Book Review: Blood Orchids, by Toby Neal.

In case you have been wondering: I am still alive. For the past month and a half, I have been working like a maniac. Neglecting my blog - and my friends' blogs (sorry guys!) - was the only way I could save the remaining shreds of sanity.

By now The Project has been submitted and I have taken a week off to recover, read, write and spend some time in my beloved Cotswolds.

I've finally finished Kim Harrison's The Hollows series, and got to read Toby Neal's Blood Orchids, which had been on my must-read list ever since it came out.

I hardly ever read crime novels, but I'm a big fan of Toby's blog, her topics, writing style and her warm, zesty personality. As a result, I really wanted to read Blood Orchids, and I'm glad I have.

It took me a while to get a feel for the story and connect with the characters, possibly because there's a lot of Hawaiian "couleur locale" in the story, which is quite alien to my European self. However, the more I got to know Lei Texeira, the protagonist, the more I cared and the faster I began to read - a good sign.

The novel's world is drawn in rich detail and step by step the setting enfolded and I got grabbed by the lighter and darker sides of Hawaiian culture.

However, to me, the strongest elements of this novel are its characters. They're human and real, they have a history and hopes and dreams for the future, they're damaged but eager to live fulfilling and meaningful lives. Toby's characters stay with you long after you've finished reading.

Lei's a great heroine, but my personal favourite was Dr. Wilson. I'd unload my issues on her couch any day! I'm (not-so-secretly) hoping Toby will one day write another series with her as the main character.

I also found Lei's developing relationship with Stevens very interesting and well-written. They have a number of great scenes together, which could only have been written by an intelligent and wise person with a keen insight in human nature, who's not afraid to dig deep into her own mind and experiences in order to touch on fundamental thoughts and authentic emotions.

I can't wait to see what Toby will come up with in the future. Definitely a writer I'll continue to follow!

You can find Toby's blog at http://www.tobyneal.net/.

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Favourite Book Challenge Blogfest and a Game of Tag.

To celebrate hitting 100 followers, fiction writer Teralyn Rose Pilgrim has organised the Favourite Book Challenge Blogfest, in which we were asked to pick our top 5 favourite books and write one line of what it is about and one line of why we liked it.

If you want to take part, you can still join in (until June 22nd).

I knew both parts of the challenge would be equally hard - there are so many books I love and I'm a woman of many words - which is why I simply had to take part. A challenge indeed!


My Favourite Books.

Patrick Süskind, Perfume.

- The story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a boy born with an extraordinary sense of smell and without a scent of his own, who - after being rejected by everyone close to him - starts to learn the art of creating perfumes and the overwhelming effect scents have on people.

- This novel took me to a whole new level of sensory awareness and made me pay much more attention to scents, flavours, colours, beauty and ugliness in the world around me.


A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance.

-  In this novel, two academics, each fascinated by a different Victorian poet, meet after one of them has found a mysterious letter that suggests their poets had a secret romance, and when they start investigating the past they get caught up in a complicated relationship of their own.

- I loved Byatt's clever writing, the poetic atmosphere, the depth of emotion and the intricate plot with which she wove together the past and the present.


Jim Butcher, Codex Alera series (beginning with: Furies of Calderon).

- This fantasy series recounts the adventures of Tavi, a young man who is born without magic in a world where citizens control elemental furies to do their bidding, and as a result he has to learn to rely on his intelligence to help save the realm from destruction by powerful enemies.

- I love the complex and consistent world and the unique, highly believable and fascinating characters the author has created. One of my favourite fantasy series so far.


Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere.

- When Richard Mayhew finds an injured girl (named 'Door') on the streets in London, he discovers the existence of a dark, magical parallel world called 'London Below', and as he helps the girl, his old life disappears, forcing him to find his way back or lose his old self altogether - which might not be so bad.

- I liked the characters, the atmosphere and the clever way (and wordplay) with which the author entwines real-life London with this underground fantasy world.


Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking.

- Pippi Longstocking (or Pippi Langkous as it's called in Flemish) is a young girl with superhuman strength and a suitcase full of gold, who lives without parents but with a monkey and a horse, when she becomes friends with Tommy and Annika, the neighbour's children, with whom she has many adventures.

- This was my absolute favourite book as a child. I must have read it (and the sequels) at least 20 times and I never got tired of them. I loved Pippi's imagination, her chaotic lifestyle and most of all her attitude, especially towards grown-ups who abused their power by mistreating animals or looking down on defenceless others.


And Now For a Game of Tag!

Yesterday I was tagged by the wonderful Rosalind Adam of Rosalind Adam is writing in the rain.

I've decided to be - mildly - naughty and change the 'tagged' rules & questions, so here are my answers to the new, personalised set:

1. Link, upload, ... a picture that makes you laugh:

2. When was the last time you ate chocolate?

Yesterday. Oh wait, that just changed. I'm having some right now - the dark, Belgian kind. OmNomNom ...


3. If people had a theme song that started playing whenever they entered a room, which one would yours be and why (- if you want to share)?

Ooh, tough one! There are many, depending on the situation and the mood at hand, but if I had to pick one, I'd go for Tori Amos' Welcome to England.




4. Tag 3 blogger friends:

• Toby Neal
• EcoGrrl
• Girl Wizard Suze

Tag, you're it! :-)

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Favourite Book Challenge - Another Blogfest Coming Up.

The It's All Fun & Games Blogfest is barely over and I have already signed up for another one.

Historical fiction writer Teralyn Rose Pilgrim of A Writer's Journey is organising the Favourite Book Challenge Blogfest.

Between June 20 and 22 2011, participants will each pick their top 5 favourite books, describe in 1 line what each book is about, and in another line why they like it.

With a title and a challenge like that, how could I not take part?

I expect it will be a great opportunity to connect with other book lovers. As a bonus, it will be great practice to try and summarise the essence of a book in just one line.

If you want to join in, you can sign up at Teralyn's blog. I hope to see you there! :-)

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Stop motion: City of Books.

Stop motion (also called 'stop action' or 'frame-by-frame') is an animation technique where you create individual scenes, take a photograph of each scene and then play the photos as a sequence, creating the illusion of movement.

In previous years, we have made a few stop-motion films with our students, using clay figures they'd modelled. It was great fun - and a lot of work. Every movement and every position has to be thought out, set up and photographed.

To give you an idea of what this technique can accomplish when wielded by professionals, I want to share one of my favourite stop-motion animations: 'City of Books'.

'City of Books' is a delightful little film that was produced by Apt Studio and Asylum Films in 2008, to celebrate 4th Estate Publishers' 25th anniversary. It took them 3 weeks to make, and I'm not surprised!

What a great commercial this video would make for libraries worldwide, and what a great technique to use for a creative book trailer!

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

If you want to see how the animation was made, check out these timelapse videos.

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Book Review: The Tapestry of Love, by Rosy Thornton.

About two months ago, in honour of International Women's Day, I bought Rosy Thornton's latest novel, The Tapestry of Love.

I finished it a few days later and started writing the review, but with April's A to Z blogging challenge ahead, I didn't manage to complete it at the time.

Now I'm glad I didn't, because I've made so many new friends through the challenge, I can now recommend the book to a much larger audience - which it deserves.

I don't often review books on this blog, but I wanted to devote some time to this one, for several reasons:

1. I really liked it.
2. Through my previous blog post, I came in contact with Rosy (we're both on Litopia, a great online writers' community), and she's a lovely person - in other words: the kind of writer whose books you'd gladly recommend to your friends, especially when they're a great read like this one.

The Story.

A few years after her divorce, Catherine Parkstone sells her house in England and moves to the idyllic, rural French Cévennes.

Surrounded by beautiful scenery and in often harsh living conditions, she rebuilds her life and starts a business, under the watchful eyes of her Cévennois neighbours - one of them being the charismatic Patrick Castagnol.

We follow Catherine on her journey through the seasons, from foreigner and outsider to a woman who weaves lasting and meaningful threads into the community fabric.


The Novel.

'The Tapestry of Love' is one of those novels you need to read slowly and savour to the full. Rosy is as much a painter as a writer: she sketches the scenery and the characters with care, then colours them in with a beautiful sunset palette.

This is the kind of novel you want to read in summer, lounging in the garden, relaxing in a rural or Mediterranean holiday setting - or on a cold day in front of an open fire. Every page takes you one step further into the beautiful Cévennes region, and into the lives of the people who've grown up there.

What I loved most about 'The Tapestry of Love' is the romantic realism that oozes from the pages. Rosy writes with a gentle touch, with wisdom and a mature, assuaged acceptance of the ups and downs of everyday life.

She takes an honest approach to human relationships and emotion, showing joy as well as pain, love as well as loss, without overdramatising.

In my blog as in life, I look for sparkles of 'life, love and authenticity', and I can assure you I found plenty of each in 'The Tapestry of Love'.

Therefore, on the threshold of summer, I would recommend you to buy this book, curl up on the couch with a good glass of wine, and reserve a good chunk of time for yourself, to transport your mind to the Cévennes in the company of Catherine, her neighbours and her lively English family.



For more information, visit Rosy Thornton's website.

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Image 1: 'Vue d'Alès depuis l'Ermitage (Gard, Cévennes)' by Modestine l'ânesse des Cévennes. Available under a creative commons license. © 2009, Modestine l'ânesse des Cévennes.
Image 3: 'Cévennes automne 2010' by Association Djivan. Available under a creative commons license. © 2010, Association Djivan.

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B is for Books.

Part of my library.

B was a no-brainer for me. Books, of course. What else?

I learnt to read - more or less by accident - at age 4. My brother, who's a few years older than me, was learning at school, and I had the habit of eavesdropping when he practised his letters and words at home. Afterwards, I would sneak in, steal his textbook and try to match the pictures with the sounds.


My favourite reading chair.

Since then, I've read nearly everything I could get my hands on - and forgotten most of it. My taste in books is eclectic, to say the least.

I tend to read in bursts, fast, focusing more on characters than events. Often, all I'll remember about a novel after a few weeks, months or years are snippets of personality, intense emotions and sensory impressions.

Now, in honour of 'Books', I wanted to share a list of the books that have had the biggest impact on my life, and a few pictures of the favourite corners of my bookshelves.



Books that have affected me most:

• Patrick Süskind - Perfume - it opened up my senses to a whole new level of awareness and made me pay much more attention to scents, flavours, colours, beauty and ugliness in the world outside.
• Ursula K. Le Guin - Changing Planes - it made me realize that having a wild imagination isn't necessarily a bad thing.
• Willa Cather - My Antonia - it made me consider that any setting or person - however plain or uninteresting they might seem at first - can be turned into a captivating story, providing you dig deep enough.
• Marion Zimmer Bradley - Mists of Avalon - I read it as a teenager and it was the first time I encountered such a tragic and complex character (Morgaine) that I could at the same time like and dislike, understand and fault for what she did.
• A.S. Byatt - Possession - because of the particular flavour of the interwoven worlds and characters, which gave me so much to think about.
• Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum - for bringing back mystery and magic at a time when I really needed it.
• William Faulkner - Absalom Absalom! - because it was so wonderfully complicated and showed me how enjoyable it is to stretch your mind.

Favourite corners of my bookshelves:

Which books have had the biggest impact on your life?

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A Writer in Spring.

My life's busy and buzzing at the moment. Tomorrow, I'm teaching a workshop on storytelling, and I have a few other deadlines coming up, in my job as well as my writing. I'm also taking part in the April A to Z blogging challenge, which should be interesting.

Fortunately the sun is out and the days are getting warmer. I have so much energy this time of year. And it's not just me. All around, the world is waking up after a long, grey winter. The fruit trees in our garden are about to bloom, and our patio veggies are growing well. In a few weeks, we'll harvest our first greens.

In between the bustle, I've even found time to read. After Rosy Thornton's A Tapestry of Love (review inc. in a few days), I'm alternating Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird with a re-read of George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

Online, I follow quite a few blogs, and that will only increase during April's blogging challenge. Much of my online reading has to do with writing, language or the writing life. Navel-gazing is one of my many virtues.

One of the topics that keeps coming up on writers' blogs is criticism. By putting ourselves out there and publishing our work, we expose ourselves to being reviewed. In theory a review talks about our product, our creation, but in the reality of the internet, it often becomes personal, whether it was intended to be or not. Writing might not be that different from being a chef, restaurant owner or actor, in that respect.

Readers - and customers in general - have many tools at their disposal to express their joy and enthusiasm when they love what you do, but also to cut down your work when they feel they didn't get their money's worth. When you sign up for one, you sign up for the other.

Robin Black of 'Beyond the Margins' wrote an interesting article about bad reviews, from a writer's perspective: Shhh; When A Reaction To Your Work Really Means: Shut Up!

She raises a few interesting points. I'll have to think them over, after next week, when I have my deadlines behind me.

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Roses, Thorns & International Women's Day.

Yesterday, March 8th, was International Women's Day.

It was also a busy day at work, so even though I'd thought of ways to celebrate me, myself and all other women, by the time I got home there wasn't much time and energy left to do anything besides cooking pasta (with sun-dried tomatoes and goat's cheese, in case you were wondering), pour a glass of the beautiful organic cava we've recently discovered, and toast with my lover, husband and best friend (all in one person) to the good things in life.

Earlier, over a quick laptop lunch, I'd decided to do something small and mildly meaningful in honour of Women's Day: supporting a female author by buying one of her books. What can I say, I love a win-win scenario!

After careful deliberation, I picked The Tapestry of Love by fellow Litopian Rosy Thornton.

I'd read the sample last week and liked it a lot. So far, its atmosphere reminds me of Peter Mayle's Provence novels and Frances Mayes' Tuscan Sun, but set in the Cévennes and with a more personal story woven in.

The Tapestry of Love is the kind of book that deserves to be read outside on a summer's day, when you're curled up in a hammock with a glass of wine by your side. However, in the absence of summer, curled up indoors in front of the fire will have to do. And yes, there will be wine.

How was your (International Women's) day?

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From Words to Brain.

I recently read brain scientist Livia Blackburne's essay 'From Words to Brain', which looks at how our brain deals with reading and writing.

In the essay, Livia, a graduate student at MIT, fellow blogger and fantasy writer, takes us on a fascinating journey to discover how we process language, stories, characters and emotions.

I loved the essay. It's well written, insightful and flows like a good story.

You can tell Livia is fascinated by people, the way we think and react, use language, read and write. That passion, backed up with solid scientific research, makes this highly recommended reading!

Check out her website for more information, a free excerpt of 'From Words to Brain' and an abundance of interesting articles about writing, psychology and neuroscience.

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Ode to My Kindle.

A few months ago, I got myself a Kindle.

It had been a difficult decision to make, because I really, really love books. I'm one of those people who washes her hands before touching them. I read them half-open to avoid wear and tear. I only lend copies to people I trust with my life books.

Part of what made this such a tough decision was the fact that I resented the idea of an electronic device replacing those paper wonders: hardcovers and paperbacks to store, display, fondle, re-read and share. I was afraid the practicality of technology would destroy the magic of reading.

Isn't it pretty?

Now that I've had my Kindle for a couple of months, I can only say I absolutely adore it - as well as its burgundy cover.

I've always been a passionate reader, but now I read even more. I carry it around wherever I go. I've discovered new authors, genres, styles of writing that I might never have come into contact with if it hadn't been for my e-reader.

I especially love the 'samples' option. At amazon.com, you can download a free sample of every novel that's available for your type (and nationality) of Kindle.

A sample usually consists of the first 1 to 3 chapters. It's become my new novel test: if, after reading the sample, I really want to know what happens next, and the style of writing doesn't turn me off, then I buy the book.

My Kindle has changed the way I read. The first page of a novel has always been important. It's what I look at in a bookstore, when I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to buy the book. The cover, the back flap and the first page.

With my Kindle, I don't really care about the cover. Most of the time I don't even see it. I look at reviews, download a sample, and read that. They have to draw me in. I also take that into account in my own writing.

What I find most interesting is that my Kindle doesn't replace books. I still buy paper copies of the ones I really like, the ones I want to lend out, the ones I want to display in my bookcases, stare at and thumb through. It's simply another medium, another way of reading.

This is also why Kindle books need to be cheaper than paper copies. They don't have the same value, so they shouldn't be priced the same. Sure, e-books have advantages: the sample option and the instant download as the most important ones.

But they're not books. You can't touch them, they're virtually invisible (compared to a book on a shelf), and they don't have the social charm of paper books: you can't share them and you don't interact about them with your friends, like you would with a book that's lying around in your living room or proudly perched on a shelf.

Do you own an e-reader? Would you consider getting one?
If you have one: what does it mean to you? Has it changed how you read?

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A Tale of Life, Death, Hunger and Love: Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. A Review.

I have just resurfaced after burying myself in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. I had downloaded the first sample to my Kindle a while ago, but I needed to create a stretch of free, uninterrupted time to bite into it. And wow, did that bite turn into a binge!

Book 1 - cover

Up until half an hour ago, the outside world no longer existed. For a few days, I've co-inhabited the head of Katniss Everdeen, a mature sixteen-year-old, looking at a world that could have been ours. Or might become ours, one day. It's the tale of a resourceful girl in extraordinary circumstances, playing the cards she's been dealt and forced to face the consequences of her actions and decisions.

I don't want to go further into the story here; there are plenty of sources out there that do. What I do want to share is why I loved it so much.

First of all, Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer. These three were the first of her works I've ever read, but the Underland Chronicles are next on my list. It will be hard to meet my current expectations, but even if they're only half as good as the Hunger Games trilogy, it still won't be a waste of time to read those. All five of them.

Lately, with my own novel in the stage it's in, I've found it difficult to read other people's work without having my inner editor jump in, pointing out style, tricks, show vs. tell, great or poor dialogue and much more. I was starting to fear I had lost the ability to submerge myself in other writers' worlds, new stories and characters' lives.

Book 2 - cover

I couldn't have been further from the truth. The Hunger Games grabbed me from the first few pages and sucked me in, right until the end of Mockingjay. Along the way I laughed and cried, I ached and wondered, I felt empowered and enraged.

There are so many layers to these novels I can't even begin to describe. But of course I will try.

In these stories, Suzanne Collins captures human nature's paradoxes unlike any author I've read in a long time. She reveals our weaknesses and strengths, our courage and cowardice, the good and evil we are all capable of, especially when it affects the ones we love. Or hate.

These dilemmas emerge in a world where poverty, political corruption, brutality and violence reign. But we don't have to look far to find, interwoven, the importance of love, family, loyalty and hope.

Book 3: cover

I was very impressed with the wisdom the author shares and and the insights she provokes, without waving the belittling finger I so dislike (possibly because I'm not entirely unguilty of it myself.)

Suzanne Collins created a bunch of amazing characters here. I love how they come to life in her words, and how real they feel. Some of them I adore, others I despise, still others I pity. But hardly any don't affect me at all. And even in those cases, I feel that's exactly what the author intended. That might not be true, but the mere fact that she has me believe it, proves to me what an extraordinary writer and storyteller she is.

If you haven't read the novels yet, I can only recommend them. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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For the Love of Books...

I've been an avid reader for most of my life, and even though I love my Kindle, I'm still crazy about books. There's nothing like the smell of ink, the weight of a real book on my lap and the touch of paper to my fingertips. An instant cure for stress.

And then I discovered the photoblog Bookshelf Porn. Okay, I don't like the name, but the site's got a lot of great pictures. Of books, obviously, and shelves. And rooms and houses I wouldn't mind living in.

I don't know why I'm so crazy about bookshelves, other people's as well as my own. I suspect part of the the feeling is childlike wonder, remembering how I felt (and still feel) in libraries, looking at all the treasures that would take years to explore.

Bookshelves are filled with the thoughts of generations. In every book that is written, a writer synthesizes ideas and beliefs, mental and emotional experiments not only of herself but everyone she has learnt from: the people she's encountered, her teachers, family, friends and her wider sociocultural environment. Every story offers the invaluable opportunity to look at the world through somebody else's eyes. Bookshelves really are treasure chests, in every way that matters.

So, if you want to go on a daydream or a quest for inspiration on how to store your own collected wisdom, have a look at the Bookshelf Porn archive.

Which are your favourites?

I think for now, I'd go for this one:

The photograph made me think of Solange, a great librarian I knew a long time ago. She gave me a lovely picture frame with the quote: 'Overal heb ik rust gezocht, maar nergens gevonden, dan in een hoekje met een boekje.' - Thomas van Kempen.

(It roughly translates as: 'I've looked everywhere to find peace and quiet, but couldn't find it, except in a corner with a book.')

The frame has become one of those items I will never ever part with and I have it on my writing desk for those days when I need the reminder.

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Abandoned

I love this fellow blogger's collection of photographs of abandoned buildings.
Now there's inspiration if you ever needed any!

What amazing stories could have happened there, or are happening right as we speak? Who used to live, work or roam there and what were they doing?
Think of the great and weird parties you could host in places like this, providing you find a way to keep your drunk guests from dropping in the chair-pool! And wouldn't they make great settings for nightly roleplaying or storytelling sessions? Or game design?

Here's one photo to tease, and you can find many others at Abandoned - Pixcetera Blog or in Scallop Holden's 'Urbex' set on Flickr.

Credit: Scallop Holden.

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Don't be a foppotee, adopt a word now!

Have you ever given birth to a new word? Or considered adopting an old one?

All languages evolve, which is a good thing. Unfortunately that also means that older words that are perhaps no longer relevant fade away and die. It makes perfect sense, and yet it's a shame. Those old words are often rich in connotation. They talk to us about times long gone and places we've never visited.

Oxford Fajar, a subsidiary of Oxford University Press and one of the oldest publishing houses in Malaysia, has started a campaign to 'save the words'. Their website - even though a bit too busy for my taste - is full of words that are literally screaming to be rescued from the dreary pits of oblivion.

Every single word in their collection represents a story, a setting, an era, a character or any inspiration you could possibly need. On top of that, knowing some of these words has to come in handy one day, be it to characterise a person in a novel or story or as a random interjection into casual conversation. And I haven't even touched on the insult potential! Your cocktail parties will never be the same again.
Here are a few suggestions:

• 'odynometer': an instrument for measuring pain. As in: 'I had to stop talking to him because my odynometer overloaded.'
• 'frutescent': having the habit or appearance of a shrub. For example: 'You, Sir, are without any doubt the most frutescent person at this party.'
• 'tortiloquy': dishonest or immoral speech. E.g. : 'I applaud the crafty tortiloquy in your inauguration address.'

Okay, your turn now:

• 'foppotee': a simple-minded person.
• 'aquabib': a water-drinker.
• 'theomeny': the fury of God.
• 'recineration': the second time a thing or place is burnt down.
• 'agonyclite': a member of a heretical sect that stood rather than kneeled. (I'm not kidding...)
• 'rhodologist': a person who studies and classifies roses.
• 'stiricide': the falling of icicles from a house.
• 'dodrantal': being 9 inches in length.

Don't miss this opportunity. Adopt your word today and help it to a new and meaningful life.

What do you think mine is, by the way? The first one to guess right will get a star role in one of my next posts.

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Haunted House and Gruesome Graveyard: Story Settings for Halloween.

I love this time of year, with its dark, windy nights, the colourful leaves piling up on the lawn and the fruits of our summer labour (which is basically limited to watching the fruit grow and ripen) stacked in the pantry.
I don't even mind the fuss about Halloween, but it probably helps that trick-or-treating is not very popular here.

Actually, I remember only one instance where one of the neighbour's kids came to ring our door bell on Hallow's Eve, possibly lured by the jack-o-lantern I'd put on our doorstep. It happened a few years ago, and it was an utterly embarrassing experience.
I try not to have any candy in the house, so I had to dig into my emergency stash of dark, bitter (Belgian) chocolate.
Who could have guessed that he wouldn't be happy? Either way, we haven't seen him since. I can only assume he survived.

What I love most about the end of October is that invisible blanket of deep but snug melancholy that seems to cover us all. Once more, we remember our loved ones, we start contemplating the year that's coming to an end, prepare ourselves for a cold (and possibly long) winter, and gather around the fire to express our hopes for what might come next. (There might have been some projection going on in this paragraph.)

It's also a great period for writing. I usually find my imagination running wild, especially late at night, trying to squeeze my novel or other stories into twists and turns I wouldn't think of during the lighter half of the year.

Today, in anticipation of the days to come, I wanted to share a few pictures I've taken over the past couple of years. It's an eclectic collection, but they're all places or buildings that could be the perfect setting for a ghost story, a scary novel or a real-life Halloween gathering with friends.

Now picture these locations on a dark October night. What gloomy adventures could be happening there, at this very moment?





Boscastle, Cornwall. The Museum of Witchcraft






Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire, England






Graveyard at Asthall, Oxfordshire, England






Details on one of the tombs.
Graveyard at Asthall, Oxfordshire, England






Church of Notre Dame at Epernay, France






Alchemist's Street, up in the castle. Prague, Czech Republic





Old castle steps. Prague, Czech Republic.






Graveyard, Crail, Scotland






House in Olot, Catalunya, Spain






Jewish cemetery in Worms, Germany







Temple of Mars, Rome, Italy

 
[Except for the jack-o-lanterns, all images in this article were made by the author]

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This post was inspired by the Halloween "Book or Treat" blog party for Unicef. You can find out more - and donate - after clicking on the image below:

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One person's nightmare, another one's dream: physics books for change...

What a hopeful story, what a fabulous guy, and: what a difference access to information can make in a person's life.
It's ironic, really, how what causes nightmares to some (hello, physics books!), can make someone else's dreams come true.

This 6 minute video shows the important role of libraries. (Combined with willpower, a creative mind and a problem-solving attitude.)

I wonder how many great people: scientists, writers, doctors, advocates of change, started their journeys in the local library. My guess would be: most!

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