I honestly don’t know why my kids love this book so much: The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise brown, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard Okay, so Margaret Wise Brown, best known for Goodnight, Moon — kind of a difficult author, in my opinion. They couldn’t have chosen a more grating color scheme for the colorized version, and I have a really hard time with books that sometimes rhyme, but sometimes just use the same word twice, because that rhymes. I... Read more
Of course it’s Thanksgiving that gave me the idea for today’s book pick: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham My constant companion. I have never found a cookbook I like better. It taught me all the basics — how to make pie crust and rolls, stock, gravy, meatballs, muffins, and so on (with suggested variations); how to carve a chicken, how to tell when eggs and different types of produce are fresh, how to measure various types of food,... Read more
SEVEN QUICK TAKES! Come on, you all know what the “quick takes” picture looks like by now. It’s on my computer somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I can find it, and my computer is tearfully warning me that it just doesn’t know what it might do if I open another tab. I tried making it yellow for authenticity’s sake, but it hurt my eyes. All right, here we go. 1. I almost never click on those touching or adorable... Read more
Guess what? I’ve been putting a lot of old books on my 50 Books list, but today is different. Today’s book is so new that you have to pre-order it. AND, I wrote part of it! Yes, inching my way slowly and angrily toward actually writing my own damn book, I was delighted when the strange and wonderful Ryan Charles Trusell of Labora Editions — YOU KNOW, THE ORA ET LABORA ET ZOMBIES GUY — asked me to join Dorian... Read more
Including, but not limited to, ham. Read more
Today’s pick: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe A simple and satisfying story of two daughters, based on an African folktale. One daughter has a gentle and generous heart, and she is tested and rewarded; one is petty and grasping, and she gets what she deserves. The story is engaging and nicely phrased, but the illustrations are what makes this book a real delight. They are absolutely luminous, deeply textural, warm, and brilliant. The subtle expressions on the faces of... Read more
I wanted today’s book to have a nice tie-in with today’s post, but, it doesn’t. But it has something much, much better: HOKUSAI! The book I looked over a thousand times when I was little is Masterworks of Ukiyo-E: Hokusai Sketches and Paintings If you think that Japanese art is stiff, formal and impenetrable to Western eyes, then your cure is HOKUSAI! You probably know his famous “Great Wave off Kanagawa” This is a woodblock print. A WOODBLOCK PRINT. Have... Read more
Last night, all night long, I had a dream that I was working on a post about why you should vote for Romney. So you see, even my dreams are running behind schedule. The good news is, today’s post is 100% certified Romney-free, and is actually very forward-thinking. New book pick in a bit! Read more
. . . Sed Noli Modo put up the interview she did with me a while back, for Catholic Speaker’s Month. Check it out! Read more
Yarr (that’s my “shamefaced pirate” voice), it’s Sunday. Not supposed to conduct commerce on Sundays. But if I skip a day, I’ll never get back on track, believe me. So out of respect for the Lord’s day, for today’s book for the “50 books” list, I’m recommending a children’s Bible which is being sold used for under $2; so if I’m corrupting the Sabbath, I’m certainly not doing a very good job of it: The Golden Bible, Old Testament, illustrated... Read more
I Have to Sit Down
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