Today, regular contributor Denise Neary lets us in on a secret crush and highlights one of her favorite publishers and their engaging blog.  Helping children around the world to read and learn.  That’s the mission of Scholastic.

In today's guest post, British author Tom Rob Smith (CHILD 44 and THE SECRET SPEECH) talks about the thinking and overthinking around writing "the second book".  And read on for a great quote from Lee Child about advice.

Does your book club read the same author more than once?  In other words, let's say you loved Garth Stein's THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN.  When you see that he has a new release, in this case RAVEN STOLE THE MOON, (which is a re-release but stay with me)..

Did you read to your daughter as a child? What did you read? Yes, I read so many things to her and her brothers. When she was small I read what felt like were hundreds of Little Golden Books. We read Babar, Madeline, alphabet books, and when she was older, we read through the Golden Encyclopedias we had, looking at the pictures, and feeling as if we were traveling the world through those books. I also invented stories for her. She remembers a series I made up that included a flying Oreo cookie.

OR Top 5 Excuses for Not Finishing My Book Club Book Last month I did a post called Top 5 Places to Read Your Book Club Book.  In that post I promised you a follow up with the top 5 worst places to read, so here goes: #1 - In (or on) a Moving Vehicle (especially if you're driving)...  (even at a stoplight)

Soon after my first granddaughter, Isabelle Eva, was born, I realized that although I loved her as fiercely as if she were my own child, I had no say --- in anything. She was mine but not mine. Emphasis on the not mine. In baseball parlance, it felt a little like being demoted from the starting lineup to the bench. Though this may seem both natural and obvious, I must admit that to me it came as something of a shock.