January-February Tub o' Books
“I read so I can live in more than one place.” Anne Tyler
Books Read
The Alice Network, Kate Quinn
Rabbit Cake, a delightful book with a pre-teen narrator, with wit and imagination on the sadder theme of getting through the process of grief.
The Library Book, Susan Orlean. I have carried on about this favorite book already - here -so suffice it to say it was as good as I had hoped. Definitely for a book and library lover.
The Baker’s Secret. Sort of like the Alice Network, (World War II occupied countries, women stepping up, etc.) but I thought better.
The Art of Reading, Damon Young. (Yes, two of the same titles, but quite different approaches.)
“To my right is a small stained pine bookcase. It contains, among other things, my childhood.” This first line drew me in, but truth be told, I read parts hit and miss.
Morningstar, Ann Hood. Wonderful, wonderful. Little book filled with pages upon pages of beautiful prose on the subject of book love.
Dark, Sacred Night, a Harry Bosch mystery, Michael Connelly. I have already expounded here as to how much I love this author. And then I got sucked into Bosch, on Prime Video. Holy Hieronomous, it is GOOD!
Holy Ghost, John Sanford. Another author and series I have already gone on and on about, I was entertained by ‘that f***ing Flowers’ yet again.
I’ll confess that I haven’t read the following three books page by page, by instead have been enjoying them piecemeal, the luscious art and the background stories behind them. They are library books, but I intend to add at least one of them to my personal collection.
Women Who Read Are Dangerous., originally published in German, 2005.
Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Dreams, 1896
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, This is our Corner, 1873, from Women Who Read Are Dangerous.
(I detect a pattern here.) Adélaide Labille-Guiard, Portrait of a Woman, 1787.
Emilie Charmy, Colette, 1921, from Women Who Write Are Dangerous
The Art of Reading, An Illustrated History oF Books In Print, Jamie Camplin, Maria Ranauro
Guy Péne du Bois, Third Avenue El, 1932
Vanessa Bell, Interior with Artist’s Daughter, 1936, from The Art of Reading
Books Bought:
Tangerine, Christine Mangan
The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan
The Best Kind of People, Zoe Whittall
Life in the Garden, Penelope LIvely
Past Tense, Lee Child
The Lost Art of Reading, David L. Ulin
“The fullest characters are the ones we can imagine walking around in the world.”
“The reason books and reading remain essential is because they are still the most effective mechanism by which to crack open the universe.”
Books Borrowed
A lot of them in these cold months. A lot of art books, some children’s picture books, a few books on politics. Too numerous to list, but highlights include:
The Art of Reading by Camplin and Ranauro, “An Illustrated History of Books in Paint.
Sunshine and Oranges,
Bill Nye, Everything All At Once
Jean Harley Was Here, Heather Taylor-Johnson.
No Time to Spare, Ursula K. LeGuin. I am going to buy this book. It’s subtitle, “thinking About What Matters,” says it all, in LeGuin’s witty, conversational and reflective style.
Tucked inside is a sweet little poem about her cat, Pard. Who strongly resembles our cat, Rose, who with some consternation, posed as a stand-in model.
Doggerel for My Cat
His paws are white, his ears are black.
When he isn’t around I feel the lack.
His purr is loud, his fur is soft.
He always carries his tail aloft.
His gait is easy, his gaze intense.
He wears a tuxedo to all events.
His toes are prickly, his nose is pink.
I like to watch him sit and think.
His breed is Alley, his name is Pard
Life without him would be hard.”
Rose said she was probably prettier than Pard but nevertheless…