Continue Sending in those Book Reviews...

One thing I've always had lots of requests for when speaking with others about this blog, is to include lots of book reviews. While I read a lot, I know that I'm not the only one out there reading. I would love to have your book review contributions!

As a result, I'm going to extend last month's challenge to write a book review for our literacy blog.

The winning prize will still be the book, Long After Dark, as described here.

I would love to see an in-pouring of books reviewed for our perusal. I think there may be a couple things holding people back.

Many people have expressed the sentiment that, "I hope this book will be good enough to review." One thing I hope you understand is that you can feel welcome to review a book that is mediocure or even not good at all. Certainly, we all want to read good books, but it can be just as helpful to know which books to avoid. In other words, if there is a book you've set aside because you decided it didn't fit your expectations (whatever those may be), let us know, so that we don't also waste our time and effort on pusuing the same novel. Whatever your opinion of the reading material, feel free to share it with us so we can be forewarned about what to expect.

Second, you know need to feel like a stupendous writer to write a review. Reviews can be simple and easy. A basic review can include nothing more than:

1. Your opinion of the novel.


2. Two or three sentences describing the plot (without ruining it).


3. Who you would recommend the book too.

You don't need to know all about the author or the literary discussions experts might be having on the novel, all you need to do is express your opinion.

Thirdly, sending in your review is easy. You can either submit it to lonica2.blogforliteracy@blogger.com (as part of the body of the e-mail, rather than an attachment) or e-mail it to me directly at Lonica.rowley@gmail.com. I can always attach an image of your book, if you'd like.

Hopefully, we can help each other out by recommending good (or not-so-good) books we've read. Don't be shy! Send in your book reviews!

One Last Day to Set a Goal

Don't forget that today is the last day to set a goal for our monthly challenge. Well, of course you could always set a goal later, but you wouldn't be part of the drawing for a $10 gift certificate. Check it out and participate here. Happy goal setting!

What’s Your Literacy Goal?

Most people easily recognize the start of the new year as a time of new beginnings and change. This year, I’d like to encourage all of you to set a literary goal or make a change in some literary way.

Perhaps you want to read more books.

Maybe you just want to finish a book you began earlier.

You might be interested in reading the newspaper on a regular basis.

Writing in your journal daily, or even once a week, might be on your to-do-list for this year.

Whatever your literary goal may be, share it with us for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Borders. All you have to do is leave a comment below, stating your goal and your plan for accomplishing that goal. You will automatically be entered for a drawing to win a great literary prize!

I’ll start. This year I’ve decided that I’m going to keep track of all the books I’ve read. This comes in two parts. I’m on a long-term quest to record all the books I’ve ever read—at least all the ones I remember ever reading—and those I’ll read over the course of the next year.

I’ve found a great way to help me accomplish this goal. I became a member of Goodreads (It’s free and easy!)

Once you create an account, you can search for books you’ve read or want to read, you can rank the books or write a short review.

You can browse through the books you’ve read and sort them by title, author, ranking, or genre.

As an added bonus, you can browse books that you’re friends have read or recommend. It’s a great way to meet new people and new books!

Essentially, GoodReads is a great way to meet my goal of keeping track of all the books I read.

What’s your literary goal? Don’t forget to tell us about it in the comments below for your chance to win a $10 dollar gift certificate to Border! All entries for the drawing must be made by February 5, 2009.