Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Saturday, June 06, 2015

Better World Books



I am blessed to be around readers.  People who love books.  We recommend authors to each other and sometimes there is the payoff of discovery – the discovery of something wonderful.  We tell each other what we like and what we believe others may like too.  We are fans of our libraries and funky used book stores and, on occasion we’ll wander through a Barns & Noble, which appears to be the only big brick and mortar book store left these days.  We have accounts on Amazon for our Kindle apps and e-readers.  We have access to e-books from other sources as well.  We read or we listen to stories.  We are fans.

Perhaps you too are such a fan?  If so then lend me your ears…

This week one of my reading friends asked me if I had heard of a website called Better World Books (http://www.betterworldbooks.com/).  She said that it was an online used bookstore where you could find great stuff cheap AND, she went on to tell me, “The best part is that for every book you buy – they donate a book somewhere else in the world.”  This is a great idea.  This is a great concept.  There are books who are looking for readers and there are people out there who don’t usually have access to books who, through this site, now have access to them – worldwide.  It’s easy to take a thing like literacy or being able to pick up a book from a library or bookstore for granted.  There are places and places not necessarily too far away where this is the norm and not the exception.  You can help shrink those barriers.

There are bins all over the place to donate your used books – see here: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/donate and if you don’t want to do that you can have labels sent to your domicile to mail them away yourself.  They even accept textbooks. 


So by getting books through Better World Books makes the world a better place.  It’s a win-win.  You get the books you’re looking for (really – it’s an exhaustive selection), promote literacy, and get books into the hands of people who wouldn’t have them otherwise.  That’s a good thing all the way around the horn.

Spread the love.  Let other readers know.  Here’s their Facebook page too: https://www.facebook.com/betterworldbooks.

Thank you, Gentle Reader.  Keep on readin’.




Tuesday, October 25, 2011

All Hallow's Read


Neil Gaiman, a yarn spinner of great renown (and one of my favorites, I might add), has devised a magnificent new tradition ~ All Hallow’s Read!  He describes it as, “It’s All Hallows Read, a tradition we just made up. You can fancy it up as much as you like. Just make sure you give someone a scary book this Hallowe’en…” That about sums it up.  Here are the gory details: http://www.allhallowsread.com/.  You can also follow all the twists and turns at #AllHallowsRead on Twitter.

I love it.  What a brilliant way to foster a love of reading!  What will you give and to whom?  Poe, Bradbury, Lovecraft, Gaiman?  The possibilities are endless and I am grateful for that.


I encourage you, Gentle Reader, to enjoy All Hallow’s Read!  I know we will be here at Rancho del Evil Chicken.