Bard on the Blogs: Shakespeare in Popular Culture – Guest Post by C.J. of ebookclassics

April 25, 2015 by Alyssa

Okay, I am incredibly excited for today’s post! Today we have C.J. from ebookclassics writing about Shakespeare references in popular culture! I LOVE when I find references to some of my favorite works – this happens often for me as I love Shakespeare and The Wizard of Oz, they are always referenced! Let’s see what C.J. found!!

Also don’t forget to check out a Rafflecopter giveaway to enter for a chance to win a Shakespeare retelling of your choice!

Shakespeare References in Pop Culture by ebookclassics

Although I still struggle to understand the work of Shakespeare, I fully appreciate his genius and nothing makes me happier than seeing references to his many wonderful plays and poems in pop culture. You probably have heard of Shakespeare references in Star Trek and Disney movies, but some of the more recent references you may have missed include the following:

1. Iron Man rewording a Shakespeare quote to tease Thor in The Avengers movie (2014).

2. William Shakespeare as a master builder in The Lego Movie (2014) and heckling Emmett, the main character.

3. The Bard is a favorite of Orange is the New Black’s fierce poem quoting Crazy Eyes played by Uzo Aduba.

4. The pairing of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers with our strange obsession with zombies in Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, both a popular YA novel (2010) and movie (2013).

5. MacHomer, a play that combines the doh-ness of Homer Simpson with Shakespeare’s most intense protagonist.

6. Mumford and Son’s debut album title, Sigh No More (2009), is taken from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and several lines from the play are in the song.

7. The Tenth Doctor and Martha meet Shakespeare and foil a dastardly plot in The Shakespeare Code (Doctor Who, series 3, 2007).

8. Who would know better than someone close to her? The novel, Juliet’s Nurse by Lois Leveen (2014) is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

9. We see how two black men in Shakespeare’s time react to Othello in a hilarious Key and Peele skit (2013).

10. The addictive, House of Cards, is greatly influenced by Shakespeare and, in particular, Richard III, with Frank Underwood played by Kevin Spacey often breaking the fourth wall with the audience.

What do you love about Shakespeare? What are some of your favorite Shakespeare references in pop culture?

Fortnight of Fright (3)

September 22, 2014 by Alyssa

Heyyyy friends!!

I’m sure you guys remember that for the past TWO (ahh two already?!) years Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide and I have hosted a two week event called Fortnight of Fright, where we shared different posts on all things Halloween! This year we have decided to host it under our collaborative name, Gals on the Same Page which means we get to host with Amy from Tripping Over Books as well!

This means MOAR space for you guys to share and read awesome content! We will be working together with you guys and some fabulous authors to showcase some creepy books, interviews, movies and anything else Halloween and Autumn related that you can think of! As always, the more the merrier so scroll on down to the Google Doc and sign on up to help us out, friends! There is honestly no limit on what you can post about! Have a signature Halloween or Autumn cocktail or recipe? Pinterest board we should be checking out? A book recommendation for those of us who love to be scared? Or even something to lighten up those spooky Halloween nights? We want it all! JOIN US!

For some reference, here are some awesome posts that we had here on Books Take You Places over the past few years: Continue reading →

100 Happy Days: Was it Worth it?

July 22, 2014 by Alyssa

Hello friends! You may remember, well, 100 days ago, I stared the 100 Happy Days Project via my Instagram…

I have read some pretty scathing reviews of this project, some people seem to think that it shouldn’t be necessary to post on social media in order to find happiness. Some people said that they felt guilty posting so many happy pictures, like they were rubbing their happiness in, or something. Really? Guilt for being happy? Ridiculous. Some people even said that they “don’t trust” people who are happy 100% of the time – which is actually VERY different from what this project promotes, but I digress…

As I mentioned in the first post, I have been trying to see the beauty in every day. Trying to remain optimistic despite the things that may try to interfere with my happiness. It isn’t always easy! I can’t lie to you, there were a few days where the evening was winding down and Amy had to remind me to find something that made me happy before the night was through! Thankfully, those nights were few, and as the days went on I found that it was much easier to find something to be happy about

Over the past 100 days I have gone through some major life altering things, some completely out of my control…some things that made it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning. So 100 Happy Days, was it worth it? Absolutely. Was it necessary for me to post on social media in order for me to find and maintain happiness? No, don’t be silly. However, there were many days where I saw something that made me smile and that triggered something in me. It was as if by remembering that I “needed” to post a picture for the day I was almost made me stop and realize that something had just made me smile on my terrible day. Does that make sense? It might not, but it makes sense to me and I thing that’s the whole point!

I encourage you all to check out 100 Happy Days, or do something, anything, that ensures that you find the beauty in every day! XO

Come Celebrate With The Page Girls!

July 21, 2014 by Alyssa

Hello, friends!

Taking a break from reviews and such to give a little shout out to one of my newest favorite blogs, The Page Girls! For those of you wondering about their content, they are a type of lit mag that delivers themed weekly issues with short stories, book reviews, essays, videos, cocktail recipes (YEAH, BABY!), and more. They’re relatively new to the block but they have already made quite an impression on me as their posts are unique, candid, and incredibly fun. Some sample issues of their work include The Craziest Thing I Did For Love and LYLAS (Love You Like a Sister). Continue reading →

BE(A) My Friend!

May 16, 2014 by Alyssa

Off to BEA again this year and I am SO EXCITED!! Since there have been an array of posts going up on what to do, who to see, what to eat and so on, I thought I would join in the festivities and tell you how to spot and approach yours truly in the wild that is the Javits Center…This is meant to be cute and fun and my goal is to MEET ALL THE PEOPLE!! As always, for those of you new to BEA please feel free to ask me anything regarding NYC and the Book Expo and I will do my best to assist!

Important things to note:

I will be updating my Twitter (@withthebanned) A LOT. Probably with “This is what I look like today” posts.
I will apparently be wearing a lot of navy
You may or may not be blinded by the light that is actually just my extremely pasty legs shining under fluorescent lighting of the Javits center
There is a good chance that my hair will look like Monica Geller’s after she arrives in Barbados (“It’s the HUMIDITY!”)
There is a 97% chance that if you see Amy (@trippingbooks) or Brittany (@bookaddictguide) I am in the same vicinity.

*If you happen to walk by me and think “look at that completely unapproachable person eating nuts from her purse,” THINK AGAIN! I am just succumbing to the disease known as “bitchy resting face,” and I am also probably a little hungry. I promise I will be friendly once my attention has changed from snacks to you, and I have even been known to share my purse nuts with line friends, so don’t fret! Continue reading →

Book Expo America 2013 Recap

June 10, 2013 by Alyssa

YAY my second year that I was lucky enough to head to Book Expo America! Can you believe that this year was even better than last year? It was less focused on getting ALL THE BOOKS and more focused on meeting all of the amazing people. I am going to try and be as coherent as possible but excuse me if I tell you of the FEELS and sound a little AHHHFLAILSBEAAHHH!

Wednesday 5/29

My “trip” started a little early than most (and a little later than those of you who attended BBC) since Brittany (from The Book Addict’s Guide) flew in to Boston and I drove to pick her up to start our festivities! It’s always a tad unnerving meeting new people, and though B and I talk every day, there were still some moments where I was all “OMG what if we hate each other…” as I was driving to the airport. THANKFULLY, that was not the case and meeting B IRL just better reiterated that you can find your best friends later in life, and that things do happen for a reason, and ya know, feels. SO anyway we decided to save some cash and stay in CT and take the train in to NYC every day for BEA. Yeah, that meant we had to get up a few hours earlier than some, and yea we weren’t able to see as much of the city and attend ALL THE EVENTS, but that will be another trip. We got sangria at dinner, and then bought a bottle of wine for the hotel room all while networking with the dude who worked at the liquor store. Skill.

Sangria out of mason jars, yeah buddy!

Thursday 5/30

EARLY start to the morning, but totally worth it. We spent some time looking in awe at ALL THE BOOKS and then headed over to see Kendare Blake and pick up Antigoddess, which I can’t wait to read. Shortly after we headed over to wait in line to meet Victoria Rossi who is, by the way, one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, and we were like SCOREWERULE because we were told that we were first in line!!! Yeah… that was a lie. Turns out things weren’t as organized as they had hoped over in the BEA autographing area so while we were told that we were number one, so were (lots of) other peeps over on the other side of the hall! So anyway, we got in the special roped off line and totes thought we had MADE IT, and then they ran out of time and cut us off right after Britt! EEP! I was super sad, mostly because I wanted to tell Ms. Rossi that Aaron said hi and that he may or may not be sending us to stalk her, but really, I get it, and felt lucky to even have the opportunity, plus I was able to make a new friend (Hi, Shelver M!) and that is always awesome. A particular highlight was meeting Adam Gidwitz, I told him how I am currently reading A Tale Dark and Grimm out loud to Stan and how I wanted to get a copy for my love, so he signed it with a very sweet and personal message…

*I* love Adam Gidwitz

The best part about this day was meeting some fellow bloggers, a very distinct highlight of my day was when Jamie (from The Perpetual Page Turner) literally hopped and ran across the hall to flail at us (seriously love her), and of course meeting Anna (from Anna Reads), Alexa (fromAlexa Loves Books), Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence), Mandee (from Vegan YA Nerds/The Bookish Manicurist), and of course my IRL dear friend, Heidi (from Bunbury in the Stacks).

B and I headed home after a long and successful day, I was actually surprised at how huge (and awesome) my haul was!

Yeah! Signed books up top!

Friday 5/31

Friday was a tad more chill than Thursday and I spent a significant amount of time standing in line waiting to see some of my favorite authors. Specifically, Elizabeth Wein, and Victoria Schwab, also super awesome shoutouts to my girl Amy (from Tripping Over Books) who fangirled with me a bit, and Betty (from Book Rock Betty) who I was able to very quickly exclaim with (and share sads that we didn’t get to spend more time together)! WOO!

SO excited for this one, and check out those cards!

I’ll be honest, I felt really crummy on Friday, and wasn’t in the best of moods, which was sad because I was enjoying myself immensely but was still bogged down with the grumpiness, and not feeling my best. Highlights included seeing Grumpy Cat, WHO I LOVE, she is so tiny, and being able to spend some time with Heidi! B and I headed home early on Friday, which means that we skipped out on the Book Blogger’s Picnic, which SUCKED, but we both felt so crummy so it all worked out that we got some extra sleep!

Day 2 haul! Signed ones up top!

Saturday 6/1

Saturday was the most chill and also most EXCITING. Exciting because I GOT TO LISTEN TO NEIL GAIMAN SPEAK FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR. It was amazing. I plan on doing a recap of the event early next week so stay tuned but in a nutshell: SWOONS. It was the most chill because it was really more focused on friend time and less on GET ALL THE BOOKS, so we only stayed at Javits for a bit and then headed INTO THE CITY! Britt, Heidi, Mandee, Asher, and I headed to The Strand which is amazing and a bit overwhelming. I picked up a lesser known (by me, at least) Gaiman book, and We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni, which I am so excited about. We were also lucky enough to meet up with Estelle from Rather Be Reading!!

All of us minus Estelle, because she was awesome enough to take the picture!

After The Strand we headed over to eat some “New York Pizza” which was really more like regular pizza that I can find anywhere on the East Coast but equally delicious, and then we hung out for a bit because it was HOT and we wanted some time to chat together. We decided to head over to Books of Wonder because it has THE WIZARD OF OZ THINGS and as you know, I am obsessed.

I am excited to be around all of the OZ THINGS!

I obviously had to buy the signed copy of Chu’s Day, and signed copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, because of reasons. Soon after we said our goodbyes and headed back to ~~Magnolia Bakery~~ Connecticut to rest up after a very eventful three days.

Day 3 BEA haul! WOO!

Sunday 6/2

Sunday was a sad day, I had to say goodbye to Britt with the knowledge that we have no clue when we will see each other again, and the fact that it honestly might be a year before we are reunited, but let’s not dwell on it, because I am so thankful to have been able to spend as much time with her as I did.

Hideous picture of me, but we are rockin' our "KEEP CALM AND READ ON" shirts!

A less than flattering picture of me, but we are rockin’ our “KEEP CALM AND READ ON” shirts!

Once I got home I was able to relax and it has taken me a few days to even comprehend the amazing-ness that was this conference. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it, the best part wasn’t the books I brought home or the swag I received, but sheer excited-ness that I felt (and felt from others) over meeting each other and expressing our love for all things literary. Also Neil Gaiman. Always, Neil Gaiman.