RSS

Category Archives: Books

First Paragraphs as Storytellers

We are at the library roaming through the stacks or browsing the new releases in the local bookstore and we come across a book with an interesting title or cover and we pick it up. Opening the book to the first page, we read the opening paragraph and decide whether we want to read it or not.

As writers, we need to consider our books from a marketing standpoint. What are we selling? Why should the consumer care?

When someone reads our first paragraph, what are we telling them? What have we promised? What hints have we given them? Are we being honest with them? Is what we are promising going to continue throughout the book?

Read the rest of this entry »

 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 18, 2012 in Books, Editing

 

Tags: , ,

Birthday Tribute to Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is one of the greatest writers who ever lived and we are blessed to have his work with us today. Countless writers have been inspired by his work. We can be very thankful that he came along and today, we can pay tribute to his body of work.

“A boy’s story is the best that is ever told” (Charles Dickens).

Dickens 2012 – a tribute site

Biography and Book List of Dickens

Charles Dickens at 200

Charles Dickens at 200

Charles Dickens: An Overview

Read the rest of this entry »

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on February 7, 2012 in Books

 

Tags: , ,

Beautiful Bookstores

I wanted to share a link of beautiful and unique bookstores from around the world. Enjoy!

 
2 Comments

Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Books, Reading

 

What Kind of Bookmarks Do You Use?

I am interested in what you use as a bookmark. I have a basic one from the library and I use it until it wears out. The bookmarks I use don’t have any special qualities or significance. They are simply functional.

I read one book at a time. Some of you read several books at once, so you will need a lot of markers. Do you use certain ones for specific purposes? Do you get them from the library or cheap ones from bookstores or do you actually go out and buy them?

Should be interesting to read your responses.

 
9 Comments

Posted by on January 28, 2012 in Books, Reading

 

Tags: , ,

Used Book Stores – Where Treasure Hunters Play

 
5 Comments

Posted by on January 23, 2012 in Books, Reading

 

Tags: , ,

There’s Nothing Like a Book

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 11, 2012 in Books, Reading, Video

 

Tags: , ,

Teaching Children to Love Reading

I wanted to share an excellent article with you that will help you instill a love for reading in your children. Personally, books were a constant companion of my childhood. I can’t remember not reading. I have loved it passionately for as long as I can remember.

What thoughts do you have about the following article?

Reading helps us in every area of our lives. It helps us become successful in school and later in our careers and it helps us grow as individuals by either teaching us new information or by allowing us to step into someone else’s shoes. Reading can also help us become more compassionate and empathetic, as well as give us pure enjoyment and relaxation.

Instilling a love of reading in your child is one of the best gifts you can give them in their life. Here are 11 ways to do just that.

Read More

 
2 Comments

Posted by on December 29, 2011 in Books, Reading

 

Tags: , ,

Share the Love of Books in 2012

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on December 29, 2011 in Books, Reading

 

Tags: , ,

What Would be Your Perfect Home Library?

 
7 Comments

Posted by on December 29, 2011 in Books, Library, Reading

 

Tags: , ,

What is Literary Fiction?

My reading tastes have changed through the years. In elementary school I voraciously read biographies. The school library had these biographies with orange covers and I read every one they had.

As I grew older, I began reading horror. In high school, I would get my work done quickly and sit and read the remainder of the class period. I read countless novels in the genre through the years. In time, though, I moved on and stopped reading horror completely.

Then I moved to mysteries/thrillers and read hundreds of them until I became fairly well-versed in the genre. They read quickly and I enjoyed the puzzles.

When I finally decided I had wasted enough time dreaming about writing a novel, I began work on a manuscript. Accordingly, as the plot developed, my reading tastes changed again. I needed to broaden my horizons to fill in the gap.

I began reading more books by women and more romance so I could do a better job understanding female characters. As I began studying writing in earnest, the mystery stories I was reading began to look stale and drab.

I began to seek out better books with higher quality writing. That led me to literary fiction, a genre I had little knowledge of. When people asked me what genre I primarily read, it was hard to give them a firm answer. So I went in search of one.

Read the rest of this entry »

 
7 Comments

Posted by on December 20, 2011 in Books, Fiction, Writer, Writing

 

Tags: , , ,

 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 83 other followers