Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Movie aside, this is a fantastic novel.

On October 26, 1991, twenty-year-old Claire Abshire enters the Newport Library in Chicago looking for a book on the Kelmscott Press Chaucer. She’s doing some research for a paper when she promptly comes face to face with a young, handsome Henry DeTamble, the man she’s been in love with for arguably her whole life. He’s younger than she’s ever seen him, and she knows this is his first time meeting her.

Though this is the beginning of the novel, it’s not exactly the beginning of the story. Time travel is hard to do right. There are so many possibilities, and I think Niffenegger does a service to this particular story by limiting those possibilities, focusing instead on the characters (who just so happen to deal with a bit of time travel).

Though the nature of the genre already suggests an unorthodox narrative, I promise that this book is unlike any other time travel book you have read. Here’s why:

Literary Tattoos: The Good, The Bad, and The Why Would You Do That To Yourself

Tattoos are personal. You wouldn't put something on your body permanently if it wasn't. And often times, the things that are most personal to us are books. So it makes sense that a huge portion of the tattoo art in the world has been inspired from and based in our favorite fiction. 

But like any tattoo, one must be very very sure that it's something you want to live with...forever, even if it does come from one of your favorite books. And not all people, in my opinion, really think that through. So I've put together a little collection of literary tattoos that I've found and all us book worms can ooo, awww, and ewww over them accordingly.

Book Review: The Golem and The Jinni

I was skeptical when I began The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. I had just read a fantasy that turned out to be much more YA than anticipated, and I didn't want to have that experience again. I wanted fantasy but not of the teenage variety. This book, is anything but.

It is a beautifully written and complex tale of two extraordinary beings whose lives intertwine in a compelling story of the nature of life.

The Importance of Finding Your Reading Nook

Not too long ago Kaley wrote a blog post about how difficult it can be to read, especially when you have to. I thought about this problem a lot. Although I don't suffer these "reader blues" as much as some, I too can find it difficult to get in the mood to sit down and read. 

So as I was thinking about the times when I don't want to read, I wondered how it was that I was able to get myself through those times. Besides determination and will, I realized it came down to one very simple thing; where I read. And that has led me to believe that if you find your nook, reading any book for any reason is possible.

Check out this art here! 

Book Review: Damocles

I have a confession to make... I am suspicious of bargain books. Boo all you want you bargain book bin divers, but I've been a firm believer in the idea that it's on sale for a reason. So when Amazon emailed me and said, "Yo! You bought a book! That's awesome! Because you bought one, here's some books you can get for 99 cents!" *not an actual Amazon quote* I was skeptical. I thought, "Amazon can't be practically giving away good books, can they?" Despite my apprehension I picked out Damocles by R.G. Redling and downloaded it to my Kindle. After waiting a few days, I picked it up and began to read.

I will never doubt a bargain book again.

And Just Who Does a Book Belong To?

You read a book. You love it. Then you find out that the author has some weird aversion to spaghetti. Suddenly, it hits you that the antagonist of the novel--a giant alien named Schapetti with long slimy tentacles--is actually a metaphor for spaghetti and how it pales in comparison to other pastas: fettuccine, penne, tortellini, vermicelli, ziti, linguini, angel hair, bow-tie, macaroni, and those are just the ones I can spell. 

But you love spaghetti. More than any other pasta. And you also love this book. 

Book Review: Smile

“[Scholastic] also publish one of the bestselling graphic novels of all time: Smile, by Raina Telgemeier. Last year, she published her second book, Drama. It debuted on the list at #2. What was #1 that week? Smile. Who else has done that? Robert Kirkman, and he had to use a television show to sell that many copies!”

That quote comes from an article by Torsten Adair at The Beat (a comics news site), published earlier this year. Smile was one of a few middle grade graphic novels geared toward kids that I’d been curious about for a long time but never got around to reading. However, seeing this quote piqued my interest. What story would I find within the pages of this New York Times best-seller?

Why I Reread Harry Potter Every Year

For those of you who don't know and don't follow us on twitter (@LoneBookClub don't be shy) or for those who do and have missed my only semi-obnoxious tweets, I have started my annual Harry Potter reread. That's right, annual, as in, once a year, as in I schedule this event into my year. And to me it is truly an event.

It started when I was young. If a new book in the series was coming out, of course I would have to reread all of them that came before! And then the movies started coming out so of course I would have to reread all of them in anticipation for that too!! By the time the books and movies were finally at an end, not reading Harry Potter every year seemed ludicrous. My year of reading would feel empty and incomplete without it.

I get the itch to start reading them again pretty much right after I finish them, but I make myself take a break and also, you know, read other books. Most people don't really care about me carrying around my Harry Potter hard covers (I'm a purest in this respect and refuse to read them on my kindle), but when people do notice, there's normally a conversation like this that takes place: 

Them: "Are you reading that for the first time?!"
Me: "No.... I read them every year."
Them: "WHY?!"

Why indeed.

Pst, you can totally own this!