ARC October

I am more or less on time for this month's Artful Readers Club link-up. (I am actually 2 months behind but let's just ignore that for now)! The ARC can be found at 

http://art-and-sole.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/october-arc.html?m=1

When I chose my books back at the beginning of the year, I had just seen 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' by Laini Taylor whilst browsing the young adult section in Waterstones. I don't know why it caught my eye but it did and I added it to my list. I actually ended up listening to the audiobook version for this months book.

'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' begins in Prague where we are introduced to the main character, Karou. Karou is an art student with an unusual life. She is able to perform some small acts of magic or 'wishes' and has been raised by the, actually real, fantasy characters whom she is always drawing in her sketchbook. She performs tasks for one of these characters, Brimstone, although she does not fully understand what the purpose of the tasks, the collecting of teeth, is.

'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' is the first book in a trilogy and as it progresses Karou learns more and more about her life and where she is from. I found it totally enthralling and could not stop listening. (In fact, I downloaded book 2, 'Days of Blood and Starlight' straight after finishing it). The characters are fascinating and the storyline is really different and engaging. You can probably tell that I really loved it and would definitely recommend it!

My artwork is inspired by Karou's hamsa's, which is not something she understands at the beginning of the book, her blue hair and various other aspects of the mystery of Karou's life.

Artful Readers Club May in June!

We've had a manic couple of months so despite reading both my May and June books for the Artful Readers Club in May, I didn't manage to get the art done.  I'm slowly catching up.....

May's book was 'I left My Tent In San Francisco' by Emma Kennedy.

 

I read Emma's first travel book, 'The Tent, The Bucket and Me' a while ago. That book follows Emma's family and their disastrous attempts at camping when she was a child.  It was a book that I really enjoyed and had me laughing out loud all the way through.  When I realised that there was a follow up book, I hoped for more of the same and was not disappointed.

 

In 'I Left My Tent In San Francisco', we follow Emma and her friend Dee as they leave University and spend the summer in the USA working and then travelling.  Despite being assured at a 'Work America' meeting that there would be plenty of work, when they get to the USA, this proves not to be the case. These girls are left to rely on very little money and the kindness of strangers in order to survive their time away and to get home. Just as in the previous book, bad luck and hilarious incidents seem to be the norm.  Again, I was laughing all the way through.  Actually at one point, I was bent over double and nearly dropped the book! There were also times reading this book when I was cringing and thinking 'WHY'?!!

 

While Emma is in the USA, her parents are also travelling around Europe so we also get snippets of their continued hilarious travel adventures which also adds a lot of humour to the tale.  At times it can all seem a bit exaggerated but I don't really think that matters because it's such a laugh, and sometimes people really can have that much bad luck.

 

The book is a quick, light and very funny read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone needing a bit of light relief. It was highly entertaining :)

Here's the artwork I ended up with after a couple of false starts....

 

Hopefully I will catch up and have June's book review and art done in the next few days!

Yarn Along

What am I knitting and reading at the moment? Well I am still crocheting in pink.  I gave up on the zigzags due to my inability to follow a pattern at the moment so it's back to granny squares.  I can pick them up and down whilst seeing to the children in the evenings without having to think!

 

As for reading, I am listening to 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K.Rowling.  I put this off for a while as I was worried I may be disappointed after loving Harry Potter so much.  This was stupid! It's an excellent book and I'm really enjoying it.  The characters are great and I'm really interested to see where it goes plot-wise.  It's the second book I've listened to as a result of reading other reviews from the Artful Readers Club.  I listened to 'Around The World In 80 Days' last month. 

 Hopefully, I will have my May book review for the ARC posted up by the end of the week after a total art fail at the weekend. 





Artful Readers Club - April

My book for April was 'The Wood Wife' by Terri Windling.

I really loved this book.  I couldn't even put it down to make a cheese sauce I was so entranced :)

'The Wood Wife' was inspired by the artwork of Brian Froud who's work I really enjoy. I did not know this when I chose this book back in January!

The plot centres around journalist and poet, Maggie Black. Maggie has been corresponding with poet, Davis Cooper for several years and inherits his property in a remote area outside of Tucson, Arizona, after he dies in mysterious circumstances.  We follow Maggie as she gets to know the mountains and its mysteries.

There are several layers to the book and I will probably read it again at some point.  The things that stuck out for me were 'relationship to land'  (the author has lived in both Tucson, Arizona and Devon which is reflected in the novel), land and environment influencing art, and the arts influencing more art.  This made it a great choice for the Artful Readers Club although again, I didn't know that when I chose it!

It was a quick and enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it, particularly to those who enjoy magical fiction.

For my artwork, I chose to draw one of the animal characters, whom Maggie names as 'Thumper'.  I added a border of Mesquite leaves to reflect the trees in Maggie's environment and Oak leaves to reflect the influence of Dartmoor, Devon and my own environment, Somerset. 

 

 

Artful Readers Club March ~ Sophie

 My March book for the Artful Readers Club is 'Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking, 17 Years of  Silence'  by John Francis Ph.D. 

I came across this book after following a link to a TED talk by John Francis and have been wanting to read it ever since.  Here is the summary from the back cover,

'In 1971 an oil spill in San Francisco Bay changed John Francis's life forever.  Helping to clean up wasn't enough; he sought a way to contribute to the health of our planet in a personal way.  The solution he came up with was unconventional and courageous - to give up the use of all motorised vehicles and walk everywhere. Several months later, he took a vow of silence, which elicited concern from family and friends for his sanity, but as his memoirs eloquently demonstrate, these were the first steps on a three-decade pilgrimage to wisdom.'

This book follows John's journey from the time of the oil spill until the early 90s and there is an epilogue about his walking and work since.  Along the way John plays the banjo, paints watercolours, learns to build boats and walks to the relevant places to get a degree, masters and Ph.D. What I enjoyed most about the book was John's interactions with others along his journey and how people responded, both positively and negatively to what he was doing.  I was really interested in the silence and how John communicated with others non-verbally.  Although there is a lot about human interaction in the book, there is also the opposite part which is about being on a solitary journey, literally and metaphorically, and about experiencing wilderness. 

For me, this was a great read. It cover a lot of areas of interest for me, environment, communication, nature, music, art, personal journey and human behaviour. I would definitely recommend this book as it is such an unusual and positive story.

Near the beginning of the book, when John has started painting, he discovers bamboo and paints quite a lot of it.  I loved how he suddenly noticed it was everywhere so I decided to do a simple watercolour bamboo for my artwork...

 

Artful Readers Club February ~ Sophie

I have no idea what possessed me to think it was a good idea to read my longest Artful Readers Club book during the shortest month of the year when half term was also going to be happening! I finally finished 'Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R. R. Martin on Saturday.

I wasn't sure how I would get on with this book.  I have watched the first season of the TV series and loved it so I thought that might influence my feelings about it.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the book and TV series very very much in alignment - it does annoy me when TV/films change plots!

So the actual book.....'Game of Thrones' is an epic fantasy, set in a land which has similarities with ours and yet is also very different.  Seasons are long, lasting years and their is a hint of magic and magical creatures which I imagine will be expanded upon through the series.  This first instalment introduces us to many characters and the prominent families to whom they belong.  There is also a lot of extra information in the form of maps at the beginning and family history sections at the back of the book to help understand the different characters and families' relationships to each other and status within the kingdoms which is helpful. The book is structured so that each chapter is focused on a particular character.  I liked this as it helped me get to know the characters but I think there was also a downside in that I would start to get into a particular characters viewpoint and story and then the book switches focus and at times I found myself losing interest because of that.  The last part of the book however became much more enthralling so I raced through it at the end.

 

What I enjoyed most about the book was how much understanding I gained about different characters motives and intentions.  Almost all the characters have good and bad in them and although it's a fantasy of Kings, Queens, Lords and Ladies, there are no heroes as such.  The behaviour of a lot of the characters can be seen to be a direct result of their own experiences which in turn leads to bitterness and pain for other characters and I ended the book thinking 'what a mess this lot are in!' All the time they are fighting amongst themselves and we are being shown that the real threats are elsewhere.  I did really enjoy reading this and will probably go on to either read or listen to the audio books of the rest of the series at some point.  At the moment I'm waiting for the second TV series to land on my doormat so will probably cheat with that for a while!

 

This is the artwork I ended up with....

 

 

 

....I wanted to show the dangers being shown to us from 'Ice and Fire' and the families somewhere in between. In the end, after a few messed up attempts at trying to get all the family banners drawn small enough, I cut them out of the information sections :)
 

Artful Readers Club January ~ Sophie

Well, despite 3 snow days and 2 days of a poorly child being home, I have finished my first month's review and artwork on time....just!

 

The book I chose for January was 'Boneland' by Alan Garner.  Boneland is said to be the conclusion of the adventures of Colin and Susan which began with 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath'.  The Weirdstone of Brisingamen was fist published in 1960 so Boneland has been long-awaited.  I, on the other hand, only read it last year!  I decided to read it after coming across an article on the forthcoming publication on Boneland.  It caught my attention because although I really did not read a lot as a teenager (school put me off!), the one book I do remember reading and enjoying was another of Garner's books, 'The Owl Service'. I loved 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' and read 'The Moon of Gomrath' straight afterwards.

So what about Boneland? Well the first thing to note is that the first two books are written for children but Boneland is aimed at adults which is unusual but works very well in this case.  I'd imagine, most fans, unlike myself, would have read the earlier books as children and now be long grown up.  This book is wonderfully mysterious.  There is not a lot happening and everything going on at the same time.  The writing is beautiful and eerie and I loved it :) It is about science and mythology, time and space, and our relationship to the land we inhabit.  There is layer upon layer of meaning (not sure that is the right word actually but can't think of a better one!) and at the end of the book you are none the wiser and left to think on. 

Since finishing Boneland, I have read a lot of articles and reviews to see how it had been received by others.  One of the main things that I came across from doing that was that although Boneland is the final book of 3, it really relates to a lot more of Alan Garner's books than just those so of course I now want to go and read all the rest. I knew this challenge would increase rather than decrease my 'to-read' list!

 

In terms of my piece of artwork, I decided to keep things quite simple as a really don't think I'm anywhere near to understanding what Boneland is about.  I picked a few things from the book that I felt drawn to and just played about with them.  Here is what I ended up with....

 

I realise this is quite a vague 'review' but I would definitely recommend Boneland.  It's an experience and I'm still thinking about it :)

 

I've already started my book for February, 'Game of Thrones' and I am quite pleased after this month to find it much more simplistic and have a couple of straightforward ideas for artwork already!