The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This is a literary novel.  The writing is very well crafted.  The story focuses on Victoria Jones, a foster child who has just turned eighteen and been emancipated.  Part of the authors goal in writing this novel is to expose the abusive nature of the foster care systems in the United States.  At times, the novel can be quite difficult to read.  There is a lot of tension in the story.

A major theme in the novel is the Victorian language of flowers, which is a language of emotion expressed through flowers. The author includes an addendum at the end of the book called Victoria's Dictionary of Flowers.  Different flowers express different emotions in the book.  The flowers add color, tone, and feeling to the writing.  The writing uses all five senses.

The action and scenes also take place in very green spaces; a vineyard, a flower market, a flower shop, a floral greenhouse, and a park are some of the settings.  This makes the book very alive.  There is also some sex and quite a bit of writing about the meaning of love.

The characters have an edge to them.  They wound each other emotionally and have a creative edge.  Victoria Jones as she progresses through the novel creates a photographic dictionary of flowers, she selects flowers for weddings, dates, and lovers.  She relates to people in her life with plants.  It is a life at points which is on the edge of homelessness and madness.

The writing is both strong and beautiful.  It is the authors first novel. There is an interview in the back of the book.  The novel is coming out on August 23, 2011.  This was an advanced reading copy sent to me by Library Journal.

Daily Thoughts 7/13/2011

Reading woman, by Albert Edelfelt, 1885

Daily Thoughts 7/13/2011

This morning, I finished reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  The book is coming out in August.  The main character was a foster child.  This makes for a sad and challenging story.

Today, I checked the displays, updated the Twitter account, and checked the gift books.  Right now, I am working on an order for civil service books.  I took some time to look through the human resources section of westchestergov.com and also read the The Chief Civil Service Leader The Civil Service Employees Weekly newspaper. The Chief lists many of the open positions around New York City as well as things which are happening around the state with civil service employees.

I put Gail Carriger's book Heartless on hold.  I am also looking forward to reading Machine Man by Max Barry.  Max Barry is known for creating the online bulletin board game, Nationstates.  The book Microstyle: the Art of Writing Little by Christopher Johnson also looks quite interesting.

There is a new book from ABC-CLIO called Listening to the Customer by Peter Hernon and Joseph R. Matthews which is about customer feedback in libraries which looks very interesting.

Daily Thoughts 7/12/2011

The Reading Room, 1843, Johann Peter Hansclever, Oil On Canvas

Daily Thoughts 7/12/2011

On the way to work, I tried starting Esmerald Santiago, Conquistadora, but I found the book told the story more than it showed they story making for dense reading.  I am going to try another book.  I read the chapter, What Makes an Effective Executive by Peter Drucker in On Leadership.  Part of his idea is that an effective executive delegates well and runs excellent meetings.  Peter Drucker wrote the book, The Effective Executive.

This morning I checked the Twitter account, checked email reference, looked over the displays, and printed up some batches of flyers and bookmarks.  We make bookmarks using cardstock on a variety of different subjects; inspirational fiction, graphic novels, writing books, poetry, and many other subjects.  We are having our second session for beginning computers this evening at 6:00 p.m.

I am going to read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  It is another advanced reading copy provided by Library Journal.  The language of flowers refers to an English Victorian idea that flowers each have different meanings. The book is coming out in August of 2011.

I am enjoying reading The Language of Flowers.  The imagery of flowers juxtaposed against emotions makes for a very strong story.  The writing is beautiful.