__how do you read books?

Tags

bed, books, comfort, kindle or paperback, laying down, reading, reading pillows, writing

 

I would have to say I read books in a conventional manner to start with. I will have my legs crossed, or I’ll be sitting down with the book out in front of me. If the book grips me and I’m reading for a while, I have to keep changing positions. Often I end up reading while laying down on my stomach, sometimes on my back. But if I’m on my back my arms start to get sore. If I’m reading on my bed, I end up in 50 different positions, all over the bed.

Reading paperback books (especially big ones that are heavy) can actually be a bit of a hassle sometimes. So much twisting and turning. I know at the bookstore I used to work at (Borders), they sold little pillows that were designed to rest on your stomach but to keep your book open for you at the right angle. I thought it was a brilliant idea but I never bought one. Have you seen them before?

Character Takeover

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book, books, Ella Enchanted, fantasy, fiction, Gail Carson Levine, reading

If you could take the place of any literary figure, who would you be in which story and would you choose to play out the story as it’s written, or would you change it?

I would be Ella from Ella Enchanted, the book NOT the movie. I would play everything out as it was in the story because I don’t think it could have worked out any other way.

__books you can’t put down

Tags

authors, books, comic, cute, funny, readers, reading, writers

Found this little comic and thought it was fantastic! Isn’t it annoying yet wonderful when you find a book that does this to you? You just can’t put it down!

The Unit recently did this to me. Which books have done this to you lately?

- Ermisenda Alvarez

The Best Books

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book, books, christmas, fantasy, fiction, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, holiday traditions, J. K. Rowling, reading, Thanksgiving, urban fantasy

For me, the best books create traditions.

I recently reread Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I was not only transported back into the world of Harry Potter, I was transported home to when my family would gather in the living room and read the Harry Potter books aloud. This one is probably my favorite because of the traditions it started.

Dementors, cloaked beings who feed on happiness, were first introduced in this book. The way you recover from a dementor attack is to eat a slab of chocolate. Well, it did not take my family long to latch on to that! As we were reading, as soon as a dementor entered the story, we would pause and  hand out chocolate. Around Thanksgiving and Christmas, we made a special tweak and pretended that eggnog worked just like chocolate.

Fill in the sentence and tell us what makes the best books for you.

-Eliabeth

__really bad analogies

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analogies, bad, funny, humor, joke, reading, stories, tips, writing

Sometimes when we are writing, we try to spruce up the story with a few analogies. Sometimes they’re good, and sometimes they are not so good. Here are some hilarious examples of really bad analogies. I doubt these are true analogies from high school students but I still thought this was a definite list to share. I can’t pick my favourite but #5 and #7 stood out for me!

- Ermisenda Alvarez

Book Review: The Unit

Tags

book review, dystopian novel, humble, middle-aged, ninni holmqvist, reading, sad, stories, the unit, writing

The Unit

by Ninni Holmqvist

genre: dystopian

After discarding The Girl in the Steel Corset, I found the humble book The Unit. Find out why I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

One day in early spring, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. She is promised a nicely furnished apartment inside the Unit, where she will make new friends, enjoy the state of the art recreation facilities, and live the few remaining days of her life in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty–single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries–are sequestered for their final few years; they are considered outsiders. In the Unit they are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation.

Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others, and Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and…well, then what?

__paper passion scent

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beauty, book, life, perfume, reading, stories, writing

I love perfumes. I love colognes. One of the sexiest traits of a man, for me, is how good they smell. I spend too much time in perfume stores, sniffing at all the delightful scents. One of my favourite books of all time is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind. While I love books and I enjoy the smell of books, I would have never thought that there would ACTUALLY be a perfume for it. Well, the internet proved me wrong.

Paper Passion Scent is the perfect perfume for booklovers, it smells of a freshly printed book. Would you consider buying it? Maybe it is something to consider for those kindle owners who miss the smell of turning the pages of a brand new book.

- Ermisenda Alvarez

Picture it & Write Publication

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book, books, charity, Picture it & Write, Picture it and Write Publication, poetry, publishing, reading, writing

We interrupt your normally scheduled Picture it & Write to bring you this important announcement.

It’s been a little over a year since Ermisenda started hosting Picture it & Write.  We look forward to it every week as you continue to dazzle us with your contributions. Whether you’ve had dreams of becoming a published author or you just contribute for fun, here’s your chance to have your writing in a publication.  100%* of sales from this publication will be go to The Girl Effect, a movement to improve the world through empowering girls to become educated leaders of their communities rather than child brides.

If you would like your work considered, paste the original contribution in the comments section of this post with a link back to the original, whether that be on your blog or a Picture it & Write post.  Submissions will be accepted until February 28, 2013.

You are encouraged to go through the archives and contribute to any that inspire you.  For a gallery of images, check the Facebook gallery or Pinterest board.

Not all submissions will be printed.  Ermilia, LLC will chose which submissions at the sole discretion of Ermisenda and Eliabeth.  If you are a photographer and would like to donate a picture to the publication, e-mail ermilia [at] live.com.au for consideration.

Nerd Girl Problem #195

Tags

book, books, reading

I like to take my books out onto the hammock sometimes and count that as an outdoor activity.  What’s your favorite place to read?

-Eliabeth

__book vending machine

Tags

art, book, business, creative, crime, harlan coben, hunger games, idea, life, machine, reading, technology, tom clancy, vending, writing

Is this bookstore of the future? A very cool idea although I wonder how popular it will become.

- Ermisenda Alvarez