Update

Hello Reading Monsters!!!

This here is going to be an update on my current situation and the future state of this blog.

I'd first like to say, Thank You!!! to everyone who's read this blog and my different posts. I'm having a lot of fun writing the posts and I hope you're having as much fun reading them! I encourage you to email me at lectionemmonstrum@gmail.com anytime about questions, suggestions, etc on books. I'll answer as quickly and as best as I can!

Meanwhile, I'll be going away for a while. I'm starting a new intership soon, in a different state. My means of getting the books I read is The Public Library. Since I'll be leaving the state (for two months), I won't be able to checkout and read books during that time. I don't know if I'll be able to get a library card in the different state I'll be in and checkout books. I don't even know if I'll be able to read during the two months I'll be away. I plan to take one of the books I own with me to read on the airplane. I might take two, one for going there and one for coming home.

I have a number of posts locked and loaded for the next few weeks (I like to post once a week) and I'm slowly planning what posts I could do for two months so that this blog doesn't go dry and I don't disappoint any avid readers.

I may not be able to post every week whilst I'm away, but I am going to try and post any chance I get. So from June 24th to August 18th expect a sparse amount of posts. I apologize in advance, but fear not! I'm loyal to this blog and damn crafty so I won't neglect it for two months. I'll eventually (soon) come up with a plan. I want to read Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk next, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to before I leave. Your suggestions would come in handy right out now. Why not tell me what you want to see on this blog. It's as much my blog as it is yours.

Look out for new posts soon and stay with me for the upcoming months!

Don't forget to email me suggestions, questions, recommendations for posts and books!! lectionemmonstrum@gmail.com

Your input is highly valued.

Just keep reading!,

A Little Reading Monster.

Books vs. eBooks

I grew up reading hardcopies of books, so you could say I already have a bias against electronic versions of books. I don't have anything against them or people who prefer eBooks, but personally I love the feel, smell and experience of reading from a hardcopy and holding the actual book. I don't like reading from a computer screen very much; not sure if I can explain why, but I just feel when I read on a screen, it's more likely that I'll read the same line over and over. It's also harder for me to follow along with my finger (something I like to do a lot while reading). Not to mention, I get distracted easier when I read on a computer.

When you have a Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. I admit it is easier to have multiple books with you at one time. They're also ideal for travelling when you go on extended trips and stuff. But I've just never been into not having a hardcopy of a book. Of course this limits me because I mostly go to library and check out books. I can't take library books with me when I go to another state for more than two weeks or another country, I don't get to keep the book once I finish it and if I don't finish it within the time period of rental, I have to return it and then take it out again. I don't mind this, there are ways of getting around the system. I also don't mind "lugging" around countless books in my bag. I love the weight of a good read.

I don't know much about eBooks or digital copies of novels, but I think you can rent a copy of book on your "tablet"device, right? (Correct me if I'm wrong.) But if you can't and you read a book you don't like, you're stuck with that book. Sure, you can delete it off of your device to make more space for better books, but that's not going to return the $3+ you spent on it. At least with hardcopies of books you can sell them and get some money back or give them away to libraries or friends.

Another reason why I prefer actual books is that I don't think reading on a small screen is going to do good things for my eyes. I already wear glasses (reading glasses, since I was a kid) and squinting at a screen will only make my prescription stronger. With real books, the font is already big enough for my eyes and I don't have to zoom in to get a better look.

You also can't forget about the older sibling of eBooks, Audiobooks. I don't like those either. I probably hate them more than eBooks. Mostly because they put a voice to the characters when you should be able to put your own voice to the characters. It's like when a book is turned into a film, the director is showing their own voice and interpretation. Also with Audiobooks, it's mostly one person doing the voices of many characters. At least in film versions of books, there's a different person for each character. I remember once I was in my friend's car and she was listening to an Audiobook of a book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series. I think Tim Curry was the person who they decided would be on the Audiobook. Although I like Tim Curry, I didn't want him to read a book to me. I don't why, but even at that early of an age, I didn't feel comfortable hearing someone else's voice read a book to me I was capable of reading to myself. I guess if you think about it, if your parents read to you when you were a kid, like my Mom did, that could technically be your first experience with an Audiobook. But for me, they're two completely different things. When you're younger and people read to you, it's because the easiest way for you to understand is through listening and then you'll be able to read on your own. That's how you learned to talk, isn't it, by listening? Audiobooks just seem to rush through books and you don't get to take the time to absorb every word. At least with eBooks you can turn the pages and read on your own.

I must admit, it might be funny to hear the Audiobook for American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (if there is one). I'd love to hear what kind of voice they picked for Patrick Bateman.

In the battle between Books and eBooks, I have to side with books. I'm a sucker for a nice, thick hardcopy that I can use, abuse and get attached to.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

I own and have read every single A Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket. I remember it was the first books I actually really enjoyed reading for fun. And also the first books where I wrote down words I didn't know and then I looked them up.

I first discovered A Series of Unfortunate Events from my elementary school. We would get these Scholastic Book magazine type things where we could order books. God help the kids these days; I doubt schools even do that anymore. Regardless, I ordered my first A Series of Unfortunate Events book (The Bad Beginning) there and kept doing it until I changed schools. My new middle school didn't give out the Scholastic thing. Because of that, I took to Barnes & Noble for my A Series of Unfortunate Events fix. I wanted every book. Not to mention I wanted them all to myself to point where there are two copies of The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill and The Carnivous Carnival in my house. I was so selfish back then I wouldn't let my older brother read my copies of the series. So my mom resorted to buying him his own copies. It's actually the one series we both love. He's read all the Harry Potter books, but doesn't like Harry Potter.

Now, I'm going to try and explain this as best I can. I LOVE the title of every book. Lemony's titles were simple, but packed with symbolism which I loved. I also loved Lemony Snicket's alliteration. I thought that was the coolest thing ever as a kid. And I still do! Alliteration never ceases to put a smile on my face. If my memory serves me, he also did it with some characters in the books. The one that sticks out the most is the triplets young Violet, Klaus and Sunny met at boarding school in The Austere Academy. I think all the triplets' names started with Q's. That blew my mind as a child. I kid you not. Also I liked how he named the characters to fit their personality. Very subtle, very unique.

By far, the saddest book in the series for me is The Slippery Slope. It was all about Sunny. I don't want to give anything away, but it's powerful. A Series of Unfortunate Events was the first series and quite frankly the first books where I read about unhappy endings and children being orphaned. I learned a lot of words, idioms/phrases and life lessons from reading A Series of Unfortunate Events and I'll never forget them. I learned what you really get is more questions than answers and you're as good as you make yourself. I mostly learned that it's real out here in the streets. I hope Snicket didn't write from his own experience because then I'd be totally bummed out.

I've heard of some people rereading the series every year. I wish I had the time for that! I've only read the series once and that was a long time ago; maybe eighth grade. That all has to change.

If I had to pick a favorite book from the series it would have to be... I literally cannot pick one! I've looked them over; at the covers, said the titles out loud, recalled what happened. And I just can't do it. Don't make me pick! Don't make do it! Please! If I had to pick a favorite character, it'd be Violet, while I was reading it, but Klaus now. I absolutely loved Violet as a kid because she was kickass girl! She was smart as all hell and could invent anything. She was MacGyver, but the preteen girl version. Now if I'm honest, Klaus would be my favorite character because he reads a lot and can recall the information at any given moment. I have to say that is me now.

I also went to see the Nickelodeon film of the series with my mommy (!). I didn't like it. I didn't like how they didn't dedicate one film to one book or how they used the ending of the first book to end the whole film. I really didn't like how they barely stuck to the books and shoved the first three books into one film. I came out of the theatre as a ten year old girl like, "WUT? That was the best they could come up with?!" You know how I like to see a difference between book and TV/Film interpretation?  This was not one of those times. And I'm SO glad they did not make more films based on the books. One was enough and enough was too much.

Lemony Snicket is my favorite author from childhood. I have yet to read a series that is as unique and innovative as the A Series of Unfortunate Events series.

If you haven't read this series or even heard of it, shame on you! I hope that rock you're living under is comfortable and don't even bother crawling out of it.

The Master List of A Series of Unfortunate Events Books:

1. The Bad Beginning
2. The Reptile Room
3. The Wide Window
4. The Miserable Mill
5. The Austere Academy
6. The Erstaz Elevator
7. The Vile Village
8. The Hostile Hospital
9. The Carnivorous Carnival
10. The Slippery Slope
11. The Grim Grotto 
12.  The Penultimate Peril
13. The End

Ending with thirteen books in the series, Lemony? I see what you did there.

This post is making me want to drop everything and reread the series! If that actually does happen, I'll definitely make a post comparing reading them then to reading them now. 

Fun in the Gondola x Rant

I thought I'd do a little *Beauty Blogger* type post to change things up a bit and it pay homage to the bloggers who inspired me to start my blog.

I'm obsessed with nail polish, but my collection is tiny compared to other people's I've seen via YouTube.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that I love a good nail polish to accompany me while I'm reading. Your hands and nails are the tools used while reading a book so why not make them look presentable? I sometimes read line by line with my finger so why not give myself something pretty to look at whilst I absorb these beautiful words?

This week I decided to wear Fun in the Gondola by Essie. It's a subtle guava pink nail polish. I normally don't wear pink nail polish, but this color is so beautiful, so I said, "Hey, why not?" Along with this beautiful nail polish, I'm currently reading Rant by Chuck Palahniuk.  I think they go pretty will together.

Sidenote: There's a possibility I'll do more of these nail polish and books posts. It's a lot of fun!