May Status Report

Feeling good about the progress I made this month: 10 books! That puts me at 41 books read ... and only 59 to go. That means if I read 9 books next month, I'll be exactly halfway through my goal, halfway through the year.

So what am I doing here on the computer? I've gotta go read! Got some good ones lined up for next month.

BOOK 41: A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway

Rating: 2 stars

Cover synopsis: Published for the first time as Ernest Hemingway intended, one of the great writer's most enduring works: his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s.

I thought I would like this more than I did. A Moveable Feast certainly had its moments -- for instance, I loved any chapter that included F. Scott Fitzgerald and his rather strange personality. And there were flashes of brilliance where Hemingway talked about his writing process.

But overall, the book was disjointed and confusing. He would allude to things that happened later and then never answer the questions he raised. (Such as the breakdown of his marriage? What happened there?) He dishes on many famous names, including Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound. But most of the others he talks about, I had never heard of. So maybe I would have liked the book more if I were more "in the know."

But as it is, I found it only to be a moveable snack, at most.

BOOK 40: A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck

Rating: 4 stars

Cover synopsis: During the Great Depression, Joey and his sister, Mary Alice -- two city slickers from Chicago -- make their annual summer visit to Grandma Dowdel's sleepy Illinois town. Soon enough, they find that it's far from sleepy ... and Grandma is far from typical.

This book was really entertaining. A good piece of storytelling about summertime in a small town through the eyes of a pair of outsiders. Still, I waffled back and forth between giving it 3 stars and 4 stars. Because while I enjoyed the read, I kept waiting for it all to have a point. And while I came up with a few nebulous theories, I haven't settled on anything better than "people aren't always what they seem." Still, it was entertaining, and I read it all in a day. So 4 stars it is!

Grandma Dowdel is a character -- she puts off the vibe of an old miserly widow, but through her antics we discover she really has a heart of gold for those that deserve it. From playing a trick on a local reporter that involved a dead body, to aiding a pair of runaway lovebirds by channeling an old ghost story, things are never dull.

Made me nostalgic for a home in the country, even though I've never had one, or stayed in one. So I guess the writing was effective after all.

BOOK 39: The Model Millionaire, by Oscar Wilde

Rating: 4 stars

Cover synopsis: Oscar Wilde was arguably literature's most versatile writer. This exceptional collection includes nearly every short story the incomparable Wilde published during his exceedingly eventful career, including "The Selfish Giant," "The Fisherman and His Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket."

I went to the library and asked the librarian if she had anything by Oscar Wilde and this is what she handed me. Funny, I never knew he wrote short stories. (I've since discovered that other famous authors also have collections of short stories, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Melville.)

And they're good. I particularly enjoyed the stories of "The Young King," "The Birthday of the Infanta," "The Star Child" and "The Devoted Friend." Reading Wilde's short stories reminded me a lot of reading Aesop's fables. They often have morals attached (or inferred) and often include talking animals or objects.

Still, they were easy to read and thought provoking.

BOOK 38: Best of Colored Pencil 2, by the CPSA

Rating: 3 stars

Cover synopsis: The Best of Colored Pencil 2 is the most definitive collection of colored pencil illustration published today.

Here's book 2 in the colored pencil art series I've been reading. And it was about on par with book 1. Simply a book of pictures, including the artist and titles, but no other info on the technique or inspiration.

The art is good, but not many of the pictures really struck me either. In the other books, I flagged about 8 pictures that I either wanted to emulate or that spoke to me in particular. This book I flagged only 3.

Now awaiting the final book 3...

BOOK 37: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: King Caspian has built The Dawn Treader for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, their cousin Eustace, and Caspian to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World.

This is book 5 in the Chronicles of Narnia, and is as imaginative and wonderful as its predecessors. There were two characters I really enjoyed in this book: Eustace (the sourfaced cousin of Lucy and Edmund) and Reepicheep the Mouse. One is hilariously cowardly, and the other is hilariously courageous.

From adventures with dragons, an island where dreams come true (dreams, not day dreams), and underwater sea people, you never know what the world of Narnia has in store.

BOOK 36: The Best of Colored Pencil 4, by Vera Curnow

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: Included in these pages are 145 art works selected from almost 1,000 entries at the 4th annual Colored Pencil Society of America Exhibition. This book addresses the motivation that drove artists, and it documents the incredible possibilities open to those who create with colored pencil.

I liked this book even better than the last one I read (volume 5). The descriptive paragraphs are also paired with a specific explation of the artist's technique. I was introduced to the ideas of an electric eraser, masking tape and Frisk film to remove color. How to carve your signature in a dark corner by scratching the paper before you even begin.

And I was inspired to try a drawing on black paper. I've never tried that before -- or even thought of trying that before. But I went out to Michael's today and bought myself a big sheet of black paper. Can't wait to get started.

BOOK 35: The Best of Colored Pencil, Volume 5, by Vera Curnow

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: The operative word for colored pencil as an art tool is control: The fine artwork in these pages shows the energetic and vibrant range such a controlled medium can project.

This book is what I was hoping to find in the first volume. It not only shows the versatility and inspiring images by colored pencil artists, but we also get a paragraph of insight from the artist explaining their inspiration and technique, and how they approach their work.

The art is also larger and easier to see in this volume -- there is usually only one picture per page. I flagged eight pages in here of pictures or techiques I'd like to try. Very inspiring. I wonder what the middle three volumes of this series have in store. To be continued...

BOOK 34: The Best of Colored Pencil, by the Colored Pencil Society of America

Rating: 3 stars

Cover Synopsis: Features full-color illustrations that show the variety of art obtainable with this versatile medium.

Once upon a time, I toyed with the idea of becoming an artist or illustrator. But then my practical side took over and I majored in journalism instead. My favorite art medium to work with was colored pencil. But I haven't drawn anything since my first child was born six years ago.

I've been wanting to tap my creative side again, and I remember coming across this series of books from the Colored Pencil Society of America several years ago. So I thought I'd check them out for some inspiration. (Turns out they're out of print, and my local library doesn't have them. Thank goodness for the Inter-Library Loan system! I'm technically borrowing this book from the Scranton, Pa., library.)

This is the first book in a 5-book series. And it's O.K. It shows a variety of colored pencil subjects and techniques. But this book is lacking because it doesn't tell me anything about the pieces except the title, and who drew it. I want to know more! Tell me about their inspiration for the subject. Tell me more about their technique or why they chose to draw it in a certain way. This is just a picture book, but it left me wanting more info. For instance, the black-and-white series by Ann James Massey -- is it really just blacks and greys? The incredible cross-hatch drawing of an eye by Linda Fennimore -- how did she do it?

There were a few intriguing projects in here, but nothing that really knocked my socks off. Still, I can't wait to get my hands on the other books in the CPSA series to see what they hold.

BOOK 33: The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin

Rating: 4 stars

Cover synopsis: This project is the result of the author's 12-month adventure in becoming a happier person. Her story will inspire readers to embrace the pleasure in their lives and remind them how to have fun.

I have a problem with self-help books that promise to increase your happiness. They usually advocate leaving your family, your house, your country, your religion, etc., to uproot your entire sense of normal. Let's face it: That's not practical -- nor is is necessary -- for most people. I was intrigued by this book because the author was determined to find more joy in her normal life. She didn't want to leave her husband. She didn't want to abandon her responsibilities.

I also found it appealing that Rubin is an awful lot like me. She's happy. She's not depressed. She's not recovering from some huge family tragedy. She just wants to get more out of her life. So she engages in 12 months of goals, drawing from what studies and great thinkers have said about increasing happiness. Things like decreasing clutter, thinking happy thoughts, biting your tongue, and generally trying to have more fun.

I especially liked a few of her "splendid truths," particularly "'The days are long but the years are short." I've been thinking about that concept a lot as a mom with small children at home. I also like the fact that in order to be happy, you have to ACT happy. And your happiness rubs off on other people. So the best way to make someone ELSE happy is to be happy yourself.

I only awarded the book 4 stars because midway through her projects didn't really apply to me, and she seemed to be losing steam, especially on her "spirituality" chapter. But she got it back in the end and, overall, this was a good, uplifting book.

BOOK 32: Betty Crocker's Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cooking Today

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: Do you want to eat a healthy diet, but don't want to give up on taste? These easy-to-prepare recipes are all designed with the new health consciousness in mind. With Betty Crocker, it can't only be simple to make -- it has to taste great. These 120 recipes prove that healthy eating can be enjoyed by the whole family.

This is another in a series of cookbooks I've been reading. Many were just perusals, but I read this one cover to cover, and flagged at least 30 recipes I want to try soon. I bought a copy of my own, I liked it so much.

This book is great because not only are they healthy recipes, but they're not complex. They don't call for strange ingredients, they don't take 2 hours to prepare and they're things I can actually imagine my kids eating. I'll be making the cornmeal-crusted catfish and the maple-glazed chicken this week.

Plus, there's a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and cheesecake in here. Fire up the oven!