As summer 2009 approached and visions of long days at the beach and/or pool swam through our heads, we decided to create a Summer Reading List. Sure, Oprah already does it, but we were disappointed by the lack of Southern titles on her list. The South has such a long, and famous, literary history, that we thought the region deserved its own list. But we didn’t want to just revisit the classics by Faulkner, Welty or Capote. We wanted to tell our readers about authors who are writing about the South today—and rivaling their famous counterparts.

The first Deep South Summer Reading List included authors like Joshilyn Jackson, John Brandon, Dorothea Benton Frank, Nicole Seitz, Carl Hiaasen, Pat Conroy, Rebecca Wells, Mary Kay Andrews, James Lee Burke, Minrose Gwinand Ryan Anderson. We also decided to ask publishers if they’d like to send us a book to give away in conjunction with the list. Almost all said yes, and some sent two or three books.
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Thank you for being a loyal supporter and customer of ours, because you are also helping groups like Invisible Children. One of the coolest parts of Better World Books is that we are not asking you to donate money or time to us. We are simply hoping that you will make a conscious decision to buy something you are already going to buy from a company that matches your purchase with a donation.

Each time you tell a friend about us, donate a pre-loved book to us, or buy a book from us, people like Beatrice, below, benefit.

Our wonderful partners at Invisible Children are happy to share an example of their work with our funds through the spotlight story below. We hope you are inspired!

Mentor Spotlight: Beatrice

You can watch Beatrice’s story at http://vimeo.com/29133773. (password: lspsupp0rters) Read more…

Guest post by Derek Williams & John Cervenka, Founders of The Giving Network

GivLive, a weekly show on The Giving Network hosted by Derek Williams and John Cervanka, highlights the great work of non profits and organizations around the world. On a recent episode GivCause shared about the outstanding work Better World Books is doing to bring attention to education and literacy.

Cervenka says, “Better World Books is on the forefront as a for-profit company that makes non-profit work part of their business model. GivCause is proud to share the impact of Better World Books with our global audience.”

GivCause | The Giving Network is revolutionizing the way non profits and cause driven organizations are telling their story to the world. After launching only two months ago, GivCause is already being seen in over 36 countries. The network, headquartered in Los Angeles, was founded by Derek Williams and John Cervenka. With their extensive background in the entertainment industry their goal is to build the largest global online television network completely dedicated to non profit programs. By the response they are already experiencing they are well on their way.

A full roster of new programs from various non profits around the world will premier in January 2012.

Do you have any suggestions for webisodes Better World Books can host on The Giving Network? What about other organizations that you’d like for GivCause to highlight? Please share below…

*Note* The above blog post is a guest blog from our friends at The Giving Network. This content does not necessarily reflect the views of Better World Books (as our lawyers make sure we say). We love having guest bloggers and invite you to email 11@betterworldbooks.com if you are interested in covering a book or topic on the BWB Blog. Thank you, John and Derek!

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am reminded of a great quote from one of my favorite authors: “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all,” -William Faulkner

So this weekend I asked our Facebook and Twitter friends what books they are most grateful for. Here are the most “liked” answers.

Krystal S. - Twilight! Just kidding. LOL. I’m thankful for Jemima J, the first “chick lit” book I ever read that also happened to be about a less than perfect character that I could relate to. I love it! Also, A Child Called It. It compelled me to study social work and see what I could do about the issue of child abuse which I still plan on helping to eliminate.

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It is a treasure.  It is the tie that binds us to people long ago and the avenue through which we are connected to a world beyond the walls of our existence.  It teaches us…guides us…speaks to the innermost places in our souls where no person has access.  It takes us to new places, just beyond our reach, where our highest thoughts and aspirations exist and abide patiently, longing to be embraced.

The written word.

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Imagine back to being in the 5th grade. Homework was just beginning to get difficult. Word problems in math class were becoming longer and more complicated.

Anytime I had a question about my homework, my mom was by my side and ready to help. She tackled the seemingly endless word problems with grace and humor. Thanks to her perfect explanations, not only did I get the answers correct, but I understood why.

There are many young students across the world, and right here in America, whose parents are unable to help them with their homework, not because they don’t understand the math, but because they cannot read the words.5th grader Antonio spent most of elementary school as one of these children. His dad worked nights and his mom did not speak English.

Maria, Antonio’s sweet mother, tried so hard to help. Finally, she found her little miracle: the local library.

Thanks to your book donations and purchases with Better World Books, we were able to grant Maria’s library in Shirley, New York an award with our partners at the National Center for Family Literacy and today, Maria can successfully help Antonio with his homework. Thank you!

What are your thoughts on Maria and Antonio’s story? How does it make you feel that it happened thanks to YOU?!

I am thankful for Jules Verne’s great novel Around the World in 80 Days but must admit I’d rather see the whole world myself. But since we can’t all drop our responsibilities at home, I’ve decided to bring the wonders, blunders and ponderers of the world to us.

In collaboration with our staff, Twitter and Facebook fans, we’ve put together a list of books that take you from antebellum Virginia to the inner walls Vatican City, from war-torn Somalia to the bright lights of Shanghai – and everywhere in between.

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The question we asked our Facebook and Twitter friends to create this top 10 Tuesday list:

If you were riding a plane for 24 hours and could only bring one book, what would it be?Here are the most “liked” answers:

10. Tie between “A blank book. I would write” and Stephen King’s The Stand

9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

8. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

7. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

6. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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There were many other renowned, compelling and encouraging presenters and panelists at the Womenetics Global Women’s Initiative Conference such as Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Founder of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School and even two of my personal heroes, Somaly Mam, Co-Founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation (and author of “The Road of Lost Innocence”) and Naomi Tutu (yes, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu), Race and Gender Justice Activist and Join My Village Ambassador.

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Dear stellar students, the following is an exciting update from your campus reps at BWB.

We want you to put us to work at the warehouse of our partner, Books for Africa, so we can provide some much needed (wo)manpower in support of their efforts to end the book famine in Africa.

Now that Halloween is over, it feels like the remaining holidays for 2011 are rushing in to take its place. On November 1st I heard Christmas music playing in a sandwich shop and it seems like there are even more commercials on TV reminding you to go out and shop, shop, shop. As we still have some breathing room before the holidays arrive, it’s important to take a moment to stop and reflect on what we can all do to help others in need.

The Better World Books On Campus Team has definitely been thinking about this and we want to let you know about our November service project. (Read carefully because you play a very important part in the plan!)

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