On Treasure Palaces and Drawing Cute Birds

So many museums, so little time. 

That's why I was thrilled to read about a newly published book, Treasure Palaces: Great Writers Visit Great Museums. I quickly reserved it from my library and picked it up on Wednesday. I think I must be the first to check it out - the date stamped on the top edge (the date it was processed) is December 16. 

I was a little taken aback as I was expecting a book with photos that accompanied the essays, but no, it is simply a quality paperback. I guess I will be doing some Googling for images. There are however, to introduce each selection, small black and white illustrations that represent some aspect of the museum - an entrance, an object, a courtyard.

Lack of photos aside, what a wonderful way to visit museums that I might never get a chance to see. And what a joy to be introduced to them by such writers as Ann Patchett (The Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, Massachusetts); Ali Smith (Villa San Michele, Capri); and Julian Barnes (Jean Sibelius's home in Helsinki).

I determined that I have visited only two of the twenty-four museums included (Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence and Musée Rodin, Paris) so the book promises to be a heady reading experience. I am especially intrigued by The Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, William Wordsworth's Dove Cottage in Grasmere, and the exhibit of shrunken heads at Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

And just think, my feet won't get tired.

Dove Cottage

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Because I can't simply pick up one book and leave the library, I took a look at the new non-fiction shelf and my eye was caught by the colorful cover of Drawing Cute Birds by Japanese artist Ai Akikusa. She uses colored pencils to render the sweetest feathered fellows. I am forever dissatisfied with my bird drawings and since I have many (it seems like thousands) of colored pencils, this is just the instruction book I need. 

The drawings are not too complex. She offers a very short lesson, (how to render the shape of the head, the feet, the feathers), the color palette she used, and information about each bird - the species order and family, where it lives, what it eats, its size, and any unusual habits. I love this book already and can hardly wait to get started.

Her drawings run the gamut from the small sparrow to the powerful eagle to plumy parrots and peaceful penguins. The hummingbird and the peacock are outstanding. 

Now these are 'tweets' I can wrap my head around.

Proud as a peacock.

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Wishing you all safe and happy holidays!

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Music Festivals and Notes

There is a huge music festival occurring in town this weekend. Forecastle, now in its 11th year, draws some 30,000 music fans to my fair city. The line up for the three-day event, held at the park by the river, includes over 50 bands that have some really funny names.

I will not be attending. The idea of being jostled by 30,000 people is not my idea of a good time, plus, my music listening hasn't moved much past The Beatles.

Anyway, as the city will be alive with guitars and drummers and singers and listeners, it got me to thinking about books with a musical theme.

I have read La's Orchestra Saves the World, a sweet little book written by Alexander McCall Smith. And I also enjoyed The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart because, really, any book that takes place in Paris is fine by me.

One that has been on my TBR list for quite a while is Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, about an opera singer who is among a group of people held hostage in an embassy in South America. 

Another one to read might be Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. That story takes place in Italy during WWII and may be a little too intense. A better one perhaps would be to re-read The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. Or try Amadeus by Peter Shaffer.

Well, it looks like a trip to the library today is in order. I wonder what traffic will be like.

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop

My Bookstore, with an introduction by Richard Russo, is a wonderful 'dip into' book. In it, eighty-four writers describe their favorite bookstores. So the reader gets to visit many places he or she might never get to in real life. A great armchair travel book for those of us who love to read.

I first read the entries on the five or six stores that I had visited - one here in my hometown by Wendell Berry who writes, [Carmichael's] has the quietness, the smell, the tangibility that a bookstore ought to have. 

I would have to agree. 

Then I read about all the bookstores in North Carolina, and there are six featured,  in preparation for what just might be The Second Grand Southern Literary Tour. 

Next, I started reading by writer. So I discovered that Rick Bragg (All Over But the Shoutin') likes The Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham for the simple reason that there are no cats here. Ann Patchett (State of Wonder), on her first visit to McLean & Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, Michigan, fell in love with the town - a dreamy, shady place on the lake - and then immediately its bookstore. Isabelle Allende (The House of the Spirits), calls Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, her personal book store and writes, The only place as comforting as a friendly bookstore is probably your grandmother's kitchen.

Of course, these authors are preaching to the choir and yet it is a cozy way to get a bookstore fix. Some are located in strip malls. Some are urban, while others are suburban. Some bookstores are brand new, others are quite ancient. There are those where one can sip espresso while reading and others that offer bottles of maple syrup for sale at the register. But however quirky, all the store owners have books and a love of reading in common.

One of the nice aspects of the book is that there an illustration of each store at the beginning of its chapter. And in the back of the book, there is a list by state of each store featured. Very helpful for anyone planning a trip.

State of Awe

"I don't know another story to match this," said Dr. Swenson, shaking her head.

I can only concur. The quote above comes on page 344 of Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Just minutes ago, I finished the 353-page book having read it in two long gulps. And I have the insect bites to prove it. Or at least I feel as if I have been sucked on by Brazilian insects, bitten by snakes, suffered from fevers, and bathed in dirty and dangerous river water. Such is the intensity of Patchett's writing.

This is an incredible book. I am in a State of Awe.

State of Perplexity

I awoke this morning with the thought: I will begin reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. I have owned the book for about a year now, I have been to Patchett's bookstore in Nashville, and Cornflower Books (the blog) reported that it is now out in paperback and that it has been shortlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize, the UK's only annual award for fiction written by a woman.

But then, trouble. I looked and looked for the book. I could picture the spine, but it was not on my shelves. I looked four different times. Had a book thief come in the night and stolen it away? I was in a State of Perplexity. And a bit depressed when I realized how many books were on my shelves that I owned but had not read. Some books I had forgotten I had. Some I wondered why I still had them. And others, I was so glad I had not given away in a fit of purging.

Finally, on the fifth go-round, after breakfast was eaten and two cups of coffee were drunk, I found the book. Maybe it was the coffee.

I am here to report that I am captivated. Swept away. After 150 pages I can feel the insect bites, the heat, and the lethargy of the city of Manaus, Brazil, South America. I won't go into plot or characters as they are discussed all over the book blogging world. I will save my report for a post upon finishing and digesting the book.

I will say that I love that it is a mystery although it isn't catalogued as one. I am constantly torn between reading quickly to find out what will happen next and reading slowly to savor the words.