A Work in Progress

Finally Finished

I feel like I have spent so much time reading this book, that it deserves to be written about.  I posted about it earlier when I was starting it in March!  It is beautifully written, and reading it sometimes felt like eating a huge piece of Italian cream cake--very good, but very rich.  I think that was why it seemed to take me forever to get through it.  It is set in 11th century Japan--the fictional account of the life of Murasaki Shikibu who wrote the Tale of Genji. 

Everything about it is so exotic, it felt quite alien.  Women blackened their teeth to be fashionable, and would wear layer upon layer of silk robes, sometimes so many I wonder how they could walk! A well bred woman could mix her own incense.  Demons could posses people and exorcists would be brought in to free the bodies of these spirits.  Murasaki must have been quite educated and I imagine her family must have been fairly prominent.  According to the introduction, poetry (it was called waka) was the primary mode of communication in Murasaki's circle.  All the poems in the book were written by Murasaki or by those in her circle.  It is from these poems that the author, Liza Dalby, actually constructed this book.

I think Asian culture is very interesting--perhaps because it feels so different than my own.  This book is really gorgeous in its imagery and well worth the effort to read.  It is definitely one that you do need to spend some time on.  It goes much quicker if you read a small chunk at a time.   You really need to immerse yourself into it to really appreciate it.

May Booked By 3

Okay, I have never posted answers to a meme on my blog, but I saw one on BookGirl's Nightstand (originating from Shelly's Book Shelf) that looked interesting, so here goes...

How do you find books to read?  Reviews?  Recommendations? Favorite Authors? Other?  I never have a problem finding good books to read.  I tend to browse bookstores and Amazon (if browsing is possible) quite a bit.  I like to read Pages and Bookmarks as well as checking out the New York Times book review and occasionally flipping through Publishers Weekly at the bookstore (they do a great issues for the big Fall and Spring releases).  I used to work in an independent bookstore (where one of my main jobs was to enter all the new book orders!!), and I got to see all the new book catalogs (that was heaven!).  Now I work in an academic library, so I get good recommendations from coworkers.  An academic library's collection is hugely different than what we ordered in at the bookstore, but we still get some very interesting titles (from a non-student perspective!).  I also like to browse publisher websites and now I have been getting good reading suggestions from other bloggers.

Where do you get your books? Independent bookstores? Chain stores? Online? Library?  I tend to get most of my books at a couple local bookstores.  I hate to admit they are chain stores, especially after working so long in an independent store.  I always vowed I would never do so, but after the bokstore I worked at closed, there weren't many options left.  The stores I shop at are convenient, and I get the occasional coupon, which makes it nice.  I also was quite a binge shopper at Amazon, but I have been trying really hard to pay off my credit card, so there hasn't been much online activity for me!  I also get some great catalogs in the mail (and they also have online stores) like The Common Reader (the newest catalog just came--my scanned picture), Daedalus (excellent discount books!!), and Bas Bleu.  Am I missing any?  They are also great to look at and get more reading suggestions!  And finally, since I have been trying to budget, I have been visiting the public library much more frequently!   I usually get new hardcover releases (and then feel so proud of myself for just having saved a bundle of money!).

When? Or more accurately, how often? How many books on average do you get or buy each month? This is sort of a scary question...I hit either the bookstore or the library about once a week.  I have maybe ten books checked out from the library (however that is several weeks worth of visits).  As for the bookstore, I probably leave with between four and six books and maybe a couple of magazines...yes, I know I am bad (considering I only finish 4-5 books a month).  In my defense I have been working my way through gift certificates from Christmas and my birthday in terms of bookstore buying, so I don't feel quite as guilty.  I have one left and when that one runs out...I may start having withdrawal symptoms if I can't buy anything new!

Books About Books

The next best thing to reading a really good book, is reading a book about books!  I stopped by the library after work tonight and picked up a couple of interesting titles.  I had thought "Book Lust" would be a book of lists, but it actually looks quite readable!  I have several different reading group guides and they basically list books and give a short description.  There are lists in this book as well, but it will be interesting to see what she has to say about her selections as the author is a librarian herself and even has a local book review program on the radio.  I am not sure why I haven't checked this one out before as it has been out for a couple of years now.  There is also a "More Book Lust" available, but my library doesn't have it (it did just come out last month, however, so they may get it yet).

I am not sure where I heard about this one, but it looks very interesting as well.  "The Splendor of Letters" is the third book in a trilogy.  I have not read any of the books.  The first concerns collectors, the second is a companion volume, and this third one is about preservation. I may do a little skimming and if it seems promising I may have to purchase the set as I believe they are all in paperback.  This one seems to discuss libraries, which is really most pertinent to my own experiences.  Space is always a consideration and I tend to cringe at times when I see all the books that need to be discarded. 

  I think I mentioned this one recently.  I bought "So Many Books, So Little Time" last time I was at the bookstore.  But as it fits in so well with what I am writing about, I will mention it again.  The author writes about her "year of passionate reading"--52 books in 52 weeks.  I wonder how many I will end up with this year?  Wouldn't it be nice to read everything I bought and have checked out from the library?  Wishful thinking...

New Nordic Needle Catalog

The new Nordic Needle catalog came today.  They are in Fargo, ND and specialize in Hardanger Embroidery.  I actually have really not tried Hardanger or any type of cutwork in my needlework--I am too afraid still--just very basic stitches.  Once those threads are snipped--well, I hope you cut the right ones!  I would like to learn more of it eventually.  Nordic Needle sends out a catalog, but they are also online.  They sell a variety of other needlework charts and supplies as well as Hardanger charts and kits and books...  Usually the things I order from them are beads and flosses that are hard to find as they seem to carry everything!  I imagine their store must be quite nice to visit!!  So now I will be dragging this catalog around with me for the next week making up imaginary orders. 

As a small aside, I have watched the first DVD of "The Monarch of the Glen" (the first four episodes) and it is very addictive.  I think I am going to have to add this to my Amazon Wishlist again.  I will also be adding my name to the library list for the next season of shows.  It is very BBC!  A bit quirky, well acted, and the scenery is gorgeous!!  I definitely recommend this one!

Swapping ATCs

It has been ages since I have made any ATCs, but out of the blue a French lady emailed asking to swap ATCs.  I think swapping one on one is now my favorite way to make and trade ATCs.  I burned myself out on all the organized swaps I was doing last fall, and I really had to take a break.  But now I really enjoy just swapping a few at a time with another ATC artist!

In my haste to get mine finished and in the mail I forgot to scan the ones I made, but I will share the cards I received in return.  Two are Frida cards.  Frida is one of my favorite artists.  She was so different and she had such an unusual life, I really admire her and her art.  I have a growing collection of ATCs in honor of Frida!  I love the Frida card on the right (in the scan above).  It looks like their is a skeleton leaf behind Frida, but actually I believe Laurence must have drawn in the leaf with colored pencils.  And she added actual lace for her dress.  You may not be able to see the texture very well from the scan.  And I love the details on the bottom cards.  The top left has sparklies on her jewelry and feather in her hair.  In the top right, the lady's wings are actually eyes (very nicely done as you don't notice it at first), and the bottom card also has this wonderful texture that she must have made with paints, and perhaps a sponge?  You may not be able to see all the details on the scans.  I love getting cards from other artists--I get such great ideas and inspiration from them!  I believe Laurence and I will be trading again the future.  I will try and remember to scan mine as well and share them next time around!

Colors and Their Story

For a while now I have been fascinated with colors--their history, their meaning, how they are made...Yesterday when I hit the bookstore after work I came across this book, "A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire" .  It is a new hardcover, and normally I try and avoid buying hardcovers, but it looked too good to pass up!  It is a tale of the quest to find cochineal (a small insect from which we get the color red).  The book jacket says--"true-life tales of mystery, empire, and adventure, in pursuit of the most desirable color on earth".  I want to start it right now, but I have to finish "The Red House" since I have had it going for ages.  And as I am finally really into the story, now is not the time to set it aside again.  But this one has risen to the top of the pile of books I will be starting soon!

My interest in colors goes back a while.  When I was working at an independent bookstore, I picked up these books by Alexander Theroux, "The Primary Colors" and "The Secondary Colors".  These are books of essays that give colors a more literary spin.  I don't know if I read them in their entirety the first time around, so I have brought them out for a re-read.  They are not so much a history of but rather the meaning of.

I read this one last Summer.  "Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments" is from the Abrams "Discoveries" series.  This is wonderfully illustrated and gives the historical aspects of colors from the Paleolithic period through our modern use of synthetic colors.  The back of the book includes documents.  One lists the etymology of red, which has dozens of shades--32 in all!!   This is a quick book to get through and highly readable.

Finally, "Color: a Natural History of the Palette" is an anecdotal history of ochre, brown and black, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.  I admit I started this one, but when I got the "Red House" I set it aside.  The book is really part travelogue as well.  She begins in Australia in her search for ochre and per the back of the book, by the time you read about violet you'll have traversed much of the world.  I love books like these.  Something so commonplace that you don't even think about it can have books worth of history behind it--and interesting history as well. I am always on the look out for books like these, so if you have any other suggestions, I would love to hear about more titles along these lines!

So Many Books and Well, So Many Books...

I know there are people out there who actually pick up a book, read the entire contents, put it away, and then start another one.  What a concept.  As  you can probably tell, I am not one of those people.  Lately, I admit, things have gotten somewhat out of control in terms of the quantity of books that are on my bedside table.  These are not just books I want to read, but these are my current reads!  I certainly can't be the only person who has multiple books going on at once, but it seems my friends are more of the "one book at a time" variety.  It is not just books that I do this with, however.  I also can't just stitch just one project at a time.  I think I must have an equal number of needlework projects going on as well.  Te be honest I am concentrating mostly on the top two books on the stack at the moment.  I do plan on paring the pile down and *not* (maybe...) starting anything new as I finish a few of them.  My problem is that so many books beg to be read now, that I can't help myself.  And there are a few other books in a pile behind this one...

Needlework Exchange

Okay, I can finally share the pillow I made for my needlework exchange!  It is a Prairie Schooler design--one of my favorite designers.  I stitched it on 35 count Lambswool fabric using plain old DMC floss.  I really enjoyed stitching it, though the cream color that fills in the hoop felt like it took *forever* to complete!  I bought the fabric from a local quilting store, where one of the ladies who works there helped me choose the fabric.  Actually I picked out several different fat quarters and she helped me choose two from the batch.  It is always nice to get a second opinion!

This is the ornament that I received in the exchange.  I love it--it is also a design by Prairie Schooler (she has lots of designs that would work for this theme!).  The stitcher is an a lady who lives in Austria and she really does very lovely work!  This is stitched over one linen thread.  It has a very delicate look to it--like petit point.  I have tried over one stitching, but I admit I don't have the patience for it.  I always manage to make some mistake after I have completed most of the chart and then cannot pick it out--making it very frustrating for me.  So I can appreciate all the hard work she put into stitching this.  It is also finished *perfectly*.  Not a seam or thread shows, which I think is amazing!  Even though they can be a lot of work, I really love these exchanges!  All the hard work is worth it when you get a lovely new ornament in the mail!

To Finish or Not to Finish...That is the Question

Okay.  What do you do when you have invested a certain amount of time and in some cases money in a book, only to discover you aren't really enjoying it?  I have a couple of books right now that I am reading, but to be honest not particularly enjoying.  If I get past say 30 pages or so, I will try to slog through and finish it out as I hate to start something and then not finish.

I checked out Alice Hoffman's new book, "The Ice Queen" from the library, so there is the added rush of getting it read by the due date.  I am trying to like it.  I read the Amazon reviews and they are for the most part all glowing.  So what am I missing?  I have only read one other book by Alice Hoffman, "The Blackbird House", which is a book of short stories.  I really liked that one.  But for some reason this one is just not appealing to me very much.  It should be a quick read considering it is under 200 pages and the print is on the large size!

I am also reading Jasper Fforde's, "The Eyre Affair".  It was recommended to me by two coworkers, and at first I really thought I was going to love it.  And there is still time, but I feel like he is spending way too much time setting the scene or something.  I was told that in this book, Jane Eyre is kidnapped.  The whole premise of the book is that Tuesday Next (our heroine) is a Spec Op (Literary Police), and she lives in this alternative reality.  It is 80s Britain and the Crimean War is still raging.  It is really quite creative, though maybe some of the word plays go a little bit too far.  I think it is a first novel, so he gets some leeway!  Anyway, I am well into the book and not much has been said about good old Jane, so he is starting to lose me.  I do plan on sticking to this one, however.  I am hoping it gets better though!

A Handsome Scottish Laird...

I have had the BBC series, "Monarch of the Glen" on my Amazon wishlist for quite a while now.  No one took the hint, so I did the next best thing and requested it at the public library.  I know there are at least two seasons of this show, but so far I have just requested series 1.  There are eight episodes, so this should keep me busy for a while.  I probably won't even be able to watch it until the weekend, but it is something to look forward to.  I am not even sure how I came across this, but it piqued my curiosity--"Archie MacDonald, a reluctant Scottish laird torn between his trendy London life and the call of his wild Highland ancestry"--per the DVD case.  Sounds good to me!  I sometimes forget all the great things I can find at the library.  I also checked out a few more books to add to my ever increasing pile: "Rosa" by Jonathan Nabb, "Eve Green" by Susan Fletcher (I read about this in Bookmarks magazine--it won the Whitbread Award for best first novel), and "The Painting" by Nina Schuyler.  Too bad there aren't a few more hours in the day...I could use them to catch up on my reading...