Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame

I don't normally do these top ten Tuesdays, but this week's topic I just couldn't resist, since I love cover design so much.

 Girl In Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, Cover Design by Maggie Payette

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

We the Drowned by Carsten Jensen, Cover by Suzanne Dean

Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell, Signet Classics

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Art Student Cover

I don't actually own this one, but I really wish I did.

Button Man by Paul Lyons

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

Liebster Blog Award

The Liebster Award:

1. The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

2. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

3. Each blogger should answer the 11 questions given to you.

4. Choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award on to and link them in your post.

5. Create 11 new questions for the chosen bloggers.

6. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

7. No tag backs.

Thanks to Lianne @ Caffeinatedlife.net for nominating me! I'll just answer the questions because I talk about myself too much already on this blog :)

1.) What is your least favorite book and why?

There are a number of books I haven't enjoyed very much, but I think I have to go with Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. It's something around 800 pages, and I made a valiant effort but only managed to get through about 400. I like the surrealism in his writing, but his style is way too contrived for my taste. I could feel in the words how highly he thought of himself as a writer, and his descriptions were forced. Plus the love story didn't pull me in at all. I liked his ideas, but the execution wasn't there.

2.) What was the last book you read and what did you think of it?

The last book I read was Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King, and I loved it! You can read my review here. It was really educational but told in a story-like way, so I didn't have any trouble getting through it and I absorbed a lot of information without realizing it.

3.) When recommending books to other people, what book do you find yourself recommending the most?

I don't really have any friends or family to read, so I don't find myself recommending books often, but I think if someone asked for a recommendation I would say Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. It's one of my favorite books and it's written in a sequence of short stories, so you can pick it up whenever and just read a chapter, and you'll get a full story out of it.

4.) What's the last movie you watched that you would recommend to others?

Hands down La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino. I re-watched it on the plane coming home from Spain yesterday and almost cried just because I love it so much. It's such a work of art and a huge inspiration as far as filmmaking goes; I would love to study it in detail.

5.)When times are stressful, what do you do to relax?

Mainly I listen to music. When I feel really overwhelmed from school I put a song on repeat and put my head down for a few minutes; I've found it really helps me to calm down. I also make art- collage, draw, play the saxophone- but it takes awhile so I save that for the weekends. Sailing is amazing for relaxing too. The only thing I stay away from is writing because even though I love it, it can be really stressful for me.

6.) Is there a television show that you sort of hate-watch? It’s not even a guilty pleasure, you know you would never be caught dead watching it and yet you do anyways? You can expand this to a book or a movie if you can’t think of anything .

Huehuehue this is a fun one. To be honest, I remember watching a few animes overnight that I would completely forget the next morning, and if I were fully awake would never go near. There was one about the Shinsengumi being vampires or something (I remember red eyes...) and one that was like this girl that ended up managing some shrine with a fox god I don't even know. I'm not proud, but they were extremely entertaining at four in the morning.

7.) What's one place that you would love to travel to (or return to) and why?
Italy is my number one- half because it's beautiful and magical and half because I'm italian and yet have never been. I also want to go to France, especially to explore the South of France- but I'm going to France this summer and Italy next spring, so as far as places I'd like to go to further in the future- I'd love to visit Istanbul. My French teacher taught there for awhile, and I've only heard positive comments from her. Portugal would be amazing, and I would love to go island-hopping in Greece. Japan would be awesome to visit, especially since I have close family friends there and my brothers have both been there. Maybe Thailand as well, and Singapore. England would be so much fun to go to with a group of friends, and just travel from village to village. Oh and also the Netherlands; I have a friend who lives there and it just seems like a really healthy country. The other Scandinavian countries would be nice too. Basically everywhere. I want to travel the world.

8.) What's one sport you wish you could play or play well at?
I mean I always wish I could be better at sailing, because it's my main sport. Otherwise I don't love sports... they require exercise, which isn't my strong suit.

9.) What's your favorite sport to watch and why?
...sailing. Because I sail. But honestly it's not such great spectator sport but if you sail and know the tactics and how to read the wind and currents and what plays are being made, it's really thrilling. From shore it all looks calm but on board you just know everything is so intense and fast-paced. It's really a mind game as much as it is a physical sport, which is why I like it so much.

10.) If you could eat one particular meal or item for one year, what would it be?
Tuna fish salad sandwich. Mainly because that's all I know how to make so I actually do end up eating it every day.

11.) Is there something you've always been meaning to try, but haven't?
Making a short film! It's going to happen soon, though, I promise.

Now for the people I'm going to tag! Sorry if you've already been tagged or if you're an awards-free blog-it's totally optional to participate :)

Vampire (And Other Paranormal Things) Queen
There's More to Life than Books, You Know, But Not That Much More
The Pied Piper Calls
Paper Charade
Miss Bibliophile
Life of a Female Bibliophile
Irisjxx
Il Blog Di Chiara
Books Are My Favorite and Best
A Moot Point
Read My Breath Away

And any other blogs that want to participate! I don't follow too many book blogs so if you see this and want to respond, link up below!
The Questions:

1.) What does your happy place look like?
2.) Which book that you own has your favorite packaging/cover design?
3.)If you were to write a short story right now, what would it be about?
4.) What was the last song you listened to?
5.) What's the first memory that comes to mind when you try to think of a memory? Describe it.
6.)What's your favorite quote from a book?
7.) What films inspire you most?
8.) What was the last dream you can remember about?
9.) Describe a change in perspective you've had in the last year.
10.) Who is someone you would love to have a conversation with?
11.) What's your personal philosophy?

If you answer these questions comment with a link to your post! I'd love to hear your answers.

10 Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

10 Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Christine at Bookishly Boisterous.

1.)SHERLOCK just omfg. Just just just omfg I can't. I really really don't want to spoil the season three premiere for anyone who hasn't watched it yet, but it was definitely the best episode yet. Everything that I wanted the writers to work on happened and it was pure perfection and I'm still trying to just breathe.

2.) I'm currently obsessed with all things Korean. It's turning into a problem. My friend introduced me to Exo-K's Mama and ever since I've been chasing a music video high. My favorite band is definitely Big Bang, but I like Super Junior's music a lot, too. I've also been marathoning Pretty Man, which is without a doubt the most absurd and cheesiest thing ever created- I love it. I've caught up to the current episode and now I have nothing to do with my life while I wait for the next episode.

3.) For Christmas my brother gave me his vintage record player and a stack of classical records. I've been listening to it nonstop. There's something about records that just makes the music feel more special- there's a ritual to playing it, and you have to take care of the equipment. It feels real, not just a name on a computer screen.

4.) I finally read John Green's The Fault in our Stars....and I didn't like it at all. *pause for horrified gasps* My review is right below this post, if you want to know why.

5.) Today was supposed to be the first day back at school after winter break, but it was cancelled due to Hercules. Tomorrow's cancelled, too, so I've ended up with four more days of break. What do I even do??

6.) My New Year's Resolution was to be a better blogger, which means posting more often, expanding my blog, and working on getting more involved in the blogosphere. If anyone has any blogging tips I'd love to hear in the comments below!

7.) I'm looking for more writing opportunities- contests, submissions, collabs, etc. to keep me writing more, so if anyone has info on those share share share! :) 

8.) I'm starting to make travel plans for the coming year, and I'm feeling really optimistic about it. I feel like I've gotten to the age where I can start traveling comfortably on my own and finding travel opportunities for myself. I'm going to Spain for spring break with my school, and June and July I'll be in France (hopefully!) I'd love to do one of the NatGeo photography and filmmaking expeditions, but they're so expensive! (Related, if I start traveling, should I do a travel blog or travel extension to this blog?? What do you think?)

9.) I've developed a craving for a well-written page-turner. I stopped reading YA books, but after reading Samantha Shannon's The Bone Season I'm finding it hard to go back to reading dense, slow-paced adult books. I want to find a well-written book that I don't have to think too much about and can get absorbed in, but I don't know what that would be. I'll have to do some research.

10.) I'm building bookshelves in my bedroom, so I was thinking about my current collection of books. There are a lot of leftovers from my YA phase a couple years ago that I don't see myself picking up again (e.g. every Sarah Dessen book ever written), and I was thinking what to do with them. Would people be interested in a giveaway? I haven't done anything like that before but it might be fun.

I hope everyone had a happy New Years!

First Chapter, First Paragraph

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea , where you share the first paragraph of a book you are thinking of reading. This week I chose Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel. I've had it sitting on my shelf for a long time and I've never gotten around to reading it, so maybe I will soon.

"Most illustrious lord father-

We are terribly saddened by the death of your cherished sister, our dear aunt; but our sorrow at losing her is as nothing compared to our concern for your sake, because your suffering will be all the greater, Sire, as truly you have no one else left in your world, now that she, who could not have been more precious to you, has departed, and therefore we can only imagine how you sustain the severity of such a sudden and completely unexpected blow. And while I tell you that we share deeply in your grief, you would do well to draw even greater comfort from contemplating the general state of human misery, since we are all of us here on Earth like strangers and wayfarers, who soon will be bound for our true homeland in Heaven, where there is perfect happiness, and where we must hope that your sister's blessed soul has already gone.Thus, for the love of God, we pray you Sire, to be consoled and to put yourself in His hands, for, as you know so well, that is what He wants of you; to do otherwise would be to injure yourself and to hurt us, too, because we lament grievously when we hear you are burdened and troubled, as we have no other source of goodness in this world but you. 

I will say no more, except with all our hearts we fervently pray the Lord to comfort you and be with you always, and we greet you dearly with our ardent love.

FROM SAN MATTEO, THE TENTH OF MAY 1623

Most affectionate daughter,

S. Maria Celeste

The day after his sister Virginia's funeral, the already world-renowned scientist Galileo Galilei received this, the first of 124 surviving letters from the once-voluminous correspondence he carried on with his elder daughter. She alone of Galileo's three children mirrored his own brilliance, industry, and sensibility, and by virtue of these qualities became his confidante."

What do you think? Do you want to keep reading? Have you read this book--did you like it? I'd love to hear!