Another bird book? Yep. Get over it. You are NOT too cool for birds, contrary to what you might think. Most of you, well, I know you better than you imagine. And even those convinced of their cool might want …
Read: Camille Pissarro
I will never complain again. Ever. Never, ever. I won’t do it. Nope. Not even going to cross my mind. If you think you are having a difficult time pressing a shutter button to make your “art,” well then let …
Read: A Beginner’s Guide to Japan
You could say I’ve been on a Pico Iyer kick as of late. Yes, that is an accurate statement. It helps that Iyer has spent several decades living in Japan, and I’m about to make my first trip, but I …
Read: The Lady and The Monk
Yep, another book by Pico Iyer. Once you land on an author it’s easy to just keep going. I landed on Iyer years ago, but needed to revisit his catalog. Lucky for me, he had something about Kyoto, a city …
Read: Yasunari Kawabata
Let’s talk about traveling inward while reading. If you are looking for sweeping, epic novels that cover entire eras, periods or timeframes, well, keep looking. Yasunari Kawabata is all about small. These novels, “The Master of Go,” and “Snow Country,” …
Read: Neither Here Nor There
Bill Bryson is living proof of what you can do with observation and humor. I have laughed out loud during every Bryson read, and “Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe” was no exception. This book details the retracing of …
Read: Hiking with Nietzsche
We all have Nietzsche to thank for presenting us with “Become who you are.” You know, that crippling question that makes you rethink your entire existence. Am I who I am? Or am I a product of what someone else …
Read: Whistles from the Graveyard
I have respect for anyone who joins the military. I could have but didn’t. My father tried but was rejected. Same for my grandfather who had Ankylosing Spondylitis. But don’t you worry about gramps. He wrote for forty years and …
Read: Autumn Light
Our Japan workshop looms. Far enough ahead to still seem distant. Close enough to stoke a creative anxiousness. I’m not only reading books about Japan, just here and there, but understanding a bit more about the culture has been fascinating. …
Read: All The Lovers In The Night
I’m continuing to prepare my mindset for Japan. I love Japanese literature. There is a softness to it, and an ability to dissect even the simplest of gestures into passionate, agonizing, emotional moments. Mieko Kawakami’s “All The Lovers In The …
Read: A Night of Long Knives
What a great time to read about the rise of the Nazis. Berlin during the storm that became the German Reich. Because I am sitting in America, I thought this might be a perfect set-the-table foreshadowing of what could be …
Read: Where Men Win Glory
If you are looking for a feel good book, well, this isn’t it. In short, they lied. All of them. Top to bottom. And from what I can gather from Jon Krakauer’s book “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of …