Pretty Right On

I get the BuzzFeed Books Newsletter and when it is delivered to my inbox, I enjoy reading through the various lists, articles and occasional quizzes. This one was pretty right on - about the home in my heart and how I approach reading:

Can We Guess Where You Live Based On Your Taste In Books?

1. You got: The Mountain States

   You live in one of the most interesting geographical regions in the country, and that’s how you like your books — always switching things up and keeping you on your toes. The landscape around you is so beautiful that you also have high standards for the writing in books you read.

I had a hard time picking a favorite classic. It came down to these three, in order:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (selected)
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
3. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

I also landed on two quotes, but had to select Kerouac because - Kerouac:

1. "The only ones for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved."
2. "Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him."

I also had a hard time deciding where I most like to read, mostly because it's everywhere. But I landed on "the pool" because it is where I hope to be most of the summer.

The Tattered Cover Bookstore and Barbara Kingsolver were also easy selections. 

Oh, I do love this quiz.

~MJ

Also, this was an added bonus:

Which “Harry Potter” Guy Should You Date Based On Your Zodiac Sign?

1. You got: Harry Potter

   As a Pisces, you are a perfect match for the boy who lived. Harry is brave and compassionate, and he’s willing to do anything to protect his loved ones. Life with him will be a constant adventure.

   
2. 
   

The longest book of 2015 (so far)

I can't fully reflect on "The Goldfinch" just yet. But I do love these two earmarks so much, largely because they describe my relationship with great books - pieces of artwork in themselves that move and change me and consistently push me to be committed & convicted. This book was also a profound reminder of the less tangible things that are hardest to let go of, that bury themselves deeply in your heart and re-emerge at the right moment, only to return back to a crevice in your soul - memories of loss, of pain, of love.

"...if a painting really works down into your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel, you don't think 'oh I love this picture because it's universal.' 'I loved this painting because it speaks to all mankind.' That's not the reason anyone loves a piece of art. It's a secret whisper from an alleyway...four hundred years before us, four hundred years after we're gone - it'll never strike anybody the same way and the great majority of people it'll never strike in any deep way at all - a really great painting is fluid enough to work its way into your mind and your heart through all kinds of different angles, in ways that are unique and very particular. Yours, yours. I was painted for you."

"And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them from the fire, and sought them when they were lost, and tried to preserve and save them while passing them along literally from hand to hand, singing out brilliantly from the wreck of time to the next generation of lovers, and the next."

The main character was in so many ways different than me, but also incredibly the same - in many passages, especially as he described his mom, I felt pangs of connection; he described a dream and I swear I had one similar.

Mine, mine. Sometimes books are stories are written for me (when I most need them).

~MJ

6 Things I've Done Instead of Blogging

I failed at the weekly publishing of blog posts. But I will try to do it semi-regularly. The past couple of weeks, when I haven't been at the doctor for a mysterious ailment, I was doing one of a few things:

1. lounging on my couch recovering from said ailment. There were days when moving tiring, so I went from my bed into fresh pajamas and under a blanket on my couch. It was raining most of these days, which made the couch and the blanket all the more appealing.
2. working. It's a busy time of year, which may or may not have contributed to said ailment. Some work happened from my couch, but I did go into the office to get at that grind.
3. watching television. Although the writing time has certainly supplanted some TV time, I finished "Friends" and all the current seasons of my favorite shows; I've started "Mad Men." I've replaced my Today Show watching habits with watching the latest episodes of The Daily Show and the Nightly Show (and once weekly, Last Week Tonight.)
4. reading in my bed, on the couch, in the waiting room, waiting in the room until the doctor showed; reading at lunch, before dinner, at bedtime, and in the morning when getting out of bed was too hard. I'm reading "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt and also "The Opposite of Loneliness" by Marina Keegan. I'm almost done with Keegan, but stopped reading once I got hooked into the Goldfinch. 
5. writing. A three-day weekend combined with rain and mysterious ailments apparently yield 30+ pages of creative writing for me. I've been wanting to write more, and I do find it to be relaxing, so I'm doing it every day. Since Memorial Day Weekend, 30 pages has turned to 45; there is little to add at this point to the plot, but I am actually really enjoying re-reading and revising for different details. Sometimes I focus on dialogue, sometimes imagery, sometimes technical details or word choice. Ah, writing. 
6. Reflecting on how nice it is to be out of grad school and to do more of what I love doing (reading, writing) for pleasure and without guilt. When mysterious ailments interrupt this joy, I am saddened, but I manage.

The ailment funk seems to be subsiding, so I hope to add the gym back to this list, along with outdoor activity and friends - and blogging about books. Because, reading.

For now: 26 Reasons Why You Need to Read More

Thanks for reading my blog, not about reading.

~MJ