Say wha?

By Pamela

Last week author Kelly Corrigan came to Dallas and unfortunately, we weren't able to hear her speak but I did enjoy this TEDx talk Susan told me about. If you have a few minutes, it's certainly worth your time to listen to her speak about literacy and what impact reading has on your life.

Here are some startling statistics she shares:

• After high school, 33% of graduates never read a book.
• After college, that number jumps to 42%.
• When the state of Arizona forecasts the number of beds they'll need for their prisons, they look to the number of kids in fourth grade who read well.
• The number one cause of divorce: poor communication. 
• The number one predictor of occupational success is vocabulary. 

It's no secret that reading results in a better command of language, and Kelly goes on to talk about how reading builds vocabulary. I'm so grateful my young life began with a mother who read to me. I went on to love reading on my own and count my school librarians as some of my favorite educators. Today, I don't read as much as I wish, but no place feels more like 'home' to me than snuggling up with a book.

If you are a parent, you have the awesome responsibility of fostering a love of reading in your child. My three started out gnawing on board books and eventually 'cut their teeth' on reading solo the BOB Books and later Berenstain Bears and Dr. Seuss. When we closed the cover on one story, we often switched on a CD to listen to Junie B. Jones' antics (Lana Quintal is fabulous!) or The Boxcar Children as they drifted off to sleep. While it's too soon to see if they'll become a statistic and not read after college, I certainly hope they'll love to read as adults.

I think Kelly's comments about communication resonated the most with me, and at times I'll write a word and pause to consider 'Is this the best word? Is this really what I'm trying to say?' and it's not about using a big $5 word either--one that looks or sounds impressive. Simple, direct, succinct can go a long way in communicating my ideas. Like my girl said the other day: "I possess an amazing vocabulary ... in other words ... I know a lot of words."

Writers need to communicate not only their ideas to readers but also to those with whom they interact. If you're part of a writing critique group, expressing yourself effectively is key to not only giving feedback but receiving it as well. If you hand off your work to a reader for critique, are you expecting a line edit? A copy edit? Changes tracked? Overall impression? The same goes with giving feedback to someone else. Make sure you outline your expectations and ask what's expected in return.

Joan and I recently participated in a webinar which included an agent's 'critique' of the first two pages of our manuscripts. We both got ours back the other day with similar feedback--what we considered to be fairly nonspecific comments at the bottom of the second page. Apparently 'critique' can be interpreted many different ways and we, perhaps unjustly, expected something more than we received.

So, before this becomes a post about how reading affects how we drive, what we eat, who we marry and where we vacation (trust me, I think I can connect these dots), I'll close with a final caveat: You'll never regret time spent reading--to your child, by yourself, to an elderly friend. The challenge begins with: What should I read next?

New Year, New Books!

by Joan

When you’ve been blogging for almost five years, coming up with fresh topics is challenging. But one thing that never gets old is discovering new books. And since my birthday and the holidays are both in December, I have started the New Year with a cache of new reads. Some came as pleasant surprises, others in boxes I handed to my husband to wrap and still others ordered on my Audible.com account as a gift to myself.

Here are a few titles that will keep me busy over the next several months!

Margaret Leroy’s Soldier’s Wife - I’m really enjoying this novel, set in Guernsey during World War II. If you loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, you will enjoy this as well.

Jenna Blum’s Those Who Save Us – Two copies of this Holocaust novel showed up! I put it on my list and then forgot and ordered it on Audible. I’m enjoying listening to the dual timelines on audio very much.

Erika Robuck’s Receive Me Falling – I put this on my list in anticipation of Erika’s Hemingway’s Girl, coming in September 2012 from NAL/Penguin. Erika guest blogged here in July about why she writes about the past.

Sally Gunning’s The Widow’s War – Elizabeth suggested I would love Sally Gunning’s writing. I peeked at the first page and, wow, is she ever right.

Kyung-Sook Shin’s Please Look After Mom – my cousin emailed me this message on NYE: “Whatever you are reading or working on now, STOP. One way or another, get the book Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin. Read it in one day, holy sh--.” Is that a recommendation or what?! Of course I ordered it and it’s next in line!

Susanna Kearsley’s Winter Sea – Kim recommended this and we have rarely disagreed on a book!

Kelly O’Connor McNees’ Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott – My bookaholic sister recommended this one and we also share the same tastes.

Peter Ackroyd’s Thames – My college student son used to share my office and likely saw my Ackroyd collection, containing both non-fiction (London: The Biography never leaves my desk) and fiction, like Hawksmoor and The Clerkenwell Tales, which inspired me to write my current manuscript.

David Starkey’s Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII – Another title from my son, who knows my infatuation with British History, especially the bizarre Henry VIII.

What books did you get?