21st Bookworms Carnival (GLBTQ Literature) is out + I got an award!

This month is hosted by Renay. Go check it out!

From the books featured in the carnival I'm interested in:
Relief by L.E. Butler reviewed at Curl up with a good book, because it's set in Venice, in the 1910's and it's about painters and ballerinas.
Then of course I want to read Affinity by Sarah Waters reviewed by Alessandra. It's the only book by this author that I haven't read, since I had heard it wasn't her best. But Alessandra made me change my mind.
And Hero reviewed by Nymeth.
Then I'll stop here cause otherwise I'll just replicate the carnival on my blog and that would be stealing:P
Renay also included some links to gay teen literature which made me add more than one book to my wish list. It's just that they sound all so good!
I've added:
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
Luna by Julie Anne Peters
and Skim by Mariko Tamaki.

I think it's enough...

And now for the award! Emerald fire, Ms Ulat Buku and Shooting Stars Mag awarded me with the buttefly award. Thank you all so much!!! *sending virtual hugs*

the rules are:

1. Post the logo on your blog

2. Add link to the person who awarded it to you

3. Award up to 10 blogs

4. Add links to those blogs in your award post

5. Leave a message for awardee on their blog

This time I'd like to award some illustrator blogs that I visit regularly and which I think are awesome:
Lisa Evans
Irisz Agocs
Jackie Morris
P.J. Lynch
Niamh Sharkey
I love lots of other illustrators but they don't have blogs, or I don't know if they have one. I'll have to keep looking...

12th Edition of the Bookworms Carnival is up!

so the Bookworms Carnival is 1 year old as well!!!
This month is hosted by the wonderful Nymeth at Things mean a lot, and it's all about fairy-tales, so make sure to visit it! It's awesome.

The Art of P. J. Lynch

Especially for this month’s Bookworms Carnival hosted by Nymeth, this post is all about one of my favourite artist: P. J. Lynch.
Lynch is one of Ireland’s most accomplished and known illustrators. Probably *the* most. Ha has been honoured The Kate Greenaway medal twice, for When Jessie Came across the Sea (1997) and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (1995), which are part of his more “realistic” works and are without a doubt remarkable.
But what I love about him is how he represents the world of fairy tales, myths and folklore. He puts so much passion and care and love into them, you can almost feel it. His illustrations are so stunning and skilful that they instantly makes you feel they belong to a higher level. They are the stuff classics are made of. That’s why they go so well with subjects related to myths and legends.
Lynch has an extensive gallery on his website. If you want to have a better idea of what I'm talking about, take a look. I'm just going to post some examples of my favourites (click on them to enlarge).

From Melisande:



From The Names upon the harp:



His work is so easy to love, so easy to feel comfortable with. Probably because it evokes the feel of those loved (and feared) fairy tales of everyone’s childhood. Only, I think I would have loved those stories even more if they had his illustrations.

The first P. J. Lynch’s book I came across was Catkin. As always, I was attracted by its cover. It reminded me of an art nouveau painting, a style I’m very fond of. When I looked inside I knew I had found a new favourite. The more of his work I see, the more I fall in love with it. The story itself draws on British folklore and mythology, reinventing them to create a tale which reads as though it had been told for centuries.



The next one I came across was Ignis. A story of an adorable young dragon and his quest of self-discovery. Another instant favourite.





The I discovered East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, the Bee-man of Orn and the Name upon the Harp… All masterpieces.




I was lucky enough to be able to hear P.J. Lynch himself talking about his work and how every illustrations came to be, when he came into our shop for a public event. He had a projector and I assure you that those paintings shown on a wide screen are even more breathtaking. He told us that he doesn’t just love doing portraits of beautiful ladies, or cats or cute dragons. He has a great sense of horrid and creepy, which he likes to express in his images of witches, globlins and the like.



We got the sense of how much work and time goes into the creation of just one book. And of how much his work is revered and sought for. He is already booked in for years.
Even though I said I love his fantastical works more, I do appreciate the more realistic subjects, as well. They all have a sort of fairytale touch anyway.
The gift of the Magi, his upcoming work which should be out by next Christmas, looks like it's going to be just wonderful. The story is a sad and touching one, and I’m sure the book will be a great hit with everyone.



I just found out he has a blog, so I think I’m going to visit it regularly now! There’s lots of interesting entries, including a video that shows the process in the creation of cover for The Bee-man of Orn. Enjoy!

Finally, I want to share some more of some of my favourite paintings:

From Melisande:



From The Snow Queen:



and from The Names Upon the Harp:



That's it! I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did :)

May Bookworms Carnival is up!

... and I didn't sumbit anything, damn it! It's such a cool theme this month: urban and contemporary fantasy. I will definitely browse all the submissions with great pleasure. I wanted to post my review of War for the oaks by Emma Bull but I didn't find the time. It's such a good book and one of the first (or The first?) urban fantasy ever written and I really really REALLY enjoyed it.
Next month's Carnival will be exciting as well, whith Fairy Tales being celebrated at Things Mean a Lot!

7th Edition of the Bookworms Carnival is up!

Pop in to Becky's for the edition of the Bookworms Carnival! Lots and lots to read this month as the topic, Best of 2007, proved to be a very popular one. So if you're searching for some really good books to read, look no further. Or alternatively do like me and check who agrees or doesn't agree with what you thought of the books you've read in 2007. Have fun!

Spooky Bookworms Carnival is up!

The new edition of the Bookworms Carnival is up at This is the life. This month is all about Halloweeny stuff. If you're looking for something to read to get you in the spooky mood, look no further! Lots and lots of reviews (including mine:P), one author interview and much more. Enjoy!

Third Edition of the Bookworks Carnival is On!

And this month looks especially great! Check it out at BookNut.

Since September is back-to-school time, Melissa has creatively decided to post the links as in a college course catalog, so go there, choose your course and leave a comment:)
I'll try and read every single submission this time!!

If you haven't participate yet, you have a chance to be included in the next edition, which will be hosted next month at This is the Life. The theme will be "Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books That Keep You Up at Night". Go blogging! The form to submit your post is here or just send an e-mail to the host.

Second edition of the Bookworms Carnival is On!

Check it out! It's hosted by Reading is my superpower HERE
It's got plenty of interesting articles and new blogs to discover:)
The theme this time is "Surviving the dog days of summer". I personally LOVE my summer, when it's hot and the only thing you can do is swim in the sea and lie on the beach. Or alternatively drive your moped around town going to eat an ice-cream, or ice-yogurt which is even better. I love summer nights, when you can forget about coats and scarves and enjoy the breeze, and maybe visit one of the thousands festivals around Italy, celebrating all sorts of food.
But THIS summer I couldn't live all this, except for three very short weeks. Because I'm stuck in fecking Ireland, where summer is not a proper summer and where it rains all the bloody time!!! What the hell?? Anyway, I can't do anything about it. Good thing is I also like reading in bed so that's my summer reading:P

The first edition of the Bookworms Carnival is on!

Just go here: Bookworms Carnival.
This edition's theme is "novels". Make sure to check it out and maybe think about submitting a post for the next edition! I'm going to browse all those blogs very soon (well, I've already looked at a few). Enjoy.

Bookworms Carnival

I first read about this blog carnival on Metaxu Café. I had never heard of a Blog Carnival but it sounded like a good idea. This one is obviouly about books and since the only thing I had to do is choose a post about "novels" I've submitted one of my reviews immediately. Check the link on the sidebar for more information on how to take part. The first blog host is The hidden side of leaf.I can't wait to see the actual carnival and maybe take part in the next editions (one for every month)!