The Edgars: Presented by the Mystery Writers of America

If you've never heard of the Mystery Writers of America, you are not alone.  But I have a feeling that we are missing out on something.  Last week on May 2, The Mystery Writers of America presented its 67th annual Edgar Awards honoring the best mystery and crime related novels, short stories television episodes and more.  The Grand Masters of the event were New York Times Bestselling author Ken Follett and mystery writer Margaret Maron.  Both Follett and Maron have previously received Edgar Awards themselves.

This year's winners include :

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane for BEST NOVEL

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French for BEST FACT CRIME

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein for BEST YOUNG ADULT

"A Scandal in Belgravia" -Sherlock Teleplay by Steven Moffat (BBC/Masterpiece) for BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

For a full list please see :http://www.mysterywriters.org/files/u6/2013_Edgar_Winners_-_Press_Release.pdf

Even more interesting I found though was not just that this guild of mystery writers gives out awards to the best of its ranks, because most professional associations do just that.  No, what I found most interesting was that the Mystery Writers of America also is highly involved in an issue near and dear to my own heart providing books to children who need them.  It is involved with Reader to Reader a national literacy group that provides books to libraries and schools in impoverished areas.  It also provides resources to teachers seeking to help engage their students in reading.  So lets hear it for professional responsibility!  I can only hope that their efforts will help raise awareness within the United States that literacy is an important issue for our nation's success and that access to books is not a given for all people.

THE BOOK NERD IS BACK! After a long and highly unnecessary hiatus, I have returned to my literary roots. For you see, even a true book nerd can be distracted into our modern world of techno-stimulation of Netflix, Facebook and Iphone games. To be perfectly honest, since I stopped posting, I almost entirely stopped reading. Maybe I picked up a gossip magazine or news article here or there, but I didn't engage in that mind and soul improving and fulfilling true act of reading. I scanned things. I didn't put in the time to truly take in their meaning, whatever sort of text I read.

So here is my new pledge, I am going to make sure that I read for at least 1 hour per day. At first this seemed like a lot to me. I'm always so tired at the end of the day, that when I attempt to read, I almost always fall asleep within 10 minutes. And let me tell you, 10 minutes a day will not get you through the modern novel (even a short one) in a time frame that will keep you interested. But then I looked at all the time I spent watching TV or scanning through Facebook and I realized if I took a little time out of those activities, an hour was much more feasible than it first appeared. Now to some of you an hour may not seem like that much time at all. But reading is like exercise for your mind. When you are getting started back up again, you want to make it a realistic and sustainable part of your daily life. Not just something you overkill on once and don't do again for another month.

Now who wants to join me in regaining back usage of their full brain capacity? How much time are you willing to pledge a day towards reading? Encourage your friends to join you and share your progress on Diary of A Book Nerd. Happy Reading!