Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for New York] 

I know I usually post Sunday Salons much earlier than this, but I put off today's post for a special reason. If you've been following my Sunday Salon posts for the past few weeks then you know I just got back from a trip to New York City. I wanted to let you all know about my trip to this fabulous city, but I couldn't very well do that without pictures, could I? Which is why I had to wait until I got back to Iowa City to post this.

The two main pilgrimages I made during my trip to NYC were the Strand Bookstore and the New York Public Library. Strand was the first place I went and I managed to spend less than $100 there which was actually pretty amazing. I just kept reminding myself that I had many more places to go to. In case you don't know, Strand Books is famous for its 18 miles of books. That thought scare my parents, but it's actually just a three floor bookstore. Don't get me wrong, it's big, but I mean, it's not that big. I got some amazing deals on books while I was there though. I highly recommend stopping at the Strand if you're ever in NYC.

I was also pretty jazzed to get this awesome bag while I was there. I think I'm going to use it for my used bookstore shopping from now on.

From left to right we've got the heroic Dante, Emily Bronte, Herman Mellville, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Homer, and Oscar Wilde. Oh yeah... and I might have gotten something for someone else too. But you'll have to keep reading to find out about that.

The New York Public Library was fabulous and beautiful, although it was quite strange to have my bag searched before entering a library.

I got an awesome children's book at the library amongst a few other things. I actually bought three children's books while I was in New York so you can look forward to those during some upcoming Children's Book Thursdays! And now about that hint I had earlier... I got a Strand bag for one reader. It looks like this:

It doesn't matter to me if you have been to Strand or not, you can fool people if you please! The bag is brown with a green logo, I know it's kind of hard to tell in the picture. All you have to do to win the bag is leave a comment, but if you don't want to win the bag and do leave a comment please let me know. I also ask that everyone who enters the contest is a follower of English Major's Junk Food. You can become a follower by clicking Follow in the upper right hand column of this page. Oh yeah, this is open internationally.

In case you missed some of posts this week here is a quick list: Emma Volume 3, Author Interview with Alexandra Bracken, The Creation of Eve (my favorite book so far in 2010!), and Deep Bookish Questions.

Grace by Elizabeth Scott is my 5th Scott Contemporary (although it is arguable that this is not quite Contemporary) and it has firmly cemented the idea that I (quite atypically) much prefer Scott's lighter Contemporary novels to her darker more... issue-y set. Grace is a good book, don't get me wrong, but that's all it was. Just a way to spend an afternoon, flipping pages, which is, I assume, not what you are supposed to feel when reading a book about a suicide bomber who decides she doesn't want to die.

Grace was an angel — raised from birth, or just after, that she would be blessed to die for the cause, to die in a fight for freedom against tyranny. But when it comes time to actually die, she places her bomb and walks away, knowing that it will go off, but that she will go 'free'. Now she is on the run and she meets up with a man at the train station, running from something himself. They talk, because sitting on a train for hours, there's not really anything else to do and both learn things that will change their lives.

I never really connected with Grace or the man she travels with. I knew that there stories were ones that should have been emotional but I never felt it. And Grace had such a disregard for life that I had a hard time with her. I understand why — When you have known your whole life that you are going to die for the cause and that it is an honor, and that your death is more important if you are able to take other lives with you — life doesn't mean the same thing as it does to most people. But it took her so long to realize that what she had done — setting that bomb and walking away — was wrong, because people still got hurt and people died. She never even thought about it. And then, there is a scene on the train when Grace should have been taken off by soldiers for being one of the rebels, but they sacrifice another, completely innocent woman instead. That's not okay with me — Your life isn't more important than anyone else's and sending innocent people to death so you can live isn't okay with me. I will say that the ending to this book was solid. Grace learns a lot about what it means to be human and it's something that will really make you think.

But, even with that solid ending, while I didn't hate this book, I didn't particularly like it either. I felt like the story was too vague. They spent the whole time talking around things and never really talked about them. If you want to try it — go for it. There are others out there who really connected to it. It's just... not for me.

On a totally different note:

So Much Closer was my first book by Susane Colasanti, and while I didn't love this particular book, I can see why so many people really love Colasanti's writing. I actually loved the way the story was written, but the story itself was a little... off for me.

Brooke has had a huge crush on Scott for years. She just knows that he is the one for her, despite only having had one, maybe two conversations with him. So, when he announces that he's moving with his family to New York City, she decides to follow him and move in with the dad she hasn't spoken to since he walked out on them 6 years ago.

Okay — Seriously?! SERIOUSLY?! Who DOES that?! Who honestly thinks that's a good idea?! I don't care who you are — that's creepy stalker behavior and NOT a good idea. Note to Brooke — also not a good idea to tell him about it... So, poor Brooke has chased this guy to New York only to realize that he barely knows who she is and he already has a girlfriend.

But luckily for Brooke, she has always wanted to live in NYC, so even though she's not with her dream guy, she's living in her dream city. And honestly, I would have liked this book so much better if the romance with Scott had been left completely out of it. Have her decide to move because Scott broke her heart (still kinda pathetic, but way less creepy) or because she has just decided to stop dreaming about living in New York and actually get there. Or, it could have been about her dad. She hasn't spoken to him in 6 years, although he has tried a few times, so maybe it's time to mend that relationship. Instead, it ended up being a convinient plot device, giving her a way to follow Scott. I felt that the story line with her father ended up being a lot of wasted potential. It could have added so much to her growth as a character, so much to the story, but instead, dad was just the facade for an apartment for Brooke to legally sleep in at night.

I had such a hard time believing in, or relating to Brooke's character, but I totally felt her love for the city. The descriptions of New York were phenomenal and just made me want to revisit the city. I spent a weekend there when I was doing an internship in Washington DC and I loved it (although, since it was February, it was really cold). I loved reading while Brooke discovered the city. I also really liked the new friends Brooke makes at school, especially John and Sadie. They brought so much to the story and I just loved reading about them, watching them form a solid friendship.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the book. EXCEPT for Scott. Seriously. If Scott had just been completely erased from the book, I think I would really have enjoyed it. They wouldn't even have to change the title, it could just mean so much closer to her dreams, instead of to some random guy. There is enough other stuff happening in the story that Scott really wouldn't have been missed much. Or, he could have been a totally different character with a much smaller part. Maybe I'll just pretend he isn't real and only remember the awesome New York scenes and the awesome times she has with the new friends she makes.

VIA An Evening with Amon Amarth in Times Square

VIA Rachel Nichols 2America Beautiful Actress 2011 tops

VIA Metal Summer Jam

In Fables 1 we learned that all the characters from fairy tales, or Fables as they call themselves, are hiding out in New York City since their lands were taken from them. This, of course, doesn't include the animal Fables like the three little pigs because how are three pigs supposed to hide out in New York City? All of the nonhuman Fables were sent to a farm in upstate New York where Snow White goes to check on them once a year. This year she finds that the town is in complete unrest and there is a threat for an uprising. Since Snow White is rather gullible she doesn't notice what is happening right under her nose, but her sister Rose Red as an inkling for what is happening.

Bill Willingham draws quite obviously from Animal Farm and The Lord of the Flies to create this comic book, which is something most book nerds will appreciate. It was bizarre experience to read it because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to side with Snow White or with the animal Fables. It seems like the animal Fables are evil, but then at the same time I can see their point. It would really suck to be locked into upstate New York and never be able to live simply because you look like an animal and not a human. And while they make some rookie mistakes, they actually seem to be pretty smart. They figure out how to make guns they can use and they trick Snow White pretty easily. Snow White seems to be pretty dumb during this whole thing, and I have a hard time rooting for a dumb person.

The artwork is really some of the most beautiful comic art I have ever seen. The colors in this are outstanding. The pages are particularly bright because of the animals, as you can see from the cover design. They really pull you into this world where strange and unlikely things happen. I was also pleased with how well animal emotions were portrayed in their faces, which I think would be much more difficult to achieve in animals than it is in humans.

Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm

is overall a much tighter story than Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

. It helps create the world but doesn't spoon feed us information, we find out things slowly with the characters. It is some great world building. My only complaint is that the last fourth of the book seemed extremely rushed. I don't want to give away why I think that is because it would ruin a pretty important part to the story, but I think it's worth mentioning. I was satisfied with the ending because I felt it promised I would find out more in the next volume, but if I don't find out more I'm going to be pretty disappointed.

I give Fables 2 a B.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Book Description:
For nearly a decade, Ecstasy kingpin Oded Tuito was the mastermind behind a drug ring that used strippers and ultra-Orthodox teenagers to mule millions of pills from Holland to the party triangle—Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. CHEMICAL COWBOYS: The DEA’s Secret Mission to Hunt Down a Notorious Ecstasy Kingpin is the thrilling, never-before-told success story of the groundbreaking undercover investigations that led to the toppling of a billion-dollar Ecstasy trafficking network, starting in 1995 when New York DEA Agent Robert Gagne infiltrated club land to uncover a thriving drug scene supported by two cultures: pill-popping club kids and Israeli dealers. Gagne’s obsessive mission to make Ecstasy a priority for the DEA and to take down Tuito’s network met with unexpected professional and personal challenges that almost crippled his own family. Woven into the narrative are the stories of Tuito’s underlings, who struggled with addiction as they ran from the law, and the compelling experiences of a veteran Israeli police officer who aided Gagne while chasing after his own target—a violent Mob boss who saw the riches to be made in Ecstasy and began to import his own pills and turf warfare to the U.S.

My review:

Although this is a non-fiction book, it doesn't read like one. Sweetingham's extensive research into the world of drug trafficking is very eye-opening. The detail she goes in to detail both sides of the drug trade are stellar. The reader learns a great deal about the DEA as well as the hidden aspects of the Ecstacy trade. While I don't read a lot of non-fiction, the first few chapters grabbed me and took hold. The detail on the characters lives is very insightful. This was a very entertaining and educational read. With Father's Day coming up in a few days, I can't think of a better book to buy as a gift.

Check out the author's Web site: http://www.lisasweetingham.com/

VIA Jennifer Aniston ditches her favourite black LBD for a more eye-catching look

VIA 4 Planets Converge in Night Sky. Impending disaster?

I'm taking a little advice from Reagan at Miss Remmers' Review today and announcing my trip to New York. BookExpo America and the Book Blogger Convention are less than two weeks away, which is so hard to believe. I booked my hostel, ordered my plane tickets, and bought my entrance to the expo back in February but I haven't thought about it too much because I have been so busy with school and work. Now it's right around the corner and I'm running around trying to figure out what I need to take!

For those of you who don't know, BookExpo America is the largest publishing trade show in the United States. It takes place once a year and lately it's been in New York City. At the end of the week there is a Book Blogger Convention where bloggers from all across the country come to meet and talk about what we love: blogging. There will be authors, publishers, booksellers and the like there to talk about what they do and what they have coming up in the next year.

This is my first time going to BEA but I'll have the lovely ladies I met at the Twin Cities Book Festival there. Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, Sheila from Book Journey, and Reagan have all been super helpful with tips on what to expect. I'm a little nervous because this is the first trip I've ever planned and taken on my own, but I'm also really excited!

Are you going to BEA this year? If you are we should meet! Email me at englishmajorjunkfood (AT) yahoo (DOT) com if you want to exchange phone numbers or contact information. Or if you're going and just want to say hey leave a comment. What I'm most looking forward to at BEA is meeting other bloggers in real life--and that includes you! This is what I look like if you're trying to find me:

Keep in mind I am six feet tall, so I will probably stick out a bit. I usually do. My name is Ash. I bold this because some people out there will ask me if my name is Ashley. You are reading this right now and so you will not have to ask me if I go by Ash or Ashley. You will know already that I go by Ash and that it's really best to leave it at that. And yes, I've heard the Pokemon joke already. Okay, moving on...

I arrive in New York on Tuesday and leave on Saturday. Especially let me know if you come in on Tuesday as well!

Please let me know if you'll be at BEA as well so I can get excited about meeting you!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

The handover marked the latest case of U.S. authorities helping Italy and other countries reclaim what they see as cultural patrimony.

"For decades, two significant pieces of Italian heritage have been on the run," FBI Assistant Director Diego Rodriguez said as he and Manhattan Deputy U.S. Attorney Richard Zabel gave the artworks to Warrant Officer Angelo Ragusa of the Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, an art-crimes police force.

The painting, called "The Holy Trinity Appearing to Saint Clement," is attributed to the renowned artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also called Giambattista Tiepolo. It was taken from a house in Turin in 1982, prosecutors said.

The Etruscan bronze statuette of the Greek mythological hero Herakles - also known as Heracles or, to the Romans, Hercules - dates to the sixth or fifth century B.C. It vanished from the Oliveriano Archaeological Museum in Pesaro in 1964.

The works eventually ended up with an art dealer and an art-investment firm, which consigned them for sale in recent years. They relinquished the items after learning of the thefts and aren't accused of involvement.

Italy has campaigned in the last decade to get back cultural items including ancient Roman, Greek and Etruscan artifacts the government says were looted or stolen.

New York prosecutors have been involved in the effort before. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced in 2011 that a Renaissance painting and a Roman sculpture from about the first century were being returned to Italy after popping up at New York auction houses.

And the Manhattan district attorney's office prosecuted a prominent coin collector who pleaded guilty in 2012 to trying to sell what he believed were ancient coins found in Italy after 1909, when it became illegal to remove antiquities from the country. Some of the coins proved to be forgeries, but five authentic coins from his collection were returned to the Greek government this summer.

Other countries also have taken action in recent years to reclaim antiquities, sometimes with help from U.S. authorities. In one example, fossilized remains of more than 18 dinosaurs were turned over to Mongolia's government last year after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents discovered that mislabeled dinosaur bones were illegally being shipped into the U.S.

Author: Jennifer Peliz | Source: Associated Press [February 28, 2015]

Happy Valentine's Day Blogging World! I hope you all are having good days with your sweethearts, or otherwise having good days appreciating singledom. I personally celebrated Valentine's Day last night. I went out for dinner with my boyfriend and then we watched When Harry Met Sally, which he had never seen before! It's always a good one. I miss good Meg Ryan movies.

So this week I posted a review of The Girl Made of Cool and Love Letters of Great Women. I read everyone Leonardo the Terrible Monster for Children's Book Thursday and talked about my experience reading my first romance novel. Finally yesterday I posted an extremely long Awards post. You should all check out to see if I gave an award to you! I would really appreciate it if the people who have received awards would comment on the post, if you do not comment by Wednesday I will assume you haven't seen it. Then I will comment on those blogs who have not seen the post. Thanks for your help!

This week I finished The Woman in White, Love Letters of Great Women, and The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I actually did not read all of the Secret History of the Pink Carnation, I pretty much skimmed to the end. You can probably guess what my feelings were about that book based on that, but I will be reviewing it later. I know last Sunday I promised I would have post about literary radio shows and podcasts. I'm still going to do that, most likely this week. Today I will finish The Jungle which is very exciting. The Jungle has been the strangest experience for me. I'm reading it for my American History class and did not think I would enjoy it all. I think that stigma has carried through the whole experience of reading it because I never seem to want to read it. In all honesty though, it's one of my favorite books so far in 2010.

And now I have some exciting bragging to do: I'm going to New York in four weeks for Spring Break! I have never been to New York before so I am super excited about this! If you have been to New York and have someplace I cannot miss please let me know! Especially if it's a must see for a book lover.

Happy reading!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Saylor Oz is a Brooklyn-based sex therapist. She spends her days curing couples of their sexual woes. But when the brother of her long-time friend gets arrested and convicted of serial murders, Saylor feels obligated to put on a detective hat and hunts for the true killer.

The murder victims were all models found around New York City. Each victim has a lock of hair missing. Saylor, a connoisseur of films of a sexual nature, realizes that she's seen this somewhere before: an old movie entitled Bad, Bad, Babydoll. Saylor immediately begins investigating the cast of this movie and discovers some startling similarities to the crimes. She vows to stop at nothing, even putting herself in harms way, to help find the true killer.

Readers of Jenn's Bookshelf know that I can't stand when one author's writing is compared to another. However, in the case of Babydoll

, I can't help but compare it to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. Saylor has the same no-holds-barred attitude as Stephanie Plum. I It's not Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction, but an excellent read nonetheless. Several times I found myself laughing at loud. The emotions the reader experiences ranges from sorrow and hatred to tears-rolling-down-your face humor. The characters are stellar. Each has their own faults, but you can't help but love them. And if that's not enough, the storyline is very suspenseful. Just when you think you've solved the case, Roy throws in something from left field and forces you to reconsider.

While Babydoll is technically the second in a series of books, you lose nothing by not reading the first of the series, Aphrodisiac

. Obviously, since the main character is a sex therapist, there is a good deal of sex in this book. It's not overly graphic or raunchy in any way and completely appropriate for this book.

I highly recommend this one! A steamy thriller for your steamy summer evenings!

About the author:
Allyson Roy translates into Alice & Roy, husband and wife collaborating authors. Roy, a graduate of the University Of The Arts in Philadelphia, has a background in theater, art and standup comedy. Alice, dancer/choreographer/teacher, double majored in dance and philosophy at the State University of New York. They spent many gypsy years living and working in the different neighborhoods of New York City and Philadelphia. Aside from being marriage and writing partners, they are also best friends, which is reflected in the heartfelt, go-the-distance friendship of their two main characters.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to take part in this tour. And thanks to the publisher, Penguin, for providing a copy of this book for review.

Check out the other blogs participating in this tour:

Tuesday, August 18th: The Eclectic Book Lover
Wednesday, August 19th: Jenn’s Bookshelf
Tuesday, August 25th: Jen’s Book Thoughts
Wednesday, August 26th: Cheryl’s Book Nook
Thursday, August 27th: Reading With Monie
Monday, August 31st: Bookluver-Carol’s Reviews
Wednesday, September 2nd: Chick With Books
Thursday, September 3rd: Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Tuesday, September 8th: GalleySmith
Wednesday, September 9th: Bookgasm
Thursday, September 10th: I’m Booking It

Now to the giveway! To enter, comment on this post. To earn extra entries, blog and/or tweet about it. Please include a direct link to your tweet or blog post in your comment. All comments must contain an email address. Comments received without email address will be automatically removed. Open to US and Canadian residents only. Winner will be announced on this blog on Friday, August 28th.

The day has finally arrived for discussing The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

. One month ago I decided to host a readalong for this book, and some of you along the way have dropped by to say if you loved it or hated it. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is the story of Joe Kavalier, an escaped Jew from Nazi-invaded Prague, and his cousin Samuel Klayman who lives in New York City. When Joe arrives in New York Sam doesn't know what to think really, but they bond over a love of art and comic books. Together they decide to create a comic book that will fight the Nazis and hope to earn enough money to bring the rest of Joe's family to New York. Joe is the artist, the creator, the escapist. Sam is the brains and negotiator. Together they battle monsters throughout this epic story by Michael Chabon.

When I started this book I was still in a bit of a slump from Middlesex. I just loved Middlesex, and every book I read after it felt a little pointless. I mean, it just wasn't going to be as good as Middlesex. But when I started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay I got that same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I did within the first ten pages of Middlesex. That feeling that whatever I'm about to read is going to be absolutely amazing. They're very similar in some ways. They both have long, breathy prose that makes you want to read slowly and soak every last page in. They're both terrifyingly long, but difficult to put down even though neither have them have super exciting plots. There are exciting moments in Kavalier and Clay, like when Joe is escaping from Prague or when they find out they've been cheated by the owners of the company who publishes their comic books-- but Chabon is not a suspenseful writer. If Kavalier and Clay were written by Dan Brown the story would have been more of a page-turner in those instances. What keeps the pages turning with Chabon is his well-developed characters and recognizable relationships.

Oh, and did I mention Chabon is the master of bringing comic books alive in prose? Because he totally is. Check out this passage for proof: "His eyeballs seemed to clang in their sockets. He felt as if someone had opened an umbrella inside his rib cage. He waited, flopped on his belly, unblinking as a fish, to see if he would ever again be able to draw a breath. Then he let out a long, low moan, a little at a time, testing the muscles of his diaphragm. "Wow," he said finally. Sammy knelt beside him and helped him to one knee. Joe gulped up big lopsided gouts of air. The German man turned to the other people the platform, one arm raised in challenge or, perhaps, it seemed to Joe, in appeal" (192). The book is full of examples such as this, where Chabon can slow down town just through words. And when he slows down time his writing becomes the panels of a comic book. One line is one panel, and as you're reading you see everything happening as if it were drawn for you. It's masterful.

And the epic quality of his writing is perfection, this passage stopped me cold on the bus, "So much has been written and sung about the bright lights and ballrooms of Empire City--that dazzling town!--about her nightclubs and jazz joints, her avenues of neon and chrome, and her swank hotels, their rooftop tea gardens strung in the summertime with paper lanterns. On this steely autumn afternoon, however, our destination is a place a long way from the horns and the hoohah. Tonight we are going down, under the ground, to a room that lies far beneath the high heels and the jackhammers, lower than the rats and the legendary alligators, lower even than that bones of Algonquins and dire wolves" (267). The light changes in this passage. In just two sentences Chabon takes the dimmer switch from dazzling and dancing bright lights, to dark, low light where shadows are everywhere. It plays with your emotion. You're entranced by the beauty of the city, then frightened by unknown underground.

I could go on and on about Chabon's writing and how much I loved Kavalier and Clay-- but I think I'll give some other people the chance to discuss. What did you like about this book? What did you not like about it? Did you even finish it? Have you ever read anything about Chabon before and after experiencing this do you think you will again?

Oh I'm giving this an A by the way, like I even have to say it. In January Books on the Nightstand is hosting their own readalong of this book-- so if you didn't catch it this time around try to get in on theirs! And if you have a review of this book please add it to the Mr. Linky. If you don't have a review, please leave a comment with your thoughts!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

The museum on Wednesday handed over seven rare artifacts that it acquired without museum officials realizing they were ill-gotten items. Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take the items back to New York and, from there, eventually return them to the government of India.

U.S. customs agents say the items were taken from religious temples and ancient Buddhist sites, and then allegedly smuggled to the United States by an art dealer. The dealer, Subhash Kapoor, was arrested in 2011 and is awaiting trial in India. Officials say Kapoor created false provenances for the illicit antiquities.

Someone on vacation visiting the museum last year recognized the name of Kapoor's New York gallery as the source of a 2,000-year-old terra cotta rattle and contacted authorities, said Stephan Jost, the museum's director. Museum officials then pored over their records and determined six other Indian items had ties to Kapoor.

Kapoor donated one of the items and sold five to the museum, Jost said. One was a gift from someone else.

Agents are hailing the Honolulu museum for being the first U.S. institution to publicly and easily cooperate with the investigation, dubbed "Operation Hidden Idol," involving four arrests and the recovery of thousands of pieces worth a total of $150 million.

"Owning stolen stuff is not part of our mission," Jost said. "I'm not sure we've done anything heroic. We just want to do the right thing."

Bonnie from A Backwards Story is with us again today, bringing us another fantastic interview — this time with Carolyn Turgeon!

Carolyn Turgeon is the author of three novels, Rain Village, Godmother, and Mermaid. Her next novel, The Next Full Moon, is scheduled to come out in August/September 2011. Based on Te Swan Maiden, this will be Turgeon’s debut novel for young readers. Her novels tend to be twisted versions of fairy tales you’ve never seen before, such as The Little Mermaid from the princess’ perspective in addition to the mermaid’s or a version of Cinderella where the godmother is banished from the fairy realm when something goes horribly wrong... For a review of Turgeon’s work, please visit the above links. Reviews of her other titles will come to A Backwards Story later this year. Godmother and Mermaid are also featured in a FTF guest post titled FRACTURED FAIRY TALES.

1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I can recall loving all kinds of stories, such as Thumbelina and The Princess and the Pea, with all their strange and wonderful images—the tiny girl floating along in an acorn, the princess with her stack of mattresses. I think my favorite fairy tales were by Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose… but my favorite was The Selfish Giant. It’s very sad and strange and beautiful—the ghostly little boy, the lush garden, the endless snow and frost, the giant who gets struck down, covered in white blossoms… I’ve always tended to like stories that are very sad.

2) What made you decide to write alternative versions of fairytales from unique perspectives?
I didn’t really start out intending to write alternative versions of fairy tales. When I started Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, I just wanted to tell the Cinderella story straight, with lots of wonderful, lush detail and full, fleshed-out characters and all kinds of weirdness and darkness, etc. That’s what I love about fairytales, by the way—that strange combination of beauty and darkness you find in all of them. After my first book, Rain Village, which took forever to write, I wanted to do something that I thought would be a lot of fun, something that I would really love writing. I only decided to tell the story through the perspective of the fairy godmother when I realized how limited Cinderella’s perspective was—back then I only ever wrote in first person—so I figured that if the fairy godmother was narrating she could be pretty omniscient, tell you what was going on with Cinderella and the other characters. Plus, she could tell you her own story, too, which I thought might be interesting. Later, I decided to set the book in contemporary New York City and only have the godmother remembering everything that had happened in the other world. The book is set half in New York and half in the fairy tale world (in flashbacks). I only decided to do that after joining a writing workshop and seeing that the people in the workshop didn’t seem to be responding to the straight-out fairy tale I was writing. I wanted to win them over and I thought maybe I could lure them in with a present-day story set in the city, win them over that way, and then plunge them into the fairy tale.
So the book only slowly evolved into this alternative version. Once I put the fairy tale in via flashbacks, I knew something had to have gone terribly wrong. Why else would the fairy godmother be an old woman in New York?
After writing the book, though, I felt there was something really powerful in taking a story as well known as Cinderella, a story that’s in our blood and bones, and telling the “real” story from a perspective you never think or care about.

3) Can you tell us more about your upcoming book, The Next Full Moon?
The Next Full Moon is my first children’s book, a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who’s being raised alone by her father in Pennsylvania and who starts growing feathers, which is totally mortifying and confusing for her of course. She then comes to discover that her mother, whom she thought died when she was an infant, was (and is) a swan maiden. The story’s based on the old tales in which a man steals a swan maiden’s feathered robe when she’s in her human form, takes her home, marries her and has children with her. One day she discovers the robe and flies away—there are various reasons for this, depending on the version you read. I wondered: what happens when those kids she leaves behind hit puberty? In my book, the man and woman had only one child, and now here’s the kid ten years later with feathers appearing on her arms and back, having no idea that her mother is still alive and, of course, no idea that she’s a swan maiden.
I like the idea of a 12-year-old girl, full of shame and embarrassment, slowly discovering that she’s magical and amazing.

4) What other ideas are you working on right now?
Well, I’m working on a few things right now. Because of Mermaid, I started this blog, I Am a Mermaid, where I talk to all kinds of people about mermaids. I’ve realized that there’s this whole mermaid culture out there that’s really fascinating and lovely. So I’m writing my first non-fiction (but still quite fantastical!) book. And I’m working on a new novel that has to do with Weeki Wachee and a YA novel about a drowning pool, and I have this half-done thriller that I hope to finish this year…

5) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together?
It was challenging for me to write about magical worlds, I think, in that I was afraid of making them too Disney-ish or corny. So with Godmother, at first I was very vague when talking about the fairy world; in fact in the first draft, the flashbacks start with the godmother meeting Cinderella and we don’t really see her in her own world at all. It was only after the book sold that my editors pushed me to make the fairy world more defined and vivid, to explain the rules of that world and the landscape of it and so on. So I added in the first couple of flashback chapters that are in the book now, and they were probably the hardest chapters for me to write, even though they’re probably the lightest ones in the whole book.
With Mermaid, I mainly had to explain the rules we see in the original Hans Christian Andersen story… like why the mermaids can only visit the human world once, on their birthdays, and so on. It was more like putting together a puzzle than anything else, trying to create the worlds in that book and make them adhere to specific points from the original story.

6) Which of the books you've written is your favorite so far? What makes it the most special to you?
Hmmm. I think that would always tend to be the latest one. Right now I’m very excited about The Next Full Moon and writing for this younger age group. I found it surprisingly easy to write as a twelve-year-old, which is possibly a little worrisome, and was able to draw on my own memories and experiences more than I have for any other book. Like the characters all go to the lake in their town, where there’s an old carousel and people sell lemonade and they can all go swimming or lie out on the beach. And I was just directly describing the lake my friends and I used to go to in East Lansing, Michigan, where I lived from when I was twelve to fourteen, and I hadn’t thought about that lake in years. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and so I’m really distanced from some of those memories and places. It was kind of nostalgic and wonderful, writing that book and slipping into those memories and this old self. Also, I have to say, I think the trauma and awkwardness of being twelve mixes really well with the fairy tale elements in the book, and I like the idea that something magical is happening to you as you hit puberty and you just have to figure that out.

7) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I love Angela Carter and her weird, gorgeous visions. I love Alice Hoffman, Francesca Lia Block, Joanne Harris, Isabel Allende, Jeanette Winterson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino... They’re not all fairy tale writers and I don’t know to what extent they’ve all been inspired by fairy tales, but they all write in that vein I think, lush and magical. I really enjoyed Erzebet Yellowboy’s Sleeping Helena. And I also, by the way, really loved the way the Pied Piper story is used in the movie The Sweet Hereafter. It’s pretty brilliant.

8) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Oh, I think maybe Thumbelina. I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride around in an acorn? For the most part, I think fairy tales are not the stories I would like to live out. Though I wouldn’t mind being the little mermaid for a day, before she goes and sees the sea witch and ruins her life…

9) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
I’m going to have to defer to my childhood self, who loved all those movies quite passionately. As an adult, I could barely even get through The Little Mermaid, which I was totally swept away by as a teenager. Probably my favorite, though, is Snow White. The old versions of that tale are really very shockingly weird and violent, and even the Disney version is incredibly creepy, with our semi-dead heroine lying gorgeously in a glass coffin in the forest and our hot prince having a thing for dead chicks.

FUN AND CRAZY ROUND!

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Oh, the stepmother from Snow White. She’s a gorgeous witch with a magic mirror who has her stepdaughter murdered in the forest and then eats her heart (or lungs or what have you). Even though she’s betrayed by her huntsman and actually eats a stag’s heart, she believes she’s eating Snow White’s. It’s hard to think of a more perverse female villain! And I love the image of her skulking through the forest with her cloak and her basket full of poisoned apples.

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Oh, I love Rapunzel and the lettuce that is so delicious and addictive that Rapunzel’s mother craves it above all else and even makes her husband climb into a witch’s garden to get more for her. I mean, who pines for lettuce? Now I totally want some lettuce, now that I’m thinking about it...
I’d like to be something equally un-chocolate-y, if you know what I mean, some other pedestrian, unsexy vegetable with hidden powers of seduction. Like a rutabaga or a turnip. Turnip is kind of a cute word, not too far off from the delightful “tulip.” I’d like some fairytale character to be sitting in a room wasting away from a mad desire for turnips.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
She stared out the window at the impossibly lush turnips growing outside just beyond reach, their leaves shooting into the air like hands, their bodies dense and purple, as round as breasts. Her mouth watered as she watched the turnip leaves undulating in the breeze. As if they were bellydancing, she thought.

Meanwhile, Turnip was enjoying a large slice of chocolate cake at Jean Georges.

~Would you rather:

- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. Don’t those sound delectable? A magic bean is just wrong.

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? I think polishing the glass slippers would be much more manageable. And I love things made out of glass, especially slippers and dresses. Are you aware of Karen LaMonte’s glass dresses? Look:

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Oh, a fairy godmother. Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of dresses and carriages? And let’s face it: Prince Charming isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.
Come to think of it, though… if we’re talking about the fairy godmother from my own book, then I’d really have to go for the hot prince, or even one of the coachman or mice. Anyone but the godmother, please!

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Okay, okay, here’s the part you’re all waiting for: The giveaway! Carolyn has generously agreed to give away three—yes, THREE—autographed copies of Mermaid as well as some fun mermaid tattoos! You know you want to win this contest and read this fantastic book.

To enter,. In addition, please leave a comment answering this question: What would you do if you could be a mermaid for a day? Also, what would you be willing to sacrifice in order to become a mermaid?

Entries must be received by MAY 5th. May 8th This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!
Good luck and I can’t wait to see your responses!

PS from Misty: I love this picture! ----->

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]

The move follows investigations led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York, Baltimore, Austin, Texas, and New Haven, Connecticut, the department said in a statement.

One of the most significant items that was returned is a limestone statue depicting the head of the Assyrian King Sargon II, an eighth century B.C. ruler.

Immigration and Customs agents seized the looted artifact in August 2008 after an antiquities dealer based in Dubai shipped it to New York. The investigation led to the identification of an international network dealing in illicit cultural artifacts, the statement said.

Other artifacts repatriated to Iraq include gold-plated items, such as a soap dish, looted from the private airport and palace of executed former President Saddam Hussein.

Bronze objects, including a Luristan ax from early Sumeria, and clay reliefs and glass objects were also returned.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit has returned more than 1,200 items to Iraq in four repatriations since 2008, the statement said.

Source: Reuters [March 16, 2015]

Jane Hoffman and Gwen Baker have been friends for decades. Jane was there for Gwen when her husband, Theodore, left her to raise two young children alone. They’re raised their children together and through the years their friendship has endured as well. Now, they are in their 40s and are facing larger, more painful crisis. Jane comes home early to find her husband, Arnold, in bed with another woman. Their marriage has never been a strong one. Arnold’s always been an empty shell of a man, more concerned about his needs than hers. And when Arnold attempts to walk right back into her life, rather than conceding to him like she’s done for their entire marriage, Jane begins to think first about what she wants. And when their daughter, Caroline, comes to her with news that will change their lives, Jane must be there to support her in a way her own mother was never able to do.

Gwen has been in a relationship with Daniel, a married man, for several years. When he tells her that he’s going to leave his wife, she begins to wonder if this is what she really wants. She’d become used to having her own space, but now Daniel wants to move in with her. She can’t help but flash back to her marriage to Theodore and all she was forced to give up for that relationship. Is she ready to give up her independence again?

Schieber tells an endearing tale about the friendship of two women. Despite the many challenges they each suffered in life, they never take for granted their friendship. Through the years as their friendship grows, they both discover a bit about themselves as well. Shieber’s lesson is an important one: value the needs of others but never forget the value of one’s self.

About the author:

The first great irony of my life was that I was born in a Catholic hospital. My parents, survivors of the Holocaust, had settled in the South Bronx among other new immigrants. .In the mid-fifties, my family moved to Washington Heights. The area offered scenic views of the Hudson River and the Palisades, as well as access to Fort Tryon Park and the mysteries of the Cloisters. I graduated from George Washington High School. I graduated from high school at sixteen, went on to Bronx Community College, transferred to and graduated from Herbert H. Lehman College with a B.A. in English and a New York State license to teach English. I earned my M.A. in Literature from New York University and later my M.S. as a developmental specialist from Yeshiva University. I have worked as a high school English teacher and as a learning disabilties specialist . My first novel, Strictly Personal, for young adults, was published by Fawcett-Juniper. Willing Spirits was published by William Morrow. My most recent novel, The Sinner's Guide to Confession, was released by Berkley Putnam.

Contest:

Thanks to the author, I have an extra copy of Willing Spirits to give away!

To be entered once, comment about this posting.

To be entered twice, blog about it. Be sure to include a link to your posting in your comment.

To be entered three times, become a follower of this blog.

US and Canadian residents only, please.

Winner will be announced Saturday, March 28.