Broken Spines, Blanking on Recommendations, and Other Book Confessions

We all have bookish habits we’re a little embarrassed about. Maybe you can never remember an author’s name. Maybe you can’t finish a book without starting five others and it takes you forever to get through any of them. Maybe you run in very literary circles but secretly love cheesy action novels.

Reader Shaming helps readers come clean about their bookish habits. I scanned through the submissions so far and agreed with more than a few of them.

A couple of my book confessions:

  • I never remember titles or author names. I always say things like “That one with the dog…”
  • I get overwhelmed when people ask me for recommendations. It’s like all the books I know and love fly right out of my head. Plus, I feel a lot of pressure to get it right–how am I supposed to know what you feel like reading next?
  • I reread a lot and am surprised that most people don’t.
  • I don’t lend books to a lot of people. I lost two copies of The Princess Bride that way and have gotten really protective of my collection.

Share your book confessions in the links, or submit to Reader Shaming.

(H/T Book Riot)

Jazz Up Your Quotes

A couple of fun blogs that take on literary quote matching. I’m feeling the synesthesia!

I’ve mentioned before that I like to create playlists for my various literary projects. But I’ve never tried matching songs to previously created works from the literary canon. Enter literary jukebox, which pairs famous quotes with thematically similar songs.

And this tumblr might leave you craving a sugary treat, but I think Dough Country for Old Men, which pairs pictures of donuts with literary quotes, is pretty fun. The title puns alone get my approval. My own attempt at donut quotes:

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.–William Shakespeare

(via Bon Appetit)(image: OSU Special Collections & Archives : Commons)

A Series of Personality Traits

Love this list of what your favorite YA series says about you. So glad to see so many awesome series (not just ultra-famous ones like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games) included. A few of my favorites:

Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, Francesca Lia Block
You were a pretty weird teenager, and you’ve grown up to be a pretty weird adult. But you’re pretty happy with that (as you should be).

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patricia C. Wrede
You’re a smart aleck and kind of a badass — that is, you know all the places where a young lady is supposed to scream for help, but you generally prefer to rely on your sword hand. Also you make a killer cherries jubilee.

The Time Quintet, Madeleine L’Engle
You are an epic nerd, but that’s how you’re going to save the world.

One I’d add:

The Song of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce
You’re a kicking-ass-and-taking-names kind of person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also enjoy a good make-out session.

Go find your favorite series!

Listen All Y’all, It’s a Sabotage

From this list of 5 ways your brain sabotages your writing:

Your brain says: “Watching that video of a baby otter eating a medley of seafood with his little paws is a great use of your time.”
The reality: Your brain favors immediate rewards over long-term ones, so it tries to trick you.

My brain is totally on this one. Especially when the time wasted on funny videos and links can masquerade as developing my social media platform. One solution to this problem:

“Fool your brain by providing short-term rewards for completing parts of your long-term goals. Finish a chapter of your novel? Go eat frogurt, head to the pub, or do bath salts…whatever is rewarding for you.”

The hard part is not allowing yourself that reward until you’re actually done. Make sure to check out the whole list so you can figure out how to outwit your crafty brain.

And seriously guys, you need to check out that otter. So cute!