Archives

design
January 29, 2018 , Mon | Reviews | 0 or add you thoughts!

“I’ve been called magic, but I wouldn’t use that term exactly. I like to think of myself as always being in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time. Very rarely am I simply in an acceptable place at a generally convenient time. That said, I find those rare occasions very pleasant, mostly because they give me time to work on my crosswords.”

Themes:

  • Family dynamics
  • Nature’s raw power
  • Finding your purpose

When I read the synopsis for this book, I became immediately convinced that I’d love it. Once I had the book in my hands, I began with apprehension, because my expectations were high! I can happily say, those expectations were exceeded. This book is MAGICAL.

Brimming with whimsy and wildlife, quirky personalities and human complexity, Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance was a joy to read.

Throughout the book, our protagonist, Weylyn, finds himself within a few different family dynamics. It inspires thoughtfulness on the reader’s part, and is an element of the story that captured my attention early on and entertained throughout. It created a sort of examination of human life through Weylyn’s observations. His wildness lent him a fascinating and believable naïveté through which the reader explores average things through a new lens. read more

design
January 1, 2018 , Mon | Uncategorized | 0 or add you thoughts!

Happy 2018! Today, I’ll be sharing my reading goals for this year.

Over the course of the next 12 months, I want my reading life to be slow and intentional, rather than frenetic. I so love to read, and I’m such a mood reader. This means I often find myself in the middle of five-plus books at once. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. My personal horror is boredom, so reading a group of different things, across genres and formats, has been my way of keeping entertained and always being in the middle of something I’m in the mood for. And yet, I’ve been feeling lately as if I want to give myself a reason to slow down. I actually don’t think this will be easy for me, but I want to approach everything I read in 2018 with intention. I want to give myself the incentive to work through a book more slowly and spend time digesting it after.

I also buy way too many books before reading the ones I already have. I constantly enter this frenzy of wanting to read things that relate to holidays, seasons, and life events, or because everyone else is reading them, resulting in more spur-of-the-moment purchases. I want to treasure each of the books I already own in the way they deserve. read more

design
December 30, 2017 , Sat | Hauls | 0 or add you thoughts!

Ahhhh to be a bibliophile at Christmas! My friends and family did SO WELL this year. Seriously, not only did they get me a lot of the things I had mentioned wanting, but they surprised me with things I’ve never heard of that are perfect. I’m only including the bookish gifts here, but everything was so thoughtful. I think the greatest gift was how known my loved ones made me feel by giving such perfect gifts. Feeling understood has always been something I struggle with, so these sorts of gestures mean everything to me.

My mom and dad got me two of the books that were highest on my list—the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter: A History of Magic. The second of these is the companion to British Library’s exhibition, and even though there is a beautiful paperback version here in the United States, I just really wanted the UK hardcover. Being giant hardcovers, these are both quite pricey. They’re also books that I know I’ll cherish forever. Not that I don’t feel that way about most all of my books, but you know what I mean. Gorgeously illustrated, Harry Potter-related books equal lifelong treasure! So, I’m obviously quite thrilled to have been given them, which of course makes them even more special. read more

design