Introverted Reader

Meeting the Authors: Sarah Addison Allen

My mom and I went to see Sarah Addison Allen at Malaprop's for her First Frost book launch. We've seen her several times before and we always enjoy hearing her speak and meeting her. She is just the cutest, sweetest thing you've ever met. We got there 30-45 minutes early and the space was filling up fast. Malaprop's always passes around wine and maybe some cheese, but at Ms. Allen's events, we always get something a little extra. I don't know whether to thank the staff or the author for that but we sure appreciate it! This time, we got cute little pink and white cupcakes, vintage-looking apple napkins, and bowls of bright red apples in crystal-looking bowls. How cute is that? When Ms. Allen arrived, she was just as cute and sweet as ever. She spoke about how we all have "befores and afters" in our lives. Her big "before and after" is cancer but another big one is Garden Spells. She reflected on that for a bit and then read us her speech for that first tour. It was about her great-aunt and it was called, "Unmentionables." She had us in stitches! She then graciously answered several audience questions and then the book signing started. When my mom and I got to the front of the line, Ms. Allen complimented us on our scarves, then paused, really looked at us, and asked, "Were you at my signing last year?" We were shocked! She remembered us! We are both quiet and try our best to fly under the radar, so it was impressive that she remembered us! I guess there aren't that many curly-headed mother/daughter duos who show up at all her signings. :-) We told her how much we enjoyed her work and she graciously thanked us and…

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January 27, 2015

Book Review Lists

Book Club

A list of books my real-life book club read from roughly 2012 - 2014.

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January 26, 2015

Bookish Miscellany

Weekly Update for January 26, 2015

Welcome to my weekly update for January 26, 2015! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's been a fairly busy week. My grandmother had back surgery on January 15 and we've been trying to make sure someone is with her, temporarily in an assisted living facility for physical therapy, and my [...]

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January 26, 2015

gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson: Book Review

Arlene left her hometown of Possett, Alabama after she graduated from high school and never looked back. She has withstood bribery, threats, and guilt trips from hell from her Aunt Florence and remained in Chicago for ten years. But now Alabama seems to have found her. A face from Arlene's past shows up on her doorstep and at her job, asking questions that Arlene doesn't want to answer. At the same time, her boyfriend Burr, a Black man, is ready to get serious but he wants to know that she's serious too. He wants to meet her family. Her slightly racist family. To keep Burr and protect an old secret and her family, she must head back to Possett. I have seen Joshilyn Jackson speak multiple times and I always enjoy myself hugely. She is hilarious! And she sure knows how to tell a story. I was hoping to listen to a book that she had narrated herself, but those always seem to be checked out at the library so I grabbed this one instead. Catherine Taber narrated wonderfully so I wasn't disappointed. I've only read one other book by Ms. Jackson, Between, Georgia. I didn't care for it much. There was nothing wrong with it, exactly, it just seemed forgettable and it has been. I think I'll remember gods in Alabama for a long time. I don't even know whether to say that I like Arlene. Her heart's in the right place but she's about as crazy as her Mama. She prides herself on never telling a lie but that's not quite the same as telling the truth, now is it? She goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid telling lies but I never knew what parts of her story to believe. With good reason. There are only a couple…

Gulp by Mary Roach: Book Review

Mary Roach has a gift for making science accessible and--dare I say it?--even funny. In this book, she tackles the digestive system. Covering topics ranging from thorough chewing (as in 700+ chews for One. Freaking. Bite.) to the miraculous properties of spit, from being eaten alive to the possibility (or not) of chewing your way out if you are, from "The alimentary canal as criminal accomplice" to *ahem* flatus, and ending up with bacterial transplants to treat intractable digestive ailments, this book asks everything you might possibly have ever wanted to know on the topic but were afraid to ask. I have a pretty juvenile sense of humor, so all of the fart jokes, and spit jokes, and *ahem* "criminal accomplice" jokes had me at least giggling. In the two chapters devoted to flatulence, I was quite honestly laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. Not that it was necessarily that funny but because "Oh my gosh, I can't believe she went there. And there. And there!" I'm almost ashamed of myself. Almost. Luckily my husband and I have the same sense of humor so he just kept playing whatever game on his phone as I laughed myself silly and waited for me to catch my breath and report so he could share in the joke too. I've worked in healthcare for years, so I've developed a pretty strong stomach (though I'm not a nurse or CNA and haven't ever had to wade into the trenches, so to speak), so nothing in here bothered me. That will obviously not be the case for all of you. If you can stomach it (heehee!), I do recommend this. If it doesn't seem to be your kind of thing, it's probably not. Read an excerpt. Find author Mary Roach on her website and Twitter.…

Bookish Miscellany

Weekly Update for January 19, 2015

Welcome to my weekly update for January 19, 2015! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted [...]

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January 19, 2015

Read more about the article Movie Review: <i>Into the Woods</i>

Screen and Stage Review

Movie Review: Into the Woods

I adore musicals. And that's probably all I need to write. But here goes. My husband made a point of showing me this trailer a month or so ago (I usually have no idea what's going on in the movie world). He knew I would be excited by it and I was. Fairy tales, a witch, a musical... These are a few of my favorite things! The acting was fantastic, the songs were great, and all the stories wound together in unexpected ways. I loved that Cinderella and Rapunzel were more from the Grimm version of the old tales than from the Disney versions. It was by turn dark and creepy and dark and funny. One of my favorite songs had to be the princes (Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen) singing "Agony." They were hilarious! Johnny Depp's "Hello, Little Girl" was downright disturbing, as it was supposed to be. *shudder* But I also loved the whole look of the movie. The costumes and sets were stunning. We were a little puzzled by the way one character's story arc ended. We had no idea why it took the route it did. My cousin tried to explain it to me today but I'm still a little confused. I enjoyed myself immensely in this movie and recommend it to fairy tale fans! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.

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January 13, 2015

Bookish Miscellany

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: My Top Ten Books of 2014 2014 Reading by the Numbers Review: The League of Seven by Alan Gratz--4 Stars My sign-up post for the 7 Continents, 7 Billion People, 7 Books Reading Challenge Read: Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye, read by Campbell Scott Currently Reading: A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin--I need to catch up before the next season of Game of Thrones! Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, read by Catherine Taber Up Next: I definitely don't expect to finish anything this week. What are you reading? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.

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January 12, 2015

Book Review Lists

7 Continents, 7 Billion People, 7 Books Challenge 2015

Life as a Journey is hosting the 7 Continents, 7 Billion People, 7 Books challenge 2015. She has asked us to read seven books meeting seven different geographical criteria. A book from.... One of the 7 countries with the largest populations--Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, read by Grayce Wey (USA) One of the 7 highest countries in the world--The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (Afghanistan) One of the 7 oldest countries of the world--Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks--(Egypt/Iraq/Iran)--I'm fudging a bit on this one. The author travels all around the Middle East but spends significant time in these three countries One of the 7 megacities of the world--Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (Mumbai/Bombay) One of the 7 countries with the most immigrants--The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak (Russia) A continent not visited yet--The Discreet Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated by Edith Grossman (South America) A book with a journey from one continent to another--When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi (Afghanistan to England) This should push me out of my comfort zone! I'll track my progress here. You can find lists and links, as well as more information, at Life as a Journey. Update as of January 1, 2016: I'm counting this challenge as complete. I'm over halfway through The Discreet Hero and should finish it this weekend.

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January 8, 2015

The League of Seven by Alan Gratz: Book Review

It's 1875 and Archie Dent's parents belong to The Septemberists, a society dedicated to remembering the damage caused by monsters called the Mangleborn and to preventing them from rising again to destroy civilization. On a routine trip to the Septemberist headquarters, the older Dents are taken over by Manglespawn, children of a Mangleborn, and forced to Florida where one of the monsters is trying to break free. Archie and his family servant, a tik tok man named Mr. Rivets, try to save the Dents but fail. They set off to seek help from other Septemberists and make a couple of brilliant young friends along the way. Whew! That sounds complicated! It's not really. This is a middle grade steampunk adventure and everything's explained pretty easily. Archie's a great protagonist. He's small for his age, smart, kind of a nerd, and apparently there's nothing special about him. He wants so badly to be a hero that he feels his normalcy is a weakness. His friend Fergus is an electrician/scientist of amazing talents. His friend Hachi is a fierce warrior, utilizing five clockwork toys to her advantage. Archie seems to just be...Archie. I love the whole world this is set in. The fledgling colonies of North America lost contact with Europe when there was a catastrophic Mangleborn rising. They had to learn to live peacefully with the Native Americans so they've come to be known as the United Nations of America. The states we know correspond more closely to tribes of Native Americans. The colonists come to be known as the Yankee tribe. The society is pretty advanced but everything runs on clockwork and steam power. I was fortunate to see author Alan Gratz at his book launch and he said that he wanted to write a "book of awesome," so he…