Bookish Wedding Centerpieces & Other Table Decor - Wedding Wednesday

As we've been SLOWLY trying to figure out the colors and ideas of our general "theme" for the wedding, I've been lusting over some bookish centerpieces and other bookish decorations I've found on Pinterest and elsewhere. They make planning a book themed wedding so easy! I keep hoping that Will will come around and let me have the bookish wedding I so desire or at least let me find ways to incorporate it in. Here are some of my favorites:

Centerpieces

This would be a simple and pretty inexpensive bookish centerpiece idea by using opened books. Don't know you'd get it to stay but I'm sure you have a whole bookshelf to experiment with. Found here.

Simple yet stunning! Found here.

I love all things garden party-ish for a wedding and this centerpiece is amazing with the candles and flowers set on top of books and the SCRABBLE tiles. They used the tiles to also designate table numbers. Found here.

Really love this one. LOVE the color scheme..as you know that I love yellow. Found here.

Love this idea of making votives using modpodged book pages (RIP, dear book). Found here.

Is this not perfection on a table? Look at table runner made with book pages, books used as part of the table decor and OH the bookish decorations that are hanging. Found here.

OTHER wedding table decorations

I LOVE this idea for escort cards to be put on the table when you come in. If you are a librarian and you are getting married, you must do this. Found here (and the wedding was at a library. SWOON)

This would be PERFECT to put on your tables at the reception! I am DEFINITELY thinking I'm going to make these for ours. Just a little infusion of my love for books. Found here!

Well, I still haven't figured out what the heck WE are going to do for our centerpieces but I know I'm so inspired and ready to find something unique and maybe even something a little subtly bookish!

Stay tuned for next week when I show you some AMAZING alternatives to flowers using books! You guys are all going to hate me for all this book death for the sake of DIY wedding projects, aren't you? And if you missed last week, check out some great bookish wedding readings!

Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Wow! I just really love John Green. I read and reviewed Paper Towns a few weeks ago and I just didn't think anything could top my love for that book...but this one did! I wholeheartedly, from the bottom of my soul, loved this book. I wanted to hug it, implant it in my brain for forever, prance around in sunflower fields with it, etc. etc. But seriously, this is one of those books that I can feel in my soul and so many things about it resonate with my own teenage experience and my life 7-8 years out from my teenage life.

Looking For Alaska was so hard to put down, not only because of the characters and the humor, but because of the unique structure. Each start to a chapter or a section is a timeline counting down to some unknown event that we are just waiting to happen. You know it has to be earth-shattering or something and that anticipation doesn't wear at all as we get to know the characters and the setting of their boarding school. The "after" just rendered me a lifeless little rag doll.

I really enjoyed the characters in this one-- such a fun group of friends that seemed real -- they didn't always treat each other right but they had each other's back. They all had their flaws - real flaws..not things that just are made to seem like some flaws but then are all cleared up by the end of the novel. While I think Alaska could be really selfish and impulsive, I really understood her quite a bit. I identified so much with her on so many levels (although I'm not at all that quirky and eclectic) and found myself a deeper connection with this character that I typically come across in YA. I feel as though if you ask some of my high school and college boyfriends, they'd find some similarities in Alaska and I. It's funny how I connected so much more with her than with the Pudge. I did like him though.

My only gripe? Sometimes I felt like the dialogue was a little too contrived. I didn't really know anyone who talked like that in high school. I think we all wanted to believe we sounded that mature and poignant but we never did. I mean, I had some pretty "deep" conversations but in my dreams could I spout witty, intelligent things all the time. I think it's like the same way that I always wanted to emulate the witty banter of Gilmore Girls. I totally imagine that I sound that way. But nonetheless, I loved this book but I just thought that should be noted because it crossed my mind a few times. That aside, I really appreciate that John Green knows and appreciates the fact that teens DO think about the bigger pictures and really do want to seek understanding. Teens can HANDLE the stuff he presents and he treats them as competent individuals who can handle the message and the deeper thought in his books.

My final thought: It's hard to really put all the raw feelings and emotions that this book unearthed from within me. I know that sounds dramatic but it was one of THOSE kind of experiences for me. John Green does it again with memorable characters whom I swear have a real & audible heartbeat, the kind of thought-provoking life questions that keep me up at night and the kind of humor that makes me giggle. Oh and did I mention that I cried a lot at different points but especially when I realized what the answer was to their little "investigation" before they did. I understood that all too well.

Warnings: It IS a more mature YA read -- drugs, sex talk, cursing. Just so you know. If that sort of stuff bothers you or if you are of a very young age, you might want to skip this one for now.

Review On A Post-It

Find out more about it on Goodreads

3 Lessons My Mom Taught Me - PART TWO

Last week I shared some lessons that my mom taught me and how I apply them to my experience as a book blogger. I told you I'd share the final 3 this week so that's just what I'm going to do.

Last week's lessons were:

- The World Doesn't Always Just Revolve Around You
- If Your Friends Jumped Off A Bridge Would You?
- Say Please and Thank You!

"Life Just Isn't Fair"

This one was probably the most irritating out of all the things my mom would say. Sometimes I would just want to complain about something  like "it's not fair that all my friends can wear makeup" or "it's not fair that I have spend all day cleaning my room" but she'd always follow it up with a serious or sometimes sarcastic "life just isn't fair, now is it?" or "well, life's not always fair." But it's true..life just sometimes IS NOT FAIR and no matter how much you complain about it it isn't going to make it more fair. As many of you know, my mom passed away from brain cancer in 2006 and "life isn't fair" felt like my mantra around then. But really..life IS never fair..it's not. It made me realize how much I say "but that isn't fair"...about things that don't matter and things that DO matter. And the thing I've learned, it's true..life isn't fair for a lot of people and in fact it could be much worse. But dwelling on what's fair never helps me. It's always about being grateful.

How I apply it: Blogging life is never "fair"..it's not. It's easy to say it's not fair that so and so gets so many books for review and you don't, that people have more followers than you in a short time, that people get more recognition than you. etc. etc. It feels like it's not fair when you work so hard. I won't argue that. But, bitching about it never helps. I've tried to be THANKFUL for what readers I have, what books I do get for a review and of everything that has happened to me as a blogger. And most of all, I try to remember the BIG PICTURE of when I say "but that's not fair"..neither is the fact that people are oppressed by their leaders or that good people get sick and die or that people don't even KNOW how to read. All those unfair things seem a whole lot more important than someone getting a book that I didn't. It's a hard pill to swallow on certain days but I do. I find a good friend to bitch about it with and then get over it..because y'all...LIFE ISN'T FAIR.

"Honesty is the best policy"

My mom harped about honesty and telling the truth. I was always scared to tell her the truth for fear of consequences but I realized I always got into more trouble when I didn't. I know this one seems "cliche" and easier said than done but it's so true. Honesty goes a LONG way. It's about being honest in your dealings with people, in the way you act and being honest to yourself, honest about your feelings and being open to having honest conversations about important things. Being dishonest doesn't help the blogging community. The best part about this is that we are REAL LIVE READERS who talk about our books. We can give others who like to read something that professional reviews in publications can't. We shouldn't ever give in to letting our opinions be swayed because publishers are giving us books for review. That's what will kill the book blogging world if nobody can trust a word we say.

How I Apply It: I tell the truth. If I don't like a book, I say that and I explain WHY it wasn't for me. I may offer up a recommendation about who I would think like this book. I don't act maliciously but I'm not going to pretend I like something and lie to my readers. People read your blog for a reason...to hear what you think about books and such....not to hear you spew out what you think publishers and authors want to hear. How can they trust a recommendation if you lie?

"You Aren't The Only One Living In This House"

I'd always get this one because of too-loud music or making too much noise while others were sleeping or by hogging the television or just generally acting as though the space in our house was just mine alone. It kind of goes along with "the world doesn't just revolve around you" but I take this a little bit differently. As book bloggers, we share this "space" with a lot of other people -- authors, publishers, readers who aren't bloggers, librarians, bloggers who read different genres than we do etc. etc. We are not the sole pulse of this world of readers.

How I Apply It: Really this is more just being cognizant of this fact in everything I do as a blogger -- an overarching idea. Book bloggers are not the only people who promote books or who read books or go to conventions about books. Remembering that we share this wonderful space is key to working together towards a common goal of promoting reading and literacy!

Wedding Readings From Literature - Wedding Wednesday

Wedding Wednesday is a feature I created here to chronicle my wedding planning journey until August 17, 2012 when I get married! I'll also be featuring fun bookish weddings and cute ideas I find around the blogosphere.

Jeez, you guys. I haven't done a Wedding Wednesday in a while! I've doing a lot of random parts of the wedding planning lately and one of those is picking out readings for the ceremony. I always keep a notebook of quotes that I like from books I read or poems I come across.  Since I'm not having a bookish wedding myself (since obviously Will does not share this passion of mine), I do want to incorporate it in subtle ways and I think that a reading from a book I love would be great! I also put some shorter "love" quotes from books in here, even if they aren't long enough for a reading, to maybe incorporate them into things like the program or something like that. The ones with asterisks are ones I'm really considering for the wedding!

* Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

"Once for all, I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.  Once for all; I loved her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection."  

*Sonnet 17

Pablo Neruda

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom, and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I know no other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you; so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

In One Another's Arms - Rumi

The moment I heard my first love story I began seeking you,
not realizing the search was useless.
Lovers don’t meet somewhere along the way.
They’re in one another’s souls from the beginning.

* Jane Eyre

I have for the first time found what I can truly love – I have found you. You are my sympathy – my better self—my good angel—I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wraps my existence about you—and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one. --



                  "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

 Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

 The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

“The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplaceable being.

Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever 

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.”

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

 "I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I'll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again... I'll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we'll cling together so tight that nothing and no one'll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you... We'll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams... And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won't just be able to take one, they'll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we'll be joined so tight..." 

*Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

 “If there is no love in the world, we will make a new world, and we will give it walls, and we will furnish it with soft, red interiors, from the inside out, and give it a knocker that resonates like a diamond falling to a jeweller's felt so that we should never hear it. Love me, because love doesn't exist, and I have tried everything that does.”


So which one is YOUR favorite? What other passages from books do you think would make a great reading for a wedding? Do share! I'm looking for more! 

Can't get enough of bookish weddings or planning a book themed wedding yourself?  Check out bookish Save the Dates or realistic bookish ideas for your wedding.

Top Ten Books For People Who Don't Typically Read Books

 Top Ten Tuesday, as always, is hosted at my other blog -- The Broke and the Bookish

I always take great care in recommending books to people who don't really read. I want it to be something that will make them realize that reading is AWESOME. I don't want it to be too difficult of a read nor do I want to insult their intelligence. I want it to captivate them but I don't want them to miss out on the beauty of words. I deliberate and deliberate over this decision. My recommendations are always highly specific.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (review): This is my go-to book for reluctant readers who I think will need/want something action packed to keep them interested. I actually just gave this series to a guy friend of mine who definitely wouldn't enjoy something slow moving. I also give this to younger male readers who don't, as they put it, want to read a "girly book"...Katniss is a girl but she is kickass..let's be real here!

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I can't help recommend this to EVERYONE. And so far, my friends who only read once in a while, have really loved this one! The writing is great, the story is just...AHH, it's heartfelt, thought-provoking and just great! It's definitely a must for those who are at all interested in Nazi Germany.

3. I Love Everybody And Other Atrocious Lies by Laurie Notaro (review): I always recommend this to friends that I know would appreciate this humor and perhaps are the type of people who don't typical read because they don't have time! Shorter stories might get them more into reading!

4. The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: I seem to always recommend this one (even though I only LIKED it because I wanted more from it) because I find it to be accessible, have memorable characters and a plot that moves at a pretty good pace. And mostly now that it's a movie a lot of my friends will recognize it!

5. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: I seem to recommend this a lot. It's got a good amount of drama and action, romance but also really great character development, in my opinion. It's one of those books that has it all for people who don't really read. It will keep their attention and give them a full range of emotions -- at least I felt a lot of emotion reading this. ALSO again..they dig the fact that it's a movie.

6. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (review): Are you all sick of me putting this book on all my lists, yet? The only list this book will never end up on is "Books I loathe". I think some of my girlfriends would appreciate the humor of this one and love the romp through our adolescence. Also, Jessica Darling is freaking awesome. It's a fun, light beach read that I would definitely give to those who don't really read but want to pick up a book for the beach. BEWARE: I laughed my face off while on the beach..in public..while reading this.

7. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (review): I have been recommending this one a lot for people (who aren't opposed to read YA) looking for a good summer read. This one is great because it's fun but there is also a lot of seriousness. And Roger...we all need to feel a little pitter patter in our hearts. 

8. Rebecca by Daphne Du Murier: I always recommend this as one of those book for people who tell me that they DID like some of the books they read in high school because I know that maybe they won't mind a classic. I love Gothic lit and this one is great. Mystery, romance and fabulous characterization. 

9.  If I Stay by Gayle Forman (review): I can't help it guys. This book just captivates you from the start and then twists your heart in all sorts of shapes like freaking balloon animals. And then you end up SOBBING and looking like a crazy person all in a matter of 4 hours..because that's how fast I read it. I recommend this to people who I know get hooked by heartfelt dramas and don't mind a good ugly cry. 

Hmmm..oddly enough I can only think of 9 at the moment. I'm sure I'll think of 1 more at some point throughout the day and have to fix this! But right now I'm have one of those durrrr moments.

Book Review: Under The Never Sky By Veronica Rossi

Aria and Perry live in two completely different worlds. Aria lives comfortably in Reverie -- a very science fiction type city of enormous domes where technology allows you to do anything you want or be anywhere you want within different realms. You could be walking around the ancient streets of Rome or singing at the opera. When news that her mother, a scientist working in a top secret pod, goes missing Aria seeks answers at any cost which leads to Aria getting exiled from her home...into the Wastelands where she meets Perry, a Savage. Their journey for answers and redemption forge together as they realize they need each other to survive and to find the answers to the get them back to the ones they love.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi is exactly what I needed to read right now! This post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel was fast-paced, highly imaginative and made for one exhilarating ride. I loved that part of this novel was more science fiction-y than most of the dystopian reads I've encountered but there was still that wild, badlands feel with the "outside" world where Perry lived that seemed more like a post-apocalyptic world. The world-building was incredible in this book because of this. I was equally interested in both worlds and how they operated, what they looked like and how they became separated in the first place. Veronica Rossi built these worlds so intricately that I couldn't shake the images that my mind was conjuring up. I am in awe of these worlds she created.

I really LOVED the characters of this novel. I loved seeing Aria come to learn more about herself through this journey. She proved to be so strong but believably so. She was still vulnerable, seemingly weak and scared when she first started it all but I loved watching her power through it all and WANT to learn how to protect herself and learn that she COULD survive in the outside world. I think the thing I loved about her is that she wasn't some badass, superpower female lead but she was a normal girl who took her horrible circumstances and really became brave and made smart decisions to keep herself fighting. And Perry..he isn't without flaws but it's so hard not to like him. And their relationship...PERFECT. I loved how their journey and their inner turmoil helped them to really start to see each other for who they really were rather than the labels they had assigned to each other as "Savage" and "Dweller." I fully enjoyed watching their relationship and tensed up quite a few times waiting for some sparks. The rooftop scene...YEAH...tension galore.

While I really enjoyed this novel and couldn't put it down, there were a few things that bothered me about it. I felt really confused at first in the beginning. I felt like I missed a first chapter or something where things were explained about the world. There was just a lot of things thrown  at you all at one time and it really took about 50 pages for me to really get into it. I really had no context for what happened to the worlds that they were like this.

The biggest source of contention, for me, was the Aether storms. They were mentioned so frequently and I didn't feel like I even understood what the heck they were or how they came to be. The only way I can think to explain it is if you've ever seen Lost. The Aether storms to me seemed like the Smoke Monster. It just always seemed to be in the storyline and you don't know where it came from or why it's there but it just keeps showing up and that when it comes around BAD SHIZ HAPPENS. That's how I felt about the Aether sky and the storms. I just didn't get them. I hope that we come to understand it in the next book but it honestly did make me really confused that there seemed to be no explanation about them -- not even a little. I didn't need to know everything but I felt I was missing something...

My final thought: If you are seeking a fast paced, exciting YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic from start to finish..Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi definitely a good pick. The world-building was fantastic and I could picture it all. It wasn't without its flaws..there were a few elements that made it confusing in the beginning and I wished I would understand some things at least a little bit because..well I just felt like I was missing some things. Great characters, accessible writing & lots of action from the get-go! AND HEY..no cliffhanger. I was actually really satisfied with the ending!

Review On A Post-It

* I received this book from the publisher -- HarperTeen -- in exchange for an honest review. I swear on my bookshelves full of great books that this in NO way shaped my opinions in this review.

Library Pulls & Cabinets For Your Home - Retail Therapy

Retail Therapy is a feature here at The Perpetual Page-Turner book blog  in which I combine my love for bookish things and shopping. Each time I'll feature bookish accessories, bookish themed items, bookish goodies or gifts that are perfect for that bookish person in your life. 

I've been very sporadic with this feature since I started it in August -- partly due to laziness and partly feeling like there are too many features like this lately and so maybe it's not a good use of my time as it may be redundant. But nonetheless, I am a freaking shopoholic so I must share when I find something I love.

I was cruising Anthropologie, who always seems to be good for a random bookish item, and came across this library pull for your drawers.

I'm a sucker for vintage and quirky drawer pulls and hardware and this just brings out my inner interior design bug. What a subtle way to incorporate your love for books into your decor than adding something that reminds you of those library card catalogs. What a cute way to add some bookish style to your home pretty inexpensively and subtly!

I was curious after I saw these library pulls to see if anyone sold cabinets or drawers that looked like vintage card catalogs and what do you know! Lots of people are selling drawers and cabinets that like look like an antique library card catalog. The one I found is from BBC America Shop but you could probably google "library card catalog" and find a slew of them like I did.

What do you think? Would you buy these?