Great Reads for The Great Outdoors

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Abbie Lu

Summer is almost over 😦 time for last minute
camp-outs, rafting, beach trips, hiking, whatever your nature fix may be!

Of course I’ve wrangled up some books perfect for the great outdoors.

Now find a warm spot to enjoy the breeze, and pick a book to read in ease:

Why did Christopher McCandl ess trade a bright future; a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm, for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer’s book tries to answer. While it doesn’t—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless’ “Alaskan odyssey,” but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways

In the spring of 1983, massive flooding along
the length of the Colorado River confronted a team of engineers at the Glen Canyon Dam with an unprecedented emergency that may have resulted in the most catastrophic dam failure in history. In the midst of this crisis, the decision to launch a small wooden dory named “The Emerald Mile” at the head of the Grand Canyon, just fifteen miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam, seemed not just odd, but downright suicidal.

For a bit more of a light read, this is a meandering ode to the simple act and accomplished art of taking a walk. Profound and humorous, companionable and curmudgeonly. Walking, by America’s first nature writer, is your personal and portable guide to the activity that, like no other, awakens the senses and soul to the ‘absolute freedom and wildness’ of nature.

For the daring and brave, here
are a couple fun books full of
campfire stories.

In 2003, David Miller left his job, family, and friends to fulfill a dream and hike the Appalachian Trail. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail is Miller’s account of this thru-hike along the entire 2,172 miles from Georgia to Maine.

In the wake of her mother’s death, with her family scattered, and in the ashes of a failed marriage, Cheryl Strayed made the impulsive decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Wild powerfully tells the story of her adventure, capturing the terrors and pleasures of a young woman forging ahead against all odds and the healing power of her trip.

In case you get any ideas 😉
This is the world’s preeminent survival guide, covering everything from basic first aid and campcraft to strategies for coping with any type of disaster. Long considered the supreme handbook for outdoor skills and preparedness.

I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the great outdoors with a great book, while this great weather lasts!

What are your outdoorsy favorites?

Sunday Funnies!

Image

Thor style!

H.P. Lovecraft

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Abbie Lu

Howard Phillips Lovecraft – born today, August 20, 1890

He wrote many essays and poems early in his career, but gradually focused on the writing of horror stories. After the advent in 1923 of the pulp magazine Weird Tales, he contributed most of his fiction therein.
His relatively small corpus of fiction; three short novels and about sixty short stories, has nevertheless exercised a wide influence on subsequent work in the field. Though virtually unknown before his death, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre.

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

Forbidden, dark, esoterically veiled knowledge is a central theme in many of Lovecraft’s works. Many of his characters are driven by curiosity or scientific endeavor, and in many of his stories the knowledge they uncover proves Promethean in nature, either filling the seeker with regret for what they have learned, destroying them psychically, or completely destroying the person who holds the knowledge.

The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft
collects the author’s novel, four novellas, and fifty-three short stories. Written between the years 1917 and 1935, this collection features Lovecraft’s trademark fantastical creatures and
supernatural thrills, as well as many horrific and cautionary science-fiction themes,
that have influenced some of today’s writers and filmmakers, including Stephen King, Alan Moore, F. Paul Wilson, Guillermo del Toro, and Neil Gaiman.

“I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.” -Stephen King The Call of Ctulhu

“I couldn’t live a week without a private library – indeed, I’d part with
all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before I’d let go of the 1500
or so books I possess.” ~H.P. Lovecraft

A man after my own heart!
Who can relate?

Mid-week Meet n’ Greet

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Abbie Lu

Lets get to know each other:

Share about your love of books
and/or coffee/tea!

Source: Cafe Meet n’ Greet

Fictional Genres

What are your Favorite Fiction Genres?

Poetry Plasma

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Abbie Lu

Life is but Life! And Death, but Death!

Bliss is, but Bliss, and Breath but Breath!

And if indeed I fail,

At least, to know the worst, is sweet!

Defeat means nothing but Defeat,

No drearier, can befall!

~Emily Dickinson

BookBeans To Beat The Heat II

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Abbie Lu

Continuing from yesterday here is Part 2 of 2. More yummy chills and book thrills to beat the heat with!

Simmer down with these cool books and icy drinks:

“Love in The Time of Cholera”

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a wonderful author, and I really enjoyed this book. It had a warm ambiance laced in it’s pages and left me with a feeling of nostalgia when I finished it.

“Set in a country on the Caribbean coast of South America, this is a story about a woman and two men and their entwined lives. From the author of the legendary One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

Rated 3.9 on amazon.com

Book Bean: Raspberry Rose Ripple
Rose Tea Steeped rich and chilled. Add frozen raspberries to blender, add chilled rose tea, add a couple scoops of cool whip and blend. (you can also try this with ice-cream or fro-yo.)

“Before The Fall“

By Noah Hawley
On a foggy summer night, eleven people–ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter–depart Martha’s Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs–the painter–and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul’s family.

Rated 4.4 on amazon.com

Book Bean: Frothy Tropical Frost
Prepare Hibiscus tea click for recipe, set aside 4 oz and chill. In a blender add a handful of frozen mango, a scoop of crushed pineapple, the 4oz of chilled hibiscus tea, half a banana, and a dollop of cream of coconut. Blend until smooth and frothy. Sip, read, chill, repeat.

“White Fang”

A great classic by Jack London. If you’d like to escape the heat and spend some time way up north in the wilderness of Canada, this is a book that makes a great escape.

“Half wolf, half dog, White Fang fully understands the cruelty of both nature and humans. After nearly starving to death during the frigid Arctic winter, he’s taken in first by a man who “trains” him through constant whippings, and then by another who forces him to participate in vicious dogfights.

Follow White Fang as he overcomes these obstacles and finally meets someone who offers him kindness and love.”

Rated 4.5 on amazon.com

Book Bean: Maple Frozen Mocha
Brew espresso over 3 maple sugar cubes dissolve and chill. Add ice, drizzle ice with a little chocolate, add almond milk, and the espresso maple mix to blender. Blend until smooth. You can double or triple this of course 😉

“I’ll Give You The Sun“

The New York Times Bestselling story by Jandy Nelson. A book about first love, family, loss, and betrayal. A great choice for fans of John Green, Jenny Offill, Emma Straub, and Rainbow Rowell

“At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them.”
Rated 4.7 on amazon.com

Book Bean: Teappaccino
Steep you favorite herbal or white tea blend and chill (citrusy and florally ones are especially nice). Add tea, scoop of vanilla fro-yo, and a squeeze of lemon to blender. Blend and enjoy 🙂

Well that is my beat the heat chill out list, I hope you find something that you’d like to try. Please share your experience if you do.

Check out my Saga Saturday List for even more great summer reads!