#must read article

[buddhablog86-blog]

This beautifully presented poem is a great read when you are feeling like the odds are against you. My mum first read me this poem when I was younger and life was being a bit tough. Hope you like it.

[canopys-well-feared]

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[danielleurbansblog]

Ways to help you fall back in love with your writing:

Written by Lucy Mitchell

Love is in the air during the month of February. As a writer you could be head over heels in love with your creative work, walking around with a spring in your step and smile on your face as the sheer thought of your literary masterpiece fills you with a warm and fuzzy glow.

On the other hand the sight of your half-finished novel could leave you cold, emotionless and…

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[danielleurbansblog]

A Must Read Article for Writers from Writer's Digest!

A Must Read Article for Writers from Writer’s Digest!

Click on the link below. It will take to to the must read article. I would share it here, but I can’t do that. So, my only option was to share the link with you all to read. It has excellent points when writing and all of them were to good to not share with you all. Enjoy reading it!

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/your-novel-bl…

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[partnersinbooks-blog]

20 Quotes From The Greatest Love Letters Of The 20th Century

1. I don’t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside of me there will always be the person I am tonight. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. I love you more than anybody in the world… I love you for millions and millions of things, clocks and vampires and dirty nails and squiggly paintings and lovely hair and being dizzy and falling dreams. – Dylan Thomas

3. I just miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way. I miss you even more than I could have believed; and I was prepared to miss you a good deal. So this letter is really just a squeal of pain. – Vita Sackville-West

4. I don’t want to live – I want to love first, and live incidentally. – Zelda Fitzgerald

5. There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had. – John Steinbeck

6. Your word travels the entirety of space and reaches my cells which are my stars then goes to yours which are my light. – Frida Kahlo

7. I cannot get that beautiful afternoon out of my head, above me where I lay the grass was silhouetted against the blue of the heavens, small clouds were rushing past as the wind drove them on an endless journey. Then close to me was the most lovely of all, your soft hair against my cheek, your kisses so cool and unearthly and my happiness so great. – Julia Lee-Booker

8. My love for you tonight is so deep and tender that it seems to be outside myself as well. – Katherine Mansfield

9. Nothing has happened as we imagined it would except our children. We never thought we’d roam the world. We never thought our occupations and interests would cover such a range. We never thought that our thirty-third anniversary would find us deep in our second war and me again at the front. Well, darling, we’ve lived up to the most important part of the ceremony, “In sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, till death do you part.” – Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

10. I told you once that [our marriage] was like an adolescent’s dream of what marriage should be like. That hasn’t changed. – Ronald Reagan

11. I have a thousand images of you in an hour; all different and all coming back to the same. I think of you once against a sky line: and on the hill that Sunday morning. The light and the shadow and quietness and the rain and the wood. And you. Your arms and lips and hair and shoulders and voice – you. – Rupert Brooke

12. You might drop your heart into me and you’d never hear it touch bottom. – Katherine Mansfield

13. I answer one of your letters, then lie in bed in apparent calm, but my heart beats through my entire body and is conscious only of you. I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. – Franz Kafka

14. I hurt with the insatiate longing, until I feel that there will never be any relief until I take a long, deep, wild draught on your lips. – Warren Harding

15. Happiness is within you… so unlock the chains from your heart and let yourself grow— like the sweet flower you are. I know the answer— just spread your wings and set yourself free. – Jimi Hendrix

16. The fire and excitement may be gone now that we don’t go out there and sing them anymore, but the ring of fire still burns around you and I, keeping our love hotter than a pepper sprout. – Johnny Cash

17. As one needs happiness so have I needed love; that is the deepest need of the human spirit. And as I love you utterly, so have you now become the whole world of my spirit. It is beside and beyond anything that you can ever do for me; it lies in what you are, dear love — to me so infinitely lovely that to be near you, to see you, hear you, is now the only happiness, the only life, I know. – Rockwell Kent

18. Dearest — my body is simply crazy with wanting you — If you don’t come tomorrow — I don’t see how I can wait for you — I wonder if your body wants mine the way mine wants yours — the kisses — the hotness — the wetness — all melting together — the being held so tight that it hurts — the strangle and the struggle. – Georgia O’Keefe

19. I came in at half past eleven. Since then I have been sitting in an easy chair like a fool. I could do nothing. I hear nothing but your voice. I am like a fool hearing you call me ‘Dear.’ I offended two men today by leaving them coolly. I wanted to hear your voice, not theirs. When I am with you I leave aside my contemptuous, suspicious nature. I wish I felt your head on my shoulder. – James Joyce

20. As always, a million heartfelt thanks for bringing such joy into this chick’s life.– Princess Diana 

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[partnersinbooks-blog]

10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

1. Mental Stimulation

Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

2. Stress Reduction

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

3. Knowledge

Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

4. Vocabulary Expansion

This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.

Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

5. Memory Improvement

When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?

Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”.

That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed, if the storyline ran smoothly, etc. Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly, as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.

7. Improved Focus and Concentration

In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.

When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

8. Better Writing Skills

This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

9. Tranquility

In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

10. Free Entertainment

Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.

If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen. There are also many sources onlinewhere you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read!

There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.

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[partnersinbooks-blog]

17 Things All Hardcore Book Lovers Can Totally Relate To

1. You’ve started judging potential romantic partners solely on their reading habits. Some people go for nice arms or a great smile but you’re like, “Um hi, what’s your favorite book or author?” You know the answer is way riskier than even finding out what they do for work or who their favorite bands are. And if they say they don’t read? Check, please!!

2. You have so many books your bookshelf is overflowing and now you just have random spots of the floor stacked with books. At this point you’re kind of proud of your book stacks and look at them as an added flair in your home decor.

3. You own more books than anything else and you feel totally fine with that. Some people buy clothes or shoes or whatever but you, you buy books.

4. Your friends have stopped asking you if you’ve read the book anytime a movie comes out based on a novel. 9 times out of 10, yes, you’ve already read the book.

5. You loan someone a book and a week later you inquire about their progress. If they haven’t even started it yet it’s like, “what the hell? how could you not even start this AMAZINGLY WELL WRITTEN INCREDIBLE NOVEL YET?”

6. You feel a strong sense of anxiety coming on when you’re at a bookstore and you have at least a handful of books you want to buy and you realize you have to make a choice. You know you can’t buy them all. Which one is going home with you? This is the worst of the worst.

7. You get confused anytime someone asks you what you want for your birthday or a holiday because they should just know by now the only thing you want is an unadulterated shopping spree at the bookstore. Alone.

8. Anytime you have to name something it’s immediately sourced from one of your favorite novels. Dogs, cats, your car, future children, etc are all fair game. You hope your significant other or future spouse knows they’re just going to have to deal with it.

9. You’ve become the master of the side eye anytime you’re talking to someone and they say something like, “Oh, I don’t really read.” HOW IS THIS EVEN A THING!?!

10. Your boss might as well just start forwarding your paychecks to your local bookstore. I mean, it’s going there anyway, right?

11. When you’re out in public or on public trans and see someone reading you always try and find out the title of what they’re reading. If you can’t make out the title you get a little annoyed. You’re just curious what other people are into.

12. Even if you know it will likely never happen you still dream about meeting your future significant other/spouse/lover/whatever in a bookstore. Being surrounded by stacks of beautiful books is one of the most romantic places to meet someone. Maybe someday…

13. When you get to the end of an amazing chapter you whisper okay, just one more and flip to the next page. You try and keep a steady sleep schedule for work or school but oh man, sometimes it’s just so hard.

14. Let’s face it – you judge people who read things like 50 Shades of Grey. You know you should just be happy people are reading at all, but you secretly wish you could suggest 10 other better books out there they’d probably be into.

15. You rarely loan your books out anymore. You just know it’s unlikely someone else is going to take care of your books the way you do, let alone actually give them back. You wish you could be more generous but seriously, you’ve lost way too many great books in the process. Better get a library card, babe!

16. Everytime you walk into a used bookstore and it has that heavenly distinct smell of Old Book you instantly feel at home and comfortable. This is where you belong.

17. You get a little bit panicked when you find yourself in a waiting room or other spot without a book during a moment when you could be reading. You think about all the glorious books just sitting at home you could be reading right now but aren’t because you forgot your baby at home. 

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[partnersinbooks-blog]

11 Ways Busy People Make Time To Read

Some of the busiest people on our planet are also avid readers. Reading sparks your creativity, helps you grow your understanding of complex problems and grows you intellectually, while at the same time, reading is a very relaxing activity. But how do we make time to read?

News articles report that we are reading less and less. A study in 2004 found that the average number of books read in the US per year is 12, while the median value is only five books. If you want to beat this sad statistic and increase the number of books you read per year and make time to read, then keep reading.

The year in which I finished my PhD, moved across the globe, and attended conferences in every single continent of the world to present my research (except Antarctica), I logged 69 books into my GoodReads account. Many people have wondered how I managed to find the time to read so many books while having such a busy year. If you want to increase the number of books you read each year, I have gathered 11 of my best tips for reading:

1. Borrow more books than you can read

If you enjoy borrowing books from the library, borrow more than you think you’ll actually read. Having physical books piled up in your house that you know need to be returned will encourage you to read more than you might initially have planned to.

If you are a digital reader, make sure you download a stockpile of books onto your e-reader,so you always have a wealth of choices right at your fingertips that you are eager to read.

2. Read more than one book at a time

Some people prefer to read one book at a time, but others benefit from working on several books at the same time. Some books are more suitable for reading at night (like fiction novels), while other books, such as non-fiction analyses, can be more suitable for reading during your commute.

I typically have a number of books that I am working on available on my nightstand in my room, as well as one fiction and at least one non-fiction book in progress on my e-reader. For personal development books, it might be advisable to space out your reading session over time, so that you get a chance to work on the recommendations in the book.

3. Set a goal per reading session

If you don’t have the habit of reading big chunks of text at a time, set reading goals per session. For example, you can challenge yourself to read 50 pages before putting your book aside, or to finish the chapter before you move on to the next task. Set the bar a little higher each time. Reading a little bit extra every day will add up to reading more books on an annual basis than before.

4. Ignore what you “should” be reading

While you might find inspiration in lists of “best” books, read for yourself. Read for your own pleasure and education. Putting pressure on yourself in terms of reading what the rest of the world tells you to read only brings you so far. If you read based on your own interest and joy, you will find yourself making more time to read out of excitement for the book or topic.

5. Practice speed-reading

The idea is simple: if you want to read more in a short amount of time, you can teach yourself to read faster. There are different techniques for speed-reading in which you can train yourself. These techniques include grouping words instead of reading word per word, forcing your eyes to move more quickly by moving a ruler or pen across the page, or holding your breath and trying to finish a paragraph in that time (this technique suppresses sub-vocalization, our tendency to “hear” the words we read in our mind).

6. Read digitally across all your mobile devices

If you read digitally, make sure you have a reader app on all your mobile devices so that you can read whenever you have a free moment. The books on my e-reader are synced with my smartphone and tablet; I can read when I am waiting in line in the bank, while the cleaning lady takes care of my office, or while I am taking a break during the day. Having a book synced across all devices will help you to read a few pages here and there during the day. By doing this, when you check back on your e-reader at the end of the day, you will see that you will have easily read 20 pages just by reading in snippets of time.

7. Read before going to bed

Reading fiction or enjoyable non-fiction at night before falling asleep is a proven method to relax, put the day behind ourselves, and prepare ourselves for a good night’s sleep. By the same token, you can make it a habit to read a few pages first thing in the morning, or read a chapter after lunch while you are digesting food and getting ready for a productive work session in the afternoon.

8. Join your peers

Look for people in your community or online who are reading the same book as you are reading. Keeping up with their discussions and ideas on the reading will help you move forward with your reading. You wouldn’t want to be the one who missed out on last week’s chapter, would you?

9. Track your progress online

Several websites can be used to track your reading process throughout the year; my personal favorite is GoodReads. An online account in which you keep an overview of the books you are currently reading, and your progress in these books, will help you focus on your reading. Moreover, you can keep track of the books that you would like to read later on, and add reviews of the books you have read. Many of these sites can also make recommendations based on the books you’ve read and enjoyed.

10. Quit reading random news articles

If you want to make more time to read books, you will have to cut down on time from other activities to free up time for reading. One of the methods you can follow is by cutting down on the number of random articles shared on social media platforms that you read, and replace this time by reading more in-depth analyses in the books that you are working through.

11. Join a reading challenge

Similarly to point three, you can join a reading challenge and set a goal for the number of books you would like to read in a given year. To really challenge yourself, set the limit just a little above what you would think is feasible. Giving yourself a specific challenge can do a lot to hold yourself accountable and motivate yourself to reach the goal. You’d be amazed at how much reading you can do in a single year.

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