Virtual Adult Summer Reading Program Challenge #3

It’s time for another Virtual Adult Summer Reading Program Challenge! Click for Challenge One and Challenge Two. This week, we’re talking non-books! So, what are my favorite non-books to read?

Non-Book Materials

Magazines

So in case you missed it, I talked all about my love for magazines here. I had a blast remembering my J-14, Teen People, YM, and Seventeen days among others. Currently, the only magazine that I subscribe to is Writer’s Digest and when I subscribe to a magazine, I read it ALL. Every single page, every ad. I dive in and don’t come up for air until every inch of that magazine is read. I love magazines and I love them hard! What magazine(s) do you subscribe to?

Playbills

As a theatre girl, a hefty playbill collection is like a badge of honor. Especially if most of those contain the OBC. I fail on the latter end more often than not since I’m usually broke and don’t live close to NYC anymore but still, playbills are the absolute best. While you’re in the theatre waiting for the show to start. After the show, when you’re in bed, thinking about how phenomenal everyone was. On a random day when you just want to take a playbill out and reminisce or be inspired or catch up on that girl who was in that thing. I don’t have a favorite part of the playbill, it changes all of the time. But one part that remains the same is the spark, that huge smile I get when I’m reading the actors’ acknowledgements, especially if it’s their first Broadway show. Ahh! So beautiful. In addition to all of this, each playbill can take me back to a particular time in my life so it’s just another way to have notable markers. Basically, my playbill collection is the best time capsule ever.

Lyric Books & the Like

I’ve always been a major lover of lyrics and songwriters and songwriting (though if there’s one form of writing that I’m not confident about, it’s my songwriting haha), whether I read a lyric book I get when I buy the album or just google the lyrics, the words are like poetry and poetry is my number one. Which brings me to spoken word poetry…

Okay, so technically you can’t read spoken word poetry but let’s just say that spoken word poetry is to written poetry as audiobooks is to books, and that’s still reading, so just work with me here. Or if you don’t like that analogy, okay, fine, you can’t read spoken word poetry – but it can certainly read me. And that’s enough of an excuse that I need to devote the rest of this section to spoken word. Because that’s what I really want to talk about hahaha so…

Does anyone remember Def Poetry Jam on HBO? If you don’t know me well, then you may not know that I was a big fan of this show and the year that I started this blog, I set out to make sure that I interviewed at least a handful of the poets featured that I loved so much (Shihan, Poetri, IN-Q, Rafael Casal). I love poetry, I have always identified as a poet, and as long as I’ve known about spoken word, it’s always had a very permanent place in my heart so if we’re talking art outside of the form of books, art off the pages, this. If you had to wrap me up in one of these art forms…this. This is me.

You can find more spoken word on YouTube or live at a cafe/school/library/etc… that hosts a local poetry night. If you are looking for a book form from the Def Poetry poets, be sure to add Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway … and More on Goodreads! And be sure to dive into the world of spoken word albums. Fellow writers, you want to fall down this rabbit hole.

So, in a nutshell. Lyrics. Poetry. My heart.

Screenplays

Before I attended my first screenwriting conference almost a decade ago (wow! time flies), I didn’t even know that you could buy screenplays (of present day movies). The first screenplay that I bought was American Beauty. And while I still like buying screenplays, also being allowed to legally download them (via The Blacklist) is great too. The most recent download is Minions which I recently watched on Netflix for the first time and am now so curious to see how this movie was presented on the page with so little dialogue. I can’t wait to get to that screenplay!

Stationery

I love stationery (whether it’s wordy or not but it’s a total winner if it’s super wordy in its design and everything is on point) though I only buy stationery twice a year and set a budget because I know that my bank account can go downhill really fast if I don’t have guardrails up for this stationery love. I’m not in the know about the best stationery brands and unless I win the lottery, I think it best to keep it that way. This is the one instance when I can say, “It’s not me, it’s you.” As in you’re just too darn awesome and I cannot deal. So. Stationery. I love you from afar! Whether there are words in the design or not. Stationery is wonderful!

Bonus: Calendars

I LOVE Calendars. I’m the person who takes their time sifting through every section of the pop up calendar shop in the middle of the mall as it nears Christmas time. You know what I’m talking about. I’m there every single time. I love calendars! So much! In the earlier years, I’d stick with Harry Potter, Christina Aguilera, or Britney Spears calendars. No shame. In recent years, I’ve switched it up between Harry Potter and any other calendars I see that tickle my fancy. It’s always interesting to see what holidays are included on holidays and how globally inclusive they are in this regard. Anyway, I just love calendars!

So what are your favorite things to read that don’t necessarily come in the traditional book format?