Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Inspired by Reading: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

We have two book club reveals this month.  You can find my post for Serena HERE

I've been super excited waiting for this October's Inspired by Reading Book Club selection since Andrew Thornton set the new line up.  For October we read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  I first got wind of this unique book when I was working as the youth materials selector for my library system.  It had some major buzz going so I put a request on it as soon as I had it ordered.  Some books are all hype and leave me feeling let down... not so with this title!


Full disclosure:  I didn't actually re-read the book this month.  I did check it out for Eric to read, but since I've read it twice before, I didn't revisit it.  I did however read the third installment of the series, The Library of Souls.  (Book two is Hollow City, if you're interested.)  Since I'm not in the library game anymore, I didn't even know there was a book three until it was almost out.  I'm just happy that I was able to put in a request and get it in advance of this challenge!

I struggle with how to best describe Miss Peregrine's without giving too much away.  (There's nothing I hate more than spoilers so I'll just tread carefully and encourage you all to read this one!)  What I can say is that Riggs approached this novel in an interesting way.  He is a collector of strange old photographs and included photos from his personal collection as well as some from fellow collectors throughout the book.  I feel pretty certain that he crafted certain details in his story to match up with his photos.  The addition of the photos really adds something to the reading experience and many of them are seriously creepy! 

I ended up choosing a porcelain pendant from our very own Andrew Thornton that I picked up from Allegory Gallery during our visit last year.  The bird (is it a raven?  a crow?) represents all the ymbrynes and the key in its beak (as well as the key toggle clasp) represents the mysteries that Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children protect... the mysteries that Jacob struggles to understand.  




Because of the matte finish of the pendant, I mostly used recycled glass and some Czech glass in a frosted finish... I didn't want things to get too shiny.  I also sneaked some plated hematite in there (I'm wishing I had grabbed a second strand of this particular type).  As a nod to the time loops, I used some sari silk at the back of the necklace.  I'm hoping the silk adds not only some softness but also a sort of timeless feeling. 

Stop by Andrew Thornton's blog tomorrow to see what everyone else was inspired to make HERE.

3 comments:

  1. I love it!!!! The blue color scheme is perfect. Wasn't the trilogy awesome???

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the crow/key pendant -- how representative of an ymbryne! And the blue beads and silk you used complement it beautifully. Very evocative.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really love this necklace - the color, the recurring theme of the key, Andrew's pendent - perfect! I really loved this book and liked Hollow City as well. I'll be reading the third installment; it's on my library hold list.

    ReplyDelete