Bite-Sized Reviews :: Edition Forty-Seven

More reviews coming your way! And how's your reading life going these days? I've slowed down a bit from May and June where it felt like I reading all the time. I did have a Saturday a couple weeks ago where I basically read all day. But the last few days or so, I haven't done a lot of reading. I've been writing instead! Go me. :)

Anyhoo! On to the fun stuff...

I Owe you One by Sophie Kinsella
This was cute. Sort of forgettable once I was finished, but cute while reading. I liked Fixie, yet she kind of drove me nuts a few times. Which necessitated me skimming quickly through a scene or two more than once. I just didn't love this one as much I'd hoped I would, but I did enjoy the romantic bits with Seb! He, too, made a couple decisions that made me wonder what in the world, but I liked him fairly well overall. So! If you're in the mood for an entertaining story to forget the world for a tiny slice of time, this may be the one for you! Especially the middle to latter half which had the best moments in my humble opinion...

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
A delightful story about a bookish Nina who I loved from the first pages! This book was just a whole lot of fun and it made me want to completely overhaul my life and go run a bookmobile in the UK somewhere. :D I did love Nina a lot. I wanted her to choose this new life for herself so badly and so once she did, I was quite happy to travel alongside her as she figures this new chapter out. She is simply the endearing sort of bookish person who I could totally picture myself having lovely bookish convos with while we sat sipping our hot drinks in her bookmobile. Of course, her romantic prospects were an enjoyable diversion as well! This was simply a charming story that I want to reread again right now...

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
This went in a very different direction than I expected from the synopsis, I admit. But that is not a complaint! I really enjoyed the world-building as the first few chapters sets up how everything works and just what sort of sword's edge Isobel is balancing on. It's a fascinating atmosphere that Ms. Rogerson creates around her characters and I loved getting all these tension-filled glimpses of things going on underneath the surface. The romance bits were pretty adorable, I wasn't sure what sort Rook would be. But I liked him! He and Isobel have great chemistry, especially in the beginning stages where I could so easily picture the both of them falling in love almost unknowingly. The story isn't perfect, but overall quite enjoyable! Enough that I hope to read Ms. Rogerson's next book sometime soonish. :)

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
A bookish Nina (yes, another one! :) whom I loved to bits! I loved her passion for trivia and how it was such an unconscious fascination for her. I loved her bookishness and love of stories. And I loved her way of pushing through all the new family who find her and bring her into their drama. How she basically finds her people (more than she had before now, I mean, because the girl has quite the awesome tribe around her already) and finally allows who she truly is to settle more firmly inside her. I related so much to her, even if my life is so completely different! I just got all her introverted uncertainties and how she was just fine as she was thank you very much. But being pushed out of her comfort zone is good for our Nina and her subsequent journey of discovery is simply delightful. Reading this story just made me want to go hug all my books in my personal library and if that doesn't convince you to read it I don't know what will. ;)

Bookish Finds in Thailand

Hello, my lovelies! So yeah. I did get to visit a few bookshops while I was in Thailand. Of course I did. And it was DELIGHTFUL. Naturally. ;)

One full day back in December, I took my rented motorbike and headed out with about three or four different bookshops pinned on my google maps. It such a glorious day, traversing the city going from bookshop to bookshop. I did do a few coffeeshop breaks in between, of which I will gladly share about another time (because Chiang Mai, Thailand is THE coffeeshop city in the world. I think there are literally close to a hundred or perhaps more and no, that is not an exaggeration. Coffeeshops are everywhere. And that's delightful too. :).

The above sign was in a bookshop where they had other signs that said NO PICTURES. Humph. So I surreptitiously snapped that one and didn't stay long. Any bookshop that doesn't want to share it's goodness with the world...well...that's not a bookshop I want to patronize very badly. Anyhoo. They did have quite a large collection of used and new books. A good mix of Thai and English language books too. But I didn't find anything I had to have, so off I went to find other places.

Not the same day, but on a different day...I found these GLORIOUS Jane Austen's...and it was all I could do not to take them home with me. But alas, by this time it was getting closer to time for me to go home and I knew my luggage space was going to be fairly limited. I just about cried to leave them there. Only I couldn't cry. Because I was with friends. And they'd have thought it bizarre if I'd've cried about leaving books in a bookshop. So I snapped a photo so I wouldn't ever forget the pretty! *all the heart eyes*

(Also, those were the only ones they had. No Pride & Prejudice or Northanger Abbey to be found. Trust me. I looked.)

SO much fun to see two of my favorites in Thai! And those covers... Aren't they gorgeous?!?! *sigh* I was sad to leave those there as well...

And this, my friends....is a coffee shop. Yep. A coffee shop. It was open 24 hrs and was awesome. Filled with all sorts of books everywhere! For school, we had solitude days where we went out by ourselves and worked on assignments. This become one of my favorite spots for such a day... I happily spent hours surrounded by books and drinking my mochas! Happiness indeed. :D

It was located at the very top most floor of a mall, so the views out the windows were amazing. But it was the inside I was most concerned with. All those books...!! ;)

*happy sigh* Doesn't it look amazing?! I agree. :D It was certainly a happy spot for me.

I happened to go on a trip down to Bangkok and one day while we were walking the streets, I happened to spot this little shop. There were at least two other aisles that looked just like this. TONS of books. Alas they were all in Thai so I couldn't read a single one. But it was still fun to "get to know them" a bit! :)

ALL the pretties!! The above two photos are actually from my very first adventure out to try and find a bookshop. Thankfully a new Thai friend had pity on me and showed me this spot...since I was still a bit terrified of trying to find my way out and about all by myself. Clearly, I got braver as time went on...but this first trip was wonderful even if I did have to have a travel buddy with me. :)

Amen and amen.

Festivals, Books, & Authors, Oh My

So! As any regular reader knows, I had the delightful privilege of going to the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this past weekend. And I did warn you that I'd probably want to gush about it sometime this week. That day has arrived! :D

Proceed scrolling down at your own risk as there is much gushing and pictures about to happen. I've never been to such a thing before, so of course I took tons of pictures. Thus if you don't want to see and hear all about it, stop reading right now! (Also, I cannot stress enough that I am no photographer, therefore I cannot promise amazing, quality pictures. I only promise pictures. M'kay?)

Now then! My day started in this building. And that banner that you can't read does actually state "Welcome to the Southern Festival of Books" in case you're wondering. This is the Nashville Public Library. I know! It's huge! Multiple levels of awesomeness here.

This would be the children's section. Mind you, this is one whole room dedicated to only children's books. Plus it's yellow which just makes me happy! :) It's located on the second level.

Meanwhile, on the first level, we have the foyer. And this is only half of the room. I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture. And those books? Those are for sale. Which is where I found this...

I listened to this all the way home and as I stated in my review yesterday, it is fabulous! If you like quirky characters and lots of adventure, you should read it. (Also, that cover is amazing! Incorporating so many elements of the story in one perfect picture. I love it.)

Moving on to the actual festival itself, here it is in all its wet glory. Yes. It rained all day. But us die hard booklovers were not deterred! Oh no! Far from it. We wandered from booth to booth with our raincoats and umbrellas and happy enthusiasm for books. There were books for sale all over the place, as well as authors and publishers to meet. One awesome aspect of the day that I wasn't expecting was the fact that book people love other book people. I mean, I knew that was true about myself, but that moment that I saw such a vast array of readers and writers all having a blast was fantastic! There were people that I chatted with who read and write stories that I will probably never read, but we still had that common bond of loving books anyway. What I mean is, regardless of what we each read or write, it didn't really matter. What mattered was our enthusiasm for literature and books. And every single person I met had that in spades! Which means that I had some incredible convos with all kinds of people. My favorite convos were the unexpected moments when I stopped in a particular booth and we just started talking. Book people are awesome people! Enough said. :)

This sign at a mystery writers booth amused me. And the ladies I met there were fun! See. That's what I'm trying to say. I read very few mysteries, but we found common ground to talk about anyway! (And on that note, if you do like mysteries, I met another mystery writer, Lauren Hope, who has a giveaway currently going on for a set of hardcover Agatha Christie books. Go check it out and enter to win! :)

And then it was time for the highlight of my entire weekend! Yep. In that little huddle there, stands a tiny but awesome lady who I couldn't wait to meet! But first I had the privilege of listening to a panel of three authors discuss their newest books. Which was great fun! Of course, the bestest part was listening to this gal....

Yeppers, there she is, folks! Ms. Natalie Lloyd herself! To say that I was excited to meet her? Thrilled to listen to her talk about what inspired her novel? Ecstatic to even be in the same room with her?! Would all be a huge understatement. My joy knew no bounds! :) And I was determined that I'd be grown-up about this. I would talk to her. (I even practiced what to say!) I would tell her how much I'd enjoyed reading her blog for years. How much I loved A Snicker of Magic. How amazing it was to meet her. I would not do like I had when meeting Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) a few years ago. Where I got so completely tongue-tied I ended up not being able to say even one word to her. *shakes head in embarrassment* But this time! This time would be different. And it was! (Well. I was still a bit tongue-tied and I think I ended up saying "thank you" about a gazillion times too many and who knows if I was coherent at all. But I do know that I got a hug! And that she called me cool! I'm totally going to add that to every introduction from now on. "Hi, I'm Kara! And Natalie Lloyd thinks I'm cool." Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? ;)

Oh look! Another picture of her! ;) She's reading from her novel here. Which brings me to mention the panel she was a part of. There was this clock at the back of the room and all of a sudden, all three authors look at it and gasp. The hands were moving around by themselves really quickly! Cory Basil, one of the authors, exclaimed "We're time-traveling!" and Natalie goes, "Best panel ever!". ;) Seriously though, it was a very fun panel to sit in on. Afterwards, we got to go meet them and get their autographs (at which point Natalie gave me a hug!), which brings me to the awesomeness of this guy....

This is Cory drawing a picture for my nephew. I didn't buy his book (if only I could have bought every single one that I wanted! *sigh* Oh for unlimited amounts of book-buying-money), but I had the thought that one of my nephews loves to read and I bet he'd enjoy having an autograph from an author. So when I asked about it, Cory volunteered to draw a picture and sign it instead! Which he proceeded to do. And which I thought was awfully nice of him! :) Therefore, go check out his facebook page and his newest book, The Perils of Fishboy. He added around 60 illustrations to the story and it sounds like a fun book! :)

And to end the day, I visited Parnassus Books. They had a booth at the festival, but you know nothing can compare to the actual bookstore. And it's lovely! If you're ever in the Nashville area, I recommend stopping by. The high ceiling makes the space seem large and they have a fabulous selection. One of my purchases there included:

Have you read this one? If not, get thee to a bookstore! It is absolutely hilarious to read aloud. I stood there in the store laughing my head off. It's a good thing I had the children's section all to myself at the time. ;)

This is the ceiling of one of the buildings around the festival. Pretty cool, right? And thus endeth my day of happy. I headed home with lots of fun memories and a few more books to add to my shelves. As well as dreams of going again next year! ;)

Visiting Awesome Bookstores

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a booklover finds herself in the nearby vicinity of a wonderful bookstore only heretofore heard about in passing, then she must needs to go visit! And so I did. :)

(My pictures aren't the best quality, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.) Evidently, this building used to be a power plant and the décor inside clearly reflects this.

For as large as it looks on the outside, I should note that there are only two floors. So in actuality, I don't think this particular store is that much bigger than a normal Barnes and Noble. But somehow it just feels bigger and much more awesome! (Plus it has a balcony!)

I wandered the first floor for a while, but soon found myself unable to stay away from the escalators any longer. (Also, I love that they made use of all the nooks and crannies around. They have bookshelves tucked in all sorts of spots.)

I'm positive I looked a little nutty striding around, snapping pictures, grinning madly at everyone I met. But there were books to be flipped through, shelves to be scanned, people to step over, and happy to be felt!

Have you seen You've Got Mail? You know that moment when Kathleen finally visits Fox Books for the first time and she's wandering around and stepping over kids everywhere in the children's department? I confess that's exactly the scene that popped into my head while I was walking around. Because I saw several people sitting here and there all over the floor. Most made a point to try and be out of the way of the rest of us who were wandering, so we wouldn't trip over them. But it was obvious that they were there for the long haul. They had come to the bookstore, they had their books and their coffee, they'd found the perfect spot to sit, and there they'd remain until closing. I loved it!!!!

I was sad to have to leave. But all good things must come to an end, right? *sigh* I want to live closer to this place! Anybody up for another roadtrip with me? ;)

A Favorite Bookshop (I love that word)

In Manteca, California, there is this little shop on main street called 'The Book Exchange'. It doesn't look all that spectacular on the the outside, but that's because all the spectacular-ness is inside! As advertised, it sells mostly used books but has new ones also. You have to visit this place if you're in the area. Because while I love to shop for books (especially used ones that are cheaper) there is another reason to visit this spot.

Elaine and Lois

These ladies!! They are a huge part of why I shop here. (There are a few other gals who work here, but they weren't available for portraits on the day I visited.) I was embarrassed to have to admit to them that I couldn't remember their names and they were sweet enough not to mind. Lois, on the right, said "I'm Lois, I was married to Superman!" Elaine, on the other hand, couldn't think of a way to remember her name until a fellow customer reminded her about Elaine from Seinfeld. So there you go. Lois and Elaine everybody! Awesome ladies!

(sorry the quality isn't that great)

Every time I go in, there's no telling what they'll come up with to talk about next. But I can guarantee that you'll laugh with them! For instance, on this visit we covered how we need use sugar (doughnuts) to get us going (it's only fattening if you think it is; if it's delicious, it's not fattening!-per Lois); and if you're flying in a little airplane it's very reassuring  to note that if you crash, everyone is packed so tightly in there, that you'd just bounce instead of dying (Lois again); and when I asked if I could take their picture, "Sure! Too bad you didn't wait until there were other customers in here, particularly of the gentlemen sort, who we could stand beside." (Lois once again) (Meanwhile Elaine is just shaking her head. I bet she's thinking "and I have to put up with this every day I work!") I promised them they could see the picture I took to verify that they were willing for other people to see it, and once they took a look, "We look good! There's just no perfecting perfection, is there?"  Are you getting the idea that they like to tease and have fun?  I'm always laughing when I go in!

This is what you see as you enter. Just about every customer that comes in, they remember their name and welcome them with big smiles! (This is why it was embarrassing to admit I didn't know theirs.) You can bring in your books and they keep track of your credit. Then you just wander and wander and wander. It's not a huge store, but as any good bibliophile knows, it takes a good long while to look everywhere and see everything. You don't want to miss one book that could possibly be your next favorite ever!

About a year and a half ago, I was wanting to find another bookstore to visit. I have a favorite close to home, but I was sure there had to be others in the area I just hadn't heard of yet. So I got online and googled it.  It only took one visit to realized what a fun atmosphere they have! You can buy books lots of places these days, but to have a shop to visit and know you're going to have a wonderful time while you're there is priceless in my book. (pun intended)

This section has classics.

Believe me, with all the books they have, if you're searching for it they just about have it. Perhaps not every single book in the world, but you can bet you'll find something you'll just have to have. Every now and again, I can't find anything that strikes me, but that's pretty rare.

One whole wall of religious books!

The other thing I think is great is that the sign out front just say 'books'. The front of their store says that too.  They've probably got the name on the building in front, but the thing that caught my eyes on my first visit, was the word 'books'. Why have anything else? If someone is searching for them, that will definitely lead them to the right place! :)

Parking is relatively easy. You can stop right in front of the building, or there's a little parking lot right beside the above sign. Easy peasy. If you pick the parking lot, you get the pleasure of parking by the side of the building and you see this:

Such a pretty sign to see as you get out of your car! So, go visit them the next time you need a book fix. You'll have a great time and may even come home with a lovely book stash to add to your shelves!  As for me, I'm positive that I'll be going back, and probably soon.  I just can't stay away from bookshops. Especially if Lois and Elaine are there to entertain me! :)

Toodle-loo kangaroos! Happy reading!