Book Series

While I love book series (I seem to gravitate toward them lately), I wish there warning labels on the first book. I've picked up several and was unaware it was the start of a series as the book did not say. It was only after looking at reviews or finding the author on Amazon did I learn certain books were the beginning of series. I would like a nice large label which warns me I am about to embark on the torturous path of waiting for the next book. It will not prevent me from reading book one, or cause me to wait for all books to be published before I read-it would just be nice for my sanity to have a warning. So, now I have lost count of how many books I am waiting on in a series. Book torture is the worst!

Diversity

I have long been aware of the need for diversity in books, and in particular children's literature. I do not mean only diversity of race, but also of lifestyles, of mental difficulties, of physical disabilities. It saddens me to think a child could search a whole library and be unable to find themselves represented in a book. I applaud every effort to rectify this, to add to the conversation of making diversity something we find in books as simply as we do in life.

Recently, my 5 year old niece asked me a question which made me both smile and want to cry at the same time. She is a beautiful melting pot of Irish, Scottish, Native American, and Hispanic (with a few little strands of French, German and Dutch). While coloring pictures of princesses she was coloring them all with brown hair for her older sister. Though older sister has brown hair, Little Bit has black hair. She asked me if it was alright to color the princess's hair black, even though she is supposed to be blonde. I loved that she was already coloring them differently because it was what she wanted to do, but at the same time I was a bit sad she felt she had to ask if it was alright, if it was wrong for her to change their hair. I wondered then who does she see herself in? Is there a princess she feels represents her? She is an avid bookworm already at 5, and I wonder which literary character will embolden her in their pages? Will she find herself in a book or will she wander the library looking for something she'll never find?

Writing Music

Spent all morning creating a writing playlist on YouTube (even though I have plenty of playlists on my computer). This was well spent time procrastinating as I did find new songs. Must have music to write!

Writing Music