Month: June 2023

four reasons to keep a reading log

Liesl Young7 Comments

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Quote, Unquote!

When I was younger, I had this bright pink binder that my mom had filled with charts she had made herself in Excel. Whenever I finished a book, I was supposed to fill out the title, author, and date I finished it in the binder. Now, given that I was approximately seven or eight years of age and not exactly the most organized child, I never got past filling out more than four pages.

But last year, after the equivalent of half my life, I got back into the practice all on my own. I’ve kept a reading log diligently ever since. It’s benefited me immensely, so I’m here to share with you today four reasons why you should keep a reading log.

1. to keep track of what you’ve read

This one seems obvious, perhaps. Keeping track of what you’ve read comes with its own benefits, though. Sometimes I’m standing in the library, staring at a book and wondering if I’ve read that one before—it does look awfully familiar. But if I’ve read it within the past two years, I can whip out my reading log and check. It takes all the guesswork out and can make your reading life a lot easier.

2. to gather data and insights on your reading habits

I love data. I love charts and graphs and spreadsheets. Keeping a reading log helps me to see at a glance the trends in my reading—if I’ve been reading a lot of books lately, perhaps, or if I’ve been on a fantasy kick. It can also help me identify when I need to lay off the YA contemporary and pick up a nonfiction book instead.

And at the end of the year, I like to take all the data I’ve gathered from my reading log and make it into a “Reading Wrapped” sort of thing. I can’t wait to do it again this year to see how much my reading habits have changed! (Or maybe they haven’t—I’m pretty consistent.)

3. to more easily track your progress towards your goals

Did you set a reading goal at the beginning of this year? I usually don’t, but it’s a common practice. Having a reading log keep track of the number of books you’ve read. I have mine set up so it’ll automatically update, and it tells me how many unique authors I’ve read that year (so if I read two books by the same author, it’ll count as one). It’s a handy way of tracking quantity.

4. to organize your thoughts on what you’ve read

Many logging platforms have ways to leave a review after you’ve finished a book, whether privately or publicly. Not only will you be able to see what you’ve read, if you leave your thoughts, you’ll be able to see what you thought about it.

This helps with both rereading and recommendations. If you pick up a book that you’ve read before but maybe forgot, you can go back and read your past thoughts and decide if it’s worth rereading. And if you’re trying to recommend a book that you really liked to someone, it can be hard to articulate exactly what you liked about it, so you can just pull up your review and give them the CliffsNotes. Keeping all of your thoughts about books in one place is incredibly helpful.

I love my reading log and how organized it is, and it’s helped me since I’ve been keeping one. There are many ways to keep a reading log, and it shouldn’t be hard to find one that works for you. It may take a couple of tries, but it’ll be worth it in the end!

Do you keep a reading log? If so, how? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!

spring update + summer goals

Liesl Young8 Comments

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Quote, Unquote!

Today is officially the first day of summer, and I am so excited. Summer is always filled with the promise of sunshine, warm days, and possibility.

The first day of summer also means a new seasonal update, so let’s look back on my goals from springtime, shall we?

spring update

habits

get back into running

Total fail. Absolute and complete fail. I think I’ve just come to realize that running isn’t for me—I find it tedious and generally not stimulating enough. I’m coming to realize that a goal of running a half marathon is just not feasible for me. Maybe for future Liesl. In the meantime, I need to figure out a way to get moving that doesn’t feel like a chore.

research and implement time management strategies

I’ve actually been doing so much better at time management since school let out! I think that while I was so caught up in the stress of schoolwork, it was difficult for me to implement another new thing into my life, but now that that’s over I can focus more on personal betterment.

I’ve been using my Google Calendar much more efficiently lately and actually staying on top of my schedule, which is something I haven’t really ever been good with. Being able to have my calendar color-coded and easy to glance at on my phone has really helped. Another thing that has been useful for me is timeblocking, where you block off specific times for specific tasks and then only do that task during that time. I don’t use it all the time, but when I have an especially busy day or week and lots of things to do, it’s very helpful to visualize how I’m going to use my time.

stay on top of my Bible reading

I’m pleased to report that I’m actually ahead of my Bible reading plan! I read my Bible every night before I go to bed. Technically speaking, there was only one day this year where I missed it, but it was because I went to bed at five o’clock the next morning and I read it then. (And before you judge me for going to bed at five o’clock, it was a youth group event and I’ve never stayed up that late before in my life. It’s not a regular occurrence.)

goals

survive junior year

I made it! Picture me flopping back dramatically with my hand on my forehead, because that’s kind of what it feels like. Towards the end there, during the last few weeks, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get through all my schoolwork and still be of sound mind. But now I’m on the other side, and my sanity is still intact—well, as intact as it can be for me, at least.

It was tough for a few weeks there, but I can look back on my year fondly. I think it was probably the best year of high school I ever had. It was rough, sure, but I learned and grew so much and had so much fun with my class. Worth every little bit of stress.

outline and draft a new project

I didn’t get this one done, but it’s for a good reason. In late spring, an opportunity arose for me to join the Author Conservatory, my college alternative program, early. I was already accepted into the program and was due to start in September, but who was I to pass up a head start? So I’ve held off on starting anything new so I’m not too entrenched in anything during the concept-creating stages.

take up a new hobby

I’m going to twist my previous words a little bit and say that “hobby” in this case just means “something new to occupy my free time.” And I found something! I recently got a job at a little local coffee and ice cream shop nearby, and I really love working there. Now I’m obsessed with all things coffee.

summer goals

I’m actually going to forgo the habits this summer, simply because I couldn’t think of any to put in. I’m doing pretty well habits-wise, honestly, which is a first. So this summer I’m going to only focus on one-time goals that I’d like to accomplish before the fall.

stay on top of schoolwork and balance time well

I just got out of school…only to go right back into school. Since I joined the Author Conservatory, I’m a college student now! (This time, though, it’s school that I want to do, not school that I have to do.) And, as mentioned, I now have a job. Which is going to make things…interesting.

Between Author calls, schoolwork, working, and all my other regular obligations, I’m not going to have time to waste. I’m going to be using the time management skills I figured out in the springtime religiously during this new season. Plus, I’d like to have time to myself to do stuff that I want to do—like sleep. Sleep would be good.

restart my email list

I had an email list that I would send monthly updates on a while ago, but I fell out of the habit pretty quickly. I think that in my mind I thought that no one would really want to read about what was going on in my life, but recently I’ve been thinking and reading others’ newsletters and realizing that, hey, I like knowing what’s going on in other people’s lives, why wouldn’t people like to know about mine?

So starting in July I’m going to restart my email list and send either monthly or bimonthly updates about my life—things I’ve done, progress updates, generally things you won’t necessarily get to read about here. If you’re not subscribed and you’d like to be, you can sign up here. I look forward to sharing more of myself with you!

read more good books

I haven’t been doing a ton of reading lately, but what little I have been doing is, like, Harry Potter. I’d like to read some thought-provoking, good books—not necessarily nonfiction, although that’s definitely a goal as well.

final thoughts

I know that as far as goal-setting posts go, this is one of my shorter ones. I’m expecting my summer to be mostly repetitive—working, schoolwork, hanging out with friends—and increased workloads and trying to balance everything leaves me with not much time or mental energy to try new things. Although, maybe we’ll see! Who knows what God has in store for my summer?

That’s all for today, folks. What are some of your summer goals? What are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!

the mid-year freakout tag

Liesl Young14 Comments

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Quote, Unquote!

I haven’t done a blog tag in a while, so I went scrolling on Kristin Kraves Books’ giant list of book tags for inspiration, which is how I happened across the Mid-Year Freakout Tag.

The timing was just about perfect, as the year is almost half over (wait, what?), so I will grace you now with my best bookish opinions of 2023. Let’s jump right in!

best book you’ve read so far in 2023

How on earth am I supposed to pick just one?! I’ve read so many books this year that I’ve swore up and down are my favorites, and then I just keep finding new favorites.

Let’s look at my top three, in no particular order:

  1. Crumbs by Danie Stirling, an adorable, beautifully illustrated fantasy graphic novel;
  2. The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez, a memoir and social commentary about teen pregnancy and family; and
  3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, a cozy epistolary historical fiction novel.

And these are just three books that have earned the “highly recommend” tag in my reading log! I’m sure there will be more to come.

best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart is technically a prequel, but it came out after the original book, so I’m counting it. Even though I’ve said before that I didn’t particularly enjoy the way We Were Liars was written, I thought that Family of Liars provided some nice background and explanation for the first book.

new release you haven’t read yet but want to

I’m a little behind the times, but I’m going to say Begin Again by Emma Lord, which was released in January. I love Emma Lord’s books, but I have yet to read her two most recent ones, which is slowly tearing me up inside…I think a trip to Barnes and Noble may be in order.

most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I’m not currently on social media, so I don’t have any books that I’m looking forward to. Of course, I’m always open for suggestions! Is there a release that you can’t wait for before we hit 2024?

biggest disappointment

I picked up True Beauty by Yaongyi at the library knowing full well that it was sort of manga-style and also that it was a Webtoon. Even given both of these factors, the blurb sounded appealing and I expected to enjoy it–but, surprise surprise, I didn’t. There seemed to be no real message, and it was weirdly shallow. I finished the book, but I’m not going to read the sequels.

biggest surprise

I was pretty pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Though I’ve been enjoying thrillers and mysteries a lot more lately, I honestly had low expectations for this one just because it was popular. I see now that it was unfair to judge a book based on its popularity status, because it was a thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable story.

favorite new author

While reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for the first time, I kept admiring Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing style. I have yet to read more books of hers, but they’re definitely high on my TBR.

newest fictional crush

Honestly, I don’t have fictional crushes. Never have, never will (at least, I don’t think I will). The “book boyfriend” craze has never been my thing.

Although if I had to choose a fictional person I found attractive, it would probably be Grayson Hawthorne from The Inheritance Games. Pretty basic, I know, but what can I say? I couldn’t find any good fanart of him just from Google, and I don’t particularly want to go down that rabbit trail, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that he’s attractive.

newest favorite character

You’re going to laugh, but Ophelia from Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet. Something about her and the way she has been portrayed throughout history has captured my curiosity. She’s been the subject of things academic and literary throughout the years, and I feel like there’s always more to be unlocked.

OPHELIA  There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.
LAERTES  A document in madness: thoughts and remembrance fitted.
OPHELIA  There’s fennel for you, and columbines.
There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. You ⟨must⟩ wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would
give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. 
They say he made a good end.
⌜Sings.⌝ For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.
LAERTES 
Thought and afflictions, passion, hell itself
She turns to favor and to prettiness.

Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V

book that made you cry

I finished Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing on Monday and then immediately texted all of my friends to tell them that they should read it because I felt like I had just been clubbed over the head multiple times. It left me kind of disoriented because of just how…indescribable it was. Now that’s a popular book that deserves the hype it gets.

Plus, Taylor Swift’s song that she did for the movie was incredible. It really captured the essence of the book. Taylor Swift just knows, man.

book that made you happy

I’ve read Flight of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse before–it’s the second in a trilogy–but every single time the romance has me kicking up my heels and grinning like an idiot. They are just so cute and in love I can hardly stand it. I’m smiling even now as I type this. I recommend the whole series for more reasons than just the romance, but it’s just so well done and ADORABLE.

favorite book to film adaptation

I’m not a big movie-watcher, and I tend not to watch film adaptations because I don’t want them to ruin the book for me. Suffice it to say that this is anohter category I don’t have an answer for. Although I do have the movie for Where the Crawdads Sing on hold at the library right now, so we’ll see how that turns out.

favorite post you have done this year

Honestly, I’ve been pretty proud of the quality of posts I’ve been putting out lately. Looking back at past years has shown me how much I’ve improved.

But my favorite one this year has probably been one titled “why you probably hate Shakespeare”. Not only because it was fun to write and because I love Shakespeare, but because of the comments I got about it. Some of my real-life friends even gave Hamlet a watch after that! (You know who you are. I appreciate you very much.)

This goes out to all my readers while we’re on this tangent–I love when you comment! I love reading your thoughts and the discussions that spring up. Please please please interact–it’s fun and really helps out me and my blog. I couldn’t do this without y’all.

most beautiful book you’ve bought this year

I haven’t bought any books this year, actually! I’m trying to save money, and buying books isn’t exactly conducive to that. Instead, I’ll give you the prettiest cover I’ve checked out from the library this year:

I love the green of this cover! It’s simple yet complex, gives hints to the story, and is overall absolutely beautiful.

book you need to read by the end of the year

Oh man, there’s a whole list of these. There are books I need to read and return to the library by the end of this month.

However, if I had to choose one, I’d probably go back to my New Year’s resolution book tag and say The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In fact, maybe I’ll move this one farther up on my TBR. I’ve had it for a long time but never read it, so it deserves this spot on the list.

final thoughts

As usual, I won’t tag anybody and instead leave this tag open for anyone who wishes to participate. Here are the copy-pastable questions for if you’d like to do this tag yourself!

  • best book you’ve read so far in 2023
  • best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023
  • new release you haven’t read yet but want to
  • most anticipated release for the second half of the year
  • biggest disappointment
  • biggest surprise
  • favorite new author
  • newest fictional crush
  • newest favorite character
  • book that made you cry
  • book that made you happy
  • favorite book to film adaptation
  • favorite post you have done this year
  • most beautiful book you’ve bought this year
  • book you need to read by the end of the year

That’s all for this week! Can you believe that we’re already halfway through 2023? I feel like just a week ago I posted my New Year’s resolutions. What are some of your favorite books that you’ve read so far in 2023?

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!

the anatomy of a classic book

Liesl Young16 Comments

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Quote, Unquote!

Last week I wrote a post titled “why you probably hate Shakespeare.” It was fun to write, because I love Shakespeare, and I loved reading the reactions and comments to it. A lot of people seemed to have given Shakespeare another chance, even though it’s archaic and seemingly boring.

But that post got me thinking. Why exactly is Shakespeare a classic? What has so firmly rooted his plays in our collective social consciousness that we are still forced to study it four hundred years later? And speaking of which, what makes any classic a classic?

In this post, I will explore and attempt to define classic literature and what makes it so beloved (or hated) in today’s culture.

The very first thing that came up when I googled “what makes a classic book a classic” (because every good blog post starts with a Google search) was the Wikipedia article for “classic book.” Now, I’m not going to tell you to go and read it because that would kind of spoil the whole point of this post, but the very first sentence is this:

A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy.

Something immediately strikes me in that simple one-sentence definition. Note that it doesn’t say that a classic is a book that is “exemplary or particularly noteworthy.” It says that a classic is a book that is “accepted as being” these things. To answer the question of what a classic is, we first must ask what it is that a classic does. What do these books do that makes them so widely revered?

A story isn’t a story if it doesn’t do anything. Good stories answer questions, teach lessons, and make you think. The best stories will do these three things–and then continue to do them long, long after you’ve turned the last page.

The reason that these particular stories have stuck around for so long is because the authors have discovered something–some truth–so fundamental, so crucial, and then presented it in a compelling way. It’s easier to hear the message “first impressions can be deceiving” when you’re seeing Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy’s story unfold before you in a figuratively tangible way. Perhaps you aren’t able to actually live the Regency-era England story yourself, but you can see parallels between your life and the characters’. It’s easier to digest and it makes you care, and those two factors combine to present you with a moral truth wrapped up nice and neat. You’ll likely get the picture much easier than someone telling you outright that first impressions can be deceiving.

Aesop’s fables are a prime example of this. Short, quick stories, fun enough that even children can relate to them, that present you with a clear and relatable moral. It’s no wonder they’ve survived for this long.

In short, I think classics boil down to three fundamental elements–and I’m sure you’ve heard these before. (At least, if you’ve ever been in Classical Conversations, you certainly have.)

For a book to be a classic, it must carry truth, beauty, and goodness.

It must transmit a fundamental truth to the reader, it must present it in a beautiful way, and it must be filled with goodness throughout. If a book is missing even one of these, it cannot and should not be considered a classic.

What good is a book with a positive theme and beautiful prose if it’s filled with explicit and downright disgusting scenes? What good is a clean book with a beautiful truth if you can’t get through the unpolished writing? And what good especially is a book that’s clean and polished but has no real message to back it up?

These three elements are a challenge to balance in and of themselves, but there is one more seemingly insurmountable obstacle to overcome. For a book to be a classic, it must also stand the test of time.

Not just the future, but even the present. The quintessential classics like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre were met with great critical acclaim almost immediately after their publication, but other now-classics were also rejected in their time. After Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights in 1847, one review even recommended, “Read Jane Eyre is our advice, but burn Wuthering Heights.” It received neither critical praise nor any local popularity, but the reading public’s stance on the story shifted soon afterwards. The New York Times called J. R. R. Tolkien’s writing style “death to literature itself” after the release of The Lord of the Rings, yet now it is considered a literary staple.

What changed? What was the catalyst that reconditioned the public to love these works?

Honestly, who knows? All that truly matters in the present moment is that these books are accepted in the present moment. And it shows that books that are treated with indifference or even actively hated now can become classics later. There are likely still books from the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth centuries with hidden treasures inside of them that may become classics in the future.

Relatability through the ages is the fourth and final hurdle, and not one that I can write about yet because I have yet to discover what makes a book timeless. It’s a mystery to me, and frankly, I don’t know if I will ever solve it. I dearly hope I do, reader, and if so, I will share it with you, but for now, consider it a conundrum to mull over yourself.

The ultimate authority over truth, goodness, and beauty is God. He and He alone decides what things fit within these criteria. Maybe some of the books that are considered classics now don’t fit within these categories in His eyes. It’s up to you to use your discernment on everything you read, classic or not, to determine if it is truly beneficial for your soul and your relationship with Him.

And maybe the human definition of a classic can never be quite nailed down. The ingredients, the fundamental elements, of what makes each classic a classic are going to change from story to story. Maybe the definition will continue to grow and change as the human experience evolves. Maybe books that are studied and beloved now will fade into obscurity or be condemned later–although I sincerely hope they don’t.

I believe that classics are important, and the fact that their truths have survived for this long is incredibly impressive. I believe that they should continue to be read and shared and discussed and passed down from generation to generation. And I think that analyzing them is not nearly as important as reading, enjoying, and learning from them.

Let me know what you think makes a classic a classic. I want to hear your opinion down in the comments.

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you next Wednesday!