Photo Friday

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769275769/
(Original Pinterest link no longer works)

There's a world within the pages.

Photo Friday

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699769275763/
https://www.etsy.com/listing/168585747/so-many-books-so-little-time-printable?ref=shop_home_active

This is so true that it overwhelms me. 

So many books I want to read.

Never too many, though.

The Art Forger

On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.

Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retailer and desperate to improve her situation, Claire is lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when that very same long-missing Degas painting is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.

Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Claire Roth is a master at copying the Masters of the art world. In The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro, Claire moves from blacklisted copier with empty claims to a forger who finds herself caught in the aftereffects of an art heist. For lovers of mystery and impressionists, this novel is incredible. 

Claire is a broke artist semi-happily working for a website called Reproductions.com that sells copies of famous paintings. As a certified Degas copier, she is the perfect accomplice when trying to reproduce a masterpiece that was stolen years before. Claire is a hopeful romantic with the perfect eye for detail. She's passionate, intelligent, driven, and methodical. Readers will enjoy her situational blunders and her wariness when it comes to the truth. They will connect with her through her passion and past. Though not a lot of her past is explored, the story behind her blacklist status in the art world is shared piece by piece. When she jumps at the chance to have her own gallery show, readers understand why she would gamble everything,even if they disagree morally and/or legally. When she falls in love with the man who hired her, readers may think it's naive, I did, but they hope for her happiness anyway. And when it hits the fan, readers respect her honesty, even if it's with a slight head shake that says "I knew this was going to happen..." 

The plot begins with Claire being offered an opportunity to make fifty thousand dollars by simply copying a Degas masterpiece that was stolen in a museum heist. It has to pass authentication by experts so that it can be sold under the radar as the original. She is given a copy to work from but she quickly learns that the one she is given is the original. Or so it seems. As Claire works, she begins to think that the original is actually a forgery, but she keeps the information to herself and hopes she is wrong. Readers can see where this is going and it definitely involves the FBI and the Boston PD. The story is incredibly pieced together. I absolutely loved every chapter. And I think most other readers will too. For art lovers, I admit that I am a HUGE impressionist and Degas fan, the techniques and painting descriptions, as well as the research and the play with historical facts, is delectable. The ending didn't exactly give me the greatest satisfaction but with everything that happened, I feel it was the only way. There can't be a happy ending for everyone... 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Photo Friday

Found on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/229120699768038144/
Pinned from Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/103390757/altered-book-the-land-of-oz-the-wizard

Amazing work of art. 

Photo Friday

Found on Pinterest
Art Print Available at: http://society6.com/product/read-l9o_print#1=45

I would very much like for this to adorn a wall in my future library.

Seriously, how cute? 

Photo Friday

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/284641638919793646/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leen-nation/7457005698/

Love this. 

Photo Friday

Found on Pinterest. Originally from: http://lovelydinos.tumblr.com/post/27585920345

Love this.

One Big Beautiful Thing

Artist Kate Abernethy is trying to put her life back together after the death of her boyfriend. At first, moving back in with her mother seems like a good way to sort out her finances and re-evaluate her life-instead it proves to be a minefield of doubt and recrimination. Floundering, she pushes herself to take new opportunities so she can rebuild her life and have a second chance at happiness.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Marie Flanigan follows one woman's struggle to survive in her novel, One Big Beautiful Thing. Kate is in her mid-twenties who has experienced an overwhelming amount of grief. She's lived through an unplanned teenage pregnancy, a failed engagement, the judgment of being a tattooed artist, and the death of a man she loved. 

Kate's role as main character brings focus to this novel of chaos and strife. She's a blooming painter who dreams of moving on after the death of Robert, her first serious boyfriend after college. She's bright, inventive, creative, and full of life. Though, she has trouble facing her future. Kate often runs from confrontation, using avoidance as a key tactic in her survival. Readers will connect with her through understanding. Facing one's own future is difficult enough without the haunting of a rough past. Kate is an interesting character with definite flaws that make her more real for the reader. Through the arc of her evolution into a stronger woman, readers will be touched by her change in perspective. 

The plot of the novel is simply following Kate's progression after Robert's death. Yet, the book holds so much more than that. Readers don't only see a change in Kate, but also in her mother and the main love interest. The supporting cast aren't static characters, adding more depth to this novel and making it one of ample caliber. One Big Beautiful Thing is a book that lifts not only spirits, but hopes within the readers as well. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Bohemia: Review/Interview

In her debut novel, Veronika Carnaby picks up where the Beat Generation left off.

Set in 1960, Bohemia chronicles a group of twenty-somethings who defy the "ideals" of a mid-twentieth century society to seek creative fulfillment.

In the process, they spotlight the creative path that artists of all mediums tread, all the while depicting the challenges faced by youth in the decade that changed the world.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Veronika Carnaby whisks readers away into a year where artists traversed the world in a passion to create their own path of existence in her novel, Bohemia. As four wayward twenty-somethings band together to travel across England, their journeys are transcribed by Valerie, the main character. 

Valerie is the only constant in the novel that documents how quickly lives can change when one is living with the wind. I liked Val with her deep sense of freedom propelling her forward, into unknown cities, countries, and the need to know what it meant to live. 

Readers will connect with her drive to explore, even though it is a mere, vagrant existence. Valerie is the character that refuses to settle. When she realizes that writing is her art, her immortality, she stops at nothing to spread her work. 

The supporting characters of Bohemia will connect with all readers differently. Each member of the cast offers a different view of the world. I suspect readers will easily bond with those closest to their own nature. Photographers and those that love details will connect with Muffy, as guitar-playing dreamers will align with Lyle. While some readers will have disdain for certain characters, as I did. 

The plot of the novel was one of progression. It is a time-lined story that follows Valerie through her year long marathon of finding life. The prose was beautifully written, though a bit long winded at times, much like the points of Valerie's quest. A wonderful alignment of craft with situation. 

Bohemia is a well-crafted novel immortalizing the journey to discover life as a living thing through 1960 and personal art. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Bohemia

1.Can you describe your book, Bohemia, and tell us what inspired you to write it?  

I answered this question in a previous interview in a way that, I think, summarizes it best: Bohemia is an unconventional account of rebellion, artistic freedom, and youth in the 1960s…something of a Beat Generation-influenced work, if you will. Combine some of my personal experiences along with some of my greatest influences and the end product in a nutshell is the story of Bohemia.

2. How did you create the main character Valerie, and what kind of bond do you think characters are able to make with her throughout the novel? 

I’d like to think that Valerie is somewhat a reflection of myself. That’s not to say that she’s entirely based on me or that I’ve gone through the circumstances of her life per se, but I’ve pinched a lot her struggles, outlooks, and persona from my own life and tailored it in a way that would fit her and the fictional world that she inhabits. Because of that, I think that her experience are quite realistic. She forms enduring personal bonds with some characters, she clashes with others, and she feels lost, confused, fulfilled, determined along the way, just like anyone else would.

3.What was your favorite part of writing Bohemia? 

The entire writing process is a pleasure, which it should be, anyway. Everything from crafting an idea nugget to writing until I feel like my arm will snap off is time well-spent and enjoyed for me.

4.What do you like to do in your freetime,when you aren't writing?

Listen to music, attend concerts, watch films, read, shop…although I must say that I don’t spend too much time apart from writing. It’s a rarity for me to go but a few hours without it. I don’t consider it work, but rather a passion which I’d never take for granted.

5.How do you take your coffee?

Lots of cream and even more sugar.

Message to Readers: 

I thank those who have taken the time to read Bohemia. For those who have yet to do so, you can get your copy at Amazon and see what everyone else has been chattering about! 

Author Bio:

American author and poet, Veronika Carnaby, possesses a vintage charm that transcends well into her written works. Recognized for her Beat-style prose, her pieces have garnered international recognition after appearing in such publications and functions as The Ed Sullivan Show blog, SESAC Magazine, SXSW, Dan’s Papers Literary Journal, and the SESAC New York Music Awards, among others. Whether penning poems, short stories, or novels, Carnaby infuses her writing with a poignancy and passion for 20th century culture.

A huge thanks goes out to Veronika from The Coffee Pot for allowing me to provide an interview along with the review of her astounding novel, Bohemia!