

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch As someone who has my own book-related challenge... this story hit really close to home. It also reaffirmed the way and the reasons for which I prioritize reading in my everyday life. Like Sankovitch, I am a mother. But unlike Sankovitch who has *gulp* 4 children... I only have one. But even with that one (who goes to bed at around 7:30 every night), there is still a measure of guilt when building reading in to my free time.


One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez A friend gave this to me, one of her favorite books, a few years ago. As I knew this was a life changing book, I wanted to be sure I read it when I had the time and energy to really concentrate on it. So I started reading it. In fact, I started reading it when I found out Marquez had passed away. And then I stopped. In the mad scramble to pick up in anticipation of company, I had put the book back up on the bookshelves


Book-ish Christmas Come Again!
Two friends gave me belated Christmas gifts yesterday, and they were both book-related. And TOTALLY AWESOME! The first is a book sculpture- a copy of Jane Eyre where the pages are folded (not cut, so it doesn't seem so painful) in a way to write out the word "Read". This will likely become the focal piece my library is eventually designed around (I have a library... it's just currently very dark and lots o' paneling). The second is a book I've been drooling over for awhile.


Son by Lois Lowry
Son by Lois Lowry And with this, I have completed The Giver quartet. I was very nervous going in to this experience. The Giver was such an important part of my life as a reader. I was scared that I would be disappointed... but I should've had more faith in Lois Lowry. She GAVE me the gift of literature... something that makes me the person I am. I should've known she would never let me down. Son was a beautiful, full circle ending to the quartet that paid perfect tribute


Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline I had a friend try to convince me for months to read this book, and although it's been on my Kindle since early 2014, I just had never gotten around to it. And now I'm kicking myself for ignoring it for that long. Ready Player One is out and out FUN. Given my challenge, I don't tend to read a lot of books that are simply a blast to read, so Ready Player One was much welcomed. And as my ancient ass was born in 1981, this book was an enjoyabl


The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi
The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi One of my favorite things in life... a book reveling in the gloriousness of books. And that's exactly what this was. By analyzing Huck Finn, Babbitt and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Nafisi was able to explain the passion and history of America and how literature always has and continues to act as the lifeblood of this nation. We hear so many Debbie Downer news stories about how Americans spend too much time watching tv or playing


morning coffee at luke's | Happy Death Day, y'all!
January 14th is one month before Valentine's Day... and therefore I have declared it DEATH DAY on BW&R (because, reasons)! [Note: This is what happens when Bear Allen wants to post something but doesn't have anything interesting to say. ] Today we said buh-bye to Lewis Carroll (1898), Anaïs Nin (1977) and [not an author but tangentially Gilmore girls-related]... Donna Reed wore her last strand of pearls and baked her last batch of cookies on this day in 1986. #morningcoffeeat


Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Read my review here! #tuesdayswithmorrie #mitchalbom


Friday Night Dinner | New Year, New Bear
Because my reading game is ON POINT so far in 2015, maybe I can up my blogging game as well. What I Read Sinclair Lewis by Elmer Gantry (BWR Challenge) Gulp by Mary Roach (Deep Thoughts from Damp Tresses) Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (Deep Thoughts from Damp Tresses) Alice in Wonderland by Carroll Lewis (BWR Challenge) Messenger by Lois Lowry (Deep Thoughts from Damp Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi (Tales from the Toyota) Review coming soon! What I Am Currently Reading


Messenger by Lois Lowry
Messenger by Lois Lowry Continuing on The Giver Quartet binge I have going lately, I just read the third book in the series, Messenger. I love how Lowry turned to the young boy from Gathering Blue, Matty, to continue telling her tale about the various communities and how they differ and interact with each other. Matty is a little older and a little wiser, and is starting to realize that he's more than the dirty, scruffy boy with bad grammar his old community abused and negl