Posts Tagged ‘Reader Challenges’

DailyLit News: December 2010

Note from the Founder

The year is just whizzing by. Before I know it, we’ll be ringing in the New Year at 6pm. That’s right, at 6pm. My family and I celebrate New Year’s Eve on Italian time — 6pm in New York where I am, which is midnight in Italy. That way, our kids are up to help us celebrate the New Year, and we’re saved from having to stay up until midnight. But before then, we’re gearing up for the holidays here at DailyLit, and you can join us by reading one of our holiday reads, writing a letter to Santa (our creative challenge), and even making your own New Year’s (literary) resolutions.

So cheers, to fun-filled holidays and a happy new year!

-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger [at] dailylit [dot] com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

Oprah’s Book Club Picks
We’ve got this month’s Oprah Book Club picks: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. In fact, DailyLit’s the only place you can read them the way the Victorians did — as serialized novels (that is, if there were email back then).

Creative Challenge: Naughty or Nice?
Have you been naughty or nice this year? This month’s creative challenge is to write a letter to Santa. Just be sure to make it no more than 50 words — Santa doesn’t have much time to read these days. Post it here for North Pole delivery. Ho, ho, ho!

New Year’s (Literary) Resolutions
Is there that one book you’ve always wanted to tackle? Come on now, think. There must be one. Well, now’s your chance. You can call out your New Year’s (literary) resolution here. Maybe these will help (from DailyLit’s own library):

The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri: The Inferno (38 parts); The Purgatory (33 parts); The Paradise (33 parts)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (145 parts)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (240 parts)
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust (206 parts)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (260 parts)
Ulysses by James Joyce (332 parts)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (423 parts)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (579 parts)
The Arabian Nights (633 parts)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (663 parts)

Featured Feature: Gifting a Book
You may have noticed a little “gift this book” tab when you sign up for a book on DailyLit. You can arrange to send anyone a book from DailyLit that will arrive on, say, Christmas morning (or whenever you like). It can even include your own personalized message that will appear daily in your friend’s inbox along with each installment. Here are some books that might make good gifts:

Tom Peters’ The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence (you can send daily tips to your lazy boyfriend or son-in-law)
Poems by Emily Dickinson (imagine wooing your loved one with daily poems throughout the year)
Berlitz Essential French Phrases (s’il vous plait!)
The Bible (need I say more!)
Brad Meltzer’s Heroes for My Son (a little inbox inspiration)
Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother (for the sci-fi lover)
A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories or other children’s books (which niece wouldn’t want to find a daily email for her in her mommy’s inbox with a note from you)

New: Holiday Category (plus an instant mood-booster)
To put you in a merry mood, we’ve created a new Holiday category that includes such classics as:

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (2 parts)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (225 parts)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (36 parts)
And, of course, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (1 part) — in fact, here it is (an instant mood-booster); enjoy and happy holidays!

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap–

When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blitzen–
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So, up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys–and St. Nicholas too.

And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack;

His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little month was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump–a right jolly old elf;
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

And to all a good night!

10 Word Summer Memories

Two days ago I announced a new creative challenge: 10 Word Summer Memories. I challenged you to share your favorite summer memories in just 10 words. This challenge has clearly hit a note; there have been some really fun entries. I thought it would be fun to share (in no particular order):

  • “Jersey Shore, sunburned shoulders, going to bed on ironed sheets.” by eileenwei
  • “Cape Cod, big house, hooded sweatshirts, COLD ocean, horseshoe crabs…” by lskohn
  • “No school, no shoes, Good Humor bells, fireflies, water sprinklers” by patk
  • “1968, Berkshires, bestfriend, silent nights, blue-eyed farmer, homemade donuts” by livinonthecrowrock
  • “Watermelon under the tree, blueberry popsicles, corn on the cob” by kogawa
  • “Summer afternoon library books crumple a quilt under the elm” by bookmonster
  • “Cold chocolate milk from the milkman, only twenty-seven cents” by deirdre1952

 
You can read all the memories here; there’s also still time to add others. Have a field day!

DailyLit News: Summer Starts

Note from the CEO
School’s out for the summer! The kids are thrilled, and although it’s been years since I’ve taken my last final exam, I’m as excited as they are. Now we just need to bust out the sunscreen and head to the water. Hope you all have a great beginning of summer!

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger [at] dailylit [dot] com

Summer Big Read: Huckleberry Finn
What better way to launch the summer than with Mark Twain’s classic summer story of fun along the Mississippi? Join us in reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—for the first time or the umpteenth. Find it here.

Reader Challenge: 10 Word Summer Memories
We all have favorite memories of warm, lazy days of summer: an afternoon on a sunbleached dock, a family vacation, a runny ice cream cone at the county fair. We’re challenging you to share your favorite summer memory in just 10 words. Share your mini summer moments in our Reader Challenge Forum.

Readers’ Summer Reading List
We asked what you were planning on reading this summer, and you responded with a wonderfully diverse list. Here’s a sampling (and there’s still time to add your own list here):

The Sookie Stackhouse books—erinpayton
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. This is for 9th grade Honors English—spectrekitty
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson and Shanghai Girls by Lisa See—Moengey
Anna Karenina; The Great Gatsby; Catch 22; Moby Dick; The Count of Monte Cristo; A Tale of Two Cities; Dracula; 1984—digiworks8
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri—lolabean
The Crucible by Arthur Miller—hoelisha
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro—sdhomecare
War and Peace and American Prometheus—Ichasson

DailyLit’s Book Channel
Check out our book channel for recipes from Emeril’s latest book, Farm to Fork, which shows you how to use organic and locally-grown produce just in time for summer harvests. There’s also Heartbroken Open, an inspirational memoir about the woman who learns to live after her husband (author of “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff Stuff”) unexpectedly dies. And there’s Critical Care, a powerful, touching look at a hospital’s cancer ward through the eyes of a nurse. You can find these excerpts (made available courtesy of HarperStudio), and other bestselling, award-winning picks in our Book Channel.

Classic Shorts
With all this talk of summer reading we wanted to remind you about Classic Shorts: Eight Stories for Summer, a great collection curated by our friends at Poets & Writers. These shorts from literary masters—Tolstoy, Fitzgerald, Chekhov, Poe, and more—are ideal for getting some “serious” reading done without facing the 663 installments of War and Peace. Find Classic Shorts here. (Oh, and if you’re feeling inspired, War and Peace is here.)

DailyLit News: May 2010

Note from the CEO
My ten year old daughter told me this morning that she thinks life is passing by too quickly. I don’t think I had such mature thoughts at that age, but with the school year quickly winding down and summer fast approaching, I know what she means. In fact, this month marks DailyLit’s official 3rd birthday (in start-up years, I’d say that makes us 21). Although it has flown by all too quickly, we have lots to celebrate: we’ve been named the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, we’ve sent over 25 million book installments, and, most importantly, I hope we’ve been able to bring you great authors, stories, and inspiration you can continue to enjoy each day.

Cheers—to a very happy birthday, DailyLit!

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger [at] dailylit [dot] com

Bestselling Heroes For My Son by Brad Meltzer
When his first son was born bestselling author Brad Meltzer set out to create a list of people whose courage and achievements would inspire his son: Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Jim Henson, Mohammed Ali (52 heroes in all). You can discover and share the lives of those who have changed our world in this bestselling collection of stories. Thanks to our sponsor, HarperStudio, you can read them all here.

Reader Challenge: Your Own Hero
Inspired by the bestselling book, Heroes For My Son, this month’s Reader Challenge encourages you to share your own hero. In 50 words or fewer, tell us why this person means so much to you. We’ll select our three favorites, each of whom will receive a signed copy of Heroes For My Son. Be sure to post your hero in our Reader Challenge Forum by Sunday, June 6th at 11:59pm EST to be considered.

Big Read: Robin Hood
With a reimagined version of “Robin Hood” hitting theaters this month—and judging from the previews this Robin Hood will not be wearing tights—we decided to revisit Sherwood Forest for our Big Read. Check out Chapter One—”How Robin Hood Became an Outlaw”—here.

Crazy Busy Beautiful by Carmindy
On the hit show “What Not To Wear” makeup artist Carmindy gives makeover subjects the finishing touches that, as anyone who’s seen the show can attest, make all the difference. Her new book, Crazy Busy Beautiful, shares the beauty tips that make her clients look so good—and we’ve got a taste, courtesy of our sponsor HarperStudio. Find it here.

Finally, to get us all in the mood for summer, here’s a poem by Emily Dickinson:

A something in a summer’s Day

A something in a summer’s Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer’s noon—
A depth—an Azure—a perfume—
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer’s night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see—

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle—shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me—

The wizard fingers never rest—
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed—

Still rears the East her amber Flag—
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red—

So looking on—the night—the morn
Conclude the wonder gay—
And I meet, coming thro’ the dews
Another summer’s Day!

New Reader Challenge: Heroes

Inspired by Heroes For My Son, a collection of heroes put together by bestselling author Brad Meltzer, this month’s Reader Challenge encourages you to share your own heroes. In 50 words or fewer, tell us why this person means so much to you. We’ll select our three favorites, each of whom will receive a signed copy of Heroes For My Son. Be sure to post your hero in our Reader Challenge Forum by June 1st at 11:59pm EST to be considered.

Winners of “Your Words That Matter” Reader Challenge

Thank you to everyone who participated in our April Reader Challenge Your Words That Matter–we loved reading all of your inspirational quotes and we hope all of you got some good feelings from them too. Congrats to our three winners, each of whom will receive a hard copy of Words That Matter: A Little Book of Life Lessons from the editors of O, the Oprah Magazine.

“Nobody looks at the bridesmaids’ feet.” In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff.
-by tin0002

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” –Goethe
-by lisbie

“He’s fine, and the car can be fixed.” My husband’s grandfather (the calmest person I ever met) said this to his daughter, who was about to scream at her son for backing his four-wheeler into her car. Now, whenever I feel myself getting angry over something small, I say to myself, “He’s fine, and the car can be fixed.” It’s a wonderful reminder of what’s really important in life.
-by JLS915

Reader Challenge–Enter by Friday!

This month’s Reader Challenge is inspired by Words That Matter, a book of inspiration selected by the editors of O, the Oprah Magazine. We’re asking you to share the advice you’d like to pass on—to your children, your best friends, your family. We’ll choose three of our favorites to win a hard copy of Words That Matter. Make sure to post your inspirational quote in our Reader Challenge Forum no later than this Friday, April 30th at 11:59pm EST to be considered.

DailyLit News: April 2010

Note from the CEO

With the weather warming up, we decided to shape up and change the look of our installments so they fit neatly onto your mobile phone. Of course, there’s no form over substance with DailyLit. This month, we’re featuring a star-studded line-up with stories and inspiration from Sam Shephard; Tom Peters; and O, The Oprah Magazine. And we’re launching a new Sci Fi Channel with help from bestselling author Cory Doctorow and major sci fi publishers. If poetry’s your thing, don’t forget that it’s Poetry Month—there’s still time to sign up for daily poems from Knopf featuring John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sapphire. Oh, and don’t forget that you have until the end of this month to sign up for Berlitz’s Spanish Lessons. And then, it’s adios!

-Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com

Thought we’d bring a little movie glamour this month to our Big Read (actually, three little reads). We’ll be featuring three short vignettes by movie star/author Sam Shepard. In case you’re not familiar with his written work, don’t worry, Shepard, the author, is the real deal—in fact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning real deal. Enjoy them here.

Tom Peters: The Little Big Things

Back by popular demand, management guru Tom Peters returns to DailyLit with his latest book The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence. Inspire yourself daily with tips, anecdotes, and advice—all in the pursuit of excellence. The entire book is available on DailyLit thanks to our sponsor, HarperStudio. Find it here.

Words that Matter from O, the Oprah Magazine

Words that Matter gathers some of the most inspired ideas and quotations to appear in O, the Oprah Magazine over the last decade. You’ll find insights from Maya Angelou, Eckhart Tolle, Alice Walker, Elie Wiesel, Suze Orman and dozens of others on love, friendship, gratitude, success, money and beyond. We’ve got a free taste for you, courtesy of HarperStudio. Find it here.

Reader Challenge: Your Words that Matter

We’re feeling inspired by Oprah’s words and want to know which words you live by. In just one sentence share the advice you’d like to pass on—to your children, your best friends, your family. We’ll choose three of our favorites to win a copy of Words That Matter. Make sure to post your inspirational quote in our Reader Challenge Forum no later than Friday, April 30th at 11:59pm EST to be considered.

New on DailyLit: Sci Fi Channel

Our new Sci Fi Channel is where you can discover up and coming science fiction writers, read recommendations from folks in-the-know, and enjoy excerpts from newly released sci fi books delivered right to your inbox—and it’s all on us. We’re kicking off the channel with a collection of short stories from Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, excerpts from Tor Books, and recommendations from Cory Doctorow. Find them here.

Last Chance for Berlitz Spanish Lessons

You only have have until May 1st to sign up for our exclusive Berlitz Spanish Lessons. If you’re not on board by then it’s hasta la vista, baby. Find them here.

DailyLit’s New Look

DailyLit has gotten a facelift! In order to make reading easier on mobile devices, we’ve changed the look of our installments. Hope you like our new look.

DailyLit News: March 2010

Note from the CEO
How many of you are like me, running around like crazy each day, trying to fit in work, family, and (gasp) a little fun? I’m hoping our daily installments help provide that brief respite to make your life a little richer or at least a bit more fun. You can escape down the rabbit hole with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (this month’s Big Read). Or check out essays from single mother Lisa Kogan, the Writer at Large for O, The Oprah Magazine, who writes about ambivalent men, lunch meat, and scary superstores. And if you ever have time to enjoy a movie (or just want to be in the know), you can read daily reviews from Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. Oh, and come join the countdown to Poetry Month with poems by John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Sapphire, and others.

As always, I’d love to hear any suggestions you have. You can write them in our forums or feel free to write directly to me. In the meantime, cheers—to enjoying life to its fullest!

Susan Danziger
Founder/CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger[at]dailylit[dot]com

Countdown to Poetry Month with Updike, Oates and Sapphire
To celebrate April as poetry month (just around the corner), we’ve teamed up with Knopf to launch a Poem-A-Day collection featuring such bestselling authors as John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sapphire. Sign up here and join the countdown now.

Essays by Lisa Kogan, Writer at Large for O, The Oprah Magazine
Someone Will Be With You Shortly: Author Lisa Kogan writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, and in her new book discusses everything from her life as a single mother in New York City to her quest for the perfect tomato. She’s nostalgic for that time when you had to walk across a room to change channels and for when there was no such thing as a spy satellite capable of spotting a pre-cancerous mole on your inner thigh. Check out her essays here, compliments of our sponsor, HarperStudio.

Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen
Discover hidden movie gems or throw around film trivia at your next dinner party. Here’s a taste from reviewer Leonard Maltin who dug up the best movies adapted from books: “The films I’ve chosen are ‘The Door in the Floor’ (from John Irving’s A Widow for One Year) starring Jeff Bridges; ‘Thumbsucker’ (from the novel by Walter Kirn, who also wrote Up in the Air); and ‘The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio’ (from the memoir by Terry Ryan).” You can read more about each of these films here. And get a daily series, compliments of HarperStudio, here.

Big Read: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
You may have heard of a little movie called “Alice in Wonderland” which was just released. Before you see it, read the original on DailyLit, which we’re making this month’s Big Read. Check out Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland here.

Reader challenge: Before I die…
Not to be grim or overly dramatic, but I thought this month we could focus on one of the more important questions in life—that is, what does each of us want to do before we die? Inspired by the same question I saw posted on 5th Avenue (related to the launch of an MTV show, “The Buried Life”—and no, it’s not a sponsor), I thought it was important enough to ask our readers. So, in no more than 10 words, tell us: what do you want to do before you die? Post your life wishes in our Reader Challenge Forum.

DailyLit on Tumblr
We’re excited to announce that we’re bringing DailyLit to Tumblr. In case you haven’t heard of it, Tumblr is an innovative blogging platform that allows readers to follow certain blogs (also called Tumblogs) and reblog posts to share with friends. We’re offering Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; The Art of War; Emily Dickinson’s Poems as our first, what should we call them? Tumblogbooks? Tumblooks? Well, anyway, the countdown begins now, and the books begin on Tuesday, March 30th.

New in our Book Channel
This month we’re welcoming a new guest curator to the Book Channel: Carl Lennertz. He’s a real star in the publishing industry, and I’ve been a big fan of his for years. We’ve also included The Help, featured on The Today Show’s list of “10 Must-Read Books for Spring;” a collection of new Sherlock Holmes adventures; a dazzling debut novel selected by DailyLit staffer Maggie; sensational novelist Joshua Ferris’s latest; and New York Times bestseller You Are Not a Gadget. To start receiving these recommendations sign up now for our Book Channel.

Winners of Love Bites Reader Challenge

We, ahem, loved reading your entries to our Love Bites Reader Challenge. In 140-characters you told love stories that were funny, sweet, sad, and everything in between. It was hard to choose winners, but here are our top five (in no particular order), each of whom will receive a free copy of Us: Americans Talk About Love. Thanks to everyone for participating!

-I keep a lot of photos at the Missed Persons Bureau. It’s like that other bureau, except I know where the person is. He’s just not with me.
–candace2932

-We met in the comic book shop where we both wanted the last Watchman trade paperback. We decided to share it. And now we share everything.
–Golem100

-i thought unconditional only preceded surrender. she showed me unconditional love. i really love this girl. how do i tell her i’m married?
–anon_e_mouse

-Middle-aged love: the memory of the spark fades, the glow more warm and comforting now.
–Chaosopher

-The one I love is looking straight back at me. I blink and double-check the mirror. Yup I am still there.
–x4xtazy

Previous posts