Miscellaneous Archives - Introverted Reader

Six in Six 2020

Jo at The Book Jotter hosts Six in Six 2020, a yearly meme that helps us reflect back on our mid-year reading. The idea is to choose six categories from the list provided and list six books you've read that fit in those categories. Since I just started blogging again about a month ago, I don't have many reviews I can link to; most of these links will go to Malaprop's, the local bookstore I'm affiliated with. Six Books I've Read in Lockdown: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things by Neil Pasricha The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows, read by Ann Marie Lee et al. The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Six Book Covers I Love Six Series I've Continued Then There Were Five and Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright, read by Pamela Dillman The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea by L.A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden The Long-Lost Home by Maryrose Wood, read by Fiona Hardingham The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley, read by Jayne Entwistle Six Authors Who Are New to Me Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi How to Find Love in a…

1 Comment

July 14, 2020

Read more about the article <i>Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times</i> at Biltmore Estate

Screen and Stage Review

Dressing Downton: Changing Fashion for Changing Times at Biltmore Estate

I'm pretty sure I've never mentioned Downton Abbey here on the blog, but I am a big fan! My husband and I started watching it late and we're slow series watchers, so we only caught up right before the new season started in January here in the US. I can't believe tonight's already the season finale! No spoilers, please! I won't be able to watch it until later in the week. A photo of the Biltmore house my husband took several years ago So, anyway, we are incredibly lucky here in Asheville, NC. One of our biggest tourist attractions is Biltmore Estate, a huge house castle? built by the Vanderbilts in the style of a French chateau. It's beautiful. My husband and I spend a lot of time there, wandering the grounds, biking, and catching outdoor concerts. But now they've outdone themselves. They've brought costumes from Downton Abbey to display throughout the house! Aaaaahhhhhh!!!! I was so excited when I saw this exhibit was coming! It opened on February 5 but yesterday was the first opportunity we've had to check it out. Oh my gosh. The costumes are gorgeous! And there are so many! There are over 45, many of them very iconic outfits that we immediately recognized. Each costume has information posted about it in the room, detailing whether it was a new piece or a vintage piece from the era, the details of the fabric and decorations, which character wore it (generally including a picture of that character in the costume), and which episode it appeared in. I really liked being able to orient myself to the show like that. There were very few rooms in the upstairs part of the house that didn't have at least one costume displayed. The downstairs (servants' quarters) didn't have very many,…

0 Comments

March 2, 2015

Personal Stories

Vacation Plan B-ing (Driving Distance to Vegas)

So, with impeccable timing, my husband and I are going on vacation in about a week. To the National Parks of the Southwest. A few of them anyway. Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Do you see where this is going already? Yup. The government shutdown. I am generally an optimistic person, but I'm also a just-in-case-r at heart. So, just in case the shutdown is ongoing when we fly in to Vegas, do any of you have suggestions for where we should go if the National Parks are still closed? We're staying our first and last nights in Vegas and that's probably going to be more than enough for this Introverted Reader. We've come up with the vague idea of just driving across to San Diego, but we've never been to the Southwest at all; I'm not entirely ready to give up on the idea. I mean, look at these gorgeous photos: Grand Canyon. From Wikimedia Commons, taken by Muu-Karhu Bryce Canyon. From Wikimedia Commons, taken by Ymaup Zion. From Wikimedia Commons Taken by Diliff In the brief amount of time that I've spent looking for alternate ideas, I keep smacking into National Parks. I have one friend who has been telling me to go to Sedona ever since she heard we were going out that way, so that could be one possibility. I'm just looking for more ideas. That rocky landscape is so very different from what I'm used to: Blue Ridge Parkway. From Wikimedia Commons taken by Ken Thomas We've already booked hotels in Tusayan, AZ; Panguitch, UT; and Springdale, UT. If we have to, we'll cancel. I'd rather not, partly because I don't want to take a chance on any cancellation fees but also because I know local businesses have to be hurting from all this…

4 Comments

October 5, 2013

Personal Stories

Dragon*Con Parade 2011

I went to Atlanta over the weekend, primarily to attend the Decatur Book Festival (I intend to write about that later). My husband was an unbelievably good sport and went along with me for the second year in a row. When we went last year, we found out that Dragon*Con is the same weekend in downtown Atlanta. We thought about wandering down to check out what we could, but we didn't have a GPS then and we didn't want to get hopelessly lost. We were better prepared this year. GPS at hand, we ventured out to the Dragon*Con parade. It was the highlight of our weekend! Among all the fabulous costumes (and they were all fabulous), I almost missed seeing my favorite costume of all. Don't ask me how he fit in at Dragon*Con. All I know is that the sheer unexpectedness made me laugh out loud. Yes, ladies, that is the Old Spice Man. "I'm in a parade." We were lucky to get a spot next to a kid in an awesome Yoda costume. Most of the participants noticed him and came over to talk to him, so my husband was able to get some great pictures. My husband and I both loved these "Box Heroes." There was a group of people in the parade supporting a blood drive. I was amused to see that someone had modified their "blood drive" sign to read "vampire food drive." I think my husband's very favorite costumes were what he called "The Haunted House People." He took a lot of pictures of these guys. They had an awesome float as well, but it was so big we couldn't get any great pictures of it. The previous two guys scared the crap out of me. No, I can't watch scary movies. How did…

1 Comment

September 7, 2011

Personal Stories

Birthday Loot!

So my birthday was last week. (Great big 33, if you must know. The 30's are starting to seem a little...real) Of course that means I have to dish about what I got! My big gift was a new bike. My old one was more of a mountain bike and it was heavy and clunky and just not very pretty. We have discovered that I like to ride on paved roads (less hard on the tush!), so I really needed something different. My husband surprised me with a beauty! My sister got me a very pretty fairy wind chime. My mom got me an Adele cd and she also supplied me with the books. I've already spread them out around the house, so I'm probably forgetting something. Down in the Garden by Anne Geddes The Frogs and Toads All Sang by Arnold Lobel Juniper Berry by M. P. Kozlowsky Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken I'll Be Watching You by Charles de Lint That ribbon in the center is a very pretty bookmark my grandmother got for me. My mom also had my uncle make me a couple of things. He's been doing a lot of wood working recently and we think he's getting good at it! She got me this cute little rocker (in my favorite shade of blue) that can be used as a bird feeder: And an adorable bird house, called The Love Shack. So many pretties! I'm shamelessly spoiled! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore, and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

6 Comments

July 27, 2011

Read more about the article Movie Review: <i>Life is Beautiful</i>

Screen and Stage Review

Movie Review: Life is Beautiful

A charming, fast-talking Italian man tries to win the heart of his "principessa." A few years later, he uses his boundless imagination to protect his young son from the realities of life in a concentration camp. I absolutely loved this movie. I'm not a huge movie buff, tending to fall asleep about halfway through almost everything, so it really means something for me to say that. Don't get me wrong, I do like movies, but I rarely love them. The first part of this lovely movie is like a fairy tale. Guido (Roberto Benigni) meets and falls in love with beautiful Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), who is already engaged to another man. Guido is so charming and funny that she finds it almost impossible to resist him. I did find it impossible to resist him. Benigni's performance is spectacular. He is excellent with the physical comedy that had me laughing continuously throughout this part of the movie. My husband very rarely laughs until he can't breathe, but he got to that point a few times throughout this first part. My favorite scene might have been the section where Guido jokingly uses his own skinny little body to extol the virtues of the Italian people. My poor husband has had to endure me singing the praises of his Cuban belly button in Guido-style ever since. A few years later, Guido is still a happy-go-lucky prankster, but times have changed. Soldiers are everywhere. As a Jew, authorities are keeping a very close eye on him. Then one day, he, his elderly uncle, and his young son are rounded up on a cattle train. We all know what that means. My heart started to hurt. I had fallen in love with this character. I didn't know if I could keep watching. But Guido sets…

6 Comments

May 7, 2011

Book Review Lists

Middle Eastern Women’s Literature Recommendations

A few weeks ago I posted about author Masha Hamilton and her Afghan Women's Writing Project. Check out my post if you missed it. This is a great project. I recommended the books A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi and asked if any of you had any other recommendations for Middle Eastern women's literature. There were a few, so I thought I'd share them with everyone in a post. Nymeth at things mean a lot said she also liked Persepolis and Reading Lolita but also recommended Iran Awakening, a memoir by Shirin Ebadi. Nymeth writes, "I thought it was even more interesting than the first two because unlike Satrapi and Nafisi, she didn't move abroad eventually. She's still in Iran, trying to change the system from within and fighting every day for women's and children's rights." Misty at Book Rat also recommended Persepolis but also recommended the non-contemporary young adult books, Anahita's Woven Riddle by Meghan Nuttall Sayres and Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. She also suggested that we look at the multi-cultural folder in the Wild Things group on GoodReads for more recommendations. Do you have any more books I should add to this list?

3 Comments

June 21, 2010

Personal Stories

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father's Day to any fathers out there! Let me tell you about my dad. He can best be described by a conversation I had with my neighbor recently. I had been out of town, my parents had stopped by my house to water my plants and check the mail, and my dad and Neighbor Mike, age 70+, had talked a little while. Mike stopped me in my car when I got back the next week to ask how my trip had been. Then he said, "I spoke to your dad for a while on Saturday. You know, he seems like a good man." Being me and not good at the "mushy" stuff, I kind of blew it off, "Well, he likes to talk a lot!" (And he does.) Mike says, "No, I'm serious. I get the feeling that, as little as he knows me, if I asked him to do anything for me, he would do it, no questions asked." Okay, now I'm not getting out of this one with a breezy answer. "He is a good man and he would absolutely help you with anything he could." And he would. I can't begin to tell you how often and how much he helps me and my husband, even though we've been married for almost six years now. As long as I can remember, if I call him for something, he's there. No questions, he just is. "Daddy, I'm sick and I need you to come pick me up." "Daddy, we need someone to drive our high school marching band's equipment truck." "Daddy, I'm breaking up with my high school boyfriend of three years and I don't know if I'll get through it." "Daddy, my car broke down and my husband's out of town." Even yesterday, "Daddy, can you…

5 Comments

June 20, 2010

Personal Stories

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! You are truly special people! I can't think of a time when my own mom wasn't there for me. Whether it was just staying up with me all night when I was sick, helping me with homework, taking us to the library weekly, being at every single band event for eight years between my sister and me, being with me when I got my heart broken, listening as I gushed on and on about my now-husband when I first met him, sharing my joy when I got engaged, helping us paint and clean and remodel our house, or showing up when I call her saying, "My in-laws are coming into town, I need help planting flowers," she is always there. I don't say it enough, so here it is. Thank you, Mama. I love you. Go tell your mom, or your like-a-mom, or your whoever how much they mean to you today. We can never tell them often enough.

0 Comments

May 9, 2010

Blogger Spotlight

Thanks to All of You!

Alyssa from Teens Read and Write wrote a very positive post yesterday and asked us to share stories about other bloggers who have helped us or just made our days a little brighter. As I sat there thinking about who to write about, I realized there were too many to list in someone else's comments. So here goes. First of all, thanks to Alyssa! The comments on her post show that we were in need of a virtual group hug! I have been friends on GoodReads with Misty at Book Rat for what feels like forever. I haven't advertised my blog on GoodReads at all, other than posting a link on my profile page, but Misty found me and was one of my earliest followers and gave me a great big welcome to the blogosphere! She's one of my most regular commenters, and her posts and reviews are thoughtful but usually funny in a way that is all Misty's own. She also jumped in on my Character Connection meme right away and joins in as she has time. Thanks for everything, Misty! I recently emailed Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books and asked her where she found her nice, neat GoodReads and email buttons. She promptly emailed me back, told me what search terms she used and then told me I could just use hers if I wanted to. Thanks! Jan at Eating Y.A. Books emailed me just this morning to let me know that my commenting system wasn't working. She could have just moved on and gotten on with her day, but she took the time to let me know something needed to be fixed. Thanks! Misty also tweeted me about the problem. Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, Jenn at Book Crazy, and Marce at Tea Time With Marce were some…

16 Comments

April 27, 2010