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Valentine's Day is just around the corner...and according to research, the most common gift to give on that holiday is flowers. The National Florist Association reports that more than 25% of the flowers given all year are given on Valentine's Day!
Well, we think that books also make great gifts for your Valentine, but if you want to give flowers, did you know that every flower has a meaning?
In Victorian times, flowers were a means of communication, with each flower (and sometimes each color of a flower) chosen for a bouquet with a separate meaning. When people felt unable to say what they wanted, they used flowers to speak for them. For example, a red rose symbolizes romantic love, while a pink rose means grace, white roses suggest a heart acquainted with love, but a yellow rose means infidelity!
Last Fall, Oprah selected The Language of Flowers as one of the books on her Recommended Fall Reading List. A novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Language of Flowers is a wonderful story of a young woman, Victoria Jones, who ages out of foster care and works to find a life of her own.
The story tells of Victoria's placement at nine years of age with the owner and operator of a vineyard who was raised on a flower farm and who teaches Victoria all about the meanings of flowers. Like the other 30-plus foster care placements she had, Victoria does not stay in that placement.
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At times heart warming and at times heart wrenching, Victoria's story unfolds as she tries to make a life saying, "I wanted to be alone and to be surrounded by flowers." While sleeping in the park and eating food left on plates in restaurants, she finds part-time work with a florist and finds her calling. Eventually, she is able to start a business designing bouquets for brides, carefully selecting the exact flowers to deepen their affection and represent their goals for their marriage.
The author even includes a dictionary of flowers at the end of the book, which I confess I copied when I finished the book. This was a wonderful story that stayed with me and has changed the way I look at flowers forever. The Language of Flowers would make a wonderful Valentine's Day gift for that special someone in your life or just a great read for yourself.
One reviewer summed up her feelings by saying that she would like to give the author a pink carnation, which means "I will never forget you." |
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Book Lover's Trivia
Q. During 2011, we saw two books on the top ten of the NY Times bestsellers lists appear in both the hardback and the paperback formats at the same time. What were these titles?
A. Both The Help and Heaven is for Real appeared on the NY Times top ten bestsellers lists in 2011 in both hard cover and paperback format at the same time. This is very unusual since readers most often buy the paperback once it is available. We found that some customers wanted the hardcover versions as gifts. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why do paperback books come out in two different sizes?
A. The two formats are called mass market paperback and trade paperback. The mass market version is small, usually non-illustrated and a less expensive bookbinding format. Books in this format are often sold in non-traditional locations such as airports, drug stores, and supermarkets, as well as bookstores.
Some titles, especially fiction by new authors, are issued as first editions in the mass market paperback format.
Trade paperbacks have thicker paper covers and paper similar to hardcovers. They are often about the same size as a hardcover, but slightly smaller because the binding is done differently. Some trade paperbacks look the same as mass market paperbacks, but with better quality paper and covers.
Some readers prefer the trade versions because they will withstand more readings due to the higher quality binding. It can be a matter of taste, but sometimes you will find the book you want is only available in one paperback version. |
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Carpe Librum ~ January 2012 |
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If you are planning on making a New Year's Resolution, here are books to help! One of the most compelling titles is This Year I Will... by M. J. Ryan, who is one of the creators of the Random Acts of Kindness series, which has sold more than one million copies.
She begins with a quiz for you to take to see if you are REALLY ready to change. One of the most interesting questions is:
Concerning making a change, failure is (a) impossible (b) inevitable (c) not in my vocabulary
Surprisingly, the correct answer is (b) inevitable. But the author goes on to explain that the process of change needs to be looked at a series of failures and trying again. She feels that in order to change there are three things needed: desire, intent, and persistence. Only 8% of people who make resolutions are successful because the minute they stumble, they give up instead of recognizing stumbles are part of the process. |
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She also stresses that the process is not just about getting rid of bad habits, but instead building new, more positive habits.
While working on your resolutions, the author provides twelve tips for keeping your promise to yourself, for, after all, that is what a resolution really is...a promise to yourself. The tips are (1) make it negotiable, (2) make it actionable, (3) come up with solutions for your usual excuses, (4) use procrastination to your advantage, (5) schedule it in, (6) do it daily, (7) monitor your behavior, (8) focus on the horizon, (9) take it one choice at a time, (10) find someone who is doing what you want and imitate them, (11) teach it to someone else, and (12) treat yourself kindly.
I found this book to be the perfect blueprint for making changes in your life. In fewer than 220 pages, the author provides the tips and tools that will help you on your way. Like the motto of Lonely Planet, "All you've got to do is decide...and the hardest part is over."
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Book Lover's Trivia
Q. What is the most expensive book ever sold?
A. John James Audubon's 1827 masterpiece, Birds of America, is believed to be the most expensive books ever sold. It was auctioned by Sotheby's in December 2010 for $10.3 million. The book measures two feet by three feet because Audubon depicted the birds life size. Only 119 copies were printed between 1827 and 1828 and of the 110 believed to still exist, most are held by libraries, universities, and museums. |
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Carpe Librum ~ December 2011
Imagine a book written in just six weeks, having the first printing sold out in a week, later having more than 200 adaptations of the story, and having it never out of print for more than 165 years.
These are all facts about Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Published December 17, 1843, Charles Dickens considered this novella to be first and foremost a ghost story. He was deeply in debt at the time and hoped that its publication would rescue him, though because of the arrangements he made with the publisher, it ironically did not turn out to be a commercial success for him.
Many critics believe that the story has autobiographical tones in that Charles Dickens himself suffered from poverty and deprivation when growing up. His father was even sentenced to debtor's prison for a time.
The more than 200 adaptations include movies, plays, opera, ballet, a BBC mime production and even shows starring Mickey Mouse and the Muppets. The plot - where Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the spirit of his business partner, Jacob Marley, and then three ghosts who convince him to change his life - makes for good drama and stage production.
The impact was so great on the English reading public that A Christmas Carol is actually considered to have changed the way the Christmas holiday was celebrated. Prior to the publication, Christmas was considered to be a minor holiday, much less important than Easter. There were no Christmas cards, no trees in royal residences, no gift giving, no public displays of Nativity scenes, and no holiday lighting.
In Les Standiford's new book, The Man Who Invented Christmas, the author describes the influence of this novella. For example, the term "Merry Christmas" was made popular by the book, the character |
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"Scrooge" is now universally understood to represent a miser, and the term "Bah, humbug" is commonly used.
Because Scrooge buys a turkey for the Cratchits near the end of the book, he actually brought the country's goose-raising industry to near ruin, as people changed from the usual Christmas goose to buying turkey for their holiday dinner.
A Christmas Carol is credited with causing an increase in awareness of the need to help the poor in times of need. When Charles Dickens visited America and did readings, he had great impact. Following one reading in Chicago, Franklin Fairbanks, who was president of Franklin Scales, was so moved by Scrooge's actions at the end of the story that he declared that he would no longer keep his factories open on Christmas Day and he began the tradition of giving each of his employees a turkey at Christmas.
Interestingly, Fairbanks was a native Vermonter who was born in St. Johnsbury in 1828. He later donated Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium to the town of St. Johnsbury.
With the story's universal themes of the necessity for charity, the benefits of goodwill, family unity, the celebration of good company, forgiveness, and the ability to make restitution for wrongs, many people make it a yearly tradition to read A Christmas Carol during the holiday season.
"...honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." That might be a good New Year's resolution for all of us. SME
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Book Lover's Trivia
Q. Which professional football team has a connection to literature?
A. The Baltimore Ravens. In 1996 when the team was formed, a contest through the Baltimore Sun selected the name because Edgar Allan Poe lived in Baltimore when he wrote "The Raven." The team even selected black and purple as their colors, a drawing of a raven for their helmets, and named their mascot Poe.
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