Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: books

  • “We are made of stardust and stories.”

    “We are made of stardust and stories.”

    I finally finished The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern on Christmas. I was looking forward to this book immensely because I absolutely loved The Night Circus. In fact I re-listen to the audio book of The Night Circus every couple of months; it is read by Jim Dale who brings such life and sympathy to the characters. I need you to know this as I tell you how I felt about The Starless Sea as I am fully aware that I am not the most unbiased source. I will say that when I read the last page of the book I cried, not because it was sad but because it was over and I had to leave that world now. It hurt my soul a little, and still does.

    Zachary Ezra Rawlins is the son of a fortune teller who narrowly escapes an adventure as a child. As an adult grad student he discovers a book in the library and becomes aware of just how close. The discovery leads him into a world of stories that lies beneath our world and just on the edge of a starless sea.

    The world Morgenstern created is so lush and complex, and is laid out in a language of fairy tale and myth in a way that feels as though it was written just for me. I fell into the world freely and gladly, my little escapist Pisces heart happy to be taken away and allowed to live with people out of time, and curious cats. I have read several reviews of the book that say something to the effect of “if you are the kind of person who likes this type of book you will love it but…” I guess I am just that kind of person because I thought the story was original and nuanced, and as everything is starting to come together toward the end of the book her ability to blend and reveal was beautiful and engaging.

    The characters, including our hero Zachary, are unusual, complex and quirky as are the settings. I learned from this book the names of the lions on the steps of the New York Public Library (Patience and Fortitude). I fell a little in love with all of the characters including the cats and with the beauty of the Starless Sea. AS said previously this was obviously a book that was written for someone like me, and I found it beautiful.

    If you are the kind of person who likes this type of book I cannot recommend The Starless Sea more. I plan to read it again and again while waiting for Erin to write me another beautiful tale.

     

     

  • My Favorite Things – Holiday Books

    I have certain books that I read/ listen to on audiobook every year around the holidays. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas/ Yule without them.

    Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris – This book includes the famous Santaland Diaries and is a must read if you haven’t. I highly recommend getting the audiobook because David reads most of the stories himself and is joined by his sister Amy as well. Sure to make you laugh.71t0yJrW7UL

    Hogfather by Terry Pratchett – Pratchett’s wonderful tale about the discworld equivalent of Santa and what happens when someone puts out a hit on him. Death steps in and then it starts to get fun. Death’s granddaughter Susan proves herself to be a badass in her own right. Has a wonderful albeit cynical quote about the importance of belief.

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    The Life and Adventure of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum – The author of the Wizard of Oz penned this charming and strange origin story for Santa complete with woodland fairies. Baum tries to answer some of the important Santa questions. Good to read aloud with children.

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    The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore – The unusual town of Pine Cove is celebrating Christmas. An angel comes and grants them a Christmas “Miracle” that leads to a zombie uprising. Oops.

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    T’was the Night Before Christmas or A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore – A Christmas classic. I have had it memorized since I was little, and I love to read/ recite it every year. It is still fun to do. My favorite line is “The moon on the breast of the newfallen snow gave a lustre of midday to objects below.” I love good rhymes.

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    Do you have a favorite holiday book? Have you read any of these?

  • WWW -Week 3 of NaNoWriMo, Writing for School and Blind Date with a Book Brunch

    This was another work heavy week for school, and I had to write quite a bit for various prompts, which means I wrote almost not at all for NaNoWriMo. This weekend is the Evening of Writing Uncontrollably at the Wagnalls Memorial Library in Lithopolis, Ohio. I am super excited about it and hope I can make up some loss of words that night writing with friends. I did write a story I am really proud of for school this week, so that feels good.

    This past Saturday the Columbus Ohio branch of Geek Girl Brunch had our Blind Date with a Book event. We wrap the book and describe it in three statements. Then we trade books. My description was: Female Protagonist, Practical Magic and Snacking in Closets. Any guesses on what the book is? I will reveal later this week. The book I chose was labeled: True Crime, Historical, Non-Fiction. It was The Devil in the White City, a book about the Chicago World’s Faire and H.H. Holmes. I am very excited to get into it soon.

  • Written Word Wednesday -NaNoWriMo Week 1

    I have lived through five full days of NaNoWriMo! Woo-hoo! 8,693 words written, absolutely no fits had, zero editing, and having a pretty great time. I have been encouraged by family, fellow writers and several text messages from my brother in law who is living vicariously through me. I have no idea if what I am writing will amount to an actual novel, but I am having fun doing it.

    In other writing news my pre-ordered copy of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern arrived in the mail yesterday. I have been looking forward to it all year. I love the Night Circus, and reread/ relisten to the audio book every couple of months. I haven’t started reading it yet, but maybe later tonight with luck. Or maybe after November is over.

    I hope November is treating you well.

  • David Sedaris and Accidental Synchronicity

    David Sedaris and Accidental Synchronicity

    This afternoon Seth and I headed downtown to the Palace Theatre for An Evening with David Sedaris.

    Last year around October we saw him for the first time, and got to meet him and have him autograph books for us. My friend from high school, Julie, works for the bookstore that always sponsors his appearances (The Book Loft. I am planning a whole post⁸ dedicated to that later.) She walked us up and introduced us a s friends of hers, and we chatted with David and he signed our two books as follows.

    This year we also saw Julie, and walked to say hello to David. We introduced ourselves and David said something to the extent of “Betsy , I remember Betsy. She was a nice girl but smelled a bit like a public toilet. You know bath and body works. And Seth.” And then he drew…a hand flipping the opener of the book off. I laughed and told him we had another book signed by him with a similar drawing and he said “oh, no!” I told him it was perfect and a bizarre coincidence.

    Walking away Seth and I mused that we must just look like we need to be flipped off. Lol.

    He was funny, poignant and generally wonderful to see a second time. I will certainly go again if I have the chance. If you have never read his work I reccomend starting with Holidays on Ice which combines his essays with fiction to make one quirky and wonderful holiday experience. It includes the famous, Santaland Diaries, which has been mafe into a play as well. If you can get his books on audio I also recommend it because he usually reads them and it is a joy to hear.

    Are you a David Sedaris fan?

  • Interview with the Vampire… Obsessed Girl

    I have been fascinated with the idea of vampires since I was an itty bitty weird girl checking out books on the supernatural and mythology from my elementary school library. Beautiful immortal beings who feed on blood, what’s not to love? I loved to read about the mythologies that lead to the idea, the legends and especially the amazing fiction about vampires that are available for teens and adults who love them. Here are some of my favorite books, or at least some of the most memorable to me.

    The Silver Kiss – Annette Curtis Klause: I remember reading this at 10 or so and loving it. I have read it again as an adult and it is still pretty good. It features a vampire child, which is super creepy, and a lightly goth over tone. The ending made me cry.

    Lost Souls – Poppy Z Brite: An interesting book that presents a very different idea of how vampires are created.

    Interview with the Vampire/ The Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice: She rewrote the genre. Lestat is pure wickedness. I once used a monologue from Queen of the Damned for an audition piece.

    Dracula – Bram Stoker: The original. Renfield is the creepiest. Lucy is heartbreaking. And Mina is a goth girls dream.

    The Hollows/ Rachel Morgan books – Kim Harrison: Rachel is a witch and a bad ass. Her roomate Ivy is a Vampire. They live in a church. Chaos ensues.

    That is what I can think of off the top of my head. Do you have a favorite vampire book?

  • Wednesday Ink Therapy

    Wednesday Ink Therapy

    My little sister and I have been sitting on a couple of gift cards to a local tattoo parlor for months, and had been putting off a plan to go get the tattoos done for almost as long. Something always came up, or one of us was sick, or the weekend was just too busy. Well finally early this week she texted me asking if she took Wednesday off if we could finally go get our tattoos. As Wednesday is my day off (I work 4×10 MTThF at the moment) I was in.

    We agreed to meet at Defining Skin at noon on Wednesday since that was when they opened, and we would figure things out from there. I was, of course, twenty minutes early as is only right and proper so I sat in my car taking selfies until Traci arrived. It turns out she had the foresight to call ahead and Charles Martin (@tmberwolf) would be able to get us in, but not until 1:30. That meant we had some time to kill.

    Traci hadn’t eaten yet and I only had maple pecan puffs, so we decided to go get something to eat and since Brewdog Franklinton was nearby it seemed an obvious choice to us. Because you have to get a beer if you go to Brewdog I decided to try their Franklinton Dumpster Fire (The night before this location opened the dumpster caught fire very dramatically and they thought they may not get to open) which is a sour gose. It was delicious with berry and a lovely smoky aftertaste. Traci got a Sucker Punch Cider from Mad Moon, which was delicious and much too easy to drink. For lunch I got cauliflower wings with blue cheese dip. They were so good. I could have moved into that dish and lived happily for some time.

    We headed back over to Defining skin where we filled out all our paperwork and waited for Charlie to be ready for us. Traci and I were both getting text; Traci a quote from Kingdom Hearts – “One Sky One Destiny” and for me one of my favorite words and a tattoo I had wanted for a long time “Bibliophile.” I wanted mine to look as much like typeset as possible, and Traci wanted hers to be script. He got them together, made the stencils and I was up first. I was afraid that the wrist would be super sensitive and uncomfortable, but it really wasn’t bad at all. All in all the whole tattoo took about 15 minutes, which is so much quicker than all my other pieces. Traci was up next and she wanted hers on her chest under her collar bones. He got it lined up and spaced out, and then got to work on her. Hers took 30 minutes or so, not very long at all. She said the chest didn’t hurt badly either, but I don’t know if I believe her.

    We are both so happy with our new ink. The only sad thing about it is that I am going to a pool party tonight and I can’t get in the pool with my fresh ink. Oh,well. It is worth it for the awesome. I am just going to put my feet in and look at my beautiful and long time coming tattoo.

     

     

  • In which I get my degree and think, “Well now what?”

    It is officially official, I have earned my bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing. I received my diploma in the mail, framed it, and currently it is hanging on a wall in my living room staring at me and challenging me to think about what comes next. I know I would like to begin looking for a job that is closer to my career field, but what does that look like and how do I begin.

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    Do I want to teach? If so I should probably begin looking at Master’s Degree programs, because that is almost prerequisite nowadays. Would I rather find a job in the “business” world that will utilize my “new” strengths? That is what I have been looking at and applying for, but so far it seems like they want people who have many years of solid writing under their belt, and I am just getting started. I know I could do the job, and successfully, but if I never even make it to the interview stage how can I show that?

    Life is not all gloom and doom, though, yesterday my family surprised me with a graduation party at one of my favorite restaurants, Mi Tradicion. My mom and sister, my husband, my aunt Gayle and uncle Charlie, my aunt Cathy, my cousin Lynsi and her daughter Kynadey, and my cousin Robby and his fiance Sharon all came together to celebrate my graduation. It was a lovely time, and it was nice to get to see everyone and chat. I got some lovely gifts including an amazing laptop that my mom bought me. My family knows me really well, and they gave me gifts that spoke to my soul, like the amazing book based charm bracelet my sister made me.

     

  • Written Words Wednesday – Book Wyrm Post

    Written Words Wednesday – Book Wyrm Post

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    I believe I mentioned previously that I am a bibliophile. I consider myself a Book Wyrm rather than a Book Worm, because I horde books like a dragon. Today I thought I would share what book I am currently reading, and a couple of books I recently purchased.

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    I am currently reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. If you have ever read, or attempted to read, the Poetic Edda you know that it can occasionally be hard going and sometimes things just get lost in translation. In Norse Mythology Gaiman successfully modernizes the language of the myths, but loses none of the meaning and beauty. My favorite re-imagining in the book so far is The Treasures of the Gods which is the tale of when Loki stole Sif’s hair and, after being threatened by Thor, comes up with a way to get the Dark Elves (Dwarves) to craft her new golden hair. The twists and turns and Loki’s slippery nature are a very entertaining read.

    I am in the middle of reading the story The Mead of Poets, so I am about halfway through the book. That being said I would already recommend it highly, especially for lovers of mythology.

     

    Seth and I wandered into Barnes and Noble the other day, because I was wanting to pick up a Squirrel Girl comic or two. As you can see above I found one, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl – Like I’m the Only Squirrel in the World.

    I also picked up another Graphic Novel called Spell on Wheels by Kate Leth, Megan Levens and Marissa Louise. The tag line on the back reads: A road trip story. A magical revenge fantasy. A sisters-over-misters tale of three witches out to get back what was taken from them.  Sounds intriguing, right? I will report back with what I think.

    On a sale rack I found The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer for $6.98. I already have the book in audio form, but could not pass up a physical copy for that price. If you have not read this beautiful book, do it. Or buy it as an audio book and Amanda will read it to you.

    Happy Reading!

  • Writing Challenge – Day 28

    Writing Challenge – Day 28

    Day 28: Post five things that make you laugh-out-loud.

    I feel like I should add a disclaimer that I am, in fact, a laugher. I laugh a lot, and at seemingly everything. So…almost anything can make me laugh out loud. My husband and I just crack each other up all the time. It is a thing, I love it, and I think it is how the two of us stay sane. I love to laugh, and I will do it as much as I can. So…here is a list of things that will make me laugh every time.

    1. Those stupid pet videos of animals tripping, falling, jumping into things, making crazy faces, or the gif of the fuzzy cat saying Diabetus. I will watch them again and again and cackle. It is sad, and also makes me deliriously happy. diabetus cat  mqdefault
    2. Acher! I love this cartoon with all my heart, and it often makes me laugh out loud. Shit Snacks! archer
    3. The My Favorite Murder podcast. This is a new obsession of mine, and the hosts (Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark) are so funny. And, yes the subject matter can get heavy, but Karen and Georgia keep it fun and often laugh out loud funny. It has often been listed in the top ten comedy podcasts on Itunes.  Check it out! 427
    4. The Smartest Man in the World podcast. My celebrity crush, Greg Proops, talking about whatever takes his fancy, and keeping me laughing out loud at work. I absolutely love Greg.  Greg’s website. smartestman_4232
    5. Christopher Moore books. If you have never read a book by Christopher Moore do it. I recommend Dirty Jobs, as it is a personal favorite, and more than that recommend the audio book read by Fisher Stevens. But seriously his books are so ridiculously funny that I quote them constantly and crack myself up. So good.  Christopher’s Website chrismoore