I'm breaking August into two parts as it's getting rather long.
This month I have been concentrating on my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021" project. It's been going quite nicely. There have been a few interruptions as holds placed at the library ages ago have come in. Also there are several online wanderings mostly related to the project. Since the summer books are all on Project Gutenberg there is much Googling to identify people and places.
I have been updating the original post with "date read" notes. Of the 23 items on the list I read 4 in June, 5 in July, and 8 (as of Aug. 12) in August. That leaves 6.
Fiction:
Fault Lines by Emily Itami. (Advance copy via Goodreads) A pleasant summer read about a restless housewife in contemporary Tokyo.
A Song Everlasting by Ha Jin. (library book) A self-exiled singer from mainland China trying to make a go of it in New York and Boston.
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia. (library book) The paths of two women immigrants one Cuban and one (undocumented) Salvadorian cross in Maimi.
Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce. (library book) A complicated, multi viewpoint, story set mostly in the Black nightclubs of 1920s Chicago.
Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce. (library book) A complicated, multi viewpoint, story set mostly in the Black nightclubs of 1920s Chicago.
Short Stories:
Rocket Summer by Ray Bradbury (This etext was produced from Planet Stories Spring 1947.)
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
Ham Sandwich by James H. Schmitz (This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction June 1963.)
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
Poetry:
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
A collection of nearly 60 poems, most of them mercifully short. As for the longer ones, I confess to not getting past the first few stanzas. Too much verse with too little poetry. Here's a sample, the eighth poem in the collection. I should have quit then, if not before.
SLENDER YOUR HANDS
Slender your hands and soft and white
As petals of moon-kissed roses;
Yet the grasp of your fingers slight
My passionate heart encloses.
Innocent eyes like delicate spheres
That are born when day is dying;
Yet the wisdom of all the years
Is in their lovelight lying.
Nonfiction:
Around the World in 80 Plants by by Jonathan Drori; Illustrated by Lucille Clerc. (library book)
I love his descriptions and her lively illustrations.
Handbook of Summer Athletic Sports edited by Fred Whittaker. Published in 1880
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
When I chose this one I hoped for something campy and that it is.
The strange 19th-Century sport that was cooler than football by Zaria Gorvett. This is well illustrated and great fun.
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
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| The Three Brothers, Yosemite National Park |
"I spent the afternoon in a grand ramble along the Yosemite walls. From the highest of the rocks called the Three Brothers, I enjoyed a magnificent view comprehending all the upper half of the floor of the valley and nearly all the rocks of the walls on both sides and at the head, with snowy peaks in the background. Saw also the Vernal and Nevada Falls, a truly glorious picture,—rocky strength and permanence combined with beauty of plants frail and fine and evanescent; water descending in thunder, and the same water gliding through meadows and groves in gentlest beauty. This standpoint is about eight thousand feet above the sea, or four thousand feet above the floor of the valley, and every tree, though looking small and feathery, stands in admirable clearness, and the shadows they cast are as distinct in outline as if seen at a distance of a few yards. They appeared even more so. No words will ever describe the exquisite beauty and charm of this mountain park—Nature’s landscape garden at once tenderly beautiful and sublime. No wonder it draws nature-lovers from all over the world." from Muir's entry of August 13 [1869].
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| Pavlova |
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
Many of the subjects are 1920s Mexican political figures but there are also caricatures of William Howard Taft, William Randolph Hearst, Henry Ford, Anna Pavlova, Jack Dempsey., and other internationally known people of the times. There are also cartoons of political and social issues.
I had a good time Googling in order to compare his drawings with actual photograph of his subjects.
One of my "Twenty Books of Summer 2021"
This was fun! The "Painter" in the title is never actually named in the text, he is simply referred to as C_____. But it was clear to people of the time (1859) that it was Frederic Church, a landscape painter of the Hudson Valley School. An exciting and interesting account both of travel of the time and Church's efforts to get up close and sketch the icebergs in spite of rough seas and bouts of seasickness.
I was curious of what became of whatever Church painted as a result of this trip. That led me to this gem:
The Voyage of the Icebergs: Frederic Church’s Arctic Masterpiece by Elanor Jones Harvey; Gerald L. Carr, contributor.
This traces the history of the painting from an unsuccessful attempt by Church to sell it in New York, to it's shipment to London to a successful sale. Thence to obscurity in Manchester (England) until it was found and shipped to New York to be sold at auction in 1979. It was purchased by an anonymous buyer setting an auction high for any American painting. And then gifted to to the Dallas Museum of Art.
From there I went online to Olana, Church's Hudson Valley home which is now a New York State Historic Site. Lovely, and just a couple of hours away from my place. Have added it to my "Places to Visit after Covid19" list.
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