I accompanied my publisher, Dream Write Publishing to Jasper, Alberta on Saturday for booklovers weekend. Most weekends are book lovers weekend’s, I’m sure you would agree, but this was a special event and I was happy to participate.
Our generous host, Habitat for the Arts arranged our tables in the foyer. We had some fantastic chats with visitors and book sales too. Marianne also gifted us ceramic lanyard’s made by local artisans.
I donated my books to the library and received a lovely thank you card and chocolate! Remember, you can always request any of my books from your local library.
I spent some time driving around my local area yesterday, placing books in little free libraries. The styles and colours are all very individual and the range of books just as varied. The locations are somewhat difficult to find among the streets, crescents and drives, but I managed a few! It will be interesting to see if I am contacted about the books I left and my other novels. As a local author it is this connection I find so gratifying.
I looked up some facts about free libraries. From its humble beginnings, with first one being built in 2009 by the late Todd Bol in Hudson, Wisconsin, as a tribute to his late mother, a book lover and school teacher. There are now over 100,000 registered in 91 countries and on every continent except Antarctica. To date more than 120 million books have been shared worldwide. We should celebrate that fact alone – after all stories are part of human history and the future. Access to books should be for everyone, no matter where they live.
Do you have a local free library? Do you frequent it or own it?
As readers we have many options to acquire books, whether print or digital. In fact, we are inundated with purchase sites on a daily basis. One option that can be overlooked is a local library. No longer the gloomy and silent buildings of yesteryear, but bright, welcoming and fun places to hang out no matter your age. Most libraries run programs for the very young, youth and the not so young. Modern libraries are part of the community like never before.
My own local library has a plethora of programs and events on offer, as well as a beautiful glass fronted and modern building. It is a place to hang out, meet friends, and browse the shelves for books, movies, music and more.
There are special shelves for local and emerging authors, which is, of course, my favorite part of my library. I have several books on those shelves! It is not common knowledge, but when a book is borrowed it is recorded and an annual confirmation is sent to the author. It is called the Public Lending Right and the system is available in many countries.
So your challenge – if you choose to accept it – is to pick up a local author’s book (or two!) from your library and take them out to read.
If your library doesn’t have the book you want – remember you can request it. This will be a delightful surprise for the author too.
I found a holiday project to do in the week between Christmas and New Year. A small model of a library (although the label says Sam’s Study). I, of course, opened it when it arrived with excitement, but this was short lived when I realized each component – shelves, cabinets, etc. – were not separated, but all mixed together! So my first job was to find the pieces for each item and put them together. The other ‘surprise’ was how fiddly this is going to be! Oh my goodness – frustration beckons, I do believe. Maybe it will not be the relaxing little craft project after all. Time will tell.
I have not planned a word count for the holiday’s, but will utilize some time to continuing writing the second book in my detective trilogy, The Tainted Search. I have over 50,000 words from NaNoWriMo already so another twenty or so is achievable without full time work getting in the way.
As readers the greatest gift we can receive are books or gift cards to buy books! It was by chance that I received two bookstore gift cards and as a veracious reader was, of course delighted. Then comes the problem – which books do I buy? With so many to choose from with multiple shelves packed with all manner of titles, authors, and genres, we have a couple of options. We can choose a favorite author, a specific genre or try something new.
As you know by now, I love stories with a reincarnation theme. I wrote my novel The Twesome Loop I like it so much! The bookstore helper, I encountered, was able to guide me to two books when I described the type of story I was looking for reincarnation. She recommended The Midnight Library and The Golem and the Jinni. I am currently reading the former and love the characters and the central idea of the story. It allows the author to explore many options for her character. I’ll stop there so I don’t spoilt it for you, if you choose to read it.
As I like to support local, I also went to a wonderful bookstore called The Sherwood Park Bookworm. I know the owner and she helped me find a couple of books with another topic I wanted to delve into: bookstore tales. There is something special about delving into our secret (sometimes not so secret wish) to own a bookstore. As we read these narratives we imagine ourselves within that environment. To be surrounded with books all day – what a treat that would be. Two more books were added to my cache. As you can see from the image below. These are all wonderful additions to my TBR pile.
What does your current TBR pile look like? What are the titles? How did you choose the books?
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 