WRITING words of Wisdom, Let it be. This is a book blog; or newspaper; or magazine; or any other written type of blog you can think of. I believe that words have the power to speak to people, and I know that a lot of other people believe this as well. Whether it’s a Seventeen Magazine article telling you how to keep your self esteem up, or a history textbook talking about Hitler and World War II, words speak to people, in so many different ways, and it’s time somebody made a Tumblr about it.Tumblr (3.0; @imnotanerd)http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/42d3032b1a7ce59074f53c40f27d0b98/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/7ebd620445a582b5332f9dc478cafd09/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/842a62225055162c5fbdb1b62d511c14/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o3_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/cd91a59e6eded9cdc62934a95d58eac2/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o4_400.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/9654341ca3d6b9b178cd7b31cde928ac/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o5_400.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/10c306d0aba4fc9fc5686740bdbf3db0/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o6_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/3081dfae06b733cc23dc276c8923d8bb/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o8_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/56ec63efa74dace6b516ac1e442ba721/tumblr_mju8rnwD1r1s7a0b4o7_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/48726026999http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/48726026999Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:49:17 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/7449ba0f5b5ff0300ee6915b4c331385/tumblr_mkn7duKlUI1r3gpipo1_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/><img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/bc6b796a792453f159abd392014639bd/tumblr_mkn7duKlUI1r3gpipo2_500.jpg"/><br/> <br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/48499206271http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/48499206271Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:39:26 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_memjrpZpe11qiah05o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46810880414http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46810880414Sun, 31 Mar 2013 21:50:00 -0400<p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://amandacef.tumblr.com/post/42476285737">amandacef</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>It’s warm, too warm for January.</p> <p>The windows are open,</p> <p>A cool breeze gusting in.</p> <p>The trees shake</p> <p>Everything quakes…</p> <p>This can’t be normal.</p> <p>It’s cold again, just like in January.</p> <p>It feels like I haven’t moved.</p> <p>I think I have been in this spot,</p> <p>Feet against the radiator…</p> <p>Staring out the window…</p> <p>My roommate breathing</p> <p>softly in the background</p> <p>“Just sleep it off,”</p> <p>Yet sleep never came.</p> <p>It’s too warm,</p> <p>Maybe I have left.</p> <p>I remember going places</p> <p>The chapel bells ring</p> <p>Ticking off another hour,</p> <p>Gone and wasted away.</p> <p>I definitely left at some point…</p> <p>But my heart is still by the window,</p> <p>On a warm night in January.</p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46489351026http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46489351026Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:10:00 -0400<p><span>Prompt: <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span>What </span><span>book</span><span>, </span><span>course</span><span>, or </span><span>person</span><span> has been most influential in your present understanding of what’s most important for “a life well lived.”?</span></p> <p><strong><br/><span></span></strong></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Friends, Assumptionists, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to praise Shakespeare, not to bury him. Shakespeare happens to be one of, if not the most, influential writer in the history of the written word itself, however at first I was not able to appreciate that. Just like every high school student, I thought that I already knew everything I needed to know about Shakespeare: that I did not like him </span><span>at all</span><span>. My past experiences with The Bard were not the best; he caused me a lot of grief when I tried to understand his strange vernacular and complicated imagery, but I figured I would have to grit my teeth and bear it this time. During my junior year of high school we watched a speech by Michael Mack during AP English Language that influenced me both as a writer and as a person in a way that nothing ever has before.</span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Mack, an English professor at the Catholic University of America, is responsible for my broader outlook on both Shakespeare and life. Mack claims to have gone around asking people “Why read Shakespeare?” only to receive unsatisfying and generic answers. According to Mack, most people just assume that “Shakespeare is the greatest writer of all time” because that is what they have been spoon fed all of their lives. After careful consideration I realized what Mack said had really struck me: why </span><span>do</span><span> we read Shakespeare? Is it because of his contributions to the English language? Have you ever realized how many modern expressions and literary themes came out of Shakespeare’s pen? The Bard is responsible for all of the “green-eyed jealousy” you ever felt, any “leaps of faith” that you have taken, all of the “gossip” that you may have spread, and each of the times something has been “dead as a doornail (and that is “the long and the short of it”). By the time of his death William Shakespeare from Stratford-Upon-Avon coined about 1,700 words and phrases; many of which we still use today. Once that thought settled in I really began to fully understand the importance of Shakespeare in my everyday life.</span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Mack continued on in his speech to suggest that “finding the beauty in Shakespeare is a sort of proving ground for finding beauty and meaning in life.” Looking back at this speech, Mack’s comparison to reading Shakespeare and transitioning to college in seriously accurate. Shakespeare can look large, ambiguous and most of the time you depend on the footnotes to explain more than half of the supposedly funny references that he is making&#8212; college is not any different. You are in a new place, with new people and the map of campus seems to be permanently glued to your hand for a little while, but eventually you begin to acclimate to it. </span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“He gives you a serious headache the first time you try to understand him- and the second,” Mack claims. Sometimes life can be ambiguous. We all make mistakes, sometimes we make the same one more than once. Things do not always go our way, and every now and then even the greatest plans fall apart. In the end though, I know that I would like to be able to say that I did my best and almost never took the easy way out. Perseverance and drive to achieve more in life are really what Shakespeare is all about. Even when you feel like laying down for the count and not moving, you just have to tell yourself to keep pushing. Page after page, line after line, vengeful soliloquy after vengeful soliloquy, the accomplished feeling you get when you finish is nothing short of amazing.</span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>The head versus the heart: another mountain that we all tackle in our lives when talking about a “life well lived”. Should you have listened to your head and gone to law school? Or was it a good idea to follow your heart and open that bakery instead? These are the issues that people look back on every day. “Shakespeare shows how the head and the heart need each other,” Mack explains. “One of the most important things for you to come to understand is your own emotional life. &#8230;By reading about the heart, your head and heart become more fully integrated. This integrity, when you understand what you feel and you hear with an understanding heart, is the mark of an educated person.” Shakespeare shows us that yes, people have felt the same way we have before and yes, people all over the world will feel this way again. “&#8230;And it means growing in wisdom,” Mack affirms. This integrity, when you understand what you feel and you hear with an understanding heart, is the mark of an educated person. Even if you can not directly sympathize with King Lear, (I would hope none of you have ever been tossed out into the cold by your daughters!) you can understand that the trials have taken a severe toll on him. By laying these outlandish situations on the table for us Shakespeare is showing us that these battles are the most important educational lessons in life.</span></p> <p><strong id="internal-source-marker_0.18481373926624656"><span>Mack finally explains, “But if you stick with him, you can expect a breakthrough, and the excitement and satisfaction of being able to say, ‘I get it.’” The “breakthrough” that Mack is talking about is all I have ever wanted in my life: to look back and say “I like where I am, and would not change it for the world.” As of right now, while I sit in my dorm room typing this essay I think my breakthrough has arrived. Mack has influenced me enough to know when to keep pushing at my goals. Hopefully when I am older and have time to reflect I will be able to say that Professor Michael Mack’s interpretation of William Shakespeare has given me a wonderful life so far with more opportunities to achieve in the future.</span></strong></p>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488997555http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488997555Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:02:56 -0400william shakespeareshakespearemichael mackwhy read shakespearelife lessonsspeech<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/4b0f5d0d4dcc23752801b20905903553/tumblr_mib5ktmJMh1s1ttngo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488578222http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488578222Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:54:13 -0400<a href="http://itsallmadeup.tumblr.com/post/43954007622/book-review-every-last-one-by-anna-quindlen">It's all made up: Book Review: Every Last One by Anna Quindlen</a>: <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://itsallmadeup.tumblr.com/post/43954007622/book-review-every-last-one-by-anna-quindlen">itsallmadeup</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><img alt="image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/eb042b5fc3197f3fba5349a33968acff/tumblr_inline_mir9p8Avf01qz4rgp.jpg"/></p> <p>This is the second Anna Quindlen book I’ve read. The first being <em>Rise and Shine</em> which I absolutely loved. She’s solidified herself with <em>Every Last One</em> as being one of my go-to authors, and I look forward to reading more of her past work.</p> <p>So yes, I really enjoyed reading this. <em>Every Last…</em></p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488529533http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488529533Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:53:17 -0400<p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://domability.tumblr.com/post/44891522703/books-are-the-plane-and-the-train-and-the-road">domability</a>:</p> <blockquote> <h1>“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road.<br/>They are the destination, and the journey..They are home.”</h1> <ul><li><strong>Anna Quindlen</strong></li> </ul></blockquote> <p></p>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488509908http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488509908Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:52:53 -0400<a href="http://questionableliterarymerit.tumblr.com/post/42608648086/q-l-m-book-review-a-year-of-biblical-womanhood">Questionable Literary Merit: Q.L.M. Book Review - A Year of Biblical Womanhood</a>: <p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://questionableliterarymerit.tumblr.com/post/42608648086/q-l-m-book-review-a-year-of-biblical-womanhood">questionableliterarymerit</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><img alt="image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/37cb27f60c1f19e6df4643a6a54a960d/tumblr_mgc5ieSwZq1qh4vkao1_400.jpg"/></p> <p><strong>Book Breakdown</strong></p> <p><strong>Title</strong> - A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master</p> <p><strong>Author </strong>- Rachel Held Evans</p> <p><strong>Genre </strong>- Non-Fiction</p> <p><strong>One Sentence Summary</strong> - One woman’s exploration of what it means to follow a…</p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488463710http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488463710Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:51:56 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/49717f194b6b1742a24d8650550c32af/tumblr_mkcvq6QkRb1rephwao1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488362888http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488362888Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:49:55 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/1fb488ccac8bcc418db67a306c43a949/tumblr_mkcvk7d8AZ1qbijibo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://maryfrancesss.tumblr.com/post/46487661389/http-whrt-it-zatcns">maryfrancesss</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Facebook on @weheartit.com - <a href="http://whrt.it/ZaTcNS"><a href="http://whrt.it/ZaTcNS">http://whrt.it/ZaTcNS</a></a></p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488355721http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488355721Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:49:46 -0400<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/40223b22c9eeec9c6e0588b875f5c0d7/tumblr_mkcvhgo9bn1qbijibo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a class="tumblr_blog" href="http://maryfrancesss.tumblr.com/post/46487574123/http-whrt-it-ybxi0i">maryfrancesss</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Lydia Dilaurantis.tumblr on @weheartit.com - <a href="http://whrt.it/YbXI0i"><a href="http://whrt.it/YbXI0i">http://whrt.it/YbXI0i</a></a></p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488347169http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488347169Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:49:36 -0400<div class="post_title">Have a recommendation? Want to tell the internet world all about your favorite book? Leave it here!</div> <p>Submit it to my ask with:</p> <p>Title, Author and a short summary (if you’d like). A picture of the cover or a page of the book is always welcome as well.</p> <p>What are you waiting for?!</p>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488317885http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/46488317885Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:49:00 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lve0e6Pb2O1r0k5v4o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/17141951760http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/17141951760Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:36:26 -0500<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lytvdaVyuE1qz6f9yo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/17141847843http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/17141847843Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:34:02 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx71m315J41qk5ldio1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/15607309813http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/15607309813Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:10:34 -0500<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpwexd5oTq1qcdo2mo1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://psydae.tumblr.com/post/8892462750">psydae</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>books (by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jujucalhau/5016130912">no i’m not, i’m very married</a>)</p> </blockquote>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8893449543http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8893449543Sat, 13 Aug 2011 23:52:04 -0400filmbook<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpn05emXSU1qhvk57o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8724254240http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8724254240Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:52:23 -0400booksreadingshelveslibraryamazing““I can be quite sarcastic when I’m in the mood.””<br/><br/> - <em>J.D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye)</em>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8636794629http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8636794629Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:01:55 -0400<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpljflkco11qkfan6o1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8636786420http://imnotanerd.tumblr.com/post/8636786420Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:01:35 -0400