The Post Where "I Have Nothing At All To Say"

Today's Person of Interest: O'Henry

I have read at least one of O'Henry's writings and I didn't know it until I got to the end of this devotional entry. He wrote among many many other writings "The Gift of the Magi". I know all of you have read some version of this wonderful tale. Whether it be in school or during the holidays on some delightfully cheesy claymation special. This story brings me to tears and I am sure I am not the only one. It's sweet and heartfelt story of love, so when I discovered the very same author edited and published a satirical magazine called the rolling stone I was very intrigued.

THE
ROLLING STONE
is a weekly paper published in Austin, Texas
every Saturday and will endeavor to fill a
long-felt want that does not appear,
by the way, to be altogether in-
satiable at present.

THE IDEA IS
to fill its pages with matter that will make a
heart-rending appeal to every lover of
good literature, and every person who
has a taste for reading print;
and a dollar and a half for
a year's subscription.

OUR SPECIAL PREMIUM
For the next thirty days and from that time
on indefinitely, whoever will bring two dol-
lars in cash to The Rolling Stone office
will be entered on the list of sub-
scribers for one year and will
have returned to him
on the spot
FIFTY CENTS IN CASH


This is the add I found while researching Mr. O Henry and his magazine. 

And below this I found an especially funny piece of writing that was featured in said magazine.

NOTHING TO SAY

"You can tell your paper," the great man said,
"I refused an interview.
I have nothing to say on the question, sir;
Nothing to say to you."

And then he talked till the sun went down
And the chickens went to roost;
And he seized the collar of the poor young man,
And never his hold he loosed.

And the sun went down and the moon came up,
And he talked till the dawn of day;
Though he said, "On this subject mentioned by you,
I have nothing whatever to say."

And down the reporter dropped to sleep
And flat on the floor he lay;
And the last he heard was the great man's words,
"I have nothing at all to say."

I would have loved to be able to get my hands on this magazine today. It seems like it would be well worth the dollar fifty yearly fee.

Some fun facts about O Henry, He was a licensed pharmacist at the age of nineteen. While working on his publication The Rolling Stone, he worked for a bank that he was later charged embezzling from. He fled to Honduras. but he eventually returned and turned himself in. He wrote from prison and under his pen name published to a number of magazines that had no idea he was incarcerated.

If you have any comments about O Henry or any of his publications leave them in the coments.

The Post About My Library Haul

So I do not in fact have my writer's devotional on me at this current time. However, I am making that comeback so I would still like to continue blogging. Still  in line with my current theme of literature, I am happy to inform you I made a library visit today. I am very excited about some of the books I got. I work in a book store so I am always making lists of books to read. Jotting down titles and authors and at some point I am going to put up an official list that I can add to and mark off of.

But for today, I am going to share some of the great books I got in my Library Haul.

Let us start with my favorite section by far the children's section. I love making lists but I also love discovering interesting titles and wonderful covers in the wild. I have a special friend who made a very interesting comment to me while we were in the library a few weeks ago. He had picked up a book with a particularly beautiful piece of cover art and says "Ah I love this." Tapping his fingers on the hard cover he looks over to me and says "Have you noticed how the cover art of children's books is creative and beautiful and the title is structured in just right. But, the focal point of most adult books is the author's name." He was and is so right. It's sad how adult books take more stock in who wrote the book than letting themselves get lost in the shelves of a bookstore or library, running their fingers over books, gaze skipping from one title to the next until they find one that shouts out to them. I know that some adults do do this. I do for one, If you would consider me an adult, but many just go straight to the help desk with the title and author readily in hand. I feel as if this takes a little of the magic away from the whole experience.

The first book that caught my eye and might I add was not on my list was The Search for WondLa. It is one I have heard about from a girl in my bookstore a while back and the art for it is just beautiful. Futuristic adventure books have always and probably will always appeal to me. A girl raised in an underground facility by a robot goes out into the big bad world in search of other humans like herself. I am so in.

Next we have A Wrinkle In Time, It will come as a shock to you that I have not actually read this, though I have been meaning to for quite some time. I remember being a little snotty about certain books especially newberry award winners because I thought they were all boring school books. I was kind of a bratty ten year old. But with age comes wisdom. And changed my ways and have read a number of classics since I just never got around to this particular title. But here it sits on my bed waiting for me and I am very excited about it.

Summer of the Gypsy Moths is a book I have picked up a couple of times in my bookstore but haven't really started. As you might know, I am a HUGE fan of Sara Pennypacker's Clementine series and I have been pretty excited to read something a little different from her.

NERDS or National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society is a super fun book a young guy told me I just had to read. The cover art is quirky and interesting. It  looks like a super fun book that I can see myself enjoying. Sometimes you need to set aside your intellectual pretention and just have a laugh. And nerds saving the world is never the wrong kind of fun.

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister simply appeals to me because I want to be a princess in a fairy tale and I am not afraid to admit it. In middle school I read every princess book my school's library had to offer and I am still not over that phase. I picked up this book because it is purple and said fairy. It is as simple as that.

The Amulet series has been one I have wanted to read for a very long time and I immediately snatched it up when I saw the first three sitting on the shelf. I got so excited, I am fairly certain I hopped around and made a bit of a fool of myself in front of a family of four. I think the artwork is incredible and I have heard such good things about this as a graphic novel series. Story time: I was asked by a customer to find this series for him and he insisted it was in the adult graphic novel section. I told him I was pretty sure it was in kid's but that I would double check for him. He told me he was sure it was in the graphic novels and if I could just point him in that direction, which of course I did. He comes to me about 5 minutes later saying he doesn't see them and is there a computer he could use to check. I of course looked them up for him and told him "Sir, they are in fact in the kid's department let me show you where." I took him over and he says to me "No, this isn't right. These are definitely not kid's books you should have your manager move them over to the adult section." I told him I would get right on that. We chatted for a few more minutes and I asked him if he was really interested in graphic novels and he said "Yes, but these aren't for me they are for my nephew's tenth birthday." Yeah, not a kid's book at all.

Moving on to the Young Adult books I acquired. Which is another section I am very familiar with because I myself am on the cusp. That whole not a girl not yet a woman bit. I will start with The Spectacular Now. I heard about this book from the incredible John Green. I think he may have mentioned it in a vlog or on his tumblr but I sought it out the next day at my bookstore and put it on my list immediately. It looks like just the kind of book I would love. Smart, brilliantly written novels like these are the reason I love books so much.

Wintertown has a similar writing style to The Spectacular now and those of John Green but what really drew me to this story was that it's not a story of love or getting the girl but a story of friendship and helping those you truly love find their way back to themselves. It's the best kind of love story in it's purist form; I am really excited to give it a chance. It breaks up dialogue with some pretty wonderfully hand drawn comics which is something I always like to see in my books. I can't write without doodling and I appreciate an author who incorporates doodles into their work.

Slice of Cherry chills me to my bones. It's a creepy novel about the daughters of a infamous killer who have a fascination with slicing things open and stitching things up. This itch turns into a burning desire that neither can turn away from. It gets even creepier when they stumble upon a doorway to another world and gives them endless possibilities. This book is perfect for this time of year. One part fantasy, two parts creepy, I am excited to see how it turns out.

Beautiful Creatures also very good for this spooky month. I have been meaning to pick up this book for ages. I did see the movie first and thought it was pretty good. Now before anyone jumps on any high horses I will say this only once I am the target demographic and I am not ashamed! I love creepy, witchy love stories and yes I am a frequent visitor to the "paranormal romance" section. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are right up my alley.

Abandon which yes I did find in the teen paranormal romance section as well is not actually one I was drawn to at first. I was a huge Meg Cabot fan in middle and high school, I read all the princess diaries and most of her stand alone novels as well as the haunted series. It wasn't until I actually read the synopsis on the back that I was hooked. "The myth of Persephone.... darkly re imagined." I love mythology and Persophone's story specifically is one that fascinated me when I went through my phase of wanting to be a goddess.

The adult fiction books are the last and in no way the least of this list, I just felt a natural progression of age would be appropriate. Unfortunately all of the great books I had down on my list were checked out but I didn't come out empty. I got two books that I am equally excited to dive into. The first being Swamplandia. A tale as old as time, a thirteen year old girl with a dysfunctional family who just lost her mother has to keep her family's alligator wrestling dynasty, Swamplandia, afloat. Oh you've never heard that tale? Yeah, me either. The best part about this book is the ALLIGATOR WRESTLING DYNASTY. Need I say more?

My last and final book is the memoir of one of Hollywood's golden girls. Unsinkable by Debbie Reynolds, a magnificent woman who has starred in some of my favorites from Singing In the Rain to Halloweentown. I love memoirs. My two favorite kinds of memoirs are those about funny women and classic old Hollywood.

I am excited to be back in the blogging game. And I hope to do some more library/bookstore hauls as well as some reviews, the good and the bad about what I have acquired.

If you would like to suggest a book or share an opinion on any I have listed or just say hello and chat post a comment in the comments section.

The Post About My Return

I have been missing since April. I was really really excited about doing this blog post and I'm disappointed in myself for not trying harder to make this work. So I am just going to take a moment to say I have returned. My life got crazy there for a little while. But I am still really wanting to do this project and really excited about it. I am committing.

I am committing to you. Anyone who reads this. I am committing to do this for me and for you. Mostly for me though.

To Dawn who reads this because she is my soulmate and loves me more than anyone ever has in my whole life. I love you too. You are my best friend so I dedicate this blog to you for being amazing and always believing in me when I have not. You will always be stellar and an important person in my life.

To Andrew who has pestered me endlessly about letting this slide. He constantly requests blog posts from me. His support and annoying pestering has led me to this point. Taking all of my insecurities and making them seem like mud pies I can hop over not mountains I have to climb.

To Jacob the most amazing brother I could have ever been lucky enough to get stuck with. You are a delight and you always understand what's going on with me. You get how my head works and you are pretty much the reason I am still standing on these two very wobbly legs that hold me up.

To Ashley, anyone who tells me I don't know what it's like to have a sister. They are wrong. You are the sister I have always had and didn't know it. I adore you. I am jealous of you. You are supportive and sweet. You make me feel like I'm not as lonely as I've always thought.

This is my comeback. This is my way of saying thank you for the support.