The Pen and Book Files

 Every day is made of 86,400 seconds.  86,400 battles with my brain, no backup troops or a new plan. It is just me, fighting a war against myself. Often, I lose, tripping over the dirt as the words barrel out undeterred. Sometimes I try to catch them on the way out, the way that my classmates would lurk and scare me as I exited with books in hand. I would usually scream. The classroom was underground because the school was built on a hill, so the only natural light was a good ten feet high and filtered through windows. The shadows were elongated by the angles, and I could practice ballet in the empty room. Lifting my chin up and making shapes with my arms until I don’t seem like one of those dolls. The wooden ones, that artists use to practice anatomy and poses. Brandeis blue  I shake myself out of the dream, so lucid that it could become a memory if I’m not careful enough. The lines between days have long since blurred out from specific moments to cloudy hours, with the ...

  This book contains mentions of the following: loss of loved ones, illness.      Even in a casual conversation, we are telling stories. Memories constantly shift, becoming their own tales with a beginning and an end. Those stories bring back feelings of a happier time and can even drive away the despair of the present. That is the lesson that Janet Skeslien Charles aims to teach with this novel, about Jessie Carson (whom she researched for a decade) and one woman's aim to have Carson's work given its rightful recognition.      There's a large table at my local BJ's Wholesale Club dedicated to, you guessed it, books. I discovered Miss Morgan's Book Brigade there and picked it up immediately. Regardless of the actual content, any work which talks about the inherent magic of books themselves deserve is an immediate 10/10 in my book. Add in my second great love of history, and we're in business!      Jessie Carson was one of many women...

       What's your favorite book?      A simple question with a complicated answer. If you were to ask me, I would simply direct you to my bookshelves; any book still sitting there is most likely on the list. My favorite book is always changing, as the tides change with the sun's crossing across the horizon far beyond our reach. Any list that I could make of my favorites would include most, if not all, of the selections which I have perused. Some are so worn that their spines bear the marks of many a thumb-urning, while others have only been read once and then kept in their place of honor amidst the shelves. (My special edition of Fangirl is, admittedly, in the latter category.) That doesn't mean I love them any less, however, and eventually I will circle back to a book that I haven't read just to remember the cozy feeling it lights within my heart.      Books are more than an escape. They are a miracle, a world built entirely of ink pla...

  Cross-posting from my Instagram. From left to right, top row: The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Bottom row: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron;  Pumpkinheads (a graphic novel) by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks; The Admirals by Walter R. Borneman; and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

 a review of Cinderella is Dead. Featuring the second cover, because I am a stan. "Cinderella reiterations are a dime a dozen. Cinderella is Dead flips them all 180 degrees, giving a kick-butt QPOC story and an inspiration to readers everywhere." Trigger warning: this review contains mentions of homophobia, domestic abuse, and totalitarianism. Introduction     Pride Month might be something of a corporate event in the bookstore sphere, but I have to admit there's one good thing about it. LGBTQIA+ books are put front and center, and that is exactly how I discovered Cinderella is Dead. I'm always looking for new books to read, so discovering this LGBTQIA+ fairy tale retelling completely by chance? It seemed to scratch the itch in all the right ways. Hearing that it was a fairy tale retelling didn't intrigue me that much. Those were a dime a dozen (quick shoutout to the Twisted Tales series here), but a QPOC fairy tale retelling?      Cinderella has been dead ...

  "Writing a prequel is hard. Writing one that can stand alone is even harder. Tessa and company are invaluable for fans and new readers alike. It keeps you glued until the last page."      A special thanks to Jane Austen for pushing me to write this review from beyond the grave. This piece is especially written due to my own (many failed) attempts to finish Pride and Prejudice.       The number of times that I have opened Pride and Prejudice, only to scarcely get through more than a page or two, is likely to be alarming to any reader of Austin’s work. The historical record it provided was complete, but I don’t know if I understood much of it. Turning back to my shelves, I discovered an old friend of mine: The Infernal Devices, telling the story of the people who would become the ancestors of the first Shadowhunters I was introduced to.      Tessa Gray, Will Herondale, and Jem Carstairs. Tessa was the only one who had been introduce...