Double-Stacked Bookshelves

With the new development of gadgets that allow you to access books with the simple touch of a button, the entire way that we read has shifted.  We now have the ability to carry around thousands of books in one single device.  While I like the convenience of this trend, I just can't jump on board.  For that reason, this edition of "Why I Love" is dedicated to the paperback book, otherwise known as my favorite book form/format . I am probably one of the few "literary-driven" people left who does not own an e-reader of any kind.  My sister (who doesn't read nearly as much as I do) got one for Christmas and, while I did enjoy playing around on it, I was so much more excited to receive an actual book.  One that I could grasp, physically flip through, and smell.  These are all traits that I cherish when I think about books or reading. I like to hold onto books (I carry one with me at all times and normally read multiple books at a time) and feel the weight t...

This week's teaser is going to be a little different than the normal installation.  I was in Portland at one of my favorite coffee shops this last weekend catching up with my German professor from undergrad and a dear friend, Jenna.  After our elixir of life get-together, Jenna and I decided to hit up one of my favorite used bookstores in the area (not Powell's...that's on the other side of town) and browse through the book-packed rooms of the establishment.  While on this adventure, I came across Portland Noir , a collection of contemporary short stories written by local authors, edited by Kevin Sampsell.  So, because this isn't a traditional book, I will be teasing a line from every selection!  Here goes: Karen Karbo "The Clown and Bard" "Now Charlotte's lying on my bathroom floor, wedged between the hot water pipe and the toilet.  Is it laying or lying?  Charlotte would know.  She has a master's degree and a daily subscription to the New Y...

"It seems to me that it's only since around 1970 that the concept of diet and exercise has existed in the way it does now, which is based on exertion and restriction being the key to weight loss, and yet since then, we have seen an increase in obesity in countries that have adopted it.  (These are also the countries where the fast-food industry boomed during that time.)  The diet industry is making a lot of money selling us fad diets, nonfat foods full of chemicals, gym memberships, and pills while we lose a little of our self-esteem every time we fail another diet or neglect to use the gym membership we can barely afford." (302) ~ Portia de Rossi It's interesting, but I've never really thought about dieting as an industry as the above except from Portia de Rossi's memoir, Unbearable Lightness:  A Story of Loss and Gain , declares it to be.  And, honestly, I have to say that I agree with her.  There are so many different fad diets out there that claim you...

"You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important." After putting off Kathryn Stockett's The Help for months, I was finally forced to read it for one of my many (and ever-growing) book clubs.  Thank you Misty (and whoever from the group suggested it be our next book)!  I think I put off reading it for so long because of how much it's been touted since it's publication.  There has been so much hype and so many people saying how fantastic it is that I was terrified it wouldn't live up to it.  That it would fail at impressing me and leave me even more jaded with public opinion (cue Justin Bieber).  However, now that I've read it, I can honestly say that this novel DOES live up to everything that's been said about it.  It's absolutely wonderful!  It is sharp.  It is witty.  It is sad.  It is infuriating. It is so much. The novel takes place in the early 1960s and centers around three women:  Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter....

It feels like Wednesday's come around all the time now...and you know what that means:  "Why I Love..."  This week's topic is one that can go so many different ways and include so many different things.  But, for the sake of this post, favorite types of characters , I have to say that I love when a character is not perfect, has flaws, and still manages to capture my heart. There are so many characters that fit this description, but my ultimate #1 flawed character has to be Severus Snape.  From the time I started reading the Harry Potter novels, Snape held a special place in my heart.  Everyone was convinced, and tried to convince me, that he was evil and a terrible person, but for some reason I had this gut feeling that he wasn't as bad as he was made out to seem.  I held onto that opinion and that undying love completely paid off.  I think that his final scene in the novels was one of the most difficult for me to deal with.  Yes, he had his f...

Today's teaser comes from Kathryn Stockett's The Help .  I've had this book for nearly six months now and have kept meaning to read it, but for some reason I always chose something else.  I think I was scared that the book wouldn't live up to the hype.  Thankfully it was chosen by one of my book clubs and I've had to start reading it.  So, without further ado, here's the teaser: "I cry and cry right there in front of everybody.  I look over at Minny, and she laughing.  Funny how peoples show they feelings in different ways.  I wonder what Miss Skeeter would do if she was here and it kind of makes me sad.  I know ain't nobody in town gone sign a book for her and tell her she brave.  Ain't nobody gone tell her they look after her." (467) If you haven't read The Help yet, please do so!  My review should be posted in the next day or so.  I've got about fifty pages left.  Happy Tuesday!

“The key to change is letting go of the fear.” I've been waiting for Pittacus Lore's The Power of Six to come out since I finished I am Number Four a few months ago.  And boy was the wait worth it!  Personally, the second installation to the Lorien Legacies was so much better than the first in the series.  The book starts by introducing a new member of the Garde, Marina.  Marina has been living in an orphanage in Spain with her Cepan, Adelina, for several years.  The two of them are at odds because of Adelina's attitude toward the role they have been destined to play since being shipped off of Lorien.  Because of this, Marina has constant questions about her legacies and the other members of the Garde and feels like she is completely alone in the fight to save her home planet.  Adelina has done nothing to assuage these fears and questions. The reader is also taken back to where I am Number Four left off.  We see the journey of Six, John, an...