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VIA Garden Of Earthly Delights

The wall in the Garden of Severus suffered a partial collapse after days of rainfall in southern Italy, Pompeii’s superintendency said on Wednesday.

The area was sealed off to visitors at the time and the discovery was made by staff at the ancient site.

The Garden of Severus is already part of the Great Pompeii Project, a multi-million euro fund from the EU and Italian government to protect the area.

An agreement is also being set up with the fire service to intervene in inaccessible parts of Pompeii which are at risk, the superintendency said.

The incident at the Garden of Severus is just the latest in a series of collapses at Pompeii, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79AD.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini last March promised to unblock €2 million in restoration funds, after the Temple of Venus and Pompeii walls were damaged by rainfall.

Despite the site winning funding to the tune of €105 million, the Italian authorities have been criticized for being woefully slow in implementing restoration plans.

UNESCO has also weighed into the debate, threatening in 2013 to scrap Pompeii from its prestigious World Heritage list if measures were not taken to save the ancient site.

Source: The Local [February 05, 2015]

Stephanie Barron's The White Garden

is a fictional attempt to understand what happened to Virginia Woolf during the three weeks after Leonard read her suicide note and she was actually found in the river. I normally get hung up on things like facts and how true to the story an author is staying, but I could not put this book down. When Jo Bellamy tells her grandfather, Jock, that she is going to Sissinghurst Castle to copy The White Garden for a client he says all the right things. After all, it's a dream job for any gardener. Before she leaves though she finds that Jock has hung himself. When she goes through some of the history of Sissinghurst she finds out that Jock worked at the very garden she is going to, for a woman name Vita Sackville-West.

She finds a manuscript and the only author she can think of is Virginia Woolf. She asks the head gardener if she can borrow it for 24 hours, but it ends up being much longer than that. She takes it to manuscript analyst Peter Llewellyn. Peter takes the journal, but after looking at the dates tells Jo that it cannot be a manuscript by Virginia Woolf because the journal starts the day after Woolf's suicide. After talking he admits that Woolf was actually not found for three weeks after her death. Peter takes the journal to his ex-wife, crazy and beautiful Margaux, who then runs off with the journal. Peter and Jo continue to try and unfold the story of Viriginia Woolf's suicide and Jock's role in it, all while dealing with chasing Margaux and their budding romance.

This is the second novel I have read by Stephanie Barron (the other was Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor) and I enjoyed it leaps and bounds over my first Barron novel. The plot kept me going but Jo Bellamy is a wonderful heroine. She struggles over her interest in the actual story of Virginia's life and her need to understand her grandfather's suicide. She is also willing to kick some balls along the way, especially her employer's. The novel is complete and total fiction, but I still respect Barron for the risks she takes with what might have happened during those three lost weeks. My only quibble with the novel is the portrait it paints of Leonard Woolf, although this is really more of a quibble I have in general with people who brand Leonard Woolf as a bad guy. He was greatly shadowed by Virginia's success and there are some theories about his hands in her suicide but anyway. That is a story for another day!

Pub. Date: September 2009

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Format: Paperback, 336 pp

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.

Elite a citadel of gentlemen

VIA «Winter garden in the Northern club»

Rain barrels it's economical

Rain barrels during the winter period

VIA «Rain barrels — for economical owners!»

Rain chain — made in Japan

VIA «Rain chains instead of drains»

Entrust repair to professionals!

VIA «Home builder in Sydney»

Once again, here is a link up of all the Contemporary happenings I've stumbled across in the past week on blogs other than Shanyn's and my own! There are some seriously awesome things happening around the blogosphere, so click through the list and check it out!

And since it is absolutely impossible for me to really be aware of all that is happening everywhere, if you have seen or posted anything Contemporary related, Let me know! I will either add it to this list, or include it in next week's post!

Awesome Reading Challenge: The Keeping It Real Contemporary YA Reading Challenge hosted by Kat @ I Write, I Read, I Review. And, there will be prizes!:)

REVIEWS:

Sarah @ The Storybound Girl — Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog — Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler, Amplified by Tara Kelly, Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headly

L.L. @ The Story Girl — I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak

Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog — The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner and My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Melina @ Reading Vacation — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and The Daughters Join the Party by Joanna Philbin (this is the third book in the series.)

Author Jessi Kirby — Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books — We the Animals by Justin Torres

Samual @ Books for All Seasons — The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Danya @ A Tapestry of Words — Dear Bully by Various

Shannon @ Books Devoured — Looking for Alaska John Green and The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

The Busy Bibliophile — Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Anna @ Anna Reads — Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Raquel @ The Book Barbies — Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Page @ One Book at a Time — Lie by Caroline Bock

Emily @ Red House Books — Reasons to be Happy by Katrina Kittle

Giselle @ Xpresso Reads — dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman, and Room by Emma Donoghue (probably more Adult than YA, but it is definitely a crossover book).

Somer @ A Bird's Eye View — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Liz @ Consumed by Books — The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Nicci @ Paper Dreams — Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez (she also wrote a fun — Five Reasons to Read Virtuosity post!)

Julie @ A Tale of Many Reviews — The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Chris @ Between the Covers — Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Ginger @ Greads! — Amplified by Tara Kelly

Carrie @ Stalking the Bookshelves — Saving June by Hannah Harrington and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Rowena @ The Book Scoop — My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Mindi @ Books Complete Me — Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Sarah @ YA Love — How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Jennifer @ Novel Thoughts — Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Aubrey @ holes in my brain — How to Save a Life — Sara Zarr

Mary @ Anxirium — Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Lori @ Pure Imagination — Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Where She Went by Gayle Forman and Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

John @ Dreaming in Books — Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Kelli @ I'd So Rather Be Reading — Going Too Far — Jennifer Echols

Princess Bookie — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales and Pure Red by Danielle Joseph

For the Love of Contemporary — His Eyes by Renee Carter

Tiffany @ Tiffany Reads — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder and Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous — Raw Blue by Kirsty Egar

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures — If I Tell by Janet Gurtler, Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson and Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott.

Bailey @ IB Book Blogging — Past Perfect by Lelia Sales

The Book Faerie — The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder (WARNING — This review DOES contain spoilers)

Jenny @ The Mimosa Stimulus — Amplified by Tara Kelly and Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Sophia @ The Book Basement — If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen and The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Natalie @ Quirky Vintage — Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (not completely Contemporary, but mostly & amazing, so...)

Karen @ For What It's Worth — Where You Are by Tammara Webber

Lisa @ The Garden of Books — Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (this is actually a short — What on Earth could I possibly say about this level of intensity — post)

AUTHORS:

The Nerd Girls @ Books to the Sky Interviewed Janet Gurtler! (And there is a giveaway!)

For the Love of Contemporary spotlighted Sarah Ockler!!!

Candace @ Candace's Book Blog interviewed Anne Pfeffer (and there is an international giveaway!) and she also interviewed Stasia Kehoe!

The Contemps blog spotlighted new author Josie Bloss and her novel Faking Faith.

Sam @ Books for all Seasons interviewed Melissa Kantor!

Liz @ Consumed by Books has a fun This or That Interview with Hannah Harrington!

Hannah @ Paperback Treasures has a guest post from Megan Bostic about the songs that inspired her book!

Melina @ Reading Vacation has a guest post from Joanna Philbin.

Kristi @ The Story Siren has a guest post from Catherine Ryan Hyde (with a giveaway)

DISCUSSION TOPICS

Allison @ The Allure of Books vlogged about her favorite YA Contemporary Books
Mandie Baxter: Why I Love Contemporary
Rowena @ The Book Scoop: Why I Love Contemporary
Author Carol Tanzman: Why I Write Contemporary YA
Bee @ Dreamcatcher's Lair: Her favorite Dark YA books. (Not all are Contemporary, but most of them are!)
Author Abbi Glines: Her 11 favorite Indie Contemporary YA Romances

Tough Stuff in Contemporary YA: (again, many of these were written as guest posts and I am only identifying the author of the post, not the host blog)

Rie @ Mission to Read
Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Candace @ Candace's Book Blog
Jacinda @ Reading Housewives
Katelyn @ Katelyn's Blog
Cara @ Chasing Words
Mandie Baxter
Nicci @ Paper Dreams
Shannon @ Books Devoured
Ginger @ GReads!

Again — If you have seen or written a post talking about Contemporary YA or reviewing a book, LET ME KNOW!! I'd LOVE to include you in the link up AND I personally read and comment on all of them. (It takes a while, but I'm LOVING It!) So leave me a comment, shoot me an email or send me a tweet and I'll add you to my list!:)

I slept in until noon today and I definitely wasn't planning on that. Actually, I got up at eight to finish my cookies and then I went back to sleep at ten, planning on only sleeping for about thirty minutes. Silly me for not setting an alarm. It wouldn't be a big deal but I'm going to a Christmas/Birthday party at two o'clock so I have zero time.

I am not in Iowa City anymore, I'm at my parents house very far away from Iowa City. Actually not really, only about in a hour and a half. So far my mom has pushed a hydrating nasal rinse on me because I have a small nose and asked me if I'm eating enough fruit in Iowa City. Gotta love moms! My boyfriend brought his presents for my parents over yesterday but my dog has started to open them. Woops!

Last week was a good reading week for me because I had nothing else to do. I didn't finish quite all the books I wanted to, but I never expect that I will. I finished The Eyre Affair, The Moment Between, and The Red Necklace. I also posted a review of In A Gilded Cage, which I finished two weeks ago. I did some deep thinking this week about how people look at you when you read certain types of books, and how it doesn't really matter. Today I plan on finishing The White Garden by Stephanie Barron and The Clumsiest People on Earth edited by Todd Pruzan. I am also reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen right now and I must admit that I am hooked! This week I also plan on reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and Sex Lives of the Roman Emperors by Nigel Cawthorne. I was only planning on reading four YA books for my self challenge, but I ended up purchasing the first three of The Luxe series and I might end up reading all three before I turn 20. We shall see!

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

It's back!

I do like a nice book cover, but I don't give them nearly as much thought as Jana at the Broke and Bookish so my list won't be as in-depth or interesting as hers. Mine aren't in any order either because I'm just putting them in as I think of them basically.

There were times when I was reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova where I just couldn't help but stop reading and look at the cover. This is truly one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen. I love the darkness of the background and how the image changes for you as you read the book and find out more about the story. The text is great as well, kind of a mix between old and new, which is something the book plays with a lot. Also, I know this isn't part of the cover and I don't know what the books that have been released look like, but on my ARC the binding is gold and looks quite nice on my shelf.

One of the most effective ways to sell books is probably to have them cover out instead of binding out. If it wasn't for that, I never would have seen The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell this weekend. I was attracted to this cover because of the bright colors, fun font style, and the mystery about why she's covering her face with a picture of her dad. I picked up the book and read the back cover, thought it looked interesting so I opened it up to find it was a graphic novel! I was really excited to find a graphic novel in memoir form because I loved Persepolis so I bought it right away.

This cover is really simple and white, with a great brightly covered image that totally sums up the message of this book. It looks comicy, but still empowering. This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson is probably one of my favorite covers from books I've read this summer. Every time I see the librarian with her cape I smile and I realized something a little different about the picture every time I look at it. For instance, it took me awhile to realize that those were books she was flying out of.

I think part of the reason I read Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick was that every time I looked at it I said "Pretty!" I love Sunflowers and Vincent Van Gogh's art and I think it was really effective to do a close up of one painting rather than try to fill the cover with an entire painting. The white text allows the image to speak for itself, and those who know Van Gogh will be immediately attracted just by recognition. Plus I just love green and yellow.

I buy children's books all the time even though I have no children and I'm not a teacher nor do I want to be one. Part of it started when I was a reading tutor and it's just kind of carried on since then. One day I'll have kids to share some of these beautiful children's books with and one I can't wait to share is The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. This was a staff pick at a store once and the artwork is just beautiful. I was attracted by the little red haired boy who sticks out amongst the green and blue of the natural scene behind him.

I still haven't read Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman but every time I walk by the cover I get the urge to start it. It is so simple, most of his covers are, but it just looks interesting. The image reminds of a children's reference book about dinosaurs with all of the labels on it. I love dinosaurs so I'm attracted to that. And I like how the author's name and the title are the same size and sandwich the image.

I just had to add one more children's book to this list. Boris and Bella, authored by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated but Gris Grimly is just a great cover. It's Tim Burton-esque and creepy. Normally when you see a male and female name on a book you assume they are in love, but this is not the case with Boris and Bella. We can tell from the image that these ghouls obviously do not like each other. I also like the purple and black for a creepier story like this one, plus the text fits perfectly.

I haven't read Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart yet, but I intend to soon because the book sounds great to me. I love this cover because it combines and simple colorless photograph with a tiffany blue colored box for text, and then the box is topped with a bow like one from Tiffany would be. I just think that was a really cute idea and I love the simple color scheme of this book.

I read this book a week ago and I think it has a pretty neat cover. This cover of Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman really embodies Rita's personality. The orange and green are bright and fun, which is just like her attitude. I also like the map at the top of the cover that shows all the different places she goes to and how she's constantly traveling back and forth. Plus I like that they used a photograph for a travel narrative because it let's you feel like you're in on their trip a little bit.

My last cover is the 50th Anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It's beautiful. The color scheme is really unique, you don't see that deep, wine red on books very often, and it let's the green of the tree really pop. I have the older lavender version right now and I have been lusting after this book ever since I saw it. I also love the text they use on this cover, a slanted print that looks almost like a child's handwriting.

I actually learned a lot about myself by doing this, I appears that I'm really attracted to colors or white covers with a single image on them. Who knew! What are you attracted to in covers?

Today's guest post is with Barbara Quick, author of A Golden Web (read my review here) . Barbara is joining us today to share her:

Top Ten (Dead) Historical Figures You Would Like to Have Dinner With

1. Mozart
Dinner would be long and leisurely, with half a dozen of his best friends and a piano in the room. Mozart would be prevailed upon to improvise between courses.

2. Oscar Wilde
I picture this in a villa on the Amalfi coast, with a houseful of witty guests (to take the pressure off of me!)

3. Henry James
The Master and I would drink tea together beforehand in a beautiful English garden, speaking quietly about our favorite flowers.

4. Jane Austen
I would whisk Jane off to Paris for a picnic dinner—including the finest fois gras and a gorgeous Burgundy—on Midsummer’s Night by the banks of the Seine.

5. The young Joseph Haydn
The composer would be overjoyed with the feast I would order up for the two of us in 18th century Vienna’ s finest restaurant. I’ d make sure he was allowed to take a huge doggy-bag home with him, along with glad tidings from the future.

6. Antoine-Brillat de Savarin
I would eat and listen raptly during a meal that would, without doubt, last for several hours.

7. Thomas Jefferson
We would both be guests at a ball at the American Consulate in Paris. Dinner would be served at 11 pm.

8. Anna Maria dal Violin
I would bribe the Portinara and arrange for a gondola at sunset for Anna Maria and her closest friends. The King of Denmark and Norway would lend us his private chef for the evening. Vivaldi (after being paid a huge sum of money) would serenade us with his violin.

9. Catherine of Aragon
We would speak—very frankly, tete-à-tete—about men.

10. Queen Elizabeth I
The after-dinner entertainment would include the first act of a new play by William Shakespeare.

According to Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, the budget for the project amounts to 5,650,000 euros. The purpose of the initiative is to make improvements to the landscape surrounding this important archaeological site, including the addition of a herb garden with healing plants, new pathways for tourists, kiosks that will provide information about the history of medicine and promote local agricultural products with healing properties, etc.

Located in a small valley in the Peloponnesus, the shrine of Asclepius, comprises of three principal monuments, the temple of Asclepius, the Tholos and the Theatre – considered one of the purest masterpieces of Greek architecture – that date from the 4th century.

The vast site, with its temples and hospital buildings devoted to its healing gods, is a precious testimony to the practice of medicine in antiquity.

Source: Protothema [December 18, 2014]

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!

-----------------------------------------
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! ----->

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Charlotte Bronte, but about one year ago when I tried to read Villette

I could not succeed. I'm not sure what stopped me from finishing it, but I got exactly halfway and put it down. After finishing it this time around I can guarantee it was entirely circumstantial.

Our heroine is Lucy Snowe, a British woman who has recently moved to the fictional city of Villette. The country is based on Brussels, which means that everyone speaks French. The bulk of the novel takes place in this fictional city, but before that we see a younger Lucy Snowe. In her younger years she watches her godmother's son Graham Bretton and a visiting girl named Polly begin a strange romance but Polly is taken away shortly before Lucy leaves. Not too long after Lucy moves to Villette where she his hired as an English instructor in a girls' school.

This is where she meets Dr. John, the man on every woman's mind but who is mainly interested in Lucy's student, Ginevra Fanshawe. Ginevra is horribly spoiled and deceitful. Lucy tries to pull her out of these habits, but to no avail. There is also M. Paul who appears to be rude and hot tempered, and somewhat frightening. He and Lucy work closely together, but typical to Lucy's narration the reader does not truly know her opinion of M. Paul for the majority of the novel.

So yes, narration. Let's talk about that. Lucy can also be a bit deceitful, well actually she just withholds information from us. This creates a very bizarre ending and a few confusing points in the novel, but it always kept me guessing. And this combined with the extremely feminist images throughout the novel made this an excellent read. I still favor Jane Eyre, but I was really interested in the strange ideas and dreams Lucy has. At some points her emotions seem so heightened. Such as when she is looking at art, or after she comes in from the garden at night. And this book has some creepy Gothic elements that made it fun as well as intriguing. Which is why...

This novel earned an A. This first A of the year!

I read this book as part of the All About the Brontes Challenge.

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.

I was a very bad reader last week. Lots of things are to blame, it was the week before Thanksgiving break and I just wanted to relax. I did finish Philip Graham's The Moon, Come to Earth. I also attended his reading at Prairie Lights. Graham is very gregarious, I enjoyed his reading. He read three dispatches from the book though, which took quite a long time. I'm always more interested in hearing authors talk about their books than read from them.

The book that has taken up most of my time is George Eliot's Middlemarch, which I plan to finish tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned it before, I will mention it again: Middlemarch is a beast. It's a multi-plot novel with what seems like one thousand characters. It takes me a long time to read, but thanks to a couple 4-8 AM shifts at work I am almost finished with it. I'm really enjoying it too, but that doesn't surprise me. Eliot is a genius.

Today I plan on finishing The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I am obsessed with Charlotte Bronte and I'm always iffy on books that make the authors the characters. I am happy to say that I have not been able to put it down. James has really done a great job researching all the Brontes and I like how she documents her research in the back of the book. There are footnotes in this, which I know have put some people off, but I kind of like them. Some are unnecessary to me because I know enough about the 19th century, but some of them are helpful and interesting. The character that has interested me most is Branwell. I knew that he was a drunkard but James creates a fully developed character out of a man that has always baffled me.

Next week I plan on reading A LOT because I will just be sitting at home anyway. Books I plan to read are The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The White Garden by Stephanie Barron, and Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm.

The Global Green Project

The project of Park of the World has been initiated by a municipal government of the city of Chungju in honor of that now the Secretary general of the United Nations is the native of this city, Ban Ki-Moon. Having stretched on river Namhangang coast, the project becomes the new city center.

The UN Memorial Hall

The building in the form of an ellipse, the maximum diameter — 60 meters becomes United Nations monument. In a building of 8 floors + a basement floor. In the center — an audience on 1,500 places, and also additional conference halls. From an audience the fine kind on Tangeumdae Natural Park will open.

Rising up a spiral, the building becomes the house for an exhibition in which the history of the United Nations since 1945 till today will speak. The person who is the center of interest of missions of the United Nations, will be integrated into architecture and appearance of "globe". The building will be located in the center of a garden from 192 apple-trees which number is equal to number of the states which are members of the United Nations.

VIA «Park of the United Nations»

Heart with Joy

is a coming of age story centered around fifteen-year-old Julian Hale. His mother, a writer, has just left is father to manage her family's hotel in Florida. Julian knows there is more to the separation than a hotel though, and he plans to move to Florida with his mother at the end of the school year. In the meantime he has to take care of his father and becomes obsessed with cooking delicious meals for them and watching cooking television. In the process he learns more about his father and discovers that he is not the bad guy his mother made him out to be. Julian also gets to know his elderly next door neighbor, a woman who loves bird watching and her garden, and the cute cashier at the grocery store who loves to cook as well. Through all of these experiences Julian discovers who he is and who is going to be.

Hearth with Joy is sweet. Every page contains a softness that I haven't found in any other book. Steve Cushman is great at shaping characters we can know and love. Julian is a little quirky, he's a modern teenager but doesn't care about the Internet or television much, which at first I found impossible and ended up finding endearing. Julian truly cares about everyone he meets, which makes you really love him. He's not perfect though, he's idealistic about his parents' relationship and particularly about his mother. He is trusting when he, perhaps, should not be.

I adored his neighbor, Mrs. Peters. The relationship between Julian and Mrs. Peters made me want to start bird watching and forced me to rethink my ideas about aging. Their unlikely friendship was my favorite part of Julian's coming of age.

The writing wasn't as great as the story, and there were a few moments where it kind of stumbled. Julian rides his bike alongside his father while he runs and says he could keep up with him. As someone who rides her bike a lot I can say I always pass up runners, and have no problem keeping up with them, so this comment made me put the book down and try to figure out what Cushman was trying to say. This is nitpicky, but it was distracting as I was reading.

Overall Heart with Joy is a book worth reading. It will put a smile on your face and give you drive to work towards what you want. I know that Julian is a character that will stay with me for many years.

I'm giving Heart with Joy 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. I received a review copy of this book from the author.

Help me welcome Jennifer Laurens to the blog today! She is here to talk to us today about her cover for her new book, A Season of Eden. My review will be up later this month, but for now, hear what the author has to say about how her cover came to be!

I design my own covers from concept to final product, but I also work with a creative team. For Eden, we wanted black and white because there's so much black and white in the storyline. The red apple symbolizes James' temptation, of course: Eden.

Plus, the apple and the garden of Eden and "Eden" as a character name = the whole idea just worked well.

The model is an actor friend of my daughter's. ( She works at a local theater here in Utah) We buzzed over to the theater, grabbed him a jacket from the costume archives, went outside and snapped the photo. ( He has a great jaw and mouth, and I wanted a fair amount of ambiguity, so we cropped the image where you see it)

My designer, Jennifer Johnson of Sapphire Designs put the back ( with the fabulous piano keys) together and the cover was created.

Jennifer chose the font.

A side note: David Smith, the cover model, read the book and loved it so much he asked me if he could make a movie of it. I said yes. His major was music at BYU, so he really related to Mr. Christian and Eden and the music element in the story. Anyway, that began a 2-year, probono production of the indie version of A Season of Eden. Every actor donated their talents, people donated equipment, locations — it was awesome! And, as a writer it was VERY cool to see my work come to life like that!

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