This post has been a long time coming...

At least once I week I end up typing the phrase 'literaty tattoos' into google, more often than not I end up on contrariwise (which you should all go look at after reading this post!) I can't believe it has taken me over a year to get round to doing a tattoo post!

That being said, if I'd done this a year ago I might not have had quite so much to share...

Shakespeare

Hamlet

 

1

 

2

 

3

4

 Henry VIII

 

5

 

The Tempest

 

6



Neil Gaiman - Sandman

7

8

9

 

10

11

Harry Potter

12

13

14a

14b

15

 

16

Lemony Snicket

17

18

19

20

So what's with the numbers? Ah well, four of these tats are not from contariwise, but are my very own skin and ink!

Prizes to those who guess which four are mine*!


*Prizes may be virtual

I was a Teenage Book Thief

Okay let’s clarify that before I have the police knocking on my door. I didn’t actually steal any books. Nor do I have any unreturned library books collecting dust and fines alike (I hope?) 

But I did steal words.

I never had a diary, but what I did have was a notebook (or several) that I would fill with favourite lines from books, songs, and what appears to be several quotes from Buffy The Vampire Slayer (hey, she had some good advice!)

As I got older the lyrics and Buffy quotes were dropped and more and more pages from books found their way into my notebooks.

Whilst unpacking (yet more boxes!) I re-discovered some of these books, and thought I’d share some of the things I considered important enough to copy out for myself.

 

Wolf Brother - Michelle Paver

‘We…we could be friends, you know’ said Coraline

‘We could be rare specimens of an exotic breed of African dancing elephant’ said the cat ‘but we’re not. At least’ it added cattily, after darting a look at Coraline, ‘I’m not.’

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

'Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare… What did professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp– ’

‘So light a fire!’ Harry choked

‘Yes of course – but there’s no wood! Hermione cried wringing her hands.

‘HAVE YOU GONE MAD? Ron bellowed ‘ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?’

The Philosophers Stone – JK Rowling

‘If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.’

The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket

‘The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. Trisha Mcfarland discovered this when she was nine years old. Lost in the woods.’

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King

‘Not all those who wander are lost’

Lord of The Rings - JRR Tolkein

‘It didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn’t heard us calling, still do not hear us…calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time…and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.’

The Virgin Suicides – Jeffry Eugenides

‘There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve foot mountain Troll is one of them’

The Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling

‘…that’s what Hermione does,’ said Ron shrugging ‘When in doubt, go to the library’

The Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling

I haven’t added to this book in about eight years or so, but the impulse to carry words with me hasn’t gone away. No, I’ve just discovered a different art form, that’s all…

Have a good weekend folks!

But it really was my idea first...

I read a lovely post yesterday over on Nicola Morgan's blog where Jonathan Pinnock shared his frustrations at being piqued to the post with a similar idea for a book - It tugged at my heartstrings because there is nothing quite as frustrating as having a brilliant idea,and finding out that someone else already had it. and what's more, they've already published it.
At times like these I revert to a three year old, throw my toys out the pram and wail 'but I thought of that first!!!!'

Sure I did.

And I'm betting another fifty people are thinking the same and are throwing the same tantrum I am!

Or maybe they are better behaved than me in public.

At other times it's just a case of wishing you'd thought of of first - those times you stumble upon a book so brilliant you feel suddenly inspired to go out and write something just like it... oh wait... you can't... It's been done.

So here's a handful of books that have got my eyes glowing green with envy and a huff of a tantrum brewing...

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
Room - Emma Donoghue
Florence & Giles - John Harding
It - Stephen King
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket

All fantastic books.

But I do wish I could steal them for my own.