SOURCE:  Donation

What a great bookmark!  I love the way it graphically details the publishing history and success of all the books authored by Jean Auel and also compares and contrasts this with three other well known authors - Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown and Stig Larsson!

Jean Auel; born February 18, 1936, is an American writer who wrote the Earth's Children books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.

In 1977, Auel began extensive library research of the Ice Age for her first book. She joined a survival class to learn how to construct an ice cave, and learned primitive methods of making fire, tanning leather, and knapping stone from the aboriginal skills expert Jim Riggs.

The Clan of the Cave Bear  was nominated for numerous literary awards, including an American Booksellers Association nomination for best first novel. It was also later adapted into a screenplay for the film of the same name.

After the sales success of her first book, Auel was able to travel to the sites of prehistoric ruins and relics, and also to meet many of the experts with whom she had been corresponding. Her research took her across Europe from France to Ukraine, including most of what Marija Gimbutas called Old Europe. In 1986 she attended and co-sponsored a conference on modern human origins at the School of American Research, Santa Fe. She has developed a close friendship with Dr. Jean Clottes of France who was responsible for the exploration of the Cosquer Cave discovered in 1985 and the Chauvet Cave discovered in 1994.

In October 2008, Auel was named an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and Communication.

By 1990, Auel's first three books in her Earth's Children series sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and had been translated into 18 languages; Crown Publishers paid Auel about $25 million for the rights to publish The Plains of Passage and the two subsequent volumes. By May 2002, on the cusp of the publication of the fifth book, the series had sold 34 million books. The sixth and final book in the series, The Land of Painted Caves, was published in 2011.

1. The Clan of the Cave Bear, 1980
2. The Valley of Horses, 1982
3. The Mammoth Hunters, 1985
4. The Plains of Passage, 1990
5. The Shelters of Stone, 2002
6. The Land of Painted Caves, 2011

SOURCE:  Purchased

Maya Angelou is one of my favourite writers and one of my favourite human beings!  So, it is a thrill to have this bookmark in my collection.

Maya Angelou born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, sex worker, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she earned the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.
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With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U. S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labelled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing and expanding the genre. Her books centre on themes such as racism, identity, family and travel.

Some of the wondrous words of Maya Angelou:

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style".

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude".

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".

"A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim".

"You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lines. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I'll rise".

SOURCE: Purchased

Sometimes bookmarks are not sold as bookmarks!

I was in a shop recently and saw these gorgeous birthdays cards of animals, produced by "Courtier" in England.  The cards are in two attached pieces and are designed to stand up when the feet are brought forward.  

I straight away saw them as being useful and wonderful bookmarks and that is why I purchased them!  The cat and dog (a long haired Dachshund) being my favourites!  The feet come forward and sit nicely over the page of a book and serve very well as a bookmark!  Here they are in their original state and also popping their heads out from within two rather appropriate books from my collection.. Miaow and woof, woof!

SOURCE:  Purchased

I recently moved house.  In the process of packing and unpacking I deeply re-acquainted and immersed myself in my book collection, including finding several bookmarks!  One of my favourites among these finds was the book and bookmark of "Tales of Old Todaiji".  The bookmark shows the map of the temple complex. 

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu.

From the "Postface" of the book...."This little book contains a selection of the most well-known stories that have been handed down through the ages and bring to life the illustrious history of Todaiji.  They afford glimpses of the unfamiliar aspects of the history of Todaiji and have circulated more widely than the official histories.  It is not going too far to say that in a sense these stories convey truths that are missing form the official histories".

Bookmark from "Tales of Old Todaiji"