books, art, music

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Grady Harp is Amazon’s #7 Top Reviewer

Alessandro Baricco’s SILK is a rare extended poem or aria of a novel.

The author’s background as a musicologist is evident in the way he fashions his tale of sensuality and eroticism: statements are made only to be repeated verbatim later in the story of four excursions to Japan as though having said it once merely requires a reprise; moments of visual senses and responses are in fragments, like breaths inhaling and exhaling the unspeakable quality of beauty and desire; the ‘chapters’ are brief, often one page in length, like an aside to the reader.

It is a hauntingly beautiful song and Baricco composes it well (the translation from the original Italian by Ann Goldstein is equally as sensitive).

Hervé Joncour is a silkworm merchant living in 1861 France in a town Lavilledieu whose wealth is dependent on the silk manufactured form the eggs and hatched larvae of the silkworm. He is married to Hélène Joncour, a beautiful wife who allows her husband to make trips to far away lands to support the town industry. They are a happy couple, hoping for a child.

Baldabiou is a businessman who encourages Joncour to travel to the then dangerous Japan to gather silkworm eggs not infected with the disease that Continue reading »

The Illustrated Timeline of Religion: A Crash Course in Words & Pictures is visually stunning, as well as factually comprehensive. This “crash course in words and pictures” provides readers thumbnail sketches of the major religious events from the beginning of recorded time.

I found it fascinating (as I do with all timelines) to quickly check what events were happening at roughly the same time in history. For example, within 30 years of Gutenberg’s bible, Pope Sixtus IV authorized the Spanish inquisition as a tool to suppress “heretics”.

Or, the same year that Chris Columbus was sailing the ocean blue, Ferdinand II and Isabella ordered the expulsion of Jews following Continue reading »

Maybe I’m confusing myself with Jackie Collins . . . but doesn’t it seem like a cool idea to splurge on an upscale Fendi as a book bag? I can’t be the first one with this idea, can I? Or is Jackie Collins already walking around New York City, toting her latest manuscript in a Fendi Hobo Bag? I’d be crushed if this wasn’t my original idea.

So I did a little research. I couldn’t discover if Jackie carries a Fendi as her book bag, but I did find a Fendi reference in her book, Lovers & Players. “Dangerous sex, family secrets, irrestible power, mega-money, and two murders equal one reckless week in New York.” In the book, Jackie has her character packing up her brushes and makeup equipment into her large Fendi carry-all. Okay, so not a book bag . . . but close enough. Knowing Jackie’s books, I’m betting that carry-all was a Fendi Spy Bag. Whadda ya think?

Whenever I travel (like all good authors,) I buy book bags; however most are canvas and either sport the name/ logo of my destination, or come straight off the shelf at Barnes and Nobel. Of course, canvas is fine for daytrips to the zoo or library, but come on now . . . . wouldn’t you rather have the fuchsia twill Fendi Tote for those prestigious book signings? Of course you would . . . why waste that royalty money on something frivolous like . . . . rent? Let’s go shopping.

Grady Harp is an Amazon Top 10 Reviewer

While the name ‘Allan Rich’ may not jump into consciousness of the general public immediately, the face and persona of the man who adopted the name years ago are doubtless known to all who love the stage and film, whether in the form of motion picture or television.

Rich is a character actor par excellence who is so immersed in his roles that in becoming the character he loses his ’star identity’. Some would say that is a negative statement, but after reading this excellent book, A LEAP FROM THE METHOD, and learning from every page how Rich practices and teaches acting, then there could be no higher compliment.

Rich’s book is so warmly user friendly that after the first fifty pages of biographical information and photographs the manual feels like a conversation with an old friend - and a wise one at that.

While many actors have the ability to ’show’ students ‘how to act’ by proximity in a shared production, very few have the ability to put those instructions into words. Rich uses the first pages of the book to give his personal history and the reason for that seems to serve as a personal journey that quietly illustrates his points. Continue reading »

The Illustrated Timeline of Inventions: A Crash Course in Words & Pictures, by Craig Sandler, is one of those handy reference books that info-junkies will want to keep close at hand.

Richly illustrated, the Timeline covers man’s inventions, beginning with the spear and ending with Wikipedia—with just about everything else you could think of in between. Prozac, electricity, cash register, Mason jars, linoleum, plow, submarine, bayonets, telescope, globe, anchor, abacus, fishing hook.

The illustrations are beautifull rendered, and the sidebars Continue reading »

Grady Harp is our favorite Top 10 Amazon Reviewer

THE SEVENTH KING is the first book to come from the mind of Njedeh Anthony and it raises as many questions as any new novel in a while.

A strange mixture of Western and Eastern religion, based on a verse from the book of Revelations in the Bible, thoroughly perfused with scientific information and magic and ritual and fantasy, this book is an enigma.

At the close of the book Anthony adds the following: ‘The birth of the book occurred after I died in a nightmare and the things that happened after I died. I woke up from my father’s couch and wondered what the afterlife was about. I researched all I could find and found myself writing, and when I wrote, I questioned if I was writing a book based on a nightmare or the book was writing me into something I had no control over.’

The storyline follows the life of one Hades, born of Hagar (the name of infamous Egyptian slave of Abraham’s wife Sarah who bore Abraham children), who when discarded by his mother is set upon the world to search his identity and seek ‘the Seventh King’ referenced in Revelations.

The boy becomes a man, and though steeped in anger he manages Continue reading »

This little book is a big reminder of a tough time in world history - the years between 1939 and 1945: World War II. Originally published in 1940, and reissued in 2007, the book is a treasure of how practicality and ingenuity triumphed over Britain’s darkest (and most shining) hour.

101 Things to Do in Wartime 1940 contains dozens of made-up and make-do games, with illustrations showing how to make many items, including how to craft a croquet game for the floor, or structure a wire puzzle for the kids.

The book also includes tips on more practical matters - like how to ventilate a blackout curtain, how to stay safe from flying glass in case of an explosion, and how to use every inch of the yard to grow food in the garden.

Although this book provides a charming glimpse into another time, the reader is always reminded of the fact that it was written because the people in Britain were undergoing terrible deprivation. Learning how to cook without water, preserve eggs, or make a case for your gas mask may seem quaint in today’s world - - but this little book must surely have been a practical guidebook for a country that would see five more years of war.

Highly recommended.

“What are you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay . . . Whether I could remember the rest of the poem or not was immaterial. The truth of the statement was like a wadded-up handkerchief, sopping wet in my fists, and the sooner they accepted it the quicker I could let me hands open and the air would cool my palms.”

So begins I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first of six volumes of memoirs written by poet Maya Angelou. Using powerful imagery—“the dress . . . sounded like crepe paper on the back of hearses”—Angelou, immerses readers in the culture of pre-Civil Rights Arkansas, her own personal losses, and the hopes that survived even in the darkest of days.

The enormous popularity of memoirs such as Angelou’s—and more recently Angelas Ashes: A Memoir—speaks volumes about our love of riveting tales, even though some pull readers into the darkest corners of human experience.

But what defines this genre, and how does it differ from other, extraordinarily similar, formats? And how to write one? Here’s what memories—and the books they inspire—are made of.

Tackling theme
Unlike the clear demarcation between fiction and non-fiction, romance and western, the memoir walks a fuzzy line between autobiography, travelogue, essay and diary. Written in the first person, the memoir generally focuses on a single aspect of a person’s life, and has an underlying theme woven throughout.

Although a memoir may follow a chronological sequence, it’s not a chronological accounting of every life event—as seen in an autobiography. Compare, for example, Continue reading »

Back in the day when I wrote for an astronomy magazine, I wore a special pair of tennis shoes whenever there was an eclipse. My eclipse shoes were made from a fabric printed with suns, moons, stars, and comets.

Those shoes were my lucky charms, ensuring I got great eclipse photos and even better elipse article bylines.

But now, I’m turning in my eclipse shoes for new lucky charms - - a great collection of fun shoes for the writer in everyone. Problem is, I can’t decided between the red polka dot thong sandals, the pink rockin’ round-up Sugar Shoes, or one of the hip Red Wing boots. Sometimes even the most serious authors just wanna have a little fun.

Whenever my niece cooks, she plays music to match the menu. Whenever I write, I do the same - - but now I’m wondering if my writing would pop up a level or two if I wore shoes to match my topic. You know - - lightweight hikers when writing an article about the best hikes in San Diego County, or those red polka dots while working on a round-up piece reviewing the best new chicklit fiction.

We authors can be a strange lot when it comes to our “magic”. Some of us can’t write without “the right pen”, some without “the right atmosphere”. My thing has always been “the right music.” But now - - those shoes. Just think what heights I could conquer if I just had the right shoes.

Would love to hear about your “the right . . . . . “. Leave a comment.

THE TRUTH … how do we carry the truth from girlhood to adulthood?

That priceless ‘truth’ that we all recognize as kids? How do we walk over that bridge into growing up, carrying the Truth? How do we not hide it? How do we not forget what it is? How do we recognize THE TRUTH in our children and help them carry their most precious selves into adulthood?

The Truth: I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything is a delightful, humorous secret diary, written by a girl who is 10-11 years of age. She is wise and yet so innocent. She makes us cry and laugh and remember ourselves.

Behind this very easy read is the psychological message to the women reading THE TRUTH that they can and must recapture the fire and passion of Continue reading »