The Story of Ferdinand

The Story of Ferdinand

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I grew up performing in musicals and plays and dance recitals, so I will always be a theatre girl at heart. Halloween gives me a reason to dress up...full-out costume.

My dog and boyfriend hate it because I make them dress up too...full-out costume.

This year our family costume was inspired by the children's book The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.

I first heard about this book when watching The Blind Side, and I had to get a copy for myself.

A bull who loves flowers.
He's sent to a bullfight.
All he wants to do is smell flowers.
The End

The Story of Ferdinand is a simple story with black and white illustrations. There are no special effects, no superheroes, and no crazy villains. A classic story is timeless whether it was written 5 years ago or 50 years ago. It's nice to know that such a story has lasted the test of time. A good children's book doesn't trend, it stays consistently read by each generation.

Title: The Story of Ferdinand

Author: Munro Leaf

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap 

Published: March 31, 2011 (First published January 1, 1936)

Available: Amazon, Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble

Señorita and her Matador

Olé!
(Reason #5 to never get rid of your old prom dresses.)

With our little bulls

Ferdinand the bull-dog

The Night Circus

The Night Circus

What a magical cover for a magical book! Seriously, I know they say don't judge a book by its cover, but how could you not pick up this book?

The Night Circus is beautifully written with an air of old world mystery. The two main characters, Celia and Marco, are used as pawns in a game to see which magician is stronger. Their chess board is a traveling circus where every night they must create a new object or tent full of magic that's meant to astound and mystify.

Yes, there is a love story between the Celia and Marco, but it was their magic that kept me drawn to the book. Every night I wanted to see what the new tent would hold. And every night I was not disappointed. The Night Circus creates a world that I so badly want to be a part of. I would do anything to be able to visit Le Cirque des Rêves. The setting of the book is a huge win for me because it is so unique. Circuses are generally thought of as playful with bright colors, but this one takes it to the next level as something powerful filled only with the colors of black and white. A sophisticated circus with a hint of danger...isn't it delicious?

This book is full of mystery...A circus that only opens at night. A cast all dressed in black and white. Two magicians locked in a deadly game. These are the ingredients for a memorable book, but add in beautiful writing, and you have a 5-star book!

Don't forget, all 5-star books are available for giveaway. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to enter!

Title: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Publisher: Anchor Books

Published: July 3, 2012

Available: Amazon, Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble

a Rafflecopter giveaway
RULES OF GIVEAWAY:

1. Must be 18 years or older to enter (or have parental consent as I'll need your address)

2. Must live in a country where the Book Depository ships to (Do they ship to my country?)

3. Must love books

If It Sits, I Licks

Everyone needs to 1) take a look at this adorable puppy 2) take a look at the author name listed next to this adorable puppy. 

There are a lot of perks to working for a small publishing house, one of them being when they are looking for an author to write a quote book on dogs, I get to call dibs. I'm a dog person to my very core, so when Familius published If It Fits, I Sits last year, I bit my tongue and said things like "It's such a cute book." In my mind though I was thinking, "A dog book would sell better, because cats are the devil." I've only had bad experience with cats and I have the scars to prove it. 

Well, here we are a year later and If It Sits, I Licks is in the works. All the quotes for the book have been gathered, and I've written chapter intros that are now with my editor for revisions. All that's left are designing the quotes and choosing pictures to correspond with each quote. 

To give you a better idea of what we are creating, here are a few sample spreads from If It Fits, I Sits (which by the way was written by our managing editor...see what I mean about small publishing house perks?)

We are looking for high-resolution photos of dogs with personality. Whether it be loving, naughty, tail-wagging, or droopy eyed, we'd love to include a wide variety in our book. 

Here's where you can be a part of this book. Familius is looking for dog Instagram accounts that would like to be considered for inclusion in this book. If your dog has an Instagram account, comment on this post with the account name (i.e. @darciedog) and we'll take a look. 

All photos that are included in our final book will be credited, so while your dog may be the star, your name will be printed in the book's index. 

These books will be distributed nationally, and represented at international rights shows for foreign publication consideration. This will definitely bump up your Instagram game!

If you have any questions, you can include them in the comments section or email me at my work address erika@familius.com.

Giveaway!

So I (like the rest of the world) read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It's a book all about cleaning out the clutter, and getting rid of objects you never knew were unnecessary. 

Kondo's method for decluttering and tidying up revolves around the question, "Does this bring me joy?" Every item you own should make you happy! This includes all those books that are jammed into your bookshelf, scattered across your desk, and hidden under your bed. 

While tackling my bookcase I realized that I own a lot of books that I never got around to reading, books that I won't read again, or books that I no longer need. As I sorted through my little library, holding each title in my hands, I asked myself, "Does this book bring me joy?" If the answer was no the book was put in the donate pile. 

I chose a few titles from that pile that I think others will like, titles that might bring someone else joy. Take a look at what I'm giving away:

• Creativity Ink
• The Nanny Diaries
• The Interestings
• Handmade Weddings
• Alice in Wonderland
• The Kite Runner
• The Dogist

If you see a title you want here's what you have to do to win it:

1. Find my instagram page @bookfaire
2. Go to the post that has this giveaway image
3. Comment with the title you want to win (only one comment per person)
4. If you are the first to comment, the book is yours!

U.S. residents only for this giveaway. I'm paying for shipping and want to keep this cost efficient (don't worry, there will be other international giveaways). 

Good luck, and Happy Reading!

Shelf to Shelf

I've been told by multiple people that when it comes to books I am an extremely critical reader. I nitpick the details and am known to shoot down New York Times bestsellers because the author can't write worth a crap but somehow everyone thinks the book is genius.

What can I say? 

I think it has to do with the fact that my reading time is very valuable to me. I don't get a lot of downtime to read, so when I do pick up a book, I expect it to be worthwhile. 

Yes, I am a harsh critic, but to every con there is a pro. When I feel a book deserves praise, I sing it from the mountain tops. I'll recommend the book to friends and strangers alike, buy copies to give away as gifts, and of course write about it here on the blog. 

Because a 5 star book is hard to find (in my opinion), I've decided to take it one step further and do a #shelfshare link on every book from here on out that gets a 5 star rating on The Book Faire. Books are pricey, and I know that all bookworms hate choosing between that book sale and buying milk (for Captain Crunch Berries). To help out I want to share the books that I think are worth the milk money. 

When a book gets a 5 star rating, I will host a giveaway. Here are the rules for entering:

1. Must be 18 years or older to enter (or have parental consent as I'll need your address)

2. Must live in a country where the Book Depository ships to (Do they ship to my country?)

3. Must love books

That's it! Three requirements, and no limitations on how many entries you can submit per day (or per hour, or per minute...although that would be a bit obsessive of you.)

The number of books I'll giveaway will depend on the cost of the book.

I hope that this allows a few extra readers to get their hands on a book that I think is a worthwhile read!

DIY Book Flowers

April showers bring paper flowers...at least in my house they do! 

Now before anyone gets upset that I cut up a book to make this craft, know that all my "free game" books come from the thrift store. It saves me money and I'm able to make something new from something someone else gave away. 

So, here are the steps that I took to make this bouquet of paper flowers.

Before you start, you'll need the following materials:

- Book Pages (duh)

- Scissors

- Floral Wire

- Wire Cutters

- Hot Glue Gun

STEP  ONE

Trim the rough edges from the paper.

STEP  TWO

 Cut your pages into spirals. 

At the very interior of each spiral cut a semi circle to form a base for your flower. 

I played around with the spiral on the left to give that flower a little more textured. 

STEP  THREE

Starting on the outer edge, curl the spiral. 

If you want your flower to have a smaller bloom, twist the spiral tightly. If you want a bigger bloom relax your grip. 

STEP  FIVE

Hot glue the base of your flower to the bottom of the spiral. (The semi circle was important!)

Here's a sample of a few of the blooms I made. 

You can see how different they look depending on how tight they were twisted.

STEP  SIX

Decide how tall you want your flowers to be (this will depend on the vase height). 

Cut the wire to that length and twist the top once around the handle.

STEP  SEVEN

Bend the wire to 90° and hot glue it to the bottom of your flower. 

STEP  EIGHT

Arrange your flowers and put them some place sunny...and filled with books!

Sea of Poppies

Sea of Poppies

This book was meant to cover my Reading Resolution to read a book set in a foreign country. A plot surrounding a slave ship being used in the illegal India/Chinese poppy trade sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

I thought so too, until I trudged through 160 pages and then called it quits because I was tired of waiting for the story to start. Every chapter introduced at least three new character, and after 6 chapters of meeting new people, I had a hard time keeping everyone's back stories and motivations straight.

If you enjoy authentic historical fiction, then you will probably enjoy Sea of Poppies. After starting this book I realized that I prefer my historical fiction to be mostly fiction with a touch of history :)

Amitav Ghosh did his homework using authentic "seaman talk" (at least that's what I dubbed it). It's lingo that was so confusing there was a whole chapter at the end of the book just to serve as a dictionary. Normally when foreign language or lingo is incorporated into a novel, you can use context clues to learn the meaning of the word. Not so with this "seaman talk" where whole conversations would go by and I was left thinking, "I hope that wasn't important." While I understand the author's desire to keep the text authentic, when the reader has to flip back and forth from the back of the book to the front of the book just to understand what the dialogue means, it kills the plot flow.

I didn't finish the book, so I don't feel that I have a right to rate it. Other people gave it rave reviews on Goodreads. I suggest you borrow it from the library and see if it's to your reading taste.

Title: Sea of Poppies

Author: Amitav Ghosh

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Published: January 17, 2014

Available: Amazon, Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble