First Spotlight Read: Mostly Void, Partially Stars: Welcome to Night Vale Vol. 1

"A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale."

I have to admit, this feels like I cheated for my first book choice. I'm a huge fan of the WTNV podcast, even had the pleasure of meeting Cecil Baldwin, Joseph Fink, and Jeffrey Cranor at Emerald City Comicon a few years ago. This book is the transcript of those episodes, laid out in paragraph form with unique illustrations inspired by the world of Night Vale scattered throughout, and insights between chapters from the writers.

I'm going to try very hard not to just gush about the genius of the writers in crafting an entirely unique, yet somehow bizarrely plausible universe where there's both an eerie light hovering above the Arby's and a spectral cat levitating in the men's room. Not to mention Steve Carlsberg, who is just the absolute worst. One of the highlights for each of the episodes in the podcast is "The Weather", which happens to be a song by independent artist. Most of the songs are incredibly odd, definitely not something you'd hear on the usual popular FM stations. Yet somehow, in the transition between Cecil's melodious voice, the segue into a musical interlude feels so natural and it simply fits. Of course, the book cannot have the song playing at the end of every chapter, although such a thing could feasibly occur if one were actually in Night Vale, but they do list the name and artist that did occur in the episode.

I was worried that reading the words of episode I'd already listened to would just feel unnecessarily repetitive and there really wouldn't be anything to gain from such a thing. I did find myself, right from the start, reading the book in Cecil's voice, something I'm not at all surprised about as our narrator Cecil, voiced by Cecil Baldwin, is really what makes the entertainment unique. I would make a habit each night of listening to an episode before bed each night and Cecil's voice began to feel like my own personal lullaby.

"If you are near the library, be warned that these digs are dangerous. Also be warned that penalties for overdue books have skyrocketed to fifty cents per day, and after thirty days, jaw mutilation."

p.86

Okay, I said I wouldn't gush about how much I love the podcast; this blog is for books. Seeing the words from some of my favorite episodes typed out on a page somehow brought a new appreciation to the production as a whole. Hearing the insights from the writers between each chapter was a delightful treat as well. For the first time, I was seeing how they felt about their process, the world they were creating, and simple human feelings like doubt that they audience would respond as positively as they did to the characters. I thought it was especially fun to know that the mention of the "Fanny Brice Approximation Syndrome", something that sounds quite ominous, was actually named after a dog of a friend of theirs, appropriately named Fanny Brice. A few times, readers also hear what Cecil Baldwin, voice of Night Vale's Cecil, and the voice of that beautiful, perfect scientist, Carlos, have to say about their roles.

"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Show them pictures of cows when they're young and administer brief electric shocks."

p. 235

This was an incredible fun read. I can see folks enjoying it whether or not they've heard the podcast if they're in the mood for a Twin Peaks meets Twilight Zone vibe. Listeners will find themselves reading the text in Cecil's voice, which is to be expected because there simply is no Night Vale without Cecil. I'm glad I chose this as a kick-off for my reading challenge; I feel a little more at ease in expressing whatever joys/melancholy/angst I might feel with the future reads.

All hail the Glow Cloud.  

An Introduction

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." 
Wait, hang on.

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."
Nope, that's still not mine.

"Once upon a time..."

Okay, it's not completely original, but at least that's as close to an opening line for "me" as I'm likely to get. So here it goes.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Rhianna. She wasn't a particularly a remarkable girl, although some (e.g. mom) would argue otherwise. She achieved relatively high grades in school, but not high enough to be extraordinary. Making friends was not the easiest or the most pleasant of endeavors; something she would later attribute to the fact that she simply found her own imagination to be more entertaining than actual human beings. The process of self-deduction has come up with two possible reasons for this: 1) undiagnosed ADD or 2) the fervent early love of reading. 

I read everything growing up. I devoured series like The Babysitter's Club, Babysitter's Little Sister (which in hindsight sounds like it should be a rather lewd film franchise), The Boxcar Children, Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark (thank you, older brother); you know, the usual for a kid in an early 90's elementary school. Basically any series discovered at the Scholastic Book Fair was fair game and by the time that time rolled around, every chore would be done to the letter to insure maximum allowance funds. Buckingham Palace didn't have a more thorough worker than I come Book Fair.

I've never related to a tweet so much in my life.

I will never forget the Autumn of 1997. Ah yes, I remember it well. Of course, I couldn't tell you want I was wearing, what I had for breakfast, or the way the sun shone through the leaves from my view from my school bus window, but I can tell you this: This was the day I purchased, with my very own hard-earned money, my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which was entirely new to me. I can say, in all honesty, that is when my life was forever changed. No, there was not a Horcrux hidden between the pages, ready to devour my soul, oh but there was magic; genuine, heartwarming, whimsical magic.  

Still have my original, beaten to hell but intact.

And that was basically it for me. I now live in a hovel, surrounded by towers of tomes and precariously stacked books yet to be read and no one has seen me in decades. I've even managed to grow a beard and Ian McKellan-esque eyebrows. 

Okay, not really. But I do live, quite literally, surrounded by books. I work in a library now, after three years of working in an independent bookstore (something that is nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds, but that's a story for another time). Not to mention the over-stuffed, poorly organized shelves I have throughout my house. This (finally) leads to the reason I'm creating this blog in the first place.

Actual photograph of my workplace. (No, seriously. I swear this is it.)

I've come to realize that while I am vehement about my opinions on the things I chose to read/watch/play, I very rarely share these thoughts in a constructive, actually organized manner. So, being the New Year, I've decided to not only up the number on my Goodreads challenge from 30 books to 100, but also actively document my reviews of the books I've chosen to read. I will likely not write out lengthy posts for each book (considering I'm already down three weeks out of our 52 week year), I'll at least write a sentence or two on my Goodreads account, and spotlight the ones on this blog that I feel need the extra attention. 

Now, these will not be professionally constructed theses on the themes and symbolism worthy of my AP Lit classes in high school; these will simply be my thoughts and feelings on the story as a whole and the experience while reading. I haven't blogged since my livejournal/Xanga days (does that even count as blogging?), so be prepared for some mess and continuity errors along the way. I, myself, am a work in progress and this blog will likely reflect that. The books themselves will have no specific genre or type, they will simply be books I haven't read before and I'll gladly accept recommendations during this journey of what to try out next.

Okay, assuming at least a few of you have stuck around, let's start this journey down the rabbit hole. (Alright, that's not mine either but come on.)