All posts by Lily

About Lily

Information Assistant at CCRL. I enjoy trying different things. I'm curious about my surroundings and I'm a tree hugger.  |  Meet the team

Meantime: A Novel–Katherine Noel

, ,

I read the advanced reader’s copy I got from Dewey Diva event and really enjoyed it.

Meantime: A Novel by Katharine Noel

Meantime: A Novel by Katharine Noel

The latest novel by Katherine Noel is a story about unusual family relationships and bond between sisters who came from an untypical family. Claire’s father fell in love with a woman with her own family. Instead of going through divorce for both families, they decided to live together in one house. They were known as the “Naked family”. As a result, Claire does not desire a “normal” adult life. She discovered her husband and his high school sweetheart became closer and closer while he was recovering from a serious illness. In the midst of swirling events and emotions, Claire eventually felt the feelings that her mom had during the “Naked family” period. Through decision makings and dealing with her feelings, Claire came to a better self realization as well as sympathy and understanding towards people she loves.

Through the tightly woven narrative, Noel demonstrates her skillful storytelling ability.  I think this would be a book to watch when it comes out officially in November this year.

 

Rosalie Lightning—Tom Hart

,

Although having a seemingly lighthearted cover, this graphic novel explores the journey of Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoirgrieving over the author’s young daughter’s unexpected and unexplained death. Rosalie Lightning is  a brave book, for searching for representations to express ones grievance is incredibly hard. I find some parts of this book very fragmented, and a little hard to follow. To me, it was these fragments that make this book even more heartbreaking–it is the feeling of not knowing and emptiness. The style of drawing for the main story line contains lots of thick strokes; the characters do not really express any happiness on their faces. These details also contribute to the chaotic undertone of the book as well as the feeling of lost and sorrow. However, I also see this book as a form of closure for Hart, because in the book , he describes the process of discovering love and reflections of his daughter through the surroundings, that helps him to heal.

At the very end of the book, a little girl of a stranger gave Hart a kiss on the cheek. That was a heartwarming moment for a parent looking to rekindle the flame of hope, and brings the readers some relief.

To read more about Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), visit http://sudc.org/

Don’t forget to play: playfulness in urbanism

, , ,

Daniel Disselkoen commuted for 4 years during his time at the Royal Academy of Art by tram. Then, he decided to add a little something to change his and his fellow traveler’s daily commute. He created a mind game called the “man-eater”. The objective of the activity is to make the cartoon sticker
eat as many heads of people passing by into ‘the man-eaters’ mouth.

 “Why would you look out the window with curiosity when there is no reason to expect anything new?”

—-Daniel Disselkoen

man-eater-1

man-eater-2 danieldisselkoen_maneater_02

In the recent years, there is a rise in incorporating “playfulness” in public space by creating and injecting urban play elements, just like Disselkoen’s man-eater. These urban interventions Continue reading →