tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28615582360806960072024-03-17T01:50:48.372-04:00she reads and reads<i>Book talk and reviews<br>with a focus on fiction<br>written by women</i>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.comBlogger646125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-52685936865496584222012-05-09T21:41:00.002-04:002012-05-09T21:42:44.454-04:00Similar Covers: ReflectionsI was a bit shocked to come across these two oh-so-similar covers with oh-so-similar titles while browsing the <a href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/">Fantastic Fiction</a> website recently. <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12407028">Playing Dead</a></i> by <a href="http://www.juliaheaberlin.com/">Julia Heaberlin</a> and <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12469562">Playing with Matches</a></i> by <a href="http://www.carolyndwall.com/">Carolyn Wall</a> are not only both due out this year (in May and July, respectively), but they are also both being published by Random House!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMKJxNh4hCWn4d9XwW5GJVX2HZVGmf6jOJjKvWEclATJWZ9TXCLaIeAR5qcpNnbnEPJJGtLHTpx3TCtawTvTehKTlZfBRdIIM7pxeBD2lsE7RiRLHclLwiS6W5L64BSh435Bku506-mRi/s1600/playing+dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMKJxNh4hCWn4d9XwW5GJVX2HZVGmf6jOJjKvWEclATJWZ9TXCLaIeAR5qcpNnbnEPJJGtLHTpx3TCtawTvTehKTlZfBRdIIM7pxeBD2lsE7RiRLHclLwiS6W5L64BSh435Bku506-mRi/s1600/playing+dead.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiz1UeyIi3nJa3a3V_wi9KfVd91H0OoOrRDcglfFvKrAx7zZxzUP308rTna4q4IvWtQFGDyQrjcPZCU9c0PpUbT53xLKzgsC4pFCIkzhV7M8Tsq6x-5YF_fpCHZuNeiursaiNEU0tQebpF/s1600/playing+with+matches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiz1UeyIi3nJa3a3V_wi9KfVd91H0OoOrRDcglfFvKrAx7zZxzUP308rTna4q4IvWtQFGDyQrjcPZCU9c0PpUbT53xLKzgsC4pFCIkzhV7M8Tsq6x-5YF_fpCHZuNeiursaiNEU0tQebpF/s1600/playing+with+matches.jpg" /></a></div>
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To be fair, it seems like someone caught on to the duplication because <i>Playing with Matches</i> now has a new cover, according to Amazon (and the author’s site).</div>
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For another post about similar covers that resemble these two, see also <a href="http://100scopenotes.com/2010/11/02/cover-curiosity-man-in-the-mirror/">Cover Curiosity: Seeing Double</a> over at <a href="http://100scopenotes.com/">100 Scope Notes</a>.</div>
</div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-41066956287298714302012-05-07T18:34:00.000-04:002012-05-07T18:34:54.769-04:00Mailbox Monday (May edition)<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Martha at <a href="http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.ca/">Martha’s Bookshelf</a>.</span><br />
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I just realized that I’ve only been posting one MM post per month for this whole year. Consider this May’s edition!<br />
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Four books have come my way in the last few weeks, all from different sources.<br />
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I received two books in the mail: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/45530/summary/85432873">Califia’s Daughters</a></i> by Leigh Richards (aka <a href="http://www.laurierking.com/">Laurie R. King</a>), which I ordered online, and <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12375003/summary/85432861">Made Priceless: A Few Things Money Can’t Buy</a></i> edited by <a href="http://www.hlhix.com/">H. L. Hix</a>, which I ordered from Serena at <a href="http://savvyverseandwit.com/">Savvy Verse & Wit</a> (who signed my copy as she is one of the contributors!).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiY3qHFXTRQ_gWGfBZqGiflFrPuKOyPPh39-mWd-l7CI3uDuJeU54vk_zIK-lhx9zZvHuKR4KYxx_ztByoWtJ3i_yZBclEtJ_SF54GtFXXeo2AuhNfJy1nv9o8bsy2gIoJwFhmp1s2gSF1/s1600/califia's+daughters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiY3qHFXTRQ_gWGfBZqGiflFrPuKOyPPh39-mWd-l7CI3uDuJeU54vk_zIK-lhx9zZvHuKR4KYxx_ztByoWtJ3i_yZBclEtJ_SF54GtFXXeo2AuhNfJy1nv9o8bsy2gIoJwFhmp1s2gSF1/s1600/califia's+daughters.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWw_vkcFF7YTE-YD8HKiwastWAfPRqF1OQxxIuGJdUxhlB5iNOtST2KytHo7BmlVZg_Oo2Rk95hGcU28HnxPxdFkGH2L-JZVHP93T8OLFyuJ6TbcPbyiU-T16YISGSXTR36N99WfuD2ti/s1600/made+priceless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWw_vkcFF7YTE-YD8HKiwastWAfPRqF1OQxxIuGJdUxhlB5iNOtST2KytHo7BmlVZg_Oo2Rk95hGcU28HnxPxdFkGH2L-JZVHP93T8OLFyuJ6TbcPbyiU-T16YISGSXTR36N99WfuD2ti/s1600/made+priceless.jpg" /></a></div>
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My mum also visited me recently and gave me <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5675535/summary/85432857">Tree Yoga: A Workbook – Strengthen Your Personal Yoga Practice Through the Living Wisdom of Trees</a></i> by Satya Singh and Fred Hageneder. And finally, Mum and I visited <a href="http://booksbound.blogspot.ca/">Donna</a>’s book shop, <a href="http://beazleybooks.blogspot.ca/">Beazley Books</a>, where I picked up a copy of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6104955/summary/85432847">The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie</a></i> by <a href="http://www.flaviadeluce.com/">Alan Bradley</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhLGKlnwawF8VpaPXvoKfiw4HSqJnnYX7M9ORyQf7HwxgXodLmknKnqwgS5n-0G10NFL7ifwW14ftWRn2fSLNcX30yDrMyKJIsGPV7XgdbUZg1rTDnNpCPrevuKdTL45WXvVqnuTRHaOY/s1600/tree+yoga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhLGKlnwawF8VpaPXvoKfiw4HSqJnnYX7M9ORyQf7HwxgXodLmknKnqwgS5n-0G10NFL7ifwW14ftWRn2fSLNcX30yDrMyKJIsGPV7XgdbUZg1rTDnNpCPrevuKdTL45WXvVqnuTRHaOY/s1600/tree+yoga.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZSWmiSM5H7Gr7fOufAi3KpQJzxB4qa5QW8u96HhC787v_gxXVopodyONvsNeuUglQAisPLb-QjNcruEEcf1eOJgON4VWJiyPsnJyaDMMaLbpnsb06pg89fLhzjTtOpnyuZuYzvC1J2sF/s1600/the+sweetness+at+the+bottom+of+the+pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZSWmiSM5H7Gr7fOufAi3KpQJzxB4qa5QW8u96HhC787v_gxXVopodyONvsNeuUglQAisPLb-QjNcruEEcf1eOJgON4VWJiyPsnJyaDMMaLbpnsb06pg89fLhzjTtOpnyuZuYzvC1J2sF/s1600/the+sweetness+at+the+bottom+of+the+pie.jpg" /></a></div>
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What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.ca/2012/05/mailbox-monday-may-7-2012.html">Reviews by Martha’s Bookshelf</a>.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-61679218011524483102012-04-25T21:00:00.000-04:002012-06-23T01:00:46.047-04:00Review: This Life Is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family’s Heartbreak by Melissa Coleman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqNdwsX4bilKq-Zo1Sxxc8nzr-MBfO6HFZvI2hFX1AKnC2fmVgjlYfjpmfz42dmh8OZWjMxbEKGGhVpiGIw5oyg2P9OO1ViFB86V5Bh4P05E1h73QPB21cG3fqYncdt0yJfIbqj9TaD2K/s1600/this+life+is+in+your+hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqNdwsX4bilKq-Zo1Sxxc8nzr-MBfO6HFZvI2hFX1AKnC2fmVgjlYfjpmfz42dmh8OZWjMxbEKGGhVpiGIw5oyg2P9OO1ViFB86V5Bh4P05E1h73QPB21cG3fqYncdt0yJfIbqj9TaD2K/s1600/this+life+is+in+your+hands.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Opening lines of the book:</span><br />
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“We must have asked our neighbor Helen to read our hands that day. Her own hands were the color of onion skins, darkened with liver spots, and ever in motion.”</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Why I read it:</span><br />
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I’m interested in memoirs about women who grew up outside the mainstream.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">What it’s about:</span></div>
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In the late 1960s, inspired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_and_Scott_Nearing">Helen and Scott Nearing</a>’s book, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/338765"><i>Living the Good Life</i></a>, <a href="http://www.melissacoleman.com/">Melissa Coleman</a>’s parents bought land on the coast of Maine from the Nearings, built their own home and cleared the land so they could farm it. <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10767317/summary/84620626">This Life Is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family’s Heartbreak</a></i> is a memoir about the 10 years Melissa and her family spent on the farm and how a tragic accident ended their dream.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">My thoughts:</span></div>
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I have such mixed feelings about this book that it’s hard for me to sort them neatly into “what I liked” and “what I didn’t like” (or even express them very coherently). On the one hand, <i>This Life Is in Your Hands</i> is, for the most part, a beautifully written and heart-wrenching story of a family trying to live their dream and the terrible toll it took on them. On the other hand, there were several elements of the book that didn’t really work for me.<br />
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For starters, since the tragedy at the heart of this memoir happened when the author was quite young, I expected the book to focus on the aftermath of this event, rather than mostly lead up to it, as was the case. This was not a problem in and of itself; however, it did mean that much of this “memoir” was actually based on other people’s memories, as Coleman was too young to recall many of the details of her early life. (The story in fact begins before she’s born.) And perhaps because of that, I found the beginning of the book quite confusing: Coleman flits back and forth in time to set the scene for her tale, from her parents’ decision to move back to the land, to her very early years, to her parents’ childhoods and back again (with a few other back-and-forths for good measure). However, once she has established the background for her story, she tells the rest of it in mostly chronological order and I found myself engrossed in her book.<br />
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Little did I know when I picked up this memoir that Coleman’s father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Coleman">Eliot Coleman</a>, is one of the pioneers of the modern organic movement. As someone who is a big proponent of organic food, I was fascinated by this glimpse into the movement’s beginnings. Some of Eliot Coleman’s ideas were totally new to me, such as that “The role of insects with plants is like the role of wolves with deer and caribou: to eliminate the unhealthy and unfit” (p. 66)—in other words, if your plants are healthy, they will not attract pests.</div>
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Occasionally, the foreshadowing in the book fell flat: it felt like Coleman was hinting at stories that she then never really told. For example, she says “The Nearings would prove, like most mentors, to have clay feet, and their ideas fallible, but their achievements will always be an extraordinary example of the power of determination and effort” (p. 57). I expected her to say more about this, but the Nearings are actually fairly peripheral to this story. She also hints several times that her parents’ health issues were exacerbated by their vegetarian diet, but never elaborates, which, as a vegetarian, drove me crazy!<br />
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However, the book is also filled with beautiful passages that testify to the joys as well as the sorrows of the way of life Coleman’s parents embraced. For example:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Heidi and I were always outside, naked and barefoot, dancing on the blanket of apple blossoms, skipping along wooded paths, catching frogs at the pond, eating strawberries and peas from the vine, and running from the black twist of garter snakes in the grass. We lay in the shade under the ash tree, gazing up at the crown of leaves and listening to the sounds of the farm—birds calling, goats bleating, chattering of customers at the farm stand, and whispers of tree talk.<br />
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When you focused on the leaves fluttering in the dappled light, they vibrated and shimmered into one, becoming a million tiny particles. You felt a shift inside, and you began to vibrate too, on the same frequency as everything else. All secrets were there, all truths, all knowledge. You had to scan with your heart to find what you were seeking. It might no be spoken in words, it might be hidden in rhyme, in song, in images. You knew the tree and the earth were the same as you, made of particles, like you, come together in a different form. You loved it all as you loved yourself (p. 4).</div>
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And here’s another of my favourite passages:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
However, one morning, as I lay in my bunk, the good feeling returned. It hadn’t come in a while and I was afraid I would scare it away because you can’t feel the good feeling and be aware of it at the same time. I was thinking about the way light creates the shapes of things, when suddenly I felt it, like a smooth stone in my mouth. My body dissolved its boundaries and became part of all things. Just as suddenly the feeling was gone, and I was me again, lying in my bunk as the ache of reality returned. [. . .] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The floorboards creaked as Mama drifted into the kitchen. From above in the bunk she looked soft in the light, her face still open from sleep, not closed up like during the day.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Mama.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Ummmm?”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Do you ever get the good feeling when you first wake up in the morning?”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The good feeling?”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Yeah, like a smooth stone in your mouth?”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Like warm light surrounding your body.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“That sounds nice.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Do you get that?”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Not recently.” (pp. 292-293). </blockquote>
Although I didn’t love this book, I’m glad I read it. If you want to learn more about the birth of the modern organic movement from the perspective of one family who became icons of this way of life, <i>This Life Is in Your Hands</i> is certainly a worthwhile read. I would also recommend it, with reservations, to anyone interested in farming memoirs.<br />
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Thank you to <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/imprints/index.aspx?imprintid=517986">Harper Perennial</a> for sending me this book to review. <br />
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<a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465432535354078242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWXuDBOqN94zqjHN-lRnwgRZIRU2t2b331jJDqrf9o3gkvQzvS7LKF47xc3Q7wo1BM3Z0tVlnSnc2tixnSrTJD7h_FWRKC-c8D3hWWHbUVNJKmZHa03ZgQBN1vvcYxUAqqheMO2wTA-Q/s200/tlc-logo.png" style="float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a> <i>This Life Is in Your Hands</i> is on blog tour with <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2012/03/melissa-coleman-author-of-this-life-is-in-your-hands-on-tour-april-2012/">TLC Book Tours</a> this month. Visit these blogs for other reviews:</div>
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<a href="http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/2012/04/11/review-this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa-coleman/">Jenn’s Bookshelves</a> • <a href="http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/2012/04/this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa.html">Tina Reviews</a> • <a href="http://www.sidewalkshoes.com/2012/04/this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa.html">Sidewalk Shoes</a> • <a href="http://homeofaimala.blogspot.ca/2012/04/this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa.html">The House of the Seven Tails</a> • <a href="http://abookishwayoflife.blogspot.ca/2012/04/this-life-is-in-your-hands-memoir-by.html">A Bookish Way of Life</a> (DNF) • <a href="http://www.amusedbybooks.com/2012/04/book-review-this-life-is-in-your-hands.html">Amused by Books</a> • <a href="http://literatureandalens.blogspot.ca/2012/04/this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa.html">Literature and a Lens</a> • <a href="http://bookclubclassics.com/Blog/2012/04/25/tlc-presents-life-hands-review-free-giveaway/">Book Club Classics!</a> • <a href="http://veronicamarcettidimick.blogspot.ca/2012/04/book-review-this-life-is-in-your-hands.html">Veronica M.D.</a> • <a href="http://booknaround.blogspot.ca/2012/04/review-this-life-is-in-your-hands-by.html">BookNAround</a><br />
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<b>Other reviews:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.5minutesforbooks.com/14194/this-life-is-in-your-hands/">5 Minutes for Books</a> • <a href="http://agoodstoppingpoint.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa-coleman-dnf/">A Good Stopping Point</a> (DNF) • <a href="http://athomewithbooks.net/2011/11/the-hunchback-of-neiman-marcus/">At Home with Books</a> • <a href="http://bermudaonion.net/2011/06/28/review-this-life-is-in-your-hands/">BermudaOnion’s Weblog</a> • <a href="http://mybooksmylife.com/this-life-is-in-your-hands-book-review/">My Books. My Life.</a> • <a href="http://www.progressivepioneer.com/progressive-pioneer/2011/06/book-review-this-life-is-in-your-hands.html">Progressive Pioneer</a> • <a href="http://www.sophisticateddorkiness.com/2011/04/the-sunday-salon-this-life-is-in-your-hands-by-melissa-coleman/">Sophisticated Dorkiness</a> • <a href="http://www.3rsblog.com/2012/06/book-talk-this-life-is-in-your-hands-by.html">The 3 R’s Blog</a><br />
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<span style="color: #cc9933;">_______________________________________________</span></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com9Montreal, QC, Canada45.5086699 -73.553992545.3306269 -73.8698495 45.6867129 -73.238135500000013tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-36175105666307942202012-04-09T12:45:00.009-04:002012-04-09T13:18:42.084-04:00Mailbox Monday (April 9)<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Cindy at <a href="http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.ca/">Cindy’s Love of Books</a>.</span><br /><br />I received one book in the mail this week: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10767317/summary/84620626">This Life Is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family’s Heartbreak</a></i> by <a href="http://www.melissacoleman.com/">Melissa Coleman</a>, which I’m reading for a <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2012/03/melissa-coleman-author-of-this-life-is-in-your-hands-on-tour-april-2012/">TLC blog tour</a> later this month.</div><div><br /></div><div>From the back cover:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>In the fall of 1968, Melissa Coleman’s parents pack <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dY1dqKqhrMk_0ScaHetqcZxHIeETuJ_PMbMECIQKk00qDxbH_vPcFx21sIPnel-8B2CSco8iP7Yk-fy9xEBdNvAgTJ2JcXoLQJxJR3BpovmLkZtba2zNSVqsqcUCkY7YITJj7RCLySiw/s200/this+life+is+in+your+hands.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729449440009304818" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " />their VW truck and set out to forge a new existence on a rugged coastal homes</i><i>tead. Inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing, authors of the homesteading bible </i>Living the Good Life<i>, Eliot and Sue build their own home by hand, live off the crops they grow, and establish a happy family with Melissa and her two sisters. They also attraction national media and become icons of the back-to-the-land movement, but the pursuit of a purer, simpler life comes at a price. In the wake of a tragic accident, idealism gives way to human frailty, and by the fall of 1978, Greenwood Farm is abandoned. The search to understand what happened is at the heart of this luminous, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive memoir.</i></div><div><div><br /></div><div>I also forgot to mention in my previous MM post that my sister Brogan gave me <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1146307/summary/84620641">Ancestor Stones</a></i> by <a href="http://www.aminattaforna.com/">Aminatta Forna</a> for my birthday. (Brogan <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/2011/08/brogans-review-devil-that-danced-on.html">reviewed Forna’s memoir, <i>The Devil That Danced on the Water</i></a> on this blog.)</div><div><br /></div><div>From the back cover:</div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRFsNH-S6J6J6sP7pX4OIGyUF3lEkaKw4xBiRkE2vmRZLpzFAfeTF_ma_h4Ay7Y5UEX4o7bZobzLCRfhMi-T5WmcNsXIL50FCUbkRxPtq0i_6V-OKbKt8GNe0gjDKrJE19m7yu_sx-Qqf/s200/ancestor+stones.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729450112210244306" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " /><div><i>Aminatta Forna, whose moving and gorgeously written memoir garnered international acclaim, now delivers her first novel, </i>Ancestor Stones<i>, a powerful, sensuous book that beautifully captures Africa’s past century and her present, and the legacy that her daughters take with them wherever they live. Abie returns home from England to West Africa to visit her family after years of civil war, and to reclaim their plantation, Kholifa Estates. There to meet her are her aunts: Asana, lost twin and head wife’s daughter; Hawa, motherless child and manipulator of her own misfortune; Mariama, who sees what lies beyond; and Serah, follower of a Western made dream. Through their tales, Abie begins gathering the family and the country’s history. Reminiscent of </i>The God of Small Things<i> or </i>The House of the Spirits<i>, </i>Ancestor Stones<i> is the unforgettable tale of a family and four women’s attempts to alter the course of their own destiny.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.ca/2012/04/mailbox-post-april-2nd-to-7th.html">Cindy’s Love of Books</a>.</div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-52983366747081759412012-04-04T11:17:00.004-04:002012-04-05T16:16:40.357-04:00Similar Covers: Boy and Girl Reading in CanoeI can often count on finding at least one familiar cover among LibraryThing’s <a href="http://www.librarything.com/er/list">Early Reviewers</a> books, and this month’s batch was no exception. <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12442916"><span style="font-style: italic;">Safe Within</span></a> by <a href="http://www.jeanreynoldspage.com/">Jean Reynolds Page</a> (Harper Collins, 2012) is about to be published with a cover image that has been used at least three times before, on the following books: <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2109865/summary">Book Crush: For Kids and Teens—Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest</a> </span>by <a href="http://www.nancypearl.com/">Nancy Pearl</a> (Sasquatch Books, Mar 2007), <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2709156/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Songs of Ourselves: The Uses of Poetry in America</span></a> by Joan Shelley Rubin (Harvard University Press, Apr 2007) and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2459151/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Toolkit for Teachers for Literacy</span></a> by Diane Hood Nettles (Pearson, 2006).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUiotNIV3jvsnuMzJEyMy26cjjtN2ZuicfoAiVYD0sOJi6g8WKIP08y5sEgnr7ES-FK60RgTznWZXE3VEanF3uu6fOkhCsB91OXlTms1_BV8hE0xv8d2AGkrcLmPi8LeF-W2beFoJzIa1/s1600/safe+within.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUiotNIV3jvsnuMzJEyMy26cjjtN2ZuicfoAiVYD0sOJi6g8WKIP08y5sEgnr7ES-FK60RgTznWZXE3VEanF3uu6fOkhCsB91OXlTms1_BV8hE0xv8d2AGkrcLmPi8LeF-W2beFoJzIa1/s200/safe+within.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727410301029503986" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio7YBZhHoz2MSHF7ZfvtttuK8knoGGvqx6UOWkE0xtAo8NKmR0Ig5-f0NTweQscwwZICy9PQ-VUWjcYGKhDNXwp84tplR8QG4pC7K7Gol7eIR3-USxOEAnZvzRUftlPSWqRKzZg4mDYmti/s1600/book+crush.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 139px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio7YBZhHoz2MSHF7ZfvtttuK8knoGGvqx6UOWkE0xtAo8NKmR0Ig5-f0NTweQscwwZICy9PQ-VUWjcYGKhDNXwp84tplR8QG4pC7K7Gol7eIR3-USxOEAnZvzRUftlPSWqRKzZg4mDYmti/s200/book+crush.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727410291330447266" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9oJYdOyTcUATA8uCaqiTv1dVpyUkbrCR8d9OV3U0OktyRrtZENPxpukTN8s6ZbQzXCaKHAh5V2sSJluyhlXVd-_85WPPZ3KOSAgOnbXc491oLhLnTN-V4aGa0E9LCy5qJocSlmW-dzYL/s1600/songs+of+ourselves.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 122px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9oJYdOyTcUATA8uCaqiTv1dVpyUkbrCR8d9OV3U0OktyRrtZENPxpukTN8s6ZbQzXCaKHAh5V2sSJluyhlXVd-_85WPPZ3KOSAgOnbXc491oLhLnTN-V4aGa0E9LCy5qJocSlmW-dzYL/s200/songs+of+ourselves.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727410302080962498" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53B8EYEbWQly8E8_bC0b3A0EqL5fBqOaFsQfmaR5oRNwNNF2EjCkU1SM3pDBlOSCNH4NXumoKhex-iD5zvkkb7WMFPpyMjt3bn6slwfpE81LKwiyy8-6sS1LEDMhv63Tt65VYAZiwCd_0/s1600/toolkit+for+teachers+of+literacy.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53B8EYEbWQly8E8_bC0b3A0EqL5fBqOaFsQfmaR5oRNwNNF2EjCkU1SM3pDBlOSCNH4NXumoKhex-iD5zvkkb7WMFPpyMjt3bn6slwfpE81LKwiyy8-6sS1LEDMhv63Tt65VYAZiwCd_0/s200/toolkit+for+teachers+of+literacy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727410307749307154" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I can’t say that any of these covers seems particularly interesting to me—there’s a blandness about them that would probably not inspire me to pick them up. (Nancy Pearl’s book might be the exception as it’s about reading and meant for teens, so the cover works quite well, but obviously is not meant for me.) What do you think?</div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-25432163651614306782012-03-23T09:28:00.001-04:002012-03-23T09:28:00.613-04:00Brogan’s Review: Curiosity by Joan Thomas and Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier<i>My sister <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/search/label/Brogan%E2%80%99s%20reviews">Brogan</a>, who guest reviews on this blog on a semi-regular basis, sent me a batch of her reviews recently. Here’s the first of them...</i><br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgg6wj312WlaoO8L6XWJ9mIgXaSVw-6XwuYQp6Zb7RzCMNZVy_aQqChut8epEqNAlwJuE4_LM-Z5vpl4AvmHiswYt7daK6u5ZiXol0BWscrc5Q4u1mkMbx00PGE9sX_iHkWSyGKjlQrAEr/s320/mary+anning+and+the+sea+dragon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722163325162209314" />I first heard about Mary Anning by reading a (nonfiction) children’s book with my daughter called <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1274333/summary">Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon</a></i> by <a href="http://www.jeannineatkins.com/">Jeannine Atkins</a>. Mary was a young girl in early 19th-century England who dug for fossils and sold them. She discovered a dinosaur before anyone knew what such a thing was—in fact before the word “dinosaur” was coined—and spent the better part of a year at the age of 12 uncovering an entire skeleton. She never married, and she continued to make a living by digging for fossils in her native Lyme Regis.<div><br /></div><div>When I saw <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9676451/summary">Curiosity</a></i> by <a href="http://joanthomas.ca/">Joan Thomas</a> on the library<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0imW6eqymCXaFjRZPWdQ9kOBt14DCwJeEjzd134BmCecVjSrG6QTybfgiup7HYkSRICvqneF0y74m4LklRaj9-aseQkXxBqyWa7PdebihbThskA84tq5yqZRYjFNej75JiqlRNoYF4-7/s320/curiosity.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722166969115915394" /><div>shelf one day, I was immediately drawn to an adult version of the story, even though the subtitle, “a love story,” perplexed me somewhat, because Mary never married (not that love equals marriage!) and the Jeannine Atkins book suggested a quirky, possibly lonely character in Mary. Well, whatever the case, I definitely wanted to read more about this eccentric woman who was unusual for her time and place.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Before I had a chance to read <i>Curiosity</i>, I also came across <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8342908/summary/78667897">Remarkable Creatures</a></i> by <a href="http://www.tchevalier.com/">Tracy Chevalier</a>. Well, then I was doubly curious, to think that 2010 brought forth two books about Mary Anning! Chevalier’s take is a little different: she offers the story of an uncommon friendship between two women of vastly different backgrounds and classes: Mary Anning, who came from a family struggling to keep clothed, fed and sheltered, and Elizabeth Philpot, who, though on the downturn of a moneyed family, needed neither to work nor to marry to live comfortably. I was just as eager to read <i>Remarkable Creatures</i>, since women’s friendships are an even stronger draw for me than love stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started with <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9676451/summary">Curiosity</a></i>, which didn’t draw me in right from the start, as I found it particularly cerebral and hard to follow. But after the first hump I was really caught up in the story, its characters and its detail. I can only describe it as elegant. Joan Thomas plumbs the depths of 19th-century English classism and sexism in this novel, and renders complex characters with conflicting motivations. Here’s an early passage in <i>Curiosity</i> to give you an idea of the language and richness of description that Thomas achieves:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Mary sat and watched her father as he took up the second drawer and began to fit it together. He was working from the light of the window, which showed the sky in three rows of its panes, and then the sea. In the soft sawdust on the floorboards, she could see his footprints like the tracks of animals on the shore. This was a collecting cupboard he was making, with shallow drawers for the curiosities. For the rich, who could afford to hoard what the Annings must sell. It was a strange passion with the high-born, filling their drawing rooms with thunderbolts and snakestones, although they could buy all the china figurines they chose. Richard was lining up the dovetails, bracing the drawer on the workbench. He needed a helper. But he’d apprenticed [Mary’s brother] Joseph to Armstrong the upholsterer on Dorcas Lane. (<i>Curiosity</i>, p. 13)</div><div></div></blockquote><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0snqMQwGkWob_9KutiD0vqOsAUaDXxTe1WNEgzaGm4C4cNuOaDlKuAcE9flkRgoyqm4RLMR4OdoLE3CB6oE1AXFUg6QQ1X9cRC4VOgcIYOoD08CHvnQTM96J5E9TDdnxQtBeo1aaS2xA/s320/remarkable+creatures.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722163344835390610" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 211px; " /><div><i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8342908/summary/78667897">Remarkable Creatures</a></i> is much more accessible—there was never a point in the text when I wasn’t sure if I understood what was actually happening—but it also had a tendency towards cliché. Chevalier, it seems, never has a character hold anything back. They speak out, they speak up, they make much drama, but ultimately this is neither very believable, nor in fact very interesting. Mary is constantly in need of rescue in various forms (and always from the more-than-obliging Miss Philpot).</div><div><br /></div><div>Chevalier misses the boat completely as far as class analysis goes and almost has her own brand of classism towards the Annings: I was irritated that Mary’s father is depicted as a carpenter of poor workmanship, when, really, how long would you last as a craftsperson in a small town if your work was of poor quality? Was it just too hard for Chevalier to imagine that economic structures of the time, and not personal failure, were to blame for the Annings’ poverty? And then when Mary sells her first big find, Miss Philpot comes and instructs Mary’s mother and older brother to invest the money in an apprenticeship for him for a trade—as though only an educated, higher-class woman would have the forethought for such decision-making—and yet the likelihood of someone of a higher class speaking of such private matters with a family seemed quite low to me.</div><div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><div>When Lord Henley paid us £23 for the whole crocodile, I wanted lots of things. I wanted to buy so many sacks of potatoes they’d reach the ceiling if you stacked them. I wanted to buy lengths of wool and have new dresses made for Mam and me. I wanted to eat a whole dough cake every day and burn so much coal the coalman would have to come every week to refill the coal bin. That was what I wanted. I thought my family wanted those things too.</div><div><br /></div><div>One day Miss Elizabeth come to see Mam after the deal had been done with Lord Henley and sat with her and Joe at the kitchen table. She didn’t talk of wool or coal or dough cakes, but of jobs. “I think it will benefit the family most if Joseph is apprenticed,” she said. “Now you have the money to pay the apprentice fee, you should do so. Whatever he chooses will be a steadier income than selling fossils.” (<i>Remarkable Creatures</i>, pp. 111-112.)</div></div><div></div></blockquote><div>It was a strange experience to read two books with the same characters, not just Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot but a whole cast of characters in the town (with some exceptions) as well as the men who come from London to study the fossils. It’s a rare event to have two books cover so much of the same territory—I doubt both these books would have been published had they not come out nearly simultaneously, for whoever wrote the second book would surely have been accused of copying the first. (I do wonder whether Joan Thomas and Tracy Chevalier ever crossed paths in London or Lyme Regis while doing their research… that seems like a story in itself!)</div><div><br /></div><div><div>I read <i>Curiosity</i> first, so it did feel to me like Joan Thomas raised the bar, and then Tracy Chevalier—for all that she may be the better known of the two writers—just didn’t hold a candle to Thomas’s achievement. I was interested, though, in the similarities and differences between each rendition. For example, the love story seemed so truncated in Joan Thomas’s book—were 19th-century men really so totally lacking in sexual imagination? However, when it was told in such a similar fashion in Tracy Chevalier’s book—though she chose a different character as the romantic interest—I felt more forgiving of Joan Thomas’s text. But perhaps it should just make me further question whether it’s 19th-century men who lacked imagination or rather 21st-century women writers when imagining 19th-century sex! The bigger question, of course, is about how sex is represented in literature and in our lives as women, which I can’t explain in more detail here without spoilers, but which I think deserves further exploration.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I would highly recommend <i>Curiosity</i>, even though I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, as it is quite literary and brooding; and I would not recommend <i>Remarkable Creatures</i>. If you’re into children’s books or have a child to read to (ages 7 to 10), <i>Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon</i> by Jeannine Atkins is a beautiful illustrated book and introduces several interesting topics for conversation.</div><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">_______________________________________________</span></div><br /><b>Other reviews of <i>Curiosity</i>:</b><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.booksunderskin.com/2012/01/curiosity.html">Books Under Skin</a> • <a href="http://goodbooksandacupoftea.blogspot.ca/2010/10/curiosity-by-joan-thomas.html">Curled Up with a Good Book and a Cup of Tea</a> • <a href="http://literarytreats.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/review-curiosity-joan-thomas/">Literary Treats</a> • <a href="http://readingthepast.blogspot.ca/2012/01/book-review-curiosity-by-joan-thomas.html">Reading the Past</a> • <a href="http://paintedbookcase.blogspot.ca/2010/11/curiosity-by-joan-thomas-review.html">The Overdecorated Bookcase </a></div><div><br /><div><b>Other reviews of <i>Remarkable Creatures</i>:</b><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://age30books.blogspot.ca/2010/05/remarkable-creatures.html">Age 30 + . . . A Lifetime of Books</a> • <a href="http://www.constance-reader.com/2010/01/she-sells-seashells-by-seashore.html">Constance Reader</a> • <a href="http://fyreflybooks.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/tracy-chevalier-remarkable-creatures/">Fyrefly’s Book Blog</a> • <a href="http://regularrumination.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/remarkable-creatures-tracy-chevalier/">Regular Ruminations</a> • <a href="http://shereadsnovels.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/remarkable-creatures-by-tracy-chevalier/">She Reads Novels</a> • <a href="http://theliteraryomnivore.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/review-remarkable-creatures/">The Literary Omnivore</a> • <a href="http://whisperinggums.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/tracy-chevalier-remarkable-creatures/">Whispering Gums</a></div><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">_______________________________________________</span></div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-72502471698116423552012-03-21T21:30:00.000-04:002012-03-21T21:49:54.210-04:00Similar Covers: More Repeats<div>What I’ve got for you today is a bunch of covers some of you may recognize if you’ve been reading my blog for a while. All of them are “repeats”: covers I’ve featured before along with new exact matches...</div><div><br /></div><div>First up, is a threesome of the same dandelion puff (with one reversed image): <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2105904/summary">Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents</a></i> by <a href="http://www.allisongilbert.com/">Allison Gilbert</a> with <a href="http://christinabakerkline.com/">Christina Baker Kline</a> (Seal Press, 2006), <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5299380/summary/32784744">The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul</a></i> by <a href="http://www.noelleoxenhandler.com/">Noelle Oxenhandler</a> (Random House, 2008) and <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338133/">Dandelion</a></i> directed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1269479/">Mark Milgard</a> (movie poster, 2004).</div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Wishing Year</i> was featured previously in <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/2010/03/similar-covers-dandelion-puffs-or.html">Similar Covers: Dandelion Puffs</a>.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOsaK4RIvTFlbdZaFf-Ffr5gC_So3__UmUsVqeES1aheFp8BnDqYXk10FJnktjdIog7qpFV-UQlP9QTS9kKLCig8KNCKiEKDBNCsIg2yNAjye68KV69yz3h4v5fErZuanz5zRBKiipttx/s200/always+too+soon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445623645093746" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7vBkpfuUanJStruB60S0UMlMnIqelfvQJeEEQC-qjyCN6qWCTLJn2VV3XjWOfSApgLM0keYYPbKYyttxk4uy6OdjHlV0AQNDYOhWCDTBpUjZ-RkE25MP8jQ19ZcvDns9isc_VLMxqbow/s200/the+wishing+year.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445630117845186" style="cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZLKAnFVExTmbHFJEhNsoV5eAwUR2nrzgx7OjPKa2e0fya7ybZhm7YtORMqrxdkQ1LAAHP4j1YxCl9dZwkNt0p5d78IUwWhcs4fsyF7K9Z-ErX0FSblWqJv7BZV_6kL6Wt97bKrIs-HYz/s200/dandelion.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445624543936370" style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next, the same poor butterfly trapped in a jar three times: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/107725/summary">Predators, Preys, and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy</a></i> by <a href="http://www.dorothyallredsolomon.com/">Dorothy Allred Solomon</a> (WW Norton, 2003), <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3365571/summary">Bone Machine</a></i> by <a href="http://www.martynwaites.com/">Martyn Waites</a> (Pegasus, 2007) and <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6330634/summary">Life Sentences</a></i> by <a href="http://lauralippman.com/">Laura Lippman</a> (Harper Collins, 2009).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Both <i>Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk</i> and <i>Life Sentences</i> were featured previously in <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/2010/05/similar-covers-more-butterflies-jars.html">Similar Covers: More Butterflies</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibD_IaiREC9muD9odoHH0DK9qpj8KhXUsE6j3fbRLUQGFZiY1Rasv0Y-48pfvjT0ATwqPAqPmmG9g6zphxdFr78wSzOEoYbr6Mx4JlijM1lU3mHgsj-lX15yvDCmpHcw0-NETHeTlGDaAI/s200/predators%252C+prey%252C+and+other+kinfolk.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445820555844290" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MIIoF32vZpBhq85Rml_S81BQ_BQCclyKhncP0vocNyaGDV8Xs9q1uN4t_dlrNYuZXP3fZLB7upCggWdO25oqODqbJvQx12n6oArFjHZFp0fZ9t7p00T6I2NsdeWyBHfPYaTR8JpKJxVp/s200/bone+machine.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445808437407458" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZLDbGaCKtW8ZXTmYea5pHqXoVJR4a1WilNNpI5PNkjThA_arXDLyaJ7miJOv7Vdi3Mr9_fPprCrE-CtTaqoos0o7Xmsv0Ks17h7WzjjqkJMtBZj10xEivvd7SJgnI6x2wXzeE3a_nxKm/s200/life+sentences.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722445809920596562" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next, a threesome of the same dancing couple: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/238914/summary">Sights Unseen</a></i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaye_Gibbons">Kaye Gibbons</a> (Harper Collins, Jun 2005), <i>Als die richtige Zeit verschwand</i> by Günter Ohnemus (Droemer Knaur, Sep 2005) and <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/325471/summary">Queen of the Underworld</a></i> by <a href="http://www.gailgodwin.com/">Gail Godwin</a> (Random House, 2006).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The two English books were featured previously in <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/2009/10/similar-covers-two-couples.html">Similar Covers: Two Couples</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoXAXivWWh5nKL9I0BHUoTRjW6U4ut7GsKYte4sdqOQe5kjPbap-7PAuxU5s80RD9DwzJoBY34gVRmAmK-4lWl3kkXiymspZuRVeRA2c16mgw0ta7NhQgSyUgWQIA_NFOpKo8x0-hi-17/s200/sights+unseen.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446123667767698" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KbMh5QDT89rzQF6kRtw8DK-hHevvp5SYe1qvI-3s5xchNJbz9Y_DSp0F_hfTqK2_fynMfG_h6OzR9S7f-BHOqp_cXPl68z5p-I7D4XI7sr3Bkgv0p7qbtAdMNJSGp11FCgXEGE-CgKQO/s200/als+die+richtige+zeit+verschwand.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446521654713426" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CYkTm4Jb5QmL10wEmfO9rnxSHJ8G5g7izmYmPJuTt5ubZxUSgjjyQDnJ0EhagfDcYr17-flIeNGQNeO5P-3YgD9_cFFxHnJzcd5b2rxqkOuHqxov4OcByKxhazK2iYmE8prvi5SDsfXC/s200/queen+of+the+underworld.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446118259262258" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, a threesome that is actually part of a larger set (see link below): <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6110745/summary/39518257">The Professors’ Wives’ Club</a></i> by <a href="http://www.joannerendell.com/">Joanne Rendell</a> (Penguin, 2008), <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8154672/summary">Choral Society</a></i> by <a href="http://www.prue-leith.com/">Prue Leith</a> (Quercus, 2009) and the ironically titled <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12014019/summary">More Like Her</a></i> by <a href="http://www.lizapalmer.com/">Liza Palmer</a> (Harper Collins, 2012). Thank you to Gwendolyn (<a href="http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.ca/">A Sea of Books</a>) for sending me the third cover (and, if you haven’t already, check out her <a href="http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.ca/search/label/Ditto%20Doubles">Ditto Doubles</a>!).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first two books were featured previously in <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.ca/2011/06/similar-covers-womens-legs.html">Similar Covers: Women’s Legs</a> (along with two other covers that use a very similar image).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMLA4NpGErhfCt4oXQpy-oAkBzlZimf1fj_aWnlzqWiybuno8x6G684DClmnhxVsdkCGJjSKagEYEguwevF5DbQ70fHK5RXgCRPdb5EoHrXgNnzS7QE_APiyMaMiVNUi6pyLU_xW3IP67/s200/the+professors%2527+wives%2527+club.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446534223665218" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YtA3Mu_6eqTHNubYpVd0BBtuk65ePv2rammWEmr9KA1BZDyXq2MwjhbSj-Lm8FMa61jX3Juvf1vofqI1oFxcgRetUUIDLXedjIdr8fS4wD6EJnZCPOucGioz1YB3RP8f19-uiO7y1ank/s200/choral+society.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446524890060498" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 118px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPDmtXlwt8wZimoIHuJUJkxot_bo7-1X3rOcIhEpGqxmbgGD3g3bxtRZHAxbRb-uLg5y1JsSq9KjyfIbz1blS2-8QzTyD5wyPB4UqUjlJ2nBkvWCnCCUp5seAFnfJQhQcGWc8VrGbnWu-/s200/more+like+her.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722446527376009010" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The covers in each of these sets are so similar, but the threesome that dismays me the most is the last, since not only do they look almost the same, but they’re all contemporary women’s fiction!</div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-45759143758402848102012-03-19T18:29:00.009-04:002012-03-19T18:56:26.816-04:00Mailbox Monday (March 19)<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—th</span><span style="font-style: italic;">i</span><span style="font-style: italic;">s month, it’s hosted by Anna at <a href="http://diaryofaneccentric.wordpress.com/">Diary of an Eccentric</a>.</span><br /><br />It’s been a while since I’ve done a Mailbox Monday post, which I guess is a good thing, since it means I haven’t been adding to my out-of-control book piles... However, I did win a book recently, which has made its way to my home: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11528721/summary/84038579">A Cluttered Life: Searching for God, Serenity, and My Missing Keys</a></i> by <a href="http://www.aclutteredlife.com/">Pesi Dinnerstein</a>. (With a title like that, how could I resist?!)</div><div><br /></div><div>From the back cover:</div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvxpL_f7LUS4n96rKdvNyjQj5x2NwI7PTihnxlAeeEqju8f4riT96E2AXN2TRsKRc4yKDOVIq1Y-_053zg1iWf_JTHVWMGol3c00E6bJjIu1T3oXGUzyi7_thOqIk7mLR8RvPDIW_Wehyphenhyphen/s200/a+cluttered+life.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721743527367737810" /><div><br /></div><div><i>Insightful, unsettling, and wildly funny, </i>A Cluttered Life<i> is the story of Pesi Dinnerstein’s quest to create a simple and orderly life—only to discover that simplicity is not so simple and what constitutes clutter is not always perfectly clear. in the end</i><i>—with the help of devoted friends, a twelve-step recovery program, and a bit of Kabbalistic wisdom</i><i>—her battle with chaos is transformed into an unexpected journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://diaryofaneccentric.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/mailbox-monday-march-19/">Diary of an Eccentric</a>.</div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-26125818056296602402012-03-15T18:15:00.029-04:002012-03-15T23:29:39.783-04:00Similar Covers: Woman at the Window II<div>Jackie (<a href="http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/">Farm Lane Books Blog</a>) recently posted the <a href="http://www.farmlanebooks.co.uk/2012/the-2012-orange-prize-longlist/">2012 Orange Prize Longlist</a>, which included a book with a familiar cover, <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10197519">Foreign Bodies</a></i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Ozick">Cynthia Ozick</a> (Atlantic Books, 2011) . You might remember that I featured another book with the same cover image in a series of <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2010/06/similar-covers-woman-at-window.html">lookalike covers of a woman at a window</a>: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3386682">Fire in the Blood</a></i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_N%C3%A9mirovsky">Irène Némirovsky</a> (Random House, 2008). I also found a third book that matches this set, <i>Gen nicht so schnell in diese dunkle Nacht</i> (Don’t Go Through That Dark Night So Fast) by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Lobo_Antunes">António Lobo Antunes</a> (Random House, 2004).</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9cgx0VWZ7fb1tuU8xU69KNWjN-1UFHy0gKOWStMQlc85gkIDk0IvXK5lXyc4f4KnZWPC6y4tE5BcVLZs2KDiNPrLkJ1hgscX1ARPefjZkXu3-pstmjGy33OYpvRDMLGreDwMmLHDRwFZ/s1600/foreign+bodies.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 141px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9cgx0VWZ7fb1tuU8xU69KNWjN-1UFHy0gKOWStMQlc85gkIDk0IvXK5lXyc4f4KnZWPC6y4tE5BcVLZs2KDiNPrLkJ1hgscX1ARPefjZkXu3-pstmjGy33OYpvRDMLGreDwMmLHDRwFZ/s200/foreign+bodies.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251414586497506" /></a><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpeUHuIBY8K6DQlI-gKx0y61UT2Ic1K3_6ytIvtEmhWHEPw2FARCr1bSZv3twmWO7bT5a6ee1dDxa7Vnka0hCo4kW-qT3QbDv-b4aCDLHpKGdATUEp8_UoagpX3HvRW2lgPs40L4Y_5ig/s200/fire+in+the+blood.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251407835387986" style="cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kUn8etcDdDUnfNUEIebLgm_B5P7iFH38r4HzPCESInzc8GL5A4soN2lHoXs3iBpCRdioRqpPY5w2-iF5JPAk7VGrf2x__iSEg-5XS1SN15wcz-qqezeeCqjbrEcjvDtJXx1YRaq09F_S/s200/geh+nicht+so+schnell+in+diese+dunkle+nacht.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251421562891986" style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While I like the photo of the woman, I can’t say that I like the composition of any of these covers. If you look closely, you’ll notice there’s a vehicle outside the window in the first and third covers, which has been removed in the middle one.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also featured <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2505">Eden Close</a></i> by <a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/anitashreve/">Anita Shreve</a> (Harcourt, 2004) in my original post, and I’ve since found a mirror-image cover: <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1436719">Unseen</a></i> by <a href="http://www.marijungstedt.se/en/">Mari Jungstedt</a> (Macmillan, 2006). <i>Unseen</i> is my favourite of all the covers I’m featuring today—the juxtaposition of the woman at the window in the foreground and the house in the background, with the title in between, makes for a mysterious and appealing cover that draws me in.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeNFDvD33dqi_070BnCdp3kP_I0Cu9QaDbnkolkuMGFUc2kYwCpiUPEYlGqkWcH9cdKEKRkk4UTuHJ6N6ldKn5hTmOsY_KCgJqo8p7ez-jDgSzmDvRON0kiB1fBzBmkAxzpL_mxLKNOcE/s200/eden+close.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251630126249826" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGTBVTgd04dkRIzevvlQ09ToMBNh0se1Z8vj4P9pv2yKy2FVgTb9uI3ufWvWDy0qdsVU6m09-G2Hb7EH-KTixSf7L7YRn9LsUKq5_cci3MLLtqawoBQzQEa-Vri7j2LEZS5vzO1R0JWlS/s200/unseen.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251632139923458" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, a whole new set:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/7120124">Je Suis Australienne: Remarkable Women in France, 1880-1945</a></i> by Rosemary Lancaster (University of Western Australia, 2008)</li><li><i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5719653">Sashenka</a></i> by <a href="http://www.simonsebagmontefiore.com/">Simon Montefiore</a> (Belfond, Mar 2010) </li><li><i>Die Familie Hardelot</i> (the German translation of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6223802">All Our Worldly Goods</a></i>) by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_N%C3%A9mirovsky">Irène Némirovsky</a> (Albrecht Knaus Verlag, Nov 2010)</li><li><i>Offenbach Romantique</i> by Les Musiciens du Louvre (CD, 2007)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1mCOkggTw9m5y4nK56IGxv8zSUn3NDAzi5PTFno-S4C9R2pGMpdCMqq7n8M88e8opd6SrtsVRK6dy9pDToqbyXI7MTNi3HRXLQgBa0Z9kAxy_75trYs3PRWynG-Wo2h5e3IODW3zcdKJ/s200/je+suis+australienne.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251911856312242" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 121px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREmCejg3VmU5g-afI9a5kuL0aMNRhS-BqmTzMPa6WlMUHIM-8DFFTUf-qD_uPZuk_1LRP2354PasaisLELY8Q2q9souzHlwFnqpKfnsfES5GZyfY8bn1Udq6xDCji-CUO7TPqmhhbw15u/s200/sashenka.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251922077560050" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA8pEfdKma9eDG3r0i8xpgJb_OEasGzWLs88IAHvlxH_jb77tOvxEiOrPMM7XpH5KNT0lskyzfq86LHVYfwmq0i3VBV5FtklfzUqoffLhX8HIIcxcr4OUS0XtQ0uo29al2Gdly0dKl1Qt/s200/die+familie+hardelot.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251909248100226" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 119px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LullCquj7C-Pt-h7KtXg9Spm8U_PV3oYNM_qNF2W2VdZbclVOq5cqwCCKYj9qFcvd6URhiOd3FnwgsX_h4jgMucXId7FpKebXvIAAY2xLmDVNdl93i-8O8_2vjkjFiaMcDrsrlfmwFK0/s200/romantique.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720251916314223714" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This last lot is kinda boring in my estimation—the only cover that stands out (though not for the right reasons) is <i>Sashenka</i>. The photoshopped head on that one looks bizarre to me!</div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-6573146803877982452012-03-07T22:30:00.012-05:002012-03-08T10:03:08.439-05:00Similar Covers: Hanging White Dresses<div style="text-align: left;">I recently spotted <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12225731/summary">The Replacement Wife</a></i> by <a href="http://eileengoudge.com/">Eileen Goudge</a> (Open Road Media, 2012) which reminded me right away of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9492740/summary">Until the Real Thing Comes Along</a></i> by <a href="http://www.elizabeth-berg.net/">Elizabeth Berg</a> (Arrow, 2003). As it turns out, there’s also an exact match for the first cover: <i>Life Is a Melody</i> by Betsy Munson (AuthorHouse, 2008).</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTLlIFk64COF3QSXGmsEmN4bBMqwaP4c1hqDRjOnqzQfGLzvRBx3FDSY1Fa2CcfQYGxjQ4_UXiJqQuqgygJLByOZNxP7LS8MrMwNLBlapEMQwxgiZo4dLTPgbnCGKLpnQdlePgBfGaz-D/s200/the+replacement+wife.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717011419214528322" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrPMqGYM8aW4rEOQWIemhA3wuY_AkekLYEs0Fv26gWW0TkSqspnVo7anRYJKBYxkDBaZhchJ-7k6nfH3ksXC0uBmqdv69f2OxEakUMlhTFDiY5HZAhgmHHpSAwaARPzumHP73mLBEhP7c/s200/until+the+real+thing+comes+along.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717011443959893442" style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJI-A2vWFxa0Bc0wFUjHg2c6UIF2P9xnqg-EO0Gnt7jXlBPoCwhdLsfwkVVf8trOGZJFreiufzKRl2_3B3cF0hup6fqhXNqW2fS2wHi0SbpyLH-tiiDPHf5XUR7eBZT6hjdJ-JcwlDyuyD/s200/life+is+a+melody.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717011413571713106" style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px; " /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And while I<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">’m on the topic of hanging white dresses, here</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">’s another trio of them for you:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58W1B1R5V_FqDpy4k9jwVJevf6KWnglwRl7nG8occwLnjej_gbNSHLH72YMDXFCeEO6-jwCREgIHE13g6ar32E7OFkScrhRuvxFBn2KMIVCai826N61dyR6Iva2CzJExEwsNni_CurHGL/s200/cennet+yolculari.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717015545377991074" style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrOUmquAcBGGDyjuGNen8l4sfhSRWoka-yk7nxFsciVPk2717IAmv-tSDvb-QaVCfrHmsxD_icYXMdnuBqStqcWKNkbA32Cy8lGtfTyKYhqFXhLkxVeXIfKQPmT26bIrnMSuCmVjzzQPA/s200/mennonites+don%2527t+dance.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717015551412223314" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 190px; " /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocnB789j7PfQWdJzGUtwGJSoBlqWVH_J02OWtQ5NkeVtX3XTcupE1B06WnPDUxIDADG5zFjt0evt3i0jTb22hVacPx-wZ1kk-lQzGzDpnFyGdnGHa4qaPdF-33tCYBvv5KZ2ZXIdFwiFP/s200/sinuciderea+fecioarelor.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717015553165871922" style="text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 190px; " /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are: <i>Cennet Yolculari</i> by Ayşegül Işık (2011), <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10304318/summary">Mennonites Don’t Dance</a></i> by <a href="http://whatlooksin.wordpress.com/">Darcie Friesen Hossack</a> (Thistledown Press, 2010) and <i>Sinuciderea fecioarelor</i> (the Romanian translation of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5503/summary">The Virgin Suicides</a>) </i>by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Eugenides">Jeffrey Eugenides</a> (2005).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I can’t say that any of these covers appeal to me very much, although I am curious about <i>Mennonites Don’t Dance</i>... What do you think?</div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-10561945119831659202012-03-06T15:30:00.005-05:002012-04-26T00:02:02.114-04:00Review: Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHqzYefXW160PjeWbIPuDfF6ReZYqnhBjiZb584hGjuOW1t8ffCdXrHg5_UgFfR-qfqwcj3LjkLCJCFHpujW_YeJ6uWFWB6XErkodHpBd7_wkC-8nzNX41u5M2sOlWkDbhmjYT3IkdPac/s1600/birds+of+a+feather.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716658049426448194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwHqzYefXW160PjeWbIPuDfF6ReZYqnhBjiZb584hGjuOW1t8ffCdXrHg5_UgFfR-qfqwcj3LjkLCJCFHpujW_YeJ6uWFWB6XErkodHpBd7_wkC-8nzNX41u5M2sOlWkDbhmjYT3IkdPac/s320/birds+of+a+feather.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 211px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 138px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Opening lines of the book:</span><br />
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<b><br /></b>“Maisie Dobbs shuffled the papers on her desk into a neat pile and placed them in a plain manila folder.”</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Why I read it:</span></div>
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I read <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/25708">Maisie Dobbs</a></i>, the first book in this series, a couple of years ago and loved it, so I jumped at the chance to read the second book during the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jacquelinewinspear?sk=app_190322544333196">March Is Maisie Month</a> read-along.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">What it’s about:</span></div>
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<b><br /></b>The year is 1930 and Maisie Dobbs, who calls herself a “psychologist and investigator,” has just been hired by a self-made businessman to find his runaway 32-year-old daughter. When three of the daughter’s friends are found dead, Maisie must dig deep to find out what happened to these women. Is the missing daughter the killer or the next victim?</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">What </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">worked:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/">Jacqueline Winspear</a> gets two things very right in this series. The first is Maisie herself. I love Maisie. I love her intelligence, her reliance on her intuition and gut feelings, her belief that coincidence is “a messenger of truth,” the fact that she meditates and that she can tell how a person is feeling just by imitating their posture. The daughter of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costermonger">costermonger</a>, Maisie was sent into service at age 13; however, she has also been educated at Cambridge and served as a nurse in World War I. As a result, she is now neither “upstairs” nor “downstairs,” which gives her a unique perspective on the world.</div>
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The second thing that Winspear gets right is the historical setting. I didn’t know much about this period before I read these books, but Winspear does an excellent job of portraying the cost of the Great War on civilians, nurses and soldiers alike. She also manages to make all her characters fully human—I felt for all of them, including the “bad guys” and unsympathetic characters. Having read these two books, I feel like I have a much better idea of what it would have been like to be living in England between the two world wars.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">What </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">didn’t </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">work:</span></div>
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Because I reread the first book in the series just before reading this one, I found myself a bit dismayed that the end of <i>Maisie Dobbs</i>, which is so poignant, is recapped so bluntly at the beginning of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/57680">Birds of a Feather</a></i>. Mind you, I’m not sure I would have noticed this if I hadn’t literally just finished rereading the first book before starting the second.</div>
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<b>[MINOR SPOILER]</b> </div>
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I also found myself somewhat annoyed with the possible-love-interests plot points in this book: while it’s pretty obvious what the men in question see in Maisie, it’s not so clear what she sees in them. I found her interactions with them to be totally lacking in chemistry. I can’t help but hope that romance doesn’t become the focus of any of the subsequent Maisie books!</div>
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<b>[END OF MINOR SPOILER]</b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Favourite quote:</span></div>
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“While she walked, Maisie remembered feeling a prickling of the skin on her neck while she stood in the upstairs hallway of [—]’s house, outside the room where her body lay. She had not shied away from the sensation but had instead silently asked, <i>What is it you want me to see?</i> Never before at the scene of a crime had Maisie felt such a duality of sensation, like a fabric that on one side is smooth and satin-like but on the other, rough with a raised pile. She knew that the last person who had come to the house came with a terrible burden, a burden that was no lighter for having taken [—]’s life” (p. 61).</div>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Final thoughts:</span></div>
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Since I read the first two books back to back, I can’t help but compare them and I do think I liked <i>Maisie Dobbs</i> more (especially on second reading). However, <i>Birds of a Feather</i> is more of a classic mystery than the first one, and it kept me guessing until the end (although I did figure out the significance of one element of the story before the final reveal). If you are interested in World War I and the Interwar Period or just want to read a mystery series featuring a strong and quirky female sleuth, I highly recommend the <a href="http://www.librarything.com/series/Maisie+Dobbs">Maisie Dobbs series</a>. I generally never read books in series back to back, but I’m very tempted to dive into <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/146502">Pardonable Lies</a></i> right away—I can’t wait to find out what happens to Maisie next!</div>
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<span style="color: #cc9933;">_______________________________________________</span><br />
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<a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465432535354078242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuWXuDBOqN94zqjHN-lRnwgRZIRU2t2b331jJDqrf9o3gkvQzvS7LKF47xc3Q7wo1BM3Z0tVlnSnc2tixnSrTJD7h_FWRKC-c8D3hWWHbUVNJKmZHa03ZgQBN1vvcYxUAqqheMO2wTA-Q/s200/tlc-logo.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 150px;" /></a>
To celebrate the hardcover publication of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11689915">Elegy for Eddie</a></i> (book 9, out on March 27, 2012) and the paperback publication of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10533267">A Lesson in Secrets</a></i> (book 8, out today), <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/">Harper Books</a> is sponsoring the first annual <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jacquelinewinspear?sk=app_190322544333196">March Is Maisie Month</a>, which includes a <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2012/01/march-is-maisie-month-blog-tour/">TLC book tour</a> of all the books in the <a href="http://www.librarything.com/series/Maisie+Dobbs">Maisie Dobbs series</a> thus far. </div>
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Visit these blogs for other reviews of <i><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/57680">Birds of a Feather</a></i>:<br />
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<a href="http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012/03/birds-of-feather-by-jacqueline-winspear.html">The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader</a> • <a href="http://fewmorepages.blogspot.com/#axzz1oIzMKdbj">A Few More Pages</a> • <a href="http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2012/03/birds-of-feather-by-jacqueline-winspear.html">Wordsmithsonia</a> [spoiler alert!]</div>
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For a complete list of bloggers participating in the March Is Maisie Month read-along, visit the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2012/01/march-is-maisie-month-blog-tour/">TLC Book Tours</a> site.</div>
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<b>Other reviews:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.bookingmama.net/2011/01/review-birds-of-feather.html">Booking Mama</a> • <a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2011/02/birds-of-a-feather-by-jacqueline-winspear-book-review/">Devourer of Books</a> • <a href="http://heyiwanttoreadthat.com/2011/01/28/birds-of-a-feather-by-jacqueline-winspear/">Hey, I want to read that</a> • <a href="http://literatehousewife.com/2011/10/380-birds-of-a-feather/">Literate Housewife</a> • <a href="http://nomadreader.blogspot.com/2011/01/book-review-birds-of-feather-by.html">nomadreader</a> • <a href="http://www.sheistoofondofbooks.com/2011/01/31/thought-on-birds-of-a-feather-by-jacqueline-winspears-audiobook/">She Is Too Fond of Books</a> • <a href="http://shelahbooksit.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-review-birds-of-feather-by.html">Shelah Books It</a> • <a href="http://myreadingbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/birds-of-feather-maisie-dobbs-novel-by.html">The Written World</a> • <a href="http://webereading.com/2009/10/maisie-dobbs-shuffled-papers-on-her.html">We Be Reading</a> • <a href="http://www.whimpulsive.net/2007/10/birds-of-feather-by-jacqueline-winspear.html">Whimpulsive</a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc9933;">_______________________________________________</span></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-87405981062842713772012-02-15T11:29:00.008-05:002012-02-16T09:56:21.555-05:00Similar Covers: Lone TreeWell, it seems like I’m not quite back on the blogging horse yet, as a whole week has slipped by since my last post. (Sigh.) Still, when I read Karen’s latest <a href="http://eurocrime.blogspot.com/2012/02/lakeside-tree-copycat-cover.html">Copycat Cover post</a> over at <a href="http://eurocrime.blogspot.com/">Euro Crime</a>, I couldn’t resist taking her up on her challenge... (In fact, she just commented that the tree appearing in the two covers she posted must have graced more covers than the ones she’d found.)<br /><br />Here, then, are a few covers that match her two:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SBCaJM734tqMr9IzBURAn4eHdcHIVm_9NS_YjLlmNUpi2KqvSDbNUHRbR1JsrCQc5kVmKeJ_RfjCcugP_LY9gNTWnUTfFZFv6DsK55Le-CgHZu2SfG6UZnnMqWuofc89-Rro4N9qDATs/s1600/un+%25C3%25A9cart+de+jeunesse.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 115px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SBCaJM734tqMr9IzBURAn4eHdcHIVm_9NS_YjLlmNUpi2KqvSDbNUHRbR1JsrCQc5kVmKeJ_RfjCcugP_LY9gNTWnUTfFZFv6DsK55Le-CgHZu2SfG6UZnnMqWuofc89-Rro4N9qDATs/s200/un+%25C3%25A9cart+de+jeunesse.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619926445309138" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYraa_ElrpVNyGOrqbuuQ8GEOS15sTY_FFwbhXzXAkqFBy7oZWNf-J0QaBN9x0f1yJkDgK8AoBODHv111JvcIirzlCvfqYKaVonZQiCzBcv9DlBVb30xr2RNzI0RSAZtTuD7OPhpB87hjJ/s1600/four+dreamers+and+emily.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 121px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYraa_ElrpVNyGOrqbuuQ8GEOS15sTY_FFwbhXzXAkqFBy7oZWNf-J0QaBN9x0f1yJkDgK8AoBODHv111JvcIirzlCvfqYKaVonZQiCzBcv9DlBVb30xr2RNzI0RSAZtTuD7OPhpB87hjJ/s200/four+dreamers+and+emily.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619634604862002" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9fjD9Xeg2h3IHq0CdKHjG4aZAAdr5XebAJdu0mE5CqNWcxs0R19UXwIpBORV8knhyphenhyphen4iUkSOjRvMUiYn6PAW5ZEbNYJaSOJKOUlR1nc7QKd4f3dKut0gE3ux7gCTdaVS_uwSt1rU-xrVf/s1600/the+moor+is+dark+beneath+the+moon.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9fjD9Xeg2h3IHq0CdKHjG4aZAAdr5XebAJdu0mE5CqNWcxs0R19UXwIpBORV8knhyphenhyphen4iUkSOjRvMUiYn6PAW5ZEbNYJaSOJKOUlR1nc7QKd4f3dKut0gE3ux7gCTdaVS_uwSt1rU-xrVf/s200/the+moor+is+dark+beneath+the+moon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619639324311650" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeg0U1Q8NhkiUBom8ZgQTG8dEh1J3GfqH9Mhhwp343QgeHZo76R3UiMWIQpy9vIMZvtkNN6tV-k7h_cvA8UUvkeu-mUUGEXUTdZS9-L2pXZ6aOT-orMn-BPHvgFLArUzw5-msxE6H_UXsC/s1600/the+name+of+the+wind.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeg0U1Q8NhkiUBom8ZgQTG8dEh1J3GfqH9Mhhwp343QgeHZo76R3UiMWIQpy9vIMZvtkNN6tV-k7h_cvA8UUvkeu-mUUGEXUTdZS9-L2pXZ6aOT-orMn-BPHvgFLArUzw5-msxE6H_UXsC/s200/the+name+of+the+wind.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619913927450258" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TXZHmKe8iW2HUFtY8091nTf6btXTuKwdZxjSgFPHrSKzN8Cm7Oi0tMz4bv9O_SECgqsLDPeEm-a2RHpOqOVfvf4yuEMGhrAmZ80Z22PUOVh5qdADeKu9GmuquYJRQ7lXAreyXAX3kBkQ/s1600/ausgesetzt.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TXZHmKe8iW2HUFtY8091nTf6btXTuKwdZxjSgFPHrSKzN8Cm7Oi0tMz4bv9O_SECgqsLDPeEm-a2RHpOqOVfvf4yuEMGhrAmZ80Z22PUOVh5qdADeKu9GmuquYJRQ7lXAreyXAX3kBkQ/s200/ausgesetzt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619625300699826" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4v7b6gpQbNJ5MRYrw1VA4i3L3mjKHP1ogn-bEbEErVtE9Gu5Sj3wjux-NVl5xnRslBy7SXNLrn9I2Em20MwhXIRytNx-D9XE6c69IkmX7lPcoxuc_tIotkF1FX9en5Y8j4zRVH4y0yPgc/s1600/dead+souls.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4v7b6gpQbNJ5MRYrw1VA4i3L3mjKHP1ogn-bEbEErVtE9Gu5Sj3wjux-NVl5xnRslBy7SXNLrn9I2Em20MwhXIRytNx-D9XE6c69IkmX7lPcoxuc_tIotkF1FX9en5Y8j4zRVH4y0yPgc/s200/dead+souls.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619629423145730" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3H6Q9o4xR0wVjUlHjQky1yCVnNbWDMLqgUxhkTgdeQd2H-wNtzg5ja3hApsnBcHQHyzKI4RwvcbvxLyV9BsQHR7qPq7fouIG-I6ZM8wUgluhjxpzAhldjevY8ccu7EL1g5gMepLbwujik/s1600/wuthering+heights.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3H6Q9o4xR0wVjUlHjQky1yCVnNbWDMLqgUxhkTgdeQd2H-wNtzg5ja3hApsnBcHQHyzKI4RwvcbvxLyV9BsQHR7qPq7fouIG-I6ZM8wUgluhjxpzAhldjevY8ccu7EL1g5gMepLbwujik/s200/wuthering+heights.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619930412947586" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwr_WhxU0uKPTQNTvYNhyphenhyphenZ1m3xowaRVZhZAvDmd_e8tYX8bPaFIqG2I1X31qFuLtP6x77aZ9MYGzzaWXQApxvA0NXuDTsmFr97u7Ns0C4OvrE-8sZTx_AOvYlhFL3ORrUSs_WZZJF1Yvl/s1600/landscapes+of+the+mind.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwr_WhxU0uKPTQNTvYNhyphenhyphenZ1m3xowaRVZhZAvDmd_e8tYX8bPaFIqG2I1X31qFuLtP6x77aZ9MYGzzaWXQApxvA0NXuDTsmFr97u7Ns0C4OvrE-8sZTx_AOvYlhFL3ORrUSs_WZZJF1Yvl/s200/landscapes+of+the+mind.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709632096875081170" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHA93UID84H9ACCk2d2unPFLm1GFBf6GDTIo69r2pP2J8vJiRbExuca1tyZgsUwLsu_4rTRhQB2fa7NmxuYNfjQvXZX_sOU2akJJc4bepTElJQxrVuQjhYJwk9uXb8nOmQ3gcEd86qxw8O/s1600/the+wind+concertos.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 190px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHA93UID84H9ACCk2d2unPFLm1GFBf6GDTIo69r2pP2J8vJiRbExuca1tyZgsUwLsu_4rTRhQB2fa7NmxuYNfjQvXZX_sOU2akJJc4bepTElJQxrVuQjhYJwk9uXb8nOmQ3gcEd86qxw8O/s200/the+wind+concertos.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709619916977269858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The books (and CD) are:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Un écart de jeunesse</span> (the French translation of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4021256"><span style="font-style: italic;">No One Knows</span></a>) by <a href="http://www.nancypricebooks.com/">Nancy Price</a></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/217872/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Four Dreamers and Emily</span></a> by <a href="http://www.steviedavies.com/">Stevie Davies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10752708/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Moor Is Dark Beneath the Moon</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Watmough">David Watmough</a></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2410323/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Name of the Wind</span></a> by <a href="http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp">Patrick Rothfuss</a></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Ausgesetzt: Im Land der Seehundjäger</span> (Suspended: In the Land of the Seal Hunters*) by Margareta Lindberg</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/84766/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Dead Souls</span></a> by <a href="http://www.ianrankin.net/">Ian Rankin</a></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1538/summary/13406740"><span style="font-style: italic;">Wuthering Heights</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bront%C3%AB">Emily Brontë</a></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Landscapes of the Mind: The Music of John McCabe</span> by <a href="http://web.me.com/georgeodam/">George Odam</a><br /></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Mozart: The Wind Concertos</span> by Christopher Hogwood (CD)</li></ul><p>Be sure to pop over to Karen’s <a href="http://eurocrime.blogspot.com/2012/02/lakeside-tree-copycat-cover.html">Copycat Cover</a> post to check out the two covers that inspired this post!</p><p>*Title translation courtesy of Google Translate.</p></div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-41713180588848737072012-02-08T21:48:00.005-05:002012-02-08T23:12:53.562-05:00Similar Covers: Woman Dressed in Traditional Chinese ClothingAt the end of last year, I found the following email in my inbox:<br /><br />“As you are an ‘<a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317">[o]bsessed hunter of lookalike covers</a>…’<br /><br />Talk about a strange, unsettling déjà vu moment... on the left is the image for Amy Tan’s new short story, being touted as her first fiction in six years, about an aging courtesan and her protege in 1912 Shanghai. On the right [now in the middle] is the cover for a stunning, wrenching collection of brutal stories coming out of one of China’s most atrocious labor camps under Mao. WAAAHHH???!!!”<br /><br />The email was signed Terry, <a href="http://bookdragon.si.edu/">Book Dragon</a>.<br /><br />So I present you with the evidence she sent me:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwo8Q8xdJFZl3XOgYd-tGmEWNzrfMAneJxRbmPBxAOWMYWLjdGfy1tSXmDJ4pcFv0UZh-6frR9IHYW_G4d5O_QPvujdvukGDHdTjeOFCmGIZQOQByv8be2z7bMofQBoLvI04Tc_6jtb_6/s1600/rules+for+virgins.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 131px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPwo8Q8xdJFZl3XOgYd-tGmEWNzrfMAneJxRbmPBxAOWMYWLjdGfy1tSXmDJ4pcFv0UZh-6frR9IHYW_G4d5O_QPvujdvukGDHdTjeOFCmGIZQOQByv8be2z7bMofQBoLvI04Tc_6jtb_6/s200/rules+for+virgins.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695862360781646578" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHKSDtloxYHZMxoJFJpBMZT_KnpRU1zO1AFordaq7qHeZ6vgeFLzaf_6Dj7pPoMOl6nj7Poc1BX_39D76JQqQthcsXOZNWgByBRJXn5rCdw2_otkjptC6XR2gwO6bNiMe0Uat8jK2fybm/s1600/woman+from+shanghai.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHKSDtloxYHZMxoJFJpBMZT_KnpRU1zO1AFordaq7qHeZ6vgeFLzaf_6Dj7pPoMOl6nj7Poc1BX_39D76JQqQthcsXOZNWgByBRJXn5rCdw2_otkjptC6XR2gwO6bNiMe0Uat8jK2fybm/s200/woman+from+shanghai.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695862364550691010" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TS4o4XlqAxUV4cBp_ddlZ26GJI7v8nsf6W-uX_zgx1Z4aYFBLu9J5ccGF63Ct2HRtv0KGUPn55A6YHhxhUBxsA5wLJPljdHeJ7HEU8IJJ3MDlfEFhEPxyBe84VXzeO6pO8aIVoS81-zF/s1600/women%2527s+movements+in+twentieth-century+taiwan.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TS4o4XlqAxUV4cBp_ddlZ26GJI7v8nsf6W-uX_zgx1Z4aYFBLu9J5ccGF63Ct2HRtv0KGUPn55A6YHhxhUBxsA5wLJPljdHeJ7HEU8IJJ3MDlfEFhEPxyBe84VXzeO6pO8aIVoS81-zF/s200/women%2527s+movements+in+twentieth-century+taiwan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706977406771615954" border="0" /></a></div><br />As you can see, I found a third (and earlier) cover that uses the same image. The earliest cover is actually my favourite of the three—although I like the cropping on the middle cover best, I dislike the fact that they added lipstick to the photo. (You can see the <a href="http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/young-woman-dressed-in-traditional-chinese-clothing-royalty-free-image/78311437">original photo here</a>.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12015380"><span style="font-style: italic;">Rules for Virgins</span></a> by <a href="http://www.amytan.net/">Amy Tan</a> was published by Byliner as a Kindle Single in 2011; <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8704305"><span style="font-style: italic;">Woman from Shanghai</span></a> by Xianhui Yang (translated by Wen Huang) was published by Knopf Doubleday in August 2009 (read <a href="http://bookdragon.si.edu/2009/08/21/woman-from-shanghai-tales-of-survival-from-a-chinese-labor-camp-by-xianhui-yang-translated-by-wen-huang/">Terry’s review at Book Dragon</a>) and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8426028"><span style="font-style: italic;">Women’s Movements in Twentieth-Century Taiwan</span></a> by Doris T. Chang was published by University of Illinois Press in April 2009.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I’ve changed my mind about moving my </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/search/label/Similar%20covers">“similar covers” posts</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> to Thursdays—I will post about my first week of the </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2012/02/beginning-again-with-kitty-pics.html">meditation challenge</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> tomorrow instead!</span><br /></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-78022161530040992812012-02-06T20:59:00.005-05:002012-02-06T22:03:40.803-05:00Mailbox Monday (February 6): The Birthday Edition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—th</span><span style="font-style: italic;">i</span><span style="font-style: italic;">s month, it’s hosted by Kim at <a href="http://metroreader.blogspot.com/">Metroreader</a>.</span><br /><br />Twas my birthday last week and I received a few books as gifts, got a few books in the mail and bought a few myself (all nonfiction as it turns out).<br /><br />My sis-in law gave me two books for my birthday: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/609247/summary/82665722"><span style="font-style: italic;">Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally Really Grow Up</span></a> by <a href="http://www.jameshollis.net/">James Hollis</a> and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11803138/summary/82665698"><span style="font-style: italic;">Marriage Rules: A Manual for the Married and the Coupled Up</span></a> by <a href="http://www.harrietlerner.com/">Harriet Lerner</a>. (I’m a big fan of Lerner’s books and this is her latest, so I’m really looking forward to this one!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUA3usYQRDD0mtujKwUErdPkVxCDdRKbWBn5cvTRQ4II08N5RQur2QT0XSu5OXNi0bCo2SkY5sscyk6hwZgqgxbOawIwtOJyoG0dN2tIPapZ6UmEs92cV8_teBkHaiJU4LweW8ErhN_sR/s1600/finding+meaning+in+the+second+half+of+life.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUA3usYQRDD0mtujKwUErdPkVxCDdRKbWBn5cvTRQ4II08N5RQur2QT0XSu5OXNi0bCo2SkY5sscyk6hwZgqgxbOawIwtOJyoG0dN2tIPapZ6UmEs92cV8_teBkHaiJU4LweW8ErhN_sR/s200/finding+meaning+in+the+second+half+of+life.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213539585919922" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwrDkM46vrZKwb8EwGn6FWJXs3tkl6ymFq8V4QkKUC6yGBfn-oWxuaPYsycDqAM2WjOqJWk8VT5B-wbPtUH_wPc4_55MZO877QcUBQ7S1TMrmzpj3kkWg3tt_7X7utf5JOKIqYXCZPw5c/s1600/marriage+rules.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 138px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwrDkM46vrZKwb8EwGn6FWJXs3tkl6ymFq8V4QkKUC6yGBfn-oWxuaPYsycDqAM2WjOqJWk8VT5B-wbPtUH_wPc4_55MZO877QcUBQ7S1TMrmzpj3kkWg3tt_7X7utf5JOKIqYXCZPw5c/s200/marriage+rules.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213545284782498" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I received an unsolicited copy of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1116548/summary/82665739"><span style="font-style: italic;">Speak to the Earth: Pages from a Farm Wife’s Journal</span></a> by <a href="http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Peden">Rachel Peden</a> (from <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/">Indiana University Press</a>) and won a copy of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11546782/summary/76069818"><span style="font-style: italic;">Writing Yoga: A Guide to Keeping a Practice Journal</span></a> by <a href="http://journalpractice.wordpress.com/">Bruce Black</a> (from <a href="http://rodmellpress.com/">Rodmell Press</a>).<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lpwOOUGKQF1dVZaHv93QRpEPSdNX9ayVMJwCCn4yQ_6oHItVyPcIZhud4d2rjrnQa256zQuB1h6T2LafTwgHP-fR5E1_d4IPMSlEIbREDt4GTe_spAZTa09Pf_Hb3D_W06MqcZnKDXo5/s1600/speak+to+the+earth.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lpwOOUGKQF1dVZaHv93QRpEPSdNX9ayVMJwCCn4yQ_6oHItVyPcIZhud4d2rjrnQa256zQuB1h6T2LafTwgHP-fR5E1_d4IPMSlEIbREDt4GTe_spAZTa09Pf_Hb3D_W06MqcZnKDXo5/s200/speak+to+the+earth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213554617899714" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJGl9KKWS4s_iJk2rfc2zhgV3E6NSdUlRbFmlHkMyQ3PGc6-_f0CWj3A0vZ4nOJLQdmQ9P9IONhhB4OQ0-FnG6k8mtwApiuZZJeF-d1v1eCshSzOR1CyV6whWYOSmdofk9_9fLQlWzEXT/s1600/writing+yoga.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJGl9KKWS4s_iJk2rfc2zhgV3E6NSdUlRbFmlHkMyQ3PGc6-_f0CWj3A0vZ4nOJLQdmQ9P9IONhhB4OQ0-FnG6k8mtwApiuZZJeF-d1v1eCshSzOR1CyV6whWYOSmdofk9_9fLQlWzEXT/s200/writing+yoga.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213729923306786" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And finally I bought myself two more books: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/333258/summary/82665664"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pay Attention, for Goodness’ Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart—The Buddhist Path of Kindness</span></a> by <a href="http://www.sylviaboorstein.com/">Sylvia Boorstein</a> and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8284617/summary/82665517"><span style="font-style: italic;">Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within</span></a> by <a href="http://www.writingdownyoursoul.com/">Janet Conner</a>.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawnVDVKbw4H5V0WN4tWO6FgXq4QxB0ZmP1Ui5_9v5w_Ao0nrNv6hqi2g0hj8WJw3hvAFzD2ERx5QT-U0Py-gL_phgEFgcQS79M_TuHE9dyz-LX-VOzzR8872IiMVz3aTs_USmI_-iv-_0/s1600/pay+attention+for+goodness%2527+sake.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawnVDVKbw4H5V0WN4tWO6FgXq4QxB0ZmP1Ui5_9v5w_Ao0nrNv6hqi2g0hj8WJw3hvAFzD2ERx5QT-U0Py-gL_phgEFgcQS79M_TuHE9dyz-LX-VOzzR8872IiMVz3aTs_USmI_-iv-_0/s200/pay+attention+for+goodness%2527+sake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213548344640770" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJZzHcFgrTGXBsiIV7gyRYaTFwiE0Sx23_aqkkmGFbqcuCxXXgnxoZMQhQ4CSLW65EfozwueyqylZbL9FkEYY-TVKvinoFX8Lfw49cZ8E9zsdg9XA9ZL2ts97whVjTXS71nKK54fkA7QC/s1600/writing+down+your+soul.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJZzHcFgrTGXBsiIV7gyRYaTFwiE0Sx23_aqkkmGFbqcuCxXXgnxoZMQhQ4CSLW65EfozwueyqylZbL9FkEYY-TVKvinoFX8Lfw49cZ8E9zsdg9XA9ZL2ts97whVjTXS71nKK54fkA7QC/s200/writing+down+your+soul.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706213731387304930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://metroreader.blogspot.com/2012/02/mailbox-monday-february-5th.html">Metroreader</a>.</div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-1863093558975866672012-02-02T23:41:00.010-05:002012-02-03T10:00:52.301-05:00Beginning Again, with Kitty Pics & a Meditation ChallengeIt feels like it’s been so long since I’ve blogged with any regularity that I’m not sure how to get back on this horse gracefully. Do I just launch myself into the next thing without explaining my absence? (Yup, pretty much.) Do I tell you all how much I’ve missed you guys? (I have!) Can I skip this awkward part and just get back to doing my thing online and hope you won’t hold my absence against me? (Please?)<br /><br />How about a kitty pic? Here’s Cairo sleeping on Mr. B’s lap, surrounded by the latest additions to my stuffie menagerie (clockwise from the top): bookworm, sleeping sickness, mad cow and toxic mold (which is my favourite). Head over to <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/6708/">ThinkGeek to check out their entire giant microbes collection</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgf09gufPT-7pTMZmlJIQCjWjvGqgYyHFSOUT8o_0QXU83x1dhiF6dvJXVU7_E269Fps_LbF27DJ1sbMnSRnIQsScHtiL8oEsyaJ149XU9NmGQ2hknr8zpMvtaSSILzyPP9vxlm8bTlm05/s1600/cairo+with+the+microbes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgf09gufPT-7pTMZmlJIQCjWjvGqgYyHFSOUT8o_0QXU83x1dhiF6dvJXVU7_E269Fps_LbF27DJ1sbMnSRnIQsScHtiL8oEsyaJ149XU9NmGQ2hknr8zpMvtaSSILzyPP9vxlm8bTlm05/s320/cairo+with+the+microbes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704769458973793202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Cairo sleeping with giant microbes (click to enlarge)<br /></span></div><br />In other news, February is no-TV month in my<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOE97gigtCOixWFz5IHueYqQLKonVBCnN5Ywzj49FpHw3HWL7-LalV9rOwEGE-vxA-KRsYGsYZJ1US7-p_rLjkBlmNkosoQPajRPfqJ441cxw_Xz2JsLY-j4WE1-ygkrp2CO-cetlWseI/s1600/real+happiness.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOE97gigtCOixWFz5IHueYqQLKonVBCnN5Ywzj49FpHw3HWL7-LalV9rOwEGE-vxA-KRsYGsYZJ1US7-p_rLjkBlmNkosoQPajRPfqJ441cxw_Xz2JsLY-j4WE1-ygkrp2CO-cetlWseI/s200/real+happiness.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704797739247953170" border="0" /></a> household (for the second year in a row), which seemed like a great time to also do the <a href="http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/realhappiness/blog">28-Day Meditation Challenge</a>, based on the book <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10104290/summary/79726636"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation – A 28-Day Program</span></a> by <a href="http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/">Sharon Salzberg</a> (which, as you may remember, <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2011/11/mailbox-monday-november-6-kripalu.html">I bought at Kripalu</a>). When I got back from my Kripalu retreat, I fully intended to start meditating every day, but that didn’t happen. However, as Sharon Salzberg says, “with every breath, we can begin again,” which is exactly what I’m choosing to do this month—with both blogging and meditating.<br /><br />I’ll keep you posted on how I’m doing with the meditation challenge in weekly updates on Wednesdays, which means that, as of next week, my <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/search/label/Similar%20covers">“similar covers” posts</a> will go live on Thursdays instead.<br /><br />So now that I’m back, let me know what I’ve missed! Oh and Happy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc">Imbolc</a>!avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-10821161865268997902012-01-09T11:10:00.004-05:002012-02-06T21:02:58.779-05:00Mailbox Monday (January 9)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Alyce at <a href="http://athomewithbooks.net/">At Home with Books</a>.</span><br /><br />Happy New Year, folks! Here’s what came my way over the holidays...<br /><br />My dad gave me three books I’d requested: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2469377/summary/81665357"><span style="font-style: italic;">Open Arms</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Endicott">Marina Endicott</a> (I loved her second book, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6269624/book/37497870"><span style="font-style: italic;">Good to a Fault</span></a>, which I <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2009/02/good-to-fault-by-marina-endicott-review.html">reviewed here</a>), <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9377496/81665346"><span style="font-style: italic;">Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison</span></a> by <a href="http://piperkerman.com/">Piper Kerman</a> and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5952346/summary/81665351"><span style="font-style: italic;">Girl in a Blue Dress</span></a> by Gaynor Arnold.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvBP7xHsNb3BKvQRv9lLdnE4sTVxm3EzoAaAgsmGHusiafLZLEqNZyT37Um9Rh8dVoBqyB3ffvyWEFQ63PJIBUair0J6AAV70M5uH2UXmJ9suLZPR_4VEW9w8wVx1lGIi2jFXocgr-H7Qv/s1600/open+arms.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvBP7xHsNb3BKvQRv9lLdnE4sTVxm3EzoAaAgsmGHusiafLZLEqNZyT37Um9Rh8dVoBqyB3ffvyWEFQ63PJIBUair0J6AAV70M5uH2UXmJ9suLZPR_4VEW9w8wVx1lGIi2jFXocgr-H7Qv/s200/open+arms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695480837541116114" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9MJ7aIhgNprjDPDsxgmISK_ByGlv6O-3Pq8pmFQbC3BT9nRckR9cgeO98TSH9oGEzENkltQ0LS8Pr5bJXUGA2kqdjru6qLh5weOgyNZdDw0k4EJlIT8DCMHmxjCD_M1SSDNGdft393NK/s1600/orange+is+the+new+black.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9MJ7aIhgNprjDPDsxgmISK_ByGlv6O-3Pq8pmFQbC3BT9nRckR9cgeO98TSH9oGEzENkltQ0LS8Pr5bJXUGA2kqdjru6qLh5weOgyNZdDw0k4EJlIT8DCMHmxjCD_M1SSDNGdft393NK/s200/orange+is+the+new+black.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695481051448977954" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hDCv4k6CUNJoxQNWXZ3IVG0Fjc3XxP9uW6YxofG_lmx7f2BnSvCC4Lm9xuvyxsHN04r5ZmrBO05K3ww0mulIV2wgAqCTwZpK3fnKl69WOrWu3A2nzK5SGBSQePi7UwAyidKBIigBuR1H/s1600/girl+in+a+blue+dress.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hDCv4k6CUNJoxQNWXZ3IVG0Fjc3XxP9uW6YxofG_lmx7f2BnSvCC4Lm9xuvyxsHN04r5ZmrBO05K3ww0mulIV2wgAqCTwZpK3fnKl69WOrWu3A2nzK5SGBSQePi7UwAyidKBIigBuR1H/s200/girl+in+a+blue+dress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695480825326031202" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I also picked up second-hand copies of the following books (while shopping for my dad and Mr. B): <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8321560/81665339"><span style="font-style: italic;">Black Water Rising</span></a> by <a href="http://www.atticalocke.com/">Attica Locke</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4508200/summary/81665333"><span style="font-style: italic;">I Was Told There’d Be Cake</span></a> by <a href="http://sloanecrosley.com/">Sloane Crosley</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2262082/81665324"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Sons of Heaven</span></a> by <a href="http://www.kagebaker.com/">Kage Baker</a> and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/71947/summary/81665365"><span style="font-style: italic;">Grave Sight</span></a> by <a href="http://www.charlaineharris.com/">Charlaine Harris</a>.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEWnmnJnOkg9QF1nqWluqGCDPL8lGi_MHaoiFUUJIPyrbiyBroVbxLhLdy_vtVP5dYdcValZqJVPRI-6YlctNDti2Or-8CGosA7za-6mvSu8WxIzwFdcTQZUTD7nkvgD3xoa6kUfl7XFA/s1600/black+water+rising.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEWnmnJnOkg9QF1nqWluqGCDPL8lGi_MHaoiFUUJIPyrbiyBroVbxLhLdy_vtVP5dYdcValZqJVPRI-6YlctNDti2Or-8CGosA7za-6mvSu8WxIzwFdcTQZUTD7nkvgD3xoa6kUfl7XFA/s200/black+water+rising.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695480821925577826" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEESntyTHiSUHPUS6cR314lFxhy-8L30755dMqCYx3mcBY3aKbWmsYcQB0SzgleyhHSaPTW50G8TtjmOx5_qR5iwf2QcQCfh3-pqsqzStMDMZ9oswLJ7Rzz6FYJpnmOiwd67MAZzUeTfxo/s1600/i+was+told+there%2527d+be+cake.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEESntyTHiSUHPUS6cR314lFxhy-8L30755dMqCYx3mcBY3aKbWmsYcQB0SzgleyhHSaPTW50G8TtjmOx5_qR5iwf2QcQCfh3-pqsqzStMDMZ9oswLJ7Rzz6FYJpnmOiwd67MAZzUeTfxo/s200/i+was+told+there%2527d+be+cake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695480832005955970" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycfNSq3hEUiYFaQieKAgmDBi-LfGCBMkHEguWv1eWZDo819Gke1xqkpazFePy_vzxqvhYDq07Fl6ZBydID5ic_fOQn7Ce9TGOuB-EhJ_L2wxOBLnYEVefvjgBabT7ur7mrVTeObA4bbtW/s1600/the+sons+of+heaven.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 117px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycfNSq3hEUiYFaQieKAgmDBi-LfGCBMkHEguWv1eWZDo819Gke1xqkpazFePy_vzxqvhYDq07Fl6ZBydID5ic_fOQn7Ce9TGOuB-EhJ_L2wxOBLnYEVefvjgBabT7ur7mrVTeObA4bbtW/s200/the+sons+of+heaven.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695481058233085778" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiprhyVZ3eXUpTn2t-VwK543B9dQIW5AqpzMKrED7w_jSkiKsKyL41RLAyvyd6HB5j66ZWFaDbqtGANC0teBXEq_ZAGfawYYYz8tKTMiEeg-pPCVF1QDa-yTlFuOSjP_kpqEU4UtGDCNJv/s1600/grave+sight.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 117px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiprhyVZ3eXUpTn2t-VwK543B9dQIW5AqpzMKrED7w_jSkiKsKyL41RLAyvyd6HB5j66ZWFaDbqtGANC0teBXEq_ZAGfawYYYz8tKTMiEeg-pPCVF1QDa-yTlFuOSjP_kpqEU4UtGDCNJv/s200/grave+sight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695480826354024514" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, Mr. B gave me a <span style="font-weight: bold;">red Sony Reader</span> for Christmas (yay!), so I downloaded the following ebooks for free: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/364/81666143"><span style="font-style: italic;">Emma</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen">Jane Austen</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/7857297/summary/81666101"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Secret Adversary</span></a> by <a href="http://us.agathachristie.com/">Agatha Christie</a> and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11924468/summary/81666125"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tortured</span></a> by <a href="http://www.caraghobrien.com/">Caragh M. O’Brien</a>.<br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVIHs7uIUbrUVrKtsLtz8GkY1tGn24Aq6dGYi4KwTjFPm4f5LE7eXSfhXSV-txDK57I-aLyYBayi0J9pvTshaYrO-nJZdWyrNKQx621S9Y1skB3Vm3Y9NC5vovysfqhOJ7IE6Jd2ylRSwn/s1600/emma.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVIHs7uIUbrUVrKtsLtz8GkY1tGn24Aq6dGYi4KwTjFPm4f5LE7eXSfhXSV-txDK57I-aLyYBayi0J9pvTshaYrO-nJZdWyrNKQx621S9Y1skB3Vm3Y9NC5vovysfqhOJ7IE6Jd2ylRSwn/s200/emma.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695483805627920866" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOaXuOwEDMMDvFHLneoLcadLavPEedhW2qlPZdCGke8YbRjd8LfH2LY52JGaYZXhW0byxvebJukXsNoo7eVoSfR4soRdJv-haln3qe8wbPxQDduiLeze-Qp0VOzrb3gjSVw5pJCfIe5pJ/s1600/the+secret+adversary.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOaXuOwEDMMDvFHLneoLcadLavPEedhW2qlPZdCGke8YbRjd8LfH2LY52JGaYZXhW0byxvebJukXsNoo7eVoSfR4soRdJv-haln3qe8wbPxQDduiLeze-Qp0VOzrb3gjSVw5pJCfIe5pJ/s200/the+secret+adversary.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695483805140828530" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpI38jdQJUXSNSvjqTPNZBTCxOR1Q0Qw2h-eGnYVYBsAJznsWSdeCoXLf4mj893NC0-Wf3mGFLQajFPqsjg5_vxCLyXKHbedrNAQfR7goVtvLqvwHmQvtdmZfPW5VUCbXK_pbsxPqPfwF/s1600/tortured.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpI38jdQJUXSNSvjqTPNZBTCxOR1Q0Qw2h-eGnYVYBsAJznsWSdeCoXLf4mj893NC0-Wf3mGFLQajFPqsjg5_vxCLyXKHbedrNAQfR7goVtvLqvwHmQvtdmZfPW5VUCbXK_pbsxPqPfwF/s200/tortured.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695483809617229266" border="0" /></a></div><br />What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://athomewithbooks.net/2012/01/mailbox-monday-january-9/">At Home with Books</a>.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-29573132466038038002011-12-19T10:55:00.008-05:002011-12-19T11:39:34.995-05:00Mailbox Monday (December 19)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> the previou</span><span style="font-style: italic;">s week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog </span><span style="font-style: italic;">tour—this month, i</span><span style="font-style: italic;">t’s host</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ed by Jenny Q at <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/">Let Them Read Books</a>.</span><br /><br />I received two books in the mail this week, one for review and one I bought myself.<br /><br />The first is <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/12058592/summary/80987079"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America</span></a> by <a href="http://www.pinkisforboys.org/">Jo B. Paoletti</a>, which was sent to me by <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/">Indiana University Press</a>. It’s coming out in February 2012, so look for my review then!<br /><br />From the publisher’s website:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jo B. Paoletti’s journey through the history of children’s clothing began when she posed the question, “When did we start dressing girls in pink and boys in blue?” To uncover the answer, she looks at advertising, catalogs, dolls, baby books, mommy blogs and discussion forums, and other popular media to examine the surprising shifts in attitudes toward color as a mark of gender in American children’s clothing. She chronicles the decline of the white dress for both boys and girls, the introduction of rompers in the early 20th century, the gendering of pink and blue, the resurgence of unisex fashions, and the origins of today’s highly gender-specific baby and toddler clothing.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTA2XOaxwsgsLparP7WpG7Bw-lGgO1Nvakahy6qjs7cQR6PjGmOamwEM2RfeYPrl3swy-6oPGJ9xVPj5XNOS1G26HZq_dAED1ZeEbO-CuyoDRwhPbbIDvXUWyxglbNxngUHqh-81jeAq_a/s1600/pink+and+blue.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTA2XOaxwsgsLparP7WpG7Bw-lGgO1Nvakahy6qjs7cQR6PjGmOamwEM2RfeYPrl3swy-6oPGJ9xVPj5XNOS1G26HZq_dAED1ZeEbO-CuyoDRwhPbbIDvXUWyxglbNxngUHqh-81jeAq_a/s200/pink+and+blue.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687876814564103234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5rWL4yv8tHpeb7glDtVALiVV52bUSZq_7hdlqSFMRKfnR8ML1NoLToXfNQYzQZgh_L4Gpzfu3IGkEXsMo4FXZlGzyx8Da7DOeJq3LOj6mxy1ZtSHGnvrE62jI7pHNJSbtH-4tNuBCraL/s1600/writing+for+your+life.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5rWL4yv8tHpeb7glDtVALiVV52bUSZq_7hdlqSFMRKfnR8ML1NoLToXfNQYzQZgh_L4Gpzfu3IGkEXsMo4FXZlGzyx8Da7DOeJq3LOj6mxy1ZtSHGnvrE62jI7pHNJSbtH-4tNuBCraL/s200/writing+for+your+life.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687876818593465602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The second is <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/14089/summary/80987091"><span style="font-style: italic;">Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner Worlds</span></a> by <a href="http://www.deenametzger.com/">Deena Metzger</a>.<br /><br />What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/2011/12/mailbox-monday-december-19.html">Let Them Read Books</a>.<br /></div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-62808518087711369142011-12-12T00:30:00.002-05:002011-12-12T01:35:36.800-05:00Mailbox Monday (December 12): The 3rd Montreal Book Bloggers’ Meet-Up!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> the previou</span><span style="font-style: italic;">s week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/blog/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s host</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ed by Jenny Q at <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/">Let Them Read Books</a>.</span><br /><br />I didn’t receive any books in the mail this past week, but I meet up with the <a href="http://montrealbookbloggers.weebly.com/">Montreal Book Bloggers</a> for our third official gathering and of course books were exchanged! Out of the 20 people in our group, 10 got together for lunch last Saturday—poor <a href="http://libraryofcleanreads.blogspot.com/">Laura</a>, who was supposed to join us for dessert, got stuck in traffic and only made it to the restaurant as we were leaving. We chatted about books and food and BEA—it looks like <a href="http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/">Cindy</a> and <a href="http://bookshipper.blogspot.com/">Tina</a> and I will all be going and staying in the same hotel!<br /><br />Here’s the group pic our waitress took with my camera:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxhEYPugzS8IUMMHRamnVb8ds8jDu1NMbJnDJurm8xjgHlcTZg0evn7cKvx-SnzY5yz7bFjkDyqqv3WzBcDMgw90RvDTVZLJ4BGFCP-xnxi_y7zpc1J-vGa41-ZarXw18aEIY6WsCbStp/s1600/third+mbb+gathering.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxhEYPugzS8IUMMHRamnVb8ds8jDu1NMbJnDJurm8xjgHlcTZg0evn7cKvx-SnzY5yz7bFjkDyqqv3WzBcDMgw90RvDTVZLJ4BGFCP-xnxi_y7zpc1J-vGa41-ZarXw18aEIY6WsCbStp/s400/third+mbb+gathering.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685103867395704674" border="0" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Left side (L-R): </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Amanda from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://talesandtreats.blogspot.com/">Tales and Treats</a>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Natalia from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://dazzlingreads.blogspot.com/">Dazzling Reads</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Ilana from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://fromsmilerwithlove.com/">From Smiler, with love</a>, <span style="font-style: italic;">me and Tina from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://bookshipper.blogspot.com/">Bookshipper</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Left side (L-R): Cat from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://beyondbooks.ca/">Beyond Books</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Cindy from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/">Cindy’s Love of Books</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Lucy from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://moonlightgleam.blogspot.com/">Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Cindy from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.tyngasreviews.com/">Tynga’s Reviews</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and Emilie from <a href="http://abeautifulmadness.blogspot.com/">A Beautiful Madness</a></span><br /><br />I restrained myself a bit this time and only brought home four books for me (plus two for Mr. B):<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2XhIX_RXfrEVHN0tul1qU3-u1KfJUntyZYxpPMe-fgGLnhVV4AA4gaOAGOjTLFJI7m_KggBt1WAiB9iG1KLN207-sTBb-R4XO3IT5M0Fjr1TN6DGBDRr0VFwm9Ycd9uT7y4rnnip-vJc/s1600/birthmarked.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2XhIX_RXfrEVHN0tul1qU3-u1KfJUntyZYxpPMe-fgGLnhVV4AA4gaOAGOjTLFJI7m_KggBt1WAiB9iG1KLN207-sTBb-R4XO3IT5M0Fjr1TN6DGBDRr0VFwm9Ycd9uT7y4rnnip-vJc/s200/birthmarked.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685104153205978130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexBGUKiBWNqJeO-R10J4ifo662Wrg-eNkPSjTh7EsQPblovKVjEowPU-nUMiix61HKS8d8qC3WcJBl2svhvyzeREwObl1ncWjNQLhGvQ_j6sQ-rVtOiWniOLr1amMEGXpppx9dK6RKDeY/s1600/mnemonic.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 137px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexBGUKiBWNqJeO-R10J4ifo662Wrg-eNkPSjTh7EsQPblovKVjEowPU-nUMiix61HKS8d8qC3WcJBl2svhvyzeREwObl1ncWjNQLhGvQ_j6sQ-rVtOiWniOLr1amMEGXpppx9dK6RKDeY/s200/mnemonic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685104166367085410" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aHRgXrTbIrzxussvWqKLVx7lp7hlmiRPE-ksg3MS4vpWMNNdbJOLsTG71-EkY7bTRkdiH86ZWnGaDiasXuIgE_WtEPa5cFf1UCWOPtRMbYfoWZvX0XwLud8nCZzHzvcyFnpqv-AvPdWt/s1600/black+mirror.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aHRgXrTbIrzxussvWqKLVx7lp7hlmiRPE-ksg3MS4vpWMNNdbJOLsTG71-EkY7bTRkdiH86ZWnGaDiasXuIgE_WtEPa5cFf1UCWOPtRMbYfoWZvX0XwLud8nCZzHzvcyFnpqv-AvPdWt/s200/black+mirror.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685104153550542626" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxbMwcdq0SHHUXv6gBFwxED8t4lMFVL7FQG_26lV8KR0L1gJ_NzEeFZxq_mDGIM0dZLGihcwAuLRW09RUMpjtBdsp2KEeIBmnFnFl3TbTdYBE1-ruqZ_buBRcFZ4g8sgt5gVH2Kyu023C/s1600/curtain.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 118px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxbMwcdq0SHHUXv6gBFwxED8t4lMFVL7FQG_26lV8KR0L1gJ_NzEeFZxq_mDGIM0dZLGihcwAuLRW09RUMpjtBdsp2KEeIBmnFnFl3TbTdYBE1-ruqZ_buBRcFZ4g8sgt5gVH2Kyu023C/s200/curtain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685104158840433330" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />From Amanda (</span><span style="font-weight: bold;" id="fullpost"><a href="http://talesandtreats.blogspot.com/">Tales and Treats</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">):</span><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9117047/80786719"><span style="font-style: italic;">Birthmarked</span></a> by <a href="http://www.caraghobrien.com/">Caragh M. O’Brien</a></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">From Cindy (<a href="http://cindysloveofbooks.blogspot.com/">Cindy’s Love of Books</a>):</span><span><br /></span></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11422232/summary/80786717"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mnemonic: A Book of Trees</span></a> by <a href="http://theresakishkan.com/">Theresa Kishkan</a></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">From Lucy (<a href="http://www.moonlightgleam.com/">Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf</a>):</span><span><br /></span></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/132851/80786715"><span style="font-style: italic;">Black Mirror</span></a> by <a href="http://www.nancywerlin.com/">Nancy Werlin</a></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">From Ilana (<a href="http://fromsmilerwithlove.com/">From Smiler, with love</a>):</span><span><br /></span></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/29978/80786712"><span style="font-style: italic;">Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case</span></a> by <a href="http://us.agathachristie.com/">Agatha Christie</a></li></ul><p>Ilana also gave me <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2280068"><span style="font-style: italic;">American Gods</span></a> by <a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/">Neil Gaiman</a> and <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A </span></span><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8366"><span style="font-style: italic;">Game of Thrones</span></a> by <a href="http://www.georgerrmartin.com/">George R.R. Martin</a> for Mr. B. (Thank you!)<br /></p><p>What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to <a href="http://letthemreadbooks.blogspot.com/2011/12/dec-11-mailbox-monday-december-12.html">Let Them Read Books</a>.<br /></p>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-16966743888608767542011-12-07T17:50:00.020-05:002011-12-09T17:25:26.577-05:00Similar Covers: Corsets (Again)I know I’ve been neglecting my blog in the last few months (let’s not even talk about how long it’s been since I’ve posted a book review I actually wrote), but I can’t let a week go by without posting another set of lookalike covers (or three).<br /><br />Here’s the latest batch then, all of which feature a woman in a corset from the back...<br /><br />The first set: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8096184/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Taboo</span></a> by Jess Michaels aka <a href="http://www.jennapetersen.com/">Jenna Petersen</a> (HarperCollins, Apr 2009) and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/9031514"><span style="font-style: italic;">Trades of the Flesh</span></a> by <a href="http://fayelbooth.blogspot.com/">Faye L. Booth</a> (Macmillan, Sep 2009).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1WmucbWYEUnUzYSbVgR8__CLJpxQGwaKzakMlcvhtpzp3SxH99iRyU-EisYu3I_G6iYEDyprznDZp1WC1PNYPD5VR-xDDSIdZY0YtntaUMHn-1gHCr6fzFGbVfCEwBGTHDFnbDAIRx8X/s1600/taboo.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1WmucbWYEUnUzYSbVgR8__CLJpxQGwaKzakMlcvhtpzp3SxH99iRyU-EisYu3I_G6iYEDyprznDZp1WC1PNYPD5VR-xDDSIdZY0YtntaUMHn-1gHCr6fzFGbVfCEwBGTHDFnbDAIRx8X/s200/taboo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526610885832978" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD6LNDa1dI934cyMQDTvpJE2wBUvWS49kG4gBkjWlSgQN6u0cpuZ5KuFUIHFKMrZffCc3ADZJd7qC68C7wCIIcEVEd9PQK3rvju7knY3mFPF5YuV1mHe5vYz4SstFu7EPeg0PKl87HzDl/s1600/trades+of+the+flesh.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 114px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOD6LNDa1dI934cyMQDTvpJE2wBUvWS49kG4gBkjWlSgQN6u0cpuZ5KuFUIHFKMrZffCc3ADZJd7qC68C7wCIIcEVEd9PQK3rvju7knY3mFPF5YuV1mHe5vYz4SstFu7EPeg0PKl87HzDl/s200/trades+of+the+flesh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526615806697634" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The second set (which is my favourite): <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/37520/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Subjection of Women</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill">John Stuart Mill</a>, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/670133/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Wild Girls: Paris, Sappho, and Art – The Lives and Loves of Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks</span></a><span> by <a href="http://www.dianasouhami.co.uk/">Diane Souhami</a> (Orion Books, 2004), <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8049029/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Wildthorn</span></a> by <a href="http://www.janeeagland.com/">Jane Eagland</a> (Macmillan, 2009) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Bokbindersken</span> (the Norwegian translation of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3999174/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Journal of Dora Damage</span></a>) by <a href="http://www.wivenhoe.gov.uk/people/belinda_starling.htm">Belinda Starling</a> (Cappelen Damm, 2010).</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAQlgt6lzIXp5GnhyphenhyphenMmE_tO4ARjwEtjgXytlF3XR6V_lyahVmgPCHJu5VDKMYonQQShAaSg7u0BGlhKiO9uliP4c4bWQW9Wp7L-tPty02j4-Q35kF0LB6hn1rlA-QaHAYfcrBg-MQpgeU/s1600/on+the+sujection+of+women.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 122px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAQlgt6lzIXp5GnhyphenhyphenMmE_tO4ARjwEtjgXytlF3XR6V_lyahVmgPCHJu5VDKMYonQQShAaSg7u0BGlhKiO9uliP4c4bWQW9Wp7L-tPty02j4-Q35kF0LB6hn1rlA-QaHAYfcrBg-MQpgeU/s200/on+the+sujection+of+women.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526622854118386" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXaYcMrrc_SOaJt3dEFjnknOZbJa1vgS5vIiFr1nNY77zBfEiiJQm2p8ZeGWSGa1R4JwAOpg5H23oTNJtl9sHMNaRoru_y-NwXLePqDlQ0RtfZQoKK8Cpzek9ofO-RMuOygxgzbaAX6Ek/s1600/wild+girls.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXaYcMrrc_SOaJt3dEFjnknOZbJa1vgS5vIiFr1nNY77zBfEiiJQm2p8ZeGWSGa1R4JwAOpg5H23oTNJtl9sHMNaRoru_y-NwXLePqDlQ0RtfZQoKK8Cpzek9ofO-RMuOygxgzbaAX6Ek/s200/wild+girls.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526630547191298" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_oBMj_8HWsWEiRKMKj1wtjZs71qE37-NF5iBRf0wf4D5t94HqazwrgJQSyYcfTSxZc69LDWwea4GopW45QLs_k07UucYCYksVtl8aWlUaqxB8PAPhu3bKwoyjtYt6Xy937t5fgvSupgv/s1600/wildthorn.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_oBMj_8HWsWEiRKMKj1wtjZs71qE37-NF5iBRf0wf4D5t94HqazwrgJQSyYcfTSxZc69LDWwea4GopW45QLs_k07UucYCYksVtl8aWlUaqxB8PAPhu3bKwoyjtYt6Xy937t5fgvSupgv/s200/wildthorn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684003953634880994" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQpw9eEbnW7fymJpAHnbo4ftET_PRheodBnxDJ31O8bFJvwI3TxY_isVFI89qYAcidlFnxi8AAwYLIiPVvAGhYLk__c3iNOeY7zLsi0Fv5BQXR6eY5YbWUToS2GNBINY1vRyHZ6iMuTYl/s1600/bokbindersken.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQpw9eEbnW7fymJpAHnbo4ftET_PRheodBnxDJ31O8bFJvwI3TxY_isVFI89qYAcidlFnxi8AAwYLIiPVvAGhYLk__c3iNOeY7zLsi0Fv5BQXR6eY5YbWUToS2GNBINY1vRyHZ6iMuTYl/s200/bokbindersken.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526620388260930" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, for those of you who have been following my <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/search/label/Similar%20covers">“similar covers” posts</a> for a while, a familiar set (with two new covers): <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2267162/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Fever-Hot Dreams</span></a> by <a href="http://www.jaciburton.com/">Jaci Burton</a>, <a href="http://www.pixelmonkey.net/">Sherri L. King</a> and <a href="http://www.samanthawinston.com/">Samantha Winston</a> (Ellora’s Cave, 2007), <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3374620">Mistress</a> by <a href="http://www.ledaswann.com/">Leda Swann</a> (HarperCollins, Feb 2008), <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/4960277/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Private Places</span></a> by <a href="http://www.robinschone.com/">Robin Schone</a>, <a href="http://www.claudiadain.com/">Claudia Dain</a>, <a href="http://www.allysonjames.com/">Allyson James</a> and <a href="http://shilohwalker.com/">Shiloh Walker</a> (Penguin, Aug 2008), and <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2524314">The Scandal of the Season</a> by <a href="http://www.sophiegee.com/">Sophie Gee</a> (Simon & Schuster, Aug 2008). Two of these covers appeared in my <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2009/02/seeing-double.html">Seeing Double!</a> post in 2009.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlr1nY7LeZSINw19Y3kqWG1JHtkwOhwmJ9A_vDhPvt49tQP0JPNIc4pfrqyxUSVqTrFWxjxNydsG_HKgGOYnr6chnoO22eUD8nQLpLNw5uhiFvPB_mvBnG6n82xZC1gWs6E5658PTO1e_/s1600/fever-hot+dreams.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 119px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlr1nY7LeZSINw19Y3kqWG1JHtkwOhwmJ9A_vDhPvt49tQP0JPNIc4pfrqyxUSVqTrFWxjxNydsG_HKgGOYnr6chnoO22eUD8nQLpLNw5uhiFvPB_mvBnG6n82xZC1gWs6E5658PTO1e_/s200/fever-hot+dreams.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526848113381218" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3NrEKtqhz8KERIiJYLZBAOohFylEjXY0FXuus-W0Vg5lm78Tue9zgL17iFBBVaov4MqeQZL-7cNeau2rPW2oU71CVRstoYXQgrcBkkqYqawZvwx-M7aN42IEtza1c4hlwXNTWZZEU0hA/s1600/mistress.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3NrEKtqhz8KERIiJYLZBAOohFylEjXY0FXuus-W0Vg5lm78Tue9zgL17iFBBVaov4MqeQZL-7cNeau2rPW2oU71CVRstoYXQgrcBkkqYqawZvwx-M7aN42IEtza1c4hlwXNTWZZEU0hA/s200/mistress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526853370979522" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggw7w9JFVG5j6_AL1xpNKKuZXB8nETrr1g_tuH3B7MADlYx_kN3DpktmKCsmXpTMCm6LmfZX-QuOpiScUEekRALKOTjQh-aORlQ4DBSGpYSsJVkdPWA4nPyWs7cjSfut9PMl3FKn59beoW/s1600/private+places.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggw7w9JFVG5j6_AL1xpNKKuZXB8nETrr1g_tuH3B7MADlYx_kN3DpktmKCsmXpTMCm6LmfZX-QuOpiScUEekRALKOTjQh-aORlQ4DBSGpYSsJVkdPWA4nPyWs7cjSfut9PMl3FKn59beoW/s200/private+places.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526857628852498" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sHLCN9SItGezv9Jb_hxH_Xi5LL8-EqsCevD_ZBLO0WjT_aT8Gw2z0rEKaJoj_izkeBjEXD-MC78Qj0bo9h0_JrZEZegheXMa2DMwj81__N5wC2vEN6Wt_59Rtqn3moW6yDWtzURVSUSn/s1600/the+scandal+of+the+season.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7sHLCN9SItGezv9Jb_hxH_Xi5LL8-EqsCevD_ZBLO0WjT_aT8Gw2z0rEKaJoj_izkeBjEXD-MC78Qj0bo9h0_JrZEZegheXMa2DMwj81__N5wC2vEN6Wt_59Rtqn3moW6yDWtzURVSUSn/s200/the+scandal+of+the+season.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683526862707465826" border="0" /></a></div><br />It’s funny because, although all these covers are very similar, only the middle <del>three</del> four appeal to me, which I attribute to the fact that those books sound more like something I’d actually read (the others don’t). I think the cover for <span><span style="font-style: italic;">Bokbindersken</span> </span><span><span>is particularly beautiful (the small image I</span></span>’ve uploaded in this post doesn’t do it justice). What do you think?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Edited to add:</span></span><br /><br />I added <span style="font-style: italic;">Wildthorn</span> to the second set. I wasn’t sure it was the same image, but when you put it next to the others, it’s pretty obvious that it is!avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-33512148709737737502011-11-30T12:05:00.002-05:002011-11-30T13:06:52.329-05:00Similar Covers: ButterfliesWhile I was in Indigo the other day with a friend, I spotted a familiar cover: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/34985/summary/26329734"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Language of Letting Go</span></a> by <a href="http://melodybeattie.com/">Melody Beattie</a> (Hazelden, 1990). I’m almost 100% positive it’s the same butterfly (reversed) as appears on the cover of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Urquhart">Jane Urquhart</a>’s latest novel, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10118138/summary/76068494"><span style="font-style: italic;">Sanctuary Line</span></a> (McClelland & Stewart, 2010).<br /><br />A quick search on <a href="http://www.tineye.com/">TinEye</a> revealed two other exact matches: <span style="font-style: italic;">Chrysalis</span> by the Venice Public Library Poets (Peppertree Press, 2008) and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11660421/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Understanding Change</span></a> by Malcolm Webber (Strategic Press, date unknown).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAT88IlgUnDIT5omuxYIAlTdkcgOazzUqaYjsPq4Eq3edepTZSPIdt3pqtJUs94lgtO4C0vqKWJ9hXG9w1nquE97j2mXKKD95c3Vv7YzSTKR8ZikEichFpQAIE7D6GD4t7dybShqHar9rT/s1600/the+language+of+letting+go.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAT88IlgUnDIT5omuxYIAlTdkcgOazzUqaYjsPq4Eq3edepTZSPIdt3pqtJUs94lgtO4C0vqKWJ9hXG9w1nquE97j2mXKKD95c3Vv7YzSTKR8ZikEichFpQAIE7D6GD4t7dybShqHar9rT/s200/the+language+of+letting+go.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650739419359890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlrGmzByo4dQD00tx0qO-psFf4K-JbTOJQ9Phyphenhyphend_Po-0wPTF63h4nHlr_rYjJ-WamX3qCzf6N92aYbyldE7yyqjPZRKaaiNGt7GVHvdY4QYTPnb0O6-HqbE69bnV5Nie-NtEo2AKQ77WW/s1600/sanctuary+line.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlrGmzByo4dQD00tx0qO-psFf4K-JbTOJQ9Phyphenhyphend_Po-0wPTF63h4nHlr_rYjJ-WamX3qCzf6N92aYbyldE7yyqjPZRKaaiNGt7GVHvdY4QYTPnb0O6-HqbE69bnV5Nie-NtEo2AKQ77WW/s200/sanctuary+line.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650731280240706" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsNmhyTFTttQ35krPEJfAOpZm-2fWHYA14I355l0lbuGMpFqdMkVKkV9uHitFpqwGBb9wOMAPlp1DEp9VOnh_ghmfRCiRawjK7S9bc8KYCEjHl1vYW3kpMXSJbqBqeQ-_oEBSNWyytR51/s1600/chrysalis.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsNmhyTFTttQ35krPEJfAOpZm-2fWHYA14I355l0lbuGMpFqdMkVKkV9uHitFpqwGBb9wOMAPlp1DEp9VOnh_ghmfRCiRawjK7S9bc8KYCEjHl1vYW3kpMXSJbqBqeQ-_oEBSNWyytR51/s200/chrysalis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650729772078082" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGMgljq9FT0dTNDJuIghT1EzDNg5zrfvkp3a0TPQ5IWAhJsx0kBtYmRQjwI3PyRrM5-69N3TcXB4jZashNT08LbfWDM8XuDhM1-NKxxb9_4W4F52RmXXkclgrBLijz434Kw4xcd61dak2/s1600/understanding+change.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGMgljq9FT0dTNDJuIghT1EzDNg5zrfvkp3a0TPQ5IWAhJsx0kBtYmRQjwI3PyRrM5-69N3TcXB4jZashNT08LbfWDM8XuDhM1-NKxxb9_4W4F52RmXXkclgrBLijz434Kw4xcd61dak2/s200/understanding+change.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650740671874322" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I also recently came across two covers that feature the same blue butterfly:<span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Touch (Our Senses)</span> by </span>Kay Woodward (Gareth Stephens Publishing, Jan 2005) <span>and <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">York Notes Advanced: Selected Poems – Carol Ann Duffy</span><span> (Pearson, Jun 2005).</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfyZSbE3DTq-Kil67KJX6_lN2DJcpHwas4dwsx-XA5qpVXEz-CINo5-XW3KgaFap8KGcg6PFJMRuUS-cYDct0O0bw_wO3r-gXOFb0SXlY2HnZXqIKv1gtloPPs8Nh3VIQFZnHYvK-espr/s1600/touch.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfyZSbE3DTq-Kil67KJX6_lN2DJcpHwas4dwsx-XA5qpVXEz-CINo5-XW3KgaFap8KGcg6PFJMRuUS-cYDct0O0bw_wO3r-gXOFb0SXlY2HnZXqIKv1gtloPPs8Nh3VIQFZnHYvK-espr/s200/touch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680653644762808210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLBcQacXE4wBtx04egeXLbIMMNzjqzctjgKdVwfuOQR5SqbB8QOBmG-pMSw_z1GYADemTX9bnlEWb1ZP8kRTh0QWXrqPxZV6C52lvCS84nDuAOio8fuGNG-pt5KLO0hDU_1igtQUgAlyT/s1600/selected+poems.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLBcQacXE4wBtx04egeXLbIMMNzjqzctjgKdVwfuOQR5SqbB8QOBmG-pMSw_z1GYADemTX9bnlEWb1ZP8kRTh0QWXrqPxZV6C52lvCS84nDuAOio8fuGNG-pt5KLO0hDU_1igtQUgAlyT/s200/selected+poems.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680653640127789138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, here are two butterflies-in-a-jar covers that are very similar though at the same time quite different: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10475079"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Dry Grass of August</span></a> by <a href="http://www.ajmm.net/AJMayhew/index.php">Anna Jean Mayhew</a> (Kensington Publishing, 2011) and <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11888459/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">A World Away</span></a> by Nancy Grossman (Hyperion, 2012).<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOttFwrlvDobI_KmjtK9MPgQkN0s6UKXoZtkYPA4Ecz9agRXlV70nv6JW2GqIN0EG-HPgTHdEBWy8h7TQ4Ej_zzNdmfKUQFSA668MI2ny0OOCtBndZeGb47IFoKEzpxoRJXM8is-gGhVaW/s1600/the+dry+grass+of+august.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOttFwrlvDobI_KmjtK9MPgQkN0s6UKXoZtkYPA4Ecz9agRXlV70nv6JW2GqIN0EG-HPgTHdEBWy8h7TQ4Ej_zzNdmfKUQFSA668MI2ny0OOCtBndZeGb47IFoKEzpxoRJXM8is-gGhVaW/s200/the+dry+grass+of+august.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650956774902466" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP58t1hO_DDYl7i5ubLYIl2ep8lQZYM_OXXnh5JxmHx9PYoRv4mEkfDmtX_JOtoA547w5hzoT6g2VjbCZcd5yiDVbEWKs3tY9vyavcjXEskctWhYHaKimlZBygZGmwk3Werth4BHQUAEs/s1600/a+world+away.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP58t1hO_DDYl7i5ubLYIl2ep8lQZYM_OXXnh5JxmHx9PYoRv4mEkfDmtX_JOtoA547w5hzoT6g2VjbCZcd5yiDVbEWKs3tY9vyavcjXEskctWhYHaKimlZBygZGmwk3Werth4BHQUAEs/s200/a+world+away.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680650953989142946" border="0" /></a></div><br />Of all of these covers, my favourite by far is <span style="font-style: italic;">A World Away</span>, which is whimsical and colourful (but may or may not have anything to do with the story, which is about an Amish teen who goes to Chicago for the summer to be a nanny!).<br /><br />For other “similar covers” posts featuring butterflies, check out <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2009/03/butterfly-covers.html">Blue Butterfly Covers</a>, <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2010/05/similar-covers-more-butterflies-jars.html">More Butterflies (Jar Optional)</a> and <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2011/07/similar-covers-escaping-butterfly.html">Escaping Butterfly</a>.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-9835086811876676572011-11-28T00:25:00.000-05:002011-11-28T00:36:56.235-05:00Mailbox Monday (November 28)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Marcia at the <a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/marcias-mailbox/">Mailbox Monday</a> site.</span><br /><br />I didn’t receive any books in the mail this week, but found two yesterday in a new-to-me secondhand store.<br /><br />The first is <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5154100/summary/80379546"><span style="font-style: italic;">ribsauce: a cd/anthology of words </span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlflAS_59Pa-oo14Y89Rss3XgtC5K6oozbbDB5xoeJxFcjpGLQl0BdDWwW1MjLiPRAjbVczNIkpMIGlomk7qloyypGhYbfsI0iqtYU14PGLbg-OISXj0xqF7CfZtpBm-TjomSwNECqy7QP/s1600/ribsauce.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlflAS_59Pa-oo14Y89Rss3XgtC5K6oozbbDB5xoeJxFcjpGLQl0BdDWwW1MjLiPRAjbVczNIkpMIGlomk7qloyypGhYbfsI0iqtYU14PGLbg-OISXj0xqF7CfZtpBm-TjomSwNECqy7QP/s200/ribsauce.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679901473325140290" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5154100/summary/80379546"><span style="font-style: italic;">by women</span></a> edited by <a href="http://www.soyfish.net/">Taien Ng-Chan</a> (anthology) and Alex Boutros & Kaarla Sundström (CD). Alex and Kaarla used to be my neighbours about 15 years ago, so I was surprised and pleased to find this collection.<br /><br />From the inside flap:<br /><br />ribsauce <span style="font-style: italic;">is a unique compilation of literature and sound recordings, featuring some of Canada’s best women writers and performance artists. Presented in collaboration with Wired on Words, one of Canada’s premier spoken word recording labels, this combination of book and CD reveals the ways in which language and sound are manipulated and muscled into place by women who push the boundaries of genre and form.<br /><br />The book delves into a diverse array of genre and cross-genre, from poetry and prose to plays and dramatic monologues, and everything in between. The works in this collection experiment with narrative and voice, text and image.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyaLwBMgcNNKjPWVXIvXtVMOfPZyykN5KZTR4nQn1-BFmpUv8yQFqNJ35l5uE_HpU9iwvKsqlCJWesG4rnhFyVNrbOwHFYQuQbloZdoatAkG_Fuwh1uYuWilwE1Pae-KQYn3OIyjrEC2C/s1600/girl+from+mars.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyaLwBMgcNNKjPWVXIvXtVMOfPZyykN5KZTR4nQn1-BFmpUv8yQFqNJ35l5uE_HpU9iwvKsqlCJWesG4rnhFyVNrbOwHFYQuQbloZdoatAkG_Fuwh1uYuWilwE1Pae-KQYn3OIyjrEC2C/s200/girl+from+mars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679901545198701634" border="0" /></a>The second is <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3895345/summary/80380430"><span style="font-style: italic;">Girl from Mars</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Bach">Tamara Bach</a>, translated by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Tanaka">Shelley Tanaka</a>.<br /><br />From the inside flap:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Miriam is fifteen. She has lived in the same little town her whole life, going to school with the same kids who know everything about her—like how in the third grade she once laughed so hard that her strawberry milk came out her nose. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But now she’s in high school—having stupid arguments with her mother, bored to death in class, trying to get excited by the same old parties with the same old friends, and wishing she lived in a big city where she could meet new people, see new things. In other words, Miriam is desperately waiting for her life to start happening. Something, anything... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A first love, perhaps.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And then love comes, in a completely unexpected way, when Miriam meets a new classmate, Laura. And suddenly, life is very complicated...</span><br /><br />What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to the <a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/mailbox-monday-november-27th/">Mailbox Monday</a> site.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-9871621470934564372011-11-23T11:01:00.005-05:002012-04-10T21:37:59.898-04:00Similar Covers: Written on the FaceFirst a <del>threesome</del> foursome of covers where the book title obscures the face behind it:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/8372394/summary">A Friend of the Family</a> </span>by <a href="http://laurengrodstein.com/">Lauren Grodstein</a> (Algonquin Books, 2010)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11646439/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Book of Blood and Shadow</span></a> by <a href="http://www.robinwasserman.com/">Robin Wasserman</a> (Random House, 2012)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/7244/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">Never Let Me Go</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuo_Ishiguro">Kazuo Ishiguro</a> (Random House, 2006)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11858687/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen</span></a> by <a href="http://thomas-caplan.com/">Thomas Caplan</a> (Penguin 2012)<br /></li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0YHFQy73Gx8JkW3p3NUAFKEOlTAOVMYI_3lNEOefuanFx4gVSBgbS710oxbu1wx50_jUiGxzsHQ9ZJKez_33chEbn82zSZxBJOcFgPsfos-D9bIlSeVz8TfS0wE68Q2fed1tkSpmQmVdS/s1600/a+friend+of+the+family.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0YHFQy73Gx8JkW3p3NUAFKEOlTAOVMYI_3lNEOefuanFx4gVSBgbS710oxbu1wx50_jUiGxzsHQ9ZJKez_33chEbn82zSZxBJOcFgPsfos-D9bIlSeVz8TfS0wE68Q2fed1tkSpmQmVdS/s200/a+friend+of+the+family.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706464802531122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeEjGuTbX6EGT0lxOIyKmfRvOPggYzA2jkvbOPQ8A6MahW_0joftWD8NwRX4CvW_Ui4SBCC5Mc_Dc3kRG9K8q83H51hmB3z4ZcMr3wyQ929QmExx6yWYE29qrAZglhDE8Sf2BY9-00Ffy/s1600/the+book+of+blood+and+shadow.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOeEjGuTbX6EGT0lxOIyKmfRvOPggYzA2jkvbOPQ8A6MahW_0joftWD8NwRX4CvW_Ui4SBCC5Mc_Dc3kRG9K8q83H51hmB3z4ZcMr3wyQ929QmExx6yWYE29qrAZglhDE8Sf2BY9-00Ffy/s200/the+book+of+blood+and+shadow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679443537596233042" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3jkmMeDr5aRnrcIVBr310F5TVBa7UHvBRZL_qUyJIMT5byYpvQVtFz6Db9yzImclofKTe5E8C4UvsrZc3qMKOWnTFwcvwu9nDwXtp99CzugZGcpRz6VVqC528bDT6DT2f3_NjTFeAY4F/s1600/never+let+me+go.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3jkmMeDr5aRnrcIVBr310F5TVBa7UHvBRZL_qUyJIMT5byYpvQVtFz6Db9yzImclofKTe5E8C4UvsrZc3qMKOWnTFwcvwu9nDwXtp99CzugZGcpRz6VVqC528bDT6DT2f3_NjTFeAY4F/s200/never+let+me+go.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706463052573458" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrJB2dPYWPj7XP5Q9yHJuU7l2T1tZKI7TK7aIou8kfaFMtPLNrQsV8mMR8IbQ9yaGknNLvwJ8Hr6jUvQ5oT_2dC5HCHWyPHhWFUR_2bdvllbAi0MRNADueMvtwfC_MLWUz1JSPwvudCCZ/s1600/the+spy+who+jumped+off+the+screen.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrJB2dPYWPj7XP5Q9yHJuU7l2T1tZKI7TK7aIou8kfaFMtPLNrQsV8mMR8IbQ9yaGknNLvwJ8Hr6jUvQ5oT_2dC5HCHWyPHhWFUR_2bdvllbAi0MRNADueMvtwfC_MLWUz1JSPwvudCCZ/s200/the+spy+who+jumped+off+the+screen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706466525167586" border="0" /></a></div><br />Next, a <del>foursome</del> fivesome (!) of covers featuring closeups of (mostly) closed eyes:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Alles, was wir geben mussten</span> (the German translation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Never Let Me Go</span>) by Kazuo Ishiguro (Random House, 2005)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1903808/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Strength of the Sun</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Chidgey">Catherine Chidgey</a> (Macmillan Publishing, 2005)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1286270/summary/22849556"><span style="font-style: italic;">Certainty</span></a> by <a href="http://madeleinethien.com/">Madeleine Thien</a> (Little, Brown, 2007)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/6133948/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Museum of Innocence</span></a> by <a href="http://www.orhanpamuk.net/">Orhan Pamuk</a> (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10504854/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">My Not-So-Still Life</span></a> by <a href="http://www.lizgallagher.com/">Liz Gallagher</a> (Random House, 2011)</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiqzFX_U_jRwc2tnyaBFxGlvoOFC8hVpWLQuYocu4vyChagH7Yxpr8e3wyQdbzOcFx_-upDkbaOXDUVdmCU1LZPPc6z6jBo0jmlXl5HZ2Yxsmo1tZ3ayACsC0iSlo4gBTOZhkBjrNEKal/s1600/alles+was+wir+geben+mussten.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiqzFX_U_jRwc2tnyaBFxGlvoOFC8hVpWLQuYocu4vyChagH7Yxpr8e3wyQdbzOcFx_-upDkbaOXDUVdmCU1LZPPc6z6jBo0jmlXl5HZ2Yxsmo1tZ3ayACsC0iSlo4gBTOZhkBjrNEKal/s200/alles+was+wir+geben+mussten.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706568570424258" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3t9j31Z5qk0HpfH03hPfgMsDbrjaqWpCaNgEvf3Y0HsNsokCa7DXocHcIkJSptdO6-1aIV1Y0JsSVMlvtbd0NYRL2Boklg1hSMq7gYbBunCC4zBFPw8Os_ksjtEkl2-yUApBbA3-HX2k/s1600/the+strength+of+the+sun+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3t9j31Z5qk0HpfH03hPfgMsDbrjaqWpCaNgEvf3Y0HsNsokCa7DXocHcIkJSptdO6-1aIV1Y0JsSVMlvtbd0NYRL2Boklg1hSMq7gYbBunCC4zBFPw8Os_ksjtEkl2-yUApBbA3-HX2k/s200/the+strength+of+the+sun+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706576509842770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzvhFx4sbHTwl150wsrYgFM65ZswD1IpElZnXExchWZNvpXNTnlvHi57gy4SsoofGFNZDrcZ4LjujmDr6WLgEoNDov2s9bspKGURexO0Xr5fZQCckqRdVD9MiuBfA-zyOu0NQlEnQgVWw/s1600/certainty.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzvhFx4sbHTwl150wsrYgFM65ZswD1IpElZnXExchWZNvpXNTnlvHi57gy4SsoofGFNZDrcZ4LjujmDr6WLgEoNDov2s9bspKGURexO0Xr5fZQCckqRdVD9MiuBfA-zyOu0NQlEnQgVWw/s200/certainty.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706573414525330" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3eEfYQ-YqQydYPRXxv_x3Pw3neveYhgWTAgpplh22KeOpyVVLe7AusghTHfANpA1zQ8ZLn1r0BGiL2L1ajtvCu_SglWa7rfv1Phy2Z0rUHMLvDUGgs3yIY2sXVe94-Gqct5GrRdMu-jC/s1600/the+museum+of+innocence.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3eEfYQ-YqQydYPRXxv_x3Pw3neveYhgWTAgpplh22KeOpyVVLe7AusghTHfANpA1zQ8ZLn1r0BGiL2L1ajtvCu_SglWa7rfv1Phy2Z0rUHMLvDUGgs3yIY2sXVe94-Gqct5GrRdMu-jC/s200/the+museum+of+innocence.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729947946699999090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5B4Rm9umJfzgn8ghvTwekZ1bmx7cIBrTAK5GfXIo6lKqTs4UnuVv2ulsawuerQ64vm1nZ6jPL7gHM2kRSNxJL563N1RbcWZwjyLWVINiy1HSiSmq46ZezzX0IsyuaG4Od6UTLRlO6fvj/s1600/my+not-so-still+life.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG5B4Rm9umJfzgn8ghvTwekZ1bmx7cIBrTAK5GfXIo6lKqTs4UnuVv2ulsawuerQ64vm1nZ6jPL7gHM2kRSNxJL563N1RbcWZwjyLWVINiy1HSiSmq46ZezzX0IsyuaG4Od6UTLRlO6fvj/s200/my+not-so-still+life.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677706577513373250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Interestingly, the librarians at <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/">Stacked</a> have featured two of these covers (<span style="font-style: italic;">Never Let Me Go</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">My Not-So-Still Life</span>) with other lookalikes: check out <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/2010/04/dystopia-double-take.html">Dystopia Double Take</a> and <a href="http://www.stackedbooks.org/2010/12/double-take-wink-and-nudge.html">Double Take: A Wink and a Nudge</a>. Do you know of any others that would match these sets?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Edited to add:</span></span><br /><br />I just added a fourth cover to the first set, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Book of Blood and Shadow</span>, which I spotted over at <a href="http://thebooksmugglers.com/">The Book Smugglers</a>. It looks so much like the cover for <span style="font-style: italic;">A Friend of the Family</span>, except the words really <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> written on her face!<br /><br />I also added a fifth cover to the second set, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Museum of Innocence</span>, which is definitely my favourite of these five (and the only one I’m tempted to pick up based on the cover).<br /></div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-67176508499962393192011-11-22T10:00:00.005-05:002011-11-23T10:08:19.262-05:00Scholastic Canada Brunch with Author Cecil Castellucci and Montreal Book Bloggers!As I’ve mentioned a couple of times already, last Sunday, five other Montreal book bloggers and I had the honour of having brunch with <a href="http://castellucci.wordpress.com/">Cecil Castellucci</a> and two publicists from <a href="http://www.scholastic.ca/">Scholastic Canada</a>, Nikole and Catherine, who were in town for the <a href="http://www.salondulivredemontreal.com/">Salon du Livre de Montréal</a> (an annual book trade show). Cecil is in Canada to promote her latest book, <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11152543/summary/79983623"><span style="font-style: italic;">First Day on Earth</span></a>. Here we all are (click on photo to enlarge):<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-dnEhF3zQrJ35kxb-ouVnHAE0gsBrajtejrpAU0jdwjXtIJ-gbQCLRhTsRG0Ia5wyc7xSX-LZNswgCyPoMYrQbFjZ8wiFzLJtMtDRe3Q9P541E9Mwa-tJn0U3VfG5ji263grAcnFkT-T/s1600/mbb+with+cecil+%2526+publicists.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-dnEhF3zQrJ35kxb-ouVnHAE0gsBrajtejrpAU0jdwjXtIJ-gbQCLRhTsRG0Ia5wyc7xSX-LZNswgCyPoMYrQbFjZ8wiFzLJtMtDRe3Q9P541E9Mwa-tJn0U3VfG5ji263grAcnFkT-T/s400/mbb+with+cecil+%2526+publicists.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677682985865917858" border="0" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Front row (L-R): Lisa from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://starmetaloak.blogspot.com/">starmetal oak book blog</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and Nikole from Scholastic Canada</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Back row (L-R): Cat from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://beyondbooks.ca/">Beyond Books</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, me, Lucy from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://moonlightgleam.blogspot.com/">Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Cecil Castellucci, Tina from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://bookshipper.blogspot.com/">Bookshipper</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, Melissa from </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.yabookshelf.com/">YA Book Shelf</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and Catherine from Scholastic Canada</span><br /><br />It was so much fun to share a meal with such a bookish crowd! Cecil talked about writing her first boy book and how much she puts of herself into each of her books. She answered our questions and signed our books. (I own seven of her nine books and every single one is now signed.) She even drew in my copy of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2335288"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Plain Janes</span></a> (read my <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2010/01/plain-janes-by-cecil-castellucci-and.html">review</a>)!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTcdPrngn0q6v_F_fD793RVbBaoyrYWZ-z6hCROPfOJwu7GKSptTZ109VgSEl_Z1NDQdY2Y5tZA3Vt0pV9lyGR8Z2W0AyipX1lZw9nbYBuGZbIa3d5jFNhtW0jAFRmiw_ufzpkZ0AsfRd/s1600/plain+janes+autographed.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTcdPrngn0q6v_F_fD793RVbBaoyrYWZ-z6hCROPfOJwu7GKSptTZ109VgSEl_Z1NDQdY2Y5tZA3Vt0pV9lyGR8Z2W0AyipX1lZw9nbYBuGZbIa3d5jFNhtW0jAFRmiw_ufzpkZ0AsfRd/s320/plain+janes+autographed.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677690638365936146" border="0" /></a></div><br />She also mentioned that her next book will be a hybrid fiction and graphic novel called <span style="font-style: italic;">The Year of the Beasts</span> (illustrated by <a href="http://seemybrotherdance.blogspot.com/">Nate Powell</a>—check out the <a href="http://seemybrotherdance.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-books-looming.html">cover</a>!). I can’t wait to read it!<br /><br />Nikole and Catherine prepared personalized bags of Scholastic goodness for each of us. These are the books I got:<ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11600507/summary/80184364"><span style="font-style: italic;">Glory Be</span></a> by <a href="http://www.augustascattergood.com/">Augusta Scattergood</a> (Jan 2012)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11521145/summary/80184352"><span style="font-style: italic;">Irises</span></a> by <a href="http://www.franciscostork.com/">Francisco X. Stork</a> (Jan 2012)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11768258/summary/80184358"><span style="font-style: italic;">If Only</span></a> by <a href="http://www.carolegeithner.com/">Carole Geithner</a> (Mar 2012)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11961009/summary/80184375"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Noes to their Younger Selves</span></a> edited by Sarah Moon with <a href="http://www.jameslecesne.com/">James Lecesne</a> (May 2012)</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCiP0Rxbbv8VPT8LW-nTKs3a1GHpC3Nj2G4PXt_do8jOXnovP2XmePlMSqeFlDbhxA9sASQAcYczbcsf45XWY_Yur7Sr_mNqJ3Hf1JqR2hGSBdVMqO4gVkPHW8FvYQmumJhDmrVpptX0x/s1600/scholastic+books.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCiP0Rxbbv8VPT8LW-nTKs3a1GHpC3Nj2G4PXt_do8jOXnovP2XmePlMSqeFlDbhxA9sASQAcYczbcsf45XWY_Yur7Sr_mNqJ3Hf1JqR2hGSBdVMqO4gVkPHW8FvYQmumJhDmrVpptX0x/s320/scholastic+books.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677835907226815218" border="0" /></a></div><br />Many thanks again to Nikole and Catherine from <a href="http://www.scholastic.ca/">Scholastic Canada</a> for hosting this event and to Cecil for hanging out with us and answering our questions!<br /><br />If you live in Montreal (or nearby) and want to meet Cecil, she will be at <a href="http://www.montrealplus.ca/montreal/venues/babar-en-ville">Babar en Ville</a> this Saturday doing a Writing Workshop for Teens. You can also watch her being interviewed on <a href="http://www.globaltoronto.com/Pages/MorningSegment.aspx?id=6442521240">The Morning Show</a>.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-12768528964771323112011-11-21T00:15:00.004-05:002011-11-23T10:02:16.080-05:00Mailbox Monday (November 21)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s1600-h/Mailbox+Monday.jpg"><img alt="Mailbox Monday button" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308458815561842738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMKT9lZNWSEsa2D3V7ptQeW9Kf7HpImj3doizp9DsXgd4sSv5HitYFoIiIJ26rhyphenhyphenAip_hgdOTuJIO-lgqLMNZmYRqd72D5voVgdCYnfrBVBYKGhc8I1l2RRx32FrzYX1gzrfr9Tbuk-V4/s200/Mailbox+Monday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 140px;" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/">Mailbox Monday</a> is a gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and huge wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia (who now blogs at <a href="http://www.agirlandherbooks.com/">A girl and her books</a>) is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Marcia at the <a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/marcias-mailbox/">Mailbox Monday</a> site.</span><br /><br />I received one book to review in the mail this week, from <a href="http://www.questbooks.net/">Quest Books</a>: <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11961988/summary/80184342"><span style="font-style: italic;">Sojourns of the Soul: One Woman’s Journey around the World and into Her Truth</span></a> by <a href="http://www.danamicucci.com/">Dana Micucci</a>. It seemed like a suitable follow-up to my trip to Kripalu!<br /><br />From the publisher’s site:<br /><br />Sojourns of the Soul <span style="font-style: italic;">is the quintessential armchair </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTP1boPBPABZrbgX9vvJrU5r7rl1TDAbrRvALPzPAy5b8SgH8zlB0zhmjEDJGMvvNFRUzzX6bggwC0VEaxnQVtB3TCB-f4ZvSbtIwp80gcbYPDaCVOj0xUJt-woVT5jJqpU6R3UhH0SiC/s1600/sojourns+of+the+soul.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTP1boPBPABZrbgX9vvJrU5r7rl1TDAbrRvALPzPAy5b8SgH8zlB0zhmjEDJGMvvNFRUzzX6bggwC0VEaxnQVtB3TCB-f4ZvSbtIwp80gcbYPDaCVOj0xUJt-woVT5jJqpU6R3UhH0SiC/s200/sojourns+of+the+soul.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677305151012823746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">tr</span><span style="font-style: italic;">avel book for the spiritual seeker. Dana Micucci’s touching memoir chronicles seven sacred journeys that span 14 years of Micucci’s life, during which she explores the connection of inner growth to world travel that eventually leads to her own enlightenment. Unlike other inspirational travel books, </span><span>Sojourns of the Soul</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> provides a rare mix of in-depth wisdom and literary insights from the holistic view of an experienced female traveler. </span><br /><br />Fellow Montreal book blogger <a href="http://www.moonlightgleam.com/">Lucy</a> gave me <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5400850/summary/80184380"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Knife of Letting Go</span></a> by <a href="http://www.patrickness.com/">Patrick Ness</a>...<br /><br />From the back cover:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvC6JK7oRhlP_vDOk80eN4gyApcQKYRa6VJF_8YKZZrYcWYGKECSj2CiitWx4t_UDPscrAVAeYT_grQA-TMCYDz2S8YYnxlyeXOTMhqM4joGQ5KzPt5KIHX2h30fTyT__vybd9cExO-qG/s1600/the+knife+of+never+letting+go.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvC6JK7oRhlP_vDOk80eN4gyApcQKYRa6VJF_8YKZZrYcWYGKECSj2CiitWx4t_UDPscrAVAeYT_grQA-TMCYDz2S8YYnxlyeXOTMhqM4joGQ5KzPt5KIHX2h30fTyT__vybd9cExO-qG/s200/the+knife+of+never+letting+go.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677307140876557762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee—whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not—stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden—a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> must run for their lives. But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?</span><br /><br />While fellow Montreal book blogger <a href="http://www.moonlightgleam.com/"></a><a href="http://starmetaloak.blogspot.com/">Lisa</a> lent me <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11404574/summary/80184386"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Highest Frontier</span></a> by <a href="http://ultraphyte.com/">Joan Slonczewski</a>...<br /><br />From the inside flap:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jennifer Ramos Kennedy, a girl from a rich and </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVQLU8KGDs_eIit2EC7RILckvEmqBcqvJSbzwOIaEcHEj3W3v7HRlUU5Q01sx_osuynDorQdvAyqINneV6M-SvuZAoRDaUxZaJk1VCsI-dXKL8qgy4d64BdwUpf25x-Rm1CKkJhlGHVNh/s1600/the+highest+frontier.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVQLU8KGDs_eIit2EC7RILckvEmqBcqvJSbzwOIaEcHEj3W3v7HRlUU5Q01sx_osuynDorQdvAyqINneV6M-SvuZAoRDaUxZaJk1VCsI-dXKL8qgy4d64BdwUpf25x-Rm1CKkJhlGHVNh/s200/the+highest+frontier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677306957107518178" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">politically influential family (descended from the famous Kennedy clan) whose twin brother has died in an accident and left her bereft, is about to enter her freshman year at Frontera College. Frontera is an exciting school built in Earth’s orbit with media money—and a bit from tribal casinos, too—and is dedicated to educating the best and brightest of this future world. We accompany Jenny as she proceeds through her early days at school, encountering surprises and wonders and some unpleasant problems. Deadly microbes that caused AIDS and anthrax are now being modified to cure disease and grow cables for space elevators. Earth is altered by global warming, and an invasive alien species called ultraphytes threatens the surviving ecosystem. Jenny is being raised for great things, but while she’s in school, she just wants to do her homework, go on a few dates, and get by.</span><br /><br />I also received a bunch of books from <a href="http://www.scholastic.ca/">Scholastic Canada</a> during the brunch on Sunday with <a href="http://castellucci.wordpress.com/">Cecil Castellucci</a> and her publicists, but more on that tomorrow!<br /><br />What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to the <a href="http://mailboxmonday.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/mailbox-monday-november-20th/">Mailbox Monday</a> site.avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2861558236080696007.post-58541661228945470602011-11-16T23:58:00.002-05:002011-11-23T10:19:38.227-05:00Similar Covers: More SoldiersIn honour of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_day">Remembrance Day</a>, which was last Friday, here are three sets of covers that feature the photos of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Eisenstaedt">Alfred Eisenstaedt</a>, who is most famous for his photo <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-J_Day_in_Times_Square">V-J Day in Times Square</a>. All three of the photos used on the covers below were taken at Penn Station. (Note that I’ve featured several of these covers in previous posts: <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2009/08/gone-to-soldiers-again.html">Gone to Soldiers Again...</a> and <a href="http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2009/11/similar-covers-sepia-couples-take-2.html">Sepia Couples [Take 2]</a>.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKG8MZNCyOXKuGHIOvsKqIjM10t81hdhbO172Lqjjip7hHsmwmaH2Fr3RVDsD8no4azhsUssgQ0X-q3b6RVSCWVKXgLPuLNOmAo-OLAQejpxKlCf5nF14DuOjiyNArm76dJ5sDuyIQDE3y/s1600/the+last+time+i+saw+paris.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKG8MZNCyOXKuGHIOvsKqIjM10t81hdhbO172Lqjjip7hHsmwmaH2Fr3RVDsD8no4azhsUssgQ0X-q3b6RVSCWVKXgLPuLNOmAo-OLAQejpxKlCf5nF14DuOjiyNArm76dJ5sDuyIQDE3y/s200/the+last+time+i+saw+paris.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675443937566748722" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMZ5ICH_dm5MMDjIiPO-hVE1X8JIeCZDjOehSMMbOPec3zNyAtkJm1M662Y9kF88GVm3QtdJTcVfgG_6v6-toR3P1LI_GLCBb0yP7uyjIx10stDs_OkttnTIEU9IsXuRIAYD5IYcWbblE/s1600/remembrance+day.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMZ5ICH_dm5MMDjIiPO-hVE1X8JIeCZDjOehSMMbOPec3zNyAtkJm1M662Y9kF88GVm3QtdJTcVfgG_6v6-toR3P1LI_GLCBb0yP7uyjIx10stDs_OkttnTIEU9IsXuRIAYD5IYcWbblE/s200/remembrance+day.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675443696317469010" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNv5FyZllTxwOj021FztaKRu9OxZP_EnOb1hDudEIhWXp5QWZe-UOpIJ1nZb-WvQN_F4oAxRNezYl9Sp-4OTJMeYWpFEmJjLUYDGOj5k-oox9kj2FJDmQid4oYypU3T5QTwjP6Ytj6MAiV/s1600/consequences.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNv5FyZllTxwOj021FztaKRu9OxZP_EnOb1hDudEIhWXp5QWZe-UOpIJ1nZb-WvQN_F4oAxRNezYl9Sp-4OTJMeYWpFEmJjLUYDGOj5k-oox9kj2FJDmQid4oYypU3T5QTwjP6Ytj6MAiV/s200/consequences.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675443692602259426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4ps-v9KKGA_trmjygS_3Vo6Y3P6sbP37XY7ENFAIVSaJ3xJvdYdAn5Jz4zU9c8x0zEuz5lxPx0PSLVykCRwNLXLhzUN7RymfheZdvQbHWgixQIzHU8dUJroA8yj6TeBbRStDwOCeSVKp/s1600/the+wreckage.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4ps-v9KKGA_trmjygS_3Vo6Y3P6sbP37XY7ENFAIVSaJ3xJvdYdAn5Jz4zU9c8x0zEuz5lxPx0PSLVykCRwNLXLhzUN7RymfheZdvQbHWgixQIzHU8dUJroA8yj6TeBbRStDwOCeSVKp/s200/the+wreckage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675443943135667426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3Nmw6V5d8VTg-op-r3Z6kocij7x0fHZRzuLVevL4wua7sID5yitl1FrNlFvZ_uYaUAzgYNtgEN0HpFI0pu_4GdM6RacTVTUDrBaejS_Z7YmuITIADJaz6DgA8XjLH1MDYXrMKAjFk264/s1600/the+carpenter%2527s+pencil.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3Nmw6V5d8VTg-op-r3Z6kocij7x0fHZRzuLVevL4wua7sID5yitl1FrNlFvZ_uYaUAzgYNtgEN0HpFI0pu_4GdM6RacTVTUDrBaejS_Z7YmuITIADJaz6DgA8XjLH1MDYXrMKAjFk264/s200/the+carpenter%2527s+pencil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676120899350342594" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbthf8TnVAJjdkiruABEZW854gvb4Clf7_Pysy07AgxyCDnt-WPR9A5Qgwrrmq2pSne0eDtIjG3aBsxaFkgbOoePnj4X7Kakm8To7if9L-4FQN8BOws2mF5AiOXAQQXXTxcezO98C5Y0E/s1600/songs+of+world+war+ii.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNbthf8TnVAJjdkiruABEZW854gvb4Clf7_Pysy07AgxyCDnt-WPR9A5Qgwrrmq2pSne0eDtIjG3aBsxaFkgbOoePnj4X7Kakm8To7if9L-4FQN8BOws2mF5AiOXAQQXXTxcezO98C5Y0E/s200/songs+of+world+war+ii.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675734619350860866" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBBieV7_twD4KtDaqO4hwEoIv8cFsdgas-1zrkXZTGBaCNeC-gxIR1sF-qRXNugC7Gj6p0Zh30CSPunTs9jIZQg0eMp-J7hmljk-crZ8ctmPj3_DnTphd0qvuA7QR-LnaF41JveRSJym0/s1600/a+farewell+to+arms.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBBieV7_twD4KtDaqO4hwEoIv8cFsdgas-1zrkXZTGBaCNeC-gxIR1sF-qRXNugC7Gj6p0Zh30CSPunTs9jIZQg0eMp-J7hmljk-crZ8ctmPj3_DnTphd0qvuA7QR-LnaF41JveRSJym0/s200/a+farewell+to+arms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675443687887350034" border="0" /></a></div><br />The first set (above) are:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/11084983"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Last Time I Saw Paris</span></a> by <a href="http://www.lynnsheene.com/">Lynn Sheene</a> (Penguin, May 2011)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/10598035"><span style="font-style: italic;">Remembrance Day</span></a> by <a href="http://www.leahfleming.co.uk/">Leah Fleming</a> (Harper Collins, 2009)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2596840"><span style="font-style: italic;">Consequences</span></a> by <a href="http://penelopelively.net/">Penelope Lively</a> (Lester & Orpen Dennys, 2008)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/504335"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Wreckage</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crummey">Michael Crummey</a> (Random House, 2006)</li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/1190528"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Carpenter's Pencil</span></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Rivas">Manuel Rivas</a> (Random House, 2001)</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Standard Time: Songs of Word War II</span> by Valerie Piacenti (CD, Nov 2011)</li><li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022879/"><span style="font-style: italic;">A Farewell to Arms: Remastered Edition</span></a> directed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0097648/">Frank Borzage</a> (DVD, 2005)</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwPhu7jLbIW-kOtJxWKFls3yPZ_oJhXjjA69DlIrw9hqiTkmKIaZoJVFZwAXg8oNwx_aA8hGxdDMD1In7rYJ2f8oIwPzKWJ5NYov1lMyiDwis1009Q1uGMgULzDx9gXGmyLpWAzU5c1-4/s1600/the+winds+of+war.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 122px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwPhu7jLbIW-kOtJxWKFls3yPZ_oJhXjjA69DlIrw9hqiTkmKIaZoJVFZwAXg8oNwx_aA8hGxdDMD1In7rYJ2f8oIwPzKWJ5NYov1lMyiDwis1009Q1uGMgULzDx9gXGmyLpWAzU5c1-4/s200/the+winds+of+war.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444208297950578" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcnyYYmh54M0M3ghrl_rHXoWTbtTUgoVQSGO1Gm5H4EkeJz5eMiWyzG6uATtZ8YX07cAto-w3_-DiOleKEAlu6JNUKuxgUtUmhxg99FshoLYZXa5Fy-bNXCc-hXWM2Rpb1iccvH3nzmBB/s1600/the+diplomat%2527s+wife.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcnyYYmh54M0M3ghrl_rHXoWTbtTUgoVQSGO1Gm5H4EkeJz5eMiWyzG6uATtZ8YX07cAto-w3_-DiOleKEAlu6JNUKuxgUtUmhxg99FshoLYZXa5Fy-bNXCc-hXWM2Rpb1iccvH3nzmBB/s200/the+diplomat%2527s+wife.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444211404787346" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFPxoIi6-85Nob_dLxYxOtIFvHCa62N7WhVDJjkHPGZzFsR-oqAt0lK97Iea88Fm2Zo5WwyjeIpNthhKCbI5guP3Lt_6jJ1V4t-l8Vwix-YzfDYRQxemHGUvAKLsP1f8BxhqKT9MEMq4a/s1600/consequences.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFPxoIi6-85Nob_dLxYxOtIFvHCa62N7WhVDJjkHPGZzFsR-oqAt0lK97Iea88Fm2Zo5WwyjeIpNthhKCbI5guP3Lt_6jJ1V4t-l8Vwix-YzfDYRQxemHGUvAKLsP1f8BxhqKT9MEMq4a/s200/consequences.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444207504233922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQynyyWew4frhBz6r4qFsGLjmhrqdjT9RiCW_LKh52mRRjofI62PQ5THCiYMrKXcLW5JPG0D9smxz7IYdXWIfa2uKCzLjnizi8hGfzjdVZXh16hKECGIelb2NQKvY27FIZd5K8X9X_Z4mq/s1600/el+corresponsal.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 114px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQynyyWew4frhBz6r4qFsGLjmhrqdjT9RiCW_LKh52mRRjofI62PQ5THCiYMrKXcLW5JPG0D9smxz7IYdXWIfa2uKCzLjnizi8hGfzjdVZXh16hKECGIelb2NQKvY27FIZd5K8X9X_Z4mq/s200/el+corresponsal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676133821688008402" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSS6gxKNqXcQg1h-73TbQqAd3AFB_dmP0ZXvCv4AEYbbcvaJYbu4OggK_oJX72FLOV8Zf0eR2xqJtrlKm2ywBr9O5uCyovBRiLhyxkcAX0WoxthKUD4of2-kxgmQBUZoquGxoDXlnAud1/s1600/gone+to+soldiers.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 113px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSS6gxKNqXcQg1h-73TbQqAd3AFB_dmP0ZXvCv4AEYbbcvaJYbu4OggK_oJX72FLOV8Zf0eR2xqJtrlKm2ywBr9O5uCyovBRiLhyxkcAX0WoxthKUD4of2-kxgmQBUZoquGxoDXlnAud1/s200/gone+to+soldiers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444206670096434" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The second set (above) are:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The Winds of War</span> by <a href="http://www.deardenise.com/">Denise Robertson</a> (Little Books, 2009)</li><li> <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/5098065"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Diplomat’s Wife</span></a> by <a href="http://www.pamjenoff.com/">Pam Jenoff</a> (Harlequin, 2008) </li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/2596840"><span style="font-style: italic;">Consequences</span></a> by <a href="http://penelopelively.net/">Penelope Lively</a> (Penguin, 2007)</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">El corresponsal </span>(the Spanish translation of <a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/598716/summary"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Foreign Correspondent</span></a>) by <a href="http://alanfurst.net/index.htm">Alan Furst </a>(Planeta, 2006)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/32003"><span style="font-style: italic;">Gone to Soldiers</span></a> by <a href="http://www.margepiercy.com/">Marge Piercy</a> (Random House, 1988)</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnxBBt3-tFqwGU6Dh6IGcQqHmdzsr_NpyDEX63enwL6sy40ahnzeskU5wk0qi5QsO-mlh2gSO-D_5OjggG6QgI74m-XdafCyIajpb1v0EoRI08tKAxCvtfEyEEh7SnluzcWFai80ngLRu/s1600/half+in+love.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnxBBt3-tFqwGU6Dh6IGcQqHmdzsr_NpyDEX63enwL6sy40ahnzeskU5wk0qi5QsO-mlh2gSO-D_5OjggG6QgI74m-XdafCyIajpb1v0EoRI08tKAxCvtfEyEEh7SnluzcWFai80ngLRu/s200/half+in+love.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444366963283922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtPXMcYb64Ss5Z6RQTHOtPtrmmxLPa5IoG1tF2H_yjqnV39Nr-Pf6YR-WV72E0xhvmz5hmxaD16baX9uKAXm80ccq04RalcoJUxX3mml1NXLmSMXNy-YJtKd08TbkJ2j3GqtyCmt5AwnB/s1600/as+time+goes+by.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtPXMcYb64Ss5Z6RQTHOtPtrmmxLPa5IoG1tF2H_yjqnV39Nr-Pf6YR-WV72E0xhvmz5hmxaD16baX9uKAXm80ccq04RalcoJUxX3mml1NXLmSMXNy-YJtKd08TbkJ2j3GqtyCmt5AwnB/s200/as+time+goes+by.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675444363287565218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The third set (above) are:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/3505"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Half in Love</span></span></a> by <a href="http://www.mailemeloy.com/mailemeloy/Home.html">Maile Meloy</a><span> (Hachette, 2005)</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">World War II Songs: As Time Goes By</span><span> (Dynamic Music, 2006)</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></li></ul></div></div></div></div>avisannschildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12486477882148877317noreply@blogger.com7