Wednesday Reading Meme
Jan. 8th, 2020 07:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
Mai K. Nguyen’s Pilu of the Woods, a sweet and extremely unsubtle graphic novel about young Willow, who has been trying to cope with her emotions by bottling them up inside (pictured as literal green monsters in actual glass jars), only to learn through her friendship with a tree spirit who has run away from home that ignoring emotions only makes them stronger.
This is all stated more or less directly on the page and it ought to be unbearably didactic, but I loooooooove tree spirits and this tree spirit is a MAGNOLIA tree spirit and magnolias are one of my very favorite trees, and also I very much enjoyed the handsome drawings of the woods and the leaves and the mushrooms…. And also although there’s a moment when the middle that suggests that it may all be Just a Dream, at the end of the story Willow brings home a magnolia blossom even though it’s 100% the wrong season for magnolias to be blossoming, so I think we can safely say that she really did meet an actual real live tree spirit and apparently I’m willing to forgive a lot for that.
In conclusion: the world needs more books about tree spirits.
I also read Mary Blair’s Unique Flair, a gorgeous picture book written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by Brittney Lee with cut-paper illustrations that are a clear homage to Mary Blair’s Disney concept art, which also often used big blocks of gorgeous bright color. It’s basically a picture book biography of Mary Blair (I’ve noticed a lot of picture book biographies these days: is it a new trend, or did I just miss them as a child?) and totally worth checking out if you’re interested in animation history or beautiful illustrations or just want to bathe yourself in color.
What I’m Reading Now
Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House, which I’m actually really enjoying! I say this with some surprise, despite the fact that Patchett’s memoir Truth and Beauty (about her friendship with Lucy Grealy) is one of my all-time favorite books, because I felt aggressively meh about her novel Bel Canto. In a way that’s almost worse than hating a book: at least if you hate it, there’s some emotional connection there.
However, possibly it was just a Bel Canto thing and not a Patchett’s fiction in general thing (which is what I suspected previously). If I enjoy The Dutch House all the way through, I may go back and check out some of her earlier books, too; I’ve long had a vague yen to read The Patron Saint of Liars.
What I Plan to Read Next
Fellow lovers of old books, rejoice with me! I just discovered (via a post bylandofnowhere) that US copyright law is FINALLY allowing things to enter the public domain again, after holding the line at 1923 for the past TWO DECADES.
As it turns out, I’m a year late to this party, which started in 2019 (here’s a good Smithsonian article about it), but nonetheless!!! I’m so excited!
Mai K. Nguyen’s Pilu of the Woods, a sweet and extremely unsubtle graphic novel about young Willow, who has been trying to cope with her emotions by bottling them up inside (pictured as literal green monsters in actual glass jars), only to learn through her friendship with a tree spirit who has run away from home that ignoring emotions only makes them stronger.
This is all stated more or less directly on the page and it ought to be unbearably didactic, but I loooooooove tree spirits and this tree spirit is a MAGNOLIA tree spirit and magnolias are one of my very favorite trees, and also I very much enjoyed the handsome drawings of the woods and the leaves and the mushrooms…. And also although there’s a moment when the middle that suggests that it may all be Just a Dream, at the end of the story Willow brings home a magnolia blossom even though it’s 100% the wrong season for magnolias to be blossoming, so I think we can safely say that she really did meet an actual real live tree spirit and apparently I’m willing to forgive a lot for that.
In conclusion: the world needs more books about tree spirits.
I also read Mary Blair’s Unique Flair, a gorgeous picture book written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by Brittney Lee with cut-paper illustrations that are a clear homage to Mary Blair’s Disney concept art, which also often used big blocks of gorgeous bright color. It’s basically a picture book biography of Mary Blair (I’ve noticed a lot of picture book biographies these days: is it a new trend, or did I just miss them as a child?) and totally worth checking out if you’re interested in animation history or beautiful illustrations or just want to bathe yourself in color.
What I’m Reading Now
Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House, which I’m actually really enjoying! I say this with some surprise, despite the fact that Patchett’s memoir Truth and Beauty (about her friendship with Lucy Grealy) is one of my all-time favorite books, because I felt aggressively meh about her novel Bel Canto. In a way that’s almost worse than hating a book: at least if you hate it, there’s some emotional connection there.
However, possibly it was just a Bel Canto thing and not a Patchett’s fiction in general thing (which is what I suspected previously). If I enjoy The Dutch House all the way through, I may go back and check out some of her earlier books, too; I’ve long had a vague yen to read The Patron Saint of Liars.
What I Plan to Read Next
Fellow lovers of old books, rejoice with me! I just discovered (via a post by
landofnowhere) that US copyright law is FINALLY allowing things to enter the public domain again, after holding the line at 1923 for the past TWO DECADES. As it turns out, I’m a year late to this party, which started in 2019 (here’s a good Smithsonian article about it), but nonetheless!!! I’m so excited!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-08 12:47 pm (UTC)Ooh, that's good to know! The cover keeps catching my eye, but I haven't really looked into it.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-09 12:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-08 11:09 pm (UTC)I don't think I've ever read a book by Ann Patchett. She's one of several authors with Ann(e) names that I keep mixing up with one another in my head for no reason. I'm glad you're enjoying this one!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-09 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-11 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-11 01:58 pm (UTC)