Poetry//The Hours

More poetry from me! Perhaps it is the stillness of the night that is inspiring me. Well, anyways, this is a follow-up to this post. The theme of the poem is more to do with time, hence the photo of a clock. I'm undecided as whether or not this will be a long running theme, but who knows (maybe you should leave a comment helping me decide).

Time is gone
Like another cycle of an endless circle
Less time for stacks of pages
More time for senseless media
What a waste?
At least that is what they yell
Just seclusion
Sounds pleasant
Me and me alone
In a quiet, quiet place
Tonight
Leave alone
More duties to uphold
A senseless media to run
Ink to be gobbled
And typed about
What happened to those typewriters?
With stress reducing clicks
Not anxiety producing taps
Which monitor words per minute
All alone in a quiet room

Room by Book//All The Time in The World

All The Time In The World is a book with a romantic notion that certainly yearns for traditions long past. These traditions tend to be off the beaten trail, and the furniture is a testament to that exploring. The carpet is from a small, local rug shop in Instanbul that tells some story a weaver had in mineg long ago. However, the book has a slight objectification with Japan has shown with the Asian inspired sideboard. While rowing down the canals of Venice, a light fixture was found that had too much of a blend of Asian traces and classic Italian influence. The wall hanging was found in a little dusty antique shop in St Petersburg, even though the information regarding it was not understood. Overall, this time I just wanted the Room by Book to be an ode of unique things not found by the ordinary.

All The Time In The World: A Book of Hours (cover) by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
Usagi Sideboard by Greentea Design
Proibita by Venetia Studium
Hereke Silk Rug from Ozturk Rug House
(Unamed but seems to be a wall hanging) from Russkaya Starina (rusant.ru)

Traveling//Paris

A view from a friend's hotel room

Recently I went to Paris (the one in France not Ontario). It was fun a little trip though I must say the time I spent reading on the trip was pitiful except on the plane. Here are some of the pictures and experiences I had.

In each city there is a designated center for all map quest/direction finders. The center is what automatically is pinpointed when one types "City Name" in the search bar. This is the point in Paris right outside of Notre Dame. There is also a cool sun in the middle-- so why not?

Catacombs

 There are miles upon miles of bones underneath the city of Paris. These bones were excavated from the Cemetery of the Innocents back in the 1700s because of the overflowing number of bones. The Catacombs were the solution and have been a tourist attraction for hundreds of years. It was not as creepy as I thought it would be, but leaves a somber mood. I also first heard of the Catacombs from the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott.

Owl from Louvre

Of course I went to the Louvre, since it would be a sin not to, but I found the Mona Lisa way too overcrowded and not cut up for what it is. This is a simple owl that I found cool representing Athena the Greek god of wisdom. The owl reminds me of Jonathan Adler animal sculptures with the simple lines. 

Paris Airshow

I went to the Paris Airshow to see what all the hubbub was about during a public day and it was quite cool. I don't understand all the technicalities, but the design portion was intriguing because it is easily understood also I've been on many planes and some are more comfortable than others. The plane here is a Rafale-- a new French fighter which is a beautiful plane for how it can't slow down and turn with ease. I loved the many uses of the Rafale which is an all purpose military plane.

Versailles Gardens

The gardens of Versailles are pruned to perfection. The amount of work that has been put into it is astonishing, just showing the extravagance of the French Court. I accidentally walked out of the gardens and found myself stuck outside since I didn't have my ticket and ended up having to walk along the street outside the park back to the main palace where I met my parents. Make sure when going to the garden you realize people 6-18 have to pay for the gardens but not for the palace (they accidentally let me through by accident). The small space open to the public in the palace is astonishing for the opulence just as the gardens feel like a rich woman's dream.

Nicholas Flamel's house

This is another place from the The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel books. Nicholas Flamel's old house is now a restaurant, built upon the ruins of his old house. Ther is a warm glow from inside the restaurant though we didn't get to eat there. There is also a street called Rue de Nicholas Flamel not far away. Even if you don't eat at the restaurant it's a fun little walk.

Overall a wonderful, fun trip that makes me want to learn French all the much more and fall in love with the richness of the French way of life and history.

A Few Months of Wrap-Ups

A door from my trip to Paris

There hasn't been a wrap up lately due to my inactivity, so I've decided to one of posts since March. It has been a hard last couple months with having to move and put my book blogging hobby as a much more public thing I do. I hope to get back into books and blogging though I don't have access to my own laptop, so some of the graphics will be kind of weird.

Reviews
Red Queen
The Sin Eater's Daughters
Material Girls
The Conspiracy of Us

Other
Book Club//When You Reach Me
Books//Poetry
Why I Love My Library

Room by Book
Red Queen

Review: Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Goodreads | Amazon

Stand Alone

Published by St Martin's Press February 28, 2013

328 Pages

Source: Library

Bookologists Analysis: A cute romance of the nitty and gritty world of the 80s and high school.

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Eleanor and Park had the vibe of something real. The story was set with a broken household and with a multiracial household. It isn't the  perfect suburban romance which is so common in the teen section. The constant tenacity of Eleanor was understandable, but sometimes it got on my nerves. Eleanor had the right psychology in how Rainbow Rowell wanted to present Eleanor, however it isn't how I wanted to see the book. On the flip side, Park was determined and stubborn through out-- something I identify more so with. Even at the end however the main character traits had not changed. For me the character development was little stagnate despite the possibility of more growth especially along the plot line of families. 

The writing of Eleanor and Park has been heralded by much of the YA community, though I can't disagree with it, I don't fully join the choruses. The writing of Eleanor and Park is a needed addition to the teen romance repitiore. The addition is need especially considering the period of time the book is set in (70s/80s) not being fleshed out in YA writing because it's not exactly historical ficiton or realistic ficiton exactly. Many YA writers grew during this time, so it's their reality, while for teens the time period is shrouded in clouds. I think Rowell exposing the more ordinary, middle class part of this period is necessarry. 

I really enojoyed the freshness of the Eleanor and Park. The writing laid out the occasional the poetic flashes of the teenage brain, but also simplicity of a train of thoughts. The actual story line was a little bland, but I encourage people to give Rainbow Rowell a try even if the story isn't revolutionary.  It's more of a subtle turn of page with a story of the ordinary. Rating: 3.5 Stars

Why I Love My Library

The greatest treasure of public institutions is the library. The library is a multi-faceted place for private public congregation. My first introduction to the public library system, I remember, is probably the time in pre-k when my class took a trip to the local branch. There we picked up our first library cards and got to explore the little, dreary branch. It was there I got to see the pitfalls of public funding first hand while still fill my craving for books. Later on we moved and I wasn't allowed to go the local library due to issues with safety; during that time almost every weekend my father and I would go to a bookstore and sit there for hours to read. Each time we left I was pained with the experience of not being able buy each book I was reading. Since then at least every week I've gone to my local  branch and fell head over heels for everything about my local library.

 Location, Location, Location

The library I frequent is right on a small lake which it faces. Often times I get to see sailboats pass by and nice houses on the other side which makes the atmosphere quite tranquil. It is also right in town making the library centrally located and convenient if there are other errands I need to run. The library building is also eco-friendly being accredited by LEED and is quite new giving it a clean, modern feel.

Programs

Despite there being a current trend of library defunding in the United States my current library has quite the breadth of things to offer. Recently a maker lab was opened up with access to objects like podcast equipment, sewing machines, and Minecraft specific computer (yes, there are people who come with their friends to solely play Minecraft). For younger kids there are also literacy programs and cute play sets to entertain them.  However for teens-- an often neglected group of children there is a specific section of the library dedicated to YA, teen club, and special volunteer program for teens. They even manage to have age targeted summer reading programs.

Books
There are FREE books! What is not to love about it? Book stores are hard to get to from where I live right now while the library is within walking distance. My library is also great at buying books that they don't have and have a huge shared collection in their district. The library is what funds my book addiction since I also have this habit of not reading books I buy right away because I figure I'll keep them forever while library books have a due date

It's also great to meet fellow booklovers and librarians who are so passionate about public service and books. Thank you to all the people who support libraries around the world.

Review: Material Girls

Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos Goodreads | Amazon

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers May 5, 2015

336 Pages

Source: Library

Bookologists Analysis: Eco friendly book meets scifi meets good old YA. 

In Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new “eco-chic” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives?
        Smart, provocative, and entertaining, this thrilling page-turner for teens questions the cult like mentality of fame and fashion. Are you in or are you out?

The garment industry’s environmental impact is not given a lot of attention or thought about, especially in the YA sphere let alone big issues in YA like global warming or fair working conditions. The draw for me to Material Girls is the tackling of the issue of the garment industry in its career paths, materialism, and waste. However I didn't fully realize that the clothing industry was pivotal till the end of the book which made the book that much more accessible. The issues were also very clear in the extreme of a materialistic quasi scifi world of Material Girls.

A fabulous thing about Material Girls is that it is a summer read-- very light and quick while still having a wonderful female centric character group. For a YA novel to be so light in the romance area it was refreshing and a reminder of how determined the heroines in the genre are. The character development was easy to follow as the book unraveled into differing opinions on environmental issues. Without being in first person the decisions and reasoning made in each narrator was remarkably clear. My one issue with the book was the worldbuilding. Some of the terms and technology were very hard to comprehend due to the lack of explanation. It took quite a time for me to understand the Tap (when children are chosen to be in the creative field or not). The family dynamic was also hard to pick up on as the looseness of the familial unit.

Material Girl raises questions about our habits in clothing and fair trade which is nicely supplemented with resources in the back of the book. The conflict between the pop star and fashion designer was simple and clean with the needed plot though it was a bit hard to appreciate without the setting well placed. An overall rounded read that comes to a satisfying conclusion that leaves a topic to ponder.