Thinking Bloggers -- and Me!

Yes, I know it's been a couple of days since I posted. I spent all day Friday in Boston, getting good news, and came back with a cold that has whacked me hard. I am deep in the valley of grossness, surrounded by Kleenex and Alka-Seltzer Cold formula and scummy cups of tea. Dizzy is no help at all, and insists on going out in sub-zero temperatures (okay, I'm exaggerating; the current temperature here is 4F) regardless of how lousy I feel.

So instead of a regular post, I am very pleased to say that my cousin Moira has tagged me with the Thinking Blogger Award.



It's extremely flattering, especially coming from Moira, whose own blog is one of my daily visits. She says the blog "makes me think I will never read as many books as my cousin Clair Lamb has already re-read. And it makes me think, I will never be without a good book, since Clair's recommendations are always 100% excellent!"

Aw... thanks!

Anyway, the award comes with some rules:

1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award" with a link to the post that you wrote.

4. Tell the award winners that they won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

So here are five blogs I check every day. They're not necessarily updated every day, but they always enlighten or amuse me:

1. Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind -- Sarah Weinman's daily update on the world of crime fiction, true crime and more is the closest thing the mystery community has to an online salon.

2. Human Under Construction -- Jennifer Jordan combs the Internet for the bizarre, funny, and amazing. Every week starts with a new mullet photo.

3. Contemporary Nomad -- a group blog written by four authors (Olen Steinhauer, Kevin Wignall, John Nadler and Robin Hunt) that offers a global perspective on matters of art, publishing, and politics.

4. First Offenders -- another group blog by four authors (Lori Armstrong, Karen E. Olson, Alison Gaylin and Jeff Shelby) that feels like a group of people sitting around, talking about interesting things in a way we hardly ever get to do once we're out of college.

5. Ed's Magical Musical Journey -- my brother Ed is going through his entire music collection, remembering when and where he acquired each tape, record and CD, and holding it up to his current musical tastes. I've already discovered and rediscovered a couple of bands there.

Tomorrow the blog will be back to normal, assuming I have not died of phlegm poisoning between now and then.