recommended reading

You are currently browsing the archive for the recommended reading category.

Recommended Reading for the First Day of School

August 31, 2010 in book review, recommended reading by Kim | 2 comments

Our kids started school today.  Once again, Claire’s son and mine have math together which helps since neither of them are huge fans of the subject.  Kyle said he has 17 books to read this year in English and then rattled off a list of works by Tennessee Williams.  I reminded him that most plays are anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours long, it’s not as if it was a stack of Edith Wharton novels.  He doesn’t know who she is, so my snarky comment fell flat.  The Great Gatsby is on the list, his teacher said it’s the best American novel ever written.  I told him many would agree with her, and some would not.

As I watched my kids drive away this morning (Kyle is driving them for the first time), I recalled a book I bought for Kelsey when she started preschool, Oh My Baby, Little One by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Jane Dyer.   With tender rhymes, the mother explains how her love stays with her child through each of her preschool activities:

But even when I’m far away,

this love I have will stay

and wrap itself around you

every minute of the day.

With each activity-singing, playing, napping-the rhymes describe where the mother’s love is secreted with her child.

I read this book to Kelsey over and over again during her first year of preschool.  I inscribed it “Dear Kesley, This book is a special present to help you remember how much I love you when you are in preschool.  Love, Mom.”  After awhile we moved on to other books and it was stacked on her shelf.  I saved this book from numerous ‘donations to the library’ sweeps.  Now Oh My Baby, Little One sits on the bottom of my personal bookshelf.  I’m saving it to send to Kelsey for her first day of college, so she’ll remember that even if she’s hundreds of miles away, that my love will go with her.

  • Share/Bookmark

Recommended Reading for Bastille Day – The Judgment of Paris by Ross King

July 14, 2010 in art, history, recommended reading by Kim | No comments

Cleverly named after Paris’ ordeal of picking the most beautiful goddess of them all and the resulting Trojan War, King covers the tumultuous birth of a new style of beauty in The Judgment of Paris:  The Revolutionary Decade That Gave The World Impressionism. King chronicles the decade between the Salon des Refuses and the First Impressionism exhibit arguing that these years “witnessed a struggle between the votaries of the past and those of la vie moderne.  This struggle concerned rival ways of painting as well as, ultimately, rival ways of seeing the world, and it would result in the greatest revolution in the visual arts since the Italian Renaissance.”  These years laid the seeds for the transformation of visual art being less about what one sees and more about “how one sees or expresses it.”  The book follows two artists, the then most successful artist in the history of France, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (who?), and the vilified Edouard Manet.

King cleverly documents the rise of Meissonier knowing that most of his readers have never heard of the artist.  Meissonier is elected repeatedly to the Salon Jury, given Salon awards, showered with accolades, and paid unprecedented amounts of money for his pictures of horses and soldiers.  While an unpleasant and vengeful man (he campaigned for the exclusion of Courbet from the Salon due to his opposing political views), he had an incredible work ethic.  His major paintings took years (he worked on ‘Friedland’ for over ten) because of his painstaking studies and re-creation of the scenes.  Artistically and politically he was a mover and shaker, critics repeatedly called him the greatest living artist.  In addition to King’s lively telling of art and French history, he spins a moral tale of hubris by describing the heights to which Meissonier climbed during his lifetime, only to be largely non-existent.

In comparison, Manet was the dog almost everyone liked to kick.  He abandoned chiaroscuro, underpainting, and invisible brushstrokes to create a “new style better suited to capturing the energy and spirit of the modern age.”  King accurately casts Manet as the turning point of change.  Manet was constantly rejected from the Salon and ridiculed by critics, yet his works are deeply rooted in academic painting.  While his painting techniques were unconventional, he strove for the approval of the conservative art establishment.  He painted modern life, but in the Read the rest of this entry »

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , ,

Recommended Reading for Memorial Day – Owen’s “Parable of the Old Man and the Young”

May 29, 2010 in holiday, poetry, recommended reading by Kim | No comments

Memorial Day started to honor the fallen of the Civil War, but after World War I was expanded to honor the dead of any war and became a national holiday.  My son spent the last several weeks studying World War I poetry, so I asked him if there was one poem he would recommend for this Memorial Day.  He said Wilfred Owen’s “Parable of the Old Men and the Young” was the best of the era, here it is and some of his thoughts:

Parable of the Old Man and the Young

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him.  Behold,
A ram caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son, And half the see of Europe, one by one.

Taking the Biblical story  of Abraham and Issac  and twisting the ending gives the poem a powerful ending on the theme of the horror of war.  Owen’s use of Abram vs. Abraham (God had ‘renamed’ Abram by the time of the sacrifice) is an early indicator of the tragic ending of the poem.  Under the name Abram, he doubted God and his promise and had a son with Hagar, his wife’s slave.  His life as Abram signified the time when he was not a righteous man.  When God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, it signals his righteousness and obedience to God.  Owen’s use of Abram signals that the correct action will be shunned for the sake of pride and instead a great evil is committed.

For those who are like me and would rather hear poetry than read it, few are better than Kenneth Branagh:

Owen Wilfred died a week before the end of World War I.  His mother received the telegram notifying her of his death as the church bells were ringing for the Armistice.


  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , ,

The Rooster and the Indies Choice Book of the Year Awards were Announced this Week

April 9, 2010 in Literary Event, award, childrens, recommended reading, young adult by Kim | 1 comment

Wolf Hall Wins the Tournament of Books

My heart told me that I would love to see The Lacuna and Wolf Hall meet in the finals of the Tournament of Books, but my head said pick Let the Great World Spin and Wolf Hall with Let the Great World Spin receiving the Rooster.  Should have gone with my heart this time.  I didn’t think The Lacuna would beat out Let the Great World Spin, but I was wrong.  While none of the judges seemed passionate about either book (in one match up, Wolf Hall won because of the family dynasty chart), I loved them both.  In fact, I was glad I didn’t have to chose between them.  In the end, it was a close round with Wolf Hall just barely edging out The Lacuna.

I’m hoping The Morning News buys a rooster in England to send to Hilary Mantel rather than ship her an American version.  I shudder to think how long a rooster would have to stay in quarantine before it was let loose.

The Winners of the Indies Choice Book of the Year Awards

Yesterday, the American Booksellers Association announced the winners of 2010 Indies Choice Book of the Year winners:

Adult Fiction: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Adult Nonfiction: The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Adult Debut: The Help by Kathryn Stockett – The only surprise here is if she hadn’t won, now the five people who haven’t read the book should go and get it to know what everyone else is talking about
Young Adult: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – This helps make up for the grave mistake of not picking The Hunger Games last year.  In fact, why not just name Mockingjay as the 2011 winner right now and be done with it.
Middle Reader: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead – No surprise and richly deserved.
New Picture Book: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

I would love to attend an event with Kate DiCamillo (hello Los Angeles bookstores!) who won Most Engaging Author.  She won “both for being an in-store star and for having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to their local communities.”

Three books were voted into the Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz – a phrase I use more now with teenagers than I did when they were young, I wonder if the authors would consider a YA edition.
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans – I still remember my daughter’s Madeline doll and the pictures of the little girls all lined up.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson – A beautiful book about accepting people (and bulls) for who they are.

I’m kind of bummed that the two awards that are the most fun and bring a smile to my face are awarded in the same week.  Just 51 more weeks to wait . . .

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , ,

Recommended Reading: Let’s All Have a Junky Spring Break!

March 25, 2010 in recommended reading, travel by Claire | 5 comments

KIM:

One of my top two favorite gifts I have given was Claire’s 40th birthday present. We had talked for years about the kinds of books we read and Claire is a big fan of the beach read, or to put it more bluntly, the trashy book. In honor of her reading choices, I bought a small trash can and filled it with the appropriate books. Decorated with balloons and tissue paper, books piled in and stacked up to keep the trash lid open, truly, the gift was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, neither one of us took a picture of it.

I received quite a few stares as I dragged the trash can through Duttons Bookstore, selecting the perfect books and trying to shove in as many as possible. It’s been a few years (actually I can’t remember how many years, but I do remember that it was during the baseball play offs and I would like to take this moment to once again remind Claire that I left a Dodger playoff game to attend your party), so I don’t remember all the books I picked, but here are some of my favorite poolside-thoroughly-enjoyable reads:

1. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon – this is my favorite beach read! I think there are seven in the series, who knows, they seem to multiply like rabbits. Yes, she is in desperate need of an editor, yes, the series isn’t as good as it continues, but none of her fans care. This isn’t high literature, it’s fun and when Claire and Jamie are off on an adventure the world melts away.

2. Any Dan Brown book – Claire and I said we wouldn’t buy his latest book, it’s just not worth the money, but we’re so glad we received it as a gift. I’m scheduled to fly on a little plane to a third world country; with The Lost Symbol to distract me I’m sure not to drive my companions crazy questioning every little noise the plane makes.

3. The Josephine Bonaparte Trilogy (starting with The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B.) by Sandra Gulland – great escapist historical fiction.

4. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy – This is the only Binchy I’ve read completely, the others I’ve dropped after a few chapters, but this book carried me through a terrible week with an insane boss and for that, I’m eternally grateful. Read the rest of this entry »

  • Share/Bookmark

« Older entries