The Book Faire: Quotable

Showing posts with label Quotable. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The Art of Not Breathing

The Art of Not Breathing has an intriguing plot line that's part murder mystery part adventure story. Elsie Main's twin brother drowned five years ago, but even though she was with him the day he died, she can't remember exactly what happened. Her parents have forbidden her to go to the beach, but it's only when she's in the water that pieces of her memory return. Little by little she realizes that her family and friends have all been keeping secrets from her. Only if she dives deep (literally) will she be able to answer the question: What really happened the day Eddie died?

Intriguing, right?

Well add in the fact that Elsie's mom is an alcoholic, her dad hates the world, her brother is anorexic, her "boyfriend" randomly disappears, she's bullied at school, and has self-esteem issues. Oh, and her dead twin brother, Eddie, talks to her in her mind. Ya. There's a LOT of heavy subplot going on.

Things that seem important at the beginning of the book (Elsie hearing Eddie's voice in her head) end up being trivial (he's all but silent by the end). The fact that every character is dealing with their own drama made me wish that SOMEONE could have had their life together. It's a little draining hearing how awful and unhappy everyone is all the time.

I was so excited to explore the country of Ireland! But, the accents disappeared after the first chapter and the vague descriptions of the town and ocean made it sound like this story could just as easily have taken place in New England. Luckily, the only time I've ever been to New England was when I was a little kid. New England is just as foreign as Ireland, so The Art of Not Breathing was still a nice escape for me.

Title: The Art of Not Breathing

Author: Sarah Alexander

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Published: January 5, 2016

Available: Amazon, Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble
Goodreads

There is one particular quote in the book that I really take to heart:

"Go with your heart, not your head, because your head doesn't know what it wants. It only thinks about the moral high ground. And if your heart isn't happy, when you try to share it, you'll make others unhappy too."

Isn't that beautiful?

Friday, February 10, 2017

Things Not Meant for You

Last year I had a reading resolution of over 30 books. This year, my resolution is a whopping 15 books. I love reading (hello, I started a book blog), so why did I cut my goal in half?

Well, it turns out that I'm a really picky reader...and by really picky, I mean it's more likely you'll find me in a library than a bookstore because it's easier to return the books I don't want to finish. It's more likely for a book to get an Erika rating of 2 stars than 4. It's more likely I'll prefer the movie than the book. (That last one probably made a lot of you cringe.)

I used to think there was something wrong with me. After all, how could I not love the book that was recommended by Oprah, 5-starred on Goodreads, and listed as a New York Times bestseller?

Buddha had the answer for me:
"In the end only three things matter: how much you love, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you."

I've applied this to multiple aspects of my life, including my reading habits.

According to Forbes, there are between "600,000 and 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone." That's a lot of books.

With so many options on the bookshelf, why would I want to force my way through a book I don't enjoy? Not every book was meant for me. Apparently a lot of books weren't meant for me, and that's okay. Every person has different experiences in life. Books touch those experiences on various levels so what might ring as life changing text for one person might be a throw away read for another. And that's okay.

Rather than trying to force myself to read 2-3 books a month, I'm going to give myself the time to let go of the books not meant for me. By lowering my reading goal, I don't have to finish every book I start. I can take the time to start books that intrigue me and finish books that continued to intrigue me, hopefully turning 2017 into my best read yet.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

If It Sits, I Licks

Everyone needs to 1) take a look at this adorable puppy 2) take a look at the author name listed next to this adorable puppy.

There are a lot of perks to working for a small publishing house, one of them being when they are looking for an author to write a quote book on dogs, I get to call dibs. I'm a dog person to my very core, so when Familius published If It Fits, I Sits last year, I bit my tongue and said things like "It's such a cute book." In my mind though I was thinking, "A dog book would sell better, because cats are the devil." I've only had bad experience with cats and I have the scars to prove it.

Well, here we are a year later and If It Sits, I Licks is in the works. All the quotes for the book have been gathered, and I've written chapter intros that are now with my editor for revisions. All that's left are designing the quotes and choosing pictures to correspond with each quote.

To give you a better idea of what we are creating, here are a few sample spreads from If It Fits, I Sits (which by the way was written by our managing editor...see what I mean about small publishing house perks?)

We are looking for high-resolution photos of dogs with personality. Whether it be loving, naughty, tail-wagging, or droopy eyed, we'd love to include a wide variety in our book.

Here's where you can be a part of this book. Familius is looking for dog Instagram accounts that would like to be considered for inclusion in this book. If your dog has an Instagram account, comment on this post with the account name (i.e. @darciedog) and we'll take a look.

All photos that are included in our final book will be credited, so while your dog may be the star, your name will be printed in the book's index.

These books will be distributed nationally, and represented at international rights shows for foreign publication consideration. This will definitely bump up your Instagram game!

If you have any questions, you can include them in the comments section or email me at my work address erika@familius.com.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Life After Life

How do you pass the time when you're making a 12 hour round-trip drive for work...alone?

Normally I stock up on Twizzlers and Josh Groban CDs, but this time I decided to try something new. Audio Book!

I checked out Life After Life from my local library, and I have to say it was nice company. I've never listened to a complete audio book before. I prefer the feel of having a book in my hands, to hear the character's voices how I would imagine them, and to read as much or as little as I want.

Life After Life is the tale of one girl on a journey to get her life right, no matter how many times it takes. Through a form of reincarnation, Ursula repeatedly lives and dies throughout the book. In a game of "Is this the right choice?" Ursula's decisions lead to her drowning, dying of the plague, starving and other extreme circumstances. But as soon as her life is over, the refresh button is hit and she begins it again. What's unique is that when she is reborn, her life is the exact same but she doesn't remember any of it.

This probably wasn't the best option for my first audio book. Life After Life involves a lot of year jumping, going from past to present and then back to the past which becomes the present. If that sounds confusing, try following it over an audio book :)

Once I got used to the time jumping, I was intrigued by the plot. It's like the choose your own adventure books I read when I was younger. One set of choices could end the story after three pages. You start over at the beginning and try a different set of pages, to find that the story lasts a little longer this time. Can you imagine living life this way? Getting third or fourth or fifteenth chances to live your life the way is was meant to be?

Life After Life shows how even the smallest decisions can have the largest impact in our life and in the course of history. What small decisions will you make today that will shape the rest of your future?