WWW Wednesday — With a small dose of Musing Monday (September 18)

It’s Musing…Musing…Musing Wednesday? Or maybe WWW Monesday?? Aww, hell, it’s WWW Wednesday with a spattering of Musing Monday!

W…W…W…Wednesdays is a weekly reading prompt hosted by MizB at Should be Reading. 

TO PLAY ALONG, JUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING THREE (3) QUESTIONS:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Okay, first is this week’s W’s…

I just finished I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. It is a science fiction series about 9 young people, whose planet is under attack. They, and their guardians, land on earth, scatter to hide from the rival race, and prepare to take their planet back. I am not going to go into further plot detail because I am terrible about giving too much away. I will tell you that I liked the first book so much, I ran right to BAM and bought the next two in the series.

So, as you probably guessed, I am currently reading The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore. Seriously! I could not wait to find out what happens next. However, during my trip to the bookstore, I discovered that I have some catching up to do. I thought this was a simple trilogy. But, I discovered that there are at least two more books after these. Sheesh!!

Next, will most likely be The Rise of Nine – book 3 in the series. I know, me and my marathon series reading, right!?!

Okay…so stop reading here if you came just for the WWW Wednesday stuff. I’m going to share a couple of thoughts on a piece of bookish news that hit my radar this week.

First, my friends at BookRiot posted this story about James Patterson. Take a second to read it and then come on back for my take on it. I’ll wait…

Okay, done? Good.

Here are the two thoughts that immediately came to mind when I was reading this:

1)  This is great! Very generous! And I believe that his heart is in the right place. I agree that Indie bookstores can use the help. However — you knew there was going to be a “however” — I am also a Darwinist when it comes to business. As a business, you need to adapt to your circumstances to survive. Make yourself unique in a way that draws the customer in. Offer the products they want, excel in your service, be kitschy or niche-y, but DO SOMETHING except whine about how Amazon and the Big Box Evil Empires are hurting you. Remember that scene in one of the bestselling books of all time where the little guy slew the giant. Grab a stone, sling it and try to slay the giant!

2)  This story would have been more exciting to me if he had pledged this money to LIBRARIES! Maybe he didn’t see the stories here.

Libraries everywhere are struggling. Most are fighting for every penny they get from municipal governments and are in competition for private donations. I see it right in the town where I live.

Libraries do so much for their communities. They’re not just places where the staff and patrons sit around and read. Very often they are:

1. Visitors Centers: People will stop in to get local information, directions, etc. (And probably use the public restrooms, if nothing else.)
2. Educational Aides: Teachers do their thing in the classroom. But, more and more, I hear about the librarians being tutors, helping students find required information and resources, etc.
3. Meeting places: Local organizations will use the facilities for gatherings, most of the time providing little or no income for the library, but using their resources.

So, instead of propping up for profit businesses, that should be making money off the sales of his books to begin with, Mr. Patterson should donate the money to libraries that are in trouble. It would be better used.

Thanks for letting me rant for a bit. Have a great week!!