Bookish Buys: Paper Art

On last week's Alice in Wonderland-themed Bookish Buys, Catherine drew my attention to this amazing paper art print from Paper Noodle and I knew I had to do a post about it.

Alice in Wonderland print

Isn't it beautiful? The same artist has more gorgeous prints, and there's one in particular that I feel I must have - can you guess which one?

Beauty and the Beast print

Little Red Riding Hood print

 Further digging uncovered some more wonderful paper art, like these two from Art Papier.

Art card

Add caption

Getting back to book-related art, how lovely is this Beatrix Potter-inspired sculpture from Isabel Talsma?

The Tale of Jeremy Fisher sculpture

For something a bit different, Paper Cut Words does, well, paper cut words. Or, more specifically, quotes.

Game of Thrones paper cut

Back to the fairy tales, Sarah Trumbauer has created some exquisite scenes.

Little Red Riding Hood paper cut

Rapunzel paper cut

Alice in Wonderland paper cut

The Wizard of Oz paper cut

Finally, The Sketchy Easel has a range of gorgeous fairy tale-inspired silhouettes.

Cinderella paper cut

Alice in Wonderland paper cut

Related

Bookish Buys: Custom Book Art

Top Ten Bookish Goals For 2013

1. Read more than last year. My goal for 2012 was to read 100 books, and I failed miserably. This year I'm aiming for 75, but I'd like to at least read 52 - one per week, and one more than last year.
2. Blog regularly. The first half of last year was taken up with wedding planning and then the actual wedding, and then it was hard to get back into a good blogging rhythm. But I feel like I'm off to a good start this year, and plan on posting at least five times a weak, as I did when I first began my blog.
3. Stay up-to-date with reviews. A big problem with my blogging last year was getting behind on reviews. At one stage I was nine books behind! It created unnecessary stress and made it harder to actually write the reviews when I finally got around to it. This year I intend to write reviews on the day I finish the book. So far, so good!
4. Ignore the drama. I feel like 2012 was the Year of the Drama Llama in the book blogging community. I've made a conscious decision to step back and ignore it all (although hopefully it doesn't happen this year!). It just sucks the fun out of blogging.
5. Read more classics. Back in my uni days, the classics took up the majority of the books I read. Some of it was for my English Literature major, but a lot of it was just for fun. When I started working full time I had much less time on my hands and found myself drawn to quick and easy reads. Now I want to get back into reading the classics, so I'm aiming to read at least six this year. That's only one every couple of months - I think I can do that!
6. Finish all of my challenges. I signed up for waaay too many challenges in 2012 and failed most of them. This year I'm only doing four and I intend to complete them all. That means reading at least 12 Aussie books for one challenge, 10 by Australian women writers for another (obviously these will overlap), knocking at least 36 books off my TBR pile, and, as stated above, reading 75 books in total.
7. Buy less books. I have a bit of a book buying addiction. There was one stage last year where I was getting packages nearly every day, and half the time I couldn't even remember what I'd ordered. Indeed, I ended up ordering multiple copies of a couple of things! This year I need to make sure I read the books I already own and...
8. Use the library more (and get books back on time). I finally joined my local library last year after living in the area for four years. I used it quite a bit at first but then I racked up some heavy fines and have been too chicken to go back since. I need to square off my debts and get back into it. That, or sign the husband up for a card and use his. Mwahaha.
9. Read books I've been meaning to get to for ages. Like those in last week's Top Ten.
10. Reread some of my favourites. I've only reread one book since starting my blog, because I'm inundated with new books I want to read all the time, but I really miss revisiting some of my favourites - like Jane Austen, for instance. I've also been contemplating reading some of my childhood faves, like The Babysitter's Club, but I think that would be a bigger project that I need to plan out and right now I'm just concentrating on getting my blogging mojo back.

What are your bookish goals for 2013?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Review: Rape Girl By Alina Klein

Rape Girl is a quick read, but it's by no means an easy one. That's pretty obvious from the provocative title. It says it all, really - this book is about a girl who is raped. Then again, it's about so much more than that. It's about the effects of rape on not just the victim but on family, friends and the community. It's about the way society treats those victims and their rapists - all too often blaming the former and forgiving the latter. It's about a screwed up justice system in which few victims feel they can report their rape, and those who do don't always get any actual justice. It's about the fact that when it's one person's word against another, people always doubt, and sadly see the innocent as somehow guilty and the guilty as innocent. It's about life and how sometimes, it really freaking sucks.

Rape is obviously a very sensitive issue and this book could have easily been exploitative, but Klein tackles the subject matter with sensitivity. It's not graphic at all, although it is confronting, as it probably should be. Klein's writing is simple, but it says so much. The characters and situations all feel incredibly real, and their reactions to those situations are authentic. At the beginning, sections are divided between "before" and "after", and it's very effective, contrasting ordinary teen Valerie with the "rape girl" she feels she has now become. I felt for Valerie; her sadness, her frustration and especially her anger were palpable and completely understandable.

My one gripe with Rape Girl is that it's way too short. While the writing is good, the brevity means I never fully connected with the characters or felt immersed in the story. Because it really only had space to deal with the rape and its aftermath, it never really went beyond being an "issue" book. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that - it's certainly an important issue to write about, learn about and talk about. It just means it didn't quite burrow under my skin and into my heart. If there was a bit more to the story I feel like it could have had a greater impact. Nevertheless, it's certainly worth a read.

Rating: 3.5/5

Fine Print
Published: September 2012, Namelos
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley.
Get It: Book Depository

Review: Splintered By A. G. Howard

I've never been a massive fan of the Alice in Wonderland tale. While I've always loved the aesthetics of Wonderland and the idea of it - when it came to the actual stories, I never particularly enjoyed them. The Alice in Wonderland Disney movie creeped the crap out of me as a kid - and not in a good way - and when I read the original book by Lewis Carroll a few years ago, I found only a few bright spots in an otherwise tedious tome. Still, when Tim Burton's adaptation came out, I was ridiculously excited - it looked like it would be the Wonderland tale to capture my heart. But again, the reality of it let me down. It had all the right ingredients, but there was still something off about it and I was very disappointed. Then, more recently, Splintered started doing the rounds in the book blogosphere. Many, many people raved about it. I became intrigued - could this finally be the right Wonderland for me?

After reading Splintered the answer is a resounding no. It bears a lot of similarities to Burton's Wonderland tale, including Alice's (or in this case, her successor Alyssa's) role in the story. But I liked Splintered even less. I did enjoy Howard's unique and dark take on Wonderland's creatures and landscape, and the plot itself (the female line in Alice's family is cursed until someone fixes the mistakes she made in Wonderland) has a lot of potential - but unfortunately this was all vastly overshadowed by weak, unlikable characters and an irritating love triangle. Without the romance - or at least with the romance taking a back seat - this could have been a great book, but as it is, the romance is front and centre and all I wanted to do was see its head chopped off by Queen Red.

Alyssa is a weak, passive character. Things happen to her, others control her, and she barely thinks for herself let alone acts. Towards the end she does grow and take action, but for me it was too little, too late. Her passiveness was reinforced repeatedly by the two douchebag love interests. Jeb, her best friend who is secretly in love with her but dating Alyssa's bully for who-knows-what reason, is a controlling, domineering dick. He, too, changes a little at the end, but again, it's too little, too late. Meanwhile, the other corner of this triangle, Morpheus, is an arrogant, creepy puppet-master  pulling everyone's strings, but especially Alyssa's. He spends some of his time as a giant moth and used to be a caterpillar - THE Caterpillar. So not sexy.

The secondary characters are richly described in appearance but don't go much deeper than that. To her credit, Howard has a knack for details; her Wonderland leaps off the page thanks to her vivid, colourful descriptions. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to salvage the book for me. Strong characters will always win out over pretty descriptions, and although Splintered has a plethora of the latter, it has none of the former. This book really wasn't my cup of tea.

Rating: 2/5

Fine Print
Published: January 2013, Amulet Books.
Source: I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley.
Get It: Book Depository.

Friday Link Dump: Chris Evans' Butt. 'Nuff Said.

Flavorwire has listed 20 books every woman should read in her 20s. I haven't read any of them, guess I better get cracking!

The man-candiest moments of 2012. When I was done being mesmerised by Chris Evans' butt (OK, not really done, but I dragged myself away for two seconds), the one thought I had about this is: Dean Geyer?! Oh dear.

Apparently, snowball fights were popular in medieval times. Which is kind of totally awesome.

Here's 28 people who should have thought twice. Some of these are dumb, but a few made me giggle. Mainly dogs humping things. That's not weird, right?

Tumblr of the week: Old Hollywood Face Swap. YES!

Talking Point: Book Hangovers

Symptoms

• You feel like crying when you finish a book, not because it was particularly sad, but because you don't want it to end.
• You find yourself unable and/or unwilling to start a new book, because you're not ready to let go of the last one.
• You go back and reread your favourite passages - or, in extreme cases, the whole thing.
• You imagine what the characters are doing now or how they'd react in certain circumstances. Serious afflictions may even lead to fanfiction.
• Everyone you know starts to look panicked whenever you come their way. You're not sure why - you only want to remind them again that they MUST read this fabulous book.
• You squee when you come across others who have a similar love for the book and instantly become their friend.
• You start to lose your ability to form coherent sentences and instead begin to express yourself in gif form (which is not particularly practical in real life).
• You can't concentrate on anything and wander around in a daze for days.
• When you finally do start a new book, it inevitably disappoints you, because it just can't live up to the last one.
• You want to take the book to bed at night and cuddle it.

Hi, my name is Belle, and I'm suffering from a book hangover. You see, ever since I finished Melina Marchetta's The Lumatere Chronicles, no book has been able to satisfy me. Granted, I've only tried three, and they could just be bad books - but I get the feeling that even if there were outstanding, I still wouldn't enjoy them as much as I normally would. My heart is still in Lumatere.

I was trying to think of previous book hangovers I've had, and the one that immediately sprang to mind was when I read Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga - which of course is light-years away from The Lumatere Chronicles (and not in a flattering way). Still, despite all its faults, The Twilight Saga got under my skin. First I tried to cure my hangover with more vampire books. Then I ended up just rereading the whole saga.

Another time I remember is when I finished David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It's quite a hefty book and took me a little while to read, but when it was done I was left wanting more. Not because the ending wasn't satisfying, because it was - rather, I had enjoyed the world of the book so much I wanted to stay there awhile longer. I read some other Dickens books to remedy the situation, and I enjoyed them, but none grabbed my heart quite so much as David Copperfield.

So now, I have this book hangover I need to cure. Do I just bite the bullet and reread the trilogy (though I would feel guilty about all the completely unread books staring at me from my shelves)? Try and find another fantasy series that I may love as well (even though I'm not a massive fantasy reader and wouldn't really know where to start)? Or just plough away through mediocre reads until the hangover lifts? Tell me, dear readers, have you ever had a book hangover? If so, what was the book, and how did you get over it?

Bookish Buys: Down The Rabbit Hole...

I'm currently reading Splintered by A. G. Howard, which is a modern adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it's reminded me of how aesthetically interesting and fun Wonderland is. I'm clearly not the only one who thinks so - there are sooooo many beautiful, unique products out there inspired by Lewis Carroll's world. Here are some of my faves...

Eat Me tags

Personalised bookmarks

Miniature tea party table 

The White Rabbit print

"Paint the roses red" ring

Centrepiece

Playing cards

Disappearing Cheshire Cat mug

Mad Hatter's lamp

White Rabbit's watch

Doorknob necklace

Queen of Hearts paper cut 

Upcycled 2013 planner

White Rabbit journal

The Mad Tea Party print

Print

2013 Challenges, Here I Come...

I didn't do so well with the ridonkulous amount of challenges I signed up for last year. So this year I'm keeping it simple and only doing four.

Aussie Author Challenge 2013 
Hosted by Booklover Book Reviews, I've participated in this challenge twice before and actually did really well last year, so I'm keen to have another crack. I'm aiming for "Fair Dinkum" level, which requires you to:
- Read and review 12 books by Australian Authors.
- Ensure at least 4 of the authors are male, at least 4 of the authors are female and at least 4 of the authors are new to you
- Ensure at least 2 of the books are non-fiction and at least 4 fiction genres are represented amongst your 12 titles.
Balanced and diverse reading is the objective here.

Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013
With its very own dedicated website, this is a great challenge that I completed last year and am looking forward to doing again this year. Last year I aimed for three different authors and ended up reading 14 books by eight different Australian women writers. This year I'm going to aim for the highest level - "Franklin", which is to read at least 10 books by Australian women writers and review at least six.

Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge 2013
Hosted by Planet Pooks, the aim of this challenge is to knock some books off the TBR pile - i.e. books I already own. I'm going for Gold level - aiming to read 36 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.

Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge
Last year I challenged myself on Goodreads to read 100 books. Unfortunately I only made it to 51. This year, after much deliberation, I've decided to aim a little lower, but still improve on last year's total - so I'm going for 75 books. Fingers crossed I can reach it!

2012 Challenge Results

I don't know what I was thinking last year, but clearly I signed up for waaaay too many challenges. A few went really well, but mostly I failed. I don't like failing.

2012 TV Addict Reading Challenge

Aim: Five shows and the books they were based on.
Outcome: Four
Verdict: Close, but no cigar.

YA Contemporary Challenge 2012
Aim: Five YA books released in 2012.
Outcome: 15
Verdict: Success, three times over!

Around the Stack in How Many Ways?
Aim: Read five different genres.
Outcome: 13 genres counted.
Verdict: Win!

Victorian Challenge
Aim: Six books written in Victorian times.
Outcome: Zero.
Verdict: Fail. Epic fail.

Gossip Girl Reading Challenge 2012
Aim: 13 books - the whole Gossip Girl series.
Outcome: Zero.
Verdict: Epic, epic fail.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Challenge
Aim: Read the original books that feature the characters from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as well as the graphic novel - nine books in total.
Outcome: Zero.
Verdict: So much fail.

Aussie Author Challenge 2012
Aim: 12 books written by Australian authors.
Outcome: 18 books.
Verdict: Success!

Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge 2012
Aim: Read one book written by Haruki Murakami.
Outcome: Zero.
Verdict: Too embarrassing for words.

2012 Australian Women Writers Challenge
Aim: Read three different Australian female writers.
Outcome: 14 books by eight different authors.
Verdict: A+.

2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Aim: Read 40 YA books.
Outcome: 32 books.
Verdict: So close, yet so far.

100+ Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012
Aim: 100 books.
Outcome: 51 books.
Verdict: Barely halfway. Sigh.

Reading Challenge Addict
Aim: Complete 10 reading challenges.
Outcome: Four challenges completed.
Verdict: Clearly I signed up for too many challenges.

Related
The top 10 books I read in 2012

Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read In 2013

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic evening and 2013 is off to a good start for you all. I personally have big plans and high hopes for this year. Including (but not limited to) reading these books...


Source

1. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff. This book received so much buzz in the blogosphere that I knew I just had to read it. I managed to get my hands on it when it came out, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Here's hoping I get to it soon.
   
2. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. This one received even more buzz and I pre-ordered it despite never having read John Green before. I figured it would be as amazing as everyone was making it out to be. But I've been too scared of being totally depressed to actually read it yet.
   
3. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan. It sounds amazing and is another that has gotten brilliant reviews. I can't wait to read it!
   
4. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. An Aussie gem (or so I've heard) that I'm ashamed to admit I haven't read yet.
   
5. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. Anne is the only Bronte I have yet to read, and I plan to remedy that.
   
6. Divergent by Veronica Roth. Of the many dystopians to hit the scene post-Hunger Games, Divergent was one of the few to get resounding praise. I finally picked it up at a book sale after Christmas so I can read it soon.
   
7. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. The first in a series that came to my attention when I found out it was one of Melina Marchetta's faves – so it must be good!
   
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This has been on my bookshelf for years and for some reason I've never read it. I think it's probably about time I did.
   
9. Night Beach by Kirsty Eager. Eager is another Aussie author that I've heard great things about, and I've been meaning to read one of her books for awhile.
   
10. Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. When I was at uni I was obsessed with Dickens and read a bunch of his books, but I haven't read much of his lately. I plan to rekindle my love this year, and NN looks like a good place to start.
    

What books do you want to tick off your to-read list this year?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish