Little Free Library #13614

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.

Book Review: The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery

Title: The Teahouse Fire
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.

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

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!"

Bout of Books 13 wrap up

The Bout of Books Read a thon is over. So sad...

I thought I would get more actual reading done, but kept getting distracted.  

I did finish three books:

The Waiting Game by Diane Blythe

Sucubus on Top by Richelle Mead

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood

I am deep in the middle of two books:

The Disposessed by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

Bout of books Day seven

Sunday was day seven of the Bout of Books 13 Read a thon.  We were out most of the day, but did manage to get about 2 hours of The Furies of Calderon listened to while driving around to and from events. 

Bout of Books Day Six

Books Reading:

Elengil and I spent the day listening to The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher while relaxing and playing video games (as well as while running errands). We are definitely not going to finish this before the read a thon ends but it is very good so far. 

Bout of Books Day Five

  

Today was a productive day:)

I finished listening to Cocaine Blues. This was book one in the Phryne Fisher detective  series. I liked it, but the reader for the audio took a bit to get used to as she spoke really fast, but otherwise did a great job with the accents and voicing for the characters. 

I also got about 50 pages  of The Disposessed read. 

Elengil and I have started Book one of of The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher together

Bout of Books Day Four

Books Read today:

I started listening to Cocaine Blues (Phryne Fisher, #1)  by Kerry Greenwood 

I am still reading The Dispossessed by Ursala K. LeGuin (stopped pg 130)

Books Finished Today:

I just finished listening to the last few hours of the audiobook for:

I hadn't been sure of the series after listening to book one as I felt Georgia seemed a bit to naive for a several hundred year old succubus. However I really liked the way the character developed during this second book.

Bout of Books Day Three

           

I will be running errands today. I shall be grabbing a different book to tote along on the bus as the Lillith's Brood anthology is larger than I want to carry with me. 

Books Reading:

On the bus I listened to an hour of Sucubus on Top

On my trip home my IPod's battery was dead so I started The Dispossessed by Ursala K. le Guin. This is much more what I want to read right now so I am going to set aside Lilith's Brood for now and focus on this story. 

Bout of Books Day 2

I have to say that I haven't gotten to far into the Lilith's Brood Anthology. I'm not sure why, I love this author but the first book Dawn is starting off so slowly. I read about 48 pages yesterday and fell asleep!!!

I'm maybe  60 pages in and I'll keep trying to read it....

Currently reading:

Progress: I have read about 20 more pages. I also spent time at the computer listening to Sucubus on Top by Richelle Mead. 

Books finished:

Bout of Books Bookish Survey Challenge.

1. How do you organize your shelves?

Quite a few of my books are currently shelf-less. The mass market paperbacks currently reside in boxes that line one wall of the living room. The big book case in the living room has books grouped together by author, and the bottom two shelves are RPG gaming books. In front of that book case there are piles of books waiting for the next set of shelves to be built (hopefully this summer). My two small book cases in the computer room are organized by subject. Cookbooks take up 2 shelves, Graphic Novels on another shelf. The Indyspensible collectors editions on another shelf, and my classroom resource books and textbooks I've kept for reference are on another two shelves. The last free space has my bookcrossing registered TBR pile (or a majority of them) the top shelves on each of these bookcases are short, so I use them for non book storage.

2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo.  I read this in high school and it has stuck with me over the years as one of my favorites.

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?

The last book I gave five stars to on goodreads which was not a manga was The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. I listened to this earlier this winter and absolutely loved it it. It was a fantastic blend of fantasy and historical fiction that made me want to know more after it ended.

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

I don't hve a set bunch of titles to pull from do I am exited to try and get some of my older books from the TBR pile read finally, quite a few of them are longer books which I didn't feel comfortable toting around as commute books during the school semester, so this break between classes this week will be perfect for trying to read them out of the TBR pile.

5. What book do you recommend the most?

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Help finding a book...

Part of the Bingo Challange is to read a book by an Australian author. I have a couple of authors who fit that role but I find that I've read all their books.

Can anyone suggest a good Australian author? I will read pretty much any genre, but i prefer the science fiction, fantasy, or romance type settings.

I could just google for a title, but it's nice getting suggestions.

Bout of Books Day 1

Spring has decided it wants to be just like winter again. It is the perfect morning to snuggle up in fleece lined leggings and a cozy sweater underneath a blanket and read while waiting for the warmer afternoon weather.

I am starting off with a book I started yesterday and did not finish before bedtime.

Currently Reading:

This is my last book from another book crossing member received in 2012.

Books Finished:

- A Waiting Game by Diana Blayne

Bout of Books 13

As the 13th Bout of Books week long read a thon happens to fall during my short break between spring and summer semester I will be trying to take part again. It has been a few rounds of the read a thon since I took part last, and I had fun the last time I did.

I plan on reading some of the physical copies I have sitting here from trades through the bookcrossing.com web site over the years. Not sure what titles I will read. I may just pull from the TBR shelf and see what comes to hand.

Bingo Challenge Update

Books Read in March & April 2015

A Book From the Library: The All New Tenchi Muyo! Doom Time. Read in March 2015

A Book with Pictures: Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake

This edition has the original etchings with the poems as found in one of the rare hand printed and handpainted original editions of the book made by William Blake and his wife. Read in April 2015.

Bingo Challenge Update

Read in February:

A Book by a Debut Author: The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wrecker. This is the author's debut book. It was originally published in 2013. I finished it on 2/2/2015.








A Book That Made you Laugh Out Loud: I may be cheating by putting two books here. But, they are The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear both by Patrick Rothfuss. These were both rereads for me. My partner mentioned that because we have read/listened to a lot of fantasy in the last few years he was starting to mix up the magic events from several different  stories and wanted to reread the Kingkiller Chronicles. Book one had parts that made me laugh out loud  several times. Book two had me laughing out loud on the CTA as I listened to it while riding home. This is a quote from the part of the book that had me laughing hard enough that another passenger looked up from his paper.

The following conversation takes place between Kvothe and Auri:

"I was looking at the lightning." She said, sniffling. Then, "I saw on that looked like a tree." 

"what was in the lightning?" I asked softly.

"Galavanic ionization." she said. Then after a pause, she added. "and river ice,and the sway a cat tail makes."

I had forgotten how much I love this series until I read the Slow Regard of Silent Things at the start of the year. I'm super glad that I had a chance to reread (or listen again in this case). These were finished on 2/7/2015 and 2/13/2015 respectively.

A Book of Short Stories: Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee. I received this as an extra ARC in one of the Indiespensable packages from Powell's books. Looks like it was instalment #40 back in June of 2013. It took me awhile to read this because I would read a story or two then set the book aside to savor what I had read only to misplace the book or get sidetracked by other reading. I really enjoyed these stories which makes me wonder why I kapt setting the book aside rather than reving through it like I usually tend to do. Book was finished on 2/7/2015

Book Review: The Supernaturalists by Patrick Neighly and Jorge Heufemann (Illustrator)

Slinky vampire horror in the Roaring Twenties! Human detective Edgar Drake races to solve an impossible murder in 1926 Manhattan. The bodies all bear the same wound - two puncture holes in the neck and lots of blood around the body. However, when Drake meets Esme an undead flapper, he learns that that evidence is not what a vampire's bite would look like. As Drake and Esme work together to find the real killer, all signs point to a conspiracy that cuts close to home.

I wanted to love this this book, instead I found I enjoyed it but felt it could be better.

The story was interesting. Set during the roaring 20's with its speakeasies and secret societies there is a serial killer on the loose. The identifying mark of the victims are a two holes in the neck, and a copious amount of blood. We follow the detective investigating the cases through different areas of Manhattan, and different levels of society. 


However, I did not care for the artwork in this graphic novel at all. The black and white style is done in a way that feels like it is supposed to capture a noir feeling. However, especially at the beginning I found it hard to keep characters separated. After the gorgeous colors used in Subatomic I was let down by this book.

Book Review: Flowers for Mei-Ling by Lorraine Lachs

The copy of Flowers for Mei-Ling was an advanced readers copy passed to me by a relative who thought that I would enjoy it because of my interest in historical fiction. It has been buried underneath other books on my to be read pile for more years than I want to admit. I have made a goal for this year to try and get the books from 2013 and earlier read and either shelved with my PC, or passed on through a local Little Free Library or the take one/leave one book exchange at a local coffee shop. This is my first of the 50 book goal I have set for myself to be read in 2015.

Mei-Ling, has had a very turbulent life. Born to a Chinese father, and an English mother who met in England, then went to China to help with the Communist revolution led by chairman Mao. During the Red Army movement in the 1960's, teenage  Mei-Ling watches her father  get taken and beaten for being an intellectual, is separated from her mother as both are sent to the country to learn from the peasants. Mei-Ling survives a rape, while her mother survives a serious injury to her leg. They both manage to find their way back to their home and each other and escape to Hong Kong. There she and her mother are befriended by a Dutch businessman. He gives her mother a job, and both of them a place to live.

In Hong Kong, her life changes. Mei-Ling is a Chinese girl in an English ruled country. She is enrolled in school to finish her education which was halted when she joined the Red Army movement. She also becomes the lover of the Dutch benefactor who has helped her and her mother survive as refugees in Hong Kong. Upon becoming pregnant Mei-Ling and her mother find their lives moved to Amsterdam. Mei-Ling is married to a reluctant and much older man. When she has a daughter rather than a son, she becomes less desirable to him as a companion. Her husband starts an escort business and makes Mei-Ling his partner and sometimes host for wealthy businessmen visiting Amsterdam.

When her husband dies, followed quickly by her mother's death Mei-Ling finds her life changing again. She sells her dead husband's business and she her daughter immigrate to Canada. There in her early thirties, she becomes a student and meets and marries professor Jack Levy. She makes a life with Jack, earns a degree in art history opens a gallery and then separates from Jack after he is unable to accept the choices made that formed her past. Her daughter Julia graduates from Harvard University and moves to Hong Kong to work. Mei-Ling  and Jack travel to Hong Kong together in 1997 to visit when China takes over Hong Kong from the British. While there Mei-Ling is forced to face the demons of her past.

Flowers for Mei-ling is superbly written. It follows Mei-Lings life through fifty years. We see her and the events that take place in her life through her eyes, and the eyes of three different men who loved her as well as through her mother's eyes.  The author weaves together the chaotic events of the communist movement in China, with the anti-war movement in America and the riots in Chicago during the 1969 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Mei-Ling changes from a naive and passionate teenager, to a young mother trapped in a loveless marriage, to a wealthy business woman.

This is a book that has been sitting on my to be read pile for years and one that I finished and though "Why didn't I read this earlier?"

Bingo Challenge Update:

Read in January:

A Book you Read as a Teenager – Dragondrums I devoured every book I could get my hands on written by Anne McCaffrey when I was in High School. I ended 2014 and started 2015 by revisiting the Pern series, focusing on the books in the ninth Pass time frame. Finished 1/2/2015.

A Book that was Given to you as a Present: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. I received this during an EME swap on the bookobsessed boards (I also received book 3 as a gift). This series was started after picking up book 1 in a Chicago area Little Free Library. Finished 1/12/2015

An Audio Book – I personally listen to quite a few audio books during the year. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss is also read by the author. This was an incredibly sweet novella that delves into the life of one of the side characters from The Name of the Wind Auri. finished 1/19/2015

An Award Winning Book:  Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey won both the AFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award, and the  James Tiptree Jr. Award in 1997. Finished 1/21/2015.









A Book With a Red Cover: Flowers for Mei-Ling by Lorraine Lachs. Historical fiction that moves from China during the Red Army movement in 1968, to Hong Kong, to Amsterdam, to Montreal and then back to Hong Kong right before it became a part of China again. Finished 1/28/2015.

Final tally: 1/4  of the Bingo card filled.

new Bingo Challange

2015 Bingo Reading Challenge. Like last year I am going to try for a complete card bingo :)