Rebecca Graf's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"

Sometimes you just need to lose yourself in a book.

Okay, enough said. That's all. :)

It really could be. If you're on Goodreads, then you love to read. You know what it's like to lose yourself in a book.

Last night I was down in the dumps. Why? For a variety of reasons. The big thing was my self doubt as an author. First of all, you have to understand that I know I'm not going to win a Pulitzer Prize or anything. I know my writing needs work. I don't think it's terrible either. But last night I felt like a failure.

I had read some really good books and mentally kept comparing my writing to theirs. I came up so short. It doesn't help that all my writing is in editing mode. This can be frustrating because I want to see an end result but I look at the editing and I realize how far away the end really is.

We seek perfection. We can't achieve perfection. We have to achieve what the book says is the end. That is so hard. When is the end? When do we say, "Enough editing. This is the final copy."

Haven't found that spot yet. Still looking.

Narrowing down the three things I can't live without is hard. It sounds easy, but it isn't. This task will really make you think.

In deciding my three, I assumed God would be the first one. This is not a materialistic one, and the original task was to narrow down to three things and three beings. So, I've noted God, but I'll now look more at actual items.

Here are my three things I can't live without:

- Books
- Pen/Paper
- Crochet/Knitting

You thought I'd say things like running watter, microwaves, and the internet. These are great to have around, and I do miss them when I don't have them. Yet I can live without them. I have for short periods of time. Plus, I grew up without two of them and the other one once in a while. It can be done. It's these three I would feel the worst over not having.

Books are my life. I've been reading since I could look at picture books. If I was told I could never have access to a book again, I would be completely devestated. It would depress me.

Pen and paper is important because I love to write. Even if no one ever liked anything I wrote, I'd still write because it is therapeutic for me. It is a sanity release. Without it, I think I would suffer mentally.

My crochet and knitting is also therapeutic for me. Plus, these crafts can produce very useful items such as blankets and clothing. It is a creative outlet that produces things we all can use.

I would go crazy without these three things. That being said, I'm going to go finish a chapter in one of my stories and start my blanket.

Have you ever been part of a book club? It could be virtual or real. It could be in your church, your family group, a school group, or at the local library. Not in one currently? Why not start a book club?

A book club does not have to be a set number of people. There can be two people or ten. You don't want to alone, you also don't want such a large crowd that quality discussion can't be had.

Once you have determined who will be in the club, consider how often you would meet. Most book clubs meet once a month. I have a club with one other person who is an extremely slow reader. We wait to schedule a meeting until she has finished reading. Develop your schedule based on who attends and their limitations.

Where should you meet? Again, this can depend greatly on who attends and how many attend. For my group of two, we choose different restaurants for breakfast. A friend of mine is in a larger group in which they rotate to each member's houses. Take advantage of weather and meet in a park during a warm, summer day.

Now to the topic of which books to read. Most clubs I've heard of or participated in had each member choose a book. In my group, we take turns. In my friend's club, whoever is hosting that month gets to choose the book. Just make sure all are in agreement on what type of books are read.

Do the club virtually or in person, but enjoy talking about books with someone.


Read more at https://medium.com/@rebeccagraf_63084...

Most people tend to compare things. We see a movie and compare it to another like The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Now, this comparison can be good or it can be bad.

I tend to not like comparing books only because too often I see people do it in a negative sense. One story I wrote was compared to a bestseller but as a weak attempt to imitate it. I do want to note here that I still have yet to figure out how those stories were similar. That being said, I don't like comparing books. But it be beneficial and entertaining if done the right way.

In one of my graduate classes, I was to choose two books to compare. They had to be from different eras. I chose A Tale of Two Cities and All the Light We Cannot See. Both are set in Europe and both are set during wars and revolutions. There is personal drama in the midst of world drama.

I found that comparing the works actually helped me understand and enjoy them better. I had to dive in and explore them in a way I wouldn't have if I just "compared" them.

I still stand by that you shouldn't compare books. That can keep you from missing out on enjoying a book because you are caught up in negatively standing it next to another book. Compare only to dive deeper into it and explore the plot, themes, and characters.


Check out my comparison here - https://medium.com/amateur-book-revie...

Since you are on this site, the odds are that you are a reader. If you read print books, you usually don't finish the book in one sitting without taking a break of some kind. What do you do when you take that break? Some of us lay the book spread open. Some stick a bookmark of some kind to mark our page. But what do we use as a marker?

There are formal bookmarks that you can buy to keep your reading location where you can find it again quickly. They come in a variety of styles to fit your own personality. I recently bought some for my daughter from Etsy that were handmade and ecofriendly. She loved them.

You can make your own. (my article on this -
https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/Have-Fu...) It can be something you put your time into or a strip of paper. I used a ribbon from a gift for many months as the perfect bookmark. I have used pictures, strips of paper, and even bills.

Take time to be deliberate in your bookmark. Get creative. Have fun with it. Share with us what things you have used as bookmarks.

Homer's works are well-known. Even those who don't think they know of them really do. His historic stories have inspired writers, directors, and artists of all types. But are they real? Are Homer's epic stories of adventure and heroes about events that really happened?

Many academics thought it was possible, but most believed that the stories were just tales that were told and embellished around the campfire. But then a massive discovery was announced. The fabled story of Tory Homer gave us in The Iliad might be true. Troy had been found.

Once I read up on the discovery of Troy, I began to wonder if Homer was more historical than we had thought. This idea occurred to many other academics and historians. Yes, his stories of gods and goddesses were fiction, but that doesn't mean the actual locations and events were fiction. He could have taken a real event and created a wonderful fictional story around it.

As experts dug into Troy, they found evidence of a great battle and the defeat of the large city. The events Homer put in his story were based on real events. Does that mean we could look into his other famous work and find fact amongst the fiction?

Read Homer's works. Explore what could be fantastical story could be based on real events that the world is still discovering.


Read my article on this topic. https://hubpages.com/literature/Are-H...