Tag: library

Donate Books This Holiday Season

(Note: this is not a paid or requested post — I’m writing this on my own accord)

I’ve been a little quiet on the blog because I don’t have much to report beyond the fact that I’m editing Without Condition. It’s going pretty well — I’m about 2/3 done, and I haven’t felt the urge to print it out and light it on fire, which I consider to be a success.

While this is a time of year where I’m typically editing, I’m also shopping; and I wanted to draw attention to one of my favorite annual charity drives. Each year between November and December, Barnes and Noble holds a book drive for a local school or library in need. They have a box of books that you can choose from to add to your purchase when you check out. They’re usually kids books, meaning you may be adding $5 – $12 to your bill — and sometimes less!

This drive means a lot to me because my love of reading and writing came from access to a variety of books at a young age. I had well-stocked school libraries and public libraries nearby, and friends and family who kept my bookshelf full. I’m grateful for that privilege, but access to good reading, especially for kids and teenagers, should be a right. Book drives like this one help get more books into more readers’ hands.

If you’re shopping at B&N this year, I’d like to ask that you add a book to donate when you check out. It’s for a good cause, and it’s an easy way to give. Thanks, and happy holidays!

Summer Writing+Reading

Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the week (and possibly the season) in the D.C. area. It’s always hot here in the summer, but having grown up in the southern Mid-Atlantic, I don’t really heed my fellow locals’ complaints about the purported oppressive heat of July and August. In North Carolina, you could barely go outside between 12 and 5 PM; and don’t get me started on the 24 hours we spent in Savannah in August one summer. I do concede that it’s easy to scoff at heat complaints while I sit in an air-conditioned room in a sundress.

Though I’ve been out of school for years, I still like taking part in summer reading. My local library has a summer reading program for all ages, and you can log your books and win prizes. Adults get the grand prize when they read six books in the designated time. Last summer, I completed and exceeded that by the beginning of July. This summer … I logged my fourth book yesterday.

My reading is still slow thanks to writing, but things like the summer reading challenge keep my bookworm fed. I just finished The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, which was excellent. Now I’m reading The Girls by Emily Cline.

I’m also still writing away. Most of my focus has been on what is steadily becoming my second novel. I’m at 47,000+ words — a few days’ work away from a NaNoWriMo length! It’s still scattershot, and the plot is still coming together, but I’m both pleased and surprised at how it’s formed over the past several weeks — especially when for months, I didn’t think I had enough material for this story to turn into a novel. We’ll see where it goes!

What are you reading or writing this summer?