My Week in Review: Ink Stain Contemplations

Ink-stained fingers. For most of the summer, I predict that my fingertips will carry this mark of Summer Reading. I don't mind. Even if it clashes with my outfit.

Growing up, Summer Reading was my favorite time of year. Nothing could really beat this. You're encouraged (aka 'bribed') into reading with some really awesome prizes. This reading program is one of the main reasons that I love reading as much as I do.

I remember one year my sister and I decided to be the first ones to read 24 hours. We read every waking moment. Literally. My dad was out of town, so we found a series to read with my mom. She and I took off turns reading out loud while we did other necessary things (like cook and run a business). For eating, there were always audiobooks.

You should have seen the face of the librarian when we marched in the next day to collect our 24-hour prize. She didn't believe us at first. Not because we didn't look trustworthy, but because she was certain 24 hours hadn't actually passed since our sign up.

This is only one fond memory of hundreds related to Summer Reading. I met most of my friends during the activities of this program. (Our children's librarian had an awesome way of 'matchmaking' friends, and she did an excellent job.) I still have a lot of the crafts I made. But most importantly, I've retained an intense love of reading.

These ink-stains remind me of all of this. But as I stamp the kids' reading logs everyday and hand out their prizes, I love being the librarian telling them to have fun and keep reading.

The Writing Corner

My dad, who is also a writer, read something interesting this week. For first drafts, apparently it's better to cover your screen with a sheet or blanket. This leaves you solely to write, instead of looking over what you've written. Backtracking will often mess with the flow of writing. I know I can get distracted but jumping back three sentences and trying to word it Just Right. (Definitely a final draft kind of edit.)

I might have to try this.

Writing this week:

•  Halfway through rewriting one chapter.

It doesn't sound like much, but it involves a lot of red ink.

The Reading Nook

I have no finished books to report, though I'm enjoying both my current reads, The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani and Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn. I'm also slowly working through the Ever After High prequels by Shannon Hale. My niece is currently reading this book and her mom keeps bugging me to read it.

You can check out mini-reviews for all the books I read in May -including The Fault in Our Stars, The Book Thief, and The Crystal Bridge- in the video below.