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RECOMMENDATIONS | For the Dog Lover

January 15, 2018 , Mon | Recommendations | 0 or add you thoughts!

Today’s post is for my fellow dog lovers! This is a blog about books, which means I can be reasonably sure that most of the people reading this are bibliophiles. But I’d be willing to bet that a fair amount of you are cynophilists (according to Merriam-Webster, a dog fancier) too! I’m certainly one! My beloved dog, Milo, turns 6 today, and we are celebrating as we always do: doing all of his favorite things. Here on the blog, I thought it’d be fun to share some of my favorite dog-related reads.

Nice Nosing You: For the Love of Life, Dogs and Photography by Elke Vogelsang

An exploration of the comfort, companionship, and beauty dogs bring to our lives, this stunning coffee table book was inspired by the severe illness of the writer and photographer’s husband, Carsten, and the role their three dogs played in comforting the couple throughout the trials it brought. Vogelsang’s images are gorgeous and charmingly posed. The story will wrench your heart. I cried while reading this, but it’s breathtaking! read more

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WRAP-UP | December 2017

December 31, 2017 , Sun | Wrap-Ups | 0 or add you thoughts!

I had such a blast reading Christmas-y books this month! I also got to a few other great things too. Overall, it was a wonderful reading month to close out the year!

“Finally, thank you to the starlings of the West Pier, the adders of the Minsmere, the foxes of Kensal Rise, the painted ladies of Belle Vue, the pelicans of Lancelin, the hedgehogs of the top Dene, the dolphins of Curio Bay, the lizards of the Perenthian Islands, the saltys of Kakadu, the camels of the outback, the hares of Old Charlie’s, the humpback whales of Hervey Bay, the sparrows of Queen Street, the jellyfish of Seaton Carew, the bullfinches on our feeder, the emus of Coral Bay, the ravens of the Mynd, the jays of Hove, the lapwings of the A49, and the goldfinches of home.”

I enjoyed this so very much! Split into three sections—land, air, and water—this lovely novelty book explores some of the more unusual collective nouns of the animal kingdom. Sewell does a wonderful job of exploring the history behind each of them, and his dedication at the end was breathtaking. That’s the quote I’ve included. read more

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WISDOM WEDNESDAY | “Messenger” by Mary Oliver

November 22, 2017 , Wed | Wisdom Wednesdays | 0 or add you thoughts!

In honor of tomorrow’s holiday, I thought a post about gratitude was in order. So today, we’ll be visiting with Mary Oliver. If you’ve never read anything by her, prepare yourself. This woman is magnificent, and I’m convinced her poetry can move even the most stoic and unpoetic of individuals. If you’ve not figured it out from the last two sentences, Mary Oliver is my favorite poet. And she often talks about gratitude. “Messenger”, which is one of the poems in the collection titled Thirst, certainly explores the subject.

Messenger

“My work is loving the world.

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—

equal seekers of sweetness.

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be

astonished.

The phoebe, the delphinium. read more

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RECOMMENDATIONS | Writing Craft Books

November 1, 2017 , Wed | Recommendations | 0 or add you thoughts!

Happy November! This month means more autumnal fun, Thanksgiving, and … National Novel Writing Month! I don’t actually do much creative writing. In fact, up until a few years ago, I didn’t write on my own time at all. I’ve gotten a little more into it every year since I started doing it a little more, and this year I actually have a few projects in mind. So, I’ve decided to take a stab at NaNoWriMo. I can be really bad at keeping up with things like this (I tried NaNoWriMo for all of a few days last year), so we’ll see what happens. But, I also thought this was a perfect time to share some of my favorite writing craft books! As evidenced by most of this paragraph, I am far from an expert about any of this, but I have really enjoyed all of these. They’ve informed my copywriting for work, my creative writing for fun, and my pursuit of an inspired lifestyle.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve heard mixed things about this, and I understand some of the criticism it receives, but I LOVED this book. I found Gilbert’s approach entertaining and enlightening. She did make me think about creativity in a new way, which I value. This is also unique on this list, because it isn’t only about writing. Gilbert talks about her pursuit of a creative lifestyle, filled with outside-the-box thinking in all ways. read more

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WRAP-UP | August 2017

August 31, 2017 , Thu | Wrap-Ups | 0 or add you thoughts!

Today is the last day of August! I don’t normally feel like time slips away from me, but goodness that went by quickly! Anyway, that means it’s time for another reading wrap-up! Here you’ll find a list of the books I read this month, in order, with a favorite quote from and some quick thoughts on each.

“She wrinkled her nose, less out of actual distaste and more out of the knowledge that she was supposed to find spiders distasteful. She really found them rather endearing. They were sleek and clean and elegant, and when their webs got messed up, they ripped them down and started over again. People could learn a lot from spiders.”

This was a fantastic sequel! Personally, I liked it even better than the first book, which is saying something, because I so enjoyed Every Heart a Doorway. This was a little darker, but in a different way, if that makes sense? A bit creepier, but less gory than the first. It also presents a new world, so that could certainly be a part of what made it exciting. The second book in a trilogy often falls a little flat for me, so even without reading the last book in this one (which releases in January), I can already tell you I’m very impressed with the series as a whole! read more

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