2010 June - Better World Books Blog - Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Community Outreach & more

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On the road with Lilith Fair- Week 1

Posted by Abbey on 06.30.2010 at 4:42 pm

After a collective 31 hours on a music festival tour bus and the sinful consumption of fair-trade chocolates by the lb, I have one successful week of Lilith Fair Music Touring under my belt. It all started in the quaint but cozy South Bend Regional Airport. My flight to Minneapolis was short, the layover an ample 1 ½ hours, or so I thought. You savvy business and vacation travelers out there probably breeze through these layovers with great ease and confidence. I however, now know that when you see tram rides offered between concourses, you better take them. That “swift and healthy” walking option quickly turns into a rush for your gate. No worries, I obviously made it and the flight to Vancouver was comfortable and breathtaking.

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2 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Week In Review, Calgary, i4c, i4c Campaign, Lilith, Sarah McLachlan, Togoware

Better World Books Podcast: Garth Stein

Posted by Dana on 06.30.2010 at 3:07 pm

When an author hits the New York Times Bestseller List things change. He or she can become intoxicated by their new found fame… begin to demand a special kind of bottled water in his or her dressing room, and… oh wait… that doesn’t usually happen with authors. In fact, they rarely have dressing rooms.

But one thing that does happen is that all the new found readers rush right back to the bookstore looking for everything this writer had previously written. And that is exactly what is happening with Garth Stein. THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN has been a smash hit and has practically made Garth a household name. (Well, he might not be as well known as Kleenex, but he’s close.) Anyway, the point is all of this hub-bub has brought about the re-release of Garth’s first book, RAVEN STOLE THE MOON.

1 Comment » | Tagged Author Podcast, dana barrett, Garth Stein, Raven Stole the Moon, The Art of Racing in the Rain

Better World Books Podcast: Kevin Salwen & Hannah Salwen

Posted by Dana on 06.28.2010 at 10:43 am

When 14 year old Hannah Salwen saw a homeless man begging for food on the side of the road she knew something wasn’t right and she knew she wanted to do something to fix it. The Salwen’s were well off and already heavily involved in some local charities but for Hannah that just wasn’t enough. After much discussion, her mother Joan finally said “What do you want to do Hannah, sell the house?” To which Hannah replied, “Yes.”

This began a journey for the entire Salwen family in which they decided to sell their house and give half the sales price to a worthy cause. And so THE POWER OF HALF was born.

Hannah and her co-author, (a.k.a. Dad) Kevin came by our offices a couple of weeks ago to chat about the book, the project, and what it means to them. They explain that not everyone has to sell their house. They know that’s not possible. But they do believe there are things you could do with less of and that every little bit counts. The idea of giving up half of something is that it’s measurable and easy to get your head around.

Who are these people, you ask? Well, after meeting the Salwens I can tell you… they are regular people just like you and me. Hannah is now 17 and wants to be a nurse someday. She and her Dad are close, but they still have the normal dad/daughter stuff about being home on time, etc.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting the Salwens in today’s podcast and maybe you’ll even be inspired to start a Power of Half project of your own.

Enjoy the interview!

Like this interview? Subscribe today!

Want more of the Better World Books Podcast now? Click here to check out the rest of the great authors who stopped by or called in for a chat!

Comments or questions about the podcast? Feel free to comment here on the blog, or email me at podcast AT betterworldbooks.com.

– Dana Barrett, Podcast Host

Interview with Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen [ 26:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (951)

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast

Libraries & Families Award: Apply Now!

Posted by John on 06.25.2010 at 12:04 pm

Applications being accepted for $30,000 in library grants

Better World Books and the National Center for Family Literacy are teaming up again this year to provide grants for libraries with exceptional family programming.

Applications are now being accepted for the Better World Books/NCFL Libraries and Families Award. You can get more information and apply at online at http://www.famlit.org/BWB-library-award. Applications are due by Nov. 12, 2010.

NCFL anticipates awarding three $10,000 grant awards– one in each of the following three categories:

1) Local Friends of the Library programs
2) Public/academic libraries
3) Urban libraries

In addition, award recipients will receive scholarships to attend the National Conference on Family Literacy.

Last year’s winners are doing amazing things! Learn more about them here!

This will be the second year of the award and the latest partnership effort between our organizations, which together have raised more than $555,000 for NCFL’s programming since 2005.

Have your say » | Tagged Company News, Contests, Impact, Our Partners, Libraries and Families Award, National Center for Family Literacy, NCFL

Want Free Books for a Year?

Posted by Dana on 06.22.2010 at 3:32 pm

Update 7/8/2010: The 2010 contest is over. Congrats to this years’ winners!

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS:
Lynne G from South Bend, IN (Facebook) and @ilanastein from Johannesburg, South Africa (Twitter)

SECOND PRIZE WINNERS:
From Twitter: @sweepscat713 – San Jose, CA, @akritical – Charlottesville, VA, @canaryred – Baltimore, MD, @synical – Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, @dianadoll – Coarsegold, CA, @kkhoulden – Oak Ridge, NC, @jseniar – Enfield, NH, @rikostan – Rose, NY, @cmizerski – St. Clair Shores, MI.

And From Facebook: Desiy L. – Burnaby, Canada, Lydia S. – Jacksonville, FL, Jessica K. – Chantily, VA, Holly C. – Effort, PA, Meghan M. – Fridley, MN, Paulina A. – Bali, Indonesia, Kristen L. – Sanford, FL, Kimm G. – Ontario, Canada, Naga C. – Bangalore, India.

It’s back… the Better World Books “Year of Books” contest is back and better than ever!

How is it better, you ask?

1. Well first of all it starts today, whereas last year’s contest Year of Books is over.

2. This year there will be 2 grand prize winners compared with only 1 lonely winner last year. That’s twice the winners! These lucky ducks will not only get a year of books, but they will also get a snazzy Better World Books t-shirt AND a fabulous Better World Books tote bag.

3. But wait, there’s more… last year we had 9 second place winners… this year we’re doubling the fun and giving a whopping 18 second prizes which consist of one $10 Better World Books gift certificate, the snazzy BWB shirt and the fab BWB tote.

“Enough,” you may say, “I’m in. Now how the heck do I enter?” Well this year we’re all about more. Last year there was only one way to enter… this year there are two:

1. Follow Better World Books on Twitter and then click this link or copy and paste the following message to your Twitter followers to enter: “I just entered the @BWBooks ‘Year of Books’ Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books! (http://bit.ly/bwbyearofbooks) #bwbcontest”

2. Like Better World Books on Facebook and enter the Year of Books Sweepstakes. Fill out the required form and share the contest entry with your friends with the following message: “I just entered the Better World Books ‘Year of Books’ Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books!” And guess what, for every friend you tell on Facebook that enters, you get an extra entry.

Have questions? Need more info? Check out our FAQ and the Terms & Conditions.

What are you still doing here? Go enter. The contest starts today – but you only have until the end of June to enter!

Good luck! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is your lucky year! Okay go… go already!

Lynne G – South Bend, IN

66 Comments » | Tagged Contests, bwbcontest, facebook, twitter, year of books

Better World Books Podcast: Juliet Gael

Posted by admin on 06.21.2010 at 4:06 pm

Juliet Gael is living a life that most of us can only dream about. She lives in Florence, Italy where she researches her favorite topics and writes novels about them. Pretty great, right? I know I’m all sorts of jealous. That said, Juliet works hard. Her debut novel ROMANCING MISS BRONTË is incredibly well researched and as close to the real thing as humanly possible.

The book is the story of the lives of the Brontë sisters, whose novels have made them famous characters in history. The novel brings to life early nineteenth century England where life for women was far different than it is today and the kind of success Charlotte and her sisters achieved was quite rare. In fact, their books were originally published under male pseudonyms.

Have your say » | Tagged Author Podcast, dana barrett, Juliet Gael, podcast, Romancing Miss Bronte, Summer Sale

We’re Hitting the Road with Lilith Fair and the i4c Campaign

Posted by Abbey on 06.08.2010 at 8:09 am

Have you ever felt like summers are for music and reading? We do. Especially this summer as we’ll be going on tour with Lilith Fair! As part of the Lilith i4c Campaign, Better World Books has been selected as one of four organizations that will receive growth support from Lilith i4c and will be on the tour.

We will join the i4c Campaign’s “Village,” a pop-up destination of booths and other attractions on the concert grounds at each city stop. Full-time company employee Abbey Frick will temporarily leave her post at our Mishawaka, IN office to hit the road full-time with the Tour. Here’s a brief introduction from Abbey herself. And here’s a link to the full press release: Better World Books Selected to Join 2010 Lilith Fair Tour.