Category: Reading

Ten Excellent Books I Recently Read

I read a lot. It’s my favorite thing. Always has been.

The publishing company BookBaby recently posted an interesting (REALLY REALLY INTERESTING TO ME!) article about the different reading habits among 5 generations of Americans. (Turns out that although I am in the Boomers, my fiction preferences match the X-ers and nonfiction match the Silents.)

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″, Not for sale

I keep track of most of what I’ve been reading on GoodReads, which I joined (it’s free) in 2013 (WHAT??? TEN YEARS AGO??) It is a great place to learn about books, to see what people you follow are reading and what they think about it. (It also has the unthinking quick rude opinions like much of social media, but you can skip that part.)

You can see how other people rate the books and you can also rate them from one to five stars. Because I know how enormously difficult it is to write a book, much less get it published, I have stopped rating books unless I have very strong reasons to give one star or if I really loved it and give it four or five stars. (I am difficult to please, and the fives are few.)

Here is a list of books that I have rated four or five in the past several months, with links to their descriptions on GoodReads. I don’t think you have to be a member (with yet another dreaded user name and password) in order to see book descriptions.

All of these were library books except for #6.

We are Called to Rise, Laura McBride. This is a novel with complete and believable characters that grabbed me in the heart. It’s one with individual stories of different people who all get tied together at the end.
Kinsey and Me: Stories, Sue Grafton. I loved all the Kinsey books, the alphabetic mystery series with the main character you just wanted to hang out with. Sue died before finishing the alphabet, so I was thrilled to find anything at all that reconnected me with my fictional BFF.
When Your Mother Doesn’t, Jill Kelly. This is another novel that grabbed me in the heart, where you just root for all you are worth for a happy ending. (Read it yourself—I’m not telling!)
Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings, Crysta Bilton. Memoir is my favorite genre of nonfiction, and this is a strange strange story.
How to Think, Alan Jacobs. Well written, thought provoking (duh), little glimpses of humor.
Aging Faithfully, Alice Fryling. This one is deep enough that I had to write notes all throughout and read it twice. I also emailed the author to learn what her number is on the Enneagram (she counsels in this personality typing system) and her age when she wrote it so I could better understand her perspective. She replied!
The War That Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. This is a kid’s fiction book (Young Adult?) based during WWII in England. It also has a sequel.
As Bright As Heaven, Susan Meissner. A novel about the flu epidemic of 1918, published in 2018 BEFORE THE CORONA VIRUS! I love Susan Meissner’s novels, almost as much as Maeve Binchy. (Susan is alive and still writing.)
Caroline: Little House Revisited, Sarah Miller. As a kid, I loved and reread Little House books. They were a guaranteed bookish escape when I couldn’t find anything new in the Ivanhoe Library in the kids section. This book shows another side to the Ingalls family adventures and characters, giving a more complete picture of their story. I gave this book 5 stars (but since the hourglass of my life is more empty than full, won’t be rereading it.)
The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything, Neil Pasricha. (This is the man who writes the blog 1000 Awesome Things.) He helps to simplify big thoughts, and the book is full of practical charts that he calls “scribbles” which help you figure out things like how to make fewer decisions. I bought it so that I can write inside.

Do you have any book recommendations for me? Do you want to be “friends” on GoodReads? (Hi Donna. 😎)

A List With Links To Six Great Blogs

The past week has been full of random and varied posts, no particular theme. So, I will keep going on this while I wait for my next mural job to become a reality.

Today’s is a gift to you: a list with links to some of my favorite blogs. I don’t subscribe (because who needs more email?) but I just keep the list on the top menu bar of my internet window and check from time to time.

I didn’t include anything political or faith-based. None of these uses offensive language; a few have ads, which are easy to scroll past. All write with completely original voices, humor, and wisdom.

Marianne Willburn is a gardener and writer with a great way with words, along with subtle funny remarks that you might not even notice. Because she is on the east coast, many of her plants are unfamiliar or unsuited to Central California. She is very personable and has responded both to emails and comments from me. Since she grew up in the foothills of northern California, and we are very close in age, she feels like a friend I haven’t yet met.
1000 awesome things is written by Neil Pasricha. In order to cope when his life crumbled, he committed to finding something good in life for 1000 days. He has written a few books since; the only one I have read is called The Happiness Equation. These “awesome things” will often make you smile with recognition.
The Frugal Girl is actually a grown woman, not a girl, in her 40s who has returned to school to become a nurse. She is delightfully honest and surprisingly optimistic, with a simple approach to almost everything. I want to hang out with her too.
Raptitude is new to me. I don’t remember how I found it, and I don’t have a solid sense of who is writing it yet. But so far, I’ve found the short articles to be thought-provoking.
Tim Cotton Writes is by a retired policeman in Maine with a great sense of humor, an excellent way with words, and a superb interviewee on, of course, Mike Rowe’s podcast. He has two books, neither one of which is available through the library so I have one on order at Thriftbooks, which I try to use instead of that big place whenever possible.
Deborah Makarios—Old Fashioned Fruitcake is my newest find. I chased her down based on a comment on an article by the aforementioned Marianne Willburn. She lives in New Zealand and has a terrific sense of reality and humor. I think this one will be a keeper!

I hope you find something here that rings your bell.

And finally, here is a cartoon I stole from the interwebs to share with you. It was too good to not share.

A New Book!

There is another part of my business that I call Cabinart Books.

After I published The Cabins of Wilsonia (2014) and Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names (2019), I had acquired some skills using Photoshop (for repairing and preparing photographs for publishing), InDesign (for book formatting), along with knowledge of how to get a book printed.

While I was painting some indoor murals in December, my customer told me he was writing a book. I asked a few questions, and when he realized that he didn’t have the necessary skills or a plan, he hired me to be both his editor and book designer.

The book arrived yesterday!

This was a fun project! Bob Kellogg is the most eager person I have ever worked with on a book. We had a conversation about the project in mid December, and now the book is in hand, in mid March.

Bob was a scoutmaster in Three Rivers for 12 years, and the book is a collection of stories about the rambunctious troop’s adventures and shenanigans. If you have been a boy scout, had a boy scout in your family, or like books about local people and places, you will enjoy this book! (Or if you just appreciate fun true stories).

Right now the book is available at the Bookbaby Bookshop, and from Bob (rkellogg@kelbro.com) or from me, $25 includes sales tax.

10 Things I Learned and Did in November

Honeymoon Cabin, 18×36″, oil on wrapped canvas, $1200 + Calif. sales tax

Did I learn anything in November? It is my busiest month. Lots happened and perhaps I learned a few things:

I joined BNI, Business Network International. The Visalia chapter isn’t official and won’t be until there are 20 members; I was #12 to join.
I taught a drawing workshop to 5 eager learners at a gallery in Visalia called Arts Visalia.
St. Anthony’s Retreat hosts a great event each year called “Festival of Trees”. I’ve been a judge of those fabulously decorated Christmas trees for all 5 years, and it is very difficult and very rewarding, especially with my fellow very thoughtful and careful judges. Who knew??
The annual Holiday Bazaar wasn’t well attended but the attendees were all committed shoppers; I see evidence of a growing economy, for which I am thankful.
The Kaweah Artisans have been together for about 20 years; we continue to be a very compatible group who put together simple and enjoyable boutiques in Three Rivers.
I can paint large; maybe 18×36″ isn’t large in the Art World but in my world it is practically a mural. It is much slower than a mural, because of the many layers and amount of detail and amount of time for each layer to dry.
I went off my fiction fast with a vengeance and slammed 9 books, all fiction. The top ones were: One of Us (audio, Tawni O’Dell), The Lightkeeper’s Daughters (Jean E. Pendziwol), Fair and Tender Ladies, (Lee Smith), Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus (Joyce Magnin), and Flatshare (Beth O’Leary). Hmmm, perhaps I was trying to escape the busyness.
In order to refresh a garden, the old stuff needs to be removed but it can be transplanted elsewhere instead of throwing it on the burn pile. I replanted the area around my studio, about 18 years after first planting anything free that would grow fast. Back then, I also spent money on real plants, and probably killed 3 times as many plants as have prospered.
One of my favorite podcasters is Don Miller; I subscribe to his daily Business Made Simple tip. One day in November he advised this: “Do not be confused about something that is not confusing. (sounds dumb, eh?) Ask yourself, “If I wasn’t confused what would be the obvious thing to do? Am I afraid of letting someone down? Do I really not want to do this thing?”
Somewhere online I read about a thing that allows an old car to play a cell phone’s podcasts (or whatever else your smartphone is playing, like the talking lady telling you how to get places) through the stereo speakers. It goes in the cigarette lighter— IT WORKS AND IS EASY TO USE!

What did you do and learn in November? Want to share in the comments?

Do You Love To Read?

No Mineral King today – I haven’t been for a couple of weeks because I went to Hume Lake.

I love to read. Do you?

Some of my favorite podcasts are about books and reading: What Should I Read Next, By the Book (the one with all the cussing), Just the Right Book, From the Front Porch. While listening to several podcasts recently, I learned of a PBS thing called The Great American Read. It is a book popularity contest, seeking America’s favorite novel. You can watch the 2 hours of the program about the books, and if you love books and reading, you will enjoy this program. Then you can vote for your favorite novel, which any reader knows is an impossible task. No problem – you get to vote once a day until the contest ends in the fall.

I didn’t vote because it requires a sign-up, either through FaceBook (not happening for this little gray duck) or via email, and I don’t want to put myself on another list. However, you might. Or maybe you want to do what I did after watching the program: read the list and count how many of the books you have read. I have read 36 of the 100, and a few of them are on my To-Be-Read list.

What does this have to do with being an artist in the Central Valley of California?

Nothing.

Will you tell me 2 things? 1. Which ones you would vote for and 2. how many you have read off the list. Inquiring minds need to know. (I am an Enneagram #5 and a Questioner in Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies – you may need to do some reading to understand this stuff.)

Here is today’s painting: Reading Rabbit, AKA “Salt & Light”, an oil painting on board. It isn’t for sale, because I like it too much to sell.

Random Thoughts

Today’s post is a list of random thoughts, unrelated to art, things that one of my tens of readers might be interested in.

Crocs shrink if you leave them in the sun. Mine are too short to wear now. Isn’t that weird? Rubber shoes shrink in the sun! (maybe it is related to #2. . .))
After it has been 107º for a week, 97º feels balmy.
I’m editing a previously published book about the Visalia Electric Railroad. It was first published in a hurry, the Tulare Co. Historical Society is ready to re-order, and author Louise Jackson and I know we can do a better job of both the text and the photos. So, we are working on it and hope the TCHS will agree to publish it in a real book format instead of 8-1/2×11″ with dark photos, “Foreword” misspelled, the stock market crash happening in 1939, and someone joining Pancho Villa’s cantina band, as if he were a guitar player. Intrigued? I’ll let you know if this turns into a book.
What I’m reading (or recently finished): 41:A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush, Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman, Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough, Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other by Sherry Turkle (If you click or tap on any of the book titles, you’ll get to the Amazon page that sells the book. If you buy, I might earn 15¢ or something. . .)
Samson still bites.
What I’m listening to: The Smartest Person in the Room, Brian Buffini, Gretchen Rubin, The Road Back to You, What Should I Read Next
No memorial services this week for me. 2 in 2 weeks is 2 too many.
I think white flowers are boring. Did you think this post was boring? (Go ahead–tell me the truth; I can take it!)

Reading Rabbit Report

If you are new to this blog, I’d like to introduce you to Reading Rabbit. This oil painting was a class assignment when I took half a semester of a painting class at the local junior college. I signed up for a photorealism class, and it was combined with a studio painting class. The instructor ignored the photorealism part, so I quit the class. (Besides, it was too dark to see well in the room, he played rap “music”, and it was 70 miles round trip. Any questions??)

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11x14" — Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″

But what about the Reading Rabbit? I love to read, and sometimes I post what I’ve been reading on the blog. By showing this painting, it sort of fits with my theme, which is Realistic detailed oil paintings and drawings of Tulare County, California (and occasionally beyond). Besides, I want the followers of the blog and my art to know a bit more about me than just my art. It is a marketing thing, but more than that, it is a friendship thing to share oneself.

By the way, thank you, Ed B., for introducing yourself at the Holiday Bazaar. It is a thrill to meet someone who reads and enjoys all this blathering and bloviating!

Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Chris Cleave, has been highly recommended by several book sites. I chose it because it is based on letters written by the author’s grandparents during WWII. The novel is based in England, and I expected to like it more than I did. Most people love it.
Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner, first published in the 1970s, often shows up on people’s lists of top books of all time. I read it awhile ago and didn’t like it. I reread it because I owned it (not now – donated it to the library) and because I thought my tastes might have changed. It reinforced for me that if I don’t find the main character likable or the setting to be a place I want to be, then I don’t enjoy the book.
Be Frank With Me, Julia Claiborne Johnson, was one of the best novels I’ve read recently. Frank is a kid with shocking intelligence and poor social skills. The writing makes him come alive and the story is very well told.
Maeve’s Times: In Her Own Words is a collection of Maeve Binchy’s essays printed in the Irish Times newspaper. It is arranged by decade and is a look into the the nonfiction writing life of my favorite novelist. She was wonderful!
Maeve Binchy, the biography, Piers Dudgeon, was irresistible because of my love for Maeve’s novels. Her characterization is so lifelike and her storytelling so real that it made me want to know more about her. Like most biographies, there was too much information, too many names (many of them “Mary”). But I learned about my favorite novelist. If you love her work, you will enjoy this book (and book #4 above).
Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Second Half of Life, Richard Rohr, was another book that I keep hearing about. I made it through the first four chapters and then decided that I am either stupid or intellectually lazy. Either way, I am 57 years old and I don’t have to finish books that I don’t like.

Reading Rabbit Returns

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Remember Reading Rabbit? He appears when I want to tell you about books I have recently read that I think are worth the time.

Having recently assisted an author with photo editing, copy editing, book design, printing and proofing, I am stunned that there are so many readable books in the world. The process from idea to real book is very very very difficult. It is now more accessible to the average bear, but it also means that the quality of books has diminished. There are unedited books, poorly edited books, poorly designed books, books with illegible photos, and even books with a “forward” instead of a FOREWORD. It’s enough to kill off any reading rabbit, for sure. See?

reading rabbit

Okay, I’m done bloviating for now.

Recently I have learned from, enjoyed and finished these books:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver. The author and her family decided to dedicate a year to eating local food only. Barbara is a fabulous novelist, so I will read almost anything she writes. This book also had excerpts from her daughter and her husband, and recipes. It was set up month by month so the reader could understand the seasonal efforts. What a ton of work, but very rewarding. Now I want to make my own mozzarella cheese!

The 188th Crybaby Brigade, Joel Chasnoff. Shortly after returning from Israel, I met a former Israeli soldier. He needed artwork, but I wasn’t the right person for the job so I sent him to someone better qualified. In spite of my not being the right artist for him, we had a great conversation, and he recommended this book to me. It was written by a friend of his, another American who served in the Israeli armed forces. What a fascinating read! And such fun to see an entire chapter titled “Tim Bailey”, the name of the man I met. This book will entertain you, worry you, and make you wonder how Israel has survived with its armed forces being made up of teenagers.

My To-Be-Read list continues to grow, much of it due to the website, Modern Mrs. Darcy. She has a weekly podcast called “WSIRN”, for What Should I Read Next. In it, she interviews someone about their reading preferences, saying, “List 3 books you love, 1 book you hate, and tell me what you are reading now”. Then she summarizes the books very succinctly and makes recommendations. Her blog is very well written, and one of my new favorites.

Here are Amazon links to the books listed here:

Never mind. I can’t remember how to do that, and I need to go work on the Sequoia/Kings Canyon coloring book.

Tomorrow is a Mineral King day on the blog. Y’all come back now!

Running Away With Reading Rabbit

Reading has been my favorite way to run away from reality all of my life. Nose in a book, that’s my favorite place to be. Since my family had a difficult and sad summer, I returned to reading as a means of temporary escape.

Here is a list of some of the best books I read in the last few months:

Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
A Million Miles in 1000 Years, Donald Miller
Scary Close, Donald Miller
Still Life With Bread Crumbs, Anna Quindlen *
Secrets of a Charmed Life, Susan Meissner *
Without You, There is No Us, Suki Kim
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in No. Korea, Barbara Demick
Fiddler in the Subway, Gene Weingarten

#1 is about what teevee has done to our culture, but applies to the internet too. I found it fascinating and true.

#2 and #3 – I LOVE Donald Miller’s honesty and humor and wisdom.

#4 I forgot what this is about but I liked it enough to finish and to put it on this list. Anna Quindlen is a good story teller and writer.

#5 came highly recommended by an online friend’s website and was a great story about someone who survived the Blitz in London. Fiction, but believable.

#6 is by a woman who taught English in North Korea. I heard her speak on a TED talk and was interested enough to chase down the book. It is S C A R Y.

#7 is what the author learned by interviewing defectors from North Korea. Sad and scary.

#8 is another one I liked enough to put on the list and have already forgotten.

Sigh. Guess you’ll have to trust me that these are all good enough to reserve at your local liberry, if you are lucky enough to have the fantastic reservation and delivery system like we do here in Tulare County.

Our libraries are one of the best things about living in Tulare County.

I wrote “liberry” to make you smile. Did it work?

*denotes fiction – the rest are nonfiction

books Tulare county

Reading Rabbit Returns

Here is a list of some of what I have read this summer. All were either entertaining or informative. All are worth sharing, and thank you to those who shared with me. (I didn’t list the mediocre books, of which there were several. Those I skimmed or didn’t finish.)

My Reading Life, Pat Conroy. Nonfiction. (Thank you, Jennifer Dougan, for this recommendation.)
The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman. Fiction. (Thank you, Cathy T., for this recommendation.)
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr. Nonfiction.
Knowing God, J.I. Packer. Nonfiction
Under the Wide and Starry Sky, Nancy Horan. Fiction (More thanks to Cathy T.)
The Calorie Myth, Jonathan Bailor. Nonfiction.
Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath. Nonfiction (THANK YOU, MAK, FOR THIS FANTASTIC RECOMMENDATION!)

My list of unread books continues to grow, in spite of reading 2-3 at the same time all summer long. The over-abundance (is that word wrong, like “irregardless”?) comes from finding a book recommended on someone’s blog, and immediately ordering it from the library. We have a terrific library ordering system here in the San Joaquin Valley. I go to the site, find and order the book, and when it is available, the system sends an email saying the book is waiting for me at the Three Rivers Library.

That’s good news! Libraries are just the best thing ever, and so is reading.

If you have discovered any great books recently, please share them with me in the comments! (in case my stack of unread books gets too short and then I get antsy in case I wind up without something to read.)