I have been in love with the idea of Little Free Libraries since I first read abut the movement. A few have popped up in the Chicagoland area(which includes suburbs). I thought that I would showcase some of the ones that I have visited over the last two years.
Little Free Library #13614
734 Wesley Ave
Evanston, IL
United States
This Little Free Library is also located in the southern portion of Evanston, IL. It is located between Oakton ave. and Main street on Wesley ave. It is a fairly large library which looks like a yellow house/ The front swings open and there are two shelves inside. The bottom shelf is dedicated to children's and young adult books and the upper shelf is adult books. On my last visit, both shelves were very full and there was a nice variety of books on offer.
This reminded me of a dolls house full of books. It made me smile as i rode up to it to drop books off on my way to class.
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." ~Francis Bacon
In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Confessions of a Literary Persuasion. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won, or received in exchange for my honest review of the book in question.
25 June, 2015
10 June, 2015
Book Review: The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQ2_MYA6CHkU_1dk3pt7J9fBfXkYl5KQEfF8YhNZUvtHg4qrs91APfklu7JFNaGSCtBcHDAJK_a2jJG1EEpGAq8se8cNk_t_DccLxtrlST8xX3YKM5gpwdwxJkkJHzvOLwt_p/s200/47633.jpg)
Author: Ellis Avery
Publication Date: 2006
Nine year old Aurelia Corneille has had a hard life. She is the daughter of an unmarried Frenchwoman who immigrated to America to be close to her brother, a catholic priest in New York city, after she has been disowned by her mother for shaming her family. She has grown up living on the charity of the nuns in the convent at the church her uncle Charles ministers at.
When her uncle is given a posting to go to Japan as a missionary in 1866 he plans on taking Aurelia and her mother with him to help as servants. Given Aurelia's gift for languages (she speaks English and French) he hopes she will learn the tricky Japanese tongue quicker than the brothers of the mission party and help comunicate with the "heathen Japanese" when her mother is unable to go with due to failing health, Aurelia and her uncle engage on their journey across the world.
In 1866, Japan was still closed to foreigners. The missionaries are smuggled into Miyako the old Imperial Capital of Japan (now known as Kyoto). Unhappy with her new life with her uncle, Aurelia flees a fire in the building she and her uncle are living in. She runs far into the unknown city. Fatigued, she stumbles into one of the small tea houses owned by the Shin family as a part of their tea ceremony school. She is discovered by Yukako, the Shin family's daughter, and is adopted into the family as servant to Yukako.
The Teahouse Fire follows Aurelia as she becomes "Miss Urako". The book takes place during the fall of the samurai culture and the opening of Japan to outsiders. Urako, servant to the household that she is, becomes a "little sister" to Yukako her closest companion. She sees the struggle Yukako goes through as a female in a male dominated world. The book chronicles the tumultuous changes that Japan goes through as it enters a period of enlightenment and progress. The story spans twenty-five years of Aurelia's life in Japan after her fate has been changed by tragedy.
I loved the first lines of this book:
"When I was nine, in the city now called Kyoto, I changed my fate. I walked into the shrine through the red arch and struck the bell. I bowed Twice. I clapped twice. I whispered to the foriegn goddess and bowed again. And then I heard the shouts and the fire. Wha had I asked for? Any life but this one. "
with that I was pulled into historic Japan, and had a hard time pulling myself out to take care of classwork. I found the book engaging and interesting as the changes to Japan are shown through the eyes of someone living them. Aurelia struggles with not being completely Japanese through most of her life, to find herself known as a foreigner and pushed away from her home in Japan due to rising nationalism brought about because of the influx of foreign influences to the country.
04 June, 2015
Little free Library #13597
I have been in love with the idea of Little Free Libraries since I first read abut the movement. A few have popped up in the Chicagoland area(which includes suburbs). I thought that I would showcase some of the ones that I have visited over the last two years.
Little Free Library #13597
Little Free Library #13597 is located in south Evanston, IL. It is a small library composed of a 12" x 12" x 12" cube. It holds a variety of books most times. Because it is located across from an elementary school in a neighborhood with many families, the children's books seem to go faster than the adult books. I visit this LFL quite a bit as it's nearby and there is a fantastic variety of both children's and adults books being offered in it.
The stewards of the LFL said this about their library:
"While visiting Minneapolis, we saw many Little Libraries as we walked in the neighborhoods. Back in Evanston, we attended a fundraiser at the Evanston Rebuilding Exchange where many builders had built Little Libraries to be auctioned off. We were thrilled to be able to very quickly get a beautiful Library in our front yard. We have begun culling some of the many books in our own bookshelves but people add and subtract stock every week. It's great!"
Little Free Library #13597
1119 Oakton Street
Evanston, IL
United States
Little Free Library #13597 is located in south Evanston, IL. It is a small library composed of a 12" x 12" x 12" cube. It holds a variety of books most times. Because it is located across from an elementary school in a neighborhood with many families, the children's books seem to go faster than the adult books. I visit this LFL quite a bit as it's nearby and there is a fantastic variety of both children's and adults books being offered in it.
The stewards of the LFL said this about their library:
"While visiting Minneapolis, we saw many Little Libraries as we walked in the neighborhoods. Back in Evanston, we attended a fundraiser at the Evanston Rebuilding Exchange where many builders had built Little Libraries to be auctioned off. We were thrilled to be able to very quickly get a beautiful Library in our front yard. We have begun culling some of the many books in our own bookshelves but people add and subtract stock every week. It's great!"
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