10 books that shaped the world

Long before there were books people sat around a fire and told stories. In some cultures story-telling is still very popular. Then there were cave paintings, papyrus scrolls and eventually books.

The “most influential top ten” list varies from list to list, but the Literacy Site has published its list of the ten they consider had most influence on today’s western world.

Several of them are easy to guess, others not so much.
Enjoy.

http://blog.theliteracysite.com/cs-lifealtering-books/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Banned Books Week

Because I’m an Australian, I’ve always found Banned Books Week rather a head-scratching experience. Yes, books do get challenged and even banned in Australia, but almost invariably there’s a logical reason for it, such as age-inappropriate content.
Australia has rarely suffered the kind of wholesale banning of a title that some other countries introduce.

Out of a list of Banned Classics in the USA, the following books were on my compulsory reading list at High School. “The Lord of the Flies” we actually read in Seventh Grade!

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
9. 1984, by George Orwell
12. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
15. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
64. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence
75. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence

The Harry Potter books were the most challenged books in America from 2000-2009. I can recall people saying that the first Harry Potter book would “lead a generation of children astray”. But I would have thought that nine years later people would have realized that hadn’t happened. Apparently not if the books were still the #1 request to be banned.

One book that has been banned in Australia was Kathleen Winsor’s bodice ripper, “Forever Amber”. She was only twenty-four when the book was published. The book has more than nine hundred pages and I read it as a young teenager, entranced by the character of Amber and the rich historical tapestry of the background. Fortunately by then it was no longer banned. It’s still a story worth reading.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Libraries list the most popular books borrowed

Library and Information Week has just ended in Australia and the Australian Library and Information Association has published its annual list of the most borrowed books.
Remember, this is an Australian list, but I’m sure readers will recognize many of the titles.

ADULT FICTION TITLES
1. Never Go Back by Lee Child
2. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
3. The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connolly
4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
5. Eyrie by Tim Winton
6. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
7. Inferno by Dan Brown
8. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
10. A Wanted Man by Lee Child


CHILDREN'S BOOKS
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
2. 13-Storey, 26 Storey and 39-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
3. Geronimo and Thea Stilton series by Elisabetta Dami
4. Spot series by Eric Hill
5. The Wrong Book by Nick Bland
6. Just! series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
7. Once by Morris Gleitzman
8. Peck Peck Peck by Lucy Cousins
9. Selby series by Duncan Ball
10. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Don’t compare yourself with others

The absolutely worst thing possible for an author to do, is to try to model their writing/book/blog/website/book trailer or anything else, on the one they’ve seen of SallySellsALotofBooks. What works for Sally is unlikely to work for you simply because it’s not your voice, your style, your passion.

I fully understand that your passion might be to get rich as fast as possible, but readers want a book that draws them in, where they relate to the characters and stay up way past their bedtime reading because they absolutely have to know what happens next.
That intensity is almost impossible to achieve by modeling yourself on anyone else.

Certainly you can use their editor, their cover artist, their color scheme. But do those things work for your story? She likes yellows and sunshine and your book is all about disaster and death. That color scheme is not going to work for you.

Be yourself. Write what is your own personal passion.

By all means hire a good editor, even SallySellsALot’s editor, and cover artist. But ensure your book cover, your trailer, your blog, is all about your book and your passion.

Readers aren’t stupid and they don’t like fakes. Besides, no one knows what the next big thing will be, and it just might be the book you want to write that no one is interested in as yet.


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

40 books every child should read

This was a newspaper article I saw with suggestions of books for Christmas gifts for kids.
Two of these books I’d never heard of, some are wonderful old favorites, and a few are newer arrivals.
The list is missing one I thought should definitely be there, “Good Night, Mr. Tom” by Michelle Magorian.



'The Lion & the Mouse' by Jerry Pinkney, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $17.99.

'Green Eggs and Ham' by Dr Suess, Random House, $9.99.

'Library Lion' by Michelle Knudsen, Candlewick Press, $16.99.

'Bread and Jam' for Frances by Russell Hoban, Harper & Row, $13.99.

'The Polar Express' by Chris Van Allsburg, Houghton Mifflin Co., $16.99.

'The Mitten' by Jan Brett, Spoken Arts, $15.99

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak, Harper & Row, $17.99.

'Madeline' by Ludwig Bemelmans, Viking Press, $15.99.

'Strega Nona' by Tomie DePaola, Prentice Hall, $15.99.

'A Bear Called Paddington', Michael Bond, Houghton Mifflin, $19.99.

'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney, Amulet Books, $14.95.

'The Story of Babar' by Jean de Brunhoff, Crocodile Creek, $31.95.

'The Magic Treehouse' series by Mary Pope Osbourne, Random House, $34.99.

'Ramona' series by Beverly Cleary, Listening Library, $22.99.

'Sylvester and the Magic Pebble' by William Steig, Simon & Schuster, $15.99.

'Charlotte's Web' by E.B. White, Harper & Brothers, $15.99.

'Captain Underpants' by Dav Pilkey, Blue Sky Press, $10.99.

'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl, Knopf, $13.99.

'One Crazy Summer' by Rita Williams-Garcia, Amistad, $11.99.

'The Black Stallion' by Walter Farley, Random House, $13.99.

'Island of the Blue Dolphins' by Scott O'Dell, Houghton Mifflin, $13.99.

'The Tale of Despereaux' by Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick Press, $15.99.

'Where the Red Fern Grows' by Wilson Rawls, Doubleday, $13.99.

'The Phantom Tollbooth' by Norton Juster, Random House, $13.99.

'All-of-a-Kind Family' by Sydney Taylor, Dutton, $25.95.

'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton, Brace & World, $13.99.

'D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths' by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire, Doubleday, $39.95.

'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio, Knopf, $16.99.

'Esperanza Rising' by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Scholastic Press, $13.99.

'Smile' by Raina Telgemeier, Graphix, $14.99.

'Harriet the Spy' by Louise Fitzhugh, Harper & Row, $13.99.

'A Series of Unfortunate Events' (1999–2006) by Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events, $16.99.

'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' by Judy Blume, Bradbury Press, $19.99.

'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis, HarperCollins, $13.99.

'The Harry Potter' series (1997–2007 by J.K. Rowling, Levine Books, $16.99 each.

'Bridge to Terabithia' by Katherine Paterson, Crowell, $13.99.

'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak, Knopf, $19.99.

'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' by Anne Brasheres, Random House Children's Books, $16.99.

'The Hunger Games' trilogy (2008–10) by Suzanne Collins, $49.99.

'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green, Dutton Books, $19.95.


For the complete list go to:
http://www.essentialkids.com.au/photogallery/entertaining-kids/parenting-and-childrens-books/40-books-every-child-should-read-20141118-3kmid.html#utm_source=FD&utm_medium=lifeandstylepuff&utm_campaign=40books


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

A book for every state in USA

Business Insider has chosen what it considers to be the most famous book from each state in America.
I don't think too many people would argue about "Gone With the Wind" or "To Kill a Mockingbird".
But what about some of the others? What do you think?


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

The rise and fall of Harlequin

This is an incredibly fascinating article and about the rise and fall of Harlequin. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/05/what-happened-to-harlequin-romances.html

The line that says it all to me is, “Still, according to Digital Book World, in 2013, there were ninety-nine self-published e-book best-sellers. Harlequin, in comparison, only had twenty-one.”

Will Harlequin reclaim its top spot? I don’t know, but like millions of other people I’ll be watching to see.

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Top Ten Romance Novels

I thought it might be fun to compare various lists of the top ten romance novels.
Browsing Bookshelves picked:
“The Boy Next Door” by Meg Cabot
“One Day” by David Nicholls
“Anna and the French Kiss” by Stephanie Perkins
“Can you Keep a Secret” by Sophie Kinsella
“Obsidian” by Jennifer Armentrout
“Bridget Jones Diary” by Helen Fielding
“This is a Love Story” by Jessica Thompson
“Arranged” by Catherine McKenzie
“Austenland” by Shannon Hale
“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green

Publisher’s Weekly’s Bella Andre chose:
“Bet Me” by Jennifer Crusie
“This Heart of Mine” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
“Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy” by Nora Roberts
“A Knight in Shining Armor” by Jude Deveraux (this was the only book to make it on two different lists)
“Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake” by Sarah MacLean
“The Duchess” by Jude Deveraux
“Whitethorn Woods” by Maeve Binchey
“Three Nights of Sin” by Anne Mallory
“Caressa’s Knees” by Annabel Joseph
“Wild Card” by Lora Leigh

Goodreads chose:
“Fifty Shades Freed” by E.L. James (This received 22976 votes. The book in second place got 8306 votes)
“Bared to You” by Sylvia Day.
“Lover Reborn” b J.R. Ward
“The Witness” by Nora Roberts
“Once Burned” by Jeniene Frost
“On Dublin Street” by Samantha Young
“Edenbrooke” by Julianne Donaldson
“Gabriel’s Rapture” by Sylvain Reynard
“Motorcycle Man” by Kristen Ashley
“Lothair” by Kresley Cole

And from Squidoo, the top ten romance novels of all time:
10. “Morning Glory” by LaVyrle Spencer
9. “Nobody’s Baby But Mine” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
8. “Lord of Scoundrels” by Loretta Chase
7. “A Knight in Shining Armor” by Jude Deveraux
6. “Flowers from the Storm” by Laura Kinsale
5. “The Bride” by Julie Garwood
4. “McKenzie’s Mountain” by Linda Howard
3. “It had to be You” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2. “Dream Man” by Linda Howard
1. “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon

What do you think? Which books would you have added to the list?

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

101 best books of all time as voted by Australians

More than 15,000 readers who patronize Dymocks book stores throughout Australia have voted on their top 101 books of all time. Here’s their list.

Dymocks 101 best books list

1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
10. The Lord of the Rings (Books 1-3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
11.The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
12. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
14. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
15. The Bible
16. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
19. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
20. Atonement by Ian McEwan
21. The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do
22. Persuasion by Jane Austen
23. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
24. Red Dog by Louis de Bernières
25. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
26. The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
27. Breath by Tim Winton
28. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
29. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
30. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
31. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
32. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
33. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
34. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
35. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
36. The Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel
37. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
38. Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
39. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
40. The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
41. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
42. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
43. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
44. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
45. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
46. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
47. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
48. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
49. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
50. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
51. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
52. Marley and Me by John Grogan
53. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré
54. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
55. A Simpler Time by Peter FitzSimons
56. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
57. A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute
58. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
59. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
60. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
61. The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
62. Dirt Music by Tim Winton
63. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
64. Room by Emma Donoghue
65. The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester
66. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
67. My Booky Wook by Russell Brand
68. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
69. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
70. The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
71. One Day by David Nicholls
72. Bereft by Chris Womersley
73. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
74. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
75. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
76. Salvation Creek by Susan Duncan
77. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
78. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
79. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
80. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
81. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
82. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
83. Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
84. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
85. Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves by Matthew Reilly
86. Mawson by Peter FitzSimons
87. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
88. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
89. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
90. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
91. The Shifting Fog by Kate Morton
92. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
93. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
94. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
95. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
96. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
97. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
98. Bossypants by Tina Fey
99. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
100. The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
101. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

You can read the entire article here: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/books/dymocks-annual-list-of-the-101-best-books-as-voted-by-the-australian-public-is-out/story-fn9412vp-1226347409706#ixzz1twcjJoKG

Helen Woodall