Written Word Roundup

Our reading stacks are sprinkled throughout the house and walking by these literary vignettes brings me such pleasure.

I fell behind in my Sunday New York Times reading, as one Sunday edition didn't get delivered a few weeks back.  My octogenarian neighbor called to inform me that it showed up mid-week in their newspaper receptacle and all was right with the world.  This is truly my greatest indulgence and I usually take all of Sunday to read it cover-to-cover.  When it didn't show, it freed me up for a day at the local flea market and many pieces of furniture were purchased!  So all was not a total loss.

My favorite articles from the last few weeks have been:

Selling a Smaller Soccer Ball by Claire Martin

The Problem with Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen

Does Everything Happen for a Reason? by Konika Banerjee and Paul Bloom

Look Homeward, Reader (A Not-So-Young Audience for Young Adult Books) by Meg Wolitzer

And, of course, the oh-so handy Book Review section.  Always saved to read last and that's where I learn about new book titles and authors.  I add any "to-read" books to my Goodreads.com account, so that I don't forget.  I use that list to order from the library or buy from our local bookstore.

Have any of you read any of the Moomin comic strip series by Tove Jansson?  A friend gifted the first one to Grady over six years ago and it's a quirky, sweet, Scandinavian treasure.  You can read more about the author here in this New Yorker article from March 5, 2014.  The books are printed on creamy off-white paper and have the most beautiful (and colorful) bindings.  They are published by Drawn & Quarterly out of Montreal, Canada.

The characters are odd, sweet and have such an innocence to them.   They are always up for a little adventure and have a great love of food, as well as their family and friends.

You can find the books here on Abebooks.com for a steal.   I only recommend the comic strip series, as the little books of fiction have left us a bit underwhelmed and they lack the illustrations that make this series so very endearing.

Oh, and I just read about this Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition in stores now that has been published as a way to celebrate what would have been the author's 100th birthday!  I must add this to Grady's xmas list right this very second.

This is Grady's stack for the week.  He's been really into re-reading his Roald Dahl books, as well as some of the Nicholas series.

Have any of you read the Nicholas books?  They have the dreamiest, simple covers and black & white drawings.  Our first introduction to this book was from a friend who picked it up while thrifting.  What a wonderful, classic find.  

Here is the synopsis:

In France and Germany practically every child of seven and upwards knows the adventures of Nicholas. Written by the author of Asterix, Rene Goscinny, and with illustrations by New Yorker illustrator, Jean-Jacques Sempe, the five Nicholas books tell of the endearing exploits of the young French school boy and his chums. Available in twenty six languages and established as a literary cult figure, the sublimely innocent Nicholas has seduced millions of readers all over the world. Considered a classic and regularly used by primary and junior school teachers, these stories have the ability to delight both children and adults. Nicholas is the first of five titles to become available to English speaking children all over the world In some way similar to the cheekiness of Calvin and Hobbes and the innocence and naivete of characters created by the Italian film maker Roberto Benigni, Goscinny and Sempe have created a world of confusion that makes you chuckle out load. Written between 1959 and 1965 these classic books are continually reprinted around the globe and offer, not only an entertaining read, but a vivid description of French life and culture.

This series is over 50 years old and absolutely timeless.  I'd go for the simple covers and not the updated, cartoony versions.  Here are a few links from Abebooks.com.  All books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé.

Nicholas 

Nicholas on Vacation 

Nicholas in Trouble

Nicholas Again

All of these books are a pleasure to read aloud to your kiddo, too.

I've tried to get through this book.  Twice.  I finally gave up this time on page 133.  I'm sure this makes me some kind of Neanderthal, but I just could not get into the characters or settings.  I wanted to like them (and I did, kind of).  I wanted to care about their plot lines, but it was just too slow for me.  And, a little confusing about where everyone was from and where they were going and the politics and backstories that were inferred.  I just didn't get most of it and I finally set it aside last night.

My book club read this a few months back and most of our readers loved it.  They had a great discussion that, unfortunately, I had to miss.  I don't like to give up on a book, but I felt I had to with this one.

This is my husband's on-deck reading stack.  Wired magazines, 7x7 Magazine and a real estate periodical.  He did get a new pair of readers from Warby Parker that make him look extra smart (glasses at the top of photo).  He turned 50 this year and apparently needs TWO sets of readers now!  Just more things to keep track of, right?

Since I'm in a book lull right now, I'm digging into my stack of magazines on my nightstand.  I haven't read any magazines since August!  How could that be?  It's interesting how my reading habits have changed over the last year.  I jumped online last night after catching up on my bon appetits and Sunset magazines and cancelled my subscriptions.  I've subscribed for years, but since I started my NY Times subscription - I have more than enough to read about food, wine, travel, the arts.  I'm ready to let these go.

The Bay Nature magazine was a gift from a colleague that we have been receiving for years.  It has an abundance of local information about nature, trails, watersheds, conservancy efforts and beautiful hand-drawings of birds and plants.  I peruse through it and pass it on to Grady with an article or two marked for him to read.

This is Grady's desk and to-read stack of periodicals (the Turkey Vulture article should intrigue him). Steve signed up as a member of the Audubon Society and we have been receiving this magazine for about a year.  Grady used to really be into birding and drawing birds.  His interest has waned a bit over the past year, but he mostly enjoys looking at the images in this one.  

Fun fact:  Grady shares a birthday with John James Audubon.  April 26th.

Keith Haring, The Political Line exhibit is coming to the de Young Museum in San Francisco next week and I can't wait to go.  We watched a documentary a few years back about this artist and his graffiti-inspired drawings and murals reeled my son in.  I flagged the pages of the 7x7 November edition's article and told him that we would definitely go and see the show when it opened.  

"Touching people's lives in a positive way is as close as I can get to an idea of religion." - Keith Haring, July 1986

"Radiant Baby" is one of Grady's favorite Haring pieces (above).

"An artist is a spokesman for a society at any given point in history.  His language is determined by his perception of the world we all live in.  He is a medium between 'what is' and 'what could be.'" - Keith Haring

So that's what we're reading and perusing this week in our household.  I love how reading spurs me into research; inspires me to make art or write words.  It also fosters discussions within our family, as well as pushes me expand my thoughts on the world-at-large.  

So, what are you reading?