Tomorrow is International Book Giving Day

International Give a Book DayTomorrow just isn’t Valentine’s Day. It’s also International Book Giving Day. Yes, it’s a real day. So please, give someone a book – it may be a good Valentine’s Day gift.

What are some good Valentine Day books to give to someone? Here are some suggestions below –

1). Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

2). Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon

3). Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier

4). A Kiss for Little Bear, by Else Holmelund Minarik

5). Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

6). Banana’s Love Poems, by Michele Brenton

7). Wicked Valentine, by April Angel

8). Romantic Poetry: 150 Poems for Love and Romance, by Emily Browning

9). Banana’s Mean and Funny Valentine Poems, by Michele Brenton

10). The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

Claire Vaye Watkins participates in a discussion today

Claire Vaye Watkins will participate in a discussion today called “The Imaginary Real: Weaving Fact into Fiction” along with Ruth Ozeki. The event is sponsored by the Pen/Faulkner Foundation. The event is from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. The admission fee is $15.00.

Watkins is the author of the story collection Battleborn, which was named a Best Book of 2012 by the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and Time Out New York.

Below is a video from YouTube on Watkins’ reading at the Villanova Literary Festival –

The Imaginary Real: Weaving Fact into Fiction Ruth Ozeki & Claire Vaye Watkins

Ruth Ozeki and Claire Vaye Watkins will participate in a discussion tomorrow sponsored by the Pen/Faulkner Foundation. The event will be from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. The discussion will be on “The Imaginary Real: Weaving Fact into Fiction.”

Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest. Her novels include My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being.

Watkins is the author of the story collection Battleborn, which was named a Best Book of 2012 by the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and Time Out New York.

Nate Brown is the moderator. He has published fiction in the Iowa Review, Mississippi Review, Five Chapters, the Carolina Quarterly, and elsewhere. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he coordinates the PEN/Faulkner Foundation’s Writers in Schools expansion program in Baltimore City Public Schools

Tickets are $15.00.

Below is a video from YouTube where Ozeki reads from her latest novel, A Tale for the Time Being, and discusses her work with David Palumbo-Liu, a professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford.

 

 

Tomorrow is “Read in the Bathtub Day”

read in bathtub dayTomorrow is “Read in the Bathtub Day.” Yes, it is a real day. Trust me. What types of books would you read in the bathtub tomorrow?

Maybe you should consider some of the books from the New York Times Best Sellers list. Here are some popular books you may want to consider –

HARDCOVER FICTION

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, by Paula Hawkins
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, by Anthony Doerr
PRIVATE VEGAS, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
GRAY MOUNTAIN, by John Grisham
SAINT ODD, by Dean Koontz

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

BEING MORTAL, by Atul Gawande
PIONEER GIRL, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
YES PLEASE, by Amy Poehler
GOD, GUNS, GRITS AND GRAVY, by Mike Huckabee
KILLING PATTON, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

PAPERBACK TRADE FICTION

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James
GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn
ORPHAN TRAIN, by Christina Baker Kline
STILL ALICE, by Lisa Genova
THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho

PAPERBACK NONFICTION

AMERICAN SNIPER, by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand
WILD, by Cheryl Strayed
THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, by Daniel James Brown
THE POWER OF HABIT, by Charles Duhigg

Today is “Send a Card to a Friend Day”

send a nice card todayToday is “Send a Card to a Friend Day” – so don’t forget to send a nice card to your best friend!

 

Daisy Hernandez and Kathi Wolfe at the Writer’s Center

Daisy Hernandez reads from A Cup of Water Under My Bed. Kathi Wolfe, a poet, and author of Green Light, will also do a reading. The event will be at the Writer’s Center tomorrow from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.  A reception and book signing will follow the event. Admission is free.

Below is a YouTube video of an interview Daisy Hernandez gave last year –