it means to be home. To be home, to have a homeland, to be a people who are of a place.

My ancestors were river people. I, too, was born at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers near the northern tip of an island whose name in its original tongue meant “place of intoxication”—the isle of Manhattan. My mother’s parents were born along the Neumans in Lithuania and my father’s father along the Thames in London.

So now the question is who to tag next? Apologies if you’ve been tagged before and just ignore me if you’re not into this kind of thing. I hereby tag:

Luanne at A Bookworm’s World
Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog
Sandra at Fresh Ink Books
Trish at Hey Lady! Watcha Readin’
Ramya at Ramya’s Bookshelf

Edited to add:

Thank you to Alea at Pop Culture Junkie, who also gave me this award!

I got my first bloggy award (twice, no three times)!

I must say I’m thrilled to have received this award first from Ti at Book Chatter, then from Shana at Literarily (now sadly defunct) and then from Dar at Peeking Between the Pages. Thank you so much to all of you! (I love your blogs too!) It’s great to know that others are reading and appreciating my blog. And I love the image that comes with this particular award.

Now it’s my turn to nominate at least seven other blogs for this award. I’ve tried to nominate blogs that haven’t gotten this award before, but there is some overlap. Without further ado, I nominate...

• A Reader’s Respite
• B&b ex libris
• Bits of Things
• Breaking the Spine
• Reader for Life
• Redlady’s Reading Room
• She Is Too Fond of Books
• Shelf Love
• The Book Lady’s Blog

Of these, Bits of Things is the blog of a friend of mine (I mean someone I know in real life) and the only one in the list that isn’t a book blog. However, she’s a great writer and I think her blog deserves a wider readership, so head over there to check it out. Thanks again, Ti, Shana and Dar!