Bookgirl's Nightstand | When I'm not reading books, I'm making them.

Making Journals

iliana Nightstand September 8, 2019

I hope you all had a great weekend. For me it was pretty much working in the studio. It was so much fun. I’ve made some journals here and there along with my other crafty projects but this weekend there was some serious bookbinding going on.

A bit that was prompted because you can find my journals at the Georgetown Art Center gift shop and they are running out so asked me if I wanted to send them more. Of course!

I also have to say big thanks to my husband who cut book board for me. That is definitely my least favorite thing because even though I have a very nice papercutter, board is heavier and it takes a lot more strength to make a nice clean, even cut.

So I’m still not done with this bookbinding project. I made quite a few of my beaded journals and some may go into my Etsy shop, but I also need to make some sketchbooks and my postcard journals. I have a lot of work waiting for me but I love it. I put some music on and enjoyed the time in my craft studio.

The only downside is that I did not make as much progress in my reading. I have several books I’m currently reading but the one I’ll probably finish soon is Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane which I’ve really enjoyed.

Alright, that’s about it so now let’s see if I can catch up on some reading before it’s time to go to sleep and get ready for a new work week.

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Library Loot

iliana Nightstand September 5, 2019

I stopped at the library earlier this week because I had put several books on hold and luckily they all came in at once. So here’s what I got:

Dark Echoes of the Past by Ramon Diaz Eterovic. Award-winning novel featuring Private Investigator Heredia. This is by the Chilean author and first time translated into English. I’m excited about this one.

The Awkward Squad by Sophie Henaff. This is my September book for my mystery book group. I just started it last night and so a bit too soon to tell but I’ll keep you posted.

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear. I don’t know how it’s possible but I forgot that a new Maisie Dobbs book was released earlier this year. Frankly this is the one I wanted to start first but that’s ok. I will get to it.

The Tijuana Book of the Dead by Luis Alberto Urrea. I’ve enjoyed one of his books before but I didn’t realize he also wrote a poetry collection. Can’t wait to read this.

Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation. Last week I bought The Diary of Anne Frank and then I realized there was a graphic novel too. I just had to get this to see the illustrations.

Have you checked out any books recently? I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I planning to catch up on some reading and I have a date with some bookbinding projects!

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Baby Teeth

iliana Nightstand September 4, 2019

“Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke. Maybe they blazed in her bones. Maybe if the people in the white coats blew up the pictures they’d see her thoughts, mapped like mountains and railroad tracks, across her ghostly skull. Hanna knew nothing was wrong with her. But Mommy wanted them to look. Again.”

Baby Teeth
By Zoje Stage
Source: Library copy

Suzette is determined to find out why Hanna can’t speak. When her daughter was born there were no indications that anything was wrong with her but now she’s seven years old and she still hasn’t said a word. Hannah just doesn’t like to speak and besides she knows it makes her mommy angry and she’s not one to want to please her mommy.

Suzette wishes that her husband could see that something is wrong with Hannah but he doesn’t want his child labeled as anything other than a normal little girl. He’s is sure it’s simply a phase and Suzette only needs to have more patience. If only Alex could see that their baby girl acts very differently toward mom.

Things start to spiral out of control in their household when Hannah finally speaks but only to channel the voice of a woman who was tried as a witch. Meanwhile Suzette’s health is worsening and her medicine doesn’t seem to be working. She’s afraid that her Crohn’s has gotten worse and if only she could have more time with Alex and without the stress of caring for their daughter.Â Hannah has been expelled from several schools but it’s time they try again. Getting Hannah into a new school is not going to be easy and Hannah is not going to let mommy get away with that.

There were some elements of this story that I thought were very well done. I loved reading about the different emotions Suzette goes through as she is trying to understand her daughter. This book also really was good at keeping the suspense up for what was going to happen next in the battle of wills between Hannah and Suzette. The one thing I found a bit off was the bit of supernatural element that I thought was kind of dropped midway. On the whole an entertaining read and could be a good one for those of you participating in R.I.P.

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