At my food-loving book club, this month’s read is How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall. I just started the book myself, but so far it’s a web of visual narratives.
Here’s a clip from the back cover :
The lives of four individuals–a dying painter, a blind girl, a landscape artist, and an art curator – interwine across nearly five decades in this luminous and searching novel of extraordinary power.
When I checked this out at my library, I was excited to recognize the cover art is by Dan-Ah Kim. I bought a print of hers almost three years ago on Etsy – and am still loving her red-dressed imagery.
So what’s on your reading list these days? Any new favorites?
PS Happy March – the almost-start of spring!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Our monthly book club met on Monday – always good and funny and filling. We ate lots (highlight: homemade chocolate almond ice cream) and talked books (last month’s read: Netherland by Joseph O’Neill) and then settled on our next book.
For book club in February, we’re reading Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, a Norwegian novel about youth, loss and memory.
Here’s a blurb from The New Yorker:
In this quiet but compelling novel, Trond Sander, a widower nearing seventy, moves to a bare house in remote eastern Norway, seeking the life of quiet contemplation that he has always longed for. A chance encounter with a neighbor—the brother, as it happens, of his childhood friend Jon—causes him to ruminate on memory’s of his youth. Loss is conveyed with all the intensity of a boy’s perception, but acquires new resonance in the brooding consciousness of the older man.
Sounds intriguing! So what’s on your reading list for this month?
listening to: Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay by Sarah Bareilles (listen!)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
When I first moved to San Francisco last year, I was lucky enough to happen into a great book club. It’s been a highlight of my first year here. We meet every month and talk about the latest read over a potluck dinner of yummy foods and a few glasses of wine. (Book clubs with fellow food lovers are awesome!)
This month we’re reading Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow. Intriguing – and so far so good.
From the back:
An ancient race of lycanthropes has survived to the present day, and its numbers are growing. Bent on dominance, rival factions are initiating the down-and-out of L.A. into their ranks. Caught in the middle are Anthony, a kindhearted, lovesick dogcatcher, and the object of his affection: a female werewolf who has abandoned her pack.
Available on Amazon
(or at your local bookstore!).
my new favorite destination is the main branch of the santa monica public library. it’s gorgeous and modern and full of glass and light–and brimming with a million books to read. it has a cafe and its own bookstore, and it’s environmentally friendly! oh, library love.
the latest books that i’ve check out have been almost all about food. inspired by this good idea at the kitchn, i decided to “test out” some new cookbooks before purchasing. needless to say, i now want to own each one of them…
+ chez panisse vegetables & chez panisse fruit are treasures from alice waters. each book is beautifully designed with gorgeous illustrations and bursting with recipes that celebrate fresh produce.
+ the new moosewood cookbook, a 1970s vegetarian classic, is handlettered and illustrated, which makes it feel extra personal, like the recipes are coming to you from a great, food-loving friend.
+ nigella express & nigella’s how to eat made me understand why people adore nigella. her recipes are delicious, but simple–and her attitude towards food is celebratory, but down-to-earth.
+ good poems got thrown into my pile for good measure. just as i hoped, this collection of poems from garrison keillor (a prairie home companion) is lovely and surprising and gives a sense of hope and perspective in this crazy world.
so that’s what’s piled up for me at the moment... what about you?
more cookbook recommendations are always welcome!
listening to: mushaboom by feist (listen)
Friday, December 12, 2008
on tuesday night, i went to my local city library branch and had one of those awesome moments when every book i came across seemed just right. the library (any library) has been a favorite location of mine for as far back as i can remember. wandering the shelves, amassing a pile, and checking out a stack of new-to-me books gives me a strange but special thrill.
often the subjects are totally unrelated, many of the books i never read from cover to cover, but always i am delighted by all the text and images and ideas and inspirations that a pile of books can offer.
here is my library list from tuesday:
+ alone in the kitchen with an eggplant (hilarious essays on cooking solo.)
+ the girl with the gallery (the title caught me, and the topic’s held me.)
+ what i talk about when i talk about running
(haruki murakami is fantastic.)
+ paris cafe: the select crowd
(illustrated thoughts on the paris cafe scene.)
+ superman: the complete history (for an upcoming exhibition at work.)
+ armageddon in retrospect
(kurt vonnegut is genius.)
what books are piled up on your nightstand at the moment?
My name is Lillie Dignan. I'm a designer and maker, living and working in the Bay Area.
