Links: Beverly Cleary, Little Free Libraries, & Reading Apps

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a links post and there are already so many awesome things happening in the new year. And we’re only a month into it!

Beverly Cleary is going to turn 100 this April! Yeah, that’s right. Not only does that mean it’s a great excuse to celebrate by reading some of Cleary’s books, but publishers are also re-releasing a few titles with some special forewords:

Amy Poehler, Judy Blume, and Kate DiCamillo will write the forewords for the new editions of Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Henry Huggins and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Henry Huggins is the oldest title to get the honour – the first in a series, it was originally published in 1950.

I honestly love anniversary or special editions of books. They make such great gifts and usher in a new crop of young readers.

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Speaking of Beverly! Beverly Jenkins was interviewed over at Jezebel’s Pictorial and it’s an amazing interview. I highly recommended that you read the entire thing because it’s a wonderful discussion on writing romance, especially American historical romance, and how these genres help educate readers. Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

There’s an old saying that if you educate a woman, you educate a race. So the women who’re reading—and some of the men, too, because I have men readers who love the Westerns—they’re all getting a new sense of self, in that you learn that African Americans were not just slaves, and played an important part in history in other ways. Whether you’re talking about the buffalo soldiers or whether you’re talking about Harriet Tubman’s spy ring for the Union Army or whether you’re talking about the brown and Black lawmen and outlaws of Indian Territory.

So I’ve had a 20-year career of bringing all this forward and having an absolute ball.

Also, if you haven’t picked up her latest book, Forbidden ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), you are missing out!

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The Little Free Library organization put out a question in one of their recent newsletters about whether or not romance novels should be included in Little Free Libraries, and how these books may come across to children who frequent LFLs. Sarah wrote them a great response that they posted on their website:

Saying no to all romances diminishes a Library, and alienates any romance readers in your locality – and I promise, there are some. Romance readers are everywhere, and we’re voracious readers whose appetite for books always outpaces our budgets. Any library, be it a little free one or a giant county edifice, is a romance reader’s best friend. You’re serving your audience, all of it, by including romance.

Of course, as romance readers, we want to see the genre carried anywhere and everywhere, despite protests from our wallets. If you have a local Little Free Library that stocks romance, we’d love to see it and feature all the romance-loving LFLs on the site. Shoot me an email!

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If you’re big into tech and reading, a new app has launched over the holidays. Crave is a romance reading app that adds audio and visual components to your reading experience and includes titles from authors like Colleen Hoover and Abbi Glines. The Huffington Post was cool enough to ask me about my experience with it:

But there’s a thirst in the romance community for the sort of immersion in a storybook world that, if well-executed, would be welcomed. Amanda Diehl, a contributor to the romance site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, pointed out in an email, “Romance fans are an imaginative bunch. We’re hungry for books, too. So adding elements that make a book stand out, like visual or audio components, is definitely something I’m willing to try as a reader.”

I also mentioned that Crave might have a challenge appealing to readers who just aren’t into screen reading. Since I work at a laptop all day, I know personally, I try to limit myself with reading on my tablet/phone/ereader.

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We’re currently look for sponsors for our podcast transcript for February. If you or anyone you know may be interested in sponsoring an episode transcript or sponsoring the transcripts for the entire month, send Sarah an email! For people who love the transcripts, don’t worry. We’ll still be providing them regardless of a sponsor. For more information about sponsorship and ad opportunities, we have a handy page for that!

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In “young girls doing awesome things” news, 11-year old Marley Dias is running a book drive to promote books with black girls as the protagonists. Last time I checked, she was halfway to her goal of reaching 1000 books by February 1st. Dias was inspired, after pointing out to her mom, the lack of diversity in her school’s assigned reading:

“I told her I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” Dias said, pointing specifically to “Where the Red Fern Grows” and the “Shiloh” series. “‘What are you going to do about it?’ [my mom] asked. And I told her I was going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters.”

If you’d like to donate a book or two, you can send them to: 59 Main St., West Orange, N.J., 07052, Office 323

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We recently had Alyssa Cole on the DBSA podcast and right after that, she announced that she was re-issuing her first published historical story with a brand spanking new cover. And oh, what a cover it is:

Cole has yet to announce the release date, but if you’re on the fence about picking it up, maybe this tweet (attention, Hamilton fans!) will persuade you.

For Hamilton fans, "Be Not Afraid" is a romance that's basically set offstage during the events of "Guns and Ships." :p

— Alyssa “mostly updates” Cole (@AlyssaColeLit) January 19, 2016

It’s been a busy month, but what interesting and awesome things have you seen online recently?