Artelicious: 5/9/10

Recent Reads

Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species, by Sean B. Carrol. Auditing this one while completing my current quilt, I marveled at the author's bravado and ability to simplify complex histories while enflaming interest. Darwin, Leaky, Linus Pauling and others recieve enough treatment without bogging down; obviously this serves as an exploration into the spark that kept these adventurers going through hard times and good. I was disappointed to see that the author left out Lucy and her fellow paleo-hominids altogether. Maybe he didn't want to wade into the deep morass that was the relationship between the Leakys and Donald Johanson, who discovered Lucy. Highly recommended. A plus if you audit the book: the narrator's voice is pleasant and enthusiastic.
The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica, by David G. Campbell. I found this on the bookshelf here at home and thought it'd be a nice read for summer. Aside from the predictable chapters on the almost total wiping out of seals and of whales in the mid-19th century, this book was a joy to experience. I moped when it was over. I read, not audited, it; pure poetry. The author is an ecologist, and returns for three summers to study parasites in pelagic animals at a research center in the South Shetland Islands, at Admiratly Bay. He shares as much about himself through his observations as he does about the scant flora and fauna. A must:.
George Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow. This one took weeks to audit, my having downloaded the audio book (for free, from our SD Public Library). Not being an Early American scholar ... even my literature studies covered 18th Century English and Post-Modern American ... So no real familarity with place and time ... I can say that Chernow's book seems balanced, very detailed, and not stinting on Washington's weirdly hypocritical stance towards slavery and his own (not collenge educated, so self-lacking) education. To my fellow audio book fans, I recommend it. Beware, it's long.
Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel, by Jeannette Walls. One of the "woman of true grit" novels; well-written and, if you have a connection to the American Southwest, as I do, wonderfully evocative of time and place.
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, by Anthony Bourdain. I'm listening to the audio book as I quilt Night Star, and for the first time, wish I were reading it, instead. Bourdain reads it himself, and is great when he blames his heroin addiction on the childhood films "Old Yeller" and "The Red Balloon." But when he gets into the current state of beef production in the US, or dishes on detested figures in the food world, he gets this high-pitched, ranting tone to his voice. If you like Bourdain, though, and/or the world of food, read the book.
Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster. The audio book version was a Godsend when working on my Blazing Star quilt, Night Star. The lead character goes from dot-com goddess to selling her designer bags on Ebay during the bust. Funny, irreverent; Jen reminds me of my friend Ariane, although A. is not as consumerist and also God forbid she goes through the economic havoc that Jen did.
Life, by Keith Richards. The Stones were the most influential band on my life and musical tastes. Through them I learned about R&B, the Blues, and kick-ass rock and roll. Keith's my favorite Stone. Here, he's best when talking about music; worst when bragging about being indestructable (oh, and dishing about Mick's member's small size. How does he know??). Worth it.
13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time. Have I mentioned that audio books are free to download for 21 days from our library system? This one wasn't always within my grasp; hey, I was counting seam allowances while following the chemical reactions behind the Big Bang. Highly recommended! My favorite mystery? The absence of what we think of as "Free Will." Scary!
The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson. Yes, I'm hooked and loving these books. Whine: the third and final book in the Trilogy isn't out in paperback yet.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson: The prose of this who-dunnit is not on the order of a Nabokov; nevertheless, it stands up to all the best-seller hoopla. Now I want to read the second in this "Millenium Trilogy," The Girl Who Played With Fire."

Artelicious

15 May 2010

A silk purse from a sow's ear