Books On Film | The DUFF

This weekend an adaptation of teen novel The DUFF (designated ugly fat friend) will be released in theaters. The novel is about a non-nonsense girl who's enemies-with-benefits relationship turns up being more than she expected.

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper starts sleeping with Wesley Rush, a notorious womanizer who disgusts her, in order to distract her from her personal problems, and to her surprise, the two of them find they have a lot in common and are able to help each other find more productive ways to deal with their difficulties.

She's Crafty | Bright and Fearless Decorating

Are you craving an immediate change to your interior decor? Do you feel as though a few spaces in your life need a mega dose of color and a touch of whimsy? Are you stumped as to how to pull a colorful room together? Well, my answer is yes to all three so I pulled two books off the shelf in hopes of getting some inspiration for home and office decor.

Feast your eyes on these book covers:

Bright Bazaar: Embracing Color for Make-You-Smile Style by Will Taylor.

Decorate Fearlessly! Using Whimsy, Confidence, and a Dash of Surprise to Create Deeply Personal Spaces by Susanna Salk.

Beautiful, right?!

Bold too. Both of these books have style ideas that reach way beyond the average or typical.

If you want to get some pattern mixing inspiration I suggest checking out Decorate Fearlessly. As you can plainly see on the cover, a space can exist that mixes over a dozen different patterns and it will still work. Also, your pug will most likely approve the combination. Although my brain can't handle that much pattern mixing, I did enjoy the creative texture and color combinations featured in the book. Almost every single one I would have never thought of before.

Kitchen decor from Decorate Fearlessly.

The next book, Bright Bazaar, is bold and whimsical. The focus of the book is on learning to use colors and textures effectively for a style that is one-of-a-kind. Will Taylor packs Bright Bazaar with inspirational case studies, tons of tips, and plenty of ideas.

Looking at bright colors and white walls in Bright Bazaar.

Many of the spaces Taylor features in his book contain decorative objects that are obviously DIY and not something you can find at the store. Taylor doesn't give step-by-step instructions for the pieces but if you're the crafty sort you can probably figure out how to replicate what you see. Like the wall string art below.

Be forewarned, walls, I realllly like this idea!

Geometric Gems from Sea Lemon DIY

Now for some DIY. Sea Lemon is one of my favorite craft gurus. She uploads video tutorials to YouTube and I discovered her while researching how to make bound books. She uploaded a video recently showing viewers how to construct 3D geometric gems to display on the wall or set on a table, which is perfect for me since I can't get enough geometric designs in my life and I have a thing for simple line representations of gems.


I see a great many of these gems in my future. if you're interested in finding out how to make these wall gems, click here for the youtube tutorial. All you need is some wooden dowels, hot glue, and some paint. I was able to find all the stuff I need to make all four designs at my local craft store.



Malia

Just Life | Unexpected question

Sometimes we get the most unexpected questions at the reference desk.  

A few months ago, I was working at the reference desk and a patron approached the desk and asked me point blank:

Do you have horns?

MMMMMMMMMMMM.

To tell the truth, I was a bit shocked by that question.

So, if out of the blue, a person walked up to you and asked you this question, what would be the first thing that would come to your mind? 

I posed this question to my family over dinner, and here were their answers:

Do you have horns? ....answer    How did you know?

Do you have horns?.... answer    Yes, a Trombone and a Tuba.

Do you have horns?.... answer    Yes, but I left them at home. 

Do you have horns?.... answer    No, but I have a tail.

Of course after my initial shock wore off, I asked the patron " What do you mean?" and the patron explained that she was looking for a book by that title. 

And yes, our library carries "Horns" by Joe Hill. By the way, did you know that Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. 

I tell you, working at the Reference desk is anything but ordinary.

Signing off until next Monday- Pantreha

Learning | The Crossover is a Winner!

Last Monday, I read the latest Newbery Medal Winning book.  It took me only one day to read The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. This book is really different from the typical Newbery book; it is a novel written in verse. 

The book gets its title from a basketball maneuver that involves rapidly switching hands while dribbling the ball. Good players say they can make an opponent break his ankles, when they change sides suddenly.

Josh Defines Crossover in a Poem,
from
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

I must admit, when I first started reading the book, I wondered if I would like it. I don't have anything against basketball, but if the whole book was going to be about basketball, I wasn't sure it would hold my interest. 

I was mistaken.

There is a lot of basketball talk in this book, because Josh (the narrator) and his twin brother are basketball stars at their school. Basketball talent must be hereditary in their family; their father is a retired pro basketball player.  But there's so much more to this book. For example: 

1. Josh is part of a loving family. But they are headed for some rough patches in this book, which test their bonds.  
2. Josh loves words!  In between the poems that move the story along, there are poems about vocabulary words. 
3. Basketball is a metaphor in this book.  Especially the term "crossover." Read the book. Think about this. Then tell me what you think about it.
4. Josh's poems are so varied! Some of them have fun visual effects; some sound like lyrics from a song. Others are more like narratives.  I found myself wondering what I would find, whenever I turned a new page.
5. Remember what I said about not being sure the book would hold my interest? I got so absorbed in this book, I didn't want it to end.

Middle school and high school aged readers will especially enjoy The Crossover, but I would recommend it to anybody from 6th grade and up.

Books On Film | Fifty Shades of Grey & Kingsman: The Secret Service

There are two book adaptations being released this Valentine's Day weekend. 

The first, a film adaptation of the erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which was expanded into a trilogy, about a woman who enters into a BDSM relationship with her wealthy, handsome love interest.

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 

The second, a film adaptation Mark Millar's graphic novel Kingsman: The Secret Service about a newly trained spy and his trainer discovering a conspiracy when investigating missing actors and a mass murder.

The world's greatest secret agent is on the most exciting case of his career. But will the end of the world as know it take a back seat to training his street-punk nephew to be the next James Bond?

She's Crafty | Tiny World Terrariums

Spring is nearly upon us and it's time to think about growing plants, iiifff that's the sort of thing you're into. Me? I don't have much of a green thumb. I know my way around a potted plant but transplanting and pruning, seasonal timetables and the fine art of growing the perfect tomato? None of that has ever been my, "thing".

However, I can get behind growing a little garden in a terrarium.

ter·rar·i·um noun \tə-ˈrer-ē-əm\ : a glass or plastic box that is used for growing plants or keeping small animals indoors.

Thank you, Merriam Webster. 

Oh, and lucky me, terrarium gardening is making a big comeback at the craft stores! This time around the trend in terrarium gardening is to make tiny little scenes from tiny little fantasy worlds out of the typical terrarium contents like moss, soil, rocks, plants, and water with a tiny little upgrade, the creative application of miniatures. Of course, you also have to put your little garden in a container that would look at home in your local apothecaries office circa 1880 or Pottery Barn.

Brandy Snifter Terrarium with Cow by Josh Leo. Some Rights Reserved.

To get the low down on the basics I requested the book, Tiny World Terrariums by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow from Link+. 

Tiny Worlds is beautifully designed and the information is well-organized and easy to navigate, which is incredibly important in a craft book. The photography, done by Robert Wright, is fantastic and Wright does a great job of showcasing the tiny worlds the authors Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow have created. Jam-packed with inspiration and helpful resources, Tiny World Terrariums is a great guide to building a tiny living world of your very own. Step by step, Inciarrano and Maslow guide you along the path to terrarium success. Which is good, I need all the help I can get to create my very own Bag End in a jar.

Malia

Just Life| Pont des Arts

It was a cold winter morning in Paris. I was walking with my daughter along the River Seine trying to get to Notre Dame when we came across this unattractive bridge over the Seine River. It was called Pont des Arts.

" What an ugly bridge"

Pont des Arts. Picture from DEMOTIX.COM

The bridge was so unattractive and out of place compared to all the other magnificent bridges that we had seen so far.

The bridge had black railings and there were thousands and thousands of padlocks covering the railings on both sides.

There has to be a story behind it. I was a bit intrigued. Later on, I was surprised by what I learned about that bridge.

I found out that lovers go to Pont des Arts bridge and attach padlocks to it's railing and then they throw the keys in the river below to achieve eternal love.

How romantic is that. The bridge was becoming more attractive by the second. I wished my husband was there with us.

Pont Alexandre III, Paris

I have never been fortunate enough to visit Paris with my husband, but when that day comes, I guarantee that I am taking a sturdy padlock with me. :)

So, don't forget Pont des Arts on your trip to France and don't forget to check out travel books from your local library.

Notre Dame

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha