Summer Reading

Book Reviews
I love books..fiction..non-fiction...magazines..okay, magazine aren't books but I love them too!

I read a lot so and mostly unconventional non-fiction stuff so I thought I'd share some interesting reads and get some suggestions for new stuff.

After reading an article in the magazine that Lifetime Fitness sends out, I got on a simplicity, non-consumerism kick. I started with Giving It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less by Mary Carlomango. This is a quick read that I didn't identify with very well. She is single (with boyfriend) living in New York City and living a very urban lifestyle not at all in sync with a suburban wife and mom of 3. Ms. Carlomango picked 12 vices and gave one up each month. I'm not quite sure if her lifestyle is excessive or mine ultra-moderate but I think I could give up taxis, chocolate, high-end shopping and newspapers with much greater ease. I did like the premise of the book though and may make me rethink how I handle my New Year's Resolutions for 2010.

Next on the list was A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni. This was definitely a more entertaining read but also a bit scarier. Ms. Bongiorni along with her husband and two young children decide to not buy anything made in China for an entire year. It is frightening to learn the amount of consumer goods that this eliminated from her shopping list. Even more frightening was that she resorted to a bit of "cheating" to even survive the year. This book was a good read and I'm definitely checking labels, but unfortunately with a bit of feeling of despair and futility!

I'm currently reading Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. Although this book got lower stars in the Amazon rating, I'm enjoying it more. Ms. Levine is definitely putting some philosophical thought behind her decision and the impact on her life. This is a deeper, more thoughtful book and thus not as quick as the other two.

Twitter Book Club
Concurrently with Not Buying It, I'm reading de Kooning: An American Master by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan. This is for a Twitter book club host by Alyson B. Stanfield ( @abstanfield ). This is a thick book (600 pages) but the goal is 100 pages a week and it started last Monday. I'm about 30 pages behind but I'm enjoying this biography so I'll catch up quick. If you are interested in joining the Twitter club, read about it here on Ms. Stanfield's blog.

Add to My List
I've got a few more on the bookshelf but I always love suggestions! I do read fiction (mainly sci-fi or modern off-beat like Alice Hoffman or Jodi Picoult) but I tend to stop the rest of my life when I'm in a good fiction so I have to limit my exposure. My husband still hasn't quite forgiven me for the week I was lost in the Twilight series. Thus non-fiction is more managable while trying to function in society!

On Art
I've finished a collage last week but I haven't signed or photographed it. I'm also working on a new project with art and haikus..more on that later. This bright, summer-ready painting is from painting en plein air (outside!) at the Dallas Arboretum last Spring. California Poppies can be purchased here in my Etsy shop.