Tag Archives: beyond books

Fortnight of Fright (4)

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FoF2014

Wow. We are back here for a FOURTH year for Fortnight of Fright and I can hardly believe it!! As many of you know, September – January is my very favorite time of year and Halloween is my one true love! Therefore, it is no question that Fortnight of Fright is something that I love hosting along with Brittany (The Book Addicts Guide) and Amy (Tripping Over Books)!

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about (hello, and welcome!) Fortnight of Fright is a time in which we host and share different posts related to fall and Halloween! We work with you guys and some amazing authors to showcase some creepy books, interviews, movies, and SO MUCH MOAR! There is no limit on what you can post about! Do you have a signature Halloween or Autumn cocktail recipe? Pinterest board filled with DIY decorations? A book recommendation for those of us who love to be scared? We want it all!! JOIN US!!

Sign ups will be open from 9/9-9/20 and you will be notified the following week to confirm your post topic, and so on. We are going to ask that all posts get to us the week of 10/12 as we will be hosting you during the event which runs from 10/19-10/31! As always, the more the merrier, so scroll on down to our Google Doc and sign up to help us out!

Also don’t forget about All Hallow’s Read and the giving of books in lieu of candy!

Wondering what we had going on from years past? Check it out:

Beyond Books: 2015 Mid Year Check-In OR “The One With All the Recaps”

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Heyyy there friends!

Lots of great things have been happening in my life so I thought that I would check in with you all! I work very hard to keep this blog a hobby that makes me happy and never something that I “must” do, which means when I am out there enjoying life, the blog stays pretty quiet. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to catch you all up on what I have been doing/reading/listening to for the first half of the year!

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Lore Podcast

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You guys, I can’t say enough great things about this podcast! Knowing my adoration for the macabre, Lindsey nudged me to give it a try and I am so happy that I did! So what is it? Lore is a bi-weekly (sigh, I know) podcast about true life scary stories. Each episode of Lore delves into a scary tale and uncovers the truth behind it! That’s right, we get a nice supernatural history lesson with each podcast! I was so enthralled by Lore that I actually went back and re-listened to some episodes! Now, I know most of you are thinking that this must be terrifying in order to hold my macabre interest! But you know what, it really isn’t! Some of the stories managed to get near my incredibly high threshold, but I played some episodes for my (incredibly sensitive and ahem..scaredy cat) boyfriend and he enjoyed them as well. So what I am trying to tell you is that this podcast is great for all types of listeners, those of you who love the macabre, and those of you who are in the mood for the kind of story you should listen to on a chilly October evening. Also check out Lore’s Twitter because Aaron is very fun and seems to really appreciate his fans. Also, we (ahem, I) am trying to come up with a name for our fandom…Loreates? Loreites? What say you fellow fandom dwellers?

For fans of: all things supernatural, the x-files, Welcome to Nightvale, Rick Yancy, Neil Gaiman, Mythology, folktales, chilly autum evenings…

#amwatching

Penny dreadful

Penny Dreadful is still going strong, if you like gothic literature then head over and binge this show because it is gloriously macabre and wonderful. Gotham started off slow but then I fell fast and hard for it. Batman villains, I was already in love before it even started. Outlander, though I am only half way through the season, I binged that entire half and can’t wait to devour more! The book wasn’t my favorite, but the show is stellar. All things Avengers are also my (and everyone’s) current obsession. Ant Man comes out next week and I can’t wait. Continue reading →

Beyond Books: Lost in Translation

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I am afraid I am going to get all English Major on you guys today. I have to say that one of my favorite things about my current position as a Librarian are the research questions that I get to assist with every day. We often have a lot of trouble in the library when trying to find novels for bilingual patrons. Although there is a definite need in the library for novels that have been translated into different languages, due to budget constraints this rarely happens.This got me thinking about the value of literature, language and their working relationship. What resources are there for those who need things such as websites translated? As a research librarian, I clearly embarked on a journey to find answers to this question! I found many resources but was especially impressed by the translation software provided by Smartling. From what I can gather, based on the needs of the customer, Smartling uses human translation and the translation software platform so that the best quality and accuracy is provided. I am sure you all have experience using Google translate, and I am sure that you have found that sometimes their translation just doesn’t make sense. Smartling strives to preserve and carry over the original intent and purpose of the text, without losing anything in translation. Continue reading →

Love-A-Thon: Welcome!

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BANNER - 2015 LOVEATHON

Hello my lovelies!!

I am sure most of you know that the lovely Alexa over at Alexa Loves Books is hosting her annual Love-A-Thon, if you have no idea what I am talking about, head over to her intro post and them come on back! Awesome, right? It is just another way that some of us are trying to focus on the cheer and positive aspects of our book blogging community. I will have a few posts on the blog throughout today and tomorrow, and will be participating as much as I can on Twitter using the hashtag #LoveAThon so make sure to stay tuned! If you read on, you will learn a bit about me and the impact that the blogging community has made on my life! Happy reading, friends!

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  1. What’s your name? Alyssa! I tend to go by a myriad of nicknames, the most popular being, “A.”
  1. Where in the world are you blogging from? Snowy New England!
  1. How did you get into blogging in the first place? I was actually in graduate school for my MLIS a few years back and we had to observe different resources for reader’s advisory, one of which being blogs. I had been following a few (The Book Smugglers, and Broke & the Bookish being two!) and I thought about how fun it would be so I started one, and convinced my friend Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks that it was a good idea that she start one as well!
  1. How did you come up with your blog name? I wanted something that was meaningful to me, that spoke of my feelings regarding books and how important they are. I have always felt that books took me away from the drama of the real world and you can become immersed in the fictional world for a little while and forget whatever it is that needs forgetting. Thus Books Take You Places was born.
  1. What genre do you read and review the most on your blog? I read a lot of fantasy, it was always my fall back growing up and I try to really focus on reading what makes me happy. I do try and read books that are different than my go to genre but if I find that I am not loving what I am reading, I put it aside. Life is too short to read books I don’t love!
  1. What other types of posts do you do on your blog, apart from reviews? Hmm I have been known to write some Disney posts ranking the swooniest male leads and villains. I also write some “non-traditional” reviews for my On the Same Page feature that I do with Amy (Tripping Over Books) and Brittany (The Book Addict’s Guide) an example of one would be the personal post I just wrote on the idea of traveling souls.
  1. Best blogging experience so far? Hmm my best blogging experience has to be meeting so many wonderful people. I was surprised to see how vast the book blogger community was, and when I first started blogging it seemed so scary because everyone was already friends. It wasn’t long before other bloggers were reaching out to me and forging friendships. Through these interactions (mostly through Twitter) I found Brittany and Amy. Meeting these two has been my best blogging experience, and one of the best experiences of my life. I can’t put into words how important these gals are to me, and how lucky I feel to have met my soul friends! We have had a few adventures like road tripping to Britt’s wedding, and our trips to NYC…but I am the most excited for FRIENDSGIVING this year for sure!
  1. Favorite thing about the blogging community? It never used to be, but it has become the kindness in the community. I think there is a large of us working quite hard to keep the community alive. We have things like this loveathon, random acts of kindness, and the secret sister project that have been started by bloggers in order to showcase and preserve the special relationships that we have. I think many of us work hard to keep the positivity alive and it definitely shows.
  1. Name the 5 books you’re most excited for this 2015! AHHH ummm only 5? Okay I will choose ones that I do not have ARCs of:
  1. What’s an underrated book or series that you think everyone should read? It is from my childhood but I am pretty obsessed with The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. I think they are funny and fun, and full of heart.
  1. Which book boy or girl would be your book BFF? DEFINITELY Sybella from Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers, she is my spirit animal and would understand me as no one else does.
  1. Apart from reading, what are your other hobbies or interests? I like to “game.” As in, you can catch me in front of my 3DS, Xbox, or any Nintendo console for hours at a time playing Zelda or Fable. I also like to bake, hike, go letterboxing and geocaching. I drink tea, and listen to old time radio shows, sometimes while putting together a puzzle. I am a pretty stereotypical librarian, right down to the two cats named after Shakespeare’s uppity females.
  1. Apart from book shopping, what else do you like shopping for? Usually presents for other people. I honestly have to hold myself back from buying my loves things anytime I go out. I also love trinkets, so antiquing is my favorite.
  1. Pick out either a book you want turned into a film/TV show, or a film/TV show you want turned into a book. Hands down would have to choose The Lies of Locke Lamora, or Name of the Wind but they would have to be amazing. Like, HBO perfect adaptation amazing, as amazing as Game of Thrones amazing. I NEED THEM TO BE AMAZING. Also I hear that The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is going to be a movie and I have such high hopes!

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Fortnight of Fright: Beyond Books – Halloween Playlists

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FoF2014

Today we are kicking off our Fortnight of Fright madness! October is the beginning of my favorite time of year, I just love when the leaves start to change and HELLO scarf weather!! Well, today I want to get you guys in the mood to celebrate the wind blowing through the trees, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, and monsters lurking under your bed. What is the best way to do this? Well, how about some music…

Have you guys ever heard of 8tracks? I am pretty much obsessed with it. Essentially it works like Spotify and the like, but you can use different tags to search for fan made albums. I have found albums for The Name of the Wind, and other fantastic books! Seriously can’t tell you how much I love this website, I go in there and type whatever mood I am in, “chill,” “happy,” “studying,” and so on..and then IT FINDS THE BEST PLAYLISTS EVER!

SO, my favorite Halloween-like (aka I listen to them all year long) playlists are..

Make Out in the Graveyard – This one is a bit more fun, not creepy!

All Hallows Eve – Featuring such songs as The Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show & songs from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! P.S. How badly do I want this Audrey skeleton tattoo…

Rockin’ in the Graveyard – Rockabilly and Halloween..sign me up!

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