Lace and Expectations

"Lace is a thing like hope. It is beauty; it is grace.
It was never meant to destroy so many lives."

Lace also usually associates well with tenderness, delicateness.  But how does it end up destroying lives? Author Iris Anthony weaves a story of "fleeting beauty, mad obsession and ephemeral hope." Ruins of Lace is for historical fiction fans, and is going to be published on October 1st 2012. More info here.


[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150"] Charles Dickens' great-great-great-grandchildren, Rob Charles Dickens, and Rachel Dickens Green, lay flowers at the grave during a ceremony at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the English novelist on February 7, 2012 in London, England. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)[/caption]

Remember Pip, the orphan who rose to wealth, and got affected by the improvement of his circumstances? If you think you have seen Pip somewhere in the news last week, I don't blame you. The novel was written long before our grandparents' parents existed. But don't we all mind a good story about being humbled after a stint with arrogance? Published in 1860 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens depicts life in Victorian England.

If you like old English masterpieces, chances are you did not miss the 1998 film adaptation of this book. A 2012 version is just around the corner, and is packed with a stellar cast - Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, along with a couple of promising newcomers. Mike Newell directs.

Canada will be first to watch it in September. New Zealand, Ireland and the UK will follow in November; Germany in December and Russia - January 2013. Check the trailer -

Disappearing bookshops

In the world of books and authors and the business people among them, things and people come and go just like everywhere else. Stephen Covey, familiar isn't he?, of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People fame passed away at 79 last month, July 16th. Bookseller Irving Oaklander, is also dead at 88 on August 8th. I am not very familiar with Oaklander but certain words in a tribute written for him by Steven Heller endears me to the kind of person he was -

"... he kept a booth at the Greenwich Village Antiquarian Book Fair... beckoning all passersby to feast their eyes as they page through the material.... He invited me to his Upper West Side book business... the main bookcase -the spines said it all. Indeed, Irving had them all. Every classic and many obscure volumes that I would have died for then... Irving was the Trader Joe of rare design books."

It's not just book people leaving. Bookshops are too. With the full-blown utilization of the internet our reading lives have been revolutionized by e-readers. Amazon, what a giant! We see traditional bookshops disappearing. We mourn, yes and then what? Mourning does not exactly resurrect dead bookshops.

 (Photo credit: beckvalleybooks)

Fortunately everything is not dead or lost yet. Hope is alive as there are still a few bookstores existing around us. This is where we are advised to invest in our hope. In other words stop lamenting and put your money behind what you love. When a bookstore is in danger of being closed down, do something.

St Mark's Bookshop in New York is in danger of being closed down due to high rental costs. Karen the Small Press Librarian lists ten reasons why people should help the bookshop survive. The scenario is not so different from the future of other bookstores anywhere else in the world. There is one among Karen's reasons that I think we can relate with - the bookshop is "not just a place that sells (and curates) culture and history, it IS living history." Isn't it quite compelling when put like that? Any book lover in his right mind and heart would not be willing to part with such a thing of beauty as a bookshop without first putting up a fight, i.e. investing in hope.

Branching out

In this post: Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen

Amy asks:

Name a book you love in a genre you normally don’t care for. What made you decide to read it? Did it make you want to try more in that genre?

Harry Potter, and I ended up reading all seven books in the series. Broomsticks and cauldrons, wands and potions, what in the name of Merlin's beard are they?.... I recall my own snigger at these things; look up my book shelf where the books are lovingly piled, and think of telling the sister-in-law how she influenced me to read HP.

Because I'm sure she has no idea what she's done. She was holding a wineglass in one hand and HP2 in the other over a meal during one family get-together. The cover I saw was of Harry dangling from the flying car above the Yorkshire Moors. I wouldn't have been curious if she was a ninth grader, but she's a medical doctor. Okay, she's a globe trotter too so maybe it was a book she did not finish from some trans-atlantic flight, but what business would a decent dermatologist have with petrificus totalus or wingardium leviosa?

That got my nostrils on the magical pages of HP for long, delightful hours and almost tempted me to steal a chapter or two at work. Curiosity could have killed the cat.

Bookish Sarah asks an interesting assortment of questions:

What genre do you avoid reading and why?

Erotica and dark fantasy (some call it a sub-genre) - I don't last long in these genres. I get bored easily and then I go particular with money value.

Thursday Thirteen: I write like...

A haiku poet invited me to join his haiku meme. I went strolling around his site, and found a charmingly interesting widget that says he writes like Charles Dickens. There was a link so I hopped over there, and as I'm no writer, you could imagine what fun I got out of checking

"which famous writer I write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers."

Here we go ---

1. As I’m someone who still loves having traditional books around, I say that’s the spirit! ~ E-books v. printed books, and whether a Kindle loaded with a thousand books would weigh heavier than one with only a hundred books.

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

2 Utmost love most pure / divinely capable of / crimson sacrifice ~ Love at Calvary (an Easter haiku)

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

3 In Hua Hin Hills visitors can tour vineyards in a way you normally can’t in Burgundy or Tuscany: riding on an elephant. Vineyards of Thailand

I write like
William Gibson

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

4. Built in world war two / the Spanish house stood / along the road /
Capiz shells made up its windows... / Out came “yakan, yaweh…” ~ Casa Embrujada, a free verse written for Halloween

I write like
William Shakespeare

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

5 It miffed my mother who was worried it was senility progressing... she sways her hips to imaginary music. ~ Waltzing Rosario, about my waltz-loving Grandma

I write like
Margaret Mitchell

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

6. I’ll pass those up.... My money is getting spent on time-tested quality entertainment – ballet and opera. ~ on Lady Gaga's Bad Bangkok Romance

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

7 Those nights of Wuthering Heights chain-smoking til 3 a.m.... and as enigmatic as Enigma. ~ reminiscing Mea Culpa

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

8 Just when I was about to send it over, I realized that if I were offered a place, the very topic I built a case on would send me back to Thailand for data-gathering. ~ Austenuating Jane Austen

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

9 “A quality haiku. Just the right amount of zest” says a published UK novelist/poet of my first attempt at a meme called Haiku Heights. ~ Pirouette

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

10 He congratulated her for passing some national exam. They bumped into each other at the luncheon that followed... ~ Christmas without you

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

11 "Austenuating a fire in my head" - an old tagline

I write like
Robert Louis Stevenson

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

12 If it’s made by Shangri-la and no other I’d actually eat it. This one looks like a throat clogger. I won’t take the risk. ~ on being shown a hideous fruit cake and asked if I would eat it

I write like
Margaret Atwood

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

13 It is a truth universally acknowledged that a blogger in possession of a Jane Austen addiction must be in want of more Jane Austen adaptations. Now isn't this obvious?

I write like
Jane Austen

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

HAPPY THURSDAY MY FRIENDS :)

E-books v. printed books

Georgia Borders store. (Wikipedia)

In a reading world where the trend has gone as electronic as Kindle or Kindle Fire, we hear talks of booksellers worrying about sales of traditional books or worse, going out of business. The lot are wary of ebooks but not Michael Popek, author of Forgotten Bookmarks who is also a used bookseller in Oneonta, N.Y.

Popek cited one good point why he is not afraid of the new reading medium: "e-books can't replicate some experiences that readers of the printed word are after - the collector of modern first editions; the new mother passing her childhood favorites down to the next generation; the reader of forgotten and esoteric texts unavailable digitally--all are seeking out an experience greater than the words on the page."  He goes on to comment on each kind of book -

E-books are fantastic at keeping us reading; traditional books are great at reminding us why we started in the first place. We're fortunate to live in a world where we don’t have to decide on one or the other.

As I'm someone who still loves having traditional books around, I say that's the spirit! I love keeping a bookshelf. My king-size bed is littered with books and I'm enjoying the sight. I feel uneasy if I could not buy books at least once a month. Traditional booksellers will always find a buyer in me, and it will probably be like that for awhile.


But I don't mind a Kindle either. The NY Times sciences section poses this question: "When an e-reader is loaded with thousands of books, does it gain any weight?"

I haven't wondered about that but now I do. And a U.C. Berkeley professor of computer science answers 'yes, sort of.'  Here's the technical explanation:

"... the amount is very small, on the order of an atogram. This amount is effectively unmeasurable. It is also 'only about one hundred-millionth as much as the estimated fluctuation from charging and discharging the device's battery'"

Whatever our purpose for reading or acquiring books, here's to more lovely experiences with the word, electronic or printed.

How does sleep come?

"Grandma, I don't know how to sleep." - CJ, last night

Thus says the kiddo. And that statement intrigued me. Grandma had to pull him out of class the day before and take him to a doctor due to a stomach ache. Whatever medication the doctor gave him, he slept the rest of the day and that might well be the reason why that night he didn't know how to sleep anymore. 

So when I checked my Shelf Awareness newsletter and found "How Does Sleep Come?" I thought I would enter the link that invites possible readers and buyers of the book to win a free ARC (Advance Reading Copy). I like what I saw although the fill-in-the-gaps form looks like the ARC is only for US residents.   Nevertheless it sounds opportune to my little guy's sleeping predicament and I am happy to share with you some info of this lovely, new bedtime classic.

It is a picture book debut of Jeanne Blackmore, a granddaughter of Roger Duvoisin whose tradition of creating beautiful books for children is well-known among readers, reviewers, lovers of children's books. Notice how Blackmore writes simply but poetically which makes How Does Sleep Come an ideal sleepy time tale:

“How does sleep come?” Jacob asked his Mama as he climbed into bed. Jacob’s Mama tucked the covers all around Jacob just so, and then she told him. “Sleep comes quietly. Like a snowfall that blankets a meadow on a dark starry night, and lays down a soft white canvas for rabbits to leave footprints.”

Jacob closed his eyes.
And the snow fell.
And the fog rolled in.
And the clouds drifted.
And the cat purred.
And quietly, silently, softly, peacefully, gentlyJacob fell asleep

If you might be interested in the ARC go to this link. The book is coming September 2012 from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.

Photo Source: http://books.sourcebooks.com/how-does-sleep-come-arc-giveaway/

Reading in the rain

In this post: Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen

GigiAnn asks:

Do you have a favorite season of the year that you read more? (Example: during snow storms, rainy weather, or sunny and warm weather)

Lisa asks:

Where is your favorite place to read? On the beach? Inside/outside?

During rainy weather! I love the rain, especially when I'm indoors. I love curling up in bed with a fuzzy blanket, a cup of hot chocolate or tea on the side table, and read read read. While traveling on a coach from Windsor Castle back to London, it rained. Hard. The next minute everything was white. That was my first snow experience ever and I was thinking... this would be perfect if there was a charming book in my hands right now!

The beach -- well, every time I'm on a beach I'm doing something else like catching up with family and friends so the bedroom with the rain pitter-pattering on the roof works very well for me.

Thursday 13: Books (on my TBR pile) for the rainy days
See if you might be interested in any of them. Most of them are recent.


1. Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stuart
murder mystery in Victorian England
2. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
private lives under government surveillance
3. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
a touch of sunny Tuscany
4. Things That Are by Amy Leach
communion with the wild world
5. How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
hair removal, getting fat, tiny pants, expensive handbags
6. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
psychological elements, problem of perception
7. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
wonder of life, animal and human
8. The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes
the lost art of letter writing, amnesia
9. Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta
lack of communication in sibling relationships
10. The White Devil by Justin Evans
contemporary horror set in a centuries-old boarding school, Lord Byron look-a-like
11. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
an artist's life, otherworldly beings
12. White Shotgun by April Smith
FBI agent, Italy
13. A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hansen
classic mystery feel

The hungry organ

"Give the body junk food and the brain is certainly going to suffer," comments nutritionist Bethany Thayer, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

It is statements like that that renews my horror every time I remember sacks of junk food at the ex-hubster's house, made available for my then 4-year old.

Experts ask parents, "'Want your child to do better in school? Take a close look at his or her diet. Certain "brain foods" may help boost a child's brain growth -- plus improve brain function, memory, and concentration.'"

The brain is called a very hungry organ.  Thayer explains that "it is the first among the body's organs to absorb nutrients from the food we eat."

WebMD presents these top ten brain foods that will help kids get the most from school. Their experts also provide preparing and serving suggestions:

1. Salmon, an excellent source of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA - both essential for brain growth and function. Research has shown that people who get more of these fatty acids in their diet do better at mental skills tests.

Suggestion: Make salmon salad for sandwiches. Serve on whole-grain bread, which is also a brain food.

2. Eggs, the yolks are packed with choline, which helps memory development.

Suggestion: Send your child off to school with a grab-and-go breakfast egg burrito. Try a poached egg on top of a toasted English muffin topped with a slice of low-fat cheese.

3. Peanut butter, the vitamin E in peanuts is a potent antioxidant that protects nervous membranes and the thiamin helps the brain use glucose for energy.

Suggestion: Dip apple slices in peanut butter. Or top off your favorite salad with a handful of peanuts.

4. Whole Grains provide glucose which the brain is in constant need of.

Suggestion: Make sure that whole grain is a main ingredient in your child's cereal. A low-fat popcorn would be a fun, healthy snack. Use whole-grain bread for sandwiches.

5. Oats/Oatmeal are very nutritious grain for the brain. Loaded with fiber, oats provide fuel for and keep a child's brain fed all morning at school.

Suggestion: Top hot oatmeal with pretty much anything, eg. applesauce or cinnamon, dried fruit and soy milk, fresh banana with skim milk.

6. Berries. All those berries around us. It is claimed that the more intense the color, the more nutrition you get from berries, which have high levels of antioxidants.

Suggestion: Toss berries into a green salad, or add chopped berries to a jar of salsa for excellent flavor surprise.

7. Beans. They keep a child's energy and thinking level at peak all afternoon if they enjoyed them with lunch. Kidney and pinto beans contain more omega-3 fatty acids than other beans

Suggestion: Sprinkle beans over a salad, or mash vegetarian beans and spread on a tortilla. Add beans to spaghetti sauce and salsa.

8. Colorful Veggies. Vegetables with rich, deep color like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, spinach are the best sources of antioxidants that keep brain cells strong and healthy.

Suggestion: Try sweet potato fries. Cut up in wedges or sticks. Baby carrots and tiny tomatoes fit nicely into lunch bags.

9. Milk & Yogurt. They are packed with protein and vitamin B which are essential for growth of brain tissue, neurotransmitters and enzymes.

Suggestion: Vitamin D-fortified juices are easy ways to get these essential nutrients. Cheese sticks are great snacks.

10. Lean Beef is one of best absorbed sources of iron, a mineral essential for helping kids concentrate and stay energized at school. For vegetarians, black bean and soy burgers are great iron-rich meatless options.

Suggestion: For dinner, grill kebobs with beef chunks and veggies. Or stir-fry a bit of beef with kids' favorite veggies. Grill black bean or soy burgers.

Photo Credit: Juglans Regia walnuts/Wikipedia

Yelling: the cause, the casualty, & the cure

We are humans, we are normal. We do things, human things, and one of them is something anyone may have done or experienced - yelling or being yelled at.

Yelling: the cause, the casualty & the cure is a book packed with practical tips you need to know about the behavior. Author Lorrie Flem gently shows readers, mothers particularly, how negative a behavior yelling can be and how to learn to avoid and overcome it altogether. There are bits of real-life yelling episodes of individuals shown in the book. Some of them you may know to be true or reflective of someone you know.

You'll be surprised. Surprised that you may think you know how to handle yelling when you get around to it because you think it is not serious and sorting it out is a piece of cake. Or you may be surprised to realize that yelling needs to be cracked at now, not tomorrow or when you are ready to deal with it.

This book is a good eye-opener and guide to help you overcome the problem of yelling. To be frank, my mother had her fair share of yelling when she was raising me. While I think I have this behavior under control when I deal with my son, I do find several instances when I seem to think it is something normal enough I do not even recognize the urgency of avoiding or working to get rid of it. Reading this book made me realize that.

There is going to be a Kindle version of this book on Amazon. Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/cxbwsdy. What's great and exciting is, on July 24th the Kindle book will be FREE along with a bunch of other freebies. Check out the delightful Eternal Encouragement site for more information and details.  

And here's more: there is a Facebook Party for this book on July 24th and you are invited. Go to this link to see the times. It will be fun.

Happy reading!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What's for dinner, Mom?

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I used to ask my own mother that question, and now it's my turn to answer it. The thing is, I do not always have a ready answer, and most of the time I cast a sheepish glance at the dining table often helplessly and mutter something like, 'let's see...' or 'pass me my phone please, we're ordering food' or worse, 'get dressed; we're going out for dinner.'

What's for Dinner, Mom? has definitely better answers. This printed book presents bulk cooking: the secret to a successful kitchen career. Author Lorrie Flem shows you examples to follow, explains methods you can adapt and plans you can execute to help you produce nutritious meals for your family at regular intervals without losing your sanity or feeling tethered to a rope due to time constraints.

Biblical references and quotes on food injected into the contents of this book triggered nostalgia for home.  The Homemaking Tips from the 1800s appealed to the history lover in me. You will love finding how to involve your children as you work your way around cooking and dining.  The multi-tasking tips are apt for busy moms. I chuckled when I got to this part of the book thinking how at my international business communication job I could multi-task in three languages, but do not know how to multi-task at home. This book has given me ideas how to domesticate such skill.

Now the recipes. They're the yummy stuff in the book and you've been waiting to hear from that, haven't you? I guarantee they are easy with ingredients you do not have to look further for than your nearest grocery. I am excited to try the 'stretchers.' You will know what I'm talking about and more by getting this spiral-bound book in your hands.

The good news is you have a chance to win a copy of this book by leaving your email with your comment below. One winner will be drawn on June 23rd. To find out more about this book, go to the Eternal Encouragement site and see other products available there as well.

I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

Encouragement: Colorado power pack and a giveaway

Encouragement. Don't we all need that?!

Unless you are a super natural being you need encouragement, just like any normal person. We are talking of the type that we need for day to day living.

As a working mother I need lots of encouragement and tips on how to run my household while raising a boy whose hyperactivity often coincides perfectly with times I tidy a certain part of our home. One minute everything's in order. The next I see the same things crumble right where they are like a sand castle dissolving in a rush of waves.

The Colorado power pack audio set by Lorie Flem works nicely for me. It is an audio bundle filled with help, suggestions and yes, encouragement for wives, mothers, or women contemplating a home and family. As I listened to it, I nodded several times, thinking 'how true!' or 'haven't I encountered that situation before?' 'How did I survive it, I wonder....'

This audio set is filled with inspiring examples of women in the Bible who, just like you and me, are wives and mothers who also had issues and struggles of their own.  They had personalities. They had attitudes. Exactly just like us. If they can be successful in their roles in those days so can we.

Check out these valuable inclusions in the bundle:

• Keys to a queenly castle


• Attitude Adjustments


• Encouragement for the weary homeschooler


• Cheerful children and challenging chores


• Teach so they'll learn


• Dawdling or diligence


• Welcome home, Daddy


• Doing enough and fortifying the foundation

Ladies, take this hint I got from the set: there's a way you can impact a certain thing when your husband walks through the door.

You can find out what is that and more from www.eternalencouragment.com for $29.97

And the giveaway: Get a copy of this audio bundle for yourself here. Leave a comment by May 31st. The winner will be notified via email.

I received this product as part of the Gabby Moms review program in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This post is also shared with Mommy Moments friends.