Thursday 28 February 2013

The Curious Explorer's Illustrated Guide to Exotic Animals A - Z by Marc Martin

Marc Martin is a French born Australian artist.

He illustrated one of my favourite picture books from last year - A Forest - a lovely story about caring for forests, trees and the environment.

The simple environmental message is amplified by the gorgeous watercolours, textures and pencil illustrations.

Each page is a work of art that I found myself pouring over time after time.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to his next book with great anticipation!

And today his gorgeous Exotic Animals A-Z arrived in our local bookshop - I've been drooling over his illustrations all afternoon!

The book itself is an over-sized hardback with a lovely glossy, colourful cover. Each page feels like a unique art print - specially bound together for your viewing pleasure.


I love Martin's illustrations for many reasons.

I love the colours, the implied textures, the shapes and balance. I also love that his work often reminds me of Charley Harper - I feel sure they are kindred spirits!

I love that Martin's illustrations can make me appreciate the beauty of a red-back spider. As for his treatment of the zeal of zebras...it is pure heaven.

If you want to see what I mean, please click the link on his name at the beginning of this post.

Happy Reading





Wednesday 27 February 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a lovely meme hosted by Bermuda Onion each week to highlight new (to us) words that we come across in our daily reading.

This week I'm reading The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington for my Classics Club Spin challenge.

It's a lovely old-fashioned read so far, but a few words in particular have puzzled me.

Pg 9: "The house was the pride of the town. Faced with stone as far back as the dinig-room windows, it was a house of arches and turrets and girdling stone porches: it had the first porte-cochere seen in the town."

Girdling: n. (Arch) an ornamental band, especially one surrounding the shaft of a column.


Porte-cochere: n. (Arch.) A large doorway allowing vehicles to drive into or through a building. It is common to have the entrance door open upon the passage of the porte-cochère. Also, a porch over a driveway before an entrance door.

This is the house that Tarkington based the Amberson mansion on - Woodruff Place, Indianapolis. The columns on the porte-cochere have an ornamental band around them!

Pg 54: "...the open window afforded the occupants of the cutter a glimpse of a tired,fine old face, a silk hat, a pearl tie and an astrachan collar, evidently out to take the air."

Astrakhan: n.
1. The curly, wavy wool of young lambs from Astrakhan. A city of southwest Russia on the Volga River delta.
2. A fabric with a curly looped pile, made to resemble this fur.
This is an image from a James Bond movie featuring an astrakhan collar!!

Pg 109: "...it seemed to flaunt a kind of parvenu ignorance, as if it were actually pleased to be unaware that all the aristocratic and really important families were buried in the old section."

Parvenu: A person from a humble background who has rapidly gained wealth or an influential social position; a nouveau riche; an upstart, a social climber. Generally used with the implication that the person concerned is unsuited to the new social position, esp. through lacking the necessary manners or accomplishments.

Pg 120: "...his thought was that living with a person so sensitive to kindly raillery might prove lugubrious."

Lugubrious: adj. gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.


Monday 25 February 2013

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I'm not sure what else I can add to all the rave reviews already multiplying in bloggerland about The Fault in Our Stars.

Except to say, that in my humble opinion, they're all spot on - rave away!

I read Paper Towns about 3 years ago (I was interested to note how my blogging style had changed in that time). Back then I was impressed by Green's ability to capture teenage dialogue so perfectly - the sass, the attitude, the humour.
The Fault in Our Stars is no different.

Hazel and Augustus may be living with cancer but Green shows how humour can add to quality of life and promote resilience. He also shows us ways of being strong and determined and that it's okay to ask for help. He shows us ways to live our lives, the importance of connecting & relating to those around you. He shows us the good bits and the bad bits. And he shows us ways to grieve.

This book is about older teens, therefore the content is more suitable for older teens. There are numerous sexual comments and a couple of low-key sex scenes. However, this is a book about relationships, life and death and therefore suitable for anyone old enough to grapple with such ideas!

As an aside, I love how The Great Gatsby has completely insinuated itself in to my life at the moment. There was a Gatsby reference in 1Q84 (below) and now we have another one in this book!

In reference to a character in a book Hazel & Gus read together, "He isn't a con man or not a con man; he's God. He's an obvious and unambiguous metaphorical representation of God, and asking what becomes of him is the intellectual equivalent of asking what becomes of the disembodied eyes of Dr T.J. Ecklesburg in Gatsby."

After Paper Towns I wanted to read more Green. I don't know why I waited 3 years to do so - perhaps I was concerned he wouldn't live up to my high expectations?

But he did...and I will definitely read his other books - soon!!

Tuesday 19 February 2013

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - Book 2

I ended up having a little mini-break between book 1 and book 2.

My mental images of the Little People were starting to creep me out and I felt it would be healthier to put some distance between them and me!

Book 2 has definitely taken a more sci-fi turn with the sinister meter turned up several more notches.

Aomame and Tengo are drawing closer together as their understanding of 1Q84's world increases.

It took me a little while to get back into the rhythm of the story, but it eventually got to the point where I couldn't put it down.

I no longer need a break between the 2 voices as both Tengo & Aomame feel so familiar now that I can easily pick up where we left off at the last chapter. Maybe it also has something to do with how the two stories are slowly coming closer and closer together. (Some people might say too slowly, but I'm enjoying the anticipation, the suspense and the missed opportunities so far.)

I've loved the Orwellian references in book 2 as well as The Great Gatsby quote (esp since Gatsby was the book I read between book 1 and book 2!)

Murakami's ability to make his 1Q84 world so real is incredible. I'm not usually very visual when I read (for me it's about character & mood), but I have so many vivid images in my head for the Little People and the 2 moons that they're invading my dreams.

The image of the Little People emerging from the dead goats mouth & the exploding dog will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Book 3 will now have to wait for me to finish my Classics Club spin challenge (see below). But since I've heard that book 3 feels different to the other two due to the change in translator, a little time delay will probably be good.

Thursday 14 February 2013

Jon Klassen

I Want My Hat Back (2011) is a picture book for older children and adults.

Poor bear has lost his hat.
The illustrations highlight his despondancy as he asks all the other animals "have you seen my hat?"
As you read the book you can almost feel your own shoulders droop in despair as you shuffle along hopelessly with bear.

The ah-ha moment for bear and reader alike is invigorating and the end - shocking!
 
The black humour and dry wit goes over the head of most younger readers. In fact, the ending can scare them outright!!

But older children (4+) and adults love the shock they experience at the end. They turn back to the start to read it again & again, not quite sure that what happened actually happened.

Bear's story turns out to be one of possession and theft, truth and lies and an eye for an eye.

This Is Not My Hat (2012) follows the same themes but from the opposite point of view.

Naughty fish has stolen the bigger fishes hat.

He knows he has done the wrong thing and spends the entire book justifying his actions.

He believes he has got away with his crime...right up until he comes to the same sticky end as the rabbit in I Want My Hat Back!

The endings are shocking & even controversial but they appeal to most children's ideas of black and white justice - bad things happen to people (and animals) who do bad things.

I could spend another entire blog post raving about Klassen's illustrations! 
His books are true picture books where half the story is revealed through the drawings. They are joyful in their wickedness.

I dare you not to chuckle out loud!


Wednesday 13 February 2013

The Classic Spin #1

This month the Classics Club is challenging us all to a Classic Spin.

Post 20 unread books from your Classics List.

Next week a random number will be selected by one of the lovely hosts at The Classics Club...and that's the book you read next month!

Easy and fun!

I've spent some time going through fellow spinners to match my numbers to one of their books (or authors) so I will hopefully be reading my book (or the same author at least) with one other CC'er! The ones in red are direct book/author matches, the rest are author matches.

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington                   12. Angus @ Book Rhapsody
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte                             2. Kristi Loves Books

Beloved by Toni Morrison                               18. Wandering in the Stacks
The Diary of Anne Frank (reread)                   10. Maria @ Hobby Buku
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle         13. Katherine @ November's Autumn
Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac            19. Suey's Books

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford            8.  Laura @ Reading in Bed
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith                5.   Amanda @ Simpler Pastimes
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad              11.  Crafts4others

The Magnificent Amberson's by Booth Tarkington  14. Cat @ Tell Me A Story
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath                                   9.  Hillary @ A Horse and a Carrot
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov      16. Wandering in the Stacks

Ninety Three by Victor Hugo          7. Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy and Maria @ Hobby Buku
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell                           4. Risa @ Breadcrumb Reads
Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy                   3. Donna @ Scrambled Books

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch                          6.  Lynn's Books
The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson                        15. All Things Booker
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut                     17. Emily @ Classics and Beyond

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolfe                  20. Mary @ Bibliographic
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope           1. Athena @ Aquatique

Let the games begin! And may the odds be ever in your favour.


MONDAY 18th February:

And the winner is......#14

The Magnificent Amberson's by Booth Tarkington

Instagram #ccspin

Tuesday 12 February 2013

The Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

Everything about this charming picture book screams 'classic'!

Yet The Library Lion was only published in 2006.

This is a picture book for older readers (i.e. readers who can sit still for a longer period of time) as there is more text than you find in most picture books these days.

What follows is a very sweet tale of a lion trying to find a place to belong (a library), the adjustments he has to make to fit in with the rules of the library, the opposition he faces by some who already belong and think that he shouldn't and the acceptance and understanding he eventually inspires in everybody.

The final few pages cause me to tear up every single time I read it, but then the theme of belonging has been one of my life-long personal issues!

The old fashioned style illustrations, the quaint, gentle story and the universal themes of belonging and acceptance all add up to a modern day classic in the making.

I love it and hope you do too!

Saturday 9 February 2013

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

I haven't read The Great Gatsby for 15 years or more.

Last week I saw a preview for the Baz Luhrman movie with Leonardo Dicaprio as Gatsby. It looked extremely sumptious, extravagant and dramatic. I also felt that liberties were being taken with the story!

When I got home I pulled my copy off the shelf and promptly began rereading it.

I first read The Great Gatsby in my teen years for a school assignment. At the time I was disappointed by how slight the book was. Back then I judged a book by its size!

At 15, the romantic angst and longing of Gatsby seemed rather ridiculous. The book was full of un-nice people; the only person I liked was Nick and I couldn't understand why the book wasn't about him instead.

However, I duly took on board the stuff about the green light, FSF's use of the narrator, the eyes of Dr T J Eckleburg and the whole illusion/reality debate, but I didn't really care - just enough to get a good mark in my assignment!

I can't remember why I chose to reread The Great Gatsby in my twenties.

Perhaps I was in the middle of one of my Paris love affairs? Or feeling nostalgic for ye old New York? Maybe I watched the old Robert Redford and Mia Farrow movie?

Either way I rediscovered Gatsby, Daisy and Nick and saw them with fresh eyes.

I loved the sparse, finely honed use of language. I loved how FSF evoked the time and place and I appreciated the complexities of his characters far more.

And now...fifteen years later...I was once again struck by the ridiculousness of Gatsby's desires and dreams and how little Gatsby based them on reality. He was the type who lived very much for the future...he would be happy when rather than now.

"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion."

In January I read The Beautiful and Damned and realised how much it was the forerunner of Gatsby.

FSF saw that making these un-nice people the narrators didn't work; it was too hard to work up any sympathy for them. But seeing them through someone else's sympathetic eyes allowed us to view their complexities and foibles more favourably.

"Gatsby...there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life."

"Daisy took her face in her hands as if feeling its lovely shape."

"Jordan, who had begun to balance an invisible but absorbing object on the tip of her chin."

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this reread. Compared to the long-winded The Beautiful and Damned, Gatsby was exquisite in its precision. This reading allowed me to see the writer at work - the effort behind the scenes to make The Great Gatsby flow and connect so effortlessly was a delight in craftmenship.

I'm curious now to see what Baz Luhrman can bring to this story!

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a lovely meme hosted by Bermuda Onion each week to highlight new (to us) words that we come across in our daily reading.

This week I've been rereading The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald for the Classics Club.

Although I've read this book several times, the last time was about 15 years ago which might explain why I cannot remember any of these words!

1. Echolalia "There was a boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden."

Echolalia is the often involuntary & senseless repetition of heard words.
                         
 _____________________________________________ 

2. Nonolfactory "Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of nonolfactory money."

I knew this had something to do with smell, or to be more precise, lack of smell but I pondered over it's use in this particular sentence. Naturally google had the answer - this exact question had been asked and answered on yahoo...with the best answer being...

"So you could functionally interpret "non-olfactory" here to mean without the stink of corruption and greed or other tainted realities.

Poetically, in a city "built with a wish," non-olfactory money would be a gleaming investment from a pure heart."


Now you know!

_____________________________________________   

3. Trimalchio "It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night - and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over."

Trimalchio is a character created by Petronius in the 1st century AD. Trimalchio was a freedman who attained great wealth and power through hard work and persistance. He was famous for throwing extravagant, exotic dinner parties.

'Trimalchio in West Egg' was Fitzgerald working title for the Great Gatsby.

_____________________________________________

4. Pasquinade "When Michaelis's testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson's suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade - but Catherine, who might have said anything, didn't say a word."

An anonymous lampoon or satire in verse or prose. Usually presented in a public place to ridicule a specific person.

_____________________________________________

Friday 1 February 2013

M is for Myers-Briggs Literary Characters


I came across this Huffington Post article called 16 Fiction Book Characters Myers-Briggs Personality Types.

And I knew I had to try it out.

First I had to retake the Myers-Briggs test (link for test provided in the article).

I've taken the test several times over the years.

I'm usually an INFJ, but tonight when I retook the test I was an INTJ (each time the percentage hovers around 10% which means I'm only a 'slight' F or T depending on the mood of the day! It could also be the length and complexity of the test - the INFJ results come out on the longer tests.)

So tonight I'm .......Pride and Prejudice!

If I was in the INFJ mode I would be ....Little Women!

Both could easily be me. The Protector and the Strategist. Rational and Idealistic. Principled and Efficient.

The colour test was interesting (link also in article).

I haven't done one like that before and I'm curious how they made the link between colour, the sequence and what that might say about your personality!

I can see an introspective, research kind of weekend coming my way!!

Have you done your Myers-Briggs personality test lately?
What are you?
Does yours change slightly over time or each time?

This post has also been linked to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday 'M is for Myers-Briggs' meme.