BOOKSTORE LOVE AFFAIR: Shakespeare and Company, Paris, France

Located near Notre Dame in central Paris is Shakespeare and Co. This adorable 2-part little bookshop has been around for over a century! It is cramped, crowded, yet I have never felt more comfortable and at home. Beware of busy days though! Some of these photos are my personal ones that I took when I was there Feb 2013

Address: 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris, France 

BOOK REVIEW: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

A year ago I become really obsessed with reading more Gothic literature. One in particular I was determined to read was Frankenstein. I felt it was such an important staple in the genre as well as in cinema (it has been remade several times, and will again be remade for the film I, Frankenstein coming out in a few months)

So this month I decided to re-read it and remembered all over again how fantastic this novel is.

Most know the overall story. A doctor by the name of Victor Frankenstein seeks to create life. What many don't know from the films is that the creature (or monster as it is referred to) was suppose to be made from the most beautiful body parts.

Once it is brought to life the doctor immediately rejects it as he realizes that in its appearance alone it is not human. He then becomes terrified and flees from the monster. He is reunited years later when the monster begins to slowly torture his creator by destroying the people that he loves the most.

"Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin."

What I was never expecting from this story was my immense feeling of empathy I had for his creation. He is not this horrifying monster who only wishes to bring death and pain to all around him. He is actually created with good and love in him. It is only through the rejection and cruel treatment first at the hands of his creator and then from the human race that he begins to indulge in his feelings of hatred and resentment for the cruel acts done to him. He was immediately abandoned and even though he strove to become a civilized person, he understood that he would never be accepted. And the worst part of it all was that none of this was ever his choice.

And with this in mind I began to despise Frankenstein (he is the doctor, NOT the monster... just FYI). He, from his own pride and egotism, tried to play God and then when he succeeded he freaked out. He then spends the rest of the time rejecting his creation, even when his creation makes a perfectly reasonable argument that he was not innately bad but had come to make bad choices and judgements due to the actions of his own creator. He attempts to make himself the victim, as if this creature was torturing him for no reason.

It really brings up the question of how we as human beings would be if we were raised being entirely rejected by the closest species we could identify with.

"I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?"

The most compelling part of this story is that this creature never asked to be created. He didn't choose to be what he was. It was the doctor that made him and gave him life. And then to be treated as the abomination seems so undeserving. He deserved happiness by whatever means was available, which is what he explained and asked of the doctor. And still he rejects his creature and treats him as if his existence is his own fault, when truly, it is the doctors.

I found overall the story to be vastly more philosophical. It seems to question how things appear and how we react and if these merely stem from the fear of the unknown or whether our reactions are logical. The creature was frightening in appearance so he is rejected, though he is able to reason as a human being. He is the only one that embraces the unknown while the humans all choose to fear it and reject him instantly on no basis other than appearance.

I won't say that this treatment justified the creature for what he did. But it does stand to reason that he would not have made such horrible decisions if he was merely allowed to be accepted in some way, even if that meant he had someone of his own kind to share a life with.

"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy one, I will indulge the other."

LIBRARY LOVE AFFAIR: The Royal Portuguese Reading Room

So if you are a book addict like myself, you may also love the experience of visiting bookstores and libraries.

There are some truly BEAUTIFUL architecture masterpieces all over the world that act as libraries and bookstores. So I wanted to dedicate some time to discovering these gorgeous places. It is one of my personal goals to visit many of these buildings one day.

Some are old and historic, others are new and modern. But most importantly, they are all unique and there are sure to be some that would catch anyones interest.


This week's library/bookstore of choice is:

The Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janiero, Brazil 

So for those who are planning on going to the next World Cup (2014), make a visit! :)

FAIRYTALES UNLOCKED: Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and The Looking Glass

Alice in Wonderland. It is a tale we have all heard or definitely seen.

It has been recreated over and over again in many different film adaptations, TV adaptations, even comic books. In fact it has been recreated over 40 times in these different forms. The most famous adaptation and most highly prolific is the original animation of Disney's Alice in Wonderland in 1951.

All these adaptations are derived from the stories of Lewis Carroll. The different adaptations have been created from his short stories: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.

But none of these can encompass the true insanity and creativity of these stories.

"In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."

It begins with the young child Alice, who expresses that she sees no point in reading a book without any pictures. She becomes intrigued at the appearance of a rabbit in a waistcoat with a pocketwatch. The fact that the rabbit can speak as well doesn't even seem to phase her and as she follows him and shows no reluctance into falling down the rabbit hole to discover where he is going.

From there she is introduced to a strange and chaotic world where logic is futile and nonsense prevails. In fact this world called Wonderland seems to thrive off these manic characters who often treat Alice rudely because she attempts to find logic in what is happening around her. Nothing and no one has a purpose but rather they spend their time doing ridiculous things such as running around in circles or having a tea party that will never end, a cheshire cat who talks in riddles, or being a hot tempered queen who decides every second to cut off someone's head.

"But I don't want to go among mad people" Alice remarked.

"Oh you can't help that" said the cat "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad"

"How do you know i'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be" said the cat "or you wouldn't have come here"

In The Looking Glass, Alice, years later, considers what it would be like if she were to live on the other side of a mirrors reflection. She is transported to the other side and realizes quite quickly that the whole world is set up like a chess board. She again is lost in the insanity of the world with white vs red and she becomes a pawn in the game. As she moves across the board with the desire to herself become queen she comes across a multitude of characters including the queens and kings of each side, the fat twins Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum, the lion and the unicorn, and many other that tell her stories of their history or long poems for explanations for why they continue to live nonsensically. After she reaches her destination she becomes a queen but is offended by the days events of nonsense that she blames on the red queens advice to her in the beginning of the story. She then awakes and realizes she had been asleep the entire time.

It is not just the characters and their actions that are creatively full of nonsense, but the world of Wonderland itself. With food and drinks that alter the body (she becomes crazy large when eating something or sometimes ridiculously small from drinking a potion, often unable to sustain her original size). Yet what I always find so amusing is how rude and condescending many of the characters are. They often are explaining to Alice how she is ridiculous or funny looking, because to them she is the outsider, and are often treating her like she is the illogical one. And Alice herself only seems to ever notice that their actions are odd, not that many of them are animals or flowers and are talking to her.

"You use to be much more "muchier". You've lost your muchness."

This is really what makes it such a great story. Only someone open to creativity can really appreciate a world like this so openly and without question. And we would actually be dying to go their ourselves. It is merely a fantasy but Carroll's imagination paints a very vivid, enticing and excitingly chaotic place for us to travel to.

Alice herself is inquisitive, curious and courageous. She dives right into the world without a second guess as to the consequences. She approaches this strange place with no fear and embraces it for what it is: a mad world that she would have to be mad to dream up. And lets face it, we could all use a little madness in our lives.

STAY TUNED FOR: Beauty and The Beast

FAIRYTALES UNLOCKED

For most, the first stories we ever heard were at bedtime being told or read fairytales from our parents. These were our first introduction into the world of literature. I think so many people don't consider these stories works of literature but in fact they are.

Now of course we often hear different versions of the stories than their original form. This is especially true when it comes to stories that were originally found in the Grimm's fairy tales and quite often, Disney. 

Though fairytales might have been altered in order not to give us nightmares, their actual works of literature are really intriguing and fun to discover and hear. And sorry to say, they usually don't end Happily Ever After...

I will be dedicating some posts directly to unraveling the true stories behind many of these fairytales in 

FAIRYTALES UNLOCKED. 

I will also, where I can, show how they have influenced art, film, etc

I hope you enjoy :)

BOOK REVIEW: "The Picture of Dorian Gray"- by the amazing Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fantastic and incredible novel written by a truly incredible writer, Oscar Wilde. After reading this, it became my favorite work of his. 

"Some things are more precious because they don't last long".

The novel focuses on the life of young Dorian Gray. A famous artist named Basil Hallward, meets and becomes obsessed with Dorian because he is impossibly beautiful. Dorian becomes his muse and is soon introduced to Basil's friend Lord Henry Wotton. 

Lord Henry's approach to life, which is primarily hedonistic, is appealing to Dorian. He explains to Dorian that the only thing important in life is beauty. And while Dorian is beautiful now and obsessed about by the painter, his beauty will fade.

Dorian becomes consumed by this thought and vows that he would sell his soul if he could stay beautiful and young forever, and the painting done of him by Basil becomes old instead.

Be careful what you wish for...

"There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about"

As Dorian continues to age, his outer beauty stays in tact, which is noticed by all. But what goes unnoticed since it is Dorian who owns the portrait of himself, as he continues to pursue a life filled with moral depravity, uncaring for others, even committing crimes against others, his soul becomes dark, disfigured, and ugly. The portrait becomes a window to seeing into his soul, and each sin has destroyed any beauty that might have once been there.

There is obviously a great deal more to the story but I hate to give everything away. I had been a big fan of Oscar Wilde previously but took awhile until I finally read this novel. It is so sad to watch as Dorian falls into this lifestyle because I can't help but want to blame Lord Henry for corrupting him first. But the truth is it is difficult to tell if this was to be his path all along. 

"You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit"

Dorian only worries about himself and what he wants. His selfishness knows no bounds as he even hurts those around him with little regard. He keeps the painting in hiding so that people will not see the reflection of his soul but he knows what it truly looks like. When he finally does seem to feel some remorse he attempts to be good. But even then it is to preserve his portrait in hopes it will change back. It is still vanity that drives him, thus making the painting worse and worse. 

The reason I loved this story so much was first that it was such a unique look at how we view others. It is not true that all beautiful people are beautiful on the inside and all ugly people are ugly on the inside. It comes down to character and our souls. In this novel, we are actually able to see the portrait of the soul. It was his decisions and the way he lived his life that determined the portraits fate. He became hung up on the wrong kind of beauty. 

Second, the ending was incredible. I feel like I should have seen it coming but I was so deeply immersed in the story I didn't. It was such a creative end to a creative story that it was shocking and unbelievable and fantastic. That I simply can't give away and I hope everyone reads it because it is definitely a gothic novel that everyone can enjoy.

Today it seems everyone is attached to some form of social media. In fact this blog is just another example. But the internet has provided a mass networking tool to allow people from all over the world to talk to each other, see what is going on in their lives, photos, etc.

Goodreads is a unique form of social media.

This site was created for people like me and you (hopefully if you are following along). It is made for book lovers. And for someone like myself it has some special tools that I love.

1. It lets the user make their own "book list". For me this is incredibly helpful because I constantly have gotten caught up in a conversation over a novel, or been browsing a bookstore and don't have the money at the time, etc. This way I can just add this book i'm interested in to my list and later on I'll see it and it will remind me.
2. It allows the user to keep a record of what they have read. It also allows you to track your progress through a novel and share it either on the site itself or on other platforms such as Facebook. While this isn't a necessary tool I enjoy this aspect. I like seeing what my friends are reading and where they are in a novel and if they are enjoying it or not.
3. It allows you to network with other book lovers. This is by far my favorite feature. It works exactly like a social network but stays on one topic: books. I like checking out my friends reviews or even other user reviews as well as what they have read in the past and see if it is something I would be interested in.
4. You become a "critic". This is exactly what I have been trying to create with this blog. I like to talk books with people on my level. I don't need to always hear about the complexity of the writing because of the time it was written and the style, blah blah blah. Sometimes I just want to hear someones genuine opinion. What they liked and why. That is what I attempt to do in this blog. And I like that Goodreads allows me to share my opinion with others.
5. It refers books to you based on your library. That is right. The site pays attention to what you are reading and then based off your reading list will make suggestions. For someone who is indecisive about what to read this is a blessing.

Since I joined the site (my friend recommended it to me) I have been a big advocate for other people to join. It is basically like having a great big book club where everyone is reading something different and you can pick and choose what you want to read/ not read and you may even be surprised and intrigued by referrals you wouldn't have found on your own.

If you want to see my booklist feel free :)

Nicole's Goodreads

BOOK REVIEW: "The Fault In Our Stars"- Another novel that will be made into a movie!

"As he read I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly and then all at once"

Yesterday it was announced that John Green's YA novel (that stands for Young Adult FYI) The Fault In Our Stars will be released as a film on June 6, 2014. This film has already been in the works starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Willem Dafoe.

Entertainment Weekly announces new film release date

I could not be more excited for this novel to become a film. Just like the quote, I fell in love with this book instantly, reading it within one day.

"Sometimes you read a book and it fills you this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read this book."

Take a girl and a boy, both young, both diagnosed with different terminal cancers. One is barely holding on and one is in recession. Hazel has accepted her fate. Augustus has fought and won.

Now give them a reason to want to survive. Let them fall in love.

Hazel is resistant. She knows her fate and doesn't see the point. She is obsessed with a book about someone in her exact position. But the end of the novel leaves her feeling uncertain and she has spent years seeking out the writer to write a sequel or to at least tell her the ending.

Augustus falls for Hazel instantly and wants to give her everything. He wants to give her the stars and make all her dreams come true.

and then the conflict.

"What a slut time is. She screws everybody".

I don't want to give too much away about this because I truly advocate for everyone to read this story. It is an emotional roller coaster and a love story that demands to be heard. It is optimistic yet painful all at the same time.

'"That's the thing about pain" Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt"'

It is truly such a beautiful story and one of the reasons I fell in love with John Green's work. I have 2 other novels by him since this (Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns) and it is his writing style that I like. It is so true and deliberate. While it has its poetic moments, for the most part it stays true to the voice of each character. And there is always something so intriguing about the lead characters. Something admirable. Hazel's love for this novel. Augustus's everlasting optimism. They are qualities to admire in individuals. Both of these individuals are facing death directly in the face and still find something to be strong for.

"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we use to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he has. But Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. You gave me forever within a numbered days"

The "book crawl"- a day of hunting for books :)

Something I love to do is just purchase a new (or used) book. I don't even know how to really explain the feeling. It is just so exciting to go to a store, read through different books, check out recommendations and then realize you have money for one book and then have to make that final decision. I love just holding on to the book afterwards. It feels so right to be in my hands and just can't wait to get started reading it.

I know, what a freak.

But for my active readers you understand the feeling and the thrill. It is an experience. There are different types of entertainment out there and I am fully aware that being a book lover means that I am an experience seeker.

So welcome to my first official "book crawl"- I decided to dedicate an entire afternoon to exploring an area with a number of different book stores and let you know a little more about them. :)

Welcome to Pasadena, CA

For my birthday this year one of my best friends Tristan took me to this awesome independent bookstore in this area called Vromans. I started looking up places around and decided they were all worth a look :)

The start: Vroman's Bookstore (695 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena)- 12:30pm

Vroman's Pasadena photos

Some of the reasons I love this store: First it is not the typical chain. I do shop at Barnes and Noble a good deal but this store has something really special about it. Not only is it huge, with a wide variety of all kinds of different book genres including even specialized like eastern philosophy, language, and the largest area of classics i've ever seen, but it is so obvious how much thought is put into the store by all employees. All over the place there are tabs by employees advocating the different titles. They give reasons that are well thought out and also extremely helpful. They also carry a range of prices for the same select novel (different cover art, mass paperback, hardcover, etc). And their bargain books section has some great selections including Austen, Bronte, Shelley, etc. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this store.

Next stop: Cliff's Book Store (630 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena)- 1:30pm

I was so disappointed to see that this used bookstore was closed permanently. It had excellent reviews on yelp for being a great used book store and it was right across the street from Vromans who does not sell used books. I thought this was amazing, 2 great stores in one location! But I guess it didn't work that way. Closed :(

Stop number 3: Alexandria II (170 S Lake Ave, Pasadena)- 2:00pm

Alexandria II photos

So just a few streets over is this bookstore. It is NOT the kind of bookstore I was looking for but still worth a mention. This store is a specialty bookstore catering to those who practice wicca, buddhism, or a number of special spiritual practices or religions. Not my thing but it might be someone elses.

Stop number 4: Century Books (1039 E Green St, Pasadena)- 2:30pm

I was pretty bummed because this place was closed when I got there. The reason I was bummed is that it looked so awesome. Call me a nerd, but the outside reminded me of a little store you could see on Diagon Alley (HP reference). And from what I could see through the window and all it seemed intimate and full of some great books. It also has some of the highest ratings in the Pasadena area. Can't wait to try and get there again but weekend hours are just too weird.

Last stop: Book Alley (1252 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena)- 2:35pm

Book Alley photos

My favorite find of the day. This store is a mixture of used and new (though mainly used) books and it was AMAZING. The organization was slightly lacking but still was easily able to find some great books (this is also where I made the most purchases) and for amazing prices. They even had comics! I by some miracle stumbled upon the book my boyfriend was looking for which is normally about $20, but here was $2.50. It was a copy from 1974, which we knew since the person who originally purchased it left their receipt from a Walden's bookstore inside (along with a boarding pass from TWA. So cool!) But there was a huge variety of classic, new, contemporary, scifi (that section was ridiculously huge) and so much more!

So after 3 hours, 5 stores, 3 actually open, and 7 purchased books for $30, I'd say it was a pretty successful day :D

October at RoxieReads! What is coming up next :)

Just as a heads up for what is to come here are some novels i'll be discussing soon!

Harry Potter (the series)

John Green (his different young adult works)

Jane Austen (haven't decided which novel yet)

Some of my favorite independent book stores in the Orange County and LA County area

Frankenstein and Dracula (well it is October!) 

Comic Books- also some great reads!

and more!

Feel free to leave feedback or your favorite book. I love suggestions <3

Belle- Disney's book nerd princess

When I say book nerd I mean it in the most positive way possible. I have no issue being called a book nerd. Especially within the society we live in now there is something great about being a "nerd" or a "geek". It means you have intellect which is something necessary. Wit and intelligence will take you far.