Welcome to Corvina Reads!

Welcome!

Since this is a brand new blog (and a brand new year, hello 2019!) I thought it would make the most sense to start this project out with an introductory post, laying out my goals here.

You can read my About Me page to get an idea of who I am and what I’m doing here, but allow me to elaborate!

First off, my name is Ari. I’m based right outside of Providence, RI, and I’ve lived here my entire life. I graduated from Rhode Island College in 2018 with a BA in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology, and a minor in Creative Writing! One day, I hope to publish my very own novel. I’m also planning on attending grad school for archaeology in the near future — my dream is to become the love child of Indiana Jones and Amelia Peabody. I’m a big fan of books, a huge advocate for education, and really all I want is to help people learn! One day, I’d like to be a college professor, but until then you can find me here, geeking out over books, or on Twitter and Instagram, geeking out about literally anything and everything.

Creating this blog is something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while, but just never got around to. Believe it or not, this is one of my New Year’s Resolutions — to not only start a blog, something I’ve wanted to do forever, but to stick to it and post consistently. We’ll see how that goes!

I decided to name this site “Corvina Reads” for a few reasons, the most obvious being that this is primarily a book blog! Corvina was a nickname I was given in high school Latin class. I’ve always loved ravens and crows; back in high school, I tried to base pretty much my entire aesthetic around them. Ironically, when we had to pick “new names” in Latin class, one of the options my teacher gave us was the name Corvina, which means “crow-like” — an obvious winner for me. Since then, the nickname has all but died out, but I felt like here was an appropriate platform to bring it back. Do it for the brand, you know?

As far as books go, I’ve always been really into mythology-based stories, and a good bildungsroman, or coming of age story! My favorite series growing up was Percy Jackson, but unfortunately, I stopped reading years ago. I do hope to get back into Rick Riordan’s work soon, though – I’ve always admired the way he built such an intricate world of mythology and reality, functioning just beneath the surface of our own world! I took quite a break from reading for fun during college — working 2-3 jobs on top of a full course load doesn’t leave much room for fun (or sleep) — but ever since graduation, I’ve been reading like it’s going out of style. My current two favorite series are the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters and the Lady Emily series by Tasha Alexander (more on those later). While neither of these really fit into my “usual” taste, there’s a healthy dose of archaeology/antiquity knowledge to keep me satisfied. Plus, who doesn’t love a good mystery featuring badass Victorian women?

Next week, I’ll be talking about reading goals for 2019, and wrapping up my 2018 list! I ended the year with a handful of books, only half finished, and am hoping to finish those up soon to start the year strong. In addition to book reviews, monthly reading goals, TBRs and the like, I’ll also be doing a monthly “check-in” post of sorts, talking about self-care and mental health. For me, books and reading was a major part of my self-care in 2018 — having an outlet to escape to, a way to visit another world and leave my own for a few hours, really did wonders for my mental health (something I’ve struggled with for years). I think it’s an important topic to cover and my platform, no matter how small and new it is, is a good place to discuss.

What are your bookish resolutions for 2019?