Action Readers

1. Simply update your status under "Latest Activity":  What are you reading, and what action might you take? OR What are you wondering about in terms of your current book & action?

Your post is a positive action in itself, helping others, especially new action readers, get a feel for the range of actions possible, and a sense of what we collectively are doing for our lives and the world. 

2. "Like" us on Facebook and ask your friends to like us too, so we can get our own dedicated FB page (25 likes) and keep growing our community!

8/15/11: Betterworldbooks.com launches its book-for-book donation initiative: Buy one book from them, and they donate a book to a child in need.

7/17/11 - 7/31/11:  The ActionReaders' founding network is on stay-cation for two weeks as we pull together support materials & curriculum for teachers, profs., and librarians for the 2011-2012 school year. 

Have a fun two weeks of relaxin' action, and we'll see you in August!

7/14/11: Teachers, parents, writers, students:  Education Week Teacher Edition offered a unique list of poems and books that have inspired master teachers.  More varied than what we normally see, and much of the content could be appreciated by everyone.  Doesn't take long to explore, so enjoy!

7/11/11: What an auspicious day to go to your local bookstore and buy a local book!  Don't have one?  Then Indiebound.org's your best bet: They'll connect you with the independent bookseller closest to you.

7/5/11: Calling All Creatives:

Action Readers needs a Validation Squad!!  (see The Creative Habit discussion group) We're drafting the frameworks for professors, teachers, and librarians to use ActionReading to encourage the links among literacy, personal growth, & social change.  Can you help? 

Msg. Laurie today if you have even an hour of your expertise to offer...

 7/4/11: Creative Writers: Free Boot Camp for all!

Julianna Baggott (a.k.a. Bridget Ascher) is offering a free, July-long post-a-day to help you joyfully establish a creative writing habit. And, truly, you don't have to fancy yourself a writer to benefit from these quick, fun spark-provoking exercises.  See you there!

http://bridgetasher.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-boot-camp-starting-tomorrow-might.html

6/29/11:

What are your summer action-reading plans?  Start a group here and let us know how we can support you!

6/22/11: Shelf Awareness, the online daily for those in the book publishing biz, has just created a twice-a-week email service for readers.  They'll provide book recs and features, and it's free.  Sign up at: http://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html 

 6/18/11: Want a monthly creativity jolt?  Like to share?

Try joining our friend and Action Reader "E" at Shredded Cheddar for E's monthly e-community poetry-puzzle "Word and Question"

OR 

Mr. Toast at Hot Toast and Jam for his bi-weekly "Creative Tuesday" 'drawring' meme.  No experience required for either, and both these blogs are a creative inspiration in themselves!  Next theme: SUMMER BREAK, due on the Fifth of July!

6/14/11: Here's a terrific bookishly creative idea from Kelly at The Broke and the Bookish:  Design a new cover for the book you just read.  Tech geek?  Use photoshop or powerpoint or whatever design program you favor.  Old school?  Draw or collage it.  Fabulousness!

Need inspiration? Go check out Kelly's covers.

Or if you're looking to slap your visual groove into your writing, get inspired by Maira Kalman's And the Pursuit of Happiness.

6/10/11: How about this, Action Readers?  In honor of Les Paul's birthday, go dust off that guitar (electric or otherwise) lying in the corner and noodle around for 5 minutes.  Or grab whatever other instrument's hanging around your house and jam for a while, just for the fun of it: After reading the first few chapters of The Creative Habit, I'm sure Twyla Tharpe would approve!

6/8/11: Hey: The Tony Awards are Sunday night so how about belting out a showtune or hoofin' it to your favorite Broadway song to jump-start your creative habit?  Nothing like a little song-and-dance to shake loose the cobwebs and set the muses in motion.  The Tony's are televised, so check your local listings and get ready to get inspired!

And when's the last time you went to a show?  Why not support your local thespians by trying one out this weekend??

And if you're a Broadway fan, you'll love Sondheim's Finishing the Hat. 

6/6/11: It's Audio Book Week, so spark your creativity with a new modality: Listen to a book, or tell a story...

And hop over to Devourer of Books, the central site for this week's event, for recommendations and give-aways.

6/5/11: It's the anniversary of Richard Scarry's birth.  So go out there and draw a worm!

Or read a picture or children's book for creative inspiration...

6/2/11: The Creative Triumph Challenge Begins!

a. Read The Creative Habit.

b. Participate in our book discussion.

c. Commit to taking one creative action in your community or adjusting a personal habit through creativity.

d. Post your action/commitment in your status.

e. You're entered to win the $20/$50 Prize!  Your book-o-choice (up to $20) AND your charity-o-choice (a $50 donation).

Contest ends July 10, 2011.

6/1/31: It's Get Creative Month! here at Action Readers.  Expect quick ideas to get your creative actions flowing, creativity-related social change opportunities, plus at least TWO challenges w/giveaways in addition to our brand new book group!  So hang on to your paintbrushes and stop back daily 'cause we're getting our creative on!

5/30/11: LAST CALL for the Get Caught Reading Challenge! Spread the word to encourage two more Action Readers to join by midnight tomorrow and y'all get prizes!  Check it out under "Events", just up and to the left!

(This challenge is for all us over-18 Action Readers, but Olivia's pic's just too cool not to post!)

5/28/11: Congrats to new Action Reader Trisha, who won our Armchair BEA GiveAway; a warm welcome to all who joined our community this week; and our ongoing gratitude to those who've been with us from the beginning.  Let's keep building the movement!

5/25/11: Calling all early ActionReaders:

Put your name in the hat to win the book of your choice (under $20) AND a $20 donation to the charity of your choice!  Just send me, your founding ActionReader Laurie, a message here by midnight on May 27 to be eligible.  You might have to friend me first, but - hey - we're all friends here anyway...

Just our ActionReaders way of celebrating BEA!

/24/11: Welcome Armchair BEAers!  Couldn't get to NYC for the biggest publishing/book blogging conventions of the year?  Why not join us virtual attendees at http://www.armchairbea.com/?

5/22/11: It's the 50th anniversary of Roald Dahl's James & The Giant Peach!  Easy action: Go outside, lift up a rock, and show a bug some love!

Or, send a (virtual or paper) Peachgram at http://www.followthatpeach.com/

5/20/11: Have you heard about the iMatter March?  It's youth making a little noise in non-violent demonstration to ask for adults' support in making sure they've got a functioning planet to live on when they grow up.  Marches are still being organized throughout the summer and into the fall, so perhaps you'd like to stretch your legs a bit with them.  March locators on the site will help you do just that!

5/18/11: Tomorrow's the birthday of FirstBook.org, the group that provides books for kids who otherwise couldn't afford them.  Check out their website today to see the various ways you can help with this great cause! 

5/16/11: It's Biographer's Day!

When's the last time you read a biography? Recent Pulitzer winner Washington: A Life's been getting a lot of good press: Stop by Jackie Is Reading for her review.  And how about this for an action:  Choose a neighbor or family member to phone/text/ email/take to tea and ask them about their lives.  Try these questions or morph these ones... Maybe you could interview your dad and then write up a little bio yourself for Father's Day.

5/12/11:  Reuters Africa reports that in rebel-held regions of Libya, books Gaddafi had banned - especially  history books - are selling like hotcakes to citizens who hunger to learn more about their own country's past...  For more details, check out the whole article here.

5/9/11: If you're 25 or under, you've got a few more days to join the EPIC BOOK DRIVE helping New Orleans schools.  In some schools there, it's 1 book per 300 students, so they need our help.  Set up your drive today! It's sponsored by  DoSomething.org & Betterworldbooks.com!

 5/7/11: It's National Short Story Month!!

Why not choose The Best American Short Stories 2010 as your group's first read?  Plenty of variety, something for everyone!

5/5/11: News Bonus:  Another great Wildflower Week title from Gingery: 

Get Enjoying Wildflowers through  Amazon.com or alibris or paperbackswap. 

All those wildflowers you see amassed along our national highways?  Sure, some just got there on their own, but what role did Lady Bird Johnson have in beautifying our travels?  Check it out here: Our Environmental First Lady.

5/4/11: It's also National Children's Book Week, so why not check out the newest at your local library or bookseller, and then offer one to a child in your life.  Neighbor?  Niece or nephew? Random passerby?  Spread the book love!

5/3/11:  It's National Teacher Appreciation Day!  Which teachers got you hooked on reading, loving language, savoring stories?  Why not write them a quick gratitude email or buy them a book?

5/3/11: And on a more serious note, we all know that the top news story of the week is the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Here's a list of books from the NYTimes to illuminate the background and impact of this event.

5/2/11: It's National Wildflower Week, thanks to the efforts of Lady Bird Johnson oh so many years ago.  One great way to celebrate: Read a book!  Gingery recommends A Wild Flower by Any Other Name.Sketches of pioneer naturalists who named our western plants. By Karen B. Nilsson. Here’s a fascinating look at the history of plant discovery, particularly as a result of Lewis & Clark’s expedition and of the period when naturalists all over the world were making plant discoveries and setting up arboretums and botanic gardens with what were, at the time, exotic plants.

4/29/11: Today is Arbor Day, so plant a tree!  No time?  No space? No problem. 

Head over to Eco-Libris to offset your book buying with tree planting: they'll do all the legwork for you!

4/26/11:  The Orange Prize shortlist is here!  Read one or two of these fine females' books this month!

4/25/11:  It's Shakespeare's birthday-to-baptism time again, so why not read a couple of his sonnets and then go grab your favorite play DVD at the library? Better yet, go see some live theater - any sort of live theater!

4/23/11: Quote of the week:

"Start from joy, then go out and do something about it!" - Ted Danson, speaking of saving the world's fisheries, and his new book, Oceana.

4/22/11: Yay!  It's Earth Day!  Go out and read (perhaps something green?), then pass your book on to somebody else: Easy. Action.

4/21/11:  Get your Earth Day on!  Hop over to earthday.org's "Billion Acts of Green" site to pledge an E.D. action! 

They've designed a nifty interface that could offer a great model for us here to tally our actions.  Go check it out, and you can even pledge the same thing you're doing for our own Earth Day Challenge, if you like!

4/20/11:  Eat and be poetic.  Bop by Alimentum's online magazine to taste the latest offering by our own Jackie AND try your hand at a poem to your pasta next time you're grabbing a bite!

4/19/11:  Get your Earth Day on!

How 'bout this:  Ponder literature as furniture.  Would you walk on this?? Book Rug 

If not, how else might you recast your cast-offs as art?

4/18/11: Get your Earth Day on!

#2: Whenever you shop online, try "book-linking": Wait until you have a group of books to purchase. This saves on shipping fuel & materials. (Tip courtesy of The Story of Stuff .)

4/15/11:  Get your Earth Day on! 

#1:  Try betterworldbooks.com for eco-shipping on your next book purchase. 

4/4/11: Check out this blogpost Psychology Today's Jeffrey A. Kottler, PhD.  Why not tie our action reading to helping others from time to time?