About Me

Hi everyone! I'm Lauren, a twenty-something that has been around the book blogging/bookish world since my college days. I am fascinated with historical fiction and learning about other cultures. Anything pertaining to women and their struggles throughout the ages has always inspired me. Reading is not a way for me to get away from the world, but a way to see it through another person's eyes.

I've had my face in books pretty consistently since I learned how to read. My freshman year in college is when my passion really kicked in. It started with buying a couple of books at a used bookstore in town, then I discovered PaperBackSwap online, then I hit Books-A-Million pretty hard. Since 2006, I went from owning about 10 books stacked on my dresser in my bedroom to owning over 600 today (not including over 200 ebooks). I have 4 overflowing bookcases and I literally have books stacked around the house. I feel I will never even touch the surface of all the life, love, happiness, tears, and precious moments that line the pages of all the books the world has to offer.





Everyone has pictures of their beautiful, immaculately organized bookshelves. I just can't bring myself to organize everything. Series books scattered around, books piled in the spare bedroom, allowing the boyfriend a shelf or two (which is harder than you can imagine)... but I'm too eclectic in my genres to even try to piece together that puzzle. And there's my little doxie, Emmitt, who's always on the lookout for a good glamour shot.







My other passion/obsession is tattoos. I don't see many tattooed readers out there, but I am seeing plenty of amazing quotes from distinguished authors being tattooed becoming more prevalent in society. I am not a biker chick (though I do love some Harleys), I've never been to jail, but once I did get a speeding ticket. Many people still judge others by their tattoos. If I am being judged, my guess is I look like a hardcore librarian. All of my tattoos are extremely personal and almost all of them are book related.

These are just a few of my tattoos. The quote on the skull is from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables that reads, "It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live." I got that tattoo after my grandmother passed away from breast cancer. Another quote on my inner arm is from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale that reads, "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum," which is mock-Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down." I got that tattoo so I will always remember to respect myself. Lastly, there is a quote on my back from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five reading, "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." I got that tattoo after a 7 year relationship ended. These are just a few, and hopefully I'll have many more to come!

I do know that I will always live to read and read to live. Without memoirs of amazing people, fictional characters who make me laugh, literary pieces to expand my world... I don't know what this life has left to offer. I hope you enjoy my posts and I hope to get know more passionate book lovers out there like me! You can find me lurking here on blog and at the social media sites located on the sidebar. I am also a contributor the The Broke and the Bookish, which is an amazing book blog that you should all check out. Feel free to stalk me! It's going to be a hell of a ride!