Hashtag Shelfie: Sharing your library under the hashtag

We know that internet, blogs and social networks gave or maintained a general taste for writing and creation! It also  gave the world of books a second youth by putting self-publishing at everyone’s reach.

Books and writing are part of the daily life for many of us. And the internet pays them tribute!

@earthscorners

What the shelf?

On Instagram, we find under the hashtag #shelfie a whole lot of inspiring photos featuring shelves and libraries. The word “shelfie” itself sets the tone by combining the words “shelf” with the word “selfie” (the famous self-portraits photographed in the 21st century, for those sleeping at the bottom).

Many of the photos feature furnitures arranged like they’re almost taken straight out of an IKEA magazine. But, and this is what interests us here, we can also find books!

@culturetripbooks

#Shelfie indeed is the occasion to make your personal library a star while the hashtag lasts ! It’s also the moment to share your reading taste or your  storage foibles to your friends and followers… Or even to discover what composes the tastes of others and how people organizes and surrounds one’s readings!

@bluestockingbookhelf

@bluestockingbookshelf

No boasting of elitist readings or endless rows of books here (even if we recognize that a full library is always pretty to picture 😉 ), only the joy of seeing beautiful book-related photos and starting exchanging about your favorite books!

After all, the contents of a library are often indicative of the personality of its owner(s): It is with this idea that the newspaper The Guardian launched the concept of the Shelfie in December 2013.

@shelfjoy

More than 820 000 publications are now classified under the hashtag #shelfie and more are coming everyday, so it’s always time to get involved and show what you have and love!

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Article source (French) | Images:  @earthscorners, @culturetripbooks, @bluestockingbookshelf and @shelfjoy

Books portage, when reading comes at home!

In France, the media library of Poitiers (named “Médiathèque François Mitterrand” as an hommage to one of France’s former Presidents who is said to be fond of arts and culture) has found a great solution to bring company and entertainment to the elderly, handicapped or isolated people. Books portage!

Poitiers’ inhabitants are thus given the possibility of being delivered of their books for free ! With all the books directly coming from the collections of the media library.

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Dominique Delbor receives her new audio books from Carine Chollet and Isabelle Brillanceau’s hands, from the media library staff

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The delivery is “included” in the price of their annual subscription to the library (costing from €6 to €16) ! Thus offering an invaluable service without any extra cost. The people that are delivered are visited by the Media Library’s staff and can exchange a few words as well as their books! Which they give back (of course;)) while borrowing again.

Every 24 days, a new arrival of audiobooks arrives at the tables of the beneficiaries. It allows them, thanks to the quantity and diversity of content available, to find their happiness for several years!

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The multimedia library makes nearly 2,300 texts available to read and has also signed a partnership with the Valentin Haüy association (located in Paris). It allows visually impaired subscribers to obtain access to an additional fund of 200 texts engraved in “Daisy” format. Subscribers can also freely download 20,000 titles from the Éole online library.

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Source (French only) | Photos credits: Bm-poitiers.fr et Marie-Laure Aveline

Seeing and hearing Iceland with HVISL!

A book you can smell already exists ! Now check out the book that you can listen to?

Hear for yourselves!

Audiobooks, those kind of books one person will read aloud and record so that others can listen to them, are a growing part of books sales nowadays. They mainly prove their practicality for visualy impaired people.

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For those who can afford it, there are some book concepts that combine vision and hearing to enjoy together as a global experience: This is the concept of Hvisl – Whispers of Iceland, both a photo album and sound guide taking you on a trip around Iceland!

The project was created by Chloé Curé and Bertrand Lanthiez, based on their shared experience of Iceland during a 2-weeks trip. Sounds effects were brought by Johannes Mandorfer.

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Their collaboration allows you to appreciate breathtaking pictures of beautiful landscapes and warm interiors, accompanied, as you flip the pages, by the sound of the wind and the waves, a conversation in Icelandic, the cracking of the ice or the bubbling of the geysers

While you enjoy the atmosphere through your headphones, you will also learn everything you need to know about landscapes formation, local language, climate, mythology… Truly an immersive experience!

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Source | Images: Bertrand Lanthiez 

Interview : From chic to farm with Preppy

Who said that if you want to live with style you have to be in a big city? Because we are about to prove him/her wrong! Today we are interviewing Preppy Mountain Farmer, who shows us through her blog that you can own a farm in the countryside and be chic at the same time!portrait-preppy-mountain-farmer

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About me & my blog:

I am Preppy Mountain Farmer, and my lifestyle blog is Preppy Mountain Farmhouse I’m a middle-aged mom of a large family living in a century-old farmhouse on the side of a mountain in the northeastern United States.  We have a small hobby farm, a rustic cabin, and a busy life.  I try to combine my preppy style with our love for country living, and Preppy Mountain Farmhouse is about that.  I like to capture the beauty found in the simple, natural, sublime aspects of our surroundings through photographs and commentary, and these are interwoven throughout each of my blog posts.

Why did I start my blog?  

When I began blogging two years ago, I thought it would simply be a new creative outlet for me and a chance to start a new project.  I wanted to document our life but also show others that families can live a farming/country life in style.  What I quickly learned was that the blog world is a terrific place to make connections with other like-minded people all over the world.  A more thorough explanation can be found on my About Me page found here: http://www.preppymountainfarmhouse.com/p/about-me.html

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What content am I most proud of?  

After 25 months of blogging, I have written 221 posts about many aspects of my family’s life.  I think my four favorite posts are the following: Blame it on Charlotte’s Web: How a Preppy Girl Ended Up With a Farm,
This is the Crazy, Divine Story of How We Got This House
A Beautiful Mess: My Life
A Primitive Preppy Christmas Farmhouse Tour

What do I like most about blogging?  

I’ve always considered myself a writer.  I started keeping a journal at age nine and began writing and illustrating my own short stories when I was ten.  Getting published the traditional way requires query letters, submissions, and lots of waiting for acceptance or rejection letters/emails.  That is followed by more waiting for the actual publication and release dates.  Blogging is immediate publication for the world to see.  I think of it as the fast food of the writing world: instant publishing and nearly instant feedback at very little expense to the blogger.  But there’s no fat, cholesterol, or calories involved!

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Why turn my blog into a book?  

Although the blog sphere is digital, I still prefer to read and look at images in print.  I enjoy flipping through the pages of a book and having a bound copy of my blog on our living room coffee table to browse through.  My family’s life—along with my heart, soul, and creative energy—are in Preppy Mountain Farmhouse, and I like having a tangible copy of it safe and sound in my possession.

How did I find out about BlookUp?

BlookUp sent me an email advertising their service and product, and that is how I learned about turning my blog into a printed book (Blook.)

living-room-table-picture

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What did I think of the process, and did I encounter any difficulties?  

I thought the actual process of transforming my blog into a book through BlookUp was fairly straightforward and simple to do.  The only thing I had to keep changing was the final post for each volume because my blog kept exceeding the maximum page numbers allowed for each book.

Do I enjoy the finished product, and what do family and friends think?  

I love my Blooks.  210 posts and two years of blogging are contained in nearly 1000 printed pages of two volumes of books.  They are better than any of the digital scrapbooks I used to spend weeks creating for our family photo albums, and per page, the Blooks are cheaper too.  The index is especially handy when I’m trying to find specific posts, pictures, or recipes.

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Would I recommend BlookUp or use their services again?  

I definitely recommend BlookUp to others.  In fact, I devoted an entire blog post to BlookUp after I received my books in the mail:  BlookUp Will Publish Your Blog or Social Media Posts

Huge thanks to Preppy mountain farmer for answering our questions and mentioning us on her blog! Don’t forget to check it out and to join her social media pages:

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Books and videos: Who are the Booktubers?

When it comes to reading, profiles and behaviors are very diverse! More or less assiduous readers, young or not so young, with three tons of books on their hands or without any idea of what to read next…

Whatever the situation, navigating on the ocean of books that is literature can quickly become a real challenge. What are the trends? A title teases you, but you’re not sure you want to buy it  because you’re afraid of being disappointed? Which genre will truly move you or are which book will get you out of your comfort zone?

Well, as usual, to answer those questions, you have to look up for information. You may go to the nearest library, bookshop or on an online store… Or on Youtube.

A trend that actually began a few years ago

Booktubers appeared in the United States and in Mexico around the years 2010-2011. PolandbananasBOOKS, the most famous channel in America created in 2010, has currently 361,000 subscribers while Raiza Revelles, the most famous channel in Mexico and created in 2011, has 1,196,000 subscribers!

By comparison, Les Lectures de NiNe, a French channel, counts only 58,000 subscribers!

Many articles have been devoted to Booktubers since 2011, many channels have been created and have disappeared. The phenomenon is now generally well-known and followed by the english-speaking and spanish-speaking countries.

A French “Ipsos” study of 2016 made for the National Book Center (Centre National du Livre) linked the omnipresence of Internet and screens with new reading habits, not with a disinterest in reading! Booktubers, which attracted only 5% of young people according to the study at the time, are the expression of these changes!

Young people talk to young people

Their profile? Mostly female Booktubers under 30, whose audience also includes young female readers. The books presented come from all genres and lovers of great classics or more specific styles can find what they want between two fantasy or science fiction novelties!

A variety of speeches and formats form the wide range of videos made by Booktubers, like “In my Mailbox” (IMM), “Bookhauls” and “Wrap-Up”. for example.

Some of these formats already existed on Youtube for a while, such as the unboxing, which consists of opening a package (sent by a brand) in front of the camera in order to discover its contents with the subscribers. Like other Youtubers, Booktubers often initially order objects themselves, privately: When the channel becomes more famous, publishing houses send them gifts for them to talk about.

The key here is to find a form of book club 2.0: Booktubers talk to people with whom they share the same love of reading (or sometimes convert those who were not interested!) and organize Challenges and Events in order to animate and unite them.

No wonder why publishers are trying to forge partnerships directly with these video makers who are now invited in trade shows and literary debates! But even when they are part of a network, very few Booktubers make book sharing their main activity. Each of them deserves to be viewed though, and of course to be followed!

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Article Source | Crédits Vidéos :A Clockwork Reader, jennaclarekPolandbananasBOOKS,Little Book Owljessethereader 

Building skyscrapers inside giant sequoias

Since 2006 the architecture magazine eVolo organizes the Skyscraper competition, a contest during which teams of architects from all over the world come up with ambitious (sometimes crazy) projects that not only challenge the limits of construction working but also rethink the way man-made buildings interact with the environment.

This year more than 400 projects have been examined by the jury, only 3 won the competition and 22 received honorable mentions, the project we are introducing today received one of these.

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Credits: Evolo

At the very heart of this team of South-Korean architects, the Giant sequoia is one of many numerous victims of human activities and although it is now protected, its life span has shortened due to climate change. In addition, the roots of this giant are very small in comparison to its height and do not grow deep in the ground; so when the core starts to rot the sequoia collapses under its own weight.

The project intends to reconcile mankind and nature with a more respectful approach of architecture by replacing the empty and/or rotting space inside the said giant in order to build skyscrapers inside that will neither harm the trees nor drastically change the landscape. The new structure build inside the sequoia acts like a new backbone that will prevent the tree from collapsing. The working space inside the “sequoiascraper” (Yup, I just made it up) should be dedicated to arts and research. A bold project that, if it ever sees the light of day, will prove that there are alternatives to bending nature to our own will and deforming the landscape. Hats off to them!

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Credits: Evolo

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Credits: Evolo

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Credits: Evolo

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Source

Interview: Pamela Breitberg captures nature’s beauty and shares it on a blog

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine a blog full of photographs! Today we have the chance of interviewing Pamela Breitberg who is going to tell us about her blog and her passion for photography!

– Tell us a little bit about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I am recently retired from teaching. I am a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who taught science lab to 1st through 8th grade elementary students in the inner city of Chicago. Prior to that I was a professional portrait and wedding photography.

My “hobbies” are being outdoors: walking and biking, and photography: micro, portrait style and candid all which reinforce my appetite for learning. My passionate hobby is nature photography which I share through this blog and various books. The blog is a way for me to share the wonders and beauty of being outdoors observing nature. I am an avid reader as well. My blog has stimulated desire to research while I try to include some scientific or folk information on species in my images.

Projects, at the moment, are on hold while I continue photography as a method to stop and reflect on God’s gifts and wonders. The past few years have been stressful with health issues and passing of both my parents; being outdoors and photography has been a blessed self-therapy. Giving is the best therapy, it has been said, and so my blog is my venue for giving. I am touched each time someone “likes” or comments on one of my posts.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
My blog is photography, primarily of plants and animals in the United States’ Midwest. I now spend some of the year along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, so I’ve begun to include images of that nature. My writing includes scientific information, folklore and personal observations and experiences. Occasionally I add photography tips as well.

I originally began my blog to share my photography with my parents who lived 300 miles away. It has been a surprising thrill to discover that my blog is read worldwide. Now that my parents are no longer reading the blog I continue to share my images and thoughts with the many followers of my blog; what a wonderful vehicle to share my passions. I feel as though I know some of my followers as I read their blogs and we share common interests in nature and photography. It is sharing that gives back indeed.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
BlookUp intrigued me because it was an EASY way to turn my blog into book format and have a hard copy of my work. It’s always nice to physically hold a book and browse through it. The hard copy is for myself. I took advantage of the e-book format for sale because it’s affordable for readers and is more environmentally friendly (less use of paper).

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– How did you find out about BlookUp? What did you think about the making process of your blook?
I saw the ads for BlookUp while on WordPress, reading others’ blogs.  The process of making the books via BlookUp were painless and straight forward. I made two volumes to make each book more manageable in size. It was very easy for me edit out any posts that I did not want to include.

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A happy blook owner!

Thank you so much Pamela for this interview! Don’t forget to check out her blog to see more gorgeous photos!

Textolife turns your SMS into books!

If you regularly visit this blog (and if you have just arrived, welcome to you!), you must know that since 2011, BlookUp is the platform that transforms your blogs and social networks into books and is compatible with a little more than 10 different blogging platforms!

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These are not blooks, as you will discover in this article!

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A single question was the origin of the creation of BlookUp: “What if all my digital contents disappeared suddenly?”. The answer seemed obvious: Go back to the book, the physical object. To the compilation, the collection, the immortalization of our work and our moments spent together on the Web!

Our virtual contents and exchanges can be frail and ephemeral, like our SMS, MMS, chat messages and other short, instant conversations tools. Textolife understood that, and that’s why this online platform offers you (since 2013) to print all your SMS / MMS, WhatsApp or Messenger conversations!

logo-textolife

Sending SMS is a harmless, daily activity, and sometimes the conversations are so long that even your phone can have a hard time going back in history! It is easy to neglect these odinary exchanges, however, small forgotten treasures, sweet words, funny or moving photos are hidden inside them!

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It’s also this idea of sharing good moments and memories that started Textolife, when Yasmine wanted to offer to her family (including her sister Laura, who will also be at the origin of the concept) a collection of all their group conversations! This first book was very tedious to “handmake”, with a lot of screenshots and using Word for layout…

Be assured that today, you just have to back up your conversations using the help provided for Android, IPhone, WhatsApp and Messenger, sign in and start creating your book via a mobile app or directly from the online tool!

create-book-textolife

A book of 40 pages costs about €15, and if you only want the PDF version, it will cost you €3.90 (downloadable from your personal account at anytime!).

Sounds great, right? Go ahead, and revive your SMS with Textolife!

BlookUp: Blog, Medias, frequency, news and THANK YOU!

At the end of 2016, we gave you informations about BlookUp‘s blogging and social networking activities. Today, we – already- have to update you on the situation!

THANK YOU !

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In the first place (yes, we start the article by the last element of our title, like some kind of blog punks), we would like to thank you from the bottom of our heart for your growing support, your shares, your commitment…

In 2017, significant subscriptions goals have been reached for all our communication platforms, and that is obviously thanks to you!

WORDPRESS

logo-wordpress-blueGOAL REACHED: 5,000 SUBSCRIBERS

The blog is still there, in French (here) and in English (here. Like, no, really, no need to click, you’re already there 😉 ), but as some have noticed, our publication rhythm has kind of declined; No more publications on Tuesdays and Fridays but don’t panic, we explain why!

The first reason to this is simply our desire to propose a unique rendez-vous, every Wednesday, in order to make every article more  like a weekly celebrity coming to sign autographs at a given time. Punctuality is key!

The second reason is also quite simple, and that’s…

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Tumblr is the latest active network of BlookUp. This microblogging platform will be ideal to share with you the daily life of our startup!

Our Tumblr will be more like a Facebook page, a Twitter or an Instagram account, with a freer and more casual tone. The publications are to be short but more numerous, and this is why WordPress articles, longer and therefore more demanding in terms of research and writing, will be posted once a week to ensure their quality!

That being said, if you have a Tumblr account (or if you are just curious!), Subscribe to this new blog and enter the daily BlookUp life, joys, pains, environment, team… And much more!

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Logo Facebook

REACHED GOAL: 3,500 SUSCRIBERS

Logo Twitter

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 FOLLOWERS

Logo Instagram

REACHED GOAL: 1,200 SUSCRIBERS

(Click on the images to access the corresponding social network!)

There are also some changes on the social networks side, which regularly relay each publication from the WordPress blog (and soon Tumblr), and had a fairly fixed number of publications per day… Now we blow up the locks, get free, and we post, we share, we react live!

We are as well increasing the emphasis on mages… For the pure pleasure of the eyes!

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So, are you ready to choose your favorite platform(s)? Subscribe, and don’t be shy: Participate! 😄

Interview: hiMe printed the book of her story as a Refugee

Summer is light and joyful, but many things can happen under the sun. Some are less light, but are also essential to know, essential to History and Memory. It might take a while, but things do get lighter and sunnier when you begin to write them down.

hiMe, from the blog A Refugee’s Journey, shares all that with you today: Her journey, her blog, her blook.

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First, tell us about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I was a refugee and resettled in Melbourne, Australia in 1984 after ​ spending four years trying to escape the communist regime in Vietnam​ . While trying to flee, I experienced ​ being hunted, shot at​,imprisoned and one of the many witnesses to the rape of my female defectors​.

I love ​ singing​, ​ acting​ and ​ writing​.

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Before the Fall of Saigon in 1975, I was voted the Head of Press, in charge of the production of my class’ wall newspaper every semester in high school.

In the 1990s, I used to write satire poems for a Vietnamese newspaper in Sydney for years before I got married.

I joined Vietnamese and Australian community choirs as well as theatre groups.

My other hobby is to translate English songs and novels into Vietnamese.

 

What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
I was encouraged to turn my attention to writing because of its emotional therapeutic effect.

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‘A Refugee’s Journey’, a blook waiting to be read!

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From what I encountered since arriving in Australia as a lonely, young and naive refugee and was ​ “taken into care” by the Church​, I have a need to tell my story to the public.

There was also a heavy past with life under the communist regime as well as ​ my escape ​ and the refugee camp​ that I want to document.

Not to forget are memories of ​ my life before the Communist took over​ and situations I faced in my new life in Australia: ​ living with the enemy​, ​ unjust age discrimination at work, ​ being coached to make fraudulent claim in the workplace​, ​ sexual harassment​…

I desire to ​ express my gratitude to my new country – Australia –​ as well as ​ the Australian soldiers who fell during the Vietnam war​.

I would like to have a say about what I find as ​ unacceptable​ or ​unfair in the Vietnamese culture​ comparing to the Australian one and I wish there will be a change in the Vietnamese culture. The ​discrimination I come into contact with in Australia​ made me recount what ​ the Chinese in Vietnam being discriminated against​.

I want the memories, the history to be written down for my children and the younger generations of Vietnamese, Australian and the others to read for years to come when I will no longer be on earth.

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After printing the first part of my blog, I want to continue blogging for the upcoming second book which will include topics about: global economic downturn, terrorism, mass immigration and capitalised communist countries (including Vietnam) that has changed Australia and the world’s view about refugees in general and the Vietnamese boat people in particular.

My future project also includes creating a twin blog which will be a translation into Vietnamese of my current blog A Refugee Journey – Vietnam to Australia.

What contents (articles, illustrations) are you the most proud of?
I love writing small poems to accompany each of my stories. I feel excited at the challenge to write poems in different styles. Until now, I have written 61 different forms of poems.

I collect ​ facts, pictures and videos​ to support my stories. Below are some of the illustrations in that category.

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AP and the news of Chinese business man Tạ Vinh executed in 1966.

 

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Delegate interviewed refugees with the aid of Vietnamese interpreters

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The path from zone C to zone D on Pulau Bidong island

 

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Political prisoners in a “re-education camp”

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Punishment for prisoners who tried to escape

 

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A labour dayto build canals in 1978 for high school students at the barren land of Lê Minh
Xuân, at the outskirts of Saigon.

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A North Vietnamese soldier cutting men’s anti-cultural long hair.

 

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Saigon before the Communists took over

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The CBC music band

 

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Daughter of the Vietnamese Communist Prime Minister – Nguyen Thanh Phuong – married
to Henry Nguyen Bao Hoang – an American citizen.

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Henry Nguyen Bao Hoang brought McDonald to Vietnam in 2014.

 

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Mrs Khuc Minh Tho who advocated for the release of political prisoners and assist them in reuniting with their families and loved ones in the United States or in other countries.

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President Ronald Reagan and Mrs Khuc Minh Tho

 

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Vietnamese Vice Prime Minister bought this house on 3/6/2005 at $790,000 USD (in 2014 estimated to worth over 1 million) at 636 South Halliday street, Anaheim, CA 92804.

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Miss Cao Thi Nhip who led the first North Vietnamese Communist tank into the South Vietnam Presidential Palace in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war now lives in America.

 

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Thai pirates attacked a Vietnamese refugee boat in the 70s

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Boat people hid in caves on deserted island to avoid rape, murder…

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What moment of your blogger life was the most memorable for you so far?
When SBS Insight (Australia’s leading forum for debate and powerful first person stories) contacted me in regard to my “Foot Voting” story. The survivor guilt mentioned in my account was the theme they wanted to research for a TV broadcast.

Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
I want to have all my writings on a long-lasting, Internet-independent, computer-independent media that can be kept for years and readily to be read.

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How did you find out about BlookUp?
I am glad that BlookUp followed my blog and that was how I found out about it.

What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?
With BlookUp, it was very easy to make my book. I had many trials in making my book with different publishing web sites. I found the publishing softwares those sites provided were complicated to use and rejected some of my pictures for not of high resolution. Unlike
BlookUp, the other publishing websites made the price of the book high.

I would love if BlookUp can offer more color choices as well as designs for the book cover. It would be nice if there are more different internal format for the book.

ai-hime-reading-blook-water

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Do you enjoy the final result? What does your family and friends think about your blook?
I am very happy with the final result. The pictures are sharp, the colorsilk are lively and the texts are clear and crisp. My family and friends really appreciate the book.

Would you recommend BlookUp?
I certainly will highly recommend BlookUp to other bloggers.

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Thank you hiMe for taking the time to answer our questions with such details, for your documented work and precious testimony!

Also follow hiMe on: 

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