book list 2012

One day left of 2012! Here is a roundup of some of the books I've read and liked this year. Last year's list (see book list 2011) I prefaced with the sighing, "Oh, and so many books I didn't get to.." which is neither here nor there, so I need not lament again. Nor must I add, "Of course, my reading material included periodicals, blogs, text messages, etc.."
I've attempted descriptions of each, but look them up online for better summaries, if interested.

Conversations With Artists (Selden Rodman)- Circa 1950s, 35 American painters, sculptors & architects discuss their work

Love Begins In Winter (Simon van Booy)- Five impressionistic stories about isolated, sensitive people finding connection

Ed Ruscha, Photographer (Margit Rowell)- overview of Ruscha's '50s-'70s photography and how it ties into his work as a painter

Truck: A Love Story (Michael Perry)- Here's a post I wrote after reading this super book: garden-variety nostalgia

How To Sharpen Pencils (David Rees)- "A practical and theoretical treatise on the artisanal craft of pencil sharpening for writers, artists, contractors, flange turners, anglesmiths & civil servants"

Lee Krasner, A Biography (Gail Levin)-A long-overdue, thorough portrait of this formidable Abstract Expressionist- before, during and after being with Pollock; fascinating in her own right

Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger's (John Elder Robison)- A dark and funny and significant memoir of a different sort of life, thoughtful and straightforward

Imagine: How Creativity Works (Jonah Lehrer)- Accessible neuroscience and demystifying creativity- Here's a post I wrote after reading this book: firing up the neurons

By Nightfall (a novel) (Michael Cunningham)- see Amazon link

The Marriage Plot (a novel) (Jeffrey Eugenides)- see Amazon link

A Moveable Feast (Hemingway)- So glad I finally read this memoir of his early Paris days

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (short story- I'm reading a book of them) (Hemingway)

The Paris Wife (a novel) (Paula McLain)- From the vividly imagined perspective of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, in the '20s

NW (a novel) (Zadie Smith)- see Amazon link

The Ecstasy of Influence (Jonathan Lethem)- A hefty collection of writings and ideas, look this one up on Amazon too

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer (Novella Carpenter)- The author starts a garden & 'urban farm' in a vacant lot in Oakland

The Consolations of Philosophy (Alain de Botton)- presenting the wisdom of great thinkers as a solace and advice for life, thoughtful and witty

Travels With Charley: In Search of America (Steinbeck)- the terrific account of the writer's road trip across America in 1960; see this post

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (a novel) (Michael Chabon)- can't believe I just got to this book now, but I'm SO glad- I LOVE it (nearly finished)

Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy (Dave Hickey)-how the arts function in the drift of everyday life & our cultural landscape; I'm currently reading and digging it

Also on my shelf for Jan-Feb:
Love (Stendhal)
Sutton (J.R. Moehringer)
Stand Still Like The Hummingbird (Henry Miller)- a revisiting
A Place Of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams (Michael Pollan)
Dandelion Wine (Ray Bradbury)
Telegraph Avenue (Michael Chabon)

Oh how I love reading. 3"x3" collage/acrylic on canvas.