This week’s prompt is book-adjacent, but a fun prompt for me as a poet. It’s about favorite words. And actually limiting it to ten was extremely difficult, so I have chosen (with much narrowing down) a dozen to share with you.
Have you ever repeated a word so often that it loses all its meaning? All the significance is gone and you just have the sound. You begin to question the spelling–and if you keep going, you question the sound too. Have you been mispronouncing, misunderstanding this word all your life?
The famous Shakespeare line “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” suggests (rightly according to much of literary and linguistic theory) that the word and the thing bear no real relation except the associations that we as speakers make. These associations are deeply held, but we’ve seen throughout history that words can change meaning, take on new meanings, and be invented altogether. Language is fluid and dynamic–it evolves with us and can’t be taken for granted.
All this rambling is to say, I chose these words for the sounds, for how I feel about the sounds and the way they feel in my mouth rather than their meaning alone (but of course meaning creeps in). I also like the way many of these words suggest other words or suggest moods. It’s hard to stop at 10, so here are 12 I really like, deliberately not in alphabetical order but rather the order in which they came to mind.
1. scandalous
Starting off with a three syllable word. Something about it feels luscious or luxurious to me. The first syllable lingers in the mouth so the rest feels like a secret.
2. lounge
So onomatopoeia is when a word for the sound tries to imitate a sound, and I almost feel like lounge does that. Doesn’t it sound like it just wants to lie around all day?
3. close
Say this word out loud. Then tell me if you thought of close as in close the door or as in hold me close. Interesting right?
4. swing
This word has energy, it moves up in pitch when you say it, and I love how it contains the flight of wing. I have my own personal memories attached to this word too–swings and my childhood seem inextricably linked.
5. skip
I mean this word is obviously short, but it’s short when you say it too, has a skid and stop quality, like it’s full of false starts.
6. elusive
I think this word doesn’t really sound all that elusive or hard to grasp, like scandalous it lingers–I like the word because it’s kind of sensual and the syllables are pleasing. But a word like rural seems way more elusive to me in terms of its pronunciation.
7. shade
I love both interpretations of this word, from the dappled sunlight under a tree to throwing shade. Either way, it covers you.
8. moment
Another word I feel is more elusive than elusive. This word wants to hang on, but instead it slips away. It’s soft too, like a whisper or murmur.
9. vine
I think I like v sounds, and -ine is great too. How possessive mine feels or entwine. But vines themselves? I can take them or leave them. Ivy is pretty. And a pretty word too. Too bad I swore I’d stop at 12.
10. spool
I love these sounds. That double oo is just wonderful to read.
11. nimble
This word’s sounds fit the meaning for me, quick and weaving
12. fall
I actually don’t like they way most of the -all words sound, I think the ‘f’ softens it a bit and gives it a less uniform texture, even for a word that’s so short.
bonus words:
I’m a word addict and I can’t help myself!
praline
I have this memory of my cousin ordering pralines and cream at Baskin Robbins when I was a kid. (pray-lean was her pronunciation) and it just sounded so decadent. She was acting in a local troupe at the time and she’s always had a marvelous voice. But in that moment I thought that was the coolest ice cream order anyone had ever made.
wicked
This one is just too much fun. If you’ve listened to the soundtrack for the show, maybe you have also fallen in love with the way Idina Menzel pronounced this word.
Let me know some of your favorite words in the comments!
I’m the kind of person who always brings a book to the cabin and…never reads more than a few pages of it. I go on trips with several book and come back with most of them unread except for the audiobook on the plane. I’m often lucky if I get a single book read on a trip. There’s usually so many other things to experience and do and reading tends to be a pretty solitary, relaxing activity, which is not usually trip strategy. So with very few exceptions (like our trip to Taiwan years ago when I had long stretches of time to myself), I tend to buy more books on vacation than I read. And because these books become something like souvenirs, they’re often more memorable to me than the books that I read (or tried to read, and reread the same paragraph over and over again). So although the prompt for this week is books I read on vacation, I’m going to talk about books I purchased on vacation instead.
New York, New York at the Strand: Unnatural Creatures ed. by Neil Gaiman
I bought this book for the cover, the gorgeous typography and twisting branches. We were young college kids on this trip, and we didn’t have a lot to spend on souvenirs, but the book was out in paperback and on sale, and I bought it. This is a great collection of short stories by the way–a cool focus that allows the writers to be very creative. If you enjoy fantasy and dark fairy tales, you’ll definitely enjoy it.
Bend, Oregon: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
I found this at a thrift store with my Mom and Nana–we always beeline for the books. I had read a couple other Atwood books by then so I was excited to see another one. Even now, I know I’ll get through all of her books eventually, but I tend to dole them out to myself so I don’t go through them all at once.
Paris, France: A French version of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
I learned un petit peu of French for the trip to Paris my Nana and I took in 2018. I learned enough to get around as a tourist, but definitely not enough to struggle through Harry Potter, and given the choice I’ll probably go back to Spanish, but I couldn’t resist buying something in the wonderful little bookstore. Next time I’ll stick to notebooks. I still have the little embossed bookmark though, and I love it.
Maui, Hawaii: The Quest for King Arthur by David Day
I really enjoy shopping, but not the mass produced souvenir kind, so while my friend was off looking at things in Lahaina, I went and found this cute little used bookstore and an interesting coffee table book about King Arthur caught my eye.
Taichung, Taiwan: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
I went into a lot of bookstores and stationery stores in Taiwan and bought lots of washi tape and little cards and stickers and things, but I didn’t kid myself and think I was ever going to learn enough Mandarin even for a simple picture book. But there was a little used bookstore in Taichung that held a shelf of English books, and I was running low on reading material so…it came home with me.
Actually Taiwan was the rare trip that I read quite a bit since I was alone most of the day. I only took books I was willing to leave behind and I ended up leaving almost a drawerful and the hotel called. In retrospect, I should have just taken them down to the bookstore I’d found but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to communicate with the person at the counter even though the vast majority of people we met spoke at least some English (certainly much more than my 10 words of Mandarin) i also could have looked it up on my phone… no excuse really. My bag was lighter without them and then I had room for all the washi tape.
Patrick Ness writes really well about the shock and horrors of childhood made manifest as a little boy grieves his mother in the only way he knows how. A beautiful middle grade book. And the movie was decent as well.
London, UK: The Muse by Jessie Burton, The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
There was some sort of deal for 3 of certain paperbacks, so I found a few things. I don’t remember the name of this bookstore that we poked into…but I did notice that books are a bit less expensive in the UK and that they’re made a little differently– stiffer and lighter than the floppy US trade paperback. The covers were gorgeous too!
Mikhail Bulgakov wrote the Master and Margarita, which is one of my all time favorites, and this little novella was good, but not as good. It’s about a doctor who switches a human’s testicles with a dogs and they take on each other’s characteristics to amusing results. It’s a weird little book, but it gives you a good sense of the midcentury USSR, which Bulgakov was very much writing against in a fantastical way.
The Essex Serpent is a little dark and creepy and full of magical realism, like most of Sarah Perry’s work. Her writing can be a little dense, but it’s worth wading through (or listening to the audiobook) for the atmosphere she creates in her stories, which borders on the gothic. They made a miniseries of this for Apple TV+, which I haven’t seen yet.
Everyone talks about Jessie Burton’s more well known book The Miniaturist, but I couldn’t get into that setting nearly as quickly as I was swept into a fast paced midcentury London. I ended up reading this book waiting to be called for jury duty. We were there 6 hours or so before being dismissed. I finished both books I brought and went to the library on break. That’s where I picked up the more famous Jessie Burton book, but it was such a tone and pace shift I couldn’t get through the first chapters and into the richer parts. Also, those closeted Holland spaces always feel dark and claustrophobic to me. They’re not my favorite historical setting by a long shot.
Merida, Mexico: Purchased: The Poems of Octavio Paz
Recently my friend and I went to Mexico, and while we were in this colorful city, I discovered that an expat was running an English language bookstore. I was looking for poetry by Mexican authors, and I was disappointed not to find much although I’m sure it doesn’t sell that well. But I did pick up a lovely bilingual edition of poems by Octavio Paz.
Do you ever buy books on vacation? Let me know in the comments!
Today’s topic is favorite bookstores or bookstores I’d most like to visit. I’m going to stick with places I’ve been to because I think that will make for a shorter, more reasonable list. I’m on a not-so-secret quest to discover every bookstore in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco and pick favorites. So those posts will eventually be coming. I associate books and bookstores with different times in my life, so I thought it would be fun to look at bookstores that I have found meaningful in my life. Come on a journey through my reading past with me:
Childhood: Paperback Exchanges and Barnes and Noble
I remember as a kid a trip from our mountain cabin down to the local town with the cousins. I’m not sure if this was two trips or one, but they occurred in the same little shopping mall in Twain Harte. We stopped at Baskin Robbins, and I remember the way my cousin said “praline” like pray-lean and how beautiful it sounded. At the time she was active in local community theater and her diction was, and still is, gorgeous. And then with my aunt (so it may indeed have been two trips) we wandered to the local paperback exchange (sadly no longer there) and I chose a not-quite children’s book that was a (so-so) adaptation of Romeo & Juliet for teens. I remember what a privilege it felt like to get to choose a new book for myself that would be something my great aunt treated me to.
There was also a paperback exchange in Oregon City, where we moved when I was in 4th grade. My Nana and aunt liked going there (before e-readers and audiobooks were so ubiquitous) to pick up mystery sacks of $1.00 romance novels separated into subgenre. There was a decent children’s section (that’s gotten better over the years) and trade in program, but it always felt like…an older store. Not a lot of young clientele. And they specialized in genre fiction, which wasn’t my scene. But the last time I was there I scooped up some wonderful poetry books out of the small section, so I still think it’s worth a visit. Now they also sell new books and gifts.
Laurie’s Books: 358 Warner Milne Rd # G106, Oregon City, Oregon
When we weren’t buying used books (which was frequently–at garage sales and thrift stores), we bought a lot of books at Barnes & Noble. In the early 2000s, the independent bookstore was struggling. I remember a lot of books I loved were ones that I found on the curated tables between shelves. Stocks of an entire series, a huge children’s section, and places to sit and look at the treasures. The stores were calm and smelled like fresh paper. I still love them–I’d always rather buy from an independent but if I need something shipped to someone, I’ll have it sent from Barnes & Noble. Although the service isn’t as good since the rise of Amazon and the fall of Borders, it’s still my favorite place in any mall. It anchored my childhood that way and felt like a familiar place even when we were moving a lot. I attended midnight releases, readings, and found so, so many books I love.
Besides the mall days at B&N (obviously) there was only one important bookstore in Portland during my youth. I don’t even think I have to say the name, but of course I will: Powell’s books. Powell’s (aka the world’s largest independent bookstore) is so fantastic. Every time I go up to visit I manufacture reasons for us to go. It’s usually not that hard to convince my mom. She’s always up for a bookish adventure–making a beeline for the picture books (since she’s a first grade teacher). Books for herself are usually an afterthought, often she listens to audiobooks from the library on her way to work.
If you have not been (or if you have) and you need to go into downtown Portland for any reason…you shouldn’t miss it. I can (and have) spent hours here. The rooms meander into each other. You know how a museum will send you through a maze of galleries? It’s kind of like that but with more signs. There are multiple floors of books, a mix of old and used, and so, so much to discover. The staff is super knowledgeable, with great staff pick selections. And there’s a café. So the question really is, why would you ever leave? It’s like a real world wonderland. A place where there’s magic in the form of stories on high wooden shelves.
Powell’s City of Books: 1005 W Burnside St, Portland, Oregon
College in Corvallis
I did my undergrad in English at Oregon State in Corvallis. Corvallis is a small town, but it still boasted a lovely public library, two used bookstores, and a great independent. There was also a bookstore on campus, but before we graduated, they ruined it. Although the old location was a little pokey and two floors, it featured actual books in addition to supplies and a selection of Beaver-themed gear. But before we left, they took the books that were not textbooks away (in theory because exclusively selling textbooks gave them a better deal?) and built a monstrous warehouse closer to the stadium (so you know, better for football fans, less convenient for everyone else) with terrible lighting, no atmosphere, and no inviting display of fiction and nonfiction from our professors. Oh well. At least they didn’t ruin the library while I was there.
Anyway, I did not frequent the independent bookstore very often because while delightful it was, in a word, more than my college budget could afford. There was another used bookstore that was darker, open fewer hours–the kind of place with books that overflowed. And while it had finds (like a first edition of Julia Child’s first cookbook), it was a bit dusty and always gave me an allergy attack.
So the bookstore I associate most with college is The Book Bin. Larger than its name suggests and with big windows, it was an ugly building with a so-so layout, but a great mix of new and used books and wonderful deals. I always found something wonderful there and it was a great place to wait out the rain or duck inside for a few minutes.
After college, we moved to Idaho for Paul’s work. Honestly I was more interested in divesting myself of books than getting new ones, although I did scour every used bookstore and garage sale for books that we used as favors at our wedding (one chosen for each guest). I usually found more than enough to keep me occupied at the library, but I could not resist a library sale. These happened both with the Boise Friends of the Library warehouse sales and at the Garden City Public Library where I volunteered. They always had a wonderful selection of things and I often found treasures.
When we moved downtown, I was really close to a local independent called Rediscovered Books that I always enjoyed going into. In a very conservative area, I always felt at home with people who believed in intellectual freedom, worked against censorship, and supported people reading banned books.
Friends of the Library stores: Garden City Library has sales semi-annually as well as a little store within the library 6015 N Glenwood St, Garden City, Idaho; Tree City Books is the Boise Friends store in the main branch, they also hold larger sales periodically 715 S Capitol Blvd, Boise, Idaho
When you live in or near a major city, you end up playing tour guide for people who come to visit you. Almost everyone who comes to visit me ends up in a bookstore at some point, and one of my favorite bookstores to take people is City Lights in San Francisco. Why is City Lights awesome? Three words: poetry room upstairs.
As publisher of some of the most famous poets like Frank O’Hara and Allen Ginsberg, City Lights has a deep association with the Beat movement. They still publish a lot of interesting things–the selection is great and there’s multiple levels to explore. Especially in nonfiction, there’s a big emphasis on resistance, and social movements. Lots of local authors are on the shelves, and plenty of indie titles. The featured books in fiction are particularly diverse. I love the feel of history in here, but I will say it’s not a very accessible store because of the layout and stairs. Also, it can be hard to move around in their sometimes because the shelves are tightly packed, but it’s a wonderful space and I love spending time in here with whomever I’ve tricked…ahem…guided here.
City Lights 261 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, California
Visiting Home
As I mentioned before, I always try to get a visit to Powell’s in when I go up to Oregon to visit family, but since I hate, loathe, and detest driving in large cities (even, or perhaps especially my own)–I have to con…I mean, bribe… I mean, put on my best Puss in Boots from Shrek—
Anyway, it’s usually easier to make it to the little Friends bookstore in downtown Oregon City, where I can tootle (did you know it wasn’t until writing this post that I realized this word was tootle and not toodle… huh I’ve been saying this incorrectly my whole life) by myself or reasonably ask someone to go with me. Books here are great because they’re cheap, they help the library, and one of our family friends is high up in the Friends org so it’s always wonderful to see her when she’s working. This is always where we bring our book donations. I usually completely decimate…er diminish their poetry section when I visit.
I also really like this new bookstore/coffee shop that opened up in the downtown near our old standby Chinese restaurant that we’ve been going to since I was 8. It’s also got a great selection of board games, giftable things, and the coffee is very good. It’s one of my favorite places to get a last minute gift when I’m in town, whether someone needs a pick me up or something fun for their birthday. Well worth a visit.
Now that we’ve made the Town our new home, I believe it is my solemn duty to visit and delight in every bookstore and pick my favorites to go to all the time–or rather a reasonable amount of the time. I definitely started collecting books again now that I’m building a poetry library. Whoops. So far I’ve found some good ones but to narrow it down for this post, I’ll just talk about two that I have membership/frequent buyer cards for. One is Bookmark, which is, (surprise! Are you sensing a theme?) a Friends of the Library store. It is very conveniently located near my local Friday Farmer’s Market. And did I mention that I get a discount on books for being a member? It’s awesome. Plus there’s some great finds in that store. And a lot of classical music vinyl. If that’s your gig.
Then there’s Cape and Cowl, which while not technically the closest bookstore to me is certainly a new favorite. As you might guess from the name, they specialize in comics and graphic novels. And while I’m not a huge fan of comic books generally, I love graphic novels. So I definitely went in–thinking I’d buy nothing–and walked out with three things. This place is in dangerous proximity! And there’s a buy 9 get number 10 free deal, which is, again dangerous.
But more than just the excellent bookstores, having these cards and being on these mailing lists makes me feel more at home–like I’m starting to put down roots in this wonderful place.
This week’s prompt was books with geographical terms in the title, and while I was looking through my read books (thank you, Story Graph), I noticed a trend. All of the geographic terms I was encountering were through fantasy books. So I leaned into that trend. Some of these may be a stretch…but so are fictional maps.
The Mermaid the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
I just finished this lovely queer fantasy with plenty of romance. There are pirates, the aforementioned witches and mermaids, spies, political intrigue, well-developed characters, and the sea itself features as a character in her own right. Need I say more?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
This one is on my to-read list. But I’m a sucker for anything written by Gaiman. Especially something dark and surrealist. Anyone read this one? I’d love to know your thoughts.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
I love when concepts become anthropomorphized. One of my favorite fantasy series of all time is Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality where Death, Time, Earth, and Fate (among others) are personified. So when I came to this book about the city of New York made corporal, I was hooked. The writing is fantastic. Urban fantasy at its finest.
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
So you need a detective/urban fantasy book to read now? Like right now? Not to worry–read Aaronvitch’s book about holding the magical and nonmagical elements of London in balance. More personified elements!
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
Loosely inspired by Celtic mythology, I really enjoyed Ross’s book about magic and the effects it can take on its users. Our protagonist is a bard, straight from his teaching post, going back home to the magical land of his birth, his clan, and the clan rivalry.
The Library of Legends by Janie Chang
So I included this one because of map legends (although that’s not the use of the word Chang was presumably going for)…it’s a stretch, but I was running out of map ideas. I wish this book had moved a little faster and that there were more fantasy elements in it (what there was was great, but I wanted more), but the worldbuilding is really interesting.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this book, and I never finished the series, but I’m excited to go back to this world. I also wanted to watch the HBO series after I finished the books. So I should get on that.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
To be fair, this one is science fiction, but the name was just too perfect not to include. And who doesn’t love some time travel? This one is on my to-read list. Actually, I’ve never read anything by Mitchell. But I’m looking forward to The Bone Clocks as well.
Locke and Key series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez
So the show kind of creeped me out and it didn’t feel like there was a lot of character development, but I’m a little intrigued to read the comics and see if I’d like to come back to the show. This follows some siblings in a creepy house and then there are keys that unlock all kinds of doors.
The Black Coast by Mike Brooks
War dragons. I’m not sure if a book needs anything besides dragons to intrigue me enough to read further. I hadn’t heard of this book before looking through fantasy release lists for geographic titles, but I may have to add it to my list. Because dragons and Vikings–or Viking-like raiders.
Have you read any of the books on this list? What is the fantasy land you’d most like to visit? Let me know in the comments.
It has been a long time since I’ve written. Since that time I’ve spent 3 weeks in Taiwan and 10 days in Paris. I’ve got travel posts coming, but I thought today I’d start with a book post.
This week’s prompt is about books that you didn’t really like but you’re still glad you read. I feel like this can be applied to lots of things I read in college, but I included only one college book to make it feel a little less like a required reading list.
So here are five books I’m glad I read even though I didn’t really like them, in no particular order:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
My friend and I read this at about the same time, in an effort to get through some of the classics that had been on our shelves and our lists for years. I actually ended up enjoying this book (sort of), but the beginning was touch and go for me. I’m glad I stuck it out because I think it’s an interesting and influential piece of fiction that shows that being an abolitionist did not mean that a person was not prejudiced. Stowe paints a sympathetic portrait of her characters but still indulges in comments that I consider to be racist. I do, however, think that the character of Uncle Tom has been twisted throughout the ages. I don’t think he’s nearly as obsequious as he’s made out to be in references. His resistance is quiet, but it’s clearly there. Anyway, this book is worth reading just for a better understanding of that time period and parts of our cultural heritage.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
This is another book my friend and I read together. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it (and I didn’t), but I stuck it out so that I could check it off my list. It’s not that it’s a bad book. It’s actually a really interesting look at mental illness and how sometimes the systems that are supposed to make people feel better just end up contributing to the problem. But I don’t love Kesey’s writing style, and I thought the book was not nearly as good as another book that I’d been avoiding from about the same time period, Catch-22, which was far more enjoyable and interesting.
Ulysses by James Joyce
This is the college one. I picked this one over some of the other books I read in college because it’s just over the top unlikable. And over the top in many regards. But reading it (and finding ways to interact with it) felt like a huge accomplishment. It’s one of those books that I have a really early memory of–I found my grandfather’s copy of the book and thought it was like The Odyssey. Two paragraphs told me I was wrong (though not totally because this book follows The Odyssey in many ways), and I didn’t think of the book again until I took a James Joyce class in college. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment. But it didn’t seem right to graduate with an English degree without this modernist on my transcript. It would have been like not taking a Shakespeare class.
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
I’m not going to say that this book wasn’t good because it was. It’s a well-written story about Native Americans and colonization. The characters are engaging and well-drawn. My real problem with this book is that I don’t like survival/wilderness stories. If you liked the film The Revenant or other works in that line, you’ll really like this book. Even though I wasn’t a major fan, I’m glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone. I try to read every book club book (unless I’ve already read it), whether or not it’s something I would pick out on my own.
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
I picked this book out for one of the wedding favors (post on that later), and I read it to make sure it was good before giving it away. Well….I didn’t really love it. The story itself is creepy and interesting, as James’s only ghost story, but the wordiness of it (sentences that never, ever end, kind of like this one here) was just too much and it destroyed all the suspense for me. Probably no one would have felt that way when the book came out, but Poe is much better at the creepy story. So I’m glad I read this book because I wouldn’t have wanted to give it to someone as a gift when I didn’t enjoy it. Especially as the potential recipient isn’t used to reading Victorian era novels.
Over to you–have you read a book that you’re glad you read even though your enjoyment of it was minimal? Have you read any of these books? Is your opinion of them different? Let me know in the comments.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature brought to you by That Artsy Reader Girl.
Today’s topic is all about “books you could re-read forever.” There are a lot of books I read, but there aren’t many I re-read, and even fewer that I would read multiple times. The books that make this list tend to have one thing in common, they’re witty. Except maybe for the Harry Potter books. Those are just part of who I am.
Without further ado, here are the books that I would reread over and over again:
Emma by Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Harry Potter Books by JK Rowling
That’s actually a pretty short list, though when I was younger it would definitely have included a few different things on it.
Is there a book that you never get sick of returning to? Let me know what it is in the comments!
The period between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is typically a good time to wind down, but if you’ve got a big reading challenge to finish up it doesn’t alway feel that way.
My grandma and I are going on a cruise next week, and, not unusually, my suitcase is packed with more books than bathing suits.
For most of the challenge, I just sort of picked books up and looked to see if they fit any category on the list, but as the year draws to a close, I decided to pick out all the books so that I knew what I was going to get myself into.
This is the list of books I’m trying to finish by the end of the year to complete the advanced Popsugar reading challenge:
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
For the category of “book with a season in the title.” I haven’t read this late Shakespeare play, and it’s one of the few digital books I’m bringing on my trip.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
I’ve been saving this book for the “book about food” category all year, and now it’s finally time to read it.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Everyone in my book club loved this book that they read the year before I joined. Since it was made into a movie this year, it seemed like the perfect choice for that particular category.
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
The category of “books mentioned in other books” was a really interesting category, but it was kind of difficult to pick a book for it. Shakespeare would have been a no-brainer, but I really wanted to choose a novel. Jane Austen’s heroine in Northanger Abbey is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of gothic literature and mentions this book.
Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman
I don’t have a lot of books with cats on the cover, so I chose to interpret this cat as any animal in the cat family. My edition of this book has a lion on the cover.
The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
It’s probably no secret that I love Margaret Atwood and really admire her ability to write well in a number of different ways—across genres. This book will be fulfilling the category of “a book written by someone you admire.”
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
This classic is “a book recommended by an author I love.” I wanted to finish this book I started reading aloud with Paul, and pretty much every fantasy writer was influenced by Tolkien. I picked George RR Martin as the particular author I love, in case anyone is interested.
Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik
I try to fit in the books in this Naomi Novik series wherever I can, but “a book involving a mythical creature” seemed too perfect to pass up.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
I buy books on pretty much all of my trips, so that category was a no brainer, but I wanted to save it for a book purchased on the ultimate trip—our honeymoon. This is one of the (probably too many) books I bought. I couldn’t help it—I didn’t find anything much in the used bookstores, but the new ones were filled with beautiful covers. Books are probably the cheapest souvenir you can bring back from London.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while, and reading the back made me think it might work for a book about an immigrant/refugee, which was one of the categories I hadn’t filled yet.
Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie
For a book that follows a character’s life span, I decided to pick a biography instead of a novel. I haven’t read a lot of nonfiction this year, so I wanted to read at least one more before December comes to a close.
Over to you—is there a book you’re dying to read by the end of the year? Do you pick out your reading list in advance or do you prefer to play it by ear? Let me know in the comments.
This week’s topic was characters that would make excellent leaders. This proved to be very interesting, and in picking characters I also thought about 10 traits that are important for leaders.
I tried to pick characters that weren’t filling traditional leadership roles (i.e. no monarchs, and that were fictional and not real-life people).
Here are 10 attributes of great leadership, and 10 characters who fit them:
Intelligence—Professor Higgins from Pygmalion
It’s great to be able to command a room, but strategy and thoughtful leadership requires intelligence. Professor Higgins might be a little obtuse at times, but he’s nevertheless a successful teacher who is quite accomplished at research.
Practicality –Ruby from Cold Mountain
In desperate times, you need someone who is sure and level-headed, who has vision for day to day necessities and can get things done. I can’t think of anyone who does this better than Ruby. She works hard and doesn’t get bogged down in niceties.
Inventiveness—Hugo from The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Inventiveness or resourcefulness are essential to leadership–how else can you make a bad situation better? Hugo may be young, but his ability to fix intricate clock workings and to find ways to better his solution would make him a great leader under the right circumstances.
Sacrifice—Cyrano from Cyrano de Bergerac
A great leader must make sacrifices, and Cyrano knows this all too well. As his friend dies on the battlefield, Cyrano knows he can’t tell Roxanne the truth and he sacrifices his own happiness to help her stay true to a great man’s memory.
Charisma—Emma from Emma
It definitely helps get your point of view across if you’re likable, engaging, and charismatic. Emma is a great example of this, and she sways many people to her causes with less logic than affability and persuasion.
Risk Taker—Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
A true leader does not sit idly by; she takes risks. Alice is a natural risk taker. There are few others who would follow a rabbit down to a magical kingdom–most people would convince themselves they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary and wouldn’t give the rabbit a second glance.
Bravery—Wesley from The Princess Bride
Being a leader means standing up for your cause, often in the face of others who would like nothing better than to pull you down. So being brave in the face of skilled swordsmen, giants, and Sicilians when death is on the line, like Wesley, is imperative.
Eloquence—Temeraire from His Majesty’s Dragon
Temeraire is a dragon, and he actually fulfills many of these qualities, but when push comes to shove, it’s his ability to speak well that persuades other dragons to take up his cause.
Idealistic—Princess Mia from The Princess Diaries
If you have no vision for the future, how can you lead anyone into it? Princess Mia sort of breaks my rule about rulers, but since she’s not really a ruler in any of the YA novels, and since she doesn’t even know she’s royal until she’s in high school, I put her on the list. Really, there’s no one who fits this virtue better. Though she may not always go about things the right way, she’s always interested in a better version of her country–one that’s more environmentally and economically sound.
Persistence—Bee from Where’d You Go, Bernadette
You’re not likely to realize all your goals on day one, so leadership is all about trying and trying and trying again. Bee will stop at nothing to find her mother, traveling to the very ends of the earth to bring her home again.
Now over to you. What quality do you think is most important in a leader?
It’s so strange–as a kid you’re excited about Halloween no matter what day of the week it falls on, but as an adult I feel like I’m usually more excited about the weekend closest to it. This year, our friends threw a party and everyone dressed up as their childhood dream job. I dressed up as an archaeologist a la Indiana Jones, and Paul dressed up like a fighter pilot.
The atmosphere of disguise and pretending to be someone else is my favorite part of Halloween, so in honor of that, here are 10 memorable costumes from my childhood and 10 books to go with them.
Archaeologist—Lost in Translation by Nicole Mones
This book is probably the best (as well as only) book that I’ve read recently that features archaeology as its subject. The protagonist acts as a translator for the dig, helping them secure permission from the government. Also a great love story
Esmerelda—Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies
Oh I loved this costume. My mom didn’t make it, but it was homemade by someone. The cotton fabric had this rich, watery quality to it.
Anyway, I think of Esmerelda as a character who stands up for those in need, even at great personal cost. I can’t think of anyone who exemplifies that more than Miep Gies, who helped hide the Franks with her partner at great personal risk.
Belly Dancer—Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
My family did make this costume. It felt like everyone had a hand in it. Unfortunately we lived in Oregon, which meant I had to basically ruin the costume with layers or I’d get wet from the rain.
This YA book was one of my favorites around this time in my life (5th grade or so). I loved the emphasis it placed on storytelling and the intrigue. The life it depicted was as enchanting as it was disturbing.
Cleopatra—Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff or watch the movie with Elizabeth Taylor
This was probably one of my more memorable costumes. My hair was the right length and the right color to fit all the images you probably have in your mind of the Queen. My makeup was a bit sloppy, but that didn’t matter because I felt incredibly regal.
I like this biography of Cleopatra because it tries to rescue the woman from behind the legend created for her. I also love the movie with Liz Taylor because it does exactly the opposite.
Delores Umbridge—Matilda by Roald Dahl
It would be too easy to choose a Harry Potter book for this character. Instead I chose one with another despicable school administrator.
Bumblebee—Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
I don’t really have any memories of this costume, but it’s featured in lots of toddler pictures, so it definitely existed. I chose a book that’s sweet but also stings.
Pink Power Ranger—Bossypants by Tina Fey
Not that Tina Fey would have ever dressed up as a Power Ranger, but the message behind the costume is I will clearly kick your butt while defying all of your expectations–hence Tina Fey’s book.
Did the Power Ranger costume not say that to you? Maybe it’s just me.
Alice—Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
This book seems like the perfect counterpart to Alice in Wonderland. Not only does it have a quintessentially English feel (complete with footnotes), there’s also some traveling via mirrors going on. I will rave about this book more later. But it and the show are perfect Halloween reading.
50s housewife—Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
This book is a really interesting look into the mind of a woman who seems to be a perfect 50’s housewife, but is really a person with her own complications, flaws, and concerns.
Snow White—The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
I didn’t actually consider this costume to be a costume for Snow White. My mom and I found a bunch of these pretty German-style costumes at the thrift store, and the three of us (Mom, me and my best friend) went around dressed up as Bavarian beauties or something–we never quite settled on that. But I went dressed up that way to the preschool where my aunt worked, and all the kids called me Snow White, which was flattering.
Anyway, Angela Carter’s not-so-fairy tales are perfect for Halloween or really any time of year.
What was your most memorable costume? Let me know in the comments.
Ink in the Archives 