Blog of The Year

Thanks so much to Caroline at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat for selecting Babbling Books for the prestigious Blog of the Year 2012 award! I am honored beyond belief.  As I posted for The Beautiful Blogger Award, winners should under no circumstances feel obligated to post or pass along. Only do so if you really want to.

The rules of this award are as follows.

1.   Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award.

2.   Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3.   Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award at The Thought Palette and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4.   Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.

5.   You can now also join the Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

6.   As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

My choice of winners are as follows:

Books For Me - Vibina reviews both classics and popular fiction. Her blog is engaging and especially fun to read!

Gently Mad – Sharon covers an eclectic mix of books including history and fiction. Her perspective is both intelligent and original.

A Night's Dream of Books – Maria’s blog is not just one of the most aesthetically beautiful places in the blogosphere, but she provides thought provoking commentary on science Fiction, drama, philosophy, theology and more!

Reading, Writing, Working, Playing – Jane covers history, literature, walking and more. This is a blog takes a fascinating but different approach to book blogging.

St. Orberose – Miguel was the dark horse winner of last year’s Liebstar Award. He provides brilliant commentary on both Portuguese as well as literature from around the world.

Therapy Through Tolstoy – Lucy’s blog is a terrific mix of intellectual literary commentary as well as insightful musings on life in general.

These blogs are all super. Please check them out. If there is anyone remaining out there who is not familiar with Caroline’s blog it is also a must read.

Congratulations to all the winners!

More awards to follow in the coming weeks.

Beautiful Blogger Award

In previous posts I have expressed how marvelous the blogging community is. I must now confess that I been remiss. I have received several awards from my fellow bloggers over the past couple of months and have yet to post a thank you, nor have I passed the awards on.

Though no there is no real excuse for my malfeasance I feel the need to explain my belatedness. First, it is so difficult to choose which blogs to recognize. I visit and read so many extraordinary sites of all styles and kinds!

Second, I feel that by handing these awards to blogs that in some way I am imposing upon their owners. I really do want anyone to feel obligated and pressured to put up a reciprocal post. I certainly understand why someone would not wish to do this. There exist time and energy constraints, it may not be everyone’s style to post something like this, it is difficult to choose whom else to recognize, etc. 

To the award winners, please under no circumstances feel obligated to post or pass along. This is supposed to be fun! Heck, I almost did not do it myself for the above reasons.

With that said, over the next couple of weeks I will be putting up several entries passing along my recent awards. While I considered wrapping it all up into one giant post, I do not want to short change either the very kind folks who awarded me these honors, or the recipients. Plus every award deserves its own post!

First up, Vibina from Books for Me was kind enough to bestow the Beautiful Blogger Award upon Babbling Books. Thanks Vibina! Please check out her blog, it is outstanding.

The rules for of this award for those who wish to continue it are as follows:

1. Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
2. Thank the person who nominated you and create a link back to their blog.
3. Tell 7 things random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award.

Random Facts about me!

1.   I love Craft Beer

2.  I love artisanal cheese (The fact that 1 and 2 are of a similar pattern make this list seem not so random)

3.  I often run several miles before dawn.

4.  I am a CPCU.

5. I have an odd fascination with the chemistry, specifications, performance and issues surrounding various brands and grades of motor oils (This was so strange that I found it difficult to confess).

6. I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant for several years during my youth.

7. I love animals, especially cats.

Without further ado, the winners of my Beautiful Blogger award are:

The Argumentative Old Git – Himadri is a true connoisseur and expert commentator of the classics. He likes to throw a little bit of controversy into the mix from time to time.

Beauty is a Sleeping Cat – Caroline’s world famous blog is truly beloved by thousands of readers all over the Earth. Her commentary gets to the tenor and atmosphere of a book better then any other reviewer I know.

Book Around the Corner – Emma usually really digs deep into books and characters. At the same time she keeps her writing entertaining and dynamic.

A Common Reader – Tom’s blog offers commentary on an eclectic mix of books. His website is also distinguished by distinctive and outstanding writing.

His Futile Preoccupations – Guy’s Blog also offers diverse mix of books. He is particularly fond of darker psychological crime fiction. His reviews are captivating.

Reading in Taiwan – One of the many marvelous things about Ryan’s Blog is that he mixes serious and intelligent commentary with hilarious humor.

Still Life With Books – Anyone who has visited Violet’s blog knows that her writing is almost poetic. Yet she is not afraid to express her opinion and delve into a little controversy from time to time.

I urge all the winners to bask in the glory of their achievements! Anyone one not familiar with these blogs should check them out. It will likely be a rewarding experience.

More awards to follow in the coming weeks!