This Week In A Snapshot {2}

Posted March 10, 2014 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 10 Comments


This Week In a Snapshot will actually be for two weeks
because I was a little under the weather last week. 
BOO BEING SICK. 
No worries. I am totally fine. 
Carry on as normal, everyone! 

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A couple of days ago, I asked fellow bloggers and readers alike for some recommendations for new book blogs to follow, particularly in the adult fiction, audiobook, and romance review categories. I totally appreciate the response I have gotten not only on the blog but over twitter as well. I’m still loving all of the new blogs I am finding as a result of your recommendations and cannot wait to spend some time on each of them! If you are reading this and have some recommendations but have not shared them DON’T BE AFRAID! Please either share them with me in the comments or you can tweet me @BookwormAsheley. I’m very excited about the new variety in my blog feed!  

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We’ve all had that book we just don’t want to end, right? These past two weeks, this has been it for me! I forced myself to read Burial Rites by Hannah Kent super-duper slowly because it was so, so mesmerizing and wonderful. I knew within the first few pages that I would love it and I was so right! This is a book that I found on Hannah‘s blog So Obsessed With and MAN what a great discovery! I’ll be sharing my thoughts in a few days but just know RIGHT NOW you need this one in your life. I’m learning lately that I’m becoming quite a historical fiction fan…

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Here’s something a little random for you BUT I LOVE IT. 

A few weeks ago I got a package in the mail from my friend Lauren from Love Is Not A Triangle in which she gifted me a book from an author that I LOVE SO MUCH, OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS. 


Lauren sent me Matthew Quick’s The Good Luck of Right Now, which made me SQUEAL because I love Matthew Quick so much. What a FANTASTIC and LOVELY gift, Lauren, and thank you so much. I have it close to my bed – I have to work myself up to actually picking up the books I’m looking forward to the most (quirky, quirky). Anyway – moving on…fast forward to a few days ago and I was shopping at Sam’s Club, OF COURSE going by the book section first. I saw Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler and at first, it stood out to me because of the neat and colorful cover BUT THEN I saw at the top that it was blurbed by Matthew Quick! I know it’s hard to see here, but just trust me, it’s there. SO NOW, I want to read the book. WELL WELL WELL, fast forward to even more recently – I’d just asked for the blog recommendations in the above-mentioned blog post and the very first one I received was for River City Reading. When I gave this blog a quick glance, SHOTGUN LOVESONGS WAS THE BOOK THAT HAD BEEN REVIEWED THAT DAY. What are the chances? 

Actually, you guys, I’m really making a mountain of a mole hill here. Or, more accurately, I’m being melodramatic in my very own Asheley-way. There’s no connection between any of this except that it is a fun coincidence. I got the Matthew Quick book, then I saw that he blurbed a book that sounds pretty great, then I saw that it was reviewed on a new-to-me blog that I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending a lot of time on and that I’ll enjoy. 

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**Floating around like crazy on my Facebook lately: Oil Pulling.** 

YES, I’ve tried it. I’ve kind of taken a liking to it. At the very least, it makes my teeth whiter and they feel squeaky clean. If the other benefits listed are actually legitimate, then AWESOME. But I’m going to keep doing it simply because I have the coconut oil on hand and I drink plenty of coffee and tea so YAY for whiter teeth. 
(This has nothing to do with books.)

Swishing with coconut oil.
Try it. Not kidding. 
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**Also floating around Facebook this week: this helpful picture.** 


I am not a fashionista so I really needed a picture like this. 
Unfortunately I do not know who to credit to for this one. 
But it IS awesome! 
(Also has nothing to do with books.) 

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I wrote a few reviews in the past few days! 
Please stop by, read my thoughts, and let me know yours. 

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters – this is a YA apocalyptic survival story

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – this is an adult fiction title and includes some audiobook notes as well as some embedded tweets and pictures  

Ignite Me & the Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi – NO SPOILERS – I was surprised at how much attention this DID NOT get. What happened here? I know people have thoughts. I’d love to hear them. 

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdainthis is a nonfiction memoir by the Travel Channel’s often irreverent and sarcastic Anthony Bourdain with notes on the incredible audiobook – I think people that are reluctant to read memoirs and people that are reluctant to enjoy audiobooks might like this one. 

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OH HEY, CHECK OUT THE RED “X” ON MY HAND! 
On February 27th, I participated in Shine A Light On Slavery Day which was a worldwide day of awesome that was initiated by EndItMovement.com 
( #EndItMovement ). The idea was to wear a red X on your hand to let people know that slavery still exists in this modern world, which is unacceptable. All day, I saw images of people – famous and not famous – proudly displaying their red X’s and it in turn made me proud. You may have even seen the image up at the top of this post on my Instagram on February 27. BUT! I want to take this a step further, if you’ll allow me for just a second… 

When I was wearing my Red X on 2.27.14, I was wearing it not only for the #EndItMovement but I was wearing it for Restore One (@RestoreOne) which is a local organization of Freedom Fighters working super hard to fight and end Human Trafficking, which is modern-day slavery, right here in America. While they certainly fight slave trafficking and forced labor as a whole, their focus and specialty lies in domestic minor sex trafficking – specifically boys. Restore One is working to build The Anchor House which will provide restorative care to sex trafficked boys. According to Restore One, the United States does not YET have a shelter for restorative care for sex trafficked male victims, so I am excited for this place to open as soon as possible. If human trafficking is a cause that interests you or is on your heart, you can visit Restore One’s website to learn more about what they do and about The Anchor House AND how you can get involved. They also have a neat store with fair trade items for sale. ALSO, Restore One is participating in the making of BOY$ ( #boysdoc ) which is a documentary being made to spread truth that boys can be victims of this crime too. 
Follow @BoysDocumentary on Twitter for more information or @BoysDocumentary on Instagram (including fantastic pictures from cities in the Northeast US documenting the making of this movie). 
Follow @RestoreOne on Twitter for more on becoming a Freedom Fighter and what you can do the fight trafficking or follow @RestoreOne on Instagram to see what’s up with these guys. 

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Do you see anything interesting up there? 

Has anyone read Burial Rites by Hannah Kent yet? 
GOODNESS GRACIOUS, SO SO GOOD. 
I can’t wait to GUSH my thoughts. That will happen.  

Has anything fantastic happened around the blogosphere that I need to know about? HMMMM? 



  


Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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10 responses to “This Week In A Snapshot {2}

  1. Aw, so thankful you were pointed toward my blog and ran into the Shotgun Lovesongs review! I fell pretty hard for it – I hope it ends up being a good read for you.

    Burial Rites is such a gorgeous book. Taking your time with it is the perfect strategy, it's definitely one that has all that great language that really deserves to be read closely.

    • Hi Shannon! I can't wait to get back to your blog and really spend some time there. It was a FANTASTIC recommendation by Tanya @ GirlXOXO who is really great. I also can't wait to read Shotgun Lovesongs! And YES to Burial Rites being so stunning and gorgeous. I'm still not quite over that book yet – I have a feeling I'll be carrying it around with me in my heart and my head for a while. So, so remarkable.

  2. I *definitely* need to go back to your post where you asked for recommendations so I can find more awesome folks to follow, too!

    It's so scary to me that there's still so much slavery in the world, even in first world countries. Horrible.

    • I had some really great recommendations on the post but I had some great recs on twitter as well. And they kind of keep coming, actually. I haven't had much time to really go thru them all yet!

      And YES the modern day slavery issue is sad and absolutely appalling. I felt like I needed to share at least a little bit about it.

    • Burial Rites is so wonderful – I have SO MANY thoughts – I wish I could gather everyone up in a giant room and have a HUGE HUGE bookish discussion on it. So beautiful, that book. And I am so happy to hear you loved Shotgun Lovesongs! I am SO SO SO EXCITED to read it as soon as I can get my hands on a copy!! (:

  3. I want to read the Elizabeth Gilbert Book! I love her voice!

    The T.M. series: I have no idea how I am going to write my reviews for them. I had such different reactions to all 3 books (Book 1-good, Book 2-excellent, Book 3-did not work for me).

    • The Signature of All Things was a book that I really loved for the most part but there was one thing that I didn't love so much. I love her voice too – she has a beautiful prose and turn of phrase. I marked so many passages! And the audiobook was beautiful. I believe it was Juliet Stevenson that read it – lovely.

      The Shatter Me Series – I say just go for it and speak your heart. Everyone is all over the place with those books. I really loved them and I have to admit that Unravel Me is my favorite. My Ignite Me post isn't really about Ignite Me as much as it is a love song to T Mafi's writing and how much I loved the series as a whole, now that I go back and read the thing. But I do love the whole series as a story arc and I will definitely re-read/re-listen. Good luck with your reviews! (:

  4. Love this post! I cannot wait to read Burial Rites, I'm waiting for the paperback to come out so I can buy it! 🙂 And holler back to the end slavery movement. So powerful and you are so cool for being a part of something so amazing!

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