Gone Reading - Greatest First Lines of Literature Mug and Jane Austen Journal Review & $40 GC Giveaway

Hi guys! I recently went on a bit of a shopping spree at GoneReading.com and thought I'd share my thoughts with you today! The folks at Gone Reading are an absolute joy to collaborate with and I just love shopping there! Their selection of bookish products is already pretty impressive and they constantly add new exciting stuff (like, OMG, they just added a fabulous line of "Paperback" bath and body products, including shower gel, massage oil and more!). 

When my Gone Reading order arrived at my doorstep, I was so in love with both the mug and journal, I had to rave about it on Instagram and Twitter :) My tweets didn't go unnoticed, and the awesome Brad from Gone Reading emailed me about sharing a $40 GC to their store with one of you, my fellow bookworms! WOOT!! 

Greatest First Lines of Literature Mug

I don't know about you, guys, but I simply cannot sit down to read a book without making sure I have a huge mug of steaming hot coffee or tea to slowly sip as I get lost between the pages. I am not going to lie, I am a coffee junkie. And I like my coffee mugs BIG and COOL.

I had my eyes on two awesome mugs from Gone Reading. This one (points to the picture above) and their Banned Books Mug. They're both incredibly awesome and I had a very hard time deciding, but don't think that just because I bought Greatest First Lines, I am not going to eventually get my hands on the Banned Books one too. I will. Because there's only one thing better than a huge cup of steaming, delicious coffee.. And that's two huge cups of steaming delicious coffee (am I starting to sound like I need an intervention yet?). 

I love everything about this mug. The opening lines featured are timeless and iconic and just.. perfect! I love that it's so HUGE and BLUE on the inside! And it just looks so cool, making ME look cool when I hold it (or so I choose to believe, don't shatter my delusions). 

It's a really good quality porcelain, and the print doesn't get washed away even when I toss it into the dishwasher to clean it. I love it. I really freaking love it. And honestly, the price is freaking awesome, too. Like, I wanted to order this "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That" mug from Ashley Brooke Designs, but it's not only smaller, it's extremely pricey. I'm not paying $24 plus $12 shipping for a mug, oh-hell-no! Besides - this mug? SO MUCH COOLER!! 

Jane Austen Journal

God, I love the Jane Austen line from Gone Reading! I already had the Jane Austen Library Glass Candle which, btw, smells incredibly beautiful (scented in Gardenia, Tuberose & Jasmine) and you don't even need to light it up for it to fill the entire room with an elegant, relaxing and utmost gorgeous smell ever. Not kidding! 

I am pretty determined to collect all the Jane Austen products. There is an address book, an air freshener, dolls, playing cards and, gosh, even a toothpaste! 

I got this journal mainly for writing down my favorite quotes from review books, but also for keeping track of my TBR Pile and other stuff. Its's so elegant and girly, with the pages inside a light creamy color. There are 160 lined pages and you'll also find some gorgeous illustrations inspired by Austen's work and paired with memorable quotes from her books. 

It's glorious and I am yet to break its spine and write in it. I am waiting for something truly meaningful to fill its first pages. 

About Gone Reading

Gone Reading is, essentially, a bookworm's heaven. It's a fantastic source of really cool bookish items - reasonably priced and delivered to you with real care. I am a fan of this store and I sincerely recommend you check it out. I'm sure you'll find something for yourself! 

In addition to being an awesome store filled with gorgeous bookish goodies, Gone Reading is also dedicated to supporting some truly great causes, like spreading the love of reading in developing worlds and donating to charities such as READ Global and Ethiopia Reads. These guys ROCK and I support them wholeheartedly!

Interested in learning more about Gone Reading? Check out their store HERE and then read about their Philanthropic Mission. 

Gone Reading has also been featured in the Huffington Post, and you can see the article here!

Giveaway:

What you can win: $40 Gift Card to Gone Reading (US only)

When it ends: 3/28/2015

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reading to your baby

We started reading to Victoria when she was still in my womb. We made our little story time a daily habit. I talked to her a lot when she was still in my belly, so she knew the sound of my voice well, but I also decided it was important for her to hear Jaesung (my husband) speak, and so every day I would bring a book, place it firmly in his hands and demand our story time. As busy as he always is with all the dental school stuff, I could tell he enjoyed it a lot, too, even though he probably wouldn't admit it. Eventually, he'd pick a book and "initiate" the story time himself. I believe it made him feel needed, and I think it was an important bonding experience. But hey, we're here to talk about reading to babies, not about my husband, right? :) 

After Victoria was born, we continued on with our little tradition. Of course, it wasn't easy at first (OK, more like impossible!). She was too small, too fragile and too.. well, uninterested, at the beginning. We would still try to read to her, but not as much as before. It wasn't until she was about 3 months old when we picked it up again, and she seems to love it now. 

It is truly amazing to sit there and watch my husband read to Victoria. This tiny little creature sitting in her dad's lap, staring at the colorful pictures with interest and amazement. I love those little moments! I love reading to her myself, observing her reactions as I point to different pictures, seeing her turn her head occasionally towards the sound of my voice and then turning her attention back to the book. It's such an amazing experience. 

Being a book blogger of 5 years and an avid reader, it is very important to me that my daughter grows up to be a reader herself. Lucky for me, I have plenty of books I can read to her (books aren't cheap, I think we all know that). Being able to receive free children's books is a huge privilege and I'm grateful for each and every single one of them. 

If you wonder about benefits of reading to your baby, or when is a good time to start, here's some information & tips I hope you'll find helpful:

• Reading to your baby is an important form of stimulation and it's never too early to start. Fetuses recognize their mother's voice from the womb. Newborn babies love hearing your voice. Reading to your toddler will help develop listening skills, stimulate interest in sounds, build memory, vocabulary, and give your child information about the surrounding world. 
• It's also a phenomenal bonding time and a great opportunity to cuddle and enjoy something together. Turn it into a daily routine, and your child will eventually start demanding story time himself. 
• Reading introduces your baby to new concepts and teaches them about colors, shapes, numbers and ideas in a fun way. 
• Board books and picture books with bold, colorful illustrations are sure to spark your baby's interest and help him focus on the book. He won't understand the story just yet, but he'll enjoy listening to your voice. Try reading to him using different, silly voices to make it more fun. Repetition is your friend - it will help familiarize your child with different words and, eventually, help improve his language skills. 
• It's scientifically proven that children that are read to at an early age, are smarter. They learn to read earlier and more easily, and their communication and learning skills develop at a much younger age. Remember, your baby is like a sponge, the habits he'll learn at a very young age will likely stay with him forever. 
• Cuddling with mommy + listening to mommy's voice + seeing colorful pictures = positive experience that will solidify your child's love for books. 

Currently Reading: The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Signature of All Things is coming out in a beautiful paperback very soon and to celebrate that, we are giving away a copy on Bookish (US only, enter HERE).

I am only about half-way through the book right now (and it's a long one - 500 pages in a tiny font), but I am completely and utterly mesmerized by both the gorgeously rendered historical settings and Gilbert's beautiful writing style. 

I haven't read Eat, Pray, Love. 

Nor have I read any of her other novels.

This is my first experience with her prose. And I am kicking myself for not picking up one of her books earlier. 

It's, well, quite frankly, amazing. Intelligent, clever, meaningful, charming.. 

Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel centers around the Whittaker family - focusing mainly on Henry Whittaker, a self-made millionaire who makes a fortune in the South American quinine trade, and his daughter, Alma, a brilliant and gifted botanist. It's a meticulously researched, evocative tale of ambition, love, desire and the thirst for knowledge and self-improvement. 

“Take me someplace where we can be silent together.”

     “You see, I have never felt the need to invent a world beyond this world, for this world has always seemed large and beautiful enough for me. I have wondered why it is not large and beautiful enough for others-- why they must dream up new and marvelous spheres, or long to live elsewhere, beyond this dominion... but that is not my business. We are all different, I suppose. All I ever wanted was to know this world. I can say now, as I reach my end, that I know quite a bit more of it than I knew when I arrived. Moreover, my little bit of knowledge has been added to all the other accumulated knowledge of history-- added to the great library, as it were. That is no small feat, sir. Anyone who can say such a thing has lived a fortunate life.”

“The trick at every turn was to endure the test of living for as long as possible. The odds of survival were punishingly slim, for the world was naught by a school of calamity and an endless burning furnace of tribulation. But those who survived the world shaped it--even as the world, simultaneously, shaped them.”

“I would like to spend the rest of my days in a place so silent–and working at a pace so slow–that I would be able to hear myself living.”