I’m very fortunate that here DGLM we are a book club of our own. However, I’ve also been thinking that I’d like to join other book clubs, but where is the TIME!?! 

 This is where digital book clubs come in. If you can’t make the time to physically join a book club, or maybe you hate speaking in front of strangers, there is always another option. With digital book clubs, you get the benefits of being in a book club, but with the luxury of participating from wherever.

 There are tons of digital book clubs out there. I’m sure everyone knows about Oprah’s Book club. I very recently discovered Emma Watson’s feminist book club called Our Shared Space on Goodreads. Watson, who is a UN Woman’s Goodwill ambassador by day (Hermione Granger by night), is using this space to encourage us to have conversations, ask questions, and learn more about gender equality and feminism. There is no pressure, just an avenue to learn and make great friends.

 So if you have been looking for a book club, now’s the time to find one. And honestly, if you can’t find one you like, start your own!

 Good luck with your search and please share if you know about some amazing digital book clubs out there.

Widowed by age 25 in 1390 France, Christine found herself responsible for the welfare of her mother, niece, and two young children. Pisan took it upon herself to earn a living and chose writing as the best course. It was not a very popular route for a woman at the time, obviously, but she persevered and proved to be very good at it. Her most famous work, The Book of the City of Ladies, came in response to Jean de Meun’s (another famous writer of the time) criticism of women for their lack of contribution to society. In her book, Pisan built an allegorical city, where every aspect of the foundation was reflective of a famous woman in history who had contributed to the development of society, thus proving Meun wrong.

I studied Pisan my junior year in college and I remember I wasn’t exactly fascinated with all the authors we studied in my Medieval Lit class, but Pisan remained ingrained in my mind. Her spirit and character were inspiring and for the first time, a book made me proud to be a woman. Since then, I have come to really appreciate the significance of women penning the most amazing pieces of literature in the world, from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, to the stunning story telling of J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter, and the humor and brilliance of Caitlin Moran in How to be a Woman.

What about you? What book made you feel proud to be a woman?

Seeing as I don’t have any knowledge of what goes in a baby’s library past my personal favorites, OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO and HORTON HEARS A WHO by Dr. Seuss, I thought I’d enlist your help in completing this little project of mine. 

So what are the must -have books that should be included in every child’s first library? To start off, I took a poll around the office and this is what everyone had to say:

Jane suggested BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?­­­ by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, and Jessica seconded that and added GOODNIGHT GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann.

Miriam and Michael both went with Dr. Seuss and Miriam suggested a couple more titles: THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle and GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU by Sam McBratney.

Stacey’s daughters have loved TAP THE MAGIC TREE and TOUCH THE BRIGHTEST STAR by our very own Christie Matheson.

Jim’s go-to baby gift is Lane Smith’s IT’S A BOOK and IT’S A LITTLE BOOK.

Lauren suggested the hilarious classic ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY, and Lisa Brown’s amazing mommy gifts BABY MIX ME A DRINK, BABY MAKE ME BREAKFAST, BABY DO MY BAKING, and other entertaining titles in the Baby Be of Use series. 

As well as the classics- Sendak, Carle, McCloskey, Rosemary Wells, etc., John also enjoys ALL THE WORLD by Liz Scanlon, which is enjoyable for both parent and child. He also made a good suggestion about getting board books, so babies can play and chew on them!

 Eric added MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans to the list, and Mike  and Sharon love THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD, GO DOG GO, and the Llama, Llama series.

Amy went with GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown and Erin suggested the amazing classic, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak.

Thanks to my wonderful DGLMians , I am off to pretty good start!  Are there any other titles you would like to add?

Honor Him/Elysium/Now We Are Free by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

My Name Is Lincoln by Steve Jablonsky

Song For Bob by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

In this short blog post/exercise, Melissa Tydell explains how music is key in an author’s writing journey, and I implore you all to give this exercise a try if you don’t already. You’ll never know what beat gets you writing because, as we all know…

The same can’t be said for the many children living in the slums of India. I read this short article about an inspiring young girl named Muskaan, who at the age of nine runs her own library outside her house in the slums of Bhopal.

As she returns from school, Muskaan would find eager young readers awaiting her at the spot where she lays out a mat and arranges her total of 119 books (donated by officials from the State Education Board), then they would gather around and listen intently as she reads out loud to them. After these allegedly fun reading sessions, the kids would then borrow whatever books they can and settled on the mats to read, or take them as they leave.

Having read this article I am reminded how much we take for granted. While majority of the world struggle to have decent and well stocked libraries, we feel the need to cut the budget on libraries, perhaps ensuring children in the future won’t have the same library experiences most of us had growing up. At the same time, Muskaan’s courage also shows me how blessed we are as a human race because no matter what the situation may be, there is always something, despite how small it is that gives us hope.

Many years later, and with the increase of its popularity, there seems to be a debate about the benefits of fan fiction. Does it indeed help writers learn and improve their craft, or is it more of a crutch, preventing them from moving on and creating their own original works?

I will say this: Fan fiction can be helpful, but I think it depends on the writer. Some take the opportunity to be truly creative, experimenting and finding ways to strengthen their skills; others fall into a certain pattern for the sake of getting the most likes/reviews, and it’s not really about the writing anymore. Then, I guess, it’s also what you read. If a person spends time reading things of little quality, then nothing can be gained from it. I think it is important for every writer to keep in mind the ultimate reason for writing fan fiction, which is writing their own original work. And honestly, for some people it’s simply to get more out of their favorite books and there is nothing wrong with that.

I ended up being more of a fan fiction reader than a writer; however, what I did get from it was the first inclination of what I wanted to do when I grew up. I found myself at various times patiently sifting through all the different stories until finally finding one that truly struck me. It was always a gratifying feeling finding that needle in a haystack and those were the moments when I knew I wouldn’t mind doing something like this for the rest of my life (this was way before I knew literary agents existed!).

What are your thoughts on fan fiction? Here’s a list of published authors who have a thing or two to say about fan fiction. 

As I’m sure most of you can relate, moving with books is painful. Physically and emotionally. Here are the steps I took during my move:

1.   Sturdy Boxes

With everything else I own, I had to limit my books to two boxes. I thought about the weight as I would haul them up flights of stairs and decided less was better. I also thought about the space–I would be setting up a new camp in a smaller space, how would I organize? I figured I should start small, so again, less was better.

2.    The Sorting (the emotional part)

Next came the process of figuring out what books made it into the boxes and which ones had to go. The books that have been with me for years, childhood favorites and classics were a definite yes! Then, the books I was currently reading, recommendations from high places (my lovely co-workers), books I “borrowed” from friends (couldn’t possibly give those away), etc.

3.   Saying Goodbye

There are some books in my “to read pile” that I decided I would not read. We all have those books that we know we want to read, but in the event that something else comes along, they get thrown in the back seat. A few of those were books I had already started, but put away because I didn’t fall in love with them; others were books I knew I would never read (It’s a sad moment when you realize you can’t read every book in the world). The rest were books I have read and loved, but had to take out to make room. I put this pile together and carried them down to the laundry room of my old building with a cute little sign saying, “Please Read Me.” A good friend of mine always talks about how she finds incredible books in the laundry room of her building, and so I was inspired to be the source of book happiness to someone else. Whoever finds my treasures… you’re welcome.

4.  Lifting

Once said books were packed, I tested my physical strength by carrying them up four flights of stairs. #NoHelp #Proudofmyself

5.  Finding Respite

After a long evening of moving, you deserve rest. Once all books were in my new room (in a much disorganized manner), I fell into bed, resting my aching muscles and dreading the inevitable chore of putting everything away. For that moment though, I did nothing. Well, except pick up a book to read

Do any of you readers have interesting moving stories? How do you go about packing up your books?

Every year, by November, Bókatíðindi, a catalogue containing information about all the books that have been or will be published that year is sent to various homes. In Iceland, it’s a tradition to give books as Christmas gifts, thus the majority of them are published within the last three months of the year. I can imagine families exchanging books on Christmas Eve and then settling down with a hot cup of cocoa or cider and reading away into Christmas Day.

You can read a bit more about this amazing tradition here.

How about you, what amazing international Christmas traditions have you heard of?

So, in the spirit of giving thanks, I figured it would be appropriate to share a few things that I am thankful for as a book lover:

• I’m thankful for family and friends that love and support me in everything I do.
• I am thankful for the cool and grey days that make me want to curl up in my blanket with a nice cup of hot cocoa and my favorite book.
• I’m thankful for libraries in general, but most especially thankful for this wonderful library in Dryden that has challenged kids to read up to 1,000 books before kindergarten. 1,000! I find it very encouraging, and I’m so proud of all the little ones taking on the challenge. Like the good doctor said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”—Dr. Seuss
• The Hunger Games: MockingJay, part 2. I have purposely waited to see the final installment of the movies based on Suzanne Collins’ books this Thanksgiving weekend, mainly to keep up with the tradition of watching the movies with my sister, who introduced me to the series in the first place. Yes, Tolu, thank you for literally shoving the book in my face.
• Ali Benjamin. I read her debut The Thing about Jellyfish for book club, fell in love, and now I eagerly await her next work.
• Every Friends Thanksgiving episode.
• 
• Starbucks’s Caramel Brulee Frappuccino. I don’t even like coffee, but this is stuff is pretty good (It’s the sugar!!). Pair it with a witty YA romance and your afternoon is completely made.
• Etsy.com for making my Christmas shopping easy. With its cool and unique merchandise, you are sure to find just the right gift for your book loving/creative friends this holiday season.

And finally, I am thankful for DGLM and all you wonderful readers. Please share what you are thankful for, and I hope everyone has a fun, safe and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!!

Luckily, not too long ago I found a brilliant Instagram account to follow called Subway Book Review. It was started by Uli Beutter Cohen, who unlike me, talks to her fellow subway riders about the books they are reading and then posts the review on Instagram/ Facebook with a lovely picture of the book and the reviewer. The genres and titles differ greatly, just like the people that come in and out of the subways everyday.

Thanks to this amazing account, I am now inspired to start talking to people with books who might be standing or sitting close to me. What can it hurt? It’s the go-to conversation starter in our business. It’s also a great way to meet people and more importantly, practice pitching your book to agents/editors. I encourage you all to give it a try if you are like me and haven’t done so already. I would be glad to post a follow-up on the person I talked to and a review of the book they were reading!