Before I Die by Candy Chang

Published November 5, 2013

Description

What do you want to do before you die?

When artist Candy Chang painted the side of an abandoned building with chalkboard paint and asked her neighbors this question, she never expected it to become a worldwide phenomenon. Within a day of the wall’s completion, however, it was covered in colorful chalk dreams as people stopped and reflected on their lives. Since then, more than two hundred walls have been created by people all over the world.  This beautifully designed book is an inspiring celebration of these walls. Filled with our hopes, fears, humor, and heartbreak, it’s a reminder of our shared connections and a chance to ponder life’s ultimate question.

Candy Chang is an artist that (I think at least) brings people together with her interactive projects. This project specifically started as something for the community (in New Orleans) and it has since spread world wide. Some of the things people wrote were funny, some were sad, and some inspiring.

The book is filled with pictures and stories and, at the end of the book, it tells you how to make your own "Before I die" wall in your community. This is something that, with the help and resources, would be a great project for my town. While it's not the kind of book I typically read, it was a nice change and is something I'll probably leave on my coffee table and look at from time to time when I need some inspiration.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Published November 5, 2013

Description 

Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But rooks don’t forget . . .

Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William’s life, his fortunes begin to turn—and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman and Black is born.

William Bellman has some luck and a lot of work ethic... and then more bad luck (though never with money). He is a business man who makes that his focus. Whatever he is working on at the time gets his full attention and thoughts. I both liked and hated that about him. But when he sees the man in black he becomes obsessed with him- both in trying to find him and thinking about who he is/might be.

When it came to the end of the book- we follow him from the time he is a child and kills the rook to late adulthood- that he wasted the time he could have had with his family by focusing on working. His work seemed to be the center of his life and when tragedy strikes he is thrown even more into business pursuits. It seemed to me that his focus on business rather than family was such a waste. But after being surrounded by so much tragedy he loses the ability to appreciate what he has and he makes "more"- getting more, saving more- his life. It was sad but very interesting and well written.

2013 Banned Books Week!

I always get excited about Banned Books Week but then I forget to post anything about it until it's either halfway through or at the very end. I think the last time I posted anything about banned books week was back in 2010. I'm sorry. I am easily distracted.

I think it's the lists the I like to look at most. For example:

Top 10 Challenged Book by Year
100 Most Frequently Challenged Book by Decade

Banned books that shaped America

I still can't understand why the Harry Potter series was the #1 most challenged book from 2000-2009. Of course, I love Harry Potter so I'm biased (I talked about why I love it in this post). It would almost be better if, in order to challenge a book, you have to read the entire thing. Who are you to say a book should be banned if you haven't even read the full thing yourself? And so what if you didn't like it? What makes you so special that you think that because you took offense other people shouldn't have access to it? It infuriates me... so go out and read a banned book. Because you can!

There is also a Virtual Read Out going on this week. Click the link to find out more!

Free download of the full banned books lists

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

 Published September 17, 2013

from William Morrow

Description

It begins with a call in the middle of snowy February evening. Lying in her bed, young Sylvie Mason overhears her parents on the phone across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they have received, since her mother and father have an uncommon occupation, helping "haunted souls" find peace. And yet, something in Sylvie senses that this call is different than the rest, especially when they are lured to the old church on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear, one after the other, behind the church's red door, leaving Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to sleep only to wake to the sound of gunfire.

Nearly a year later, we meet Sylvie again struggling with the loss of her parents, and living in the care of her older sister, who may be to blame for what happened the previous winter.

As the story moves back and forth in time, through the years leading up to the crime and the months following, the ever inquisitive and tender-hearted Sylvie pursues the mystery, moving closer to the knowledge of what occurred that night, as she comes to terms with her family's past and uncovers secrets that have haunted them for years.

I enjoyed this a lot, but I couldn't help but consider some of the messages in the book. I can't mention most of them because I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll try to stick to general ideas.

I felt that a lot of mistakes were made by the parents that you see through Sylvie's flashbacks. Sylvie's sister Rose is supposed to be taking care of her but is doing a terrible job; She's too selfish to care for anyone but herself (though she doesn't exactly do a great job of that either). But most of Rose's issues go back to how she is raised and the choices her parents (mostly her father) made.

Sylvie goes looking for answers about her parents because it is her testimony that will play a big part in the conviction of who the police think killed her parents. What she finds out will forever change what she thought she knew about them, but she also finds out a lot about herself along the way.

Help for the Haunted is a great story and I didn't want to put the book down- full of mystery and wonderfully written.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Description

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

I loved this book! It's been on my "to read" list since it came out and I finally was able to borrow a copy from a friend. I spent most of the book trying to figure out (as did Marco and Celia) what "the game" is and how a winner will be determined. There is just something about this book that I found beautiful. There is so much beauty in the things created by Celia and Marco. There is beauty in the circus itself. And the magic is beautiful. Of course there was ugliness, too, but that mainly lies with Celia's father... I think Celia's father is a horrible man.

This wasn't a traditional "love story". They spend so much of the book doing things for each other (indirectly) and so little time together. It made me a somewhat sad to see them being in love from a distance, but that does more to show that they really do feel that way and it isn't something that will pass. It is a beautiful, touching and magical (literally and figuratively) story.