I'm cutting and pasting short lists this week and there's a few changes behind the scenes you might find intriguing. For starters, the person who nominated a finalist gets a mention. I'm not done with the lists, and there's a good chance that my weak math skills are leading me astray, but there are two bloggers tied for most nominations so far.
Cynthia Leitich Smith and Betsy Bird have each nominated three titles that made the first cut. Congrats, you two.
But which genres? And which titles? Oho, for that you have to come back on New Year's Day at 6 a.m. Mountain time. Yeah, I live in Arizona, which exists in a parallel universe that lacks daylight savings, forcing the rest of the world to time-shift to keep up with us.
Another change that's happening gradually here at Cybils is that more and more panelists are signing their names to their descriptions of the finalists. In all cases, of course, judging remains a group effort. But if you like how a blogger has summed up why a book wowed him or her, perhaps you'll click on their link and bookmark a new friend.
Okay, back to work for me, as I have a few more genres that need inputting …
–Anne Levy