I’ve tried for some time now to keep to a regular Monday–Friday posting schedule on this blog, though lately my off-line life has been quite eventful and even hectic and I genuinely regret falling behind and not updating consistently. I hope you have noticed that this week I am back to my regular posting schedule. I am trying out some new ways of producing my posts and managing my time and hope to enjoy the satisfaction of having my blog regularly updated with quality content while being freed from all that anxiety over my blog not being updated in days and days.
In order to produce my daily book reports I have to spend a great deal of time catching up on my reading. Like my friend Will Taft I typically am reading at least three or four and sometimes up to 8–10 books all at the same time. And sometimes, it is necessary for me to take a day off from blogging and put the computer aside and spend time curled up with my books, reading and learning and getting the grist for my next batch of book reviews. So today, when I will be away from the computer and catching up on my reading, I decided to leave for you the cover images and some quick descriptions of four very striking books which caught my eye at the library but which after looking over I have determined I am not going to read and write a full blog reviews for.
William A. Ewing’s FACE The New Photographic Portrait combines a wide range of very striking facial portraits which I suspect you would find as worthy of gawking and contempating as I did combined with a rather large body of text about the "art of portraiture" that frankly seemed disjointed and out of place. Worth checking out for the pictures but can’t recommend it due to the text.
Ron tells me that Roy Blount Jr. is a kind of erudite Lewis Grizzard. Long Time Leaving Dispatches From Up South has been on my stack for a couple of months but today I cry Uncle and send it back unread. I tried to get Ron to read and review this one but he said he just wasn’t in any mood for Blount.
Living In Venice looked at first like it would be a perfect book for an Armchair Travel day. Much like with the FACE book, I found the photography stunning and noteworthy but could never find the patience to sit down and absorb the lengthy text.
And Finally, The Story of Tea is a very well written history of the remarkable beverage that has had such a huge impact on history and the development of the world we know. The book is clearly well written and beautifully written, but at lenght I just don’t have time to read four hundred Large pages to learn all about tea.
As always, if you find yourself choosing to read any of these, please leave a comment and let me know. And just a tip for any new readers– click on any book cover image to get the book from your local library or click on any book title to purchase the book from Powell’s. a locally owned and ethical bookstore in Portland Oregon that has a huge selection, great customer service and a strong reputation for treating but readers and authors fairly and well.
Please visit again tomorrow when I have a couple of books with a distinctive Latin flavor lined up. Happy Wednesday!
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, FACE The New Photographic Portrait, Frederic Vouton, Jerome Darblay, Living In Venice, Long Time Leaving, Mary Lou Heiss, Reading Day, Robert J Heiss, Roy Blount Jr, Short Takes, The Story Of Tea, William A Ewing
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