Lovely Books and Things - 5.4.19

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

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Browsing at the art fairs and festivals

2. Getting familiar with music lyrics for Bring Me A Woman and I Did It from Allison Lovejoy's The 7 Deadly Pleasures. The chorus will also perform selected pieces for the Carmina Burana and Cabaret Spring show (here).

3. Sending out my first postcard to Germany via Postcrossing project (here)
This is a postcard exchange program with randomly matched up people from anywhere in the world per postcard (or you could opt for just your country).

~*~
Bought:

A Night in With Audrey Hepburn
by Lucy Holliday
-Chick-lit | Goodreads
THE covers for this series are so cute. Thought I would give this try.


Author event:

Book Passage, Corte Madera, hosted a conversation between authors Miriam Toews and R.O. Kwan to celebrate the release of Women Talking. Learned a bit about the Mennonite world which is a focus in the book.

Woman Talking
by Miriam Toews
-Literary, Feminism | Goodreads

Review:

An Improbable Pairing
by Gary Dickson
-Historical, Romance | Goodreads
SWITZERLAND setting calls to me for this one as well as the dreamy cover.


Library:

The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon
-Fantasy | Goodreads
YES, influenced by the buzz around this one. And, the massive size of it (848 pages).


AND watched: in theatre

The Roxie theatre hosted a Q&A with Savannah and Justin which included background history of the making of the film. It took them 10 years to put it together.

J.T. Leroy (2019)
Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy (original title)
Director/Writer: Justin Kelly
Writers/memoir: Savannah Knoop
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Jim Sturgess
-Biography, Drama | imdb | my rating: 4
A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be the celebrated author JT LeRoy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

THIS is a good companion piece to watch along with Author: The JT Leroy Story because you get Savannah's side of the story.

Based on this book:

Girl Boy Girl:
How I Became JT Leroy
by Savannah Knoop
-Memoir, LGBTQ | Goodreads

The SF Public Library hosted a Q&A with photographer/director, Luigi Toscano which included discussion on the art exhibit currently displayed at the SF Civic Center.

Lest We Forget (2018)
Director: Luigi Toscano
-Documentary | details | my rating: 5
The documentary Lest We Forget follows the German-Italian artist Luigi Toscano over years of fascinating working experience. The documentary allows the viewer an insight into his work for the exhibition. “The portrayed survivors are the faces and voices of the culture of remembrance,” says the artist in conjunction with his exhibit in San Francisco. “Lest We Forget is much more than just looking back at our dark past: It urges everyone to confront the past in order to ensure that nothing like the Holocaust ever happens again.”

DEFINITELY something to behold if this exhibit or film hits your town.

AND watched: on DVD

Kusama: Infinity (2018)
Director/Writers: Heather Lenz
Co-writer: Keita Ideno
Star: Yayoi Kusama
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
Artist Yayoi Kusama and experts discuss her life and work, from her modest beginnings in Japan to becoming an internationally renowned artist.

AMAZING artist. I did not know she was such an innovative and influential artist. It is wonderful to see her get acknowledged!

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Waiting on Wednesday - 2.22.17

Waiting on Wednesday
hosted by Breaking the Spine
Spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
I'm waiting for...

The Song Rising
(The Bone Season #3)
by Samantha Shannon
-Fantasy, SciFi, YA
Release date: March 7, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
The hotly anticipated third book in the bestselling Bone Season series – a ground-breaking, dystopian fantasy of extraordinary imagination

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population.

But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilising the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it…

HAVE not yet read book 2, but I am excited to see that the series continues.

Love-A-Thon 2016

Love-A-Thon
February 20-21, 2016
hosted by:
Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
Cee @ The Novel Hermit
Hazel @ Stay Bookish
Mel @ The Daily Prophecy
The Love-a-Thon is an event dedicated to spreading positivity and love. It’s time dedicated to visiting other bloggers/Instagrammers/BookTubers, leaving a comment or two, making new friends and fostering positivity among the members of our amazing community. As in the previous years, the event will include mini challenges, Twitter chats and giveaways galore!

IF you are new here, welcome!

Some things about me...

What’s your name? vvb

Where in the world are you blogging from? California

How did you get into blogging in the first place? I was influenced by a reading book challenge which included V.C. Andrews novels.

How did you come up with your blog name? Simple and to the point theme.

What genre do you read and review the most on your blog? YA, but mostly eclectic.

What other types of posts do you do on your blog, apart from reviews? Currently I have been participating in Stacking the Shelves meme and some blog tours. In the past I created virtual book themed events.

Best blogging experience so far? Pemberley Ball - Jane Austen themed virtual book event

Favorite thing about the blogging community? Visits from fellow bloggers.

Name the 3 books you’re most excited for this 2016!

Koreatown
A Cookbook
by Matt Rodbard, Deuki Hong
-Cookbook, Korea
Release date: February 16, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Because of my recent interest in things Korean.

Kill The Boy Band
by Goldy Moldavsky
-Humor, YA
Release date: February 23, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> For something to make me laugh.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , Parts I & II
by J.K. Rowling
-Fantasy, YA
Release date: July 31, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Because Harry Potter is irresistible.

Name the 3 books you want to read this 2016 that you didn’t get to in previous years!

The Mime Order
(The Bone Season #2)
by Samantha Shannon
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Because I really enjoyed book 1.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here
by Patrick Ness
-Fantasy, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Because I want to try a Ness book this year and I like the premise of this one.

Gratitude
by Oliver Sacks
-Essays, Memoir
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> For some things to ponder on.

Pick out either a book you want turned into a film/TV show, or a film/TV show you want turned into a book.

Stone Rider
by David Hofmeyr
-Dystopia, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Because the visuals would be amazing and the characters would be great heart throbs.

What would your dream library look like? Floor to ceiling books with a fireplace and cozy comfy couch

Author you want to meet and sit down to tea with? Jane Austen

~*~
* Mix & Match challenge here
* Book Spine Poetry challenge (here)

Stacking the Shelves - 1.31.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

~*~
Bought:

The Mime Order
(The Bone Season #2)
by Samantha Shannon
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> so excited about getting this! just need to figure out when to squeeze it in the reading schedule

For Review:

Darkness
(Florence Waverley, #3)
by Ciye Cho
-Fantasy, Mermaid
courtesy of author
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

Blue Sun, Yellow Sky
by by Jamie Hoang
-Women's Fiction
courtesy of author
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

New Uses for Old Boyfriends
by Beth Kendrick
-Women's Fiction
courtesy of BookSparks
Thanks !
Amazon | Signup to win this on Goodreads -expires Feb 3
Library:

Kill My Mother
by Jules Feiffer
-Graphic Novel
Amazon | Goodreads
When three daunting dolls intersect with one hapless heroine and a hard-boiled private eye, deception, betrayal, and murder stalk every mean street in… Kill My Mother.

Adding to a legendary career that includes a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, Obie Awards, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Cartoonist Society and the Writers Guild of America, Jules Feiffer now presents his first noir graphic novel. Kill My Mother is a loving homage to the pulp-inspired films and comic strips of his youth. Channeling Eisner's The Spirit, along with the likes of Hammett, Chandler, Cain, John Huston, and Billy Wilder, and spiced with the deft humor for which Feiffer is renowned, Kill My Mother centers on five formidable women from two unrelated families, linked fatefully and fatally by a has-been, hard-drinking private detective.

As our story begins, we meet Annie Hannigan, an out-of-control teenager, jitterbugging in the 1930s. Annie dreams of offing her mother, Elsie, whom she blames for abandoning her for a job soon after her husband, a cop, is shot and killed. Now, employed by her husband’s best friend—an over-the-hill and perpetually soused private eye—Elsie finds herself covering up his missteps as she is drawn into a case of a mysterious client, who leads her into a decade-long drama of deception and dual identities sprawling from the Depression era to World War II Hollywood and the jungles of the South Pacific.

Along with three femme fatales, an obsessed daughter, and a loner heroine, Kill My Mother features a fighter turned tap dancer, a small-time thug who dreams of being a hit man, a name-dropping cab driver, a communist liquor store owner, and a hunky movie star with a mind-boggling secret. Culminating in a U.S.O. tour on a war-torn Pacific island, this disparate band of old enemies congregate to settle scores.

In a drawing style derived from Steve Canyon and The Spirit, Feiffer combines his long-honed skills as cartoonist, playwright, and screenwriter to draw us into this seductively menacing world where streets are black with soot and rain, and base motives and betrayal are served on the rocks in bars unsafe to enter. Bluesy, fast-moving, and funny, Kill My Mother is a trip to Hammett-Chandler-Cain Land: a noir-graphic novel like the movies they don’t make anymore.

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

1000 Awesome Things
=====> I've been visiting 1000 Awesome Things on my work day mornings to start the day with a smile. It is based on the book below which I read last year and found to be...awesome ;-)

The Book of Awesome
by Neil Pasricha
Amazon | Goodreads
~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

Stacking the Shelves - 11.29.14

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

~*~
For Review:

The Unimaginable
by Dina Silver
- contemporary romance
courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2014
Thanks Janay!
Amazon | Goodreads

Both of Me
by Jonathon Friesen
-christian, YA
courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2014
Thanks Janay!
Amazon | Goodreads

The Borzoi Killings
by Paul Batista
-thriller
courtesy of publisher, Astor+Blue
Thanks Jillian!
Amazon | Goodreads
Won from contest:

The Glass Magician
(The Paper Magician Trilogy, #2)
by Charlie N. Holmberg
-fantasy, YA
-courtesy of Goodreads First Reads
Amazon | Goodreads
Library:

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
by Joshua Ferris
-literature, humor
-on Man Booker Prize 2014 short list
Amazon | Goodreads
Paul O'Rourke is a man made of contradictions: he loves the world, but doesn't know how to live in it. He's a Luddite addicted to his iPhone, a dentist with a nicotine habit, a rabid Red Sox fan devastated by their victories, and an atheist not quite willing to let go of God.

Then someone begins to impersonate Paul online, and he watches in horror as a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account are created in his name. What begins as an outrageous violation of his privacy soon becomes something more soul-frightening: the possibility that the online "Paul" might be a better version of the real thing. As Paul's quest to learn why his identity has been stolen deepens, he is forced to confront his troubled past and his uncertain future in a life disturbingly split between the real and the virtual.

At once laugh-out-loud funny about the absurdities of the modern world, and indelibly profound about the eternal questions of the meaning of life, love and truth, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour is a deeply moving and constantly surprising tour de force.

-----> listening to the audio and liking it, picked this one up for a personal challenge of reading Man Booker Prize nominees and winners

Dreaming about getting soon:

The Mime Order
(The Bone Season #2)
by Samantha Shannon
-dystopia
release date: January 27, 2015
Amazon | Goodreads
Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London.

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.

Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

-----> just finished, book 1, The Bone Season, loved it! And really excited to continue reading about this world

-----> the author, Samantha Shannon, will be answering questions at Goodreads Read-Along Group for The Bone Season here on December 1 - feel free to leave her a question

OTHER things: kinda book-related

The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
Per imdb:
When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District 13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.

-----> I saw it. I loved it :-)

~*~

Bookish Games: Ready Player Two
hosted by Oh, The Books!
details here
starts December 6, 2014
As the game ended faster than normal with a triple kill session. The gamemaster is offering to reboot the game if enough contestants enter.

Although stressful at times, it was interesting to see how everything played out. And, I am curious to give it another go. So, I signed up for another bout of the Bookish Games.

Please sign up if you think this might be a fun diversion for the holidays as signups are currently open with 3 more slots to fill.

~*~
* some of these may be offered as giveaways within the next two months

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

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

ReadAlong: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season ReadAlong
hosted by Goodreads Featured Author Group
details here
Amazon | Goodreads
Schedule:
Week of October 27: Chapters 1-5
Week of November 3: Chapters 6-11
Week of November 10: Chapters 12-17
Week of November 17: Chapters 18-23
Week of November 24: Chapters 24-29

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds.

For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race.

Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

My two-bits (per week):

Exciting! This will be my first "official" read along.

I will post my two bits per week. Beware, it could be spoiler-ish.

Week of October 27: Chapters 1-5
Loved the start of learning of a new world.

There are handy-dandy guides to refer to. A description tree of clairvoyants and a map of the where the main action takes place are located in the front matter of the book. And, a glossary of the slang and terms used is located at the end.

Rephaims are introduced which presents a big mystery - who/what are they?

Week of November 3: Chapters 6-11

watch this spot for thoughts on this segment

Stacking the Shelves - 10.25.14

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

~*~
Bought:

Illusions of Fate
by Kiersten White
-paranormal, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

In The Shadows
by Kiersten White
illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo
-fantasy, graphic novel, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> Got this after peeking inside this book as Stephanie Perkins does some page flipping



For Review:

Inventing Madness
by J.G. Schwartz
-historical, magic
courtesy of publicity
Thanks Penny!
Amazon | Goodreads

Soul Meaning
by A.D. Starrling
-urban fantasy, thriller
courtesy of publicity
Thanks Kate!
Amazon | Goodreads

Jane Austen's First Love
by Syrie James
-jane austen, historical
-courtesy of book tour
Thanks Laurel Ann!
Amazon | Goodreads
Library:

Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes
-chick-lit
Amazon | Goodreads
They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

-----> listening to the audio version and loving it!

Dreaming about getting soon:

Us
by David Nicholls
-contemporary romance
-on Man Booker Prize 2014 Longlist
Amazon | Goodreads
David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his enormously popular New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny new novel about what holds marriages and families together—and what happens, and what we learn about ourselves, when everything threatens to fall apart.

Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.

The timing couldn’t be worse. Hoping to encourage her son’s artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.

Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls’s gifted hands, Douglas’s odyssey brings Europe—from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafés of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona—to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around?

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Participating in my first Goodreads read-along...

The Bone Season ReadAlong
hosted by Goodreads Featured Author Group
details here
Amazon | Goodreads
~*~
* some of these may be offered as giveaways within the next two months

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

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers