Tag Archives: Books

A Year in Books/Day 225: Egon Schiele

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  • Title: Egon Schiele
  • Author: Sandra Forty
  • Year Published: 2012 (TAJ Books International)
  • Year Purchased: New Year’s Day 2013
  • Source: Half Price Books
  • About: Another day, another review of a small book with generous appeal. Sandra Forty’s seven pages of text get the party started. With such limited space, she tells the Austrian painter’s story well and with much-needed concision. There’s no room for depth, but she does what needs to be done and does it admirably. The star of the book is, of course, Schiele’s art. There are eighty-two chronologically arranged plates, each one contributing to the riveting aesthetic harmony of one of the most astonishing artistic outputs of the 20th century. The reproductions may be tiny, but they are stunning.
  • Motivation: Egon Schiele is one of my favourite artists. I find inspiration from hundreds of sources: kooky, disparate, and not all word related. Art, photography, silent cinema, and fashion history all serve me well when, throwing off the shadows from my mind, I head out into the wider world in search of creative focus.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Page 4: “Furthermore, he subverted the usual approach to portraiture and instead explored unusual angles, asking his models to twist and turn into unconventional attitudes and stare back at the observer with baleful, unblinking eyes.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10+++
    Egon Schiele, Self-portrait, 1912

    Egon Schiele, Self-portrait, 1912 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    To learn more about the artist, and to see great examples of his work, head on over to the Egon Schiele Artsy page.

A Few Words About My Project 366

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You may have noticed that I slacked off on 2012’s Project 366. Earlier today, I posted entry #224. Never fear, I’ll power through until the series is finished. Or will I? Yes, and then some. After #366 is up, the series will continue under  a different title. With 1000+ books (and rapidly growing) I have enough material to keep this baby rolling for years.

Remember this? Yeah, it is even bigger now.

Remember this? Yeah, it is even bigger now.

A Year in Books/Day 224: Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life

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  • Title: Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life
  • Author: Jennifer Worick
  • Year Published: 2001 (A Running Press Miniature Edition)
  • Year Purchased: December 2012
  • Source: Fred Flare
  • About: Nancy Drew’s best quotes, sorted into eight self-help type categories: Survival Strategies; Dating: A Primer; Sleuthing 101; The Delicate Art of Etiquette; Wilderness Tips; On Being a Lady; Powers of Observation; Accoutrements. Whatever your feelings about the Nancy Drew series are, you’ll think these out-of-context quotes are hilarious. If you don’t, well, that’s a bigger mystery than anything the girl detective ever solved.
  • Motivation: Tiny books practically scream, “I’m a stocking stuffer.” I bought two copies of this book for just that reason, plus a third to keep.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Pages 103 and 94: “Never lose your girlish glee when your dad buys you a ticket to Hong Kong.”/”If a bleeding, screaming man runs from shore and starts swimming frantically toward your boat, you should probably help him out. He might be escaping from cruel employers.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

    Wacky advice that fits in the palm of your (husband's) hand.

    Wacky advice that fits in the palm of your (husband’s) hand. Instagram.

Daily Prompt: Quote Me

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As you probably know by now, I’m a quote collector. I have hand-written notebooks full of them (a decade’s worth), and I post one here every Tuesday. Today’s Daily Prompt: Quote Me is right up my alley.

The quote I’m spotlighting has deep meaning for me, professionally and personally. The man behind the words is the reason I walk my particular creative path (of creating, publishing, writing, and editing only for indie and small press publications), and his inspirational words guide me through every challenge and triumph. If the quote looks familiar, it is because it has pride of place at the top of the right sidebar on this blog.

“Young or old, those who have anything to say will have their own way of saying it.”-Robert McAlmon

 

New Year’s Day Book Hunt

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My favourite New Year’s Day tradition doesn’t involve parades or football games or overindulging in sweets. For this girl, it is all about books. Shocking, no?

A pile 'o books and calendars.

A pile ‘o books and calendars.

This pile ‘o goodies is the result of my annual New Year’s Day Book and Calendar Hunt. As you can see, the 2013 edition was quite successful. I decided to by-pass literature in favour of selections from the genres of art, biography, and silent film. Here are a few of the highlights:

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

Egon Schiele by Sandra Forty

REASON: Egon Schiele is my favourite artist (in a three-way tie with Modigliani and Pissarro).

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

Frontier Madam The Life of Dell Burke, Lady of Lusk by June Willson Read

REASON: Who could pass up a book with a title like this? Continue reading →