Big Island, Small by Maureen St. Clair :: A Critical Book Review

  

 Big Island, Small by Maureen St.Clair presents a story of two girls, laid bare on paper, as they fight a familiar battle of self-discovery. Set half on a fictional Caribbean small island, half on a large island in North America, the main characters face one of the most daunting battles of life; the battle to be brave enough to discover and be who they are, while they lean hard on the precipice of adulthood.  St. Clair uses imagery, dual perspective, language, flashbacks and severe contrasts to discuss issues of racial conflict, colorism, sexuality and self-discovery in a contemporary climate. 

The plot is largely rooted in the main characters journey towards identity and how their continued interactions with each other, both verbal and non verbal, help them along the way. Through shared socio-cultural background and the challenge to accept each others different reactions to it, both Sola and Judith learn more of what they want from their conflicted lives. 

Sola is a dark skinned girl who has taken proudly to her use of the Standard English language and wears this accomplishment as a badge of honour, while she pursues her studies on Big Island. Her youth, has been riddled with struggles and advantageous experiences that have catapulted her into a figure of strength in her young adult years. It is a strength her character has had to adorn herself with like a suit of armour. It is strength so brazen that anyone who first encounters her seems to glide over the still young girl sternly holding to bravery. Until, she meets Judith.

Contrastingly, Judith who shares similar origins strikes within Sola an irresistible friendship and is everything opposite to Sola. Judith is a mixed race, fair skinned girl who has privilege thrust upon her. This has made her resentful and rebellious in the face of personal choices that she was never allowed to own. Her youth is sprinkled with an excess of freedom that leaves her longing for a sense of belonging to a crowd that always seems to stand apart from her. Judith, uses her Caribbean English variety like a badge, taking Sola’s disuse of it almost as a personal affront.  Judith’s own earlier years are not without struggle but they are the kind of struggles the majority of children her age, that were within her immediate company, could not readily understand. This reality keeps her lonely in a crowded room. Until, she meets Sola.

Judith aches to fit into skin, history and Caribbean culture while Sola is desperate to stand out despite it. Jointly, they find joy in all things that draw them together and set them apart from the masses. However they also find themselves disagreeing, in seismic proportions, on various world views. “We supposed to meet. It’s fate. Maybe we supposed to argue too. Who knows?”  Judith foreshadows very early in the novel.  

St. Clair places colorism up for discussion continuously throughout the novel with Judith asking "You talking like you know me, you know me?" defensively, when the way she speaks is challenged by Sola. When Judith shares "Later Sola tell me lighting a splif in a crowd isn’t a luxury she has. And I tell she, “I not white. I black too even if you can’t see past my skin.” But I know I not the kind of black she means.” We see again a relevant nod to the present day social injustice marked by race and skin colour.

Their relationship is an open challenge to aforementioned themes of the book. Judith’s choice to embrace her ancestral right, as a mixed race girl, to wear her hair in dreadlocks despite her fair completion causes many disdainful and intrusive personal questions.  Sola’s detainment by public forces, which Sola does not question, also draws focus on racial conflict. Yet, these are questions the two main characters dare at each other and by extension; questions that the author dares the reader to contemplate through the vehicle of their edged dialogue. 

For a moment, their differences and the way the world reacts to them seem big enough to divide the characters forever and a lack of being taught how to communicate their feelings openly, thrusts them into many long, dangerous, uncomfortable silences. It is then we see how culture, paired with the unbending desire to love and be loved in return is spotlighted in the plot.

When words fail, they then bond through touch and music, as seen when Sola muses “She gives me a cd called Throw Sown Your Arms by an Irish woman singing old-time reggae. I never heard of a baldheaded white Rasta before. The first time I hear her voice I lay down on my bed, spread my arms and legs like I am balancing on water, like I am floating to the thunder of her tender, angry voice. The power I feel in my bones is a power unfamiliar and yet it spreads through my body like it belongs there, like it was there even before I was born.”  

They reconnect through food, cultural experiences and the comfort of a shared language popular to their past. “He smiling at me while telling me to try some black cake and a glass of sorrel. I inhale the Christmas vibe…” The author uses beautiful imagery to describe cultural treats such as tamarind balls "burnt brown sugar wrapped in sweet sour flesh.”  submerging readers in a deep sensory experience.  These coping mechanisms allow the characters to grow closer to their personal truths, slowly and with a level of gentility.  

 Eventually they find their way back to each other after devastating changes and traumas they were not prepared to deal with alone and also were not sure to whom they could turn for help. Their personal traumas creep with the passage of time, through their journeys of self-discovery, as the characters creep too towards their hand crafted personal identities.

The author’s use of dual perspective aids the story as the reader is taken along each character’s unravelling interpretations and personal perceptions of major conflicts happening throughout the story.   St. Clair’s use of flashbacks allow us to never lose sight of the constricting, beautiful, small island background where "neighbours missing you if only a day past since they see you last’ and ‘Everybody knowing somebody who know someone who know you."  It is a uniquely ‘Small Island’ Caribbean past that is navigating their understanding of a vast, ‘Big Island’ world.

The reader bears witness to young girls facing issues of sexual assault, violence, racial precedence, anxiety, victim blaming and the questions that come with sexuality and sexual discovery in a way that is made all the more compelling by the events of our current world chatter. Big Island, Small by Maureen St. Clair serves as a Caribbean literary reminder that maybe this big world isn’t so big after all, especially through the small, intimate lens of our shared experiences.

---------------------------------------------

My Personal reaction to Big Island, Small by Maureen St. Clair:

When I first started reading the book I honestly had a hard time. I had a hard time because I thought it was going to be 'just another love story' which it is not. My personal reading tastes don't see me reading many books where the central focus of a plot is a romance, so after a very early plot twist happened in the novel I found myself wondering what I'd gone and got myself into.

As time passed I returned to the pages of the novel because I was still curious. It is very hard for me to DNF a book and fortunately this remained true with this one.

What really caught me is the authors beautiful writing style. I am an absolute sucker for a beautiful, artistic writing style. She wrote vividly about self discovery, identity and Caribbean culture with this book. She spoke of questions that people have been for decades pretending that we do not have and this drew me in. I had to know where that journey of self discovery took those characters. I had to know even more because their setting and origins so readily reflected my own island. Underscoring the importance of representation.

I am not mixed race, for example but I've had mixed race friends and loved ones and I have found myself at the cross hairs of mistaken identity because of colourism myself. So, watching two young girls deal with those issues amongst others, in a setting that is written similarly to my own life setting, loving the food I love at Christmas and treasuring the parts of culture I have treasured for years was great.

This book wont be for everyone, it has some graphic themes, events and language. It is categorised as women's fiction (on goodreads) but really I find it slips easily into the still budding genre of new adult.  I like that the words are sharp around the edges some times as I find that true to life and to find this truth reflected in contemporary literature I think is necessary. I am grateful that this story too found a place in the world.

I'm going to also take this moment to address the elephant in the room: yes, there is a 'controversial kiss' scene and you will notice that I have not said much about it. This is intentional. I leave it up to every reader to have their own reaction to this issue because for me, my reaction was very important as a person. It was only till an informal conversation with the author herself when she said the words 'but....its not about the kiss' that the way i engaged with the text changed swiftly and deeply. I don't believe literature and it's personal meanings and relevance should be forced upon any reader. I believe everyone has a write to have a personal reaction to literature based on their own experiences. It is not something I seek to take away from anyone. 

Thank you to the author for providing an ARC of the book for review. You can purchase Big Island, Small by Maureen St.Clair here.

Book Review :: An Enchantment of Ravens

I gave this book 5 stars. 

I LOVED this book. It is a short, atmospheric and lightly spooky read filled with the best elements of moody folklore and fairytale. The author uses masterful imagery, setting personification and poetic diction to weave a vivid and enthralling tale of adventure, fantasy and romance.

The author personifies the forest heavily; the trees and even the very shadows they create seem to have a will that is human in drive and determination to live and fight back. It is as though the writer has taken the very essence of an Autumn October, turned it to ink and then wrote from that ink every word on the pages of her book. Every chilled wind, stray vibrant leaf and special seasonal treat come together to create the perfect setting for this short tale of ancient prices and shadowy lore. It is one broody but sweet adventure that sets to work all of your senses for a holistic reading experience.

Her diction is poetic, it makes you feel like you've been swept up in a ball room dance that is this story of two lovers, forbidden to love by the laws of nature and creation themselves.

Margaret Rogerson's use of imagery is bold, colourful and sensory in all respects. Her use of folklore is both enchanting and brooding. This novel makes you want to sip it slow and savour its season while being uniquely aware of the beauty of volatility found in the living and in the dying and the changing.

The character of Rook is cocky and princely but naive and proud and the mix somehow results in humerus folly and witty charm. Rooks powers and the waning of them we are privy to as our characters journey continues, also show us the impracticality of a desire for immortality. It becomes a metaphor for how such a desire, if achieved is inherently unnatural, warring with the concept of time, goodness and longevity.

Isobel's distaste for the notion of immortality is made continuously tangible with her approach to food in the fae courts as though to reinforce that it is slotted once unto man to die, everything else seems to result in a lengthy state of rot and the remnants and remembrance of living instead.

Isobel is a driven artist with a vivid view of the world. All the world's pigments come across as tainted in a heavy, weighty saturation she manages to emotionally express on paper, both its beauty and it's horrid gloom. This turns out to be both part of her mastery of skill and the thread of her undoing.

Honesty, adventure and trust are what hasten their romance. While it remains ever easy to go the route of 'fae prince and human girl in need fall in love' the author dares her characters to question timeliness, choice and validity of what they feel, bringing an interesting modern realness to the story.

All in all it is a fantastic, one sitting read with a beautiful cover that gets you swept up in elemental courts both in your imagination and with the accompaniment of all of your senses.  There are themes of savoured seasons, the fantastical elemental, longing, love and more. One of those books that is in and of it self an experience all yours to savour like a hot beverage on a chilled evening, on an empty bench at a park, during the golden hours.

One of the quotes I loved:

"You are like a living rose among wax flowers, we maybe last forever but you bloom brighter and smell sweeter and draw blood with thorns" ~ Margaret Rogerson: An Enchantment of Ravens

And isn't that the beauty of a temporary life itself?

Follow me on goodreads to see what else I'm reading.

Book Review :: My Hair Grows Like A Tree by Tamika Phillip

My hair grows like a tree is a beautiful reading and activity book geared towards young girls between the ages of 7-13.

The author uses visual imagery of all natural shapes and sizes and captures the positive message of growth, individuality and self love. All revolving around the theme of unique hair and nature.

In this book, the reader is encouraged to not just read about hair but to evaluate it in an up close and personal way. The writer does not stop at self evaluation but encourages the reader to notice that of the people around them. They are prompted to research, ask questions and conduct detailed observations through arts and crafts. As a result, the reading experience seeps past the pages and engaging all of the senses, as one is urged to be hands on, to always be listening, seeing and learning.

The book contains numerous hair styles on girls of varying skin tones and every hair type is celebrated from the high hair styles that are said to be tree like in shape to the low hair styles that are likened to lush grass.

The book also includes numerous examples both through pictures and line sketches of rich fruit of different shapes and sizes in an effort to underscore the message of individuality. Also included are original author sketches and encouragement for the reader to make sketches of their very own, based on their own observation, so that the learning process is set to work through action.

It is evident this book urges those reading to explore learning, the world around them and the individuality within them, through this book's pages. Pages that provide themselves, as a vehicle of representation.

At it's end it encourages readers to see meaning behind the way a person's hair is warn even in different cultures and ethnicities and it goes on to share some information on strong female rulers of colour that have reigned through out history.

At it's core this book is a positively worded and proactive approach to body image and cultural representation. It pairs learning with numerous activities that will allow knowledge to stick around past the time spent between the books covers. It encourages exploration of the world around us and the world of ability, wealth and value within us all.

Every young girl of colour should be fortunate enough to get their hands on this book or at the very least one like it that celebrates facets of their life often under negative scrutiny. Then, they can be exposed instead to positive and impacting self examination in a way that encourages collaboration between the old and the young as Tamika Phillip does in her book My Hair Grows Like A Tree.

Thank you so much to the author for this review copy! Be sure to add her book to your to be read list on goodreads or pick up a copy at the House of Chocolate if you so see fit! If you're interested in sending me an ARC of your up coming release for an honest review, feel free to contact me on any of my social media or via email.

If you could liken your hair to anything what would it be? I think I've always likened my hair more to puffer fish, beautiful but a stealthy changer upper on me before I know it haha

Peace. Love. Healthy Hair~
both photos in this post by: Arthur Daniel

Big Magic : Book Talk and mini review

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of my favourite books discussing creativity and the writing process. In it Elizabeth Gilbert personifies inspiration and creativity as Big Magic, alive, throbbing and eager to be a co-conspirator in your creative life.

This book spoke to me as only Elizabeth Gilbert can, she puts forth so many experiences both real and fictional. The author explores with you the possibility of moving forward given those circumstances. This is such a minimalistic way of putting it, I am grappling with how to write about Elizabeth Gilbert's writing because it is so philosophical and so soul touching for me.

Before reading Big Magic my creative process was much more burdensome in my eyes. I looked at it as this untouchable sensai who I had to wait on for bread crumbs when I was in the middle of writing.

After Big Magic, I took in the authors notion soundly that my creativity is just as eager to work with me as I am to work with it. It does not tease me, it waits patiently for me to look in it's direction. Sometimes it takes longer for me to find it than we both like and that makes us both frustrated. Big Magic has helped me to consider that content is as eager to be written as I am to write it. My creative content is as eager to be born as I am to birth it.  

The author encourages us to 'Create whatever makes a revolution in your heart.' and how easy it is to forget this. To let fear of not creating something that will be validated by the current world keeps us calling ourselves 'blocked' or 'uninspired' when what we likely really are in afraid. Yeah, I said. Now  I am careful to remember Gilbert's words  '...because in the end, creativity is a gift to the creator not just the audience.' and that 'if you can learn to travel comfortably with your fear, then you'll never be afraid to go anywhere interesting or do anything interesting.'

In my life now many things present themselves to help my creativity. I have at least one creative friend upon whom I can rely to have the conversations that urge me on. I have another who is willing to think big with me and beyond the confines of the regular. The only thing that worries me about creativity right now is that I am not giving it the time it deserves to whisper to me due to the mundane and regular affairs of life.

Before reading Big Magic my biggest fear as it has to do with my creativity was that it would leave me if I did not listen to it exactly when it needed me to and that I would never ever be able to tap into that again. I feared that if I missed some magical moment of inspiration I would never ever find it again.

After reading this book. I realised that inspiration is not some kind of well that can run dry. Creativity and inspiration, it is like rain and rain falls even in the desert. Droughts help us to remember the sweet taste of raindrops on taste buds. Water is life and it does not simply dry up and disappear forever, it is a beautiful resource that constantly renews itself every day. 

We can do our part to nurture creativity even when it is not active. Acknowledging it, feeding it even with thoughts and smiles and inside jokes can go a long way to further the water cycle. Sometimes it's this very thing that can make the conversation between one's self and one's sense of creativity clearer and more easily translated from thought to action.

I loved reading Big Magic, it helped to change the way I think about inspiration, creativity and possibility. The author makes a pronounced point for me, reminding us that 'the creative process may seem magical but it is not magic' it is instead, like every thing else including acts of passion, work. Big Magic reminded me that just because passion is work this fact does not make it less magical. 

I recommend it to all of my creative friends as I felt like she spoke exactly my language. Her final note in the book speaks to my soul every day 'I can guarantee you this: A creative life is an amplified life,  and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner, continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you--is a fine art, in and of itself. Because creative living is where Big Magic will always abide' It is one of the few books I would read over and over again because just as I cant stop living it I just can't stop reading that others live it too.

Everything Everything :: Book Review

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon is a 21st century heartbeat wrapped up in the packaging of a charming love story.  In this short and sweet connection between a biracial girl and a child of abuse the reader is a subtle passenger on their journey towards discovering a colossal love.

When we are introduced to our female main character she is obsessed with the notion of living in the world and not just being of it. Our main male character becomes her representation of the outside, of a life lived on purpose, instead of by chance and circumstance and that is with which she  first falls deeply and madly in love.

This is a story that is a nod to a heart that allows you to love not without fear but beyond it. These characters are as the book itself puts it,'Two universes crashing up against each other but never touching', until of course they do. Yes, this is a love story but not just a romantic one. In this novel the main characters don't just meet and falls in love with each other but with a world outside of the boundaries of fear. Their vulnerabilities bring them together and become the catalyst of change that turns the stagnation and insecurity of the unknown to the brilliance and wonder of the possible.

For me that is what makes this book most interesting. This is a story of a girl as she falls in love with the world and with being alive in it. This is a story of a boy who learns to see this privilege by holding her hand.. Together they learn that 'Every thing's a risk, not doing anything is a risk, it's up to you." Together they discover "The difference between dreaming of flying and flight" in a flurry of quickness and colour and chance and change.

Together they discover Everything...just....everything from black and white to colour.

This book now has a film adoption and you may have seen the trailer taking the internet by storm. In the book one of the things I loved is that the plot continued outside of the romance.  Of course at first I was annoyed because I wanted to get back to the meat of things but as time went on, I loved that the author was daring enough to show us this isn't about holding hands, this is about letting go of fear and living anyway, this is about everything else too. Some people fault it for a certain level of predictability coming to the end but I can't because what I love is the character's response to that situation, her boldness in saying with every action that she wants to live fully anyway. In the face of that change old question 'What if I fall oh but what if you fly' or main characters answer let's find out.


I'm so excited for the film and I cant wait to see what they do with it!

 Peace. Love. Jump

2016 Reading List 1/2

Hey stranger! I missed keeping my blogging schedule as I was directed a show. I have been for the past three months but we were down to the wire and things got crazy as they always tend to just a while before show day.

I hope to tell you more about Voices of The Artists Roar when I get some time but work beckons me towards the grind stone!

Woops I read my 12 book goal for 2016 in the middle of June! I've decided to then change my goodreads goal to 24 again. What should I read this summer? I need some plane reads stat!

Oh, and if you want to keep track of what I'm currently reading, follow my tag on instagram #TWPReads

Right now I'm currently reading The Lunar Chronicles. What are you reading?

Peace. Love. Happy Reading!

Musing :: Mind : The Simple Happy Place + World Book Day 2016

There is something about a place that is quite simply happy. It differs according to personality. For some that simple happy is found on a deserted road, in the early hours of the morning when the air is still so chilled it wakes you up more and more with every breath, as you take your morning run. For some it is in the arms of a child learning to read two syllable words before bed as you listen to them read you a story. Book stores are just one of these simple happy occurrences for me.

Why are simple happies so hard to remember?

I sat outside a book store the other day and just breathed. The closest display to where I sat housed the new releases and my heart just swells knowing that humanity still reads and writes and loves literature.

I am glad it is not a lost art form. Inside that store, on those shelves sit characters that have changed my life. Who have taught me to love, to forgive, to be meditative, to be aggressive and to be learned. I'll never forget that but more importantly, I wont forget the impression they've had on my entire life and what that means for me as a writer and a reader and a teacher.

Happy World Book Day!

These photos were taken at the #ArtandSoulBooks store. use that hashtag on instagram to see what I'm reading lately if you'd like or just wait for me to tell you on here ;)

Where is your simple happy place?

Peace. Love. Happy places.

Thriftbooks : A Review

(pretty packing yes?)

 

Just coming off my post about seven good reasons to still buy hard copy books I wanted to do a bit of a mini review of this website thriftbooks. Just from the very name I thought it a wonderful idea. This is a website that deals with the resale of books from one party to a next.

I know that for many people books are not held as something to hoard but something to read and pretty much forget about or donate to a next party. Well, this website sweetens the deal by allowing you to make some cash off the lot of it!

I love this idea because it makes my little environmentalist heart sing a happy song. I know that this world is not all that it used to be and providing a way for many people to find enjoyment out of one book instead of throwing it in the trash or letting it be eaten away in the corner by dust or bugs well, a great initiative it is if you ask the likes of me.

I almost thought it too good to be true. After all, how could you be sure that you would get good, cared after books and not sloppy seconds someone was just looking to free themself and their bookshelf of having to see? Let us be honest, in this day of the world wide web you take such a chance when ever your order things we are kind of just choosing to close our eyes to it aren't we?

Never the less I decided to try out the service, I wanted to populate my personal library with some of my favourites, these books were cheap, second hand and the website ships world wide so what did I have to lose?

As it always does with my mailing system it took quite some time to get here but it did and look at those beauties! I do not regret it in the least! These books were well kept by their previous owners and well worth the reduced price. The site gives you the option of which book you would like to purchase according to the state it is in which tends to vary from as good as new or slightly torn or nicked.

I chose almost new for my purchases and they are both hard cover because these I want to last a very long time. Granted, one of them looks like it was a gift and has a little note written on the inside something along the likes of 'i hope it brings you as much joy as it brought me' or that might actually be a note from the previous owner to me, which is cute but only cute because I think it's written in pencil haha. The other I think the book's jacket is slightly scuffed but I'm okay with that being the case. I mean have you seen how pretty the cover of my The Alchemist is?! Yes please!

All in all, I love thriftbooks.com and I would say give it a try for discounted books in good shape. Another feature I love is that you get paid more the better the condition of the book you're selling, great encouragement for keeping your books well. Also, I love that I can make a wish-list and be notified when someone adds a book I want to the website and snatch it up quick. Kind of slept on that because I could have owned Harper Lee's book when it was being sold for cheaper but hey, a girl needs to also support local businesses right?


Do you like buying second hand books?

Peace. Love. Read.

Why Buy Books Though?

I was contemplating this lately as I considered filling my library with my favourites books. The ones that have changed my life. The truth is this home I live in is likely not my last stop, heck it's barely my first. The bookshelves in this home belong to me because I bought in my early years of working the things that reflected the destiny I wanted.

Even with this being so I found myself questioning even in the midst of my joy, as I bought some of my favourites...what sense does this make? It was on my mind so much I had a talk with someone about it and this person helped me to conceptualise what I suppose I already knew but can easily forget in this ever digital age.

At the end of our conversation, this much was clear, seven reasons to still buy books in hard copy:

1. To Contribute to your Legacy - 

To pass on a representation of the things that are important to you and have impacted your life to the people who are most important in your life. What a joy it is to pick up and old favourite and share with someone then watch the light of love come to life in their eyes as the love you found in those pages births in them . The people we love love seeing those things and for me it will be an unspeakable joy someday to pick up Green Eggs and Ham or The Nutmeg Princess and read them to my own loves.

2. Character Repute - 

There is a saying that you can judge a person by the books on their shelf and surely we can secretly admit (just between us) that if you walk up to someone's shelf and find a slew of only say... harlequin and heat novels for example, you will begin to judge their character in a way that is unspoken. You will judge that person very differently than you do the person whose shelf is filled with self help books or psychology textbooks. I do not enforce such judgement for Lord knows my shelf could be inhabited by anything at any time given the research I'm doing at that time for a novel or another but alas it happens and I will readily admit that I have walked up to many a bookshelf and when the books on their tell of a professional who invests on his craft a part of my is impressed. Passion informs purpose after all.

3. Referencing - 

Speaking of purpose, it is handy to have a repertoire of books on hand from whence to tap when indulging in your discipline. Whatever your passion their comes a time when you want to dip into a source that is certified easily and without sifting through search engine result after search engine result. Books are away of ensuring your citations are reliable with the flick of a page. Who can't appreciate such a thing?

4. Encouragement of Passion -

Honestly there is something about being surrounded by good literature that makes me want to write more. Its inspires a guilt I am grateful for, a guilt that says get of your butt and let your reality reflect your dreams.

5. Aesthetics - 

I cant think of a better prop than books. I take pictures like crazy when I'm next to them and they would be my ideal youtube video backdrop because they put a pep in my step, I feel learned and inspired and all kinds of good feels when I'm around them and I hope that they can inspire that amongst others I encounter because really they are a treasure chest of knowledge just waiting to be had.

6. Identity -

Represent for who you are right? If these books hold within them the messages that have shaped you, if they scream your values and what your perceive the answer to life as we know it? Rep you baby. On every shelf in the house I say.

 7. Exploration -

What ever your discipline, it remains important to push the envelope. Having books within reach that encourage an unfamiliar perspective is a wonderful way to do that. There is something about a bookshelf that causes people to drift in it's direction. When left alone with one, they either seek old friends in the world of the written word or find new ones. It's astounding the power of a book on hand.

~

Hey and maybe books will go out of style someday but even writing that sentence the only thing that comes to mind is a quote from the Doctor Who Episode where I met my favourite character.

"Books! People never really stop loving books. 51st century. By now you've got hollovids, direct-to-brain download, fiction mist but you need the smell! The smell of books, Donna- Deep breath!' ~Doctor Who, Silence in the Library.

Why do you still buy books in this day and age?

Peace. Love. Beautiful Libraries. 

2015 Completed Reading

I finally killed my reading list for 2015. I was a little worried as I did come close the last two years but I noticed that in the last semester of the calendar year my reading always slows down. Likely, I speculate, as it's the first semester of the school year as a teacher and first term of the school year as a student, both things I am doing that cause my time to not be my own and throw me in the middle of various commitments to deadlines.

So this year, I was more strategic and just kept reading earlier in the year and over the summer, letting myself indulge in the temptation to never slow down.

I must admit that I started Emma in December of 2014 back when I read a tone of other classics like Little Women, Sense and Sensibility and my dear sweet Pride and Prejudice but I didn't finish it because I was not liking it at all. Therefore, with about six chapters to go I stopped. I was better able to get my head in the game this year though and read it and came to have a real appreciation for the literature. I still dislike the character though that is sure.

I've already begun compiling my list for 2016 believe it or not and I'm fighting with myself not to start it. Usually, I would just charge ahead because December break from uni is nice and long enough for a good rest but this year, I'm working hard on a plan I have for that month...say a prayer for me guys! I really want it to work out...

Either way, I did read another book not on this list but it was a #SheReadsTruth bible plan so I guess goodreads wont count it though I do. I am also reading another book now too but it's not yet published....so exciting!

So that's what's up with Liz the reader in 2015! Feel free to follow me on goodreads if you want to keep up a little more with my reading habits.


How is your reading list going for this year, a disappointment or full of surprises?

Peace. Love. Achievement.
Linking up with Blogtember 2015!

The Reading Habits Tag

 I saw this tag over at Vanilla Crush and then again on another blog and I've been trying to resist doing it because I only recently did a tag but then I figured why not?

1. Do you have a certain place at home to read?

In my room, always in my room once there is someone home. If not I might read a bit on the coach. Unless it's an audiobook then all bets are off and I'm at the sink doing dishes, on a bus, dusting down furniture, folding clothes, everything!

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Since I do a lot more e-reading now because of my sight it's digital book marking haha but when I am reading a tangible book I am one of those terrible people who dog ears the page.

3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or number of pages?

I can generally stop on any page if I have to just at the end of a paragraph or at the button or top of the page or even the middle really,  somewhere that I can generally remember the place to find it again easily. Ideally though, the end of a chapter is perfect.

4. Do you eat or drink while reading?

Rarely as I was taught not to from an early age, bad for your health, causes weight gain and over eating and the list goes on. Also I can never truly appreciate the food when I do that so if I do I'm literally just shovelling the food into my mouth so I can get back to giving the book my full attention!

5. Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?

Absolutely not.

6. One book at a time or several at once?

One book please.  I don't like dividing my attention.

7. Reading at home or everywhere?

At home where I can get the lighting right and do all those crazy book reader poses.

8. Reading aloud or silently in your head?

Silently.

9. Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?

Never

10. Do you ever write in books?

If I'm studying it for a class yes. I've started writing in my books for that reason and I'm warming up to it as a literature student but I always feel like such a betrayer doing it.

If you do this tag, link me! I love it and would love to hear about your reading habits, lets be nerdy together <3 

If you like I'm tagging:

Helen of I Will Bloom

Charlotte of Inside Chalotte's Head

Shellon of Don't Play With It

Kiki of In It's Time

Hayley of Charidabelle

because you are all awesome and readers and I want to know how you do it.