Books//Poetry

I'm a poet (that sounds odd rolling off my tongue). I felt inspired to blog for the first time in a long time, so here is something different.

Leaves of pages

Ink done

Type set

A smell only when aged

Death by water

Ancient knowledge conceded by internet

Still holding

By the jacket sleeves

Reserved for us

A select many

The literate

Once an elite

Now a commoner

Still waning

But not conceding

This love will be mine

No matter how far-fetched

Thou shall not depart from me

If done

Crumbling ash shall be my name

For once hold still

As I hold on

To world not real

A life not my own

But a dream and wish

Rendered never

But who shall

Leave me and you in the raven night

With a light

And a comforter

To spill secrets

From an editor’s computer

To my small hands

MiniReview: Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard Goodreads|Amazon

Published by Orion February 10, 2015

320 Pages

Source: Library

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

Red Queen… too much for words. Aveyard created a world that was intricate with superb worldbuilding. The Silvers and Reds were divided and yet still held in equilibrium. Somehow the characters were intangibly linked, but at the last minute turned backs and created a showdown that was unexpected, yet opened unheard of doors for the sequel. The no-nonesense writing style of Victoria Avyeard was inexplicably used that let for a quick, simple read and no over analyzation of the text. The plot was the starring role in the book however showing what weight the feels carry with how I slapped my head for not seeing the twists and turns headed my way. 

Room by Book//Red Queen

Red Queen is set in a futuristic world that makes the reader feel totally foreign, but in reality is supposedly our future. The furniture shown here is both modern and a revival of more traditional forms of art-- how I imagine the Silver palace. The fox and the coffee table both have silver accents meant to be nod at the Silver culture in this book and are quite modern. Yet the ottoman and wallpaper both feel like they belong in the 1920s with the ottoman having bobbin legs which were the rage in the Victorian times, but the ottoman has a very clean cushion. I liked the darker theme of the wallpaper hinting at how controlling the Silvers are of Reds. The fox was supposed to be representative of Cal and how he is always changing with the reader never knowing what sly side of him will come next. The coffee table I imagine can also be spread with war maps and everything a prince needs. Overall I just wanted this furniture to exude coldness and detachedness of Silvers. Also my review of Red Queen is coming out soon. 

Red Queen (book cover) by Victoria Aveyard
Laundry for Hygge & West - Diamante in Gold by Hygge & West from Design Public
Hines Coffee Table Walnut by Apt2B

Bobbin Ottoman by Serena & Lily 

Silver Fox Ceramic Object by Jonathan Adler 

Book Club//When You Reach Me

­­­­Welcome to this month’s edition of Book Club with YA Bookologists. This is a feature where I talk about what the book club I attend discussed. I do this to perhaps share new insight into popular books that you might’ve read before.  Recently we read When You Reach Me by Rebeca Stead. Here are some of the points we came up with. SPOILER ALERT

•  The lack of defining time travel was very frustrating as we have no explanation for how the essence of the book works. This is distracting from the main focus of the book which are relationships.
• The homeless man (old Marcus) should not have to die in the end because of all the others way possible to save someone from a truck. The ending of the book was rather sudden with no real closing for Marcus.
• The romance in this book was disastrous. Simply perplexing. Miranda and Collin have short, snippets of kissing and followed by several, longer paragraphs of being friends. Without the romance When You Reach Me still would’ve been completely realistic.
• New York City in this book was very realistic. The description a setting of only a few square blocks resonated with many of us in the book club. There were details about which places to avoid, bad landlords, and tips on how to live in the city all really brought the setting alive. 

February Round Up

Via Wikimedia

That picture pretty much summed up weather where I live with snow and cold. I went into February knowing it was going to be stressful, but I didn't realize just how stressful. I've taken two weekend trips this month (both of which required airplanes), won an award for an essay I wrote (yay!), and had to rewrite a script for a part of the play I'm producing. I'm quite sad that I didn't write more and fell out of touch with reading, but towards the end of the month I got to more of my reading habits back. I'll keep this post short without chronicling all my blogging for once, so simply this is a checkin.

Room by Book//The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray was a classy character-- the type of man everyone would want to go to a party with. He had a brilliant circle of friends and they were all refined. The modern, refined feel I decided to throw in with the subdued colors and chandelier. However, I also wanted to put in a vintage feel with a classical couch, Victorian inspired throw pattern, and Mayan themed carpet. Overall, I have the vibe that Dorian Gray was an eligible bachelor who would've had a wonderfully decorated apartment.

Credits:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (book cover)
Jacqueline Chandelier designed by Aerin from Circa Lighting
Bellflower Sofa from Apt2B
Matrix Black and White Rug from Thrive Furniture
Jacquard Wool Throw from Zara Home

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Amazon|Goodreads

Published by Penguin Classics Deluxe Reprinted November 30, 2010 (Originally published 1890)

224 Pages

Stand Alone Novel

Source: Library

Bookologist Analysis: The Picture of Dorian Gray is dramatic, it’s a wonder to behold. There’s a sense of when I was reading it I felt that I knew something deeper was going to happen at the end, but I wasn’t sure what would happen. This book tries to play tricks with my perceptions of the characters, yet each character has a different light each time I look.

Wilde's masterful and wonderfully entertaining exploration of art and morality, in a chic new deluxe edition Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman inthe eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a masterful piece of work that Oscar Wilde must have written to have me confused and yearning for a deeper understanding. It is meant to be a philosophical piece pushing at the edge of my mind, trying to point me in some direction regarding pleasure and beauty— after all which matters most in life?

Dorian Gray is a marvelous character to observe; his metamorphosis from an innocent naïve boy to a hardened man is extraordinary. I must say it took a little getting used to that I didn’t get to see this change over the years it occurred, but just seeing the before and after was a great literary device of Oscar Wilde. In the first few chapters of the book I didn’t think that I would enjoy the lack of action or great plot twists, but it’s the lengthy conversations of Lord Henry that really got me interested in how life is something to be used at one’s disposal or other’s disposal.

The rhythm to the book is also very perplexing as it doesn’t sound like an ancient bore that goes on for ages like many of the books from the time, rather Oscar Wilde writes with a modern flair. This makes The Picture of Dorian Gray easy to understand, so I didn’t I have to mouth the words as I have to with Shakespeare. In essence this book was a whirlwind of me questioning my out take on life, evaluating what are morals, and enjoying how Oscar Wilde challenged me.