Before I dive into the first post of my new feature, “Books Going Places,” I want to reminisce for a moment. The Dawn of Young Adult Fiction for Me In the summer of 2011, I had just moved to North Carolina, and I was unemployed. When I couldn’t write another application or cover letter, I read. Though my apartment was small and dingy, it was across the … Continue reading Books Going Places: The Starbound Trilogy
These past few years have definitely ignited a love of literary travel, which is part of the inspiration for this blog. Whether it’s a bookstore, an author home, a literary museum, or a recreated book-to-movie film set, I’m always up for literary adventures of any kind. #1. Hunt Library in Raleigh, North Carolina How I went four years in this city without knowing about this place … Continue reading 6 Favorite Fictional Finds of 2015 (#12DaysofTravel, Day 5)
While 
browsing a used bookstore a few months ago, I peeked into the travel section to see if they had anything on Italy. Amid abandoned copies of Under the Tuscan Sun, I found Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa.
Confession: I’m no history buff. I don’t read all the plaques at museums, and I don’t seek out history tours. I appreciate history, and I like to understand its cultural relevance, but that’s about where it stops. It’s really not like me to voluntarily read an entire book on a monument’s history.
But maybe it’s something I should start doing. Continue reading “Tilting Towards Pisa: A Day Trip & Book Review”
Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve blogged, partly due to traveling and also due to a cold that knocked out my energy for almost two weeks. But I’m back, and I’ve got lots of posts coming up! I decided to post this today because I’m catching up on writing projects at one of my favorite places — a library. I don’t know if most … Continue reading 4 Problems for Book-Loving Travelers
Because without books, I’m nowhere.
Before I had any idea how much fun travel could be, I was going on adventures every day by reading. And no matter how many amazing places I see in the world, there’s nothing like a great book’s ability to take you to somewhere you’ve never been. And for me as a writer, the book is the inspiration and the aspiration, something to look towards.
Are you a practitioner of tsundoku?
After reading a blog post on tsundoku and learning what it was, I wanted to create a more prominent reminder of my tendency to buy books that I want to read…and then never actually read. I own books that I bought as far back as early college, nearly ten years ago, that still sit unread on my bookshelf.
I discovered I needed a space for my habit of tsundoku.
tsundoku, 積ん読 (Japanese)
(n.) the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other such unread books
Since graduating from college, I have mostly succeeded in my commitment to read more books. While an English major, I struggled to complete the pile of books I was assigned to read each semester, much less make room for any additional “fun” reading. I’ve been getting better at reading more (and by that I mean, making time for reading more), and this year is probably … Continue reading What I Read in 2013
Booked & Ready 