THREE MONTHS OF READING – JULY THROUGH SEPTEMBER

To say I’m behind is an understatement. I have some catching up to do. In the past three months I read some crime stories, an older classic children’s book, a Russian novel, Science Fiction and my new standby Sherlock for starters! So – here goes!

FATAL EMBRACE, THE INSIDE STORY OF THE THOMAS CAPANO/ANNE MARIE FAHEY MURDER CASE by Cris Barrish – I originally started this book as part of my quest, to read a book by an author from each state. This was originally my book from an author from Delaware – but about halfway through the book, I decided Delaware deserved better. However, this is an unbelievable true story. Thomas Capano was the former deputy attorney general of Delaware, married with children AND the last person seen with Anne Marie Fahey. Her body was never found, however, his brother admitted to helping bury her at sea. Compano was convicted and actually sentenced to death. This is a fascinating crime story, actually made into a movie starring Mark Harmon and it inspired an episode of Law and Order!

PLAINSONG by Kent Haruf – I read this as part of my quest, this was my selection for Colorado – you can read about it here! I am currently reading the sequel Eventide.

A MOVEABLE FEAST by Ernest Hemingway – I read this as a reading group selection. It is important to note, this book was published posthumously in 1964, edited from his manuscripts and notes by his fourth wife and widow, Mary Hemingway. It consists of Hemingways personal observations of life in Paris in the 1920’s. It is a quick and enjoyable read.

A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD by Lisa Ann Sandell – this is my selection for my quest for the state of Delaware – I will be blogging separately about this book.

THE MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL SUIT by Sloan Wilson – This is my selection for my quest for the state of Conneticut – so I will be blogging separately about this book (I’m behind on blogging about my quest!).

A SUMMER PLACE by Sloan Wilson – I enjoyed the book The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit enough to read another book by Sloan Wilson. The 1959 movie starring Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee is but a sliver of the book. The book focuses on the lives of teenage loves, Ken and Sylvia, who end up marrying other people and meet up years later. The movie focuses on the children of Ken and Sylvia – Molly and Johnny. The book has a lot more depth and texture than the movie. Both the book and movie were considered controversial in the late 50’s, focusing on divorce, adultery and sexuality.

BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA by Roland Merullo – this is a delightful little book – considered “spiritual fiction”. It follows Otto Ringling, a food book editor living in New York, who travels to his parents home in Bismark SD to liquidate their estate. He reluctantly agrees to take Volya Rinpoche, a Siberian Monk, with him at the urging of his sister. Along the way, they go to a chocolate factory, go bowling, and attend a baseball game at Wrigley field. Otto begins this journey as a skeptic, but he slowly gains new perspectives on the world and his life with Rinpoche’s company. There have been two sequels, titled Lunch with Buddha and Dinner with Buddha. It was a sweet and somewhat thought provoking book – I plan on reading the sequels,

FIRST LOVE by Ivan Turgenev – Originally published in 1860, it begins with a 16 year old boy falling in love with a 21 one year old neighbor. The girl, Zinaida, has several other suitors, and the boy, Vladimir, gets in line. However, Vladimir eventually discovers the true object of her affection is his own father, and the last two chapters take a tragic turn. This is a wonderful and beautiful written little gem of a novella – and it is free on Kindle.

THE VACATIONERS by Emma Straub – The Post family is spending two weeks in Mallorca to celebrate the 35th wedding anniversary of Franny and Jim. Franny is a food editor, Jim was recently forced to resign as an editor of a New York Magazine because of an affair with a 23 year old intern. Obviously, their marriage is in trouble. Their daughter Sylvia has recently graduated high school with a goal to lose her virginity. Son Bobby arrives from Florida with his much older girlfriend, Carmen. Then there is Charles, Franny’s best friend, and his husband Lawrence. The book is very well reviewed, but I found it kind of exasperating.

BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter – I love books about movies. Beginning in 1962 in Porta Vergogna, a tiny Italian coastal town, you meet Pasqual who’s family owns the only hotel in town.. There is an American tourist who comes annually to work on his novel for two weeks a year. A beautiful actress, Dee, arrives from Rome, where she has been filming the movie Cleopatra. It jumps around in time, going to modern day Hollywood with a legendary producer as well as a character that is pitching a movie about the Donner Party. Richard Burton makes an appearance. I found this book entertaining – even though it is almost epic in scope, moving around time and also moving around the world.

A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett – as a child, I loved the movie that starred Shirley Temple. The story line is basically the same, Sara arrives from India to London to go to Miss Minchin’s school, enjoying a life of privilege. All of this changes for her in a classic riches to rags story. Her father is killed and she becomes a beggar and a servant. But Sara is kind and becomes inspirational. The movie ads an entire plot line that doesn’t appear in the book. Surprisingly, Frances Hodgson Burnett also wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Secret Garden!

A STUDY IN SCARLET by Arthur Conan Doyle – I think I need a monthly does of Sherlock these days. This is considered the first Sherlock/Watson pairing. The best part is also when Sherlock begins his deductions to Watson’s amazement, who proclaims “You are wonderful, Holmes!” – you know what? I agree!

THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir – the story about this being published is almost as interesting as the book itself. I really loved the book and can’t wait to see the movie!

THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN by Jonas Jonasson – this should be a Wes Anderson film. Nombeko is born in 1961 in Soweto. She becomes imprisoned and ends up as a housecleaner for an incompetent engineer in a research facility working on nuclear bombs. There is an extra bomb and Nombeko excapes to Sweden (along with the bomb) where she meets the twins Holger One and Holger Two, whose father wanted to take down the King of Sweden. The Mossad gets involed, as well as Jimmy Carter and other dignitaries from the time. I could go on about the story, but it sounds crazy when trying to recount it! Even so, enjoyed this, but if you want to read only books that are realistic, this isn’t for you. If you like crazy, fantastic stories that somehow make sense, enjoy!

Any suggestions?

COLORADO ON MY QUEST

Almost exactly a year ago, I declared a quest to read a book by an author from each state (read about it here). For Colorado at the urging of more than one of my readers, I chose a book by Kent Haruf, a native of Colorado who died in November 2014. The book I chose is Plainsong, which is the first book of a trilogy.

“This ain’t going to be no goddamn Sunday school picnic” (quote from book)

The book is set in the fictional town of Holt Colorado, located in the eastern plains near Kansas and Nebraska. According to New York Times author Verlyn Klinkenborg,

“Haruf has made a novel so foursquare, so delicate and lovely, that it has the power to exalt the reader.”

In fact, the title Plainsong refers to unaccompanied church music that is typically sung in unison.

The book begins with teacher Tom Guthrue. His wife Ella is lying in the guest bedroom for who knows how long. Their sons, Ike and Bobby (9 and 10 years old) watch their mother slowly disappear mentally, until she physically leaves them.

High school student Victoria Roubideaux finds herself pregnant and evicted by her own mother. She turns to Maggie Jones, who is also a teacher. Maggie takes her in, but her senile father frightens Victoria. Maggie turns to the McPheron brothers, elderly gruff unmarried cattle farmers who agree to take her in.

The book follows these characters from fall until late spring. While the language is almost minimalistic, it packs a punch. There is heartbreak, grief and anger. But there is also love, humor and kindness – as well as beginnings of new lives and new families. The characters are decent, somewhat troubled human beings that are going on with their lives.

I loved this book, and I have the sequel Eventide to read! While the book is somewhat stark, it steers clear of melodrama and sentiment, telling the story of characters I deeply cared about.

I was just disappointed to find out Holt Colorado is a fictional town!

Some interesting facts about Colorado:

Is home to the world’s largest rodeo in Denver, The National Western Stock Show

Has the highest suspension bridge in the nation over the Royal Gorge

Pagosa Springs is the home of the deepest hot spring in the world

Colorado means “colored red” and is known as the Centennial State.

The US federal government owns more than 1/3 of the land in the state.

It contains 75% of the land mass in the US with an altitude over 10,000 feet.

The 13th step of the state-capital building in Denver is one mile above sea level.

There are 52 peaks over 14,000 ft.

“America the Beautiful” was inspired by the view from Pikes Peak

and my favorite fact:

The world famous Read Rocks Amphitheatre is located here – it took 300 million years to create!

Next up – Connecticut. I have to admit, my reading is ahead of my blogging – I had read through Delaware and have made preliminary choices through Hawaii. But – I’ll still take requests!!!!

MY QUEST #6 OFF TO CALIFORNIA

TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY

I declared a quest several month back – I am reading a book by an author from each state – alphabetically of course (you can read about my quest here). For my selection from California, I chose John Steinbeck; the book – Travels with Charley In Search for America.

In 1960, at the age of 58, John Steinbeck bought a truck, modified it with a camper, and drove across the United States with his 10 year old “blue” standard poodle Charley. He named the truck Rocinante, Don Quixote’s horse. According to his son, Steinbeck wanted to know what Americans were like, after all, he’d been writing about America for decades.

Starting off in Long Island, he travels up to Maine and then over to the Pacific Northwest, down into his native Salinas Valley in California, over to Texas, to New Orleans and back, covering nearly 10,000 miles. In a 50th anniversary of the book, the introduction stated:

“it would be a mistake to take this travelogue too literally, as Steinbeck was at heart a novelist.”

I don’t want to recount his entire journey, I want you to discover it yourself. At times it is comical, as when he tried to pass into Canada and couldn’t because Charley didn’t have the proper identification.

Steinbeck made it clear he found wastefulness and technology pervasive in America. He developed a fascination with mobile homes, which allowed American’s to pick up and leave. And, he felt the government made the “people” feel small, the government just didn’t care.

Here are some quick facts about John Steinbeck:

Born in 1902 in Salinas California, living there most of his life, but later moved to New York City and Lake Tahoe
Won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1939
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962
Worked as a correspondence in WWII and injured in North Africa returning home in 1944
He had a very left wing political leaning, attending strikes and meetings of workers unions
Stood up for Arthur Miller during the “House Un-American Committee” trials
Traveled to Russia many times and he felt it made him an FBI target (which they continue to deny)

Here are some quotes from Travels with Charley:

“I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.”
“A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.”
“I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.”
“we value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.”
“A journey is like a marriage, the certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
“There are two kinds of people in the world, observers and non-observers.”
“I suppose our capacity for self-delusion is boundless.”
“I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments.”

There has been much written about the book being primarily fiction, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that he only apparently spent a handful of nights in his truck, that his wife met him along the way several times – I just didn’t care. I still enjoyed reading it.

Oh – I admit it – I had to make sure Charley made it through the book prior to reading it. I enjoyed it so much, I now have Cannery Row sitting in my stack to read!

Just so you know- Salinas, California, Steinbeck’s birthplace is known at the “Salad Bowl of the World” – over 30% of all the lettuce in the world is grown there. Throw that little tidbit out at your next cocktail party!

Now, on to Colorado!

ANGELOU AND ARKANSAS

MY QUEST

This is my fourth installment in my QUEST – I’m reading a book by an author from each state (alphabettically) For the state of Arkansas, I chose I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou (published 1969).

It follows Maya, from age 3 to age 17 ending with the birth of her son.

After the divorce of her parents, Maya, at the age of three, and her older brother, Bailey, are sent to live with her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Calling her Momma, she owns the only store in the black section of Stamps. Struggling with feelings of rejection, Maya also believes she is an ugly child that will never measure up to the white girls, and doesn’t feel equal to the black children in Stamps.

The children move to St. Louis to be with their mother. It is here that Maya is raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After being acquitted in court, he is murdered.

Returning to Stamps, Maya is introduced to an educated woman, Mrs. Bertha Flowers, who encourages her to read and gives her books of literature and poetry.

There are several instances along the way that show how insidious racism can be. Her mother sends her and Bailey to live in San Francisco. Here she studies drama and dance and becomes the first Black female conductor in San Franciso. Visiting her father in Southern California, she drives a car for the first time (she has to get her drunk father home from Mexico), leaves after a fight with her father’s girlfriend and ends up living in a junkyard with other kids.

I recommend this book – I feel it is time well spent. There is much more in the book than what I mentioned here!

Maya Angelous was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4th , 1928. She published seven autobiographies, several books of poetry, and was awarded more than 50 honorary derees. She worked as a cook, prostitute, nightclub singer and a journalist in Egypt. Other interesting facts about her:

She wrote Hallmark greeting cards

She loved Law and Order

She wrote a couple of cookbooks

She danced in a touring company of Porgy and Bess in the 50’s

She was a guest on Sesame Street

A lover of country music, she said she was “seriously affected by the breakup of Brooks and Dunn”

Won three Grammy awards

Fluent in six languages; English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and West African Fante

First African-American female of the Directors Guild of America

Appeared in the television mini-series Roots

Appointed to the Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford

Recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s innaguration, only the 2nd poet to participate in an innaguration (Robert Frost read in 1961)

Received the National Medal for Arts in 2000

She died May 28, 2014.

Some facts about Arkansas:

The mockingbird is the state bird

The square dance in the state dance

Milk is the state beverage

The fiddle is the state instrument

The honeybee is the state insect

The state tree is the southern pine

It is illegal to mis-pronouse the state name – it is Ar-Kan-Saw

The only active diamond mine in the US is located in Arkansas

Well, my next stop on my quest will be California! Any suggestions for a writer from California??

APRIL READING – CLASSICS, MYSTERIES, AND A LITTLE HUMOR

THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Arthur Conan Doyle: The game is afoot! I’m a big fan of Sherlock! I love the BBC show, I love the CBS show. This is 11 “adventures”, ending with the The Final Problem – as Sherlock Holmes and the evil Dr. Moriarity fight at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Doyle wanted to kill off Holmes, but public outcry was very loud. Written in 1894, It is a free download on Kindle – click here.

I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SIGNS by Maya Angelou: This is part of my quest – which is reading a book by an author in each state of the union, and this is my Arkansas selection. Read about my quest here. This is the first of seven books about Angelou’s life. I will write it’s own blog soon! By the way, excellent book!

THE FAT RULES by Misti Mosteller: A free download, a quick and easy read. The story of Maddy, overweight since childhood and now in college trying to be invisible. It is interesting to see the pain through her eyes. Because of an event involving a family meal, Maddy decides to take control of her own life. Remember, this is in literary land, so she loses the weight in a year and exacts payback where needed. Even so, it is both funny and touching.

PLAY DIRTY by Sandra Brown: I picked this up in a thrift store. A pretty good mystery, but not very realistic. It follows Griff, a disgraced football player recently released from prison. A paraplegic billionaire approaches Griff for a job, which involves the billionaire’s wife and the dream of having a child. This is job is further complicated when an older murder resurfaces that Griff is suspected of committing. I couldn’t put it down, but that doesn’t mean it is a great book, but it is a page turner.

PINK BALLOONS AND OTHER DEADLY THINGS by Nancy Tesler: Carrie’s husband leaves her for a much younger women, and when she is found dead, of course Carrie is a suspect. A cute page turner, but I found Carrie, who is a bio-feedback therapist, unsympathetic.

THE GODFORSAKEN DAUGHTER by Christina McKenna: Having read a previous book by this author, The Misremembered Man, I quickly picked this up (okay, I downloaded it!). It is the third book in a trilogy, set in a small town in rural Ireland. It is the story of Ruby, who was happy working the farm with her father. When he dies, she she is forced inside and cares for her critical mother, who coddles her younger twin sisters. When she finds her grandmother’s suitcase in the attic containing a mysterious but empowering book her mother believes Ruby is going crazy. Enter a kindly priest, a psychiatrist who has his own secret, and the local bachelor farmer (who appeared in the previous book). It is an interesting book, dealing with loneliness, friendship, empowerment and also people going into hiding because of The Troubles involving the IRA. I enjoyed this book, but I enjoy reading about life in Ireland.

EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY by George Mahood: This book is funny!! And, in it’s own weird way, education all! George decides he is going to celebrate a different holiday everyday. Every chapter is devoted to a different holiday – as he goes out of his way to celebrate them all in his own way. Along the way, he eats ham every day for a month, he punches holes for an entire day to have hanging chads (for Dimpled Chad day on January 4). There are so many “official” silly holidays out there, and George finds one for each day (this book covers six months). By the way – as I write this on May 2, which is the first Saturday in May. Lo and behold, the first Saturday of May is World Naked Gardening Day – how do you plan on celebrating it?

TRUE STORY, MURDER, MEMOIR, MEA CULPA by Michael Finkel: In watching a news story about the recently released movie True Story, I was intrigued, so I immediately downloaded the book and devoured it. Crazy crazy story. Christian Longo kills his wife and three kids and is found in Mexico impersonating a recently fired New York Times reporter, who wrote this book. This is the book about their relationship. I couldn’t put it down, damn those instant downloads sometimes!

MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear: Thank you all! Several of you pointed me in the direction of this wonderful character and now I will read more of this series! Maisie was a maid in an upscale London home at 13. Her employer, a suffragette, becomes her benefactor, after recognizing Maisie’s intelligence and intuition. Using these skills. Maisie hangs out a shingle as a private detective. Her first case seem innocuous at first, a husband wondering if his wife is having an affair. When she finds graves with only the first names of men that were shattered in WWI, she learns more is going on! It was good, dealing with a decent mystery, as well as social reform needed for those returning from war with disfiguring wounds and suffering from depression.

And, in ending, I read another book, dutifully wrote down the title. When I googled it to link it, I found several books with the same title. I couldn’t remember which one I read! That must have been rainy Saturday afternoon read – maybe I should have taken a nap instead! Lately my dreams have been more interesting than this unnamed book – – – like the dream with the elevator – – and a plane that took you to all the floors above the 40th floor – – – –

MY QUEST – 3rd INSTALLMENT

ARIZONA

This is the third installment in my quest, which is to read a book by an author from each state! This selection is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells. Jeannette Wells was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1960. The daughter of Rex and Rose Mary, she lived a nomadic life, with a family that was constantly doing the “skeedadle” when bills were due. She left home at age 17, moving to New York City and eventually graduated from Barnard with honors. She was the gossip columnist for MSNBC and left in 2007 to pursue writing full time.

The Glass Castle is her memoir of growing up, beginning at age three. Actually, in the opening of the book she sees her mother digging through a garbage dumpster in lower Manhatten as she retreats to her Park Avenue home.

The 2nd chapter opens with the line “I was on fire”. That will get your attention. At three years old her favorite pink dress caught fire as she tried to make herself a hot dog. When they asked her at the hospital why she was cooking, she said “Mom says I’m mature for my age and she lets me cook.”. Her mother often consumed by finishing her latest painting, she often couldn’t be bothered to cook, why spend the time on something that will be consumed in 15 minutes when she can spend time on a painting that will last forever?

This is the story of her family – much of is pure horror. But it is told with love and affection for her nomadic parents. Her father is an alcoholic that often can’t hold a job. He doesn’t trust the government with his money, and is always talking about the “glass castle” they will build when he makes his fortune. Her mother often hoards candy bars when they children have no food.

The family settles for a time in a mining town in Nevada and she spends much of her time exploring the desert with her brother Brian, while her sister Lori reads. Mom even takes a break from painting and teaches for a bit. But, when there is an altercation with the law, the family is forced to “skedaddle” again.

Mom has inherited a house from her mother and they move to Phoenix, and they have some stability for awhile. Dad works, but the alcoholism always comes back. In a touching scene, Jeannette asks her dad to give up drinking for her 10th birthday, which he valiantly tries to do. But, when the car breaks down, and mom decides she needs more adventure, they move to dad’s childhood home in West Virginia.

West Virginia is terribly depressing. Rex’s mom is abusive and she tries to sexually abuse brother Brian. The town itself is depressing, segregated and impoverished. They buy a shack on a hill – no indoor plumbing or central heating. Dad’s drinking gets worse and the children are often hungry. She and sister Lori plan an to escape to New York, and the girls manage to do it! Brian joins them later (at this point there is a younger sister Maureen).

Not to give too much away, the parents get a little lonely and follow the children to New York – but they are unwilling to work and instead live as squatters. Maureen doesn’t adjust well and ends up in a mental institution.

Somehow the story is told with genuine love for her parents, and also a sense of adventure in growing up. This is a well written memoir, a tale of survival that includes near starvation, abuse and poverty, but also of love. Jeannette current lives in Virginia with her husband, with her mother close by (her father died in 1994).

Some local sayings about Arizona:

Arizona looks like a battle on Mars.

Welcome to Arizona, where summer spends the winter – and hell spends the summer.

You know you are from Arizona when you feed your chickens ice cubes to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.

ARIZONA FACTS

Copper is the most abundant mineral

The bola tie is the official state neckwear

Petrified wood is the official state fossil

Turquoise is the official state gemstone

The saguaro cactus blossom is the official state flower

The saguaro is the largest American cactus

Arizona is home to the Grand Canyon

Arizona observes Mountain Standard time year round – except in the Navajo Nation

Frank Lloyd Wrights studio Tallesin West was built near Phoenix

Arizona has the most land set aside and designated as Indian lands

Next – I will be reading from Arkansas!

FEBRUARY READING

A MONTH WITH SERENITY, INTELLIGENCE AND SOME DOWNRIGHT SILLINESS

I am so thankful for Goodreads and Kindle. I try to record the books as I read them in Goodreads, but sometimes I have to rely on the books I have downloaded on Kindle. The reason? I actually read a couple of books in February that I needed to read the recap in Goodreads to remember them! February was all over the board! (in categories and quality both).

Chaser, Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words by John W. Pilley: Surprisingly, I picked this up at the grocery store while stocking up for a non-existent upcoming winter storm. Who could resist that face? John Pilley is a retired psychology professor in South Carolina. When he adopts Chaser he begins exploring communication and language with her. In the end, Chaser knows over a thousand words and demonstrates an intelligence that is remarkable. The training is 4-6 hours a day and done in the spirit of play. It will make you look at your dogs differently! As a dog owner and lover I usually don’t read books about animals. But – Chaser is alive and well in Spartanburg, S.C. While there is a fair amount of scientific research in the book, I still enjoyed it!

Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham : This was suggested reading for a meditation course I took at the Shambhala center down the street. Mipham was raised in the West, so the book is written in easy to read idiomatic English. He believes to lead a sane and peaceful life, we need to train our minds, and without doing this we become “at the mercy of our moods”. There are a few appendices that show meditation postures and give easy to follow instructions. It takes the mysticism out of both meditation and Buddhism. An added treat is the forward that is written by Pema Chodron. By the way, Mipham is the director of Shambhala International that is over 165 meditation centers (founded by his father). I will keep this book and refer back to it. While I still struggle with meditating daily, I have not given up! I signed up for another class beginning next week – Contentment in Everyday Life. This is part of the description of the class:

To be content is to know what is sufficient.

To know what is sufficient we must know ourselves.

To know ourselves we must be willing to look into ourselves.

To look into ourselves we must engage with gentleness and bravery, and

in this manner we make friends with whatever we see.

Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Skills by Tony Stoltzfus: In 2014, I became a certified life coach, but I’m still in training mode. I recently took on my first “practice” clients (or ally’s as I prefer to call them). To ask powerful questions is one of the two most powerful things to learn (the other is to effectively listen). This is a reference tool I will refer back to. Coaching helps guide one in the right direction, helps them realize their dreams and begin achieving their life goals. After all, we all have the power within us – as one of my favorite quotes below illustrates.

To Catch a Bad Guy by Marie Astor: This was a free download that I read on a dismal wintery afternoon. I downloaded it because it had a picture of a cute dog on the front. I barely remember the story though – need I say more?

From the Ground Up, A Love Story about Fame and Farming by Janet J. Lawley: Another free download – this one is about an out of control Hollywood actress (think Lohan). After she crashes her car into Saks, a judge sends her to an organic farm in upstate New York to work. It is kind of cute, but very very predictable.

Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan: Set in Boston after the Civil War, there are some interesting elements in this book. It follows Nell Sweeney – born into poverty now working for a very wealthy family. There are two sons they believe died in the Civil War. When the black sheep, also a physician, returns secretly addicted to opium, he is accused of a murder. Nell begins proving his innocence, and it takes you back to the terrible Andersonville. Interesting historical setting and a few twists along the way.

Hollywood Assassin, A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thrille by MZ Kelly: I love books about the history of Hollywood, and this one promised this. Detective Kate Sexton is being stalked as she puts together the pieces of a 30 year old cold case. I should have caught the line in the promo (another free download) saying it “has more twists and turns than a car on Sunset Strip with a Hollywood starlet at the wheel.” and by an author named MZ? I guess that is for MIZZ??? But, I have to admit, I did read it!

For March, I am assembling a better quality of books – that doesn’t mean I’ll won’t read some quick simple download along the way.

DAILY RITUALS AND ROUTINES FOR CREATIVITY

21 STEPS TO CREATIVITY –

9TH INSTALLMENT

“Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” Gustave Flaubert

“Amateurs look for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.” Chuck Close

What is a routine? It is defined as that which is performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason. It has been said it is something we do automatically. I believe some of the most creative minds in history have had predictable routines day in and day out. Routines serve to free the mind, making the mind open for more inspiration.

When you wake up – do you get your coffee? Check you emails? Do you do the same thing every morning? You may meditate, you may journal daily.

This is a fascinating subject to me – and if it is to you – I suggest you look into the book Daily Rituals, How Artists Work by Mason Currey.

“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write. I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8 to 8:30 somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon,” Stephen King

“Routine in an intelligent man is a sign of ambition.” w.h. auden.

Beethoven made his own coffee every morning, counting out 60 individual beans for every cup. He then worked until 2-3p and then took abreak with his famous long walk (carrying music paper)

Beethoven walking

The composer Mahler also walked every day. He would work until mid-day and walk to the lake for a swim. After lunch, he would take a 3-4 hour walk with his wife Alma.

The composer Igor Stravinsky always closed his window before he began composing – he wanted to make sure no one could hear him. If he felt blocked, he’d stand on his head -of which he said “.. it rests the head and clears the brain.”

N.C. Wyeth woke at 5A and chopped wood until 6:30A. He would eat a large breakfast and then go to his studio. Before painting, he would write a letter, often driving to the post office immediately. Then he began painting. If a painting wasn’t going well, he would tape cardboard to the side of his glasses to block the view from the window to help his concentration (why didn’t he get a curtain I wonder).

Joan Miro’ didn’t want to be distracted from his work and maintained a totally inflexible daily schedule (he was afraid of depression that that he suffered from prior to finding an outlet in painting). This included vigorous exercise, boxing, jumping rope, running. At 1P he had a simple lunch, with coffee and then had three cigarettes. ‘

In a 1782 letter to his sister, Mozart wrote:

“My hair is always done by 6 o’clock in the morning and by seven I am fully dressed. I then compose until 9. From 9 to 1 i give lessons….I can never work before five or six o’clock in the evening, and even then I am often prevented by a concert. If I am not prevented, I compose until nine. I then go to my dear Constanza…at half past ten I come home….”

Matisse kept a pretty rigid schedule

“Do you understand now why I am never bored? For over fifty years I have not stopped working for an instant. From nine o’clock to noon, first sitting. I have lunch. Then I have a little nap and take up my brushes again at two in the afternoon until the evening. “

Truman Capote wrote four hours a day, making revisions it in the evening or the next mornings. He wouldn’t allow more than three cigarette butts in the same ashtray at once. Also, he never began or ended anything on a Friday (I think this is more superstition than ritual)

“I am a completely horizontal author. I can’t think unless I’m lying down, either in bed or stretched out on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy. I’ve got to be puffing and sipping. As the afternoon wears on, I shift from coffee to tea to sherry and martinis.”

Now – I think it is interesting to change up your routines and rituals occasionally. But, I’ve found out when I do – I always go back to the tried and true morning routine. What do I do? I run a bath every morning and read! Some mornings it is 10 minutes, sometimes I have time to read 30+ minutes. Yes, EVERY MORNING! If I didn’t have access to a bathtub, I’d still read every morning. I try to journal and meditate in the mornings too, but it hasn’t become a routine yet! Someday hopefully.

One writer once said writing is

“connecting the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair”

What do you do? Do you believe when you work regularly, inspiration strikes more regularly?

MY 10 MOST MEMORABLE BOOKS OF 2014

I am taking part of in a 10-day creativity challenge, that of course, began YESTERDAY. But, in my defense, I’m winding down my year at work – and after today – I am off until January 5, 2015. YEAH!!!

So, I thought I’d take a moment to list my most memorable books of 2014. In this list, you will find books about art, a classic children’s book and a book that made me make a commitment. These are in no particular order.

1. OFF THE WALL, A PORTRAIT OF ROBERT RAUSHENBURG, by Carl Tompkins

2. BREAKFAST WITH LUCIAN: THE ASTOUNDING LIFE AND OUTRAGEOUS TIMES OF BRITAIN’S GREAT MODERN PAINTER BY GEORDIE GREIG – I enjoyed it so much, I continued with another book about Lucian.

3. MAN WITH A BLUE SCARF: ON SITTING FOR A PORTRAIT WITH LUCIAN FREUD By Martin Gayford – I’m fascinated with Freud’s process and his life.

4. THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt – I read it before it won the Pulitzer Prize!

5. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Louis Carroll – need I say more?

6. AN ARTIST OF THE FLOATING WORLD by Kasuo Ishiguro – set in postwar Japan, it won the Whitbread Prize in 1986 (ok, I’m a little behind!)

7. MR. PENUMBRA’S 24 HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan – what is better than a book about books?

8. THE FAMILY FANG – by Kevin Wilson – think Wes Anderson in print – about performance art – or is it?

9. DAILY RITUALS – HOW ARTIST’S WORK by Mason Currey – rituals of 160+ artists

10. THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT – FINDING THE QUEST THAT WILL BRING PURPOSE TO YOUR LIFE by Chris Gillebeau – I declared a quest after this – you can read about it here.

If you don’t know me, I am a voracious reader. I have to limit my reading sometimes. Halfway through the year, I limited my reading to no more than a book a week! Yes, it was tough!

What have you read you want to share?

GWEN JOHN – A PAINTER, A SCULPTURE, A MODEL AND A MUSE

Self portrait with letter 1907

WOMEN IN ART – 10TH INSTALLMENT

Gwen John (1876 – 1939) was a Welsh painter who spent most of her life in France. One of four children, her mother was an amateur watercolourist who encouraged her children’s interest in art and literature.

Interestingly, her brother Augustus John was one of the most celebrated painters during this time. Prophetically he said:

“Fifty years after my death, I shall be remembered as Gwen John’s brother.”

She studied at the Slade School of Art, which was the only art school in the United Kingdom that allowed female students. In 1898 she visited Paris for the first time and studied under James McNeill Whistler. She returned to London in 1899 and exhibited her work for the first time, while living in such dour circumstances she actually lived as a squatter.

She returned to France in 1903 with Dorelia McNeill (who would marry her brother) and decided to walk to Rome and create art along the way – what a bohemian! They made it to Toulouse and then went to Paris. There she started modeling – mostly for women artists. But, she modeled for Rodin and began a relationship that would last ten years.

Gwen John as Eve by Rodin

During this time, she met Matisse, Picasso, Brancusi, and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (who was secretary for Rodin at this time – which is another interesting story!)

Gwen tended to work alone and moved to Meudon, outside of Paris, where she remained the rest of her life. When her affair with Rodin ended, she converted to Catholicism – and referred to herself in journals as “God’s little artist”. She lived alone with her cats and was known to live off fruit and nuts in order to buy art supplies and treats for her cats.

In 1910, John Quinn, an American art collector, became a her patron in 1910 and this continued until his death in 1924. The enabled her to stop modeling and devote to her art. She painted primarily women, her cats and corners of rooms.

Her small atmospheric paintings seem very quiet to me (unlike her celebrated brother’s more vivid work – see below). She painted using thin layers in the style of the old masters. Her legacy is fairly small, there are only 158 known oil paintings, which are rarely larger than 24 inches in either direction.

“I think a picture ought to be done in one sitting or at most two. For that one must paint a lot of canvases probably and waste them.”

Painting by Augustus John

However, there are thousands of her drawings left.

She has been the subject of several books, including Gwen John, A Painters Life by Sue Roe (which I am currently reading) a fictional mystery, The Gwen John Sculpture by John Malcolm, a play Still Lives by Candida Cave (about Gwen, Ida (Augustus’s wife) and Dorelia (Augustus’s mistress). AND, she was the subject of a series of poems by British poet Elizabeth Burns, The Blue Flower: Poems from the Life and Art of Gwen John.

Reading about Gwen John, her relationship to Rodin, her brother Augustus, her friendship of Rilke has opened up a whole new world of people to explore!

Vickie Martin

Mixed Media Art