keeper of words: favorite quotes

I love the peculiar mind-locking sensation of hearing or reading a line or phrase in a song or a story that completely captures you. There's a visceral reaction when you comprehend and are struck by a perfectly written or spoken phrase. It catches you off guard with its wittiness or makes your heart skip a beat with its ferocity or poetic accuracy. My favorite books have those pockets of power over me. I've never been much of a highlighter, physically marking up or taking notes in my actual books, but I absolutely am an internal keeper of words. Special lines stay with me for months, sometimes years.

When I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, I went to work the next day and created a collage of all of my favorites quotes from that book to hang around my cubicle wall. I wanted to be completely surrounded by those thoughts, words, feelings. The beauty of that novel struck me dumb, and it was all about the words.

My husband and I were listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch on audiobook (for the second time) on our drive home this weekend, and we were practically giddy with the crude, brilliant writing. We kept skipping back to hear pieces of it again and again. The wit, the stunning wit. It tumbles around in your mind until you're dizzy with it.

I can't get Locke Lamora out of my head, so I thought today's post would be dedicated to sharing some of my favorite book quotes. There are so many to choose from, but I hope some of the ones featured here catch your mind in that extravagant way and inspire you to read and breathe them all in. Especially if there are any books in this list you haven't yet read! Go forth and remedy that at once.

Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Leisel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain.

The Book Thief

"You were the one who taught me," he said. "I never looked at you without seeing the sweetness of the way the world goes together, or without sorrow for its spoiling. I became a hero to serve you, and all that is like you."

The Last Unicorn

It seemed she was in a cathedral—if, that is, the earth itself were to dream a cathedral into being over thousands of years of water weeping through stone.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I'm going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. 

When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.

The Book Thief

"He must have known I'd want to leave you."

"No, he must have known you would always want to come back."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It gave her a creeping sense of impending aloneness, like she was some orphaned animal raised by do-gooders, soon to be released into the wild. 

She didn't want to be released into the wild. She wanted to be held dear.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Rose doesn’t like the flat country, but I always did – flat country seems to give the sky such a chance.

I Capture the Castle

If he had a bloody gash across his throat and a physiker was trying to sew it up, Lamora would steal the needle and thread and die laughing! He steals too much!

The Lies of Locke Lamora

I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.

The Last Unicorn

(all the) time to read

I love Monday holidays. 
I'm up in the mountains camping today, but thought I'd prepare a post for you all!

I recently attended my very first professional development seminar.
For two days me and a few other women from my office hopped in a company van and drove up to Phoenix for an Excel conference. I know, it sounds absolutely invigorating, and it was.
But what I really wanna talk about is the program I bought while I was there. More accurately my mother gifted it to me, because when I got home after that first day I talked so passionately about it that she was moved to buy it for me. It just came in the mail and I can't wait to get started.
It's a speed reading course developed by Evelyn Wood.

The average person reads about 300 words per minute. Evelyn Wood could read 6,000. 

I'm sorry but come again? Can you imagine? 6,000. That's like reading The Count of Monte Cristo on your dadgum lunch break. You could read Peter Pan on your bathroom break. 
36 books has been my goal for my entire year of reading. What if I could knock that out in a week?

In starting this course and thinking about all of the books I am going to be able to devour, I thought it appropriate to reflect on some of my all-time favorite reads. This is a fairly good representation of my favorites, in no particular order.
My dear friends, my dear readers (or should-be readers), if you haven't read any of these boons to mankind, take a gander and pick one at random. If I could, I would wish them to your doorstep with a  giant bow on top.

A Little Bit of Everything:

The Great Gatsby // I Capture the Castle // The Last Unicorn // The Remains of the Day
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? // Fault in Our Stars // Bread & Wine // Way of Kings
Fellowship of the Ring // Ocean at the End of the Lane // Book Thief // Devil in the White City
Daughter of Smoke and Bone // Pride & Prejudice // Emperor's Soul // The Great Divorce

I loved all of these books, all for different reasons. Some of them are classics that you'll recognize, others are more obscure. I have Brandon Sanderson on here twice, because he's my favorite author right now, and I couldn't resist. The Emperor's Soul is a novella, a really stunning story that will capture you immediately. Way of Kings is my favorite book. Although its sequel, Words of Radiance, may have displaced it. It's going to be a fantastic series. But I don't recommend it to everyone because it's hefty -- each book is somewhere around 1,000 pages, but if you're up for the challenge, do it! I will be your biggest cheerleader in that endeavor.

The Book Thief is one of the only books to ever make me truly cry. I finished it in bed, while my husband was asleep, and began sobbing so hard I had to retreat to the bathroom so I wouldn't wake him. He woke up anyway, and came knocking at the door, completely baffled and scared. I just yelled  a very garbled "GO AWAY!" until I could finally get out, "It's just my book, I'm fine, I'm not dying, go back to sleep". It's incredible, stunning, horrible, beautiful.

If you want to read a book that will leave you enchanted in a melancholy way, kind of like that wistful feeling when you look at a night sky full of stars, read The Last Unicorn, I Capture the Castle, Remains of the Day, and/or Ocean at the End of the Lane. All of them are really beautiful books. I mentioned The Last Unicorn before, because if I could be any book on a shelf, it would be that one. It made me laugh and cry, and filled my dreams for days. Somewhere deep inside I almost think that no one could quite appreciate it the way I do.

For Kids (and the Young at Heart):

Inkheart // Chronicles of Chrestomanci // Dealing with Dragons // The Book of Three
A Wrinkle in Time // Ella Enchanted // The Secret Garden // Prisoner of Azkaban
Peter Pan // Deltora Quest // Haroun and the Sea of Stories // Anne of Green Gables

Obviously the Harry Potter books start with The Sorcerer's Stone, but I decided to feature my favorite of the series, because I love Sirius Black and this book, to me, is the happiest and most exciting of them all. 

These books have all made an impact on me in some way. I remember first reading The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander quite vividly. He was my favorite author for a while, I read everything I could of his. This is probably one of the only series I've read through more than once. (It was written in the 60's, and is most popularly known by the second book in the series, The Black Cauldron). I was absolutely enamored with it. When I was young I was a very active reader -- the gasps, the squeals, the giggles. (My husband would say I haven't really changed at all.) But those books evoke really strong memories for me. 

The same goes for Dealing with Dragons and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, which are both wonderfully innovative and charming book series. I would highly recommend them to kids and adults alike, if your imagination is alive and well and you love happy endings. I read all of the Chrestomanci books over Christmas break in high school, and my parents happened to also gift me some perfume that year. To this day, every time I smell it I'm carried back to those worlds. It's delightful. 

My brother and I (and in turn, every cousin and sibling we could convince to) gobbled up the Deltora Quest books, too. A long adventure series of small books with great characters and monsters. Great for little boys and tomboys like me. 

Stories are one of my all-time favorite things to share with people. I love talking about them, dissecting them, loving on them, and hearing other people's literary loves. What are your favorite books? What do you think of mine? Have you read any of these?

(Also, if you have a list of your own, answer the questions at the bottom of this old post!)

Have an amazing holiday!

There's no better way to rest than in a hammock with a book in hand. 

literary

I've been contemplating finally starting a book club lately.

I've shared my thoughts and given advice on starting a book club on the blog before, but I think I've been hesitant to actually begin one here because I've been waiting to settle into a routine. Now that I have a full-time job and we're feeling more settled (and my husband takes part 1 of the bar exam TOMORROW -- where has the summer gone!?) I've been thinking a lot more about it.
Where would we meet? Who should I invite? What should we read?

I think quite secretly another reason why I hesitate to start my own is because I miss my book club in Virginia. It was my first and only book club ever, so part of me is pretty nervous to try and replace that presence in my life. It's hard not to compare. I think I'm going to have to just try it out and maybe mix things up a little, try a fresh new take on things. Make it our own, allowing the new group to dictate the growth and change as we go along.

This book necklace always makes me think of book club, because I bought it from a local Lynchburg artisan downtown at a craft market. It's the best book necklace I've come across, made from real leather and paper. Each one is completely unique. I had seen her at several craft markets during our time in Virginia and have been really hoping she would update her Etsy shop and list some items there! To my delight, she has! She even has more book necklaces listed. I absolutely love the variances in style and texture.

Check out her shop, Barefoot Pathways!
I'm thrilled to add that she has provided a special coupon code just for you!
Just enter voguishatbest10 to receive 10% off anything in her shop!

It honestly takes a great deal of self-restraint not to buy a whole library's worth of those tiny book necklaces. She has other handmade jewelry as well, and is so sweet and talented.

Top: gifted, Skirt: Primark in London, Shoes: Marshall's
Necklace: Barefoot Pathways on Etsy

During one of my last book club meetings we had a fantastic discussion about books (imagine that).
One of the girls, Allison, presented us with a list of questions to ponder and I loved hearing everyone's different answers. I'd love to hear yours, too!

1. What book would you choose to have completely memorized?
2. What book would you embody, if you could be a book on a shelf?
3. What book would you recommend to absolutely everyone?
4. What book would you burn/banish to a desert island?

We all went back and forth, and it took us all a very long time to answer with any sort of finality.
I think my answers will change constantly, but while sitting there these were my answers:

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

I obviously love Harry Potter, but that 5th book is a plague (but I won't get into that Sirius stuff again).

I could also put Lord of the Flies or Bridge to Terabithia on that #4...
But instead of contemplating more of my answers, let's hear yours!
Comment below! Let the discussions begin.

be your own book club

A dear friend of mine recently contacted me about book clubs.

She is a new mommy to a darling little boy, and has long wanted to be a part of a great book club -- but she has some questions and reservations. For instance, 

How do I find one?

Where do I look for a book club that reads what I want to read?

Reading a variety is always nice and challenging and interesting, but there's always that ever-present thought that (especially as a new mommy!) my free time is valuable. I want to read things and have discussions about things that are edifying and beneficial and, frankly, my-time-worthy. 

I was extremely fortunate when a good friend from church invited me to her book club. I hadn't even thought of looking for one, but as soon as she asked me about joining it, I was thrilled. I started attending about a year after we moved to Virginia, and the first thing I read with them was The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It was a novel from 1859, considered to be one of the first mystery novels ever written. 

It was a book I had never heard of, and probably never would have read otherwise -- but this was a group of women who were smart, well-read, interesting, passionate, fun, friendly and thoughtful. Everyone had input and ideas and the discussion was great. 

It was a great group to be in, and I ended up loving the book so much! It really surprised me. It was a great introduction to a group that had been going on for 5 years before I got there. 

The group had developed and grown and changed over those years. Sometimes there were only a few women there, sometimes we had to pull up extra chairs to fit everyone at the table!

It has continued to grow, and the content is ever-changing as well. We have read older literature, from Wilkie Collins to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Jane Austen to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...looking at classics and beloved staples of our reading histories. We have also read young adult fiction, and current popular dystopian novels like Hunger Games and The Bone Season. We've read some mystery, some thriller, some religious, and even one cookbook of sorts -- Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist. We met up and brought food from our favorite recipes in the book, and discussed it with biscuits and soup and coffee and cookies. 

We take turns picking the books, relying on a laid-back voting system. Generally a handful of women will have an idea for what we should read next, and we all decide which one we should go with. Occasionally there's only one suggestion, so we go with that. Sometimes one of us will have read something we love and want everyone else to read it, too. Or maybe, through rabbit-hole discussion, we find out that most of us have never read something like Peter Pan or The Great Gatsby, so we all decide to revisit a classic.

We meet once a month, to give us time to read and discuss. 

My advice to my friend, and to you?

Be your own book club.

Tomorrow morning I will have my very last book club here in Virginia. It is going to be extremely bittersweet.

The sweet part? Venturing to start my own book club in Arizona!

I think someone looking for a book club might shy away from starting their own because, as previously mentioned, time is valuable. It may seem like a big responsibility, or too big of an undertaking. 

But all you really need for a book club is 2 or 3 women you know and love, a place to meet each month, and a book to start with. 

Starting it small with women you know (it could even just be your mom, best friend or sister!) will solve that doubt of being comfortable and being able to really speak your mind about what books you all want to read. It will be a small group of women with the same ideals but different perspectives and favorites, who understand you and love you. And they, in turn, will most likely know a few other women here and there, and the club will naturally grow and change over time. 

Finding a place to meet is easy; for a natural hostess personality, having it in someone's home would be ideal. You could switch up who hosts, or have it at the same place every month, potluck style. Everyone can bring snacks, and you can have the coffee pot going. Or, (which is how we do it), find a great Saturday morning place, somewhere semi-quiet like a coffee shop or diner and meet there! Breakfast and coffee for all, no prep or clean-up required. 

Picking the first book is easy. Start small! Pick a book that's only a couple hundred pages, and something that will be fun to discuss. Maybe even something you've read before. Something like Great Gatsby, which is short and iconic and always a great reread, if you read it back in high school like I did and didn't quite appreciate it as much as you might now. 

I hope you give book-clubbing a chance. If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

And if you need any book recommendations, I am here for you!

i'm not a reader: the common lie

Use Grammarly's plagiarism checker, because evil shouldn't have a foothold in the reading world!

"I'm not a reader."

It's a statement I've heard again and again in various conversations, sprinkled in with the how are yous and the what have you been up tos and the have you read this yets. 
I think I bring up books and stories so often in chats because I'm passionate about them, but coming across this particular answer has always confused me. Oh, I'm just not a reader. 

I never quite understood what that meant, because the assumption in each of these cases was that the person could read. If you can read, then how can you not be a reader?

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.

Mark Twain

I think Mark Twain knew what was up. He loved cats, worked hard, had a fantastic sense of humor. He also loved to read and write, which secured his place in American history. He was (and, thanks to the internet, still is) a spouter of wisdom.
That quote points a finger to one of the roots of the problem. The right to read, the blessing of sight and ability and opportunity demands a human to read.

Several years ago (coincidentally it was in the throes of the written Twilight saga) I decided to try something.
When someone said to me I don't read or I'm not a reader, I would take it upon myself to make them prove it.

My college roommate was my first test subject. The only thing she had ever read was Twilight, and she was convinced she generally disliked reading and that the Twilight saga was the only thing she cared to read.

This was a great place to start this project, because the idea that the Twilight saga is the single greatest thing you've ever read is way too sad to comprehend. It's a gut-punch to the literary society as a whole, really.

I thought carefully about her personality, chose some of my favorite books that I knew she would enjoy, bought them for her, and begged her to read them.
If and when she finished them, if she still hated reading, she could have my permission to proudly announce to everyone that she is not a reader. 

The thing is, I wasn't trying to bully her into anything. I wasn't trying to be right. My driving motivation was that reading is one of the most incredible gifts in the universe - I knew she would be better for it, because reading is so good for you, if I even have to say that. I should hope that it's common knowledge.
To have the ability and the skill and the knowledge to read, but choosing not to, baffles me.

Here's the key: find your genre. 

I think sometimes people grow up hating reading for various reasons. Perhaps they were slow to learn how to read, or they weren't allowed to read, or they were forced to read things they didn't like.
But once they're outside of that environment, I think everyone can be a reader. Find your genre, fall in love with books and stories. Not just for entertainment, but for your own betterment.
My roommate discovered her hidden love for reading through this experiment, and it was the best part of that whole endeavor. It was so exciting and it still is, being able to swap books and share stories.

Reading can relax you, it can sharpen your mind. It can expand your vocabulary. It forces you to sit and focus. Reading can develop your analytical skills, and can even ease depression. A compelling story can boost your empathy and challenge your character. Reading broadens the horizons of your understanding -- almost everything anyone is doing or saying comes from a book, or an idea that began in one. Books are history, society, memory, adventure, experience. Reading takes you places.
Reading is good for you. 

Let good prevail, my dear friends. Those who claim you are not a reader.
Fight evil; read books.

Update: I love this article, it gets me. 

note: this blog post was sponsored by Grammarly, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.