(un)FASHION; Stargazing; Shark’s Fin; Abe’s Honest Words

65. Abe’s Honest Words by Doreen Rappaport

 

With text that reads almost like a poem and big, energetic illustrations, and with each page spread featuring a powerful quote, this book approaches the beauty of a snowflake. Page by page, the author tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s tumultuous life in short bursts of prose and emphasizes each big moment with a strong quote and a magnificent illustration. A truly beautiful book, in pictures and words. A book for every Lincoln lover. A book for every library.

 

66. Our White House: Looking In Looking Out created by the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance

 

Did all my favorite authors and illustrators contribute to this book? A look through the table of contents seems to say yes. A big, big book (it will apparently be more than 242 pages) filled with fun stories all connected loosely to the setting of the White House. The stories I read in this sampler were gentle, scary, sad, and humorous.

The illustrations are clever and sweet, silly and patriotic. I only had a taste of the book here in this prepublication sampler but I will seek out the full version; thirty-five dollars is a hunk of change for a book, even a lovely one like this one appears to be.

 

67. What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America by Tony Schwartz

 

I spent all last Sunday afternoon reading this book. It’s an older book, with a copyright in the 90’s, so some of it comes across as a bit dated. I grimaced here and there, reading about some of the “wisdom” Schwartz sought, using the power of brain waves, for example, acts I’ve always tended to regard as hocus-pocus mumbo jumbo. I carried away a lot of positive scientific evidence for meditation; I will seek more information about that. I also learned that one study found 75% of people have some sort of back problems but experience no pain. Curious. I was especially interested in the chapters that touched on dealing with cancer. A study showed that almost all cancer patients had undergone an exceptionally tramatic event in their lives in the year before they were diagnosed with cancer.

 

Interesting, though a little out of date and a bit pseudo-scientific.

 

68. Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop

 

Fuchsia lived in China off and on for about ten years. She entered China as a journalist and left intrigued with its cuisine. And what a cuisine? Is there anything they don’t eat in China? I honestly cannot imagine getting all gooey-eyed over snapping off and crunching on rabbit heads. Ick. And bladders? Eek. Dunlop’s final confrontation is with a caterpillar crawling on a leaf in her garden at home in England. I hope I’m not giving anything away when I tell you that she plucked the caterpillar off the leaf and popped it in her mouth and regarded the entire affair as a triumph of her new eating sensibilities. Sorry, but I must comment with a final yuck.

 

69. Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill

 

I was on a bookring for this book, but the originator of the ring brought the book home before Christmas so that he could read the book again and it seems the bookring shows no signs of starting back up. Thus, I was happy to discover this book at my local library. Who woulda thunk it? 

 

Peter Hill is a young, restless art student in the early 70’s when he discovers an opportunity to work for the summer as a lighthouse keeper. Lighthouse keeping is a mythical profession and lighthouses are mythical places. A job that no longer exists and a place that is all but unnecessary with today’s satellites and GPS. Still, it was great fun to travel with Hill to lighthouses around Scotland and visit with keepers there. It brought me to mind my summer working in Yellowstone Park around the same time. I’ve always thought that summer would make a wonderful book….

 

70. (un)FASHION by Tibor + Maira Kalman

 

I read Kalman’s Principles of Uncertainty three times and actually sought out a copy for my shelf. I had to take a look at (un)FASHION when I discovered it was part of Kalman’s oeuvre.

 

And look I did. It’s the kind of book you want to share with someone; on almost every page you want to shout, “Look at this! Can you believe this?”

 

Not sure you would say I read this book. But I’m quite sure I will re-read it (re-look it?) at least once more before I return it to the library.

1 | Comment (0)