Cover Yourself With Words.
I LOVE to read! LOVE! I have mentioned this before... I read a lot all the time, it's part and parcel with being in academia. Sometimes it's awesome and sometimes it makes you want to claw your eyeballs out and mail them to said boring researcher.
I try to read for myself during the school year because I have to do things for myself. Not just going to the movies and getting pedicures every 6 weeks, although I do that as well. But something that I love in the very depths of my soul. I love to read. And if I don't do it for fun every now and then I feel like part of me will disappear.
And no judgement on people who don't. Don't read me saying that. I will never be able to understand what it's like to not enjoy reading because it's always been my favorite thing to do. Both of my parents like to read and it was a hobby that was encouraged. I got into school when I was 4 years old because I could read. It makes me sad to think that the world of books is not impressed on everyone, that the blessing books are to our lives is not a universal trait. I understand that everyone is allowed to like and not like whatever they want, but if I think about people who never read for too long I'll start to cry.
So in case any one is interested: I have spent the last month hiding at my parents house in Phoenix and I've done nothing but read. When I was coming out to Phoenix in May, the first thing I packed was my backpack and all I packed were books.
I brought 9 books with me (I think). While I've been here I've bought 6 and been to the library twice. And when I go to the library, I go to the library. I never walk out with just the one book I wanted. Oh no. I leave with at least 2, usually 3, but they're free!! I love having my own personal library at home, but free library books! I mean...
But anyway, I guess I gave a list of recommendations to my Mom to send to her friend Stacy (I have no memory of this but it sounds like something I would do--I love to recommend things!) and apparently she likes them so I thought I'd give a brief list of what I've read (and wanted to read) this summer. All for fun.
Books I brought and read (see picture of backpack above):
*The first three books of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich; "One for the Money," "Two for the Dough," and "Three to Get Deadly." Chic lit. Easy reads. Decent stories and characters (except the grandmother. She's supposed to be fun and spunky and I'd be ok if she dropped dead in the next one). Really good summer reading because they're so light. I read the first two and am beginning the third as soon as I'm done typing this.
*"Bossypants" by Tina Fey. I love Tina Fey and I love her so much more now that I've read this book. It was fantastic! I put it off for so long because the cover is just awful but I laughed out loud so many times I'm glad I wasn't reading it in public.
*"The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance" by Elna Baker. The title is what jumped out at me when I was in Barnes and Noble--it's weird right?! But it's a great little book about a Mormon girl trying to figure herself out while she's living in New York. It's kind of like both a religious and traditional coming of age story that makes you laugh and cringe and really wonder what the heck this girl is doing and if she's ever going to figure it out and in turn if you yourself can ever get it together.
Books I brought and have half read:
*"A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R. R. Martin. Everyone is raving about Game of Thrones right now. It's a hit t.v. show and my friend Monica reads these books and loves them, so I bought the first one to try it out. And it is good. But it is also huge. And after 400 pages, I'm about half-way through it and one day I looked up and thought, 'I cannot read the word bastard or about some weird incest any more or my head might explode.' So I put it down. It's a very unique world Martin's created for us and I'll get back to it soon.
Books I brought and have yet to read (See picture of backpack above):
*"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith. I read "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" earlier this year and friggin loved it. Like, LOVEd it! I read it on a plane to Puerto Rico and it was so easy and fun to read that I was certain this would be the same. Given that it was the book that kicked this whole thing off, plus I love regular "Pride and Prejudice" so what's a few zombies, right? Wrong. Ugh, so wrong. I can't get into this one yet. I hate when that happens because sometimes it really is as simple as just pushing through (i.e. "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") until you get to something good, but it was not happening with this book. Not yet. So I put it down. For now.
*"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs. What an awesome name for a writer!! With a name like that there's no other career this person could have, you know?! I saw this on the shelf and grabbed it. Again, title is everything. I think I'm mostly drawn to titles. If they suck, I assume the book sucks which is probably a bad association and I'm not sure where it came from--I'll have to get over it one day, but not today. This is a cool title and I'm looking forward to diving into this one. The girl at the check out was in the middle of reading this and she told me it was good. I always listen to the people who work in the book stores ever since some guy told us about "Harry Potter" before it was the most popular book in the world after the Bible.
*"Freefall" by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams. This is the third book in a series I've been reading over the years. It's a book for kids but I think the story is really interesting and good writing is good writing I don't care what age range it's intended for. The story follows a boy, Will Burrows, who discovers a world underneath our world and has adventures looking for his father while fighting the Styx, a race of humans taught to hate people who live above ground. It's so inventive and exciting; books like this that require kids to use their imaginations and to suspend their disbelief are my favorite!
Books I bought while here (aka Half Price books was having a Memorial Day sale):
*Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld; "Uglies," "Pretties," and "Specials." These are fantastic books! I've heard about them for a while and they are brilliant. Westerfeld wrote an incredibly believable dystopian world and gives us an incredible story of bravery and self-determination. It sounds bizarre but trust me.
*"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson, the third in the Millenium Series. I haven't read it yet, but I loved the other two and the third picks up exactly where the second one ended and I can't believe I had enough self-control to not run out and buy it as soon as I finished the second one. Me. I put down "The Hunger Games" before I was finished because I had to go to Barnes and Noble to buy the second one before the store closed for the night because I knew I was going to stay up all night reading it or lying awake thinking about getting to the store to buy it the next day. I haven't read it yet, but I have it.
*"Heartburn" by Nora Ephron. I love Nora Ephron. When Harry Met Sally is one of my favorite movies and I adore the characters Nora Ephron creates. However, this story is her story. When she was seven months pregnant with her second child she found out that her husband was in love with someone else and proved that writing really well is the best revenge. I love this book. The world will not be the same without Nora Ephron in it.
Books I read from the Library:
*"Stories I Only Tell My Friends" by Rob Lowe. I love Rob Lowe. He's a great actor and as it turns out a great writer. He's had an insane life and it was amazing to read about it!
*"Then Came You" by Jennifer Weiner. I had an embarrassing moment when I read a different book of hers, "Good in Bed" but I moved past that and keep reading her books. She comes up with good characters and this one was sort of interesting and again, a good summer read. It was a bit light and could have been developed a lot further for the subject matters, but I liked it.
*"Along Came a Spider" by James Patterson. Ugh.
*"A Little Night Magic" by Lucy March. Double Ugh.
*"A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. I actually really liked this book. It's about a historian who is the last of a line of really powerful witches but she doesn't want to use her magic. But an old book she finds by accident brings together a cast of vampires, daemons, and witches and hilarity ensues. Not really, but it was actually really fun. The second one comes out next week and I'm going to need to get a library card in EP so I can read it immediately.
And I think that's it. I'm almost positive. Thanks for reading to the end. And just think! Summer is only half over, what else can I read--especially when I go home to the stacks and stacks of books that I haven't even gotten to yet?!
"Open a book this minute and start reading. Don't move until you've reached page fifty. Until you've buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve." ~Carol Shields, The Republic of Love.
I try to read for myself during the school year because I have to do things for myself. Not just going to the movies and getting pedicures every 6 weeks, although I do that as well. But something that I love in the very depths of my soul. I love to read. And if I don't do it for fun every now and then I feel like part of me will disappear.
And no judgement on people who don't. Don't read me saying that. I will never be able to understand what it's like to not enjoy reading because it's always been my favorite thing to do. Both of my parents like to read and it was a hobby that was encouraged. I got into school when I was 4 years old because I could read. It makes me sad to think that the world of books is not impressed on everyone, that the blessing books are to our lives is not a universal trait. I understand that everyone is allowed to like and not like whatever they want, but if I think about people who never read for too long I'll start to cry.
So in case any one is interested: I have spent the last month hiding at my parents house in Phoenix and I've done nothing but read. When I was coming out to Phoenix in May, the first thing I packed was my backpack and all I packed were books.
I brought 9 books with me (I think). While I've been here I've bought 6 and been to the library twice. And when I go to the library, I go to the library. I never walk out with just the one book I wanted. Oh no. I leave with at least 2, usually 3, but they're free!! I love having my own personal library at home, but free library books! I mean...
But anyway, I guess I gave a list of recommendations to my Mom to send to her friend Stacy (I have no memory of this but it sounds like something I would do--I love to recommend things!) and apparently she likes them so I thought I'd give a brief list of what I've read (and wanted to read) this summer. All for fun.
Books I brought and read (see picture of backpack above):
*The first three books of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich; "One for the Money," "Two for the Dough," and "Three to Get Deadly." Chic lit. Easy reads. Decent stories and characters (except the grandmother. She's supposed to be fun and spunky and I'd be ok if she dropped dead in the next one). Really good summer reading because they're so light. I read the first two and am beginning the third as soon as I'm done typing this.
*"Bossypants" by Tina Fey. I love Tina Fey and I love her so much more now that I've read this book. It was fantastic! I put it off for so long because the cover is just awful but I laughed out loud so many times I'm glad I wasn't reading it in public.
*"The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance" by Elna Baker. The title is what jumped out at me when I was in Barnes and Noble--it's weird right?! But it's a great little book about a Mormon girl trying to figure herself out while she's living in New York. It's kind of like both a religious and traditional coming of age story that makes you laugh and cringe and really wonder what the heck this girl is doing and if she's ever going to figure it out and in turn if you yourself can ever get it together.
Books I brought and have half read:
*"A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R. R. Martin. Everyone is raving about Game of Thrones right now. It's a hit t.v. show and my friend Monica reads these books and loves them, so I bought the first one to try it out. And it is good. But it is also huge. And after 400 pages, I'm about half-way through it and one day I looked up and thought, 'I cannot read the word bastard or about some weird incest any more or my head might explode.' So I put it down. It's a very unique world Martin's created for us and I'll get back to it soon.
Books I brought and have yet to read (See picture of backpack above):
*"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith. I read "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" earlier this year and friggin loved it. Like, LOVEd it! I read it on a plane to Puerto Rico and it was so easy and fun to read that I was certain this would be the same. Given that it was the book that kicked this whole thing off, plus I love regular "Pride and Prejudice" so what's a few zombies, right? Wrong. Ugh, so wrong. I can't get into this one yet. I hate when that happens because sometimes it really is as simple as just pushing through (i.e. "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") until you get to something good, but it was not happening with this book. Not yet. So I put it down. For now.
*"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs. What an awesome name for a writer!! With a name like that there's no other career this person could have, you know?! I saw this on the shelf and grabbed it. Again, title is everything. I think I'm mostly drawn to titles. If they suck, I assume the book sucks which is probably a bad association and I'm not sure where it came from--I'll have to get over it one day, but not today. This is a cool title and I'm looking forward to diving into this one. The girl at the check out was in the middle of reading this and she told me it was good. I always listen to the people who work in the book stores ever since some guy told us about "Harry Potter" before it was the most popular book in the world after the Bible.
*"Freefall" by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams. This is the third book in a series I've been reading over the years. It's a book for kids but I think the story is really interesting and good writing is good writing I don't care what age range it's intended for. The story follows a boy, Will Burrows, who discovers a world underneath our world and has adventures looking for his father while fighting the Styx, a race of humans taught to hate people who live above ground. It's so inventive and exciting; books like this that require kids to use their imaginations and to suspend their disbelief are my favorite!
Books I bought while here (aka Half Price books was having a Memorial Day sale):
*Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld; "Uglies," "Pretties," and "Specials." These are fantastic books! I've heard about them for a while and they are brilliant. Westerfeld wrote an incredibly believable dystopian world and gives us an incredible story of bravery and self-determination. It sounds bizarre but trust me.
*"The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson, the third in the Millenium Series. I haven't read it yet, but I loved the other two and the third picks up exactly where the second one ended and I can't believe I had enough self-control to not run out and buy it as soon as I finished the second one. Me. I put down "The Hunger Games" before I was finished because I had to go to Barnes and Noble to buy the second one before the store closed for the night because I knew I was going to stay up all night reading it or lying awake thinking about getting to the store to buy it the next day. I haven't read it yet, but I have it.
*"Heartburn" by Nora Ephron. I love Nora Ephron. When Harry Met Sally is one of my favorite movies and I adore the characters Nora Ephron creates. However, this story is her story. When she was seven months pregnant with her second child she found out that her husband was in love with someone else and proved that writing really well is the best revenge. I love this book. The world will not be the same without Nora Ephron in it.
Books I read from the Library:
*"Stories I Only Tell My Friends" by Rob Lowe. I love Rob Lowe. He's a great actor and as it turns out a great writer. He's had an insane life and it was amazing to read about it!
*"Then Came You" by Jennifer Weiner. I had an embarrassing moment when I read a different book of hers, "Good in Bed" but I moved past that and keep reading her books. She comes up with good characters and this one was sort of interesting and again, a good summer read. It was a bit light and could have been developed a lot further for the subject matters, but I liked it.
*"Along Came a Spider" by James Patterson. Ugh.
*"A Little Night Magic" by Lucy March. Double Ugh.
*"A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. I actually really liked this book. It's about a historian who is the last of a line of really powerful witches but she doesn't want to use her magic. But an old book she finds by accident brings together a cast of vampires, daemons, and witches and hilarity ensues. Not really, but it was actually really fun. The second one comes out next week and I'm going to need to get a library card in EP so I can read it immediately.
And I think that's it. I'm almost positive. Thanks for reading to the end. And just think! Summer is only half over, what else can I read--especially when I go home to the stacks and stacks of books that I haven't even gotten to yet?!
"Open a book this minute and start reading. Don't move until you've reached page fifty. Until you've buried your thoughts in print. Cover yourself with words. Wash yourself away. Dissolve." ~Carol Shields, The Republic of Love.
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