Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for EVENTS] 

One of the major perks of living in Iowa City is that it's a huge hotspot for writers. This past week was the NonfictioNow Conference which occurs every two years. I'm all over this conference because I love Nonfiction. Only about a third of the events were open to the public and I went to three events. The first and biggest event I went to was the Alison Bechdel reading. I was really excited about this because I loved her book Fun Home. The reading was unlike any reading I've ever been to. Since she is a graphic artist she can't really do a normal reading, so instead she creates a powerpoint with one panel on each slide and then reads the text that goes with the panel. I really enjoyed this and found that it was a lot easier to pay attention to than a normal reading.

After she was done I got my copy of Fun Home signed and got a picture taken. They were also selling broadsides of a comic she did that were printed at the University of Iowa Center for the Book. I got one of this and can't wait to find a frame for it!

Friday night was the Rebecca Solnit reading. I've never read anything by her, but I ran into my nature writing professor who gave the introduction for her and he enjoys her work. She is a probably most well known as a nature writer. I enjoyed this reading, although there were some technical difficulties with the microphone. She took it in stride though. She talked a bit about being political and being a writer, and how being an artist doesn't make you exempt from caring about politics. She talked quite a bit about Bill McKibben too, who has obviously taken the political writer status to a whole new level.

Saturday evening was a reading of more local people who write narrative nonfiction. Andre Perry gave a great introduction to this topic, mentioning how when he was school he would turn in essays and his teacher told him they were fiction because they were narrative. This is a pretty common idea, actually, but I find that some of the best nonfiction is narrative. Ryan Van Meter was the person I was most interested in hearing because I talked about his essay First as an awesome essay. He read an absolutely beautiful essay about hunting and animals. It had this spinning quality to it, where he started in one place, went to another, then returned to that original place. I wish I could have it in front of me to really parse out.

Overall what I saw of the conference was really great. This week I spent most of my time talking about comic books. I reviewed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (which I loved!) as well as four comic books: Fables, The Walking Dead, Coward, and Suburban Glamour. Be sure to check out those reviews!

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The Iowa City Book Festival just wrapped up yesterday and I was exhausted last night from the festivities. I couldn't take in as many events as I wanted to because I had to come home fairly early on Sunday and wanted to catch up with some friends Saturday evening. Overall though I hit some events and can't wait for next year's festival to come around! For those of you who aren't from around here, the Iowa City Book Festival is a three day event where readers, authors, librarians, booksellers, and others come to celebrate a love of books and reading. There are readings, presentations, films, book sales, and activities for children all going on with food and music for everyone to enjoy. This year I was also invited to participate in the event and I gave a talk about five of my favorite books from the past year and I also talked about blogging for a little while. I had a fairly good crowd, about 20-25 people were there.

This is me preparing to speak on Saturday, a little nervous.

Here I am in Gibson Square, where all of the music and book sales were. I'm standing next to the portion of the schedule that has my name listed on it.

I met some cool people as well. Chelle from The Prairie Library came to listen to me during her 15 minute break. It was awesome to put a face to a name and she is the first blogger I've met in real life, well that I didn't know before I started blogging. I also met Andrew Shaffer of the Huffington Post who asked a ton of great questions and is a truly funny guy. In addition to meeting people, I also saw some great writers. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, was the headlining speaker. I never realized just how dark TTW is until I heard her talking about it. She definitely has an interest in the darker side of life and is actually trained as visual artist, not a writer, which I never knew. Clearly she is a woman of many talents, and she is hilarious to listen to. Right after her Q&A I ran off to hear Hope Edelman and Carl Klaus talk about memoir and memory. Klaus interviewed Edelman and since the two already knew each other they had great chemistry. I haven't read anything by either writer but if their writing is as good as their insights on the memoir genre then I know I am in for a treat!

Sunday was A Day in the City of Literature and there were several readings scheduled. I, unfortunately, could only go to one before I had to leave town so I really had to think about who I wanted to see. I decided to see Stephen Bloom whose most recent book, Tears of Mermaids, has received kind words from many places and Michael Kindness from Books on the Nightstand was especially excited about it so I felt I had to go. The reading was held in the jewelry store M.C. Ginsberg, which was a nice fit because Tears of Mermaids is a micro-history of pearls. Bloom read a short, funny selection from the book and I was glad I recently purchased it (and I got my copy signed!). After the reading he shared a wealth of knowledge of pearls, passing around polished oyster shells and describing the several kinds of pearls and the places in the world they come from. He also spent some time talking about research and writing as well as what he enjoys about it and what he doesn't. It was a great way to spend an hour and I'm confident that I chose a good reading to attend.

Overall my experience at the Iowa City Book Festival was incredible, and to top everything off my name is even on the event's t-shirt because I was a speaker at it, how amazing is that?!? If you couldn't make it but are interested in what books I talked about I posted my picks on Saturday. I'm already looking forward to next year's festival and since I won't be living an hour and a half away hopefully I'll be able to take even more in.

Confession time: I watched Father of the Bride

and Father of the Bride 2

on an alternating daily fashion for at least one year of my life. I woke up and watched as much of that day's movie before I went to school, then came home and finished it after school, and did the same thing the next day, and the next day, and the next for one year. 365 days. Which means I've seen each movie a minimum of 183 times. I'm honestly not kidding about this. I was around eight when the obsession consumed me. I just loved those movies, and I adored Steve Martin. Mostly because he reminded me of my dad. I'm not a huge fan of stand-up comedy, but I was interested in Steve Martin's autobiography Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

simply because he had such a huge impact on my childhood, and in turn my life. I read his novella Shopgirl a year ago, so I knew that Steve Martin was a fantastic writer. Within the first ten pages of this book I knew I was in for something great.

Actually on the first page he shines, "My most persistent memory of standup is of my mouth being in the present and my mind being in the future; the mouth speaking the line, the body delivering the gesture, while the mind looks back, observing, analyzing, judging, worrying, and then deciding when and what to say next"(1). I've never been a stand-up comic, but that description instills the fear and heightened awareness he must have experienced every single night. He ends the chapter in a similarly fantastic fashion, describing why this book is a biography and not an autobiography: "In a sense, this book is not an autobiography but a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know. Yes, these events are true, yet sometimes they seemed to have happened to someone else, and I often felt like a curious onlooker or someone trying to remember a dram. I ignored my stand-up career for twenty-five years, but now, having finished this memoir, I view this time with surprising warmth. One can have, it turns out, an affection for the war years" (3).

The rest of the biography relays the events of Steve Martin's life, and it must be said that the first half of his life covered is rather boring. This isn't really a great biography to read if you want to hear a really interesting, fabulous story about a celebrity. Martin worked at Disneyland, he didn't get along with his father, he liked doing magic tricks. He's different, but not astounding. All of that said, I felt like I knew Martin pretty well by the end of this biography simply through his writing. He can be repetitive, and there were times I wondered why he included the information he did-- but overall I loved this book.

I give this biography an A.

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DEWEY began blogging at The Hidden Side of a Leaf in April 2007. While her main topic was books - book reviews, book discussions, reading challenges, book giveaways - her focus was always on building community, as she said herself:

My main focus in blogging is community. I want to share my love for books with other bloggers, hear what they think of what they’re reading, and have lots of bookish fun. My non-review blog activities...are all meant to build community.

In just over a year and a half as a book blogger, Dewey quickly became a leader in the community she sought to foster. Her book reviews were well-thought-out, insightful, and thorough; her style of reviewing and the books she wrote about influenced the reading and blogging choices of many other book bloggers - and while she was a prolific reviewer, her reading outpaced her reviewing, and she often remarked about being behind on her reviews. In addition to her own reading and reviewing, Dewey organized and managed several reading challenges, and founded three events which spread across the book-blogging community: the semi-annual 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, the monthly Bookworms Carnivals, and Weekly Geeks.

In April 2008, Dewey proposed a new sort of "challenge" at her blog; not a reading challenge, but a blogging challenge, to be called "Weekly Geeks" - her initial post to gauge interest in the idea prompted 150 people to sign up! The challenge would involve a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. Not every Geek participated every week, some assignments were more popular than others, and new Geeks joined in as the word spread. Visiting other Geeks' posts for that week was part of the assignment as well, which is where Dewey's community-building focus kicked in.

The book-blogging community was stunned and saddened by the news that Dewey passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - but it never doubted that Dewey's contributions to it would live on, and there was a drive to continue the events she founded. It will take committees of bloggers and several blogs to keep them going, though. Welcome to the new home of Weekly Geeks, part of Dewey's legacy to the community she was so important to.

Written by Florinda

The following table contains links to the many posts that have been written in memory of Dewey:

Blog Name
Tribute Post
Weekly Geek Post
1 More Chapter Dewey You'll Be Missed -- 1330V Dewey Thinking Of Dewey 3 Rs Reading, ‘Riting Randomness Book Bloggers Say Goodbye Blogging For Dewey A Garden Carried In The Pocket Requiem -- A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore Dewey -- A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook Goodbye Dewey -- A Reader’s Respite Rest In Peace Dewey -- A Striped Armchair Rest In Peace Dewey -- APOOO Books RIP Dewey -- Armenian Odar Dewey, Thank You For Everything -- At Home With Books In Honor Of Dewey -- B&B ex libris Dewey -- Back To Books A Sad Loss To The World -- Bart’s Bookshelf :( -- Beastmomma Losing A Blogging Pal -- Becky’s Book Reviews Sad News Indeed In Her Own Words Belle Of The Books Dewey Will Be Missed -- Bibliolatry A Great Loss -- BlogHer Remembering Dewey -- Bloody Hell It’s A Book Barrage Farewell, Beautiful Dewey -- Bluestocking Guide Loss In Our Community -- Bluestocking Society Goodbye To Dewey -- Bold. Blue. Adventure We’ll Miss You Dewey -- Book-A-Rama Unbelievably Sad News For Dewey Book Addiction -- Remembering Dewey Book And Cranny Shock and Sadness -- The Book Mine Set Rest In Peace Dewey -- Book Dads The Butterfly Award -- Book Nut -- Geeky Tribute Book Zombie Remembering Dewey This One's For You Bookfoolery And Babble This One's For Dewey -- Bookgirls Nightstand For Dewey -- Bookish Ruth Farewell Dewey -- Booklorn Sad Day -- Bookopolis Bookworms Carnival -- Bookroom Reviews God Bless You Dew -- Books And Border Collies In Memoriam -- Books And Movies A Huge Loss -- Books And Other Thoughts Remembering Dewey -- Books I Done Read Sad News -- Books Of Mee Bye Dewey -- Books On The Brain A Sad Goodbye -- Bookstack Loss Of A Builder -- Bookworm In Memory Tribute Post brideofthebookgod -- Dewey Care’s Online Book Club -- Weekly Geeks Caribousmom Remembering Dewey -- A Loss In Memory Of Dewey Casual Dread -- Dewey ChainReading -- Remembering Dewey Deus ex machina complex Oh Fuck In The Land Of Denial Everyday Reads Prayerful Weekly Geeks Fizzy Thoughts In Memory Of Dewey For Dewey Fyrefly Books In Memoriam -- Galley Cat Book Blogger Dewey -- Giving Reading A Chance Dewey, You Will Be Missed -- Hey Lady! Whatcha Reading? We Love You Dewey -- In Search Of Giants In Memory Of Dewey -- In Spring It Is The Dawn Farewell Dewey -- Incurable Logophilia Bookshelf Peeping -- It’s All About Books Dewey We’ll Miss You Dewey Tribute Just Add Books Huge Loss Making It Count The Kea <3 -- For Dewey -- Kids Book Buzz Farewell To Dewey -- Kittling Books Dewey's Community -- Kristina’s Favorites For Dewey -- Leafing Through Life Missing You -- Life Happens While Books Wait Dewey -- Literary Escapism Sadness In The Book Blogosphere -- Literate Housewife In Remembrance -- Lit*chick Two Things -- Madeleine’s Book Blog In Memory Of Dewey -- Maggie Reads My Eyes Are Dewey -- Maw Books Blog In Which We Say Goodbye -- Melody’s Reading Corner Dewey ... You’ll Be Missed Honouring Dewey Musings Remembering Dewey -- Musings Of A Bookish Kitty In Memory Of Dewey -- My Friend Amy Farewell Dewey For Dewey My Own Little Reading Room My Prayers For Dewey Remembering Dewey My Years Of Reading Seriously Life... -- Naked Without Books Dewey -- Fortress Is Their Library -- Nothing Of Importance This Is Real Life Tribute To Dewey Out Of The Blue Dewey Remembering Dewey Page After Page Life Is So Fleeting Dewey Edition Pages Turned Remembering Dewey -- Passion For The Page -- RIP Dewey The Printed Page Thoughts And Prayers -- Random Wonder In Remembrance -- Reading Adventures Sad News Indeed -- Reading Derby Dewey You Are Missed -- Reading In Appalachia For Dewey -- Reading Is My SuperPower Oh Dewey -- Reading, Writing and Retirement Candle For Dewey For Dewey Ready When You Are C.B. In Memory Of Dewey -- Rebecca Reads A Farewell -- Savvy Verse & Wit My Dearest Dewey Dewey Tribute She Reads Books In Memoria -- Shelf Life Sad News -- Should Be Reading In Memory Of Dewey -- Sleepy Reader For Dewey -- So Many Books, So Little Time Hole In Our World -- So Many Precious Books Today Is A Sad Day In Memory Of Dewey Some Reads So Sad -- Sophisticated Dorkiness Sad News Remembering Dewey Sprite Writes Dewey -- Stephanies Confessions A Terrible Loss... -- Stephanie’s Written Word The Hidden Side Of A Leaf -- Stuff As Dreams Are Made On Oh No... Weekly Geeks Subliminal Intervention -- Dewey Tales From The Reading Room Saying Goodbye -- Tammy’s Book Nook For Dewey, With Love -- Things Mean A Lot Dewey For Dewey Thoughts Of Joy Extremely Sad News -- Tiny Little Reading Room Rest In Peace Dewey -- Tripping Toward Lucidity Loss -- Trish’s Reading Nook In Memory Of Dewey -- True Confessions Of A Book Lover Dewey -- Valentina’s Room -- For Dewey West Of Mars Public Service Announcement -- Word Lily For Dewey Remembering Dewey Worducopia Goodbye -- In Memory Of Dewey Dear Dewey The Written World In Memory Of Dewey -- You Can Never Have Too Many Books Dewey --

Lisa Roe, an online publicist wrote a three part guest post in memory of Dewey. The posts can be found on these blogs:
1. Part 1 Dewey, Our Blog Friend Remembered @ AndiLit.com
2. Part 2 Lisa Roe’s Memorial Post For Dewey @ BookingMama
3. Part 2 Lisa Roe Remembers Dewey @ Reading Is My SuperPower

This week, I'm going back to a classic Dewey topic--#12 to be exact. I chose this for several reasons--one, it's one of my favorite weekly geeks topics--but more importantly I saw it would work well with two very important bloggy events going on this week.

1. In your blog, list any books you’ve read but haven’t reviewed yet. If you’re all caught up on reviews, maybe you could try this with whatever book(s) you hope to finish this week. (Be sure to leave a link to this post either in the comments of this post, or in the Mister Linky below.)

2. Ask your readers to ask you questions about any of the books they want. In your comments, not in their blogs. (Most likely, people who will ask you questions will be people who have read one of the books or know something about it because they want to read it.)

3. Later, take whichever questions you like from your comments and use them in a post about each book. Link to each blogger next to that blogger’s question(s).

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks and ask them some questions!

What are these other bloggy events? One is the June Mini-Challenge for Dewey's Reading Challenge. Kailana is asking folks to list the books they've completed (but not reviewed) for either the Dewey Reading Challenge or Carl's Once Upon A Time III challenge. Her due date is Saturday, June 20th. All the details are on the post about the challenge. The second is Natasha's
Bloggiesta. On June 19th and 20th, Natasha is encouraging bloggers to catch up on their blogs. Included in this is reviewing!

Leave a link to your weekly geeks post in the comments or in Mister Linky, if it happens to be working.

This week’s Weekly Geek was very mysterious. Kristen and Chris challenged us to talk about favorite mysteries and detectives, or to even create a TV show or movie from a favorite mystery story or character. Here are a few of this week’s Geeks:

Gautami tripathy talked about all the mysteries she has loved.

Kerrie created a beautiful Wordle.

CoversGirl traces her love of mysteries back to Nancy Drew.

Rikki focused on Lord Peter Wimsey.

As usual, a big thank you to all of our participants!

Also, if you haven’t already heard, there are two upcoming events in the world of book bloggers:

Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be September 14-18.

The autumn 2009 Read-a Thon will be October 24-25.

Check out their websites for details on both of these fabulous events!

A report reveals how during Winter Solstice celebrations at the site in December last year, chewing gum was stuck onto the ancient monument, graffiti was sprayed on the ancient stones, attempts were made to light fires on them, and lines of oil were dripped on several stones.

Things were much worse during the Summer Solstice in June, when volunteers and staff were "left in tears" and had to clean up vomit and feces. The "appalling stench" and the "urine, vomit and feces" were left around the stones after 37,000 revelers descended on the site to watch the sunrise.

Winter Solstice numbers were much smaller, and amounted to around 1500, though the damage done to the stones was still considerable. A spokesperson of the English Heritage conservation group said of the oil, "It's still there and it's not degrading. This is an additional concern as there is still graffiti on the stones from the summer solstice."

Solstice revelries were banned between 1985 and 2000, when they were finally opened up after a long legal battle by King Arthur Pendragon, a self-professed "pagan leader". Pendragon said pagans were also unhappy about the vandalism. However, he states that the Heritage Journal are calling attention to this because they wish to halt future solstice events. "Heritage Journal have been doing that since they were formed in the first place. Basically they're just a number of archaeologists who don't want 'the great unwashed', as they see it, anywhere near Stonehenge. Obviously, we abhor the vandalism. We always keep an eye out for these sorts of things. From my point of view, as a druid and a pagan priest, it's not on."

Solstice events are marked by various denominations and faiths around the world. However, a spokesperson of the Heritage Journal remarked, "The latest research suggests the stones were designed to allow people to view the summer solstice sunset from outside the circle, not crowded inside it."

Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Monument, is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks, built between 3000 BC and 2000 BC.

Author: Sravanth Verma | Source: Digital Journal [March 10, 2015]

Last week Ali challenged us to think about the classics. She gave us four questions, and allowed us to mix and match.

1) How do you feel about classic literature? Are you intimidated by it? Love it? Not sure because you never actually tried it? Don't get why anyone reads anything else? Which classics, if any, have you truly loved? Which would you recommend for someone who has very little experience reading older books? Go all out, sell us on it!

2) A challenge, should you choose to accept it: Read at least one chapter of a classic novel, preferably by an author you're not familiar with. Did you know you can find lots of classics in the public domain on the web? Check out The Popular Classic Book Corner, for example. Write a mini-review based on this chapter: what are your first impressions? Would you read further? (For a larger selection of authors, try The Complete Classic Literature Library).

3) Let's say you're vacationing with your dear cousin Myrtle, and she forgot to bring a book. The two of you venture into the hip independent bookstore around the corner, where she primly announces that she only reads classic literature. If you don't find her a book, she'll never let you get any reading done! What contemporary book/s with classic appeal would you pull off the shelf for her?

4) As you explore the other Weekly Geeks posts: Did any inspire you to want to read a book you've never read before—or reread one to give it another chance? Tell us all about it, including a link to the post or posts that sparked your interest. If you end up reading the book, be sure to include a link to your post about it in a future Weekly Geeks post!

Many people chose to answer the first and third questions, although every question did get answered. Some geeks love the classics, while others are a bit more apathetic. But everyone had something great to contribute to the discussion. Here is a sampling:

Both Chris Voss and hagelrat from Un:bound answered this week’s challenge. Un:bound is a team blog, and in a possible history making event, more than one team member participated. Very cool. I also love this line from hagelrat: “it's my pet theory that a girl who has nothing but classics on her bookshelves keeps nothing but mills & boon under the bed.”

In another potentially history making post, Weekly Geeks appears in Danish! Dorte kindly translated her post into English, as well. For which I am forever grateful. I did a double-take when I first saw her post, but then I noticed the helpful arrow for us English readers directing us to look below. Thanks for joining Weekly Geeks, Dorte!

Frances at Nonsuch Book included a beautiful mosaic of book covers in her post. All of the covers are from the same book, The Damnation of Theron Ware. Although I’ve never heard of the book, I found the first cover with the windows to be quite appealing. Frances also reflected on the role classics played in her own development.

Puss Reboots admits that “many of the books I read are older than I am.” She also talks about how she compares Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to Jay and Silent Bob. Dude! Awesome comparison. Go check out her post and enjoy the links!

I will confess to letting out a little woo-hoo when I read Terri’s confession that she feels “pretty inadequate about classic lit, considering I have a BA in English.” Sometimes it’s nice to know that English majors haven’t read it all. Terri also made a wonderful comment about comparing reading the classics to music…”it’s a bit like learning music theory and getting a good base of classical music before journeying off into other styles.”

Sassymonkey discusses how different the classics are from each other. She also mentions the required reading list she made for her boyfriend. Inquiring minds want to know…did he make it through the entire list?

Finally, a note about Aunt Myrtle. Poor Myrtle, I’m afraid we were a bit harsh on her. Although she did get plenty of good books out of the deal. I kind of want to be Aunt Myrtle, just to get the books.

********************

In other news…

At the end of each month we’re going to attempt to give shout-outs to the other Dewey-inspired events that are going on. Many of these events already have links over in the sidebar, but a little more linky love never hurt anyone, right?

Chris and Robin are hosting the Dewey Books Reading Challenge, complete with monthly mini-challenges and nifty prizes. This event lasts all year, and just happens to be dear to my heart because I’m participating and reading some incredibly good books. Go check out the blog for more info. Or this site to read some of the reviews of the participants. Betcha find a book you wanna read.

Jackie has started a new blog to continue the Bookworms Carnival. Info on the upcoming themes and hosts can be found at that site, The Bookworms Carnival. The 23rd Edition of the Bookworms Carnival will be held by Jessica over at The Bluestocking Society, where the theme is Books to Movies. Submissions are due by February 13th.

Also, Jackie has made mention of a Facebook blog network for Weekly Geeks and the Bookworm Carnival. Since I know squat about Facebook, I’ll give you the link and hope you all know what she’s talking about. :-D

There has been chatter about the continuation of Dewey’s popular Read-a-thon. As far as I know there are plans to continue (yay!) and the next Read-a-thon would be held in April. We will let you know more info once the planning starts.

Holly Frick has recently divorced from her husband. To make things worse, she's still in love with him. She's desperate to find happiness in her life. She meets 22 year-old man she meets at a baby shower. He makes her feel young again, and on the surface she's happy. She decides to adopt a rescue dog. When her friends and family learn that she's adopted a dog with a brain tumor, they are certain she's headed on a downward spiral toward depression.

Her friend, Amanda, is married with a young son. Her life seems perfect to Holly. Then Amanda confesses she is having a "relationship" with Jack. It starts out with innocent emails and phone calls, but eventually turns sexual. In a strange turn of events, Amanda introduces Holly to Jack, and after Amanda decides to call it quits, Jack and Holly begin dating. Once again, Holly appears to be happy on the outside...

Spence is Holly's pre-marriage ex-boyfriend. Her moderately popular novel is loosely based on their relationship. Spence has an addiction to women and is incapable of sustaining a monogamous relationship. One of his "current" girlfriends learns of his infidelity and calls Holly, desperate to get some inside knowledge on what makes Spence tick. At first, Spence is outraged when he learns of this covert communication, but eventually sees it as an reason to reevaluate the life he has been leading.

Dunn does a wonderful job of providing depth to each of the characters without overwhelming the reader. They are each on a journey to seek out happiness and many find love and happiness in the most unexpected places. They are all very realistic characters with "real" emotions and faults that anyone can relate to. Secrets to Happiness is a hilariously honest look at the lives of these characters and their successes and failures in life and love.

I would be remiss not to mention the cover of the book. Talk about cover attraction! How can you say no to a face like that!?

Check out a few of the other blogs participating in this tour!

http://www.writeforareader.blogspot.com/
http://www.acircleofbooks.blogspot.com/

http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/

http://hiddenplace.wordpress.com/

http://books-movies-chinesefood.blogspot.com/

http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/

http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/

In the biggest shake-up of arts and culture of modern times, Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister, has announced that the Government is to run advertisements in the Economist on January 9 to recruit new administrators "because we want to have the best directors in the world".

The leadership changes are part of a dramatic shake-up of the arts spearheaded by Dario Franceschini, the Culture Minister, in an attempt to make the country's galleries, museums and historic sites more profit-driven. Italy boasts nearly 3000 cultural sites that attract 77 million visitors a year.

The Colosseum alone draws 5.5 million of those.

Among the other "super museums" Franceschini wants to develop are the Borghese Gallery and National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Under a government decree, Franceschini hopes to generate earnings of more than 2 billion ($3.16 billion) in 2017, with further growth in the years to come. Italy's museums, galleries and archeological sites generated only 380 million in revenue in 2013, according to La Repubblica newspaper, and cost 350 million to operate.

The minister's office declined to comment on the new plans. But, according to La Repubblica, Franceschini wants to model Italian museums on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and add more restaurants, gift shops, guides and accessories that will attract more visitors and ultimately more profits.

He also wants to create 18 new regional offices with responsibility for the country's biggest artistic sites and grant more power to individual directors who run them. Italian media also said he was expected to appoint 12 new directors-general within his ministry who would manage specific sectors such as tourism, cinema and live theatre.

Franceschini has openly favoured other measures to increase tourism by "adding value" to the country's heritage and strongly supports corporate sponsorship.

He recently backed a move to bring live cultural events and concerts to ancient monuments such as the Colosseum because he said they needed to be "brought alive" for visitors from around the world.

In June, he launched a $50 million appeal to preserve the vast Domus Aurea palace built by Emperor Nero beside the Colosseum.

The Domus Aurea, loosely translated as the Golden House, is a sprawling complex of interconnecting dining halls, frescoed reception rooms and vaulted hallways on the hill opposite the ancient amphitheatre.

"The state has very limited resources unfortunately," said Franceschini at the time.

"This is an opportunity for a big company to sponsor an extraordinary project, which will capture the world's attention. It would be scandalous if no one comes forward."

Source: The New Zealand Herald [December 26, 2014]

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.
-W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) -
Weekly Geeks started in April 2008. Its brainchild was an effervescent and energetic blogger named Dewey who envisioned a weekly event which would unite the book blogging community. She posted a weekly assignment - a question, a task, a theme - to be completed and posted on the Geeks' individual blogs and linked at the main assignment post. It turned out to be wildly successful.

And then a heartbreaking notification appeared on Dewey's blog on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. The person who seemed to be everywhere in the blogging community, the quintessential community cheerleader who everyone seemed to know and love, had died - leaving a huge hole in our ranks. In the spirit of keeping Dewey's community efforts alive, several bloggers got together and decided to give Weekly Geeks its own space and carry on what Dewey had started.

Over the last nearly three years, the team keeping this blog running has ebbed and flowed. Mostly we've tried to be consistent in posting each Saturday and doing a wrap up each Friday. But, over the last several months not only has our focus as a team struggled, but participation in the weekly assignments has slowed to a trickle. There are those bloggers who come back week in and week out, and sometimes we see some new faces in the links, but overall attendance has sharply declined.

So after some discussion, the Weekly Geeks team has decided that it is time to end this event. We believe that Dewey would approve - she was never someone who hung onto things that were not working. She was willing to look critically at her own inventions and change them up or simply let them go if the community did not seem as excited about them as she was...and so we are taking our direction from the spirit of the person who started this event.

A great deal of thanks are due those individuals who have in some way stepped up over the last three years to help out here, or give us ideas, or participate by posting to their blog one of the assignments. Without the book blogging community behind us, this event would have closed down a long, long time ago.

This is probably also a good time to announce that Weekly Geeks was nominated for the BBAW Best Meme award for this year. The Weekly Geeks team is incredibly honored to be recognized in this way - thank you to those who submitted a nomination!

This blog will remain up, at least for awhile, so that those who wish to may browse the links or read the assignments - perhaps find inspiration for their blog.

This will be the final Weekly Geeks "assignment"...share one of the following on your blog:

• If you knew Dewey - a favorite memory of her, or one of your favorite "events" which was Dewey-inspired.
• Browse the topics here and re-post one of your favorites

The princesses, fifth and sixth in line to the throne, will be given protection only when they attend official events on behalf of the Royal Family.
Safe: The Princesses are driven away from Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding reception by a protection officer
Prince Andrew had fought ferociously for the protection officers to stay. He argued his daughters should be treated differently from other minor royals because they enjoy HRH status.
But his argument failed because their cousin Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, has no protection – even though she has a higher public profile.
Furious: Prince Andrew is said to have fought to keep the protection officers as he feels they are different to other minor Royals because of their HRH status
The cost of guarding Eugenie, 21, in her first year at Newcastle University has been estimated at £250,000 a year. It includes salaries, accommodation and living and travel expenses of two full-time bodyguards.
Beatrice, 22, studying at the University of London, enjoys the same level of protection.
Prince Andrew insisted his daughters have full-time protection despite private police assessments that they were low-risk targets.
No protection: The Duchess of Gloucester will no longer have security unless on official business, while Zara Philips has no cover despite her high profile
The Home Office is determined to prune the estimated £50million security bill for the Royal Family.
Other minor royals such as the Duchess of Gloucester who, unlike princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, performs official engagements, will also have their protection withdrawn when not on official duty.
source: dailymail

VIA Beatrice and Eugenie are stripped of their 24-hour protection after row over £50,000 annual cost

Since Weekly Geeks and The 24 Hour Read-a-thon (which is coming up next week) are both Dewey created events, and therefore technically sisters, I thought for this week's assignment we could join forces just a bit and post our read-a-thon plans.

Sometime this next week, write a post that tells us:

* if you are participating in the read-a-thon or not.
* and if not, why not. (timing isn't right, you didn't know about it, life won't allow it, it's not your thing, etc.)
* if you are, do you have a strategy?
* do you have a stack of books prepared to read from?
* will you try to read as many books as you can or as many pages as you can?
* do you have special food and snacks planned?
* do you have a special spot all set up for reading?
* will you get your Saturday things done on Friday so you can read guilt free?
* if you have others living in your household, do you have to work around their schedules too?

Basically, let us know how you plan to approach the event.

My guess is that there will be a link up for a similar sort of post over a the Read-a-thon blog too. If so, just link your post up both here and there and kill two birds with one stone!

For a long time, I avoided the 'lighter', more romantic side of YA. I love Contemporary fiction, it's always been my favorite, but I really felt that these YA books that focused their main conflict on the romance weren't for me. And, for a lot of the time, this is true. But there are certain times, certain moods when that is exactly what I'm craving. Recently, I fed that craving. A lot.

How to Take the Ex out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison is my least favorite of the three books I'm reviewing today. Although it did enjoy the book, the characters here were less likable to me. This isn't always something that's the end of the world, but the way that the author described them, I knew there was supposed to be something amazing about them, something I just missed. Especially with Jesse. Giovanna breaks up with her super popular boyfriend as a matter of principal — he not only refuses to help her brother, who is also a good friend, in his campaign for student body president, but he teams up with the opposition, and does everything he can to ruin Dante's chances of winning the election. This really upsets Gio, but part-way through the election, she realizes that she wants Jesse back. She's tired of the campaign politics, the tension, and pretending she doesn't want Jesse.

So, Jesse is supposed to be this super great, really nice guy, who isn't shallow, cares about Gio, and stands by his friends. The only problem? I didn't see it. At all, really. He's a little bit annoying, he's completely oblivious about the really crappy way his friends treat his girl friend (because they are only nasty when he isn't around) and he lies to her, throughout the entire book. It's obvious that he's keeping something from her. At one point, he asks her to trust him but it's clear that he doesn't trust her, at least not enough to be open with her in return. And the worst part? At the end, when the big secret comes out, that makes everything all better? Jesse uses it to prove that his buddy really is a great guy, but it actually reaffirms Gio's opinion that Wilson is self-centered and a bit of a jerk. He's just, maybe not quite as awful.

And Gio herself is actually rather annoying. I get that she is only 15 or so, but her inner dialogue took turns being awesomely witty, funny and awesome, and being very annoying, "Oh woe is me" is. I get the teenage thing. Really, I do. But, I didn't like girls who couldn't stop obsessing over 'the boy' in high school, and I don't like reading about them in books either.

I know I'm sounding pretty down on this book, but overall, my feelings are quite positive. If you go into this book expecting it to be a super light, fluffy fun, pretty feel good read, it definitely delivers. There isn't a lot of depth, the characters aren't incredibly developed, but for the most part, it is good fun.

Girl v. Boy by Sandy Rideout and Yvonne Collins is the second book I've read by this duo. And, I have officially decided that I love them! This book is exactly what I was looking for! It's an incredibly good time. I laughed so many times reading this book and the whole time, I just had this incredibly happy, feel good vibe going on, and I know that I was grinning like a fool for a long time after reading this one.

Luisa has always blended in to her school. She has two best friends, and that's it. She shares her exact name with 10 other girls in the school, doesn't participate in any extracurriculars, and doesn't attend any school functions. But this year, things will be different. Pleased with her writing abilities, her English teacher asks her if she wouldn't mind being 1/2 of an anonymous writer. The school is participating in a girls vs. boys fundraiser and both the boys and the girls have a secret representative writing about the events in the school paper. Excited to test her writing skills, Luisa accepts, and her life changes in ways she would never have been able to predict.

I loved the characters in this story. Luisa is just hilariously funny and I loved watching her interact with her peers. She has a solid core and a surprisingly strong character for a story like this. I wasn't completely expecting any of the characters in this story to be as fully developed as they were. Each of the characters has their own personal strengths and weaknesses and each of them works to develop those. It is true that a lot of the secondary characters are a little more standard, a little more stereotypical, but I enjoyed the book so incredibly much that I barely noticed.

These two writers are a phenomenal pair. This is exactly the kind of light-hearted, fun read that just makes you feel good about your day, about people, and about being alive. I've already reread my favorite parts several times, and I can see this book, and this author duo becoming a default read when I need a reading pick me up.

Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles is a little bit heavier than the two previous novels. While it's true that the romance is still a very important part of this story, (still THE most important part of the story) the conflict that the characters face is set on a much grander scale. Brittany is the golden goddess — she comes from money and as far as appearances go, she has the perfect life. She tries very hard to maintain that image, but her home life is far from perfect, and she's starting to crack under the pressure. Alex is involved with a local gang. Inside, he hates the life, but he knows that he has to be involved to offer protection to his family, so on the outside, he appears to everyone to be the tough gang member he needs to be. When pared up as chemistry lab partners, things get... interesting.

I really enjoyed watching Alex and Brittany develop their relationship, and develop as people. Both of these characters could so easily have turned into caricatures. They have all the traits needed to be those empty, stereotypical stock characters. But they aren't. Elkeles somehow manages to take them and mold them into people who have so many dimensions it's a wonder they aren't real. It's not what I was expecting from a book like this, that's for sure! We watch Alex try to come to terms with his gang membership and what it's doing to his life, and watch as the perfect world Brittany has created for herself starts slipping out from under her, we watch as she tries to accept the fact that she doesn't actually have to be perfect, that it's okay to make mistakes. And, we watch as these two very different people come together, fight the odds, and make something important.

The only thing in this book that I wasn't terribly crazy about was the epilogue. It was super cutesy, super fun, and so incredibly cheesy. I don't really feel like it fit with the tone of the book, and I kind of rolled my eyes a bit. But, it's good for some additional happy-feelings, so whatev.

This is a book that really pulls you into the lives of the characters, really makes you interested and hopeful for their future. It is a bit predictable... I called just about all the major drama moments and plot points pretty far in advance, but this type of book doesn't need to really surprise you. We all know where the story ends, it's the getting there that matter. And, even when we know how they get there, it's important that we are along for the ride with them.

Two events are happening at the moment: Bloggiesta and Book Blogger Appreciation Week Registration. Both provide an opportunity to reassess your blog and your blogging goals.

If you are participating in either one, great but even if you are not you can still take part in this week's Weekly Geeks.

During Bloggiesta participants are asked to take a look at blogging goals. What are your blogging goals? Maybe you did this for the last Bloggiesta, find that post and reevaluate those goals. Have you reached them? Do they no longer apply?

And/Or

If you are a book blogger*, register for BBAW. It's a great way to find new readers. To register you must find your best 5 posts from the last year. Find yours even if you don't register for BBAW. In your Weekly Geeks post, link to your registration post or put the 5 links in your Weekly Geek's post.

Then tell us why are these your best posts of the last year? By looking at these posts, you can figure out your blogging goals: be more funny, personal, concise, topical, etc.

*If you're not a book blogger, find your 5 best posts of the last year anyway.

So, it's a bit of work but a chance to see where you are and where you want to go. Good luck!

** I've been bit by Mr Linky too many times. Please leave your links in the comments.

The reopening was brought forward in what officials said was a response to the destruction of priceless artefacts by Islamic State group jihadists in the northern city of Mosul.

"We have been preparing to reopen for the past couple of months, the museum should be open to everyone," Qais Hussein Rashid, the deputy tourism and antiquities minister, told AFP.

"The events in Mosul led us to speed up our work and we wanted to open it today as a response to what the gangs of Daesh did," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

On Thursday, the jihadists who have occupied the second city of Mosul since June last year released a video in which militants smash ancient statues with sledgehammers in the city's museum.

Militants are also seen using a jackhammer to deface a colossal 40-tonne Assyrian winged bull in an archaeological park in Mosul.

The destruction sparked global outrage, calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and fears over the fate of other major heritage sites in areas under IS control.

The Mosul destruction was the worst disaster to strike Iraq's treasures since the national museum in Baghdad was looted in the chaos that followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The pictures of jihadists gleefully hacking away at treasures dating back several centuries before Christ drew comparisons with the 2001 dynamiting by the Taliban of the Bamiyan buddhas in Afghanistan.

Hunt continues

One jihadist speaking to the camera claims they are destroying them on religious grounds because the statues are symbols of idolatry.

But officials and experts argue the IS militants are seen destroying the pieces that are too bulky to be smuggled and sold to finance their self-proclaimed "caliphate".

The 2003 plundering of the Baghdad museum, footage of which was beamed around the world at the time, has been compared to the 13th century Mongol sack of the city's library.

The museum was considered to host one of the world's greatest archeological collections.

Officials said Saturday that about 15,000 pieces were looted in 2003, of which 4,300 have been recovered.

"We are still tracking down more than 10,000 artefacts in markets and auctions. What we got back were the most important," Rashid said.

After cutting a red ribbon at an official ceremony, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said: "Today the message is clear from Baghdad, from the land of Mesopotamia.

"We will preserve civilisation and we will track down those who want to destroy it," he said.

'Happy day'

The Mosul museum, which UNESCO museology expert Stuart Gibson described as "a small jewel" constructed on the gardens of the former palace of King Faisal of Iraq, was also pillaged in 2003.

Archaeologists have expressed fears the jihadists would go on to destroy more heritage in the areas they control, possibly the Assyrian site of Nimrud and the UNESCO-listed ancient city of Hatra.

Abadi warned traffickers and buyers that Iraq and its partners would not relent in the hunt for looted artefacts.

"We have details on every artefact in Mosul, every piece is marked, and we will track down all the pieces smuggled by Daesh and the terrorist groups. We will track them down and all the world is with us."

Rashid said the reopening would help heal the wounds of the Mosul looting.

"We don't want February 26 to be a day of sadness and gloom... reopening the museum sends a message at home and abroad that it should be restored as a touristic and cultural institution," he said.

The museum is due to reopen to the public on Sunday. Tickets will cost 1,500 dinars (just over a dollar) for Iraqis, 10 US dollars for foreign Arabs and 20 for other foreigners.

"This is a very happy day," said Rashid.

"For the first time there's a whole generation of Iraqis who never knew what the national museum was. Starting tomorrow, kids and families will visit the museum to see the artefacts and touch them."

Author: Karim Abou Merhi | Source: AFP [February 28, 2015]

Monsterby Walter Dean Meyers was the first recipient of the Printz Award in 2000. It's the story of a young black kid on trial as an accessory to murder, although he's being tried as a full participant in the crime. 16 year old Steve is confused, scared and alone. The ADA calls him a monster, his court appointed defense lawyer thinks he's guilty, and his own parents aren't really sure who he is any more. Shoot, he's not even sure who he is anymore.

Because he's so confused right now, Steve decides to try and make sense of things the only way he knows how. He decides to turn the entire court and prison proceedings into a screenplay. He was taking a film class in school before being arrested and now uses the knowledge he gained there to try and cope with his situation. Interspersed throughout the screenplay are also journal entries from Steve where we have a chance to hear him talk openly about what he's feeling and struggling with.

I loved the format here. I loved viewing the court and all the proceedings through the lens that Steve puts on himself. The screenplay is not only his way to make sense of and cope with things, on some level, it's also his way of distancing himself from what is happening. This court case is going to completely change his life. If he's convicted, he'll be going to jail for a minimum of 20 years. That's a lot of a 16 year old kid to handle, and there are moments when he just needs to make it take a back seat.

Steve's thoughts are also unclear for most of the book. We are never actually sure if Steve is guilty, because I'm not sure Steve himself really understands if he is guilty or not. As we watch catch glimpses of his memories and are able to see more of how the events unfold, we are able to get a better idea of how Steve got to be in this situation. He wants to fit in with the tough guys in his neighborhood, wants to be tough like them, so he starts spending more time around them and through a series of bad decisions and moments where he let good choices go by, Steve finds himself with all of his time split between prison and court.

It's hard to watch Steve go through this. It's hard to see any young teen who might completely lose their freedom because of a series of bad choices, even though they are generally a good kid. I thought Meyers did an excellent job bringing enough ambiguity to Steve's character that we never really know if he's guilty, we never really know how involved he was, but we are also given enough information about him to know that he isn't a bad person. The scenes with Steve's family are especially painful. How do you talk to your kid when he's facing a murder charge and while you desperately want to believe he's innocent, deep down you aren't really sure?!

This one is a reread for me. I read it for the first time a few years ago and have been wanting to reread it for a while now. And I have to say, it's just as powerful now as it was then. It's not one to be missed.

This week's discussion topic is inspired by the fact that on September 15 the world celebrates the 120th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890, published her first novel in 1920 and her last one in 1976 (the same year as her death). Her books remain extremely popular and are still being read, listened to, adapted for new computer games and TV shows and are the subject of loads of special events including a month-long blog tour this September.

Have you read Christie's books? Recently? What do you think it is about them that has given them such lasting value?

Or perhaps you have another favourite author whose works have outlasted those of their contemporaries? Maybe you're a fan of Charles Dickens whose work is still widely known and studied while those of his contemporary, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, languish in relative obscurity.

What do you think it is that gives your favourite long-lasting author an edge? Is longevity all to do with quality? Quantity? Style perhaps? Or luck?

As always feel free to answer as many (or as few) of these questions as you like and thanks for participating in Weekly Geeks, a fun meme dedicated to the memory of pioneer book blogger, Dewey.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and Bookish is favorite book quotes. Luckily I have a lot of these! In no particular order:

1. "I had that terrible feeling you get when you realize that you're stuck with who you are, and there's nothing you can do about it. I mean, you can make characters up, like I did when I became like a Jane Austen-y person on New Year's Eve, and that gives you some time off. But it's impossible to keep it going for long." A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
2. "Sometimes, I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read those books before. And listened to those songs. I wonder how they feel tonight." The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you." Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. "Sometimes I think that knowledge--when it's knowledge for knowledge's sake, anyway--is the worst of all. The least excusable certainly." Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
5. "It is simply wrong to love music halfway." Perfect From Now On by John Sellers (I love this book! I've never mentioned this on her before because I forgot but I really, really love this book!)
6. "And so now, having been born, I'm going to rewind the film, so that my pink blanket flies off, my crib scoots across the floor as my umbilical cord reattaches, and I cry out as I'm sucked back between my mother's legs. She gets really fat again. Then back some more as a spoon stops swinging and a thermometer goes back into its velvet case. Sputnik chases its rocket trail back to the launching pad and polio stalks the land. There's a quick shot of my father as a twenty-year-old clarinetist, playing an Artie Shaw number into the phone, and then he's in church, age eight, being scandalized by the price of candles; and next my grandfather is untaping his first U.S. dollar bill over a cash register in 1931. Then we're out of American completely; we're in the middle of the ocean, the sound track sounding funny in reverse. A steamship appears, and up on a deck a lifeboat is curiously rocking; but then the boat docks, stern first, and we're up on dry land again, where the film unspoolls, back at the beginning..." Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
7. "Youth and death shed a halo through which it is difficult to see a real face--a face one might see today in the street or here in my studio." Moments of Being by Virginia Woolf
8. "Everything she said was like a secret voice speaking straight out of my own bones." The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
9. "If I broke down here, what would that mean/ Was I not as strong as my father had been?/ But I think I can fight this all on my own/ With a handful of happiness that never was shown/" The Doctor's Waiting Room by Joshua Partington, Part of the anthology Revolution on Canvas
10. "Buy why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?" On the Road by Jack Kerouac

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America: Our Better History is showing this weekend at the E.C. Mabie Theatre in the University of Iowa theatre building. If you haven't seen the posters around campus then become informed.

It all starts on election night in the not so distant past. Six gay men in Minnesota are watching President Barack Obama become elected. There is Martin (Kjai Block) who is hosting the party but is constantly in and out fighting with his former Iraqi soldier boyfriend Aden (David Hoffman). While Aden was in Iraq Martin had an affair with his Obama campaign partner (Chase Bottorff) which he thinks is hidden from Aden, but it turns out he has known all along. Inside is Scott (David Wheeler), the youngest gay man of the group, Harold (Andrew Clancey), and Harold's life partner Charles (Soren Olsen). Harold and Charles are a middle aged gay couple that act as the "teachers" of the group, although their attempts are often ignored. While they feel they know more because they survived events such as Stonewall and Harvey Milk, Scott disagrees and says that his generation is dealing with the same hatred every day.

The play mostly functions around the love triangle of Martin, Aden, and Robert. Aden feels that he is excluded from the group because he went to Iraq, something Martin's liberal gay friends cannot understand. He spends the majority of his time outside listening to the birds and feeding ducks until Scott shoots himself in the arm by accident and needs Aden's help. In the same scene Charles get a concussion from a fall (he is a afraid of blood) and Aden punches Martin during a fight. As Charles says, "It's a real hate crime."

The second half of the play takes place during the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Scott and Robert are fighting and Harold and Charles are trying to convince Robert to get over Martin, while Scott is trying to convince Martin to share his true feelings with Aden. There are several references to Aretha Franklin's unforgettable hat which calm the scene as Aden and Martin are fighting to save their relationship. Then Martin discovers that Aden has been reactivated and has known for three weeks. Aden says he has been trying to push Martin away so that it would be easier when he dies at war.

An amazing portrayal of an unforgettable night, one that was specifically important to the gay community. They succeeded in electing a black Democrat into office, but as we all remember (and if we don't I will remind you) that at the same time Prop 8 passed and gay marriage was banned in three states. The characters were balanced and I felt that each was truly contributing something to the plot. It was dark at times and humorous, but very real.

Written by Justin Dewey and directed by Tony Meneses.
E.C. Mabie Theatre October 30-31 8 p.m. November 1 2 p.m.
$5 or FREE with a University of Iowa student ID
Running Time: 2 hrs.