25 Bookish Facts About Me

I've seen this tag floating around on BookTube and since the idea of making a video of me talking scares me more than it does thrill me, I'm going to do a blog version with pictures!

#1

My favorite book as a young child was Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

Image courtesy of Goodreads

#2

My favorite book of all time is Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I had one copy that I read until it fell apart, then I got another copy to replace it. (Which is now falling apart). I got a hardcover special anniversary edition as a birthday present this year and I plan on keeping it safe. Thanks to that book (and the movie), I've been writing and journaling since I was 7 and to this day I still really enjoy a good spy/heist novel.

#3

When I'm stressed out, I tend to listen to audiobooks and read more comic book/graphic novels.

#4

As of right now, I have more fantasy books on my bookshelf and my to-read list than I do any other genre

#5

My favorite graphic novel (so far) is The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

#6

I'm slightly ashamed to say that I have not read the entire series of The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the first book in 5th grade and I've seen the movies. Just haven't gotten around to reading the rest. I should get on that.

#7

My favorite classics are/were The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and The Wizard of Oz.

Unfortunately, I only own The Wizard of Oz.

#8
When I was in elementary school, I wrote and illustrated a picture book about a girl and her cat, titled Lucy and Kate, for the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators contest. I got an honorable mention.

#9
The first manga that I read was Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi.

Image courtesy of Goodreads

#10
One of my bookish pet peeves is having to mark a book as DNF.

#11
As a kid I didn't like the clear plastic covering that were on library-owned hardcover books because I wanted to be able to feel the jacket and see what was underneath. I still feel the same way now.

#12
I still have bookmarks from elementary school.

#13
My least favorite genre (so far) are romance books that don't have any other storyline other than the main characters getting together.

#14
I was a fan of Twilight when I was in late high school and early college. (And I didn't care if Bella was an unreliable narrator.) But I never considered myself to be a "Twihard". Back then I was Team Edward but after reading Dannika Dark's books, the shifter world seems much more interesting.

#15
I love it when a book that I enjoyed gets turned into a movie. But I can't stand it when the original cover of a book is replaced with the movie version.

#16
My favorite place to read is in a big comfy chair with a blanket nearby and tea, coffee or apple cider at my side.

Image courtesy of Michelle Meiklejohn at Free Digital Photos

#17
I don't like marking in books or dog-earring the pages.

#18
Paperback or Hardcover? Hardcover

Image courtesy of ddpavuma at Free Digital Photos

#19
I read more fiction books than I do non-fiction books.

#20
I'd rather have a book that has a lot of chapters but fewer pages per chapter.

#21
My favorite brick and mortar bookstore is Half-Price Books. My favorite online bookstore is Book Outlet.

#22
The first book I ever had signed by an author was Things Change by Patrick Jones.

#23
When I was in elementary school, there were many times I choose to read during recess rather than do what all the other kids were doing.

#24
My favorite book of the Bible is Ruth.

#25
Buying a new copy of a book is fun and all but I much rather "adopt" a used copy instead.

7 Reasons Why Today's 20-Somethings Should Read Shakespeare

William Shakespeare. I'll admit, I too, automatically think of a half-bald white guy writing about a skull from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet's doomed relationship, and "Et Tu, Brute?" from Julius Caesar all in Elizabethan English (or Early Modern English if you prefer). Like many, I considered watching movie versions instead of reading the plays. But recently, I've had more and more of a desire to skip the movie version and read the book version instead. (Not just with Shakespeare but, with other books as well.) 

7 Reasons Why Today's 20-Somethings Should Read Shakespeare

1. He was a contributor to words that we use daily. He made everyday words such as: 'swagger', 'rant', 'addiction' and, 'uncomfortable' popular. Words we've recently made up and use today like: 'bromance', 'sexting', 'hater' and 'chillax' have now wormed (haha) their way in to the dictionary. Can you imagine future genereations 400 years from now using those words (and more to come) in everyday speech and not really knowing the etymology of them? Yeah, me neither but, hey... same situation.
2. In addition to coining new words and terms, he also came up with some pretty clever (and crude) insults. Ever been so heated with someone that you wanted to use and insult that would burn them so bad it leaves them speechless? (Don't lie, I know you've had times like that and so have I. You know like that rude guy that cut you off in traffic or the co-worker who just went too far...) Check out some of these insults:

   *Bite your thumb at someone* = To flip someone the bird (Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 Scene 1, just before a fight almost breaks out)

    "Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit; For I am sick when I do look on thee." = "Seriously, don't even try me. I already can't stand you!" (A Midsummer's Night Dream Act 2, Scene 1, Demetrius to Helena)

   "Away you moldy rogue, away!" = "Get lost, dirtbag!" (Henry IV-Part II, Act 2, Scene 4)

   "I wonder that you will still be talking... nobody marks you." = "Oh, shut up! No one's listening to you!" (Much Ado About Nothing Act 1, Scene 1 Beatrice to Signor Benedick)

   Are you with me so far?
3. Shakespeare was a feminist?? Okay, so the term 'feminism' most likely wasn't used back in early-1600 England. In a time where censorship by the government was no joke, many scholars today think that Shakespeare hid some "feminist" ideas in his works; most notably The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice. So if he was "pro-women", how would he make his point? With comedy of course. Sound familiar?
4. The subject of discrimination was included in his works, too. It's easy for us to think that Shakespeare was a guy from the 16th-17th century who stood against sexism, racism and anti-semitism. We don't truly know what his thoughts were on the matter but, he had to have been at least aware of it if he included it in Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and Othello. 
5. He drew parallels of 17th century England to Ancient Rome. The most common example of this is Julius Caesar. Most people around Shake's time already knew about Ancient Rome and its history. So, perhaps by choosing a well known name of Ancient Rome, turning it into a story, and making it 17th century-friendly, he was trying to make a point. Kind of like what people are doing now by comparing Trump and his (crazy) followers to Hitler and the Nazis.
6. Rebels. 'Nuff said. Most likely, not a day goes by that we just get tired of it all. The idea of being a rebel, going against grain, and not caring about the consequences sounds ideal. In reality, we do care and we know we can't really afford to rebel against authority. And then, some of us do become rebels and we let the tears of our haters roll off of our backs. (I see you nodding your head.) Well, Shakespeare's plays have those, too. What's a story without a good rebel?
7. There are some conspiracy theories about his life. For whatever reason, I think we all kind of enjoy learning about a conspiracy theory or two. You don't have to believe in them, but just listening to what others think are the answers to some of history's great mysteries can be interesting. (Kind of like how some people today believe that Obama and certain celebrities are actually part of the Illuminati.) Throughout time, some people started to think that William Shakespeare was just a pen name and that the real author of the famous sonnets and plays could be Edward de Vere, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Francis Bacon, William Stanley, Roger Manners or multiple authors. What better reason to pick up some of his plays yourself and make your own conclusion?

Time to dust off those old Shakespeare plays from high school, huh?

I'd Like to Say that I Figured All of This Out All By Myself but, I'd be Lying

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/playwrights/shakespeare-the-conspiracy-theories/
• http://dcc.newberry.org/collections/shakespeare-rome
• http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/shakespeare-racism/
• http://thoughtcatalog.com/christopher-hudspeth/2014/02/17-shakespearean-insults-we-should-start-using-again/
• http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1197&context=essai
• http://mentalfloss.com/article/48657/20-words-we-owe-william-shakespeare
• http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/words-you-didnt-realise-william-shakespeare-invented#.su1b4bAdn 

Happy reading!

-B