Lovely Little Shelf

Review: Jurassic Park

February 24, 2010 – 8:57 am

The Book: Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

The Story: I probably don’t have to explain this one too much…

A crazy old guy decides to clone dinosaurs and put them on an island as an amusement park.  They are all girl-dinos and they are pretty sure that they have control over the whole situation.  A couple of dinosaur scientists, a lawyer, two kids and a mathematician head to the island to check it out.

Quickly the scientists and the mathematician figure out that they are not, in fact, all girl-dinos and that they are breeding. A stingy computer guy turns everything off so he can steal some embryos.  So the dinos are kinda on their own.

All hell breaks loose.

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By Jacki | Posted in Review | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Review: Jessica Darling Series

February 22, 2010 – 3:41 pm

The Books: The Jessica Darling Series, by Megan McCaferty

The Story: Jessica Darling is a snarky, brainy, opinionated high school junior when we meet her in the first book.  She is devastated and lonely because her best friend, Hope has just moved away and she’s flying solo.  She is a virgin and, while she plans to stay that way for awhile, has her mind in the gutter a good majority of the time.  During this first book, Jessica does a favor for one of the druggies in class, Marcus Flutie.  He is kind of a ‘bad boy’ and Jessica is at first repulsed, and then totally in love with him.

The next four books, while (mostly) written from Jessica’s point of view, tend to revolve around Marcus.  I don’t want to give anything at all away, but suffice to say that their relationship is rocky at best and Jessica’s journals capture this.

The books capture just that essence of moving from one phase of life to the next.  We see her parents go from treating her like a kid to treating her more like an adult, with one unfortunate, much-too-personal encounter.  We watch her friends grow up, get married, get pregnant (not always in that order) and grow apart and back together.  We kind of just see her come into her own, messing up and fumbling all the while.

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By Jacki | Posted in Review | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Coming Soon!: Jessica Darling Series Review

February 20, 2010 – 8:25 am

I decided to review these all together because I am just blazing through them.  Four down, one to go. And I can pick up the fifth from the library today!

So, I have a date tonight with Jessica and Marcus. I’ll let you know how it goes.

By Jacki | Posted in Coming Soon! | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Flashback Friday: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

February 19, 2010 – 6:00 am

From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg

Unlike a lot of kids, I don’t remember ever going through the “run-away” deal when I was younger.  I don’t remember ever packing all my little clothes and going to hit the road, but if I ever did, it would have been just like these kids.

Stowing away on the back of the bus with their giant instrument cases? Immeasurably cool.  That is a piece of imagery that has stuck with me my whole life.  Through years of band in high school, the tuba and baritone cases made me think of this book every single time. Same with them stealing the bus or train tickets (is that what it was?) out of their mom’s trashcan.  For some reason, I remember that the tickets were wrapped in toilet paper that their mom had used to blot her lipstick.  To this day, every time I blot my lips, I think of this book.  I know, weird, right?

Just the idea of sneaking away to live in a museum just captured my imagination like very few books did.  There is a mystery, I remember, involving a statue by Michelangelo, but to be honest the storyline in this book hasn’t stuck with me entirely.  For me, what has real staying power is the general idea.  I remember reading this book over and over while living in my small, southern Ohio town, and just feeling like there are so many giant things out there that I’m still unaware of.   I had never heard of the MET, I was totally ignorant about NYC, this is the first time I remember being exposed to Michelangelo…. just a number of eye-opening moments happened for me during this book.

That, combined with those several moments of great visual imagery, make this a book that I come back to in my mind over and over again.

For information on Flashback Friday, please head over here. If you do participate, leave a comment here so that everyone else can enjoy your flashback!

By Jacki | Posted in Flashback Friday | Tagged | Comments (7)

Bookish Thoughts: Hidden Door Bookshelf

February 18, 2010 – 9:02 am

This would be an absolute dream come true:

I just picture opening this and it leading to our cozy little library room.  Wouldn’t that be amazing?

There are directions on Instructables about how to DIY this.  Five easy steps and all this can be yours.

I don’t think that our landlords are going to be pleased….

By Jacki | Posted in Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (2)

Review: We Need to Talk About Kevin

February 16, 2010 – 4:07 pm

The Book: We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

The Story: In letter after letter to her estranged husband, Franklin, Eva recaps their life together from start to finish.  In her first letter, Eva tells the reader how it is going to end: with their son, Kevin, taking part in a school shooting and ending up in jail.

The letters detail the total unraveling of this family, starting with the conception of Kevin.  Eva never really wanted a kid anyway, she just kind of did it to go along with her husband.  From the time Kevin was born, something just didn’t “click.”  He would act out for Eva but be fairly normal for her husband.  By the time he was old enough to walk and talk he had a manipulative, mean streak that Franklin just doesn’t see.  A line is drawn early with Eva on one side and (as he sees it) Franklin and their son on the other.  Through Eva’s eyes, we get to see the crazy, mean little things that Kevin does. A lot of these things, especially one later in the book, are graphic and hard to read.

There are a lot of references to other, real school shootings- comparing what Kevin did to what happened in Columbine and Peducah and all these other schools that have had this horrible tragedy.  Like many of these school shooters, Kevin seemingly had it all.  His family was wealthy, he went to a decent school, he had access to anything that he’d need to succeed.  Also like many of these kids, Kevin was shockingly bright.  A lot of times his parents and teachers didn’t know what to do with him because he was just further along than other kids his age.  Drawing these parallels, along with many others, made this book seem much more real.  I often forgot that it wasn’t based on a real shooting.

As the book goes on, it becomes obvious that the real heart of the story, the question that the author is asking us:  Was Kevin born like this or was Eva and Franlkin’s parenting to blame?

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By Jacki | Posted in Review | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

Beautiful Blogger Award

February 16, 2010 – 10:29 am

For the first time in my blog’s young life, she has been given an award!  And like any good, worthy award this is not for her smarts or how fast she can run, or her great singing voice. Nope.  All she had to do was sit around and be pretty.  Yup, the Miss America of blogs. Be jealous.  Not only did one person award her, within a few days she got this award FOUR times. Actually, forget Miss America.  We’re headed for Miss Universe.

Thank you so much Angel, Leah, Crystal and Tameka for even considering Lovely Little Shelf when listing off your beautiful blogs.  Make sure you check out all three of these blogs.  Not only are they beautiful but the girls behind them are incredible and the content is amazing.  Seriously, click on them. Immediately.

Now, I’m supposed to pass this on to 15 beautiful blogs.  Choosing 15 is quite  a task, as I am pretty much a blog whore, but I’ll give it a shot.

Ally’s 101- Ally is doing a 101 in 1001 list AND doing the 365 photos in a year challenge.  She is adorable. Her pictures are beautiful.  Her list and completions are inspirational.  Good stuff.

Geeb’s Book Club- I always hear of new books here and read some great reviews.  I think we have pretty similar tastes in books, so if I see one on her blog that I haven’t read, on to my library list it goes!

Confessions of  a CF Husband- I’ve been following this blog for a really long time.  Nathan’s wife has cystic fibrosis and they day they found out she could get a lung transplant, they also found out she was pregnant.  Everything was risky but they decided to keep the baby.  Now she is over  a year old and totally beautiful.  This family is truly amazing and I always look forward to updates.

65 Red Roses- I found this blog awhile back through CF Husband.  Eva also has cystic fibrosis.  She also got a lung transplant.  A few months ago she found out that she was going through chronic rejection.  Now she’s in her last days, but she is so gutsy and strong.  Don’t read this unless you have a box or two of tissues near, but if you can handle this I’d recommend reading her blog.  She’s truly incredible.

Forever Young- Her blog was already amazing and beautiful and she did a revamp. Even MORE beautiful now, somehow.  Good stuff, great reviews, fun contests.  Check it out.

Angie Eats Peace- I’ve been following this blog since she was training for her first marathon. Now she’s a little running machine. Great posts about running, eating and reading. Can’t go wrong there, right?

Good Things Catered- I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of drool-worthy recipes at this site.  So good!  Don’t go here if you’re already a little hungry, because you’ll want to eat everything. Right now.  Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

One Pretty Thing- For anyone who is even slightly crafty, this site is a mecca.  All categorized and put together and beautiful.  She pretty much wades through hundreds of craft blogs, pulls out the best stuff, categorizes it, provides thumbnails, and lets everyone reap the rewards of her wading. Amazing. I find myself losing hours and hours to this blog.

Two Straight Lines- A craft blog that I just love.  She has a beautiful home and a beautiful family that she takes tons of pictures of.  She also has a dream job and can craft her butt off.  I want to be her.  She doesn’t update as much as she used to, but even going through her archives are worth your time. Really a beautiful blog.

3191 Miles Apart- There are two women who write this blog. One lives in Portland, Maine, one in Portland, Oregon.  They wanted a way to keep in touch and inspire each other so they started taking daily pictures and making updates on this blog.  Their pictures are seriously breathtaking.  If you have’t seen this blog before, at least give it a few minutes. It’s awesome.

Wanderings- I used to be a devoted fan of this blog. She kind of took awhile off to have a baby and make major life changes. And as of a couple of weeks ago…. She’s back! Big news.  Can’t wait to get more book reviews and thoughts.  Also, her baby is a doll so hopefully we’ll see more of him too!

Ryan and Shelley- Book reviews, stories about their life, recipes, and another Project 365.  All good stuff.  I think that if these two lived closer we’d hang out non-stop. I admit it- I have a couple-crush on Ryan and Shelley.

100ayear- This is a newer blog, but one I’m following with excitement.  So far, she’s reviewed some great books and I’m excited to watch her read her 100 books this year.  So fun.

Hazel and Blue-  This is the blog of a family that I knew when I was living in Texas.  I love watching the kiddies grow up and hear about what is going on with their life.  Beth was diagnosed with cancer last year and they decided to go the natural route instead of filling her body with radiation and all the chemo gunk.  Their dedication to each other as a family and to God is beautiful and I love, love, love this blog.

Mama Urchin- Another crafty blog that I’m fairly dedicated to.  She makes a lot of fun stuff: knits, quilts, kiddie crafts. Honestly, what I love most about her blog is her pictures.  This lady is talented with a camera.  Her pictures are gorgeous.  She is also a CSA member and when we did CSA last year, I got a lot of canning and preserving tips from this blog.  All good stuff. Click away.

Wow.  Had to wipe some sweat from my brow there.  That was exhausting, but it was fun to click through my giant list of bookmarks and pick out some blogs that deserve some recognition.  I’m still a little bit amazed with the internet- that all of these people who I don’t know in “real life” have influenced my crafting, reading, cooking, and my life.  Wild, huh?

By Jacki | Posted in Thoughts | Tagged | Comments (3)

Bookish Thoughts: Bathtub Bookshelf

February 14, 2010 – 9:13 am

I feel like I remember seeing this awhile back, but just recently stumbled upon it again.

My first thought is: What?! All the books will get wet. Then I remember that my husband has a towering stack of books in the bathroom anyway, just much more precariously placed than they would be here. I also am a big fan of tub-reading (unless it’s a library book!) and would love to be able to finish one and just grab another.  Bring on the pruney toes.

My second thought is: 17,000 for a bathtub?! That has to be a joke.

My third thought is: The Library Hotel should have these.

So. If you do happen to have an extra 17 grand laying around go here and snatch this up.

By Jacki | Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Flashback Friday: The Diary of a Young Girl

February 12, 2010 – 6:00 am

Maybe I’m just in a depressing mood.  Both of the books that I’m currently reading are super depressing and while trying to decide on my flashback book this week, I realized that all of my options were fairly depressing too. Ah well. I guess it is the dead of winter. I’ll give you something cheerier come April.

I read this for the first time when I was in forth grade.  We were taking those standardized state tests.  I have always been a quick test taker, so I’d finish before some people had their names written on their papers, then I’d get to read in silence for the next 2 hours. Bliss. I remember reading this during one of these times and my throat just closing up.  This is the first book that I have a memory of bringing me to tears.  This may have been my first real, non-fiction exposure to the Holocaust.  I was fascinated and repelled and just in love with the real girl who was Anne Frank.  Even to this day I have this morbid draw to books about World War II and the concentration camps and all that.  I think that that probably started with this book.

To participate in Flashback Fridays (and hopefully be cheerier than me), click here to get details.  If you decide to do your own flashback, please comment here so everyone else can read about your book memories!

By Jacki | Posted in Flashback Friday | Tagged , | Comments (8)

Review: Stiff

February 11, 2010 – 8:29 am

The Book: Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach

The Story: The title kind of says it all.  The author went on this big journey to find out what happened to bodies that were donated to science.  She had kind of figured (and I had to) that most of them ended up in jars of formaldehyde or as those skeletons that hang in classes, or something like that.  In fact, most of them are cut open by students in gross anatomy labs… but the other ones? Wow.

There are cadavers that help test non-lethel weapons, that test boots for walking in land-mine fields, ones that get banged up in a million different car accident scenarios, and I could go on and on and on.  There was one chapter about a school that just kind of lays cadavers around in various states of dress, in different amounts of sunlight, under different amounts of earth, all to test how bodies decompose in these situations to better help investigators determine a time of death.

Toward the end, the author kind of departs from this and starts talking about crazy practices doctors had way back when, and really fun experiments that they did.  My favorite example is a group of doctors who got into head transplants.  They started on dogs. They would take a puppy head and sew it on to a full grown dog body.  I have no idea why they didn’t put it on a puppy body or use a full grown dog head. That’s just not their thing I guess. They were nuts.

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By Jacki | Posted in Review | Tagged , , | Comments (4)