Why Just a Week, Let's Make it Love of Reading Everyday!

 It's Love of Reading Week. My children and I love this week of celebrations.

How could we not? Reading is encouraged every day this week. Parents read favorite stories to classrooms. People share book tips with others. Character parades bring out the kid and joy in everyone. So, why do we only celebrate it just one week?

I think it should be Love of Ready Everyday.

Putting aside the research that indicates that reading is good for the brain and psyche, there's just the plain joy of getting lost in a story. But Love of Reading Everyday could lead to other not so tangible results. If everyone read everyday, there would be less time for less savory things.

Instead of bullying, people could fall in love with Harry, Ron and Hermione. And discover a universe of other people moved by the same story that band together under the power of love.



Instead of fighting, a little reader could imagine himself in the desert making Stone Pizza with that clever Coyote. And use Coyote's tricks of bringing people together to create something that everyone can share and enjoy.





Instead of holding grudges, someone could listen to Curiosity Freeman share what secrets she' been keeping in the Endless Forests. And the reader could discover her own humility and strength that's been hiding inside so she can have the courage to let go of the hurt.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, you could fight the good fight along side Harry Dresden as he casts spells and avoids death by the skin of his teeth. And learn that sometimes you gotta fight for something larger than yourself.

All it takes is a Majority of One, or so said Mr. Thoreau. What could be more right than reading everyday? That's why at our house, from now on, we celebrate Love of Reading Everyday.

A TBR Books Quickie

Two of the gifts I received this holiday season were books. One by new-to-me author, Catherine Coulter and the other by not-new-to-me-author, Christina Katz. One historical-fiction, the other non-fiction. And I'm looking forward to both.

Why? Well, as for the Coulter book, I'm always looking for new stories to devour, to discover new places even if they are old, and to see how other authors craft their stories. Which leads me to why I'm excited for Katz's book: to improve my writing and develop a sustainable approach to this not-a-day-job-yet activity.

Any new books that you are excited to read? Let me know in the comments.

In case you were curious, the two books are ... 

 

Catherine Coulter's "The Valcourt Heiress"

Christina Katz's "The Writer's Workout"

Tools: Bento and GoodReads

Being the tech geek that I am, I've used Bento to track the books I read during the year. The database program, which seems more like a simple spreadsheet program than a database, allows me to type in my notes ...  what I liked about the book, what I didn't, character lists, synposis (which I tend to pilfer from Wikipedia), book art, and my rating. It is completely customizable, in that I can use what ever fields I want to record my experience of the books I read. Below is a screen shot of my library in Bento.

But I've been using GoodReads.com lately to keep track of the books I read.

The service allows me to connect with other readers and see what they are reading, see their reviews, write my own review of a book, and participate in online reading groups, i.e. the Sword and Laser podcast has a group discussion that I follow. The service is a double-edged sword ...  the plus -- lots of cool bits to follow and read, the negative -- I could easily waste hours on the site checking things out.

As a writer, I miss writing down the bits about what I liked about a book and what I didn't, sorta helping me assess my own writing skill and think about techniques I might like to try. So, I'm contemplating a return to Bento while continuing to use GoodReads.com. Seems like double duty, but I enjoy "connecting," even if it is mostly lurking, with others and finding other books to read, but want the explore the detail I enter into Bento to help me grow as a reader and writer. I will just cut and paste from Bento into GoodReads if I feel the need to write a full review in GoodReads.

Just an example to two tools that overlap in their use, but I how make them work for me.

Bento would also be good to track character, stories, plots and other story bits. I've set up templates for some of these, but haven't used them. Yet. (I use it to track the recipes I download from the internet - useful for searching.)

And if you are interested in checking out my list on GoodReads, you can find me here. Feel free to friend me.

Between Books

 (Photo by apoxapox)

Know when you've just finished reading a book and need to pick another? When you glancing over titles and authors' names in the To Be Read pile, trying to figure out what type of book to read - sci fi, romance, thriller, historical fiction, craft?

That's where I sit right now.

Sara Donati's last book in the Bonner Family series, The Endless Forest, releases this week. Gotta be ready for that book when it arrives. (Been listening to the audiobooks while going about my daily business to get ready the book.)

So, what do I read until I have The Endless Forest in my little hands?

Something short and quick (wish I had another of Viehl's Darkyn series in my pile.) Maybe I should just finish the Wilderness Series audiobooks. I could read a few chapters in Writing Fiction or McKee's Story.

Choices, choices, choices.

Excuse me while I go look at my pile again.