library | THE WRITE PLACE...

Stormy day on beach. Not a great place to read:>)
SONJON PHOTO 2013

I get asked about what books to read, pretty frequently, but it is so difficult to answer. Unless I know your reading style and preferences, I can’t begin to answer you. One person’s trashy book, is another person’s treasured book. That means I can answer the question for my mom and my aunt. I could make a good guess for a few others. That’s it.

I love many things about technology, and one of them is the way I can easily find books that I would like to read. I hope these suggestions lead you to hours of great reading.

If you go to www.goodreads.com and join, you can quickly zip through, mark and rate the books that you have read. Soon, goodreads magic will give you tons of suggestions based on your top-rated books. Easy-peasy. You can even see what your friends are reading. You can even see what I’m reading. However, my page is not very accurate. I read many books that I don’t mark, and I review books that I win, or books from other writers that I meet. I am lousy at updating with the books I am reading.

Join http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=24 and look for threads of the genres you enjoy. I randomly chose a thread about end-of-the-world themes WITHOUT aliens, vampires and the like. Oh, and I didn’t join. About a dozen people answered with title and author and a short comment. If you click on the title, you are taken to the book’s page on Amazon.

At http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet23 you can chose book lists by age group, and they also have a list of banned books, just for fun:>) My library, Timberland Regional Library, list books the same way. When I click on a book, to read its description, it also has links to the same kind of book, or other books by the same author. Your library probably has some of the same features.

http://bestsellers.about.com/od/readingrecommendations/Reading_Lists_Recommendations.htm has some interesting lists that you might want to check out. Extensive reviews, including pros and cons.

There are many, many more sites, but this should get you started. Happy reading!

Writing stories has never been a choice; the stories come and I have to write them down or I get a little nutty with characters rambling away in my head. Really. Poetry, essays, short stories, and even much of the non-fiction writing in college and for newspapers was the same way.

Now, as for what inspires me to put hours, weeks, months and (sometimes) years of work and contemplation into those children’s stories, that’s simple: my children, and now my grandchildren.

Way back then I home schooled my 2 children, with a couple of years in the fairyland world of a Waldorf school. Both experiences promoted our imaginations. We all made up stories in those days; sometimes verbal, sometimes in painting and drawing, and both children wrote and crafted books for a young author’s conference. We didn’t do TV (I still don’t). Three out of the four of us were avid readers; my son was more into actions than words, but would still sit entranced listening to his parents read. We never knew boredom.

During those active parenting days I wrote a lot. I was online writing parenting and homeschooling articles. I was encouraging other children to write in a class at a homeschooling conference. I was associate editor for an online homeschooling newsletter and editor in the children’s section of a (still) popular writer’s website. Life changed focus and I my public writing was set aside.

My daughter and her daughters at our local library.

I’ve always been a sucker for the children’s section in the library and book stores. I love browsing the latest children’s books, drooling over the incredible illustrations. The best times at the library are when I take my grands with me. I sign their families up for the yearly family reading programs, the children collect the giveaway goodies, and then we all settle into the children’s area. The younger ones play with the toys for awhile, but eventually I entice them with a book that I know they’ll love. The library is like our very own wonderland.

Today I’m writing like a fiend and my first children’s book is polished and ready for the next step. The second and third are close behind. Please stay tuned.