Lovely Books and Things - 3.14.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Planning and setting up my first bullet journal for 2020 - decided to migrate from my Happy Planner system

2. Listening and prepping to sing Rossini's Stabat Mater in chorus when rehearsals will hopefully kick in again in April.

3. First embroidery class for series at the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design - started out learning 8 stitches on a doodle muslin cloth before attempting the San Francisco Victorian house design

side note: I am participating in the 25 MILLION STITCHES - ONE STITCH FOR EACH REFUGEE (details here) and using a design created by my kid

The world is in flight. 25 million people* across the globe have been forced to flee their homelands as a consequence of genocide, war, poverty, natural disasters, targeted violence, and other grave threats. They leave behind everything they’ve known and possessed in order to live; they face immense struggles, misfortunes, and perils on their journey; and, through it all, survival, much less successful resettlement, remains but the slimmest hope.

Please join this project to hand-stitch 25 million stitches: one stitch for each refugee. How does making 25 million stitches help refugees? We believe that this project is a way for us to engage with this global crisis instead of ignoring it. And even though no single stitch can fully represent an individual, the act of stitching and the resulting work will help bring attention to the scale of the crisis. Two objectives of the project are:

1. To engage as many people as possible to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis and

2. To amass 25 million stitches to visually represent the sheer volume of this astronomical figure of refugees.

Here is my March tbr pile with the embroidery piece to be submitted. Dragon design created by Aber.

~*~
Bought:

The Jetsetters
by Amanda Eyre Ward
-Contemporary | Goodreads
REESE bookclub March selection.


Author event:

The Phantom Twin
by Lisa Brown
-Graphic Novel, YA, Ghosts | Goodreads
Booksmith hosted a reading, slide show and Q&A of Lisa Brown in conversation with Wendy Macnaughton.

I was fortunate to attend this event before most public event cancellations in the city due to the Coronavirus.


For review:

What I Like About Me
by Jenna Guillame
courtesy of publisher for blog tour - Thanks!
-YA | Goodreads

AND watched: in theatre

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (original title)
Director/screenplay: Céline Sciamma
Stars: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami
-Drama, Romance, France | imdb | my rating: 5
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

LOVED this so much. I watched it twice. Superb setting, costumes and artist aesthetic. References to Orpheus and Eurydice.

Emma. (2020)
Director: Autumn de Wilde
Screenplay: Eleanor Catton
Based on book by: Jane Austen
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn

-Comedy, Drama, England, Jane Austen | imdb | my rating: 5
In 1800s England, a well meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.

LOVED this one too. Saw it twice as well :-) So many fun scenes and loved the sights and sounds of their world.

Onward (2020)
Director: Dan Scanlon
Writers: Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin, Jason Headley
Stars: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
-Animation, Adventure, Comedy | imdb | my rating: 5
Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there.

PLEASANTLY surprised with this. Wonderful story with the fantasy element.

Happy Pi Day!
~*~
* source: pies

* please note: This blog is on hiatus this year, but will have intermittent posts throughout.

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Take care, stay healthy!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

October Oddities

READ the rest of this awesome comic strip Ten-in-One created by Lisa Brown at the Rumpus.

~*~
Oddities FREE from Kindle:

MachoPoni:
A Prance with Death
(Poniworld Chronicles #1)
by Lotus Rose
In this "children's book for adults," MachoPoni has no choice but to enter the Dark Kingdom, where the undead ponies roam. He must rescue Dust, the poni he loves from the dark princess's castle, using wit, creativity and his magic bouncy blue ball to survive. A twisted parody of My Little Pony, The Care Bears, and other 80's staples. Warning: contains gore and mild sexual content.

The Emo Bunny that Should
A Story for Demented Children
by John H. Carroll
Emo the Bunny was a sad bunny. He preferred gloomy days, walks over a cliff and misery of any sort. One day he saw something very unusual. Normally he'd take a nap and try to forget about it, but for some reason he took an interest.

Ducks, bunnies, chickens, squirrels, geese, bears, cows, robins and The Easter Bunny all play a part in the disturbing events which show that woodland creatures aren't always as cute, fuzzy and innocent as they lead us to believe!

Caution: This story is not for normal children. If you have any intention of raising a well adjusted child, this is not the right tale for you.

-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown

Picture the Dead
by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown

Published: 2010
Genre: Ghosts, YA
Hardback: 272 pages
Rating: 5

Description from the amazon:
A ghost will find his way home.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

When Jennie forms an unlikely alliance with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover secrets about the man she thought she loved. With her sanity on edge and her life in the balance, can Jennie expose the chilling truth before someone-or something-stops her?

Against the brutal, vivid backdrop of the American Civil War, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have created a spellbinding mystery where the living cannot always be trusted and death is not always the end.

My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): keys
I really liked this ghost story. But then again, it had me with its illustrations.

The historical nature, culture of the times and engaging mystery are appealing. The added images with scrapbook feel to it ties in really well.

If you visit the Picture the Dead website you get even more delightful tidbits of spirits, social history, old photos and illustrations of the time period.

-+0+o+ Book Giveaway courtesy of author +o+0+-
signup for giveaway here

AND

Leave a comment here for an extra point to go towards the
Alice prize pack giveaway


~*~
* if you haven't already, check out the October Trix-n-Treatz guest posts by

Lisa: Alice meets WerePuss

Adele: Alice meet WereGhouls


-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Alice meets WerePuss

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Lisa Brown
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

"Cheshire Puss," Alice began,
as she did not at all know whether it
would like the name: however, it only
grinned a little wider. "Come, it's
pleased so far," thought Alice, &
she went on. "Would you tell
me, please, which
way I ought to go from
HERE?

"That depends on
WHERE you want to
GET TO,"
said the cat.

~end

Were post created for October Trix-n-Treatz by Lisa Brown
© 2010. All rights reserved.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Lisa Brown
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

-+0+o+ Book Giveaway courtesy of authors +o+0+-

Picture the Dead
by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown
sign up for this giveway

AND

Leave a comment here for an extra point to go towards the
Alice prize pack giveaway


-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Ghosts: Jennie

G H O S T S
At the top of the second set of stairs, Yara suggests that you turn right and she'll turn left to look for the elusive Igor.

Walking along the corridor you spot a scrapbooks atop a console table. You flip through it and see some portraits and memorabilia from the U.S. Civil war era.

The door behind you slowly creaks open. A young lady dressed in formal attire peeks out.

Oh, Hello. I thought I heard someone walking about. I see you've discoverd my scrapbook. Would like to know a bit more about the items in there?

Jennie proceeds to tell you about her ghostly encounters...

Picture the Dead
by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown
Description from the amazon:
A ghost will find his way home.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

When Jennie forms an unlikely alliance with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover secrets about the man she thought she loved. With her sanity on edge and her life in the balance, can Jennie expose the chilling truth before someone-or something-stops her?

Against the brutal, vivid backdrop of the American Civil War, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have created a spellbinding mystery where the living cannot always be trusted and death is not always the end.

-+0+o+ Prize Pack Giveaway courtesy of authors +o+0+-


Prize pack includes:
Book and t-shirt

Open to all.

Offer ends: October 31, 2010

TO DO (2-parts):

1. Sign the guestbook (if you signed it already or in September - no need)

2. Visit the Picture the Dead - spirits and tell me something you learned from one of the spirit posts.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

* image source portrait


-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

Launch: Picture the Dead

Picture the Dead
by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown

Just released: May 1, 2010

Description from the amazon:
A ghost will find his way home.

Jennie Lovell's life is the very picture of love and loss. First she is orphaned and forced to live at the mercy of her stingy, indifferent relatives. Then her fiancé falls on the battlefield, leaving her heartbroken and alone. Jennie struggles to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but is haunted by a mysterious figure that refuses to let her bury the past.

When Jennie forms an unlikely alliance with a spirit photographer, she begins to uncover secrets about the man she thought she loved. With her sanity on edge and her life in the balance, can Jennie expose the chilling truth before someone-or something-stops her?

Against the brutal, vivid backdrop of the American Civil War, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have created a spellbinding mystery where the living cannot always be trusted and death is not always the end.

LIVE Event:

Book Launch Party
Picture the Dead
with authors Lisa Brown and Adele Griffin
and guest host Lemony Snicket
at The Booksmith
San Francisco
May 6, 7:30 pm
Your delightful presence is requested. Come in ghostly and/or Civil-War era costume, indulge in wonderful surprises, purchase a copy of Picture the Dead and have a "ghost picture" taken with our guests, and celebrate with us a remarkably excellent collaboration!

OR

Attend virtually via UStream with fellow bloggers Lisa and Laura.

And they will also be on the Teen Fire Chat discussing the event live.

You can also win a copy from them by leaving a comment on their site.

The hook:

What got me excited about going to this event is reading this from The Booksmith newsletter...

Lisa Brown’s stunning illustrations of daguerreotypes, family portraits and clues, along with a troubling mystery and more than one meddling spirit, give this historical illustrated novel a Cold Mountain feel for its teen audience.

Sample of daguerreotype:

Two Girls Looking at a Picture Book, ca. 1850–55
unknown artist
Daguerreotype; 19.1 x 15.2 cm (7 1/2 x 6 in.)
Département des Estampes et de la Photographie,
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
~*~
Note: This story and mention of dagerreotype photos reminded me of the movie, The Others (2001), directed by Alejandro Amenábar, and starring Nicole Kidman.

There is part of the movie where a 'book of the dead' is presented. According to the wikipedia entry, the book shows mourning portraits taken in the 19th century of recently deceased corpses. Morbid, eh? But something that was actually done back then.

So, I'll be attending the event and get myself a copy which will probably be up for grabs after I read it.

~*~

* A daguerreotype (original French: daguerréotype) was the first large scale commercial photographic process.

It was developed by Louis Daguerre together with Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Niepce had produced the first photographic image in the camera obscura using asphaltum on a copper plate sensitised with lavender oil that required very long exposures.
-wikipedia