Book Club Mermaid Style

Fire of the Sea book club familybringsjoy.comBook club where I live is kind of a big deal. Each month it’s hosted at a book club member’s home. The majority of the time, hostesses will decorate according to the book we will be discussing. It’s not mandatory, we just have a lot of creative homemakers in our group. I was excited to host last month. Not only was I able to host, but we read a fantasy book I suggested Fire of the Sea. This is an extra special book as it was written by a dear friend of mine, Lyndsay Johnson. The main character, Aeva, is a mermaid.

Let me take you on a tour through our home.

Imagine you are swimming the seas around Iceland.

Do you hear the ocean sounds?

Do you smell the ocean breeze?

Good. :) (Door mat from Target)

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Here, I took an old grapevine wreath I’ve used countless times and added some fishing net (Michaels.) I gently placed the sign (Hobby Lobby) inside the branches. No need to hot glue.

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Come on in!

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Everything you see here, I already had. I heart coastal decor, so truly I didn’t buy too much decor for this event. I typed up one of my favorite quotes from the book, printed it and put it in a frame. Lyndsay sent me some of her graphic work for the book. I printed it and framed it as well.

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Above, I added more of the book graphics onto this framed chicken wire (Michaels.) The map shows where Aeva’s adventures occur. The second graphic the family history tree of the Norse Gods. I put Lyndsay’s very cute bookmarks and buttons in this cute fish dish (Target.) I made the glass filled sand and shells several years ago.

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Here in the dining room I used wrapping paper (Michaels) as my base runner. I then added a fish net (Dollar Tree,) shells (Dollar Tree) and sea glass (Michaels.)

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I filled the sugar mold (found at a vintage show) with blue glass beads (Dollar Tree.)

Fire of the Sea book club familybringsjoy.com-4Have to show my china cabinet filled with my lovely Chloe + Isabel jewelry. It’s in there left over from a Pop Up I held in my home.

Let’s head to the kitchen

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Lobster dish towels & mermaid found at Marshall’s.

Fire of the Sea book club familybringsjoy.com-20Found these awesome plates also at Marshall’s.

Fire of the Sea book club familybringsjoy.com-21I bought some Scandinavian cookies & Swedish Fish from Ikea…as close to Iceland as I could get. Blue icing cupcakes were bought at Market Street.

Fire of the Sea book club familybringsjoy.com-19On the lunch menu was clam chowder in bread bowls. Of course we needed some oyster crackers to go in our soup. Shrimp was the perfect appetizer.

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To drink I served ocean water: Lemonade, Gingerale and Blue Hawiian Punch. We all liked it.

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At the kitchen table I also used the wrapping paper, fish net and glass beads. I added one of our Conch shells to the middle.

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Inside the Conch shell held some of the runes spoken of in the book. (Lyndsay let me borrow those.)

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Below are the first three beautiful women to arrive.

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Now come into my living room.

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Usually the boat is in our bedroom (bought it several years ago from Hobby Lobby.) I already had the old window and type drawer (bought at an antique barn several years ago.)

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I found these letter tags at Michaels for 50% off and couldn’t refuse.

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I was thrilled to find this beautiful mermaid statue at Hobby Lobby. I used my 40% off coupon from the Hobby Lobby app. (You need that app on your phone if you shop at Hobby Lobby a lot.) Again I typed & printed a quote from the book. I added it to this cute frame (Michael’s.)

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Again, I pulled that jar of green shells out of my bedroom and added Aeva’s arm band Lyndsay loaned me. I fell in love with those big, block “scrabble” letters (Michael’s.)

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Many of the shells I added to this type face drawer are ones we have collected at beaches we have been to over the years. I will keep this up all summer long. Lyndsay had the brilliant idea to add sea glass (Michael’s) as well. I love the contrast, depth and color it brings to the piece.

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Of course I had to show Lyndsay’s book trailer video too. I shall share it with you now.



Books Bring Joy,

Life and Death Brings Full Circle (Book Review)

I feel as though I have come full circle here on this blog.

My very second blog post was written on August 17, 2008, over 7 years ago. Guess what it was about?  I titled it I CAN read fiction! (Click on title to read the post…it’s not long, very short.) In summary it was about me devouring the Twilight series. (No groaning allowed 😉 )

Spine of Life and Death FamilyBringsJoy.comStephenie Meyer released a 10 year anniversary edition of Twilight last week. Guess I was 3 years late finding it. I’m glad because I was able to read all the books in a row. It would have been very difficult to wait in between books to see what would happen next…especially between New Moon and Eclipse.

Anyway, included in the 10 year anniversary edition is a bonus book titled Life and Death, subtitled Twilight Reimagined. I had no idea what to think about this. Stephenie changed Bella into Beau and Edward into Edythe. It was a gender swap. However, it doesn’t mean all she did was change the names. Edythe and Beau are different personalities. I read some reviews the day it came out. Reviewers were bashing Stephenie saying all she did was change the names. This is not true. The beginning of Life and Death does start the same as Twilight, but there are changes to the story along the way. For example, Twilight is all about a love triangle between Edward, Jacob and Bella. There is no love triangle in Love and Death. Jacob’s character has a double in the reimagined version named Julie, but there is hardly a relationship between Julie and Beau. They are basically acquaintances. That is the only spoiler I will reveal. Except, hear me when I say this: THE ENDING IS NOT THE SAME AS TWILIGHT.

Life and Death familybringsjoy.comPersonally, I felt in a sense, it was ALMOST like I was reading Twilight for the first time again. I’m sure it helps that it’s been 7 years since I read it. However, again, the change of the genders does make it different. Interestingly enough, even though there is no relationship between Julie & Beau, there wasn’t as much exchange between Edythe and Beau as between Edward and Bella…not as sappy. I like sappy though. It was still good. I believe any true Twilight fan will appreciate this bonus book. I wasn’t expecting it, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I will forever be grateful for the imaginary world of Twilight. It has opened my world to fantasy fiction…an escape I love. Somehow, though, I’m not sure there will ever be another series like Twilight in my lifetime. I have yet to find one in the 7 years since reading it.

Thank You Stephenie Meyer,

Audio Books Rock

I have a confession to make.

I’m an audio book junkie.

Yep, that’s all.

I’m still alive.

Monday Brings Mermaids

Lyndsay Johnson's Fire of the Sea book coverAre you looking for a good book to read?

Do you like fantasy as much as I do?

Or maybe you want to change genres to spice things up a bit for your leisure reading?

Well, then I have just the book for you!  It is called Fire of the Sea and it was written by one of my very special friends, Lyndsay Johnson.  Her book is being released TODAY!  I’m about to buy my copy.  Lyndsay sent me the first chapter to review last June and it is already published!  The fact it went through the editing and publishing process so quickly proves it to be a winner to me!  Besides, who doesn’t like mermaids and romance?  The following is the synopsis you will find on Amazon.

Sharp, sleek, and golden. Like the dagger she has worn since childhood, eighteen-year-old Aeva is all three of these things. But there is something else that this mermaid and her prized weapon share – they are both hunted. Hidden within the caves off Iceland’s dark shore, Aeva waits to take her place as the next ruler of the Mermaids. But when Aeva uses her potent and alluring song to save a drowning human, she disrupts a delicate balance. Realizing she has unexpectedly bound herself to Gunnar, Aeva is torn between duty and love. Aeva severs one life to begin another, and soon finds herself not only rejected by the sea, but also stalked by an old enemy. As the worlds of myth and man intertwine, Aeva will challenge fate to protect her own sacred relic and the man she loves. But legend and lies cast an intricate net. With time and safety quickly unraveling for Aeva and Gunnar, there is only one clear course: Find and defeat Delphine before she can shift again.

Lyndsay also has THE BEST book trailer video I have ever seen:

Fire of the Sea by Lyndsay Johnson (Book Trailer) from Lyndsay Johnson on Vimeo.

Get your copy today by clicking the link below.

After I order my copy I will be taking my Son, the middle child, to get his driving permit.  Yikes!  Oh the grey hairs having 2 children driving will produce.  Wish me luck and PRAY HARD. 😉

Books Bring Joy,

Start Your Own Family Book Club

You know it amazes me where I receive inspiration.  Recently while showering I came up with a super great idea.

Here’s the deal.  I’m always looking for good wholesome recreational activities for our family.  I’ve also been wracking my brain over ways to engage my kids in other activities on their own which don’t consist of TV and computer games.  Hopefully this idea will help.

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I introduced Family Book Club on Monday during family night.

This is what we did:

1. We talked about books which are for ages 9 and up. {since our youngest is 9}  I looked up some books I thought would be appropriate for all of us to read. {resources further in post}  We read the reviews for each book.  The 2 older kids chose suitable books they came up with on their own.

2. Each family member wrote their book choice on a piece of paper.  The papers went into a bowl.

3. We all rolled a die to see who could draw/choose a paper out of the bowl.  The highest number won and drew a paper out of the bowl.

4. My youngest won this time and she ended up drawing her book.  It was completely random.  Next month she will not write a book choice on a piece of paper nor will she be able to draw a paper.  This way everyone will have the opportunity to choose a book and draw a name.  It makes it completely random and in my ‘book’ (no pun intended) FAIR.  When everyone has a chance to have their book read we will start over again.

5. We set a date for our family book club: February 25th.  I plan to have a treat that some how goes with the book.

I found some really good resources online for finding books by ages:

  • Author James Patterson has a wonderful site called Read Kiddo Read.  The site is incredibly easy to navigate through with the following categories:

readkiddoread categories

I also found an article from USA Today where they interview James Patterson.  I was surprised to find out he hated to read when he was young.  We have that in common.  I also hated to read when I was young.  He explains what he did for his kids to encourage a love of reading.  It is an excellent article worth your time to read.  It’s called Inspire Your Kids To Read.

“It’s the parents’ job to find books for kids that they’re gonna love.  A lot of parents don’t get that.” James Patterson

****Don’t forget you can always find an audio version of books for you and your kids.  This is how I read most of the time.  You can read more about how I do that by clicking here and here.

Now, let me tell you that my 14 year old Son was not happy about this idea.  He says he’s not reading the book. “It’s too girly.”  Honestly, this is no surprise to me.  He likes to give us grief so we’ll see what happens.  However, I’m looking forward to being able to talk about the characters in the books and have teaching opportunities.

Here’s the book we are reading this month:

Want to join us and start your own Family Book Club?

 

Who would be interested in maybe a link up party where you share your family’s book of the month?

Read On,

Children’s Prayers

In case you haven’t seen these online yet:

Source

He hears our prayers,