Busboys And Poets

One of my fire station book club girls of awesome recommended this place to me...thought I might like it for some reason lol.  Hubbin being the wise man that he is took the suggestion and me and my girl L out for dinner last night.

The place is Busboys and Poets and is essentially a bookstore inside of an awesome restaurant.  There is all kinds of books, poetry, artwork and originality inside each different place.  If you ever get the chance you should stop in.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Hi Everybody!  (Hi Dr. Nick...sorry I may have been watching waaaaay to much Simpsons while unpacking...)  Anyways just a quick post to let you all know I am head out to the great state of Texas for my Hubbins family reunion.  I have never really been to Texas but I hear it's hot and everything is bigger out there.  On that note me and my books will be out for the week so no posting for the next 7 days or so.

I did however just get back from three different book stores to stock up on books for the trip so I promise some good ramblings when I get back, including my whole experience with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which I have exerted great amounts of self control to save until vacation time.  Hope you all have a book filled week.  Happy Reading Everybody!

I'm In Trouble Now

Finally starting to settle into the new house.  Boxes are starting to get put away, we have painting and bookshelf installation planned this weekend, it's all starting to come together.  While I was at the station this weekend, Hubbin took a break from unpacking to do some exploring...and guess what he found?  A Barnes and Noble, a Starbucks, an ABC store AND McKay an awesome used bookstore that had been recommended to me by my awesome driver...who also happens to be part of my impromptu fire station book club, all literally less then 5 minutes from my house.

 When I got back from my 48 hour shift, Hubbin took me to McKay's and told me to go to town...7 books later we finally decided to go make dinner as I don't even have a place to put the books yet :-)  I feel that this is a sign we absolutely chose the right house...even if we won't be able to pay the mortgage due to the spending of all our money on books ha. Now to find the other bookstore recommended by my other fire house buddy and I will be good to go!  Happy Reading Everybody!

Bookworm Romance

If there was any doubt in my mind that I totally married the bestest Hubbin in the universe (there never was) he totally did the most romantic thing for me the other day.  I had a couple hours off from the fire station and my sweet Hubbin took me to the book store and bought me books!!!!!  Seriously the guy is just awesome.  He got me coffee, breakfast and then straight to the bookstore.

I got to roam the shelves to my hearts content and he followed me around holding every book I handed to him.  After exhausting myself he marched up to the cash register and paid for my books.  He handed them to me, took me home, made me coffee, handed me chocolate and let me read read read.  Seriously folks best Hubbin EVER!  Happy Reading Everybody!

Awesome Present For ME!!!!

My baby sis is back in the states from her world tour and she came bearing an early birthday present for me :-)

Private Worlds 

It's a book published and printed in 1937...and yes the first thing I did was smell it, and let me tell you it smells awesome!

Other then being a really cool find from overseas, where she got the book is pretty awesome too!  Shakespeare and Company in Paris is an old book store built...or should I say created by George Whitman who said "I created this bookstore like a man would write a novel, building each room like a chapter, and I like people to open the door the way they open a book, a book that leads into a magic world in their imaginations." —George Whitman

The builder of the bookstore and various authors who were passing through at the time used to be able to spend the night inside the bookstore.  There is a ton of history behind the store and the book and I cannot wait to explore both of them!  Thanks baby sis for a perfect present.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Marvelous Is A Great Word

This is how I feel most of the time :-)

Happy Reading Everybody!

Treasure Hunt

My baby sis came to visit me this weekend and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to go on a book treasure hunt.  I made a list of a bunch of books, mostly series pieces and authors that I have been having a hard time finding and armed with a fresh gift card headed off to the used bookstore.  The best part of this particular book store (2nd and Charles) is that they have shopping carts!  Yep a whole shopping cart for us to pile high with reasonably priced books!!!!  Baby sis and Hubbin got into the spirit of the treasure hunt and before we knew it we had a pile of book booty.  We then created many many piles, sorted through them and ended up with about 20 or so books, many of which were actually on my list.  Of course being the unpredictable bookworm that I am a few non list books may have snuck in there.

Hauling the booty home was a bit of an adventure as the bookstore, in an effort to be green and save money so that they can continue to sell me 75 cent books don't use bags...so here is me an baby sis stumbling out of the store our arms so full of books they are literally spilling on the ground.  We finally fill up the trunk with our non-ill gotten gains and head home.  Hubbin had to pull the car up to the door so that we could bundle our loot into the lobby, then into the elevator, then up to the house...whew this treasure hunting is hard work.  Now we have our hard won treasure and will now spend the next week lamenting the need to go to work instead of exploring all my new books boo, and my baby sis will have to explain to her Hubby why she came home with 20 new books...   Happy Reading Everybody!

Book Got Back

One of the most important parts of book shopping is the back of the book.  It should give you enough information to intrigue you to at least open it up, or to decide it is probably not for you, or at least let you know if you have read it or not before.  To be honest that is a lot to ask a few sparse paragraphs.  I have spent many hours in various bookstores with a pile of books just reading the backs trying to decide if I should proceed to the second phase of reading the first chapter before I decide to buy or not.  To this end (keeping in mind that a the essential briefness of the back blurb) it peeves me to no end when the description of the book has NOTHING to do with the actual book.  For example the back of Dragonsinger says "A well-thought-out sequal to Dragonsong about the planet Pern and the apprentice harper Menolly, Mcaffrey's fantasy celebrates the power of music.  At Harper Hall, the music conservatory on Pern, Menolly is initially unaware of the extent of her own powers, since, due to her sex her musical skill had been suppressed in her homeland.  Moreover, she encounters hostility because all of Pern's other harpers-who are more powerful then kings in a world where music literally controls minds - are men.  Gradually, she gains confidence with the help of new friends, teachers, and nine of the planet's rare fire lizards who themselves are excellent singers with mysterious powers....The transformation of Menolly from a terrified outcast to a woman secure within herself is skillfully handled, making her a sympathetic character with whom many readers will identify." - School Library Jouranal

This blurb that the publishers chose for the back of the book makes it sound like music is a magic power that "literally" controls minds.  This book has no magic in it what so ever, in fact the whole point of the Pern series is to have a "fantasy" world that is more sci-fi then anything and magic is not a part of that (I wish people would learn the definition of the term literally).  I understand that it is hard to sum up an entire book, especially a series without giving everything away in such a short space, but would it be to much to ask for it to at least be accurate?  All of that aside, I still rely heavily on the back of books to help me make a determination on what to buy, and have had much success, so I guess I shouldn't complain to much.  Thanks for letting me rant.  Happy Reading Everybody!  Let me know your most inconsistant experiance with the back of a book.

Literary Allusions In A Haunted Forest

My birthday weekend rocked.  I have to say I have the best friends and family on planet earth and having a birthday in the middle of fall/near Halloween is just icing on the really yummy molten lava cake they bought me for my birthday.  The weekend started with a two hour Skype with the Mamma, followed by phone calls, video's and cards from all of my nephews.  A quick check in with Daddy and the siblings and I was ready to party.  Baby Sis and her husband came down from PA to party with me, the Hubbin and some very close friends in my favorite Irish pub.  I love the feel of this pub, it is an old in with all these little tables tucked away and you can just imagine your favorite author jotting down his/her story with a glass of Irish whisky in hand.
Saturday started out at my favorite used book store 2nd & Charles and between me and Baby Sis we may have filled up the trunk of the car with books...we may never be allowed to go back.  Dinner with friends and then on to Markoff's Haunted Forest.  The whole event was based on Dante's Inferno with the attractions being named and themed after the seven circles of Hell.  I do not scare easily, but the people I was with do, so I was thoroughly entertained the whole time (all right I admit it, I did my fair share of screaming too!).  We rode the zip-line, which in the middle of the night is the best feeling in the world.  There were bon fires, food, music, and a ton of demons to keep us on our toes.  The best part of the night was the actual trail itself.  You get to wander through the woods, through various vignette's all while clinging tightly to your group.  Six of us ended up going through together and you could tell we were all book geeks by our numerous references to books through out.  One girl got "volunteered" to be tribute (as in Katniss volunteering in The Hunger Games).  There was a swamp that instead of scaring us, led to a five minute discussion on how it reminded us of the Dread Marshes from the Two Towers...until the scary monsters asked us to kindly move along.  One of the sections contained a combination of human and dragon bones that looked like it could have come straight out of Game of Thrones, complete with a GIANT dragon skull that nearly knocked one of our own into the swamp.  Overall the scares were great, the night was perfect and I could not have asked for better people to spend my birthday weekend with.  I hope you all had a great weekend too and can't wait to get some of my ramblings up this week.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Barnsie Treat

One of the best things about my Mamma coming to visit is the amount of time we get to spend in Barnes and Nobles.  She lives in a teeny tiny town of 1000 in White Sulfur Springs MT and does not get to see the inside of a book store very often (thank God for the internet!).  So when she comes to visit I like to try and block off at least a couple of hours for her to spend there.  Of course being the wonderful daughter that I am I couldn't possibly let her sit there alone, nope I am a good daughter and sat with her the whole three hours :-).

 We love to show each other books, talk about books, argue about books, laugh about books, reminisce about books and then realize we have been doing this for three hours, panic because we are supposed to be somewhere and then continue to pile up our to buy stack on the way to the register.  Ah memories being made.  Needless to say I had a great time with my coffee, my books and my Mamma yesterday :-)
Where does your poor rural relative like to go when they come visit?  If you are the poor rural relative, where do you like to go visit?  Why would anybody ever live somewhere that far from a bookstore?!?

Free Books!

I love books, books books books, I love to buy them and read them and look at them and feel them and put them on shelves and rearrange them. And now I have discovered that I like scouring the internet and old used book store for free books!  Yep you heard me right, FREE BOOKS.  How does one score such a wondrous gift...well I will tell you.  You have to put some effort in, but it can be done.

Online- This is probably the easiest, fastest way to obtain new and even better, classic books.  If a book has gone out of copyright in the US then it is considered public domain and can be shared with any US citizen for free.  There is an awesome site called Project Gutenberg that has everything from Jane Austen to old school manuals on how to raise a barn.  This site is just fun to explore and it is completely free! Feel free to donate if you have some spare cash.  You can also sometimes find free books on sites like Amazon or Barnes and Nobles that are from newer authors trying to hook you, or sometimes even established authors.  This is a great way to discover some new favorites.
ARC's-Sometimes if you are very lucky, or if you run a successful blog you can get ARC's or Advanced Reading Copies from either the publisher or from one of the distribution sites like NetGalley.  Different companies handle ARC's in different ways so it may take a little effort, but it might be worth it to read a book before the general public.  I don't do this very often as my backlog of TBR's is so huge if I started adding yet to be published books...well I would probably implode.  The other thing to be careful of is that these are may still be edited before they are actually published using advanced reader feedback, so the final book may be a wee bit different from the one you read.
Giveaway's-There is always a give away going on, either on various blogs, author sites, publishing sites, so many people want to give you books.  Again this takes a bit of effort, but usually it is as easy as logging in, or giving them your e-mail address and commenting to qualify.  I have even seen groups of blogs get together for a progressive give away.  If you are willing to look and take some time, the possibilities are endless.  This is also a good way to get some interesting versions of books, or signed copies, or bundles, it all depends on the giveaway. This is a great way to visit other blogs and sites and find some new favorites (note to self, should probably do a giveaway at some point soon).
Book Swapping-This is where you essentially take a book you have already read and swap with somebody who has a book you want to read.  This is not totally free as you need to have books of your own, but it is a "free" way to expand your reading repertoire.  You can do this with people you know, or you can use a site like BookMooch which works on an international point system.  The plus side to this is that you can get books you have been wanting, or looking for that are hard to find for free.  Especially on the websites the variety is mind boggling.  The down side is you usually have to give up one of your own books.  If it is with a friend or family member, you may get it back, but if it is a true swap...bye bye book.  Also super popular books are a little harder to come by.
Free Bin-This is where your second hand book shop once again proves to be your best friend.  Not only does it provide you with a plethora of books (some of which are impossible to find otherwise) for a usually decent price, but a lot of them also have the free bin.  This is where you can bring books you no longer want, or that the shop decides are probably not going to sell, or are not in the best condition and are put out for first come first serve free for all. These bins are usually outside, and you can usually tell why they are in the free bins, but if you take some time to go through them all you can occasionally find a gem.  This is also a great place to get books to tear apart for some of the projects using books and pages without feeling guilty about tearing up a good book.
Library-of course I cannot leave out the oldest and still most wonderful way to get free books.  Your local library!  Here is a place you can pick up any book at no risk, you can delve into new authors, try a new genre, see if that hyped up book is really worth it.  Several libraries are even offering e-books to rent!  Of course the down side is that you do have to return it at some point, or they make you pay for it and it is no longer free, but still better then no book at all. Libraries also tend to have periodic book sales with there own free bins, so keep an eye out.

So there you have it folks, six ways to obtain books at no cost to yourself.  I wish some of these had been available (or more accessible at least) when I was a broke college student.  The library was my best friend and I would hunt down and swap books with a vengeance.  This is a case where technology has enabled more people to have access to more books which is always a good thing.
What is your favorite method for obtaining free reading material?  Do you mind giving up or returning books once they have been read so you can get new ones, or do you become unnaturally attached to the vast majority of your books?  How has e-books changed your reading/buying/swapping habits?

The Most Wonderful Places On Earth

I've been planning my next trip to the book store which takes almost as much care as some people spend on their vacations.  What books do I need, what books do I want, which books will have to wait until next time, what is my back up in case they don't have one on my list, how much time should be devoted to just wandering the stacks until  a book speaks to me?  All of this planning got me thinking about doing a world tour, so to help myself plan I have compiled a list of all the book stores I want to visit in the world, here is the start of that never ending list.

Livraria Lello Bookshop

This absolutely gorgeous bookstore is in Porto, Portugal and yes that is a double red carpet staircase.  This stunning shop also features a stain glass skylight.

El Ateneo

This Brazilian book store combines my two loves, books and theatre.  This shop is actually in a converted theatre, retaining it's dramatic charm while giving me BOOKS!

Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore

This Holland bookstore is inside of a converted 13th century Gothic church.  History, beauty and books all rolled into one.

The Bookworm

This English language book store in Beijing, China has Whiskey Wednesday's.  That and it's fabulous name make it totally worth the trek.

El Pendulo

This book store in Mexico feature live greenery and trees, not to mention a cafe to load up on caffeine.  The perfect spot to enjoy the outdoor reading experience without all those pesky bugs.

What is the coolest bookstore you have ever been to?  How sad is it that so many of these great places are closing, especially here in the USA?  How many books do you think I have to buy to keep them all in business?

Bookstore Musings

Got to spend some time in the good old bookstore last night, made me a happy girl :-)  As I was walking through the store several random thoughts and occurrences popped into my head, here are some in no particular rhyme or reason.

Walking through all of the shelves of books, with all the different genre's, authors, topics, styles, stories, characters, covers, and page counts I realized as screwed up as this country is on occasion, how awesome is it that I can walk into a bookstore and pick up any book I want and not have to be afraid that I will be arrested, or punished for it.  Not only that, but you can write about whatever you want to as well, now these big box stores are not exactly known for there diversity when it comes to stocking lesser known titles, but if you compare the variety to some other places we kinda kick hinney!  Not to mention there is always

somewhere either in person or online that you can get access to just about any book you want, I love that.
Hubbin was following me around laughing at my little puppy excitedness and angst over having to just choose one book (not enough cash for my normal three :-( ).  We were in my favorite SciFi/Fantasy section when he picks up a random book and starts laughing.  As I make my way through the stacks I turn around and realize he is following me while reading the book, which is normally something that is more my territory.  Apparently the book caught his attention enough to not be able to put down, which I took as a sign that I had to buy it immediately.  We have decided that it will be our car book and I will read it aloud to him on our daily commute, a little bibliophile bonding if you will.
Since we had some extra time I wandered into the sections I rarely go to unless I need something specific.  I ended up in the Math/Neuroscience/Electronics section and sat myself down to see what kind off books this lesser visited area had to offer.  Oddly enough I actually found a couple interesting books, but what really struck me is the enthusiasm lovers of this area have.  Just because I may not find it interesting does not mean other people are not passionate about it, and in some of the books the passion really came through.  The other thing that stuck with me is the zillions of applications some of these topics have that I would never have thought of...even though they made sense after I had seen them (Steampunk robotics anyone?!?)
The sheer variety of people and the odd places you find them in a bookstore is always awesome.  You see
the business woman in the SciFi/Fantasy, the teeny bopper picking up a Jane Austin, grandpa with his arms full of Manga, and a young dad reading Fancy Nancy to his even younger son.  Bookstores just seem to be a place where it doesn't matter what your life is outside the doors, when you are in there you are a reader and that makes you part of the coolest group in the world!
What sort of musings strike you when you are in a bookstore?  How do yo convince yourself to just buy one book? No seriously tell me 'cause I may have spent grocery money on more books then I should have!  What is your favorite section in a bookstore?

The Joy Of Books

This is a really cool little video.  I especially like the colors on the bookshelves

Enjoy!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

This weekend I got to spend time doing one of my favorite things...hang out at a bookstore!  I got to spend a couple of hours with one of my favorite book buddies (Baby Sis) perusing the book stacks, then we met up with two handsome fellows who plied us with our favorite drinks (double tall skim no whip mocha for me) and then we covered our table with all kinds of reading material.  We had everything from fantasy, to gardening, to guns and ammo, to home decor, to history.  Then we proceeded to spend the next couple of hours

just the four of us (Me, Hubbin, Baby Sis, Handy Bro-In-Law) discussing books, authors, what we like in books, what we hate in books, why movies should never be made into books except for of course the ones that should :-)  I was seriously in Heaven!!!!  I love it when my favorite (family, friends, books, coffee, expounding on the use of large words) things all converge into those few perfect hours that just help get you through life.  Thanks to all who participated and didn't tell me to shut up, even when my pontificating went a little over the top :-)

What are your favorite things?  What moments do you remember when everything was just right, even for just a little bit?  Should I quit using words over three syllables?