History

Human Flesh Bound Books [The Truth]

 in History / Holiday / Interesting by

I’ve always heard the rumor that Harvard University has a book bound in human flesh. How creepy is that?!

I just wonder why and how….but then that’s such a dark and scary path to start to follow.

However, BookRiot’s Elisa Shoenberger wrote a post called “THE TRUE HISTORY OF HUMAN FLESH BOOKS AND OTHER TALES“!

Human flesh bound books, also known as Anthropodermic bibliopegy, is a very grisly practice and isn’t something out of a horror movie!

One of the weirdest reasons in the article is to make the book more collectible. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want to have a book bound in that…..otherwise I’d be worried about ghosts or something!

Super creepy (and gross) but check out the really interesting article…because as morbid as it is, it’s interesting as well.

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal [Book Review] 7

 in Book Reviews / Books / History / Older Readers by

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Summary

“A 2014 Michael L. Printz Honor Book

A young seamstress and a royal nursemaid find themselves at the center of an epic power struggle in this stunning young-adult debut.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion. Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.”

– From Amazon.com

Purchase here!

Review

An absolutely refreshing read that I’m super happy I picked up.

A definite cover grab for me.

Yup, this was another one that I got because of the cover. I’m super guilty of this but with all the books out there, with how many there are, you need one to grab your attention and this one did. I think for me it was the bright pink at the top that it looked like it was glowing. Something about it really just dragged me in. Also the fact it had a big fat award symbol on the front which always gets me. I like checking out books that have been nominated or won awards.

Older YA due to themes and writing style.

Honestly this was unlike any other book I’ve read in a while. It’s straight historical fiction and really feels like it. At moments I was waiting for something fantastical to happen but it was just basic historical fiction. The themes though I should probably address as a warning.

Trigger warnings would be: rape, miscarriage and violence.

To me, I liked these themes because it made the book real to the time period. People slept with one another to gain power, men used the servants for their own purposes, miscarriage was a thing during that time and could be prevalent. To me, I think it added to the book. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and sometimes their lives are a little too simple and nice to be believeable. In this one, you felt the pain and struggle of the characters and to me that was so beautifully done.

Love, betrayal, hurt and revenge – you go girls!

Most of the main characters in this book were women, so we had some bad-asses and you got to see them develop from being these weaker females to formidable ones and watch them go up in power. And ultimately get revenge on those who hurt them later on. It was such a wonderful thing to read about and I loved it. It was maybe a little unbelievable in how it happened, maybe but I’m not an expert on this time period and I don’t really mind. To me I loved it.

Diverse characters and positions.

I really liked how you didn’t just get to see the life from one point of view. You got to understand royalty, those who were vying for more power in the castle and then see it from the view of servants. You got a broad view of life in a castle and to me it was such a journey.

Writing was a little challenging at times.

I’m not meaning the book was written in old english or anything, but some of the sentences were longer and had some bigger ideas and for one of the characters, when it was from her perspective, you really got into her mind and since she was uneducated, her speaking was much more choppy with words missing. I really really really liked that as you got to understand her more and really connect with her. But it did take some time to get used to.

Overall, fantastic read! Highly recommend!

This book was just so fantastic. I really loved it. I personally give it 5 tea cups out of 5. It was different and I liked that. Maybe I’m a bit biased as I don’t really read tons of historical fiction currently so it may be more of a novelty to me, but I know for a fact with everything it’s a solid 4 out of 5 but personally I give it a 5. I do recommend checking this one out. It is a bit longer and I read it in chunks as the themes were sometimes a lot. It is an older YA read because of the themes and adults would love it too because it would definitely keep you entertained!

5 teacups

Happy Reading!

Artist Builds A Full-Sized Parthenon At A Historic Nazi Book Burning Site Using 100,000 Banned Books

 in Books / History by

An Argentinean artist, Marta Minujín, aged 74, has taken 100,000 banned books to build a full-sized Parthenon at the location of a very famous Nazi book burning site. It is to symbolize a resistance to the political repression, according to the artist.

With the help of students from Kassel University in Germany, Minujín was able to identify over 170 titles that were, or are, banned in different countries around the world to create the full sized parthenon that is made out of steel, books and plastic sheeting.

However the controversial ‘Mein Kampf’ by Adolf Hitler will not be in the banned books.

““Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people,” Heinrich Heine said in the 19th century.”

Artist Builds A Full-Sized Parthenon At A Historic Nazi Book Burning Site Using 100,000 Banned Books

Image Credits: Roman März

 

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

 in History / Movies by

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. 

Starring

Mark Wahlberg – Mike Williams
Kurt Russell – Jimmy Harrell
Douglas M. Griffin – Landry
James DuMont – O’Bryan

Deepwater Horizon

From Amazon.com

Summary

 

“Mark Wahlberg leads an all-star cast in this unforgettably powerful film inspired by a thrilling story of real-life heroes. For the one hundred and twenty-six people aboard the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig, April 20, 2010, began like any normal day. Before day s end, the world would bear witness to one of the greatest man-made disasters in U.S. history. DEEPWATER HORIZON reveals the brave acts of the men and women who rose to the challenge and risked everything to lead others to safety.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This movie was such an eye-opener and I had no idea. When I first saw the trailer, I knew that I wanted to see it. However, I didn’t have time to go and see it in the theatres, and I was also unsure of how good it was going to be. I had heard good things about it however it slowly dropped off my radar (with all the other amazing movies on the way or that have come out recently). But I was traveling recently and it was on the entertainment system in the plane an I had to watch it. I will be re-watching it due to the fact that it was such a good movie and the tiny screens on planes do not do it justice.

First of all, when you heard about the BP oil spill in 2010, you heard about it through the news from the corporate perspective. You saw pictures of the oil rig, and of the spill, however you never really got to hear about it from the people who worked on the rig and what they went through. This movie really helped you understand just what happened to them and how the entire situation was just because of bureaucracy, in short. So due to the new angle that it shows about the situation, I do recommend watching it.

Second, the acting was phenomenal.  It wasn’t anything special with the acting as all the characters were based off real people and real events and it felt like a dramatization in every way, which I really did like because you got to learn something, not just be entertained. I learnt so much about the entire situation that I had no idea about before I watched it.

deepwater horizon

As for how they portrayed it, they did an amazing job. The entire situation when the pressure started to build with the oil to the final explosion really kept you on your toes and questioning what would happen next. The ending also was really good in my opinion because of how realistic it was. (Not spoilers) When people were saved and finally made it back to a hotel while they waited for family members to get in or to be sent back to their destination, the survivors were walking through the lobby and family members who didn’t know where their family were, were there yelling at the survivors. The survivors had an idea of who lived and who died but you had this scene of a family getting into Mark Wahlbergs characters face and you could see the shock and confusion in the character, as well as the anger and confusion from the families who weren’t informed of the situation and unsure what to expect. It was really quite chilling. And it ended with you just feeling so confused and unsure of why these kinds of things happen, to such a shocking intensity.

The movie does have language, and is quite graphic with the injuries (bones are visible) which I was not prepared for, however it was as realistic as it gets.

I honestly think that this movie did a fantastic job of telling the story from the workers perspective and seeing how corporate really caused this to happen.

If you haven’t seen it, I really do recommend checking it out and watching it. However, find a fluffy movie for after as you will need a pick-me-up.

Happy Watching!

Inferno (2016)

 in Books / Books-to-Movie / History / Movies by

This review of Inferno contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Starring

Tom Hanks – Robert Langdon
Felicity Jones – Sienna Brooks
Omar Sy – Christoph Bouchard
Irrfan Khan – Harry Sims
Sidse Babett Knudsen – Elizabeth Sinskey

Summary

“When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.”

-From IMDB.com

Review

Wow! I am extremely pleased with this movie. I have once again a very good book-to-movie. Quite a while ago I reviewed Dan Brown’s Inferno because I loved it so much. It was so different from his other books and it really was an eye opener with the topic – a virus which will cull half the population.

Now the movie was so close to the book and it made me sooooo happy. You always have to worry that the movie will just spiral out of control and not be similar in any shape or form to the book. However, this was literally the book and it made me just so happy that it was.

Due to this fact, there isn’t much to say about the actual story line itself as if you have read the book, or read my review of the book, you’ll have an understand of what the story is as well as my opinion on the book.

As for the visuals of the movie though, it was stunning. It was mostly basted around Italy, except the ending which was in Istanbul, and the places that it was filmed was just beautiful. I really just want to hop on a plane and go visit all of these museums now. So of course it kept you interested just from the visual appeal.

Also it kept you questioning and wondering what would happen next. I really do think it is ingenious how Dan Brown is able to take an idea like Dante and just work it into his story so convincingly. All of his stories take some historical aspect and wind it into a real life story in such a convincing way, you would think that it actually was happening or was some account of real events. That is what I love about his stories – they’re based in reality and are not so far fetched that you cannot believe them.

Overall this movie was absolutely fantastic! I really do recommend that you check it out and if you haven’t read the book, read the book. This definitely is one of those movies that you do want to read the book first.

If you’ve seen this movie, what did you think of it and if you read the book as well, did you think that it stayed close?

Otherwise, happy watching and reading!