Artist creates incredible pieces of art from old books

I have a new book to review shortly but in the meanwhile I wanted to share something very cool. Su Blackwell, an artist in London, England, takes second hand books that have been sitting on the shelf for years and turns them into paper models. She waits to be inspired by the books themselves, and I think that her model from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass is just amazing. And according to the article, she never cuts up first editions or rare books.

Check out the Telegraph.co.uk website for the full article and a pictures of her work.

Or check out the video with her from scmp.com

Swallowing Darkness

Title: Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic, Romance
Rating: 4/5

Swallowing Darkness, the seventh book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, picks up just after A Lick of Frost left off. Merry, now pregnant with twins, has been raped by her uncle, who claims that her bodyguards are a threat to her and her children, which he claims as his own. On top of that, there are those that will go to great lengths to keep her off the throne of the Unseelie Court. However, Merry is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her children and her lovers.

I really enjoyed Swallowing Darkness. It seems like the series may be returning to its roots and giving more attention to the plot rather than to the many and various ways in which Merry can couple with her guards, as in some of the more recent books in the series. Although I still think Hamilton took the easy way out in deciding the parentage of Merry's children, I do find that it emphasizes the fantastical elements of the series. More importantly I was caught up in the intrigue and found myself waiting for each new twist. The book rounded up several of the storylines and with its beautiful ending, would have been a good place to finish the series. However, there are a few things that have yet to be dealt with and I hope that Hamilton deals with them as nicely in Divine Misdemeanors, which will be released in December 2009. There's a good chance I might reread Swallowing Darkness at some point in the future and I think this might be the book to bring back some of the readers who gave up the series when it became too graphic.

Tipping the Velvet

Title: Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis from www.sarahwaters.com:
A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

I thought Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters was a good book, although I found Nancy to be rather annoying at points. She seemed to always make the wrong decision and it got a little unbelievable near the end. Everything was about her pleasure and her happiness with little thought as to how it might affect others. I suppose it was necessary though, to emphasize her emotional growth. However, I found the secondary characters; Florence and Ralph, Mrs M and Gracie; to be very interesting.

Overall, I found it to be a very good historical novel. I admit that I don't know too much about that time period in England but I really felt that Sarah Waters did a good job with it. The fear felt by the 'toms' is very believable and I have no trouble imaging a women's club devoted to Sappho. I had trouble with some of the slang though and at times wished for a cheat sheet at the back of the book. I really loved the look at the music halls of the time too, and think its rather interesting that the different classes would frequent different halls rather than just having separate sections to sit in. While I don't know that I'd ever read Tipping the Velvet again, I'm definitely going to give some of her other titles a try.

The Jane Austen Book Club

Title: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5

Six Californians (five women and one man) turn to Jane Austen to bring them together and help them deal with the obstacles that pop up in their lives over the course of six months.

I picked up The Jane Austen Book Club after it had been recommended to me by several friends. Apparently it was my kind of book. And I did really enjoy it. It is admittedly a very simple read though some of the Austen references will likely be lost on someone unfamiliar with her work. I really liked how Fowler split the book into sections instead of just continuing the narrative unstopped. Each section is devoted to a month, book and the character hosting the meeting that month. For example, Chapter One was March "in which we gather at Jocelyn's to discuss Emma." Interspersed with the book discussions, Fowler feeds the reader background information on the characters, how they met and important events that shaped the people they became. And by switching back and forth between the discussion and the character development, you never tire of either.

The characters are interesting, though I wish Fowler had spent more time developing them. There is so much hinted at that we never get to see, like Bernadette's many other husbands. The book's also a little deceptive in its appearance, the novel itself is only about 3/4 of the book, the rest is additional material like summaries of Austen's six books and suggested book club questions. I did really like the section in which Jane's friends and families comment on her books. Apparently her mother liked Pride & Prejudice better than Mansfield Park.

The Jane Austen Book Club is definitely a book I'll recommend to friends and something I think I'll give another read through some time in the future, probably the next time I read Pride & Prejudice. I also want to give Karen Joy Fowler's other works a try.

Star Trek Academy: Collision Course

Title: Star Trek Academy: Collision Course by William Shatner
Genre: Sci Fi
Rating: 4/5

Years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Jim Kirk and Spock were just two conflicted teens living in San Fransisco. Kirk is headstrong and wants nothing to do with Starfleet, while Spock is determined to prove that he is Vulcan through and through. Then one night the two meet and become involved in a mystery that challenges the Federation's belief that war is a thing of the past.

I picked up Star Trek Academy: Collision Course shortly after watching the new Stark Trek movie. Who could resist reading William Shatner's take on how Kirk and Spock meet after all the media coverage about his reaction to the new movie? And I've got to admit, I really rather enjoyed it. It's very interesting to see how Shatner imagines young Kirk and Spock would handle various circumstances and what kind of relationships they would have with their families. There is a lovely scene earlier on between Lady Amanda and Sarek as they discuss how they can best help Spock. Also, I thought it had a good plot, I could barely put it down. There is mention of a sequel at the end of the novel and I'd definitely like to read it but so far it hasn't been published. Collision Course is a book that I would suggest others try, at least those who enjoy Star Trek.

Burned

Title: Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Genre: YA
Rating: 3/5

Pattyn Von Stratten comes from a extremely religious family, one ruled by an abusive and controlling father. The oldest of seven girls, she is expected to help raise them but as her home life continues to decline, she begins to question the ideas that she's been taught by her father and her church. And when she's caught in a compromising position with a boy, particularly one who is not a Mormon, she is sent to live with her aunt for the summer so as not to bother her once-again pregnant mother. There she finds love and acceptance, but what will happen when school starts again in the fall?

I really rather enjoyed Burned. The story was very interesting and it was difficult not to feel for Pattyn. The difficulties she faced and every horrible thing that happened to her really tugged at your heartstrings. You wanted her to overcome the obstacles in the way of her happiness, to get away from her abusive father and from a church that would side in his favour. I was surprised by the ending and don't really feel like everything was resolved. But that's not necessarily a bad thing as it kept me thinking for a while after I finished the book.

As for the text itself, it's laid out in the form of bad poetry. Visually, it's rather appealing and Hopkins has done some interesting stuff with it but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why she's ended lines where she has except for the visual effect. They do, however, wonderfully mimic how a high school girl would likely write poetry. Overall, Hopkins does an incredible job portraying this angst-ridden young girl and I would recommend Burned to anyone willing to try something a little different.

The Foretelling

Title: The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman
Genre: YA
Rating: 1.5/5

Conceived when her mother was raped by fifty men, Rain is destined to be the next Queen of the Amazons. But her mother can't bear to touch her or look at her and leaves her upbringing to the rest of her Amazon sisters. A born warrior, Rain raises a bear-cub as a sister and dreams of a black horse. Then she begins to see a life beyond what she has been taught and begins to wonder about the forbidden...love, peace, mercy.

I've got to admit I wasn't overly impressed with The Foretelling. The story of the next Amazon queen seemed like such an interesting idea, but it just didn't live up to its promise. The narrative felt like a continuous stream of consciousness with little dialogue, which eventually became kind of annoying. And I found it difficult to relate to Rain so I didn't really care about what happened to her. However, I did find the design of the book to be very interesting. Each chapter had an image, like a pictograph, which related to the chapter and was used in place of asterisks in order to indicate lapses in time. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless they were extremely interested in Amazons and their depiction in literature.