Readers… I wanted to say thank you all so much for the amount of support, kind comments, emails, and the like that I have received for this blog. I started Feather Factor only two months ago for a school project and I never thought that it would be something that would eventually become a little pet of mine. Thank you all for putting up with my bad photography and questionable outfits.On that note, I hope you don’t mind if I widen the scope of my blog a bit to cover some other areas of interest to me. Today, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite past times – reading. I adore reading and as a result have soo many books. I must confess that even though I have a Kindle, if I like a book I will still purchase it in paper format. To me, nothing can replace that reading experience, even though I know it is very wasteful. Every year I donate to The Nature Conservancy in an effort to stave off the tree police….who I’m pretty sure, if they exist, look like the Ents from Lord of the Rings..
Above are all my books from one of my favorite writers, Margaret Atwood. If there is any one author that I could recommend to you all, it’s Margaret. She didn’t write my favorite book in the world. But she’s probably written more than a few in my Top 20 list. And I think she hits that critical spot between writing good literature and literature that’s good to read. I won’t yammer on further but here’s a link to her most popular book if you’re interested – The Handmaid’s Tale.
Atwood is also one of my favorite poetry writers. I’ll leave you all with one of my favorite poems of hers, Variations on the Word Love. Quite honestly, I don’t really “get” most poetry. But I adored this. I hope you enjoy and would love to hear about your favorite books and authors!
Variations on the Word Love
by Margaret Atwood
This is a word we use to plug
holes with. It’s the right size for those warm
blanks in speech, for those red heart-
shaped vacancies on the page that look nothing
like real hearts. Add lace
and you can sell
it. We insert it also in the one empty
space on the printed form
that comes with no instructions. There are whole
magazines with not much in them
but the word love, you can
rub it all over your body and you
can cook with it too. How do we know
it isn’t what goes on at the cool
debaucheries of slugs under damp
pieces of cardboard? As for the weed-
seedlings nosing their tough snouts up
among the lettuces, they shout it.
Love! Love! sing the soldiers, raising
their glittering knives in salute.
Then there’s the two
of us. This word
is far too short for us, it has only
four letters, too sparse
to fill those deep bare
vacuums between the stars
that press on us with their deafness.
It’s not love we don’t wish
to fall into, but that fear.
this word is not enough but it will
have to do. It’s a single
vowel in this metallic
silence, a mouth that says
O again and again in wonder
and pain, a breath, a finger
grip on a cliffside. You can
hold on or let go.
34 Comments
Julie and Lauren
May 9, 2011 at 12:06 pmVery cute- I can never quite get organized. Your books are inspiring though!
Xx
Magatha-May
May 9, 2011 at 12:36 pmI love The Handmaids Tale – are all her books as well written?
Nikki
May 9, 2011 at 12:40 pmCongrats on your blogging success! I, too, love to read but have yet to succumb to the whole e-book reader fad. I know it's definitely less wasteful and I'm all for that, but on the other hand it hurts author/publisher profits. Authors are no longer able to make their entire living off of writing because e-book readers make it possible to sell books at much cheaper prices. Now they are having to supplement their incomes in other ways. I guess I'd just much rather support the author and pay the extra few bucks. Not to mention, you're right, there's something so nostalgic about the way a book feels and smells. As long as I'm physically able to read one, I will be an old school book fan.
Loving the poetry too, btw. If you have any other reading material suggestions, I'd love to hear them! 🙂
http://www.cositabella.com
OtherMix
May 9, 2011 at 12:45 pmPlease tell me how you get more than 400 followers in 2 months!O_O I really want to know!
Other than that, congrats~!
I used to read a lot of books, lately not so much. You have a looooot of books!
Ruth
May 9, 2011 at 12:53 pmI love reading, but I tend to swap out books with my mum because there is so not enough space for tons of books in my flat. She takes ones I've read and she gives me then ones she has read, then she takes ones we have both read to put in the attic at home. Its a good system 🙂
I feel like I live in the '3 for 2' at Waterstones lol
It is my ambition in life to have a library – looks like you have the real makings of one!
flossyblossom.blogspot.com
heartbreaker
May 9, 2011 at 12:54 pmWow,thats alot of books! I gotta agree with you on the book buying thing,if I like it very much I will buy it,then again I don't have a Kindle,but I love how a books feel within my fingers and the turning of the pages,can't beat any electronic. I sometimes donate my books and sometimes I sell it online as a 2nd hand book,better than going to waste? XD do share with us more on your book adventures in the future!:)
Tara @ Haute Lunch
May 9, 2011 at 2:45 pmGreat book collection! I'm hoping to do more reading (for pleasure) now that the semester is officially over!
Corina
May 9, 2011 at 2:53 pmWow that is a lot of books!! I don´t now all them, but they looks great!!
Annette
May 9, 2011 at 2:54 pmWhat are you reading right now? I always have a book in my purse – makes everything heavier, but it's so necessary because you never know when you'll have an opportunity to pull out a book and pass the time.
lefthandedstory.blogspot.com
K
May 9, 2011 at 3:10 pmMmm, I love reading too, but I'm the opposite of you, in that I'm hellbent on clearing out all of the physical books in my house. It seems I've come a long way in my quest to be a minimalist – as a child, one of my dreams was to have wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-ceiling bookshelves, like the rarefied libraries you sometimes find in storied mansions.
questforfashionsense
May 9, 2011 at 3:28 pm"Love" this post ;D. I've heard of The Handmaid's Tale, but have not yet had the pleasure of reading it. Some of my favorite authors are the usual suspects (Hemingway and Salinger) and some less well known authors whom I adore are James Thurber and Jhumpa Lahiri. For fantasy, I like Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and George Martin (of Game of Thrones, previously mentioned).
Do share more authors/works when you get the chance!
Gentri
May 9, 2011 at 3:55 pmBooks are the best!!! 🙂 and while all the tech books are awesome, especially for travel, i love laying around and being able to not stare at a screen for
Once.
Gentri
May 9, 2011 at 3:57 pmOh! And I'm having a huge giveaway over at my blog right now and
Would love if you entered!! 🙂
Star-Light
May 9, 2011 at 4:25 pmlovely 🙂
http://starlightsworld.blogspot.com/
Sunshine
May 9, 2011 at 5:20 pmwe have the same passion for books! i think i own almost as many books as you do 🙂 i seriously think i can learn everything from books. for example, if i wanna sew, i will go out and pick up a sewing book haha.
i'm not an extreme person when it comes to favorites so i can't choose hehe… i can't think of a favorite movie or favorite book or favorite food hehe. ok i lied, i can definitely think of favorite food 😀 my bf got me a kindle cuz he knows i read all the time, but i barely touch it. i like holding the real books more. i usually carry one with me everywhere i go. these days, i tend to read more "business" books though.
thanks for the recommendations, i will check out margaret's books. and congrats on your blog success 🙂
Di
May 9, 2011 at 7:25 pmalthough I do not read often enough, I love books! Multiple bookshelves are a must (which also serve as great garment & shoe storage)
blog-love 🙂
xo Diana
Di
May 9, 2011 at 7:27 pmgotta check out Margeret!
I'm a big fan of Jhumpa~~~ Reading the Namesake right now, which I saved for last 🙂 her writing has this magical quality that turned this avid tv-watcher into a book reader ;p
KDot
May 9, 2011 at 8:05 pmSwoon, another fashion blogger who loves reading!!!! The Handmaid's Tale is tied at the top of my list of favorite books with Jane Urquhart's The Stone carver. I recommended both these authors to anyone.
The Hue Smiles
May 9, 2011 at 8:16 pmmy dad always tells me that reading a different book every week will educate you beyond any schooling, by the amount of books you have it seems that your good in the education department!
Forever Chic,
Amber
sugar sugar
May 9, 2011 at 8:21 pmcongratulations on your blog's success dear! =)
i also love books. you have so many! 🙂
Sasha
May 9, 2011 at 8:30 pmYES for reading! Too bad people substituted books for the computers and movies!
xo
LV
May 9, 2011 at 9:09 pmCongratulations on your success! I love this post because I am a writer and a person who loves to read. I can relate to the massive book collection too. Very nice poem, I really enjoyed reading this post.
http://foodfashionandflow.blogspot.com/
Gina Michele
May 9, 2011 at 9:25 pmGreat post! I love to read too. Instead of buying new books, I just trade with people on Swaptree. However, I do have a bookcase with my favorites that I won't part with =)
♥ Gina Michele
CrochetClouds
FleurLapin
May 9, 2011 at 10:18 pmWow! Those are a ton of books. I love reading and I think I have a new author to check out. I've heard of her but haven't read any of her work. Thanks for the recommendation! Although I'm gunho about technology, I won't give into electronic books because I love paperbooks so much! LoL
Stacey
May 9, 2011 at 11:53 pmOoh congrats on your blog! I'm following you now, so maybe that's the secret to your success!
I also love books! But apparently very few people read any more nowadays. After I read this article I picked up a book I had been meaning to read and finished it over the weekend!
Here's the article!
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/85938
Shasie
May 10, 2011 at 2:54 amI wish I spent more time reading.
Shasie
Live Life in Style
Preity lama Tamang
May 10, 2011 at 3:52 amomg!! these are definitely a lot of books!
Finley
May 10, 2011 at 4:58 amVery cool! I love books too. I like to hold them in my hands, turn the pages, smell the paper… It's funny, I like online magazines but want to read a book the old fashioned way. 🙂
{mommy chic} latest post: maxi it out
Schnappy
May 10, 2011 at 8:06 amCool post, I like reading!:)
Jazzy E (hivenn)
May 10, 2011 at 10:11 amThat's amazing. x hivenn
Ramona
May 10, 2011 at 10:43 amGosh, how big collection You have! Wonderful. I have big library at my mom's house, because I could't take them all to Ireland.
p.s. if You have couple minutes, please, visiti my blog and drop a line on my last post.
♥
xoxo Ra
Book Recommendations: Part 1 » Feather Factor
May 7, 2012 at 9:45 pm[…] Recommendations: Part 1 Nov 152011 I’ve mentioned before that I love reading – I especially adore physical books and seem to buy quite a few every […]
Anonymous
April 22, 2015 at 12:59 pmYou should write more on your reading! Always interested in the thoughts you have to share.
Katherine
April 23, 2015 at 1:12 pmThanks! 🙂