Hay-on-Wye, Wales; 5 Book Towns to Visit. Book lovers are dreamers. We dream of other worlds and other lives. We dream of what we just finished reading and what we’re going to read next. We dream of homes crammed with our book collections, libraries that never close, and cozy local bookshops where we can spend massive quantities of both time and money. And some book lovers dream of entire towns devoted to books and then make them a reality. Hay-on-Wye, Wales Probably the best known of all the book towns, and credited with inventing the concept, Hay-on-Wye is home to numerous book and antiques shops. St. A Medieval village, St. Paju Book City, South Korea Located next to the North Korean border, this literal city of books was built to symbolize the importance of the common good. Featherston, New Zealand One of the newer book towns, Featherston already has a yearly book fair (featuring a fish ‘n’ chip supper), held in May.
Hobart, USA Located in the Catskills (New York), Hobart was essentially a ghost town not too long ago. Cheers, 5 Book Towns to Visit. 5 Awesome Fictional Librarians. Librarians are awesome. They’re not only keepers of the world’s knowledge, but they’re also highly trained information scientists and invaluable resources, both in the library and in the community. They can help you find a rare book, an obscure fact, your distant ancestors, or even a job–and if you’d rather just google it, well, they can help you with that too (find out more about what librarians do).
They work hard helping people of all ages and backgrounds, while not-very-bright politicians try to save a few bucks in the budget by claiming libraries are obsolete (hint: no, they’re not). Luckily, there are many people who still appreciate libraries and librarians–some have even immortalized them in books and TV shows. (Fair warning: spoilers ahead) Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl/Oracle Among all the related comic books, TV shows, movies, and reboots, one of Batgirl’s incarnations is as head librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. Rupert Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Mr. The Librarians. Considering pretty much everyone has handled a book at least once, it’s funny that most of us aren’t fully versed in the names for their various parts.
While you can probably confidently point out a cover or a page, did you know there’s a word for the blank space between pages? What do you call that doodle on a book’s spine? And how does a book have a spine, anyway? Today we get an lesson on the anatomy of books… Do you have other words about books to share? Let me know in the comments. Find out more about the history of these words here. Now that you’ve read about books, you can read one of my books! Love Lies Bleeding Bleeding Heart *Blood Magic *Tooth & Claw (Links take you to all available stores. Cheers, Aspasía S. 7 Words About Books. I always find it strange that people need to be convinced to read. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love books. For me, books have always been magic, gateways to other worlds, other lives. They’re adventures and dreams, knowledge and potential, all packed into conveniently portable packages.
Forget apps–no matter what you want or need at any given moment in life, there’s a book for it. How could anyone not instantly see the value in that? And yet… According to the Pew Research Center, 26% of American adults have admitted to not reading even part of a book in the last year (and I’m sure the numbers are similar in Canada). If magic, knowledge, and adventure aren’t enough to get you interested, maybe I should also mention that: Yale researchers found that people who read books for 30 minutes a day live longer than those who read magazines or who don’t read at all. Successful people read (and they share some of their favourite books here). Need a short story to get you started? Cheers, Why You Need to Read Books. §.
For those of you who don’t know, I love decorating. At one point I was seriously considering it as a career (then I found out how much drawing is involved and, well, let’s just say writing is my real calling). As a book lover, a lot of your decorating ends up revolving around an ever-expanding collection, so it’s great to get inspiration. BuzzFeed posted photos of 17 amazing home libraries–the ones I’m sharing here are my favourites (did I also mention I’m not a minimalist?) Which ones from the article do you like best? Are there other great home libraries you want to share? Add to your own library– get my books now (links below)!
Love Lies Bleeding Bleeding Heart *Blood Magic *Tooth & Claw (Links take you to all available stores. Cheers, Aspasía S. Happy World Dracula Day! Today we celebrate the anniversary of the first publication of Bram Stoker’s vampire standard Dracula. And how better to celebrate than by sharing some of my favourite versions of the classic character? I have to start with the original, Stoker’s Count. Although Stoker wasn’t the first to write about vampires, his character (and book) started an ongoing obsession with vampires, inspiring countless variations over the decades, including dozens of versions of Dracula alone. Many of what we now consider essential characteristics of vampires: aversion to sunlight and garlic, lack of reflection, supernatural powers, vulnerable to a stake through the heart–all came from Dracula. A few have been discarded over the years too–how many modern vampires have hairy palms or need to keep the soil of their homeland handy?
If you’re a vampire fan and you haven’t read Dracula yet–drop everything and get yourself a copy. Here’s the entire scene if you want some context: Cheers,