The Morning RSS - 19 February 2024
A collection of share-worthy items from our morning blog scroll.
Can we just start with these cool sticky notes? I mean, what reader wouldn’t love these?
Nostalgia with a modern twist. A-N-D no page corners were harmed in the process. From stocking stuffers to awesome doo-dads every reader would crave. See them all here: The Best Annotation Tools for Readers [Tirzah Price for Book Riot] AND get a jump on your holiday shopping (or birthdays, or just because …).
For Writers & Creators
… Because we can always grow our vocabulary, yes? Dictionary.com Releases New and Updated Words for 2024 [via
]
Afoma Ufosi talks with Laurie Morrison about her process for crafting well-rounded side characters, and the tricky balance of writing age-appropriate tween romances. Laurie Morrison on Writing a Middle-Grade Romance
If you write for kids, we think you’ll find librarian Mary Lee Hahn’s experiment reading a picture book with kids insightful: know thy audience. She catalogs her findings in Slice of Life: Research.
And for our artist friends: how a picture book cover comes to be, witha reminder to credit cover illustrators!
not only shares her process, but also a plethora of tools that she uses.
New Books & Book Lists
Danika Ellis on why You Should Read More “Just Okay” Books [Book Riot]
There’s space for that in entertainment — in fact, I’d even say it’s a necessity. You need comfort media that doesn’t demand a lot of your brain so that you can rest and recover mentally, just like you can’t exercise all the time.
Book Bans & Censorship
For 2024, we’re going to flip the perspective on book bans and censorship. Instead of sharing the head-shaking news, we’re going to share head-nodding ideas!
A bit surprised but happy that this is happening here in the Commonwealth. A win is a win … and makes Virginia the seventh state on the anti-book ban wagon. The Virginia legislature has put forth legislation to ban book bans by school boards. Get all the deets at
.
By my count Oregon is state #8 to put forth some type of anti-book ban legislation.
Other Bookish Stuff
Kwame Mbalia has started Freedom Fire, a Disney Hyperion impring “devoted to stories about the Black diaspora by Black creators.” Betsy Bird has everything you need to know + the first three release are here, at A Fuse #8 Production.
We’re off to do some early birthday and holiday shopping! Happy reading, y’all! ~ Team CYBILS
I'm honoured to have my Substack included in your round-up, thank you!