Cleanin' Out My Clos... er... Garage

I have always been and will always be a book nerd.

So when I moved away to Maine I was devestated to find out my mom cleaned out the garage and tossed ALL of my Saddle Club and Babysitter Club books. I wouldn't be able to give them to my little girls anymore.

My fiance and I have been cleaning out the garage at my mother's the last few days. There were a few good finds here and there. Well, my mother had to have parts of the garage ceiling replaced so the contents of the attic had to be removed.

To my complete and utter joy, when I walked in the garage yesterday afternoon what did I see? A box full of books that I'd read when I was younger. Granted, the books that got thrown away are gone for good.... but this box had the Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Goosebumps, and things like Anne of Avonlea and Johnny Tremain! I was so excited I dug through the box right away.

 

How awesome is that? Those were just the ones we could carry in on the first trip. I'll go back out for more, believe me. I am particularly excited right now about Johnny Tremain. My oldest is doing Revolutionary War in school and I also just found the movie made from the book!

 

Have you all ever found some treasures you were never expecting to see again?

When I Read

When I read books I get to be someone I'd never be otherwise.

I can be a sword wielding elf princess or a dragon rider. I can be the love interest of a way-too-dangerous-for-me vampire. I can be a shapeshifter, a faerie, medieval royalty. I can travel through worlds and meet creatures that can talk to me. I can be a wizard who plays games on broomsticks or his best friend.

When I read it's not just words on paper. It's feeling what they people in the story feel. It's falling asleep at night with the book still in my hand because I can't stand to put it down. It's being excited during the good parts and feeling worried during the parts that may not turn out so well.

When I read the rest of the world kind of falls away. I'm no longer sitting on the sofa in the basement surrounded by toys and tvs and noise. I'm in the middle of the forrest riding on a horse that just so happens to have wings. I'm sitting around a campfire with my super hot best friend who turns into a wolf from time to time. Or I'm face to face with the amazing Mr. Darcy.

I can't imagine a world without books. I can't imagine not wanting to read almost every minute of every day. I can't imagine being told what I'm allowed to read and what's not allowed. As long as I can see, I'll read books. When I can't see anymore I'll buy more books on tape or get someone to read to me.

What happens when you read?

Literary Tattoos

So it is quite possible that within the next week or so I will be getting a literary tattoo of my own design. WOoHOo. Something I've been waiting for FOREVER. Ok, maybe not a literary tattoo so much as just a tattoo in general.

I'm always amazed at the tattoos that people get. Especially in reference to their favorite books. I mean, there's just some INCREDIBLE work out there. Now, granted, there are also some really REALLY bad tattoos.

I wanna show you some of my favorites. Just because.


This is someone's tattoo of an owl from the back of the first Harry Potter book. So cute and I love the colors!

Beautiful version of the New Moon cover (which also happens to be my favorite book in the series).


The Auryn from The Neverending Story (this is the best version of this that I could find).


A tattoo of JRR Tolkien's Tengwar script.

Anyone else have some literary tattoos?

The Cowboy

Well, I'm in bed right now, sick as a dog (hmmm wonder where that saying came from... 'scuse me while I google it... "Sick as a dog is actually the oldest of them, recorded from 1705; it is probably no more than an attempt to give force to a strongly worded statement of physical unhappiness. It was attached to a dog, I would guess, because dogs often seem to have been linked to things considered unpleasant or undesirable; down the years they have had an incredibly bad press, linguistically speaking (think of dog tired, dog in the manger, dog’s breakfast, go to the dogs, dog Latin — big dictionaries have long entries about all the ways that dog has been used in a negative sense)". found this on yahoo's answer site... saying still makes no sense), drinking water like it's a chocolate cake and I'm hungry for sweets. Was out of books to read.

THE HORROR.

No seriously. I've read all the books I came to VA with, and unfortunately, have left some in Maine that I did not mean to leave behind (ie. Afterlight by Elle Jasper). Cue sad face.

So I was harumphing around trying to figure out what to read next when my mom plopped a book in front of me (almost, she accidentally left it on the porch, so technically I plopped it down in front of myself) called The Cowboy by Joan Johnston.

Not. A. Fantasy/Paranormal/Supernatural/Sci-Fi. Book.

But that's ok. Because honestly? If someone gives me a book I will read it, regardless of what kind it is.

From what I've read on the back, there was some sort of dispute between Trace Blackthorne's family and Callie Creed's family. Sounds like a Romeo and Juliet type of situation. So anyway, Trace has apparently been gone for some time and when he comes back he finds Callie. And Trace is the type of man who takes (not goes after, but, takes) what he wants. Sounds charming. :-X Trace proposes (hmmm... ultimatum?) to Callie. A marriage between the two is going to save Callie's family from the financial black hole they've been sucked in to. I guess Callie starts dwelling on the past and what drove the families apart and then has to make a choice BETWEEN her family and the man she loves (loves...really? he sounds kind of demanding to me).

I know they say don't judge a book by it's cover (does the description on the cover count?) so I'm trying not to dislike Trace before ever reading the story. I'll have to start it tomorrow and report back my findings. Hopefully the INSIDE of the book will read better than the outside.

I like Cowboys.

What is everyone else reading right now?

Paper or Plastic

I don't know why, but I don't believe I will ever invest in a Kindle. Or a Nook. Or any other E-Reader that they can come up with. Not that they aren't fantastic. They're compact, easy to carry around and travel with. You get books a whole lot quicker than having to wait for the time to go to the store. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with them at all. So please don't misunderstand.

They just aren't for me.

I'm a tactile person. I NEED to have the book in my hands. I want to be able to see it. To turn the pages. To be able to put it with so many other books that I have or that I'll be getting in the future.

One of my goals in life (don't laugh, I'm serious) is to have wall to wall bookshelves. Ideally I'd love my own library. But.... baby steps. One wall full of books would satisfy me for a while. As most of my books have been lost in the 3 moves that I've made in the last few years, it would take me a while to fill them up. But reading is such a passion you'd see me with a smile on my face the whole time (unless of course I was reading a book that made me cry....).

I've read a few books online on my computer. And it's fun. And easy. But I can't carry my laptop with me everywhere I go. So, seeing as how some of them aren't published works yet, I await them extremely impatiently, to come to a bookstore near me. :-)

What do you prefer? Hard copy? Or are you an E-Reader?

A Book Is Good Company

I love to read. Give me any book and I'll read it, though I prefer fantasy novels. I absolutely love them. Adore them. Reading is my all time greatest passion. I read to relax. I read to forget. I read to remember. I read when I'm happy or sad or just kind of... there. I read one book or sometimes two or three at once.

I used to have shelves and shelves of fantasy novels. When I moved from Virginia to Maine, my collection of books was severely crippled. Much had to be left behind. Even now, I buy new books, read them, and then they disappear at the hands of my 2 year old. I'm sure they're around here somewhere. But she's good at hiding things.

A long time ago, I started a reading list. Fantasy novels that I've read and novels that I want to read or that someone has suggested. I follow a book review blog and got the idea to start posting my own reviews of the books I've read and loved. Nothing fancy. Just want to share my escape from reality with everyone else. Maybe it'll inspire you to pick up something you otherwise wouldn't have read.