The 2017 Nonfiction Challenge Part VII: Creators and Creativity in July

A lot of us had great intentions in June with the natural world challenge, but whether it was the books we chose, the weather, or other interferences, well, stuff happened! But now it's a new month, and a new theme: creators and creativity. Let your minds run wild. Anyone who creates things, and any things that are created. I remember reading a book about a guy who specialized in carving, in the style of the ornamental work done in the 17th and 18th centuries, and who was called on to replace the carvings destroyed in a fire at Hampton Court Palace. The Lost Carving: a Journey to the Heart of Making was a wonderful book about technique and artistry and about what it takes to practice a craft in the 20th and 21st centuries. That's the kind of book that would fit wonderfully in here. On the other hand, if you want to read a comedian's memoir, that's great, too. Or a book about writing. Whatever creativity means to you. Find a book that fits the theme, post it, read it, then come back and tell us how it worked for you and score a book bullet!

If you have any questions, post them here or send me a PM (sometimes the latter may be faster, especially later in the month...)

What we're reading:





For those planning ahead, here's what's coming up in the rest of the year:

August: I’ve Always Been Curious About….
A catch-all category. If the topic of the book can complete the sentence, you can add it to the challenge.

September: Gods, Demons and Spirits
Religion, spirituality of al kinds; read about the Salem witch trials or animism in West Africa if you want.

October: The World We Live In: Current Affairs
It will be a year after Brexit; a year after Trump's election. What does the world look like? What forces are driving us? Find a book about some of the themes and issues that are at the top of the news by then.

November: Science and Technology
Probably self-explanatory, another holdover.

December: Out of Your Comfort Zone
A nonfiction book that isn't something that you would normally gravitate to, about a subject you'd never normally read about, or that is a "book bullet" you'd never previously heard about from another LT reader.

To learn more about the African-American Music and Art Renaissance in 1960s Chicago,

here's:

The Freedom Principle
Experiments in Art and Music
1965 to Now

It looks really promising - joint effort of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
and The University of Chicago Press.

Question from end of last Thread: why are 150 posts a requirement?

I'm reading The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe- -the book seems to fit the category!

>2 m.belljackson: That's just the way LT has set it up. Once a thread gets to that length, especially if it has a lot of photos in it, it can become cumbersome for some systems to load. So they introduced the continuation feature after 150 posts. I don't think they anticipated the way we're using it in this challenge, to move from one month to the next, regardless of how long the thread is. Posting a link to the new thread at the end of the old one works if we don't get to 150 messages and don't want to pad the thread.

>4 laytonwoman3rd:

Okay - maybe if more of us write a brief review or update and also comment on each other's
inspiring entries, posts will add up quicker.

>3 torontoc:

Sounds intriguing - which Impressionists are included?

With his exhibit at The Art Institute, I was wondering if Gauguin was in that group,
though his paintings veer wildly away.

I'll be reading James McBride's Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul, which will double for my AAC read.

I just got a book for Father's Day that will work here: Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer by Arthur Lubow.

     Here are six of Arbus' iconic portraits.

 

 

 

I am planning on reading Theatre of the World by Frances Yates for my July book

>5 m.belljackson: Exactly; I'd kind of like us to do more commenting on each other's books and on our own, too, so that we end up with more book bullets. Because y'all know that I have TOO FEW BOOKS to read... :-)

I'm planning to read Mrs P's Journey: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Created the A-Z Map. I'll be reading James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, for the AAC but I don't know that it fits. He's an author, but I don't think the book has much to do with his writing. It's about his mother, and I don't think she is an author.

I'm a bit lacking in imagination this month - want to read my own books if I can, as I'm way behind on this!

Like the sound of Mrs P's Journey, and enjoy photography books like >8 weird_O: but find them difficult to get hold of.

Not sure what I will be reading. I have a great start on the book for last month and want to finish it. I am thinking that I will read 52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust. Here is the Amazon blurb about the book.

William Alexander is determined to bake the perfect loaf of bread. He tasted it long ago, in a restaurant, and has been trying to reproduce it ever since. Without success. Now, on the theory that practice makes perfect, he sets out to bake peasant bread every week until he gets it right. He bakes his loaf from scratch. And because Alexander is nothing if not thorough, he really means from scratch: growing, harvesting, winnowing, threshing, and milling his own wheat.

An original take on the six-thousand-year-old staple of life, 52 Loaves explores the nature of obsession, the meditative quality of ritual, the futility of trying to re-create something perfect, our deep connection to the earth, and the mysterious instinct that makes all of us respond to the aroma of baking bread.

I have two books I'm considering for this month's challenge:

The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art by J. David Lewis-Williams
and
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

>6 m.belljackson: Sue Roe, the author, includes more painters than I thought were involved with the early exhibitions. -Pissarro, Monet, Manet, Morisot,Degas, Sisley, Bazille,Cassatt, Cezanne and Caillebotte. Some of the painters were very poor and really struggled.

>8 weird_O: Those photos by Diane Arbus are fascinating. I have not heard of her so I'll look forward to your comments (and more photos?), Bill.

I'm thinking about joining Amanda in reading James McBride's Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul, which will also double for my AAC read. But I think I have a copy of Annie Dillard's The Writing Life around the house, too, and that interests me. So we'll see.

>13 benitastrnad:

Bread making is an amazing Art (so many things can go awry!) and the Amazon write-up makes it sound even more intriguing.

Somewhere in Hyde Park (south side of Chicago), in the 1960s, we found an unforgettable bread which I've never seen duplicated
in taste or ingredients. I've carried the Magic Hearth WHOLE EARTH BREADS (Carmel Valley, California) label around for over 50 years.

GOOD WINTER BREAD

Unleavened . Primitive Style

Wholewheat, Rye, Buckwheat, Brown Rice and Millet Flours,
Cracked Wheat, Cornmeal, Rolled Oats, Kelp Powder, Natural Water

NET WT. 16 oz (1 LB.)

This sounds like one your author might enjoy.

I am going to try to get to The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley. I still haven't finished my June book, so we'll see if July goes any better....

>18 katiekrug: I just finished that one as an audiobook. I found it interesting if a bit inconclusive. Hope you like it.

I shall report back, Erik!

I have to go have a look at Manderley Forever. Tatiana de Rosnay is a bit hit and miss for me, but I imagine she'd do a great job with a bio. Also, I love Daphne du Maurier. *shiver*
If I can find that at the library, I will read it, I think. Otherwise, I have Knitting Pearls in the pile.

Still to decide....

I didn't participate in June because I really didn't have any books that fit the theme. I have a couple of possibilities for this month:


William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Home by Pamela Todd


Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places by Ursula Le Guin

I've been meaning to read Dr. Mutter's Marvels, and it seems to fit this month's challenge, so that's the one for me.

I am also reading Smartest Places on Earth: Why Rustbelts Are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation by Antoine van Agtmael. This one is for work. We are having a discussion of how to make our university one of those hotspots. Hence, the reason or reading it. It seems to fit here so I will include it for this month.

#18
I like Eric Weiner's work. I listened to Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World a few years ago, but didn't know that he had written this book. I will have to look for this book. It might make a great listening book when I make my summer car trip/trek back to Kansas.

Good to hear a positive report of The Geography of Bliss, which I also have on my shelf to read!

>8 weird_O: I love Arbus. We saw an exhibit of her work at the Met last fall.

I have already finished my book for this quarter! I read Just Kids by Patty Smith, her memoir about the times she and Robert Mapplethorpe spent as struggling artists. It was interesting, but I think she is a better song writer than memoir writer.

#27
I liked the book, it was not that academic (a good example of narrative non-fiction) but like somebody else said it was informative rather than definite. That is OK with me, as it did tell me why some citzens of some countries are so happy with their governments and what impact that happiness has on the culture and overall well being of the citizens. I would never have thought it made that much difference, but it does. According to the book, places like Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland have very happy populations, even though they pay a ton of taxes. Who would have thought that paying taxes could make you a happier person? But it is one of the factors in the happiness quotient.

I'll try to read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I'm not doing well with the challenges, but I hope to be reading more soon!

>29 benitastrnad:

Maybe high taxes = great health care = road to happiness...?

I'm currently reading Rooms of One's Own: 50 Places that made literary history by Adrian Mourby, so I guess that just comes in under the wire, places where literary creativity took place. I'll have finished it by tonight, and will rummage for something else in this category this month.

At the weekend I was at Stanley Spencer's Cookham, and bought a couple of slim books at the gallery, so I'll read those this month too.


Self-Portrait, done in his thirties.

>30 streamsong: Love Bird by Bird!!!

I would love to participate in this but I am not sure just yet what I will read. I am really interested in Art in all its forms right now so probably something of the sort but I don't know...I find that if I trust in the universe it usually sends me something! I'll keep my eyes and ears open until I find just the right thing!

>34 mmignano11: you're not alone, as I also am not sure what will be my read for this challenge. Something will present itself for this month's read, at some point I'm sure.

I was actually thinking about skipping this month and going back to the 2 previous months that I never managed to complete but I see that the James McBride book about James Brown is included here so since I am reading that for the AAC, I will count it for this one, too.

#36
I am still reading my book for last month and liking it to much to abandon it, so I plan on finishing it first.

I've remembered a book on my own shelves about South African Art, produced by the British Museum. Maybe this will be the month I can strike it off the TBR list!

Kill 'Em and leave: searching for James Brown and the American soul is a Citizen Kane-style search for the man behind the legend. McBride is openly and unapologetically biased on some points, but it's a very interesting read.

The Freedom Principle works at once as a vivid MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) exhibit catalogue and as a compelling introduction to the glorious pride, unity, and freedom of the AACM
(Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and the African American artists of 1960s Chicago.

The book soars when it opens up to Works 1, 2, and 3, while the essays and conversations move between erudite and boring to informative, exciting, and historical,
all with an invitation to read, hear, see, and learn more. Artworks are beautifully reproduced, along with creative compilations of classic artist and musician photographs.

The Freedom Principle would be a perfect addition to the Reading Lists of Chicago "Hometown" President Barack Obama.

Dr. Mutter's Marvels was very good. Set during an era when medicine was just starting to emerge from the primitive. No anesthesia, no understanding of the importance of cleanliness and sanitation in preventing infection. Among other things, Dr. Mutter helped pioneer both, and developed plastic surgery techniques for cleft palate and other disfigurements that changed lives.

Despite claiming to be reading my own shelves, a book has come in from the library How to read a modern painting. I love this choice of Hopper painting for the cover.

I finished my book for June and the Natural World challenge and decided to let people here know I finished it. My reason is that there is a great deal of creativity displayed in this book. I did not realize that the science of plate techtonics is so new. The theory was old, but proving it is still new to science. The real work of explaining plate techtonics started in the 1970's and like most new ideas it took several creative minds working together to get the point across to other scientists and the general public. Assembling California by John McPhee is a fine example of a good author who wrote the book for the lay person collaborating with the scientist who wrote the book on plate techtonics - Eldridge Moores. Even though this book was written in 1994 when the 1989 San Francisco earthquake was still new news, it is not dated. As the author and the geologist point out - compared to geologic time, for most humans, time is measured in four generations - your grandparents, yours, your children's, and your gradndchildren's. If you want to know what keeps California rockin', and you want to see creataive academics at work - read this book.

I am going to start on 52 Loaves by William Alexander tonight. This one looks like lots of fun.

Knitting Pearls
A collection of essays by writers, about knitting. Some of the essays were funny, some sweet, others not so sweet. Mostly enjoyable.

From "Positive Capability" by Maile Meloy:
Knitting, I've come to think, is not about working in the dark and doing what you can, or doubt being your passion. Writing is about that. Knitting is about having a good light and a good friend to fix your mistakes. It's about setting aside time to think about the new baby, or the beloved wooden ship, or the man who will unstuff the stocking, while you work. It's tangible evidence of love, manifested through time, stitch by stitch. At least that's what it is for me, now, and all it needs to be.

I finally finished my June book. I hope that I can finish July's before the end of the month. It will be Falling Backwards: A Memoir by Jann Arden. I've heard that she is very interesting so looking forward to this.

>46 Familyhistorian: - Oh, I read that one just a few months ago, Meg, and really enjoyed it. I hear she has a new one out, a sort-of updated memoir that continues where this one left off. The title escapes me at this early hour but I want to get my hands on it, too. Arden is quite a character but a really good one. I saw her perform a Christmas concert here in Toronto last December and she reminded me that her talent is also huge.

>47 jessibud2: It is starting out well, Shelley. When I took it down from the shelf there was a boarding pass stuck in it as a book mark so I am not sure if I started it before and stopped mid way through but so far nothing seems familiar - but that is no real indicator that I haven't read it before LOL.

I have started Manderley Forever and it's great. Hard to put down.

Book #90 Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places by Ursula Le Guin (302 pp.)

I have been greatly enjoying reading this book as my bathtub book for the first 2/3 of July. Long on my shelves, I pulled it out in response to the July Nonfiction Challenge: Creators and Creativity. And it fit the billing perfectly. This is a collection of Le Guin's talks, essays and reviews from 1976 to 1988. I only have half a dozen tags sticking out of the pages, but I could have had 4 times that number. The leisurely pace of reading an article a day left space for taking the time to let the ideas emerge and submerge themselves in my consciousness as she talks about writing, women and women's experience of writing and how it may differ from men's, and some perfectly lovely travelogue diary excerpts where one wants to roll oneself in the luxuriousness of the written language. She is sharp, acerbic, wise, deep, tolerant, critical, and creative. I immediately went to Amazon to buy her latest nonfiction collection, Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, with a Journal of a Writer’s Week, skipping over the two collections in between (for the time being, at least) as I want to see what she is thinking about NOW after reading her thoughts of 30 years ago.

Cryptoquote from a few days ago:

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.

-- Leo Tolstoy

Manderley Forever was a good read. I knew nothing about Daphne du Maurier's private life before reading this, so I have nothing to compare it to. I thought it was well researched and interesting, although I occasionally wondered if the author had her own agenda. That wasn't too distracting though.

I have been AWOL completely this month -- my apologies.

I too, have finished Manderley Forever, although I wasn't completely enthralled with it. I had read other biographies, and it didn't add much to what is already out there, and I found it a bit repetitive, hammering home several points repeatedly. I think her family will love it (they didn't like Forster's bio, apparently) and I think it's a decent step forward for those whose only familiarity with the author is Rebecca and one or two other of the better-known novels. But I also felt the style got in the way, and the repetitiveness. It was an OK read for me, but that's all.

A new post, to try and boost the post count! I think I'm going to try and finish Identity Unknown by Donna Seaman this month -- it's about seven women who were relatively well known American artists during their lives in the 20th centuries (eg Louise Nevelson) but who since their deaths have become almost unknown, in contrast to their male counterparts. It's a fascinating premise and she casts a wide net in terms of the artists she chooses to look at -- their backgrounds, experiences, type of art (one is a textile artist), etc.

I'm currently looking at my shelves trying to decide what to read for next month. I have a book on ornamental hermits I've been meaning to read for ages.

I will pump up the count with an entry and greatly following these threads for ideas. With thanks!

>54 Chatterbox:

Yes, your Commentary will again be welcomed!

I have been doing lots of reading this month, but just got started on my chosen book 52 Loaves a few days ago. At this point I have nothing to report on the book, but will add to the thread count whenever I can.

#54
I am one of those people who have only read Rebecca. I kept putting it off because I figured that since it was a classic that I could always find it easily and had plenty of time to read it - at some point in the future. I finally got around to it a few years ago. I also have Frenchman's Creek on my TBR list. Someday.

I just finished Absolutely on Music Conversations with Seiji Ozawa by Haruki Murakami and really enjoyed the dialogue - the conversations covered some of Ozawa's music history, his thoughts on the difference between Japanese and European musicians and his opinions on Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, the composer Mahler and more.
This is my second book on the July theme.

>61 torontoc: I was just eyeing that on our music-related-books shelf yesterday. I won't get to it this month, but I may read it soonish. It's technically my husband's book, and he hasn't read it yet either, but I think I can get away with it.

>62 laytonwoman3rd: I enjoyed reading this book!

Today is a "cats and books" day -- in other words, I'm doing nothing constructive except reading. So I may make some progress on book #2. Maybe...

But the August freewheeling challenge is looking appealing right now. I'm glad I threw in a wide-open challenge like that for mid-summer.

I haven't been doing any "cats and books" days but I haven't been feeling all that perky when I get home from work for the last two days. Both nights I went to bed early and spent about an hour reading before falling asleep. That allowed me to finish one book. Unfortunately, not one for this category.

Ugh, cats. *shivers*

I am reading Option B by Sheryl Sandberg (thinking/emotional creativity) and Chickpea Flour Does it all by Lindsey S. Love (cooking creativity).
Really I'm pumping up the numbers!

>66 amanda4242: What's wrong with cats??

I can't remember for the moment who is reading Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner, but I just discovered that the Providence Athenaeum has it in hand and they will set it aside for me to pick up. They are all going on vacation and closing their doors until the 14th -- gulp. I will survive.

>67 mdoris: Yes, you are!! (I'm falling down on the job this month... no creativity AT ALL.)

>68 Chatterbox: They're evil and gross. (Can you tell I'm a dog person?)

Hey, I like dogs, too. I stop and talk to them on the streets, and don't tell them that they're evil and gross. *grin*

My cats are lovely. Cassie, who has been sick, comes running to meet me at the door, chirping away to tell me what has been happening while I have been away, and insists on cuddling up beside me and purring each night. She's so happy to see me come home, she almost dances with excitement. Molly-cat is sitting beside me right now and as soon as I look at her she starts to purr.

>71 Chatterbox: Gah! That sounds like my idea of hell! ;)

>70 amanda4242: Lots of cat-lovers around here will take exception to that! Our household has often had both cat and dog companions. (I'm in favor of all animals, myself.)

>71 Chatterbox: "Molly-cat is sitting beside me right now and as soon as I look at her she starts to purr." My very own Molly-cat is a pre-emptive purrrer too...you don't even have to touch her to make her start.

>73 laytonwoman3rd: Well, I confess I'm not much of a fan of rodents...

Folks, the final push is on. Please report back on your books when you can, and start thinking about what weirdly creative stuff you might line up for your August reads. In a perfect world, I'd like to have 150 posts here so we can have a seamless transition to the August thread when I set it up at some point on the weekend.

Happy reading!

I'll be reading more of 52 Loaves tonight, but doubt I will finish it before the end of the month.

Just skimmed through the posts again and am curious about "...The Origins of Art" - whether the author believes
the first art was in caves or on tools or pottery or clothing or ???

Also, where are the most creative places in the USA...?

I ordered ASSEMBLING CALIFORNIA and am looking forward to learning more about plate tectonics -
my 4th grade classes and I had fun cutting out the continents and assembling them in various ways oil
we arrived at Pangaea.

>73 laytonwoman3rd: I'm used to holding unpopular opinions. ;)

>74 Chatterbox: Yes, well, there are certain insects I could wish for less contact with...

Don't have either a dog or a cat but a hedgehog has taken up residence in the back garden this past week.

I've been very slack with my creative reading - had a look at the paintings and essays in How to read a modern painting but nowhere near completing it.

>72 amanda4242: This one's for you Amanda, book suggestions for cat lovers.....(yes, I'm being a brat!)

CATS

We can't have cats. We had one once and husband was greatly allergic and I searched high and low for a good home for him but no-one would take him so had to re-home the cat. Drats, he was a beauty too, a lovely small siamese. We named him Loki and the name stuck with the new owners.

Enjoyed reading the poems at the back of Love that Dog so got The Poetry of Robert Frost, The Collected Poems edited by Edward Connery Lathem.

>81 mdoris: Books about cats are fine as long as there are no actual cats staring at me while I'm trying to read.

>68 Chatterbox:

Re: Cats.

Regardless of whether they grew up with them or not, I've met few people who don't like or love dogs.

For all the people I know who don't like cats, every one of them grew up in a family without cats.

>84 m.belljackson: We had cats when I was a kid and I dislike them.

And I grew up in a family without either cats or dogs, and I adored cats from an early age, so go figure! I was always intrigued by their independence and their physical grace. They also don't smell, as some dogs can do, which I dislike.

No cats and one beloved Border Collie, Curly, when I was growing up in Hemingway's old town of Oak Park, Illinois...

My cat, Victoria, responds well to a variety of words - "Water...Eat...Out...Come get a Brushing...Bring us a Ball..." but -
unlike my dogs
who would immediately cease what they were doing at ANY sharp command,

she acts as if I have said nothing or totally don't exist - when she hears "No!"

While I completely admire her refusal to be controlled unless she chooses it,
it can be majorly annoying when we walk outside (on leash) and she continues
to try to eat EVERY blade of grass along the paths.

I finished Kill Em and Leave and I will admit that I was never much of a James Brown fan but chose this book because I really like James McBride as an author. Like so many show biz types, Brown's story had a lot of ups and downs, rag-to-riches and everything in between. What I was left with, though, was what a sad and tragic situation was left in his wake after his death. This book was published in 2016 and who knows when his affairs will ever truly be settled. At the time of his death in 2006, his will stated that much of his wealth be destined to the education and welfare of the poor children of his area and not a penny has benefitted any of them to date. Rather, the courts, lawyers and much of his greedy family have squandered most of it. This is just heart-breaking to me. And certainly would be to Brown, as well, if he knew. I am glad that he doesn't.

McBride did a pretty good job of speaking to Brown's inner circle of friends to flesh out the story of this reclusive man, but as Ellen mentioned in her review of this book, there were parts that included repetitions of events that could have benefitted from tighter editing. Also, name-dropping without a lot of context that went over my head, though that might be because I was not a fan; had I been, I might have recognized more of the names.

I also liked that McBride allowed his own character to come through at times in the narrative. His first non-fiction, The Colour of Water was what put him on my radar, and though this one didn't quite live up to it, I will definitely read his fiction, as well, at some point. Overall, though, a good read.

Picked up The Geography of Genius today, and I'll start reading it tomorrow. We'll see... The other books I thought I might read this month just haven't appealed.

just adding to the count

Anyone else got any updates or general blathering to do? Or is everyone suffering from summer-itis?

We could always talk about the weather. It's supposed to be 106 for the next week in my corner of the world.

I like dogs and cats but prefer to have a dog ( I did but not now) One of my friends has two cats- who are sisters- very different - who are lovely.

I read Kill 'Em and Leave, too, and will post my thoughts here.

Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride

This is an interesting biography of the amazing James Brown, Godfather of Soul, well-researched and dispassionately approached. Locating Brown's controversial roller-coaster career in the racial and class politics of his time, McBride presents Brown's talent and creativity through the lens of a sophisticated musical theorist and historian. Each chapter centers around one key figure in James Brown's life: one of his wives, a member of the band, a manager, a friend, and so on. This brilliant approach allows us to see the musician's humanity, to learn about him through the eyes of those who knew him best. At first it seems that McBride only chose those who loved James Brown and that is to some degree true, but the story reads as true. The consistent theme is that James Brown was difficult to know, that his self-protective armor came down for no one. It is also that he was vulnerable and afraid much of the time.

My main quibble is that McBride repeats himself. It's as if he wrote each of the chapters after interviewing that particular person in James Brown's life but didn't bother to go back and identify some of the points already adequately articulated.

My second, less vehement quibble is that McBride too often lapses into soulless lists of people, usually musicians, who illustrate a quality or a historical trend or a theme in James Brown's life. What's great about this is that the artists he names matter ~ and too many of them are poorly recognized and/or were badly treated by an industry steeped in the racism and sexism of the broader society. What's not great is that the names remain lost without more context. McBride could have spent more time making whatever case the names support; these artists' place in the story of James Brown and, indeed, the story of American culture and music is interesting! It's worth telling. I wish McBride had spent more time telling the story of the context in which James Brown's life and work changed the world and less time telling me yet again that he spent three hours after each performance having his hair done before he would be seen again in public.

Still, it's a worthwhile read and an insightful examination of the Godfather of Soul and the society in which he made his mark.

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech



This is a novel in verse, written from the perspective of a schoolboy coming to terms with poetry. It's a delightful exploration of the process of developing a relationship with poetry as a form of expression. It's also a sweet story of a boy's relationship with his teacher and his dog. Wonderful. I'm keeping this and reading it again and again.

To stretch this toward 150, here are a couple of posts on my end-of-July reading =

just finished Connie Willis' TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG which is memorable for both dogs and cats,
not so hot for readers who bore easily over constant plot repetitions, despite the excitement of time travel.

Has anyone read the book that inspired the title and has a cameo role: Jerome K. Jerome's
Three Men in a Boat-To Say Nothing of the Dog...?

For non-fiction, my $1.00 hardcover from the Sun Prairie Strawberry Festival book sale
is THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE by Peter Quennell, published in 1973.

It is very comprehensive, yet shy of recording the most memorable quotes from each author,
Anglo-Saxons to mid-Twentieth Century and would be most accessible to those more
familiar with English History.

The illustrations are Great!

I'm up to John Milton.

New fiction - halfway through Alice Walker's THE COLOR PURPLE and am hoping that a decent man
appears to lift my depression about these lives.

Online, I'm still in the D Authors with DailyLit.com.

Tale of Two Cities was impressive.

David Copperfield has at last got away from the Murstones
yet I fear that somehow Steerforth may re-enter the plot and
come into Emily's life...

Enough for now, one hopes.

I'm about 70% through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I'm really enjoying it and am slightly ashamed I've owned it for ten years without reading it.

Has anyone been doing any NON-FICTION reading that isn't specifically oriented toward this theme?

I managed to read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, thanks to several book bullets from people here earlier this year, and Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas Ricks, which was an intriguing attempt to juxtapose two very different individuals in a twin biography. I suppose you'd have to call it a parallel biography!

Has anyone been doing any NON-FICTION reading that isn't specifically oriented toward this theme?

Nope, although my ILL request for Ursula K. Le Guin's Cheek by Jowl, which would count for this month, should be in next week

>102 Chatterbox:

Yes, not oriented and with unprintable title, won from Member's Giveaway:

HOW NOT TO GIVE A F ---IN 10 EASY STEPS

by Swami Pranayomama.

>I absolutely loved Three Men In a Boat, but not its sequel.

>97 m.belljackson: Loved Three Men In a Boat, haven't tried the sequel, and loved Willis' homage to it in To Say Nothing of the Dog.

>105 karspeak:
>106 ronincats:

One of the LT reviews said Three Men in a boat was available free online,
so I'll read it on Gutenberg.

Search shows it's also a free movie up on You Tube!

I'm holding onto Willis' book both because a couple of reviewers said to read it AFTER the original
and because I miss Terence.

adding to the count

I've just heard from the library that Meetings with remarkable manuscripts has finally come in on the reserve shelf (requested back in December!)

Something more about the book (to add to the numbers)

"The idea for the book, which is entirely new, is to invite the reader into intimate conversations with twelve of the most famous manuscripts in existence and to explore with the author what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history - and sometimes about the modern world too. Christopher de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, collectors and the international community of manuscript scholars, showing us how he and his fellows piece together evidence to reach unexpected conclusions."

Read more at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/213069/meetings-with-remarkable-manuscripts/#Rdo...

And a picture

Ooooh, well, that will qualify for August, undoubtedly!

I am still plugging away at The Geography of Genius. So far, we've covered Ancient Greece and China during the Song Dynasty. Next up is Florence during the Renaissance, which I know a lot about but love learning even more, so maybe that will help me pick up the pace.

It's an interesting book, but so far, I'm not finding it all that insightful. I keep saying to myself, "Well, yeah..."

Meant to add, I definitely won't finish it this month, so it will have to carry over into August.

I read that Jerome K. Jerome book and thought it was a hoot. Got a real kick out of it. My wife tossed it aside after a chapter or two, labeling it a "frustration" story.

Didn't know there was a sequel.

I passed a bookshop and came out with a copy of Flaneuse. Not sure it meets the challenge but pleased to have a copy in paperback.

>113 katiekrug: Katie, is there an overall argument connecting location and innovation, or have I missed the point?

Bumping up the count but here's my vote concerning the dogs/cats debate.



Needed...... a photography course. Who chopped off the paws?

I am reading Option B by Sheryl Sandberg. She uses creativity to explore the grieving experience.
Not a light summer read but can't control the order in which things come into the library holds.

>116 charl08: Possibly not for this month -- but definitely for August! What an interesting book...

adding

a

few

more

Someone here (naming no names, but she's a dog lover) is very determined. I admire that.

:)

ditto

We can try to keep this thread going until we reach 150
I am still thinking about August- I will have to look through my books.

I've got a long list. Too long. But then, August does have 31 days... And I've got a lot of non-fiction that I would like to read and that would fit the bill!

Ideally, I will post the new thread tomorrow, sometime.

Meanwhile, in spite of Katie's reservations, I will embark on The Geography of Genius.... And challenge myself to finish by Monday night!

Looking forward to next month's reads and ideas.

I'm still not sure what I'll be reading next month. I think part of the problem is that I'm curious about most things.

Me either.

The Geography of Genius is not available at my library.

Although it sounds like fun!
"Tag along on this New York Times bestselling “witty, entertaining romp” (The New York Times Book Review) as Eric Winer travels the world, from Athens to Silicon Valley—and back through history, too—to show how creative genius flourishes in specific places at specific times."

Still 9.99 on uk kindle though...

>120 Chatterbox: Just glad it finally made it to my town. Library cuts seem to have hit nonfiction hard.

>119 mdoris: I hadn't come across this one, wondering if it would be appropriate for someone who recently lost her partner. The reviews on LT seem good, with provisos.

Hope that helped! So close...

Oh, and a NF read this month -

The Argonauts (memoir) - has anyone else read this? I really admire the author's frank and intelligent look at gender, relationships, motherhood and art. So many references I feel I should go back through it taking notes for future reading.

You pass as a guy; I, as pregnant. Our waiter cheerfully tells us about his family, expresses delight in ours. On the surface, it may have seemed as though your body was becoming more and more “male,” mine, more and more “female.” But that’s not how it felt on the inside. On the inside, we were two human animals undergoing transformations beside each other, bearing each other loose witness. In other words, we were aging.

I beheld and still behold in anger and agony the eagerness of the world to throw piles of shit on those of us who want to savage or simply cannot help but savage the norms that so desperately need savaging.

(Quotes via goodreads as kindle highlights don't exist in a a proper book. Gah.)

Eta Touchstone fixed

>141 charl08: Your touchstone is going to Jason and the Argonauts.

>117 charl08: - Charlotte, I am hoping he'll connect some dots or draw some conclusions but so far (and to be fair, I'm only two chapters in) he's just engaging mostly in speculation based on what he's learned so far. I think I might get more into it when he goes to places I have more of an interest in.

Suz is likely to have good thoughts on the book because (a) she's more widely read than I am and will be able to put more context around some of what he writes; and (b) she's a more careful reader than I am and will pick up on more!

Oh, look, almost to the magic number!

So close!

I won't be getting done with 52 Loaves this month , but since I like to bake my own bread and am curious about how to bake it better I will continue reading this for August.

#103
I am currently reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer for my real life book discussion group and that has taken much of my non-fiction reading time. Plus it has been extrordinarily busy around the library this last month. Not with patrons, because the summer session has been almost totally without on-campus students! There seems to be more students enrolled in digital courses than real life courses this summer. This has been a trend in the last couple of years so I wonder how many long the University will continue to offer on-campus summer classes. That also makes me wonder about the future of colleges. Will they still be places to learn or will they become giant warehouses where parents can dump their kids until the kids grow up?

>143 katiekrug: Katie I think you're too humble.

>147 benitastrnad: There must be a book about that?

And we're off...

Ta da!

>148 charl08: - You are kind to say so, Charlotte, but having met and talked to Suzanne several times, I am always in awe of her range of knowledge!

OK patient people, it's up...

And yes, Katie is overly modest.

>139 charl08: Not sure Charlotte. It is all so personal. Sandberg gives some good insights into how to talk with someone newly grieving (elephant in the room) and she gets sidetracked with all sorts of topics (resilience) which is of course part of the package . I was a big fan of Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story (intense and personal). There is a C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed too (a little abstract for me) and Joan Didion A Year of Magical Thinking. I'm sure there are other good ones too. Maybe if you let your friend know that you know about some books about grieving and that you are happy to talk about them or suggest them that might be very helpful.

I finished Falling Backwards, Jann Arden's memoir, back in July. Jann Arden is a singer, song writer known for her down to earth commentary about life in her concerts. She has an interesting backstory which no doubt gives her material for her creative endeavours.

>154 Familyhistorian: - Meg, I read that one last year and really enjoyed it. I heard she has a new one out, an update to this memoir. Her dad has since passed away and her mom has dementia and she is the primary caregiver, if I am remembering correctly. I just know she is taking on this responsibility with her characteristic love and humour, and I really want to get my hands on this newest book.

>155 jessibud2: I'll have to look for that one, Shelley. Jann Arden is a good writer on top of everything else. Her humour really comes through

A day late and a dollar short as my father would say or in this case a month late.



Theatre of the World by Frances Yates

This was by July Non-Fiction challenge book. The fact that I finished it at the tail end of August is because I didn't find it nearly as engaging as I had hoped.

The big premise of the book is that the Globe Theatre and English public theaters were more directly tied to classical sources than previously thought and thus are more properly thought of as a part of the English Renaissance. The whole idea of an English Renaissance is contested as it was fairly different from the Italian Renaissance where artists were much more directly inspired by rediscovered classical sculpture. The English Renaissance, by contrast, was much more tied to literature and music with the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe being some of the most significant products of this period.

Yates makes the claim that English thought during this period was much influenced by the rediscovery of the Roman Vitruvius (might have heard the name from Leonardo's Vitruvian Man). Yates's theory is that John Dee, a man more renowned for research on the occult, was instrumental in bringing Vitruvian thought to England and publicizing it during the reign of Elizabeth I. This learning was then incorporated by people like Richard Burbage in the construction of the English public theaters. These theaters were based heavily on Roman theaters that had been constructed with very specific ideas about acoustics and sight lines.

Frankly, I found it a bit confusing. Yates had some interesting ideas and she makes some interesting connections about the public theaters. However, it is very difficult to really test her theories as there is very little evidence of what the Globe and other similar theaters actually looked like.

I will say, having read the book, I don't think Yates was trying to write for a casual audience. The book is more an academic treatise. Sadly, that made it a less than engaging read.