my to-read list

I just love books and their book covers. So colorful, so different, so interesting. I've been wanting to buy more actual books lately, just to admire the covers and pages and fill my bookshelves with their art and words.

I've been falling behind in my book-reading goals this year (find me on Goodreads!), although I'm still doing significantly better than I have in past years. I'm currently 4 books behind schedule, but I'm incredibly determined to actually complete my 36 book goal this year! I think my problem is that I'm reading rather large books...perhaps my goals should be page-based instead of book-based. To read 36 books means that a 200 page book and a 1,200 page book count as the same. That feels rather deflating at times.

To be honest, I should probably start reading books about babies. My days of pleasure reading might be over for a while. I should probably be educating myself on all of the joys and horrors of birth and child-raising. While I know these things are true, I can't help but pine for a cold, rainy day spent reading magical fairy tales or spirit-lifting memoirs. That daydream might also have to do with the fact that it's been 114+ degrees this week. Fall, how I miss thee.

Here are some of the books at the top of my wishlist. Someday, somehow, I will read them!

Longing for Paris | Sarah Mae

I can already tell this book speaks to me, long before I even begin to open the front cover. How often do I feel this way? Grateful and happy for my life and for my family, but often mesmerized, distracted, and aching for something more. It's the heart of wanderlust.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore | Robin Sloan

Books, intrigue, and magical curiosities. Can't think of a better happy read. And the book cover glows in the dark!

Garden Spells | Sarah Addison Allen

I'm drawn to this book because it centers on a magical family of women and their enchanted garden. Sisterhood, a lasting legacy, and magically powered fruit. It sounds delightful. It's also Sarah Addison Allen's debut novel, and I'm always fascinated by an author's first book.

The Accidental Highwayman | Ben Tripp

I discovered this book while listening to a podcast from my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson, and have wanted to read it ever since. It's everything I want in a book. Adventure, notoriety, accidental heroism, a rebellious princess, goblins, magic, danger, etc. etc.




























The Martian | Andy Weir

This book has been on my wishlist for a while, but I have to admit I've gained a renewed interest in it since it was announced that the movie is coming out, and will be starring Matt Damon. I think the book sounds wonderful and terrifying. I really can't wait to read it, then see it. (Always in that order).

The Storm Makers | Jennifer E. Smith

This story centers on twins Ruby and Simon, and Simon's sudden discovery that he is a Storm Marker - a member of a clandestine group of people entrusted with the power to control the weather. It sounds like an enjoyable young adult adventure, and it takes me back to the kinds of fantastical stories my dad always used to tell about my little brother and I. Sibling adventures are particularly nostalgic for me. Plus, I love the cover art.


Have you read any of these? If so, I'd love to know your review! What's on your wishlist?

coming face-to-face

Dress (shop!)(floral version!): Gap, Cardigan: Francesca's, Watch (shop!): Rumba

Happy Friday, friends. 

As I sit here typing, my arm muscles are protesting angrily due to the rigorous P90x3 workout we did yesterday in the name of New Year's Resolutions. Two weeks in, though, and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm only hoping that this spaghetti-noodle arm syndrome turns into stronger muscles. Otherwise, why on earth do humans do this?

This past Wednesday we went up to a bookstore in Tempe to meet our favorite author, Brandon Sanderson. I have a small handful of favorite authors, but he has most definitely been my favorite for the past 2-3 years. In that time I have read 10 of his books (follow me on Goodreads!). I felt stupid with giddiness, because how often do you get to gather with a flock of nerds to meet someone who has written some of the most awe-inspiring fiction you've ever read? His mind is a crazy tangle of brilliance. Although I have favorites among his work (The Way of Kings wins everything), I want to read everything he writes. He is a constant inspiration for me to keep writing. 

We were able to hear his thoughts on writing and creativity, as well as a reading from one of his unpublished works called Perfect State. It should be coming out sometime this year. As he read, I felt nervous on his behalf. He was reading to a room packed full of people, words and characters that he created - I was keenly aware that he is a real person, a vulnerable person. The fact that he is also a professor must help his confidence in situations like these, but I honestly can't imagine that feeling. Normally an author doesn't get that kind of instant reaction to their writing. Their books go all around the world to faceless readers, and they can only hope that their books are enjoyed and understood. But reading it out loud? I get a cold sweat just thinking about it. 

Overall it was pretty sobering, coming face-to-face with someone who has created a myriad of characters that seem as real to me as he is. We were able to get a few of our hardcovers signed, and I was able to ask him some questions about his writing process and glean some magical knowledge from his supernatural brain. (He recently wrote two books "on accident" while he was supposed to be writing something else. He's a robot). Dusty also asked him my bookish questions, which was fun. The book he would memorize is the Bible (or the Dictionary), which seems pretty practical for a writer. If he could become a book on a bookshelf it would probably be his own The Way of Kings, and the book he would recommend to absolutely anyone would be Harry Potter or Les Mis, which is his favorite classic. 

The entire evening was one of excitement and revelation. Dusty and I talked at length about the plot of my book, and I have pretty much started from scratch. With Dusty (and Sanderson) to help me work out all of the plot-holes and kinks, I can make my way through the writing of my rough draft with more clarity and confidence. Dusty is the logical one, the outliner and the plotter. Apparently I'm a pantser (a writer that plans nothing, and simply flies by the seat of their pants, so to speak). I'm constantly surprised when I write, and the story comes alive as I go. Unfortunately that means that by the time I've written for any amount of time, earlier segments can begin to unravel. 

So. With Dusty's structure, Sanderson's example, and my ideas, we should be able to come up with something pretty great. It was just such a cool experience to meet an author I revere and idolize, and to actually say to him, "So, I'm writing a book....". It has given me a fresh dose of motivation to push forward -- word by word. 

P.S. I'm in love with this dress, and a little bit obsessed with the jewel-faced watches from Rumba. 

wanderlust wednesday

Libreria Acqua Alta di Frizzo Luigi. Bookstore in Venice, Italy. March, 2014.

If you've ever heard of Venice, the mysteriously enchanting canal town, you already know that it's full of secrets. It's magical, really. It's small and packed with tourists and the food is absurdly expensive, and yet one wrong turn can find you completely alone. Just you and the colored, weathered brick, creeping with vines and memories. Getting lost is the best thing you could possible do in Venice.

Nowadays, though, in the days of TripAdvisor and Yelp, little secret treasures aren't so secret anymore. Tidbits and traveling tips and the enormous "word of mouth" that is the internet can either make or break businesses. It certainly changes them. But sometimes that charm stays intact, as is the case of Libreria Acqua Alta. The most absurdly delightful bookstore/cat palace in the world.
The owner loves cats and basically claims all of Venice's strays as his own. They are purring and skulking around the store, some of them napping or simply watching.
The store sits right alongside the canal, mere inches from the water's edge. It floods every year, which is why the owner was inclined to store all of his books and merchandise in boats and tubs. My favorite, of course, was the giant gondola in the center of the store.
Don't even try to find any type of organization to the place. The books are just mountains of paper, forests of ink. Who knows what is where, save for maybe the cat residents. Again, just get lost. That's the best thing to do in Venice.

It was my cup of tea, for sure. Hanging tinsel and secret rooms and a strange back hallway that leads to an enormous staircase made entirely of books, wet and torn and all stuck together for the soul purpose of allowing visitors to feel like they're on top of the world. Climb up those steps to get a birds eye view of the store's canal side. Or as it's written, the store's "Fire Exit". Beautiful and empty of tourists, so peaceful.
The store also sells prints (many of them cat-themed) and bookmarks and other knick-knacks. We brought a few home with us. I also bought the book Pinocchio in Italian to bolster my resolve to learn the language someday.
Ah, Venezia.


(see all wanderlust wednesday posts)

that new book smell

There's something about a bookstore that is refreshing and inspiring and makes me feel ancient. 

I can remember countless hours spent in our local Barnes and Noble, snatching up bakery goods with mom, coveting the fancy leather journals and waltzing around the kid's aisle. Feeling too shy to play with the toys, but really wanting to. Buying expensive bookmarks for friends. Collecting calendars. Wishing I could afford hardcovers. That momentous occasion when I finally began looking toward the young adult section, rather than the children's. 

How is it that the upcoming generation spends little to no time in bookstores, perusing the young adult fiction section for their next great adventure?

I wonder if there's any truth to the idea that books will be entirely electronic eventually.

There's a person somewhere inside me that clenches her teeth, pushes up her horn-rimmed glasses and cocks her hip while shouting emphatically "Never!"

But on the other hand, there's no use denying that the number of books, journals and articles available electronically is steadily on the rise.

Kindles have converted even the strictest (and horn-rimmed glassiest) of folks. 

Having said that, I'm confident I'll be long gone by the time the smell of new books ceases to move people. 

Skirt/Shoes: Zulily, Sweater: Gifted, Top: Ruche (similar)

On a completely separate note, what's the general consensus out there about Gwyneth Paltrow?

All sources point to her being snobby, pretentious and occasionally difficult to work with...

And yet I still see her and think she's completely fantastic. 

(The best thing about admiring celebrities - you can pretty much make up whatever you want about them, because you'll never know them in real life.)

So Gwyn: love her, or unlove her?