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High Shelf Esteem

Archives for July 2018

July 28, 2018

Literary Linking: July 23 – 27

This week’s link topics include: backlash against the anti-libraries article in Forbes, the Man Booker Prize Longlist, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of July 23 – 27:

No, Amazon Cannot Replace Libraries
This is just one of many articles responding to the awful op-ed piece published by Forbes last weekend. It’s heartening to know that so many people do appreciate libraries.

Lin-Manuel Miranda To Publish a Picture Book
Is there anything this man can’t do?!?

Man Booker Prize 2018 Longlist in Pictures
This year’s list includes a graphic novel for the very first time!

Ikea is Building Reading Rooms, Where You Can Take Books Home for Free
This is only happening in the UK, but hopefully Ikeas across the pond will follow suit.

5 Creative Cocktails Based on Books
If you’re going to have a cocktail, it might as well be a literary one 🙂

Filed Under: Literary Linking Kristen Leave a Comment

July 27, 2018

How To Add Literary Flare To All Your Travel!

Armchair travel through books is an amazing way to “see” the world without spending thousands of dollars on transportation and lodging. Real travel for vacation is tons of fun too, especially if you put in the time to plan it right. For me, “planning it right” means the trip has a healthy dash of literary flavor mixed in.

What’s great is there are so many ways to turn practically any travel you do into a literary adventure. Of course, the easiest way to do this is by planning your trip around a visit to a literary landmark from the outset. Pinterest is chock full of bookish-destination pins that will put your wanderlust in high gear (check out my board dedicated to them) and there are plenty of literary-based travel books out there. My personal favorite is Novel Destinations, by Shannon McKenna Schmidt & Joni Rendon.

As lovely as it would be to plan every vacation around a literary landmark, there are going to be trips where books and reading won’t be the focus. I’m going to Las Vegas next week and the primary purpose of the trip is to attend a video-gaming tournament with my husband for his birthday. While Street Fighter matches will be front and center for the weekend, I still plan on making the experience a literary one with some well-focused Internet research.

To add literary flavor to this Las Vegas trip and for any other travel, here’s what I do:
Step 1

Check some tried and true websites to see if they have any posts on the the city I’m visiting.

Literary Boroughs series on the Ploughshares blog from Emerson College
Eat This Poem Literary City Guides
Literary Tourism series on Book Riot

Step 2

Try and find books that are set in my travel destination. Seeing the sites mentioned in the story is so much fun!

The easiest way to do this is Googling “books set in (city/state/country name).” A lot of the results will be links to Goodreads lists. It’s amazing how location-specific the lists can be.

Step 3

Continue Googling my little heart out. I enter the name of the city I’m visiting in the search box and make my way through this list:

Libraries
Hopefully you’ll get links to the local public library as well as lists of special libraries (these might have an entrance fee).
When I did this search for my Las Vegas trip, one of the results was a adult entertainment club called The Library 🙂

Independent Bookstores
You can also use IndieBound.org’s handy dandy Indie Bookstore Finder.

Literary/Bookish Restaurants/Cafes/Bars
Results will include restaurants/cafes/bars that have a bookish flare (I am definitely checking out Bookmarks Lounge when I’m in NYC later this summer) or places where famous authors have been known to eat and drink.

Literary/Author Statues
You might get to take a selfie with one of your favorite writers!

Literary/Book Festival
It never hurts to see if your trip lines up with a city’s book festival.

Literary (Museum) Exhibits
This search normally doesn’t yield much, but you never know if a Harry Potter exhibit might be in town.

Cemeteries
Searching “authors buried in (city name)” usually gets the best results.

Using these steps, I’ve been able to incorporate bookishness into almost all the travel I’ve done during the last few years.  I have an awesome literary itinerary for my visit to Las Vegas and I can’t wait to post a rundown of my adventures in a couple weeks!

 

I’d love to hear about your literary travels. Please share some of your favorite bookish travels in the comments below!

Filed Under: Bookish Musings Kristen Leave a Comment

July 21, 2018

Literary Linking: July 16 – 20

This week’s link topics include: most anticipated books for the rest of 2018, fake travel posters based on famous novels, an interview with Kevin Kwan, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of July 16 – 20:

Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2018 Book Preview
You probably have plenty on your TBR already, but The Millions always does a great job with their book previews.

The Book that Terrified Neil Gaiman. And Carmen Maria Machado. And Dan Simmons.
Picturing Neil Gaiman terrified is giggle-inducing.

I’m Very Into These Fake Travel Posters Based on Famous Novels
PBS’s The Great American Read has created hilarious travel posters for some of the books on their top 100 list. Love the doubleplusgood discount for trips to London in 1984 🙂

11 Things I Will Never, Ever Admit To My Local Librarian
Honestly, we librarians know our customers are harboring these types of secrets, but we still want you to come and use all our resources anyway!

Crazy Rich Asians, from Book To Film: An Interview with Kevin Kwan
If you haven’t read this deliciously entertaining book, you still have time before the movie comes out in August.

Filed Under: Literary Linking Kristen 2 Comments

July 15, 2018

What I’ve Been Reading: July 2018

Welcome to Quick Lit, where bloggers link up with Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy and share short and sweet reviews of what we’ve been reading lately.

I love travel for the regular reasons: getting to see new sites, try new foods, learn about new cultures, etc. I also love it for another very nerdy reason. I get so much reading done! One long-weekend trip at the end of June yielded the completion of 2 books and half of one more. It was fabulous. My reading pace slowed way down once I got back, but thankfully, I have a trip to Las Vegas coming up 🙂

Here’s what I’ve been reading lately:

Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata
Keiko Furakuwa has never been considered “normal,” but her job as a Tokyo convenience store woman for the past 18 years has given her a sense of belonging and the guise of social normalcy. However, society’s expectations of a 36-year-old woman dictate that Keiko should have a better a job, and if not that, then at least she should be married. In an effort to conform to these expectations, Keiko makes a bold decision involving a very peculiar “dead-ender” man.

What an odd yet delightful book this was! Murata’s commentary on the inanity of so many social norms is deliciously thought-provoking. I found myself chewing on questions on what it means to be a functional adult in today’s world long after finishing the book.

The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah
Leni Allbright’s dad, Ernt, hasn’t been quite right since coming back from the Vietnam War. He’s violent and moody abd Leni and her mom walk on eggshells around him hoping to avoid setting him off. When he inherits land in Alaska from a fallen comrade, the family heads north to live off the land, hoping the change of scenery will improve Ernt’s state of mind.

With the help of other homesteaders, the Albrights learn to survive the harsh Alaska winters, but the days of endless darkness only make Ernt more abusive. The unforgiving climate ends up being less dangerous than the rooms inside the family’s cabin.

I loved Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, so I had high expectations for this one. Although it’s quite different from The Nightingale, The Great Alone has a driving plot and incredibly compelling characters. They wound me up so much that I found myself yelling at Leni’s mom to please, PLEASE make better decisions and fuming at Ernt for being so horrible. By no means is this a light and fun summer read, but I could not put it down. I had to see if Leni was going to be alright!

Be Prepared, by Vera Brogol
Vera doesn’t fit in with the kids at school. She’s just too Russian for them. When she hears about a summer camp specifically for Russian American kids, she thinks it will solve all her problems. She heads to camp with sky-high hopes only to be crushed because she doesn’t fit in there either! She’s not Russian enough. She faces one debacle after another during her weeks at camp, but eventually finds a kindred spirit.

I am always attracted to summer camp books for some reason, and Be Prepared was the perfect read for that niche genre. Brosgol’s artwork is adorable (I couldn’t get enough of Vera’s big googly eyes) and the book is chock-full of humor, but it has a more serious side too. Since it’s based on Brosgol’s own experiences, the book feels very real and her countless humiliations in the story made me empathize deeply.

Caraval, by Stephanie Garber
For years Scarlett dreamed of going to Caraval — a magical yearly game run by mastermind Legend — with her sister Tella. She wrote Legend letters for years asking for tickets, but never heard from him. Until now.

Legend has finally sent the sisters tickets to Caraval. Although the timing isn’t great (Scarlett’s abusive father has arranged for Scarlett to be married in a week’s time), Scarlett and Tella escape their island with ruggedly handsome sailor Julian and make it to Caraval. Things only get more complicated from there. Legend kidnaps Tella and the aim of this year’s game is to rescue her. In this wildly color-saturated world, Scarlett has to discern what is real and who to trust. With Julian’s help she pushes herself to do things she never would have imagined in hopes of saving her beloved sister.

This was another book I couldn’t put down. The writing bugged me at times (Garber’s color-centric descriptions of practically everything got tiresome) and Scarlett wasn’t the most likable character, but the plot moved at breakneck speed and kept me turning the pages. It ends on a major cliffhanger and I’ll definitely be reading the sequel, Legendary.

What have you been reading and enjoying this month? Please share in the comments below!

Filed Under: Reviews and Recommendations Kristen 3 Comments

July 15, 2018

Literary Linking: July 9 – 13

This week’s link topics include: audiobooks vs. reading, the new Robert Galbraith book, book cover manicures and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of July 9 – 13

Audiobooks vs. Reading: The Rules Are, There Are No Rules
A great breakdown of the strengths of each.

EasyJet Open a Library in the Skies
Why don’t all airlines have “flybraries” for their young passengers? It’s such a wonderful idea.

Robert Galbraith’s New Book “Lethal White” Is Coming Out September 18 & It’s Sure To Be a Must-Read for J.K. Rowling Fans
There’s time reread the first three books in the series before this one comes out or there’s the BBC show, Strike, if you can get access to it. It’s a good time to be a J.K. fan 🙂

Traveler Restaurant: This Small-Town Connecticut Restaurant Gives Each Diner a Free Book from Its Vast Library
Next stop? Union, Connecticut!

Jennie Shaw Really Nails Her Book Reviews
I had a nail polish and book-pairing post a few months ago, but it’s nothing compared to what this blogger is doing on the regular. The manicures of book covers she’s giving herself are bananas.

How To Read More Books: 7 Easy Tricks
These are tips are very doable. I’m going to try some of them this week.

Filed Under: Literary Linking Kristen 1 Comment

July 7, 2018

Literary Linking: July 2 – 6

This week’s link topics include: the decline in leisure reading, beach libraries, George R. R. Martin’s summer reading suggestions, and more!

My favorite bookish links the week of July 2 – 6:

Leisure Reading in the US Is at an All-Time Low
Soooo, the reading declines are higher in men. Let’s step it up, guys!!!

A Beach and a Book: Beach Libraries Pop Up Worldwide
These beachfront libraries are a wonder to behold. Since they’re popping up around the world, I just want to know if they stock books in a variety of languages. If you come across one on your beach trips this summer, I’d love to hear about your findings.

Books Don’t Always Need Words. Here’s Why Some Stories Are Better without Them.
This article should be a long-form PSA for parents who are too lazy to read wordless books with their kids. Wordless books are SO good for them for so many different reasons. One of personal favorites is Journey, by Aaron Becker.

George R. R. Martin Suggests 9 Books To Read This Summer
These suggestions came from Martin’s participation in NY Public Library’s #ReadingIsLit campaign. He pulled together two five-title lists: Fantasy Suggestions for Game of Thrones Fans and Martin’s Favorite Books Regardless of Genre. So, why are there only 9 suggestions? Because he loves The Lord of the Rings so much he listed it twice — love it!

Mice Were Wildly Popular in Children’s Books in the ‘90s – But Why?
Mice in books are always super cute and kids love cute animals, but this article explains rodent popularity on a more sophisticated level.

Filed Under: Literary Linking Kristen 4 Comments

July 4, 2018

What’s Making Me Happy, Vol. 13

I love warm weather, but 95 degrees with 100% humidity is a bit much for me to bear. Luckily, there are lots of things distracting me from the heat and putting a smile on my face.

Check out what’s making me happy:

Planet Fitness Massage Chairs While Watching Say Yes To the Dress
I joined Planet Fitness a few months ago at the basic membership level, but the unlimited chair- and hydro-massages that come with the Black Card membership were too tempting. I upgraded and am taking advantage of the perks every time I go to the gym. After I workout and shower, I plop myself into one of the massage chairs, flip on Say Yes To the Dress: Atlanta on the TV and love my life. It’s the perfect way to start the morning.

Fresh Flowers from Trader Joe’s
I have a brown thumb. Nay, a black thumb! Even my air plants have died. I’ve decided to accept this about myself, ditch live plants, and embrace fresh-cut (aka already dead) flowers. What better place to start my floral adventures than Trader Joe’s? At $3.99 for a mixed bouquet, the price can’t be beat and mine bloom for a full week. That’s longer than a lot of the real plants I’ve owned! The flowers really liven up a room and make me smile any time I see them.

Scratch-and-Sniff Stamps
I’m not usually one for gimmicks, but scratch-and-sniff stamps are one that I’m happy to fall for. The first-ever USPS scratch-and-sniff stamps feature all different kinds of frozen treats with the scents to match. Scratch-and-sniff stickers were my jam back in elementary school, but I never used them because there didn’t seem to be anything special enough to affix them to. The nice thing about scented stamps is that they have a practical purpose, so I will actually use them. I’d be wasting money if I didn’t. Let me know if you have a birthday coming up, and maybe you’ll get a card from me with a yummy stamp on it!

Puppy Prep
Puppy Prep is a BuzzFeed show available on YouTube and Hulu that makes me grin from ear to ear whenever I put it on. The show follows a handful of puppies being trained as service dogs, and the aww-factor is ridiculously high. I have just one criticism: there is only one season so far and it’s only 5 episodes long. The world will be a better place if BuzzFeed continues making new seasons indefinitely. They should get on it!

 

What’s making you happy this month? Please share in the comments below!

Filed Under: What's Making Me Happy Kristen Leave a Comment

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