The Bear by Andrew Krivak

In The Bear, Andrew Krivak weaves a hauntingly beautiful novel of elegant simplicity, visually rich and unforgettable. The story of a girl and her father surviving alone in a wilderness becomes a fable, a testament to familial love, and a portrait of humankind's place in the world.

This is a novel that entered my dreams, strangely offering a sense of peace and a feeling of oneness with the natural world. Strange because this is also a dystopian novel set in a future when mankind has disappeared and his civilization has crumbled, reverted to its basic elements. 

Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: Desolation

These two remaining humans live an idealized oneness with nature. They have some antiques--a glass window, some moldering books, a silver comb--singular heirlooms of another time. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt, how to turn animal fur into clothing and blankets, how to sew shoes from leather and sinew. They drink pine needle tea and gather nuts. The weeds we heedlessly poison become their salad. The maple helicopters that we curse when cleaning the gutters are their survival food.

What a long way we have come, we humans with our large brains and big dreams and greedy appetites! I look about my yard and neighborhood and understand suddenly the plenty that surrounds me. Not just my father's apple trees that bore thousands of fruit this year, but the maple trees and the oaks down the road. Not just my raised bed of chard and kale but the weeds I diligently pull up one by one.

Krivak's heroine is aided by her totem animal, the bear whose profile is seen in the mountain where her mother's bones rest. With winter, he sleeps and the girl is aided by a puma. These magical creatures feel a kinship--a kinship humanity has rarely returned.

Oh, no, we are to conquer and subdue and use and abuse! 

But what has that gotten us?--Decimation of species, destruction of the environment, pollution that poisons us, alienation.

The gorgeous style of Krivak's writing, his story of survival and death, the love and respect shown by his characters, themes eternal and crucial, earmark this as a must-read novel.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is unbiased and fair.

Read Andrew Krivak's personal note on writing The Bear here.

The Bear
by Andrew Krivak
Bellevue Literary Press
Pub Date 11 Feb 2020
ISBN 9781942658702
PRICE $16.99 (USD)

The Light After the War by Anita Abriel

Inspired by her mother's story, Anita Abriel's The Light After the War takes readers across the world following the paths of girlhood friends Vera and Edith from Budapest to escaping the Nazis and hiding out in Austria, to Italy and Venezuela.

Believing they had lost their families and loved ones, the girls try to move on with their lives after the war. Edith dreams of becoming a fashion designer and Vera had hoped to be a playwright but settles for copywriting.

The background of Jews migrating to more tolerant societies was new and interesting. There is referred violence and death relating to the Holocaust and the girls must resist predatory men, but there is nothing graphic in the story. The concentration is on their determination and friendship, and the charmed luck their beauty brings in the form of helpers and aides along their journey.

Easy to read and easy to digest, with star-crossed lovers and jealousy, the novel felt more like a romance than heavier WWII-era historical-fiction fare. The resolution will satisfy those who believe in fate and true love.

I was given access to a free book by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

The author has published under Anita Hughes with several books becoming Hallmark Channel movies.

The Light After the War
by Anita Abriel
Atria Books
Pub Date 04 Feb 2020
ISBN 9781982122973
PRICE $36.00 (CAD)

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

If Charles Dickens and Neil Gaiman and Conan Doyle had devised a Victorian Era Gothic mystery with a female detective partial to 'medicinal' tobacco who is hired to find a kidnapped girl who is perhaps not quite human, aided by a dead man and former circus freak, it would not be outdone by Jess Kidd's Things in Jars.

The coal smoke and fog of London, complete with its olfactory smorgasbord of industry and market, the filthy Thames and its dung-filled streets, the miasma blamed for cholera and other deadly diseases is vividly described. 

The novel is Victorian in writing style, with Dickensian descriptions and sensational penny dreadful worthy murderous villains. It is populated with Resurrectionists, mudlarks, people with false identities, and avid collectors of curiosities--things in jars.

Sir Edmund has an extensive collection of aquatic life--aberrations--things in jars, including the Winter Mermaid, the Irish merrow specimen that went missing long ago. The fishy merrow could take on female human form, beautiful but dangerous killers. Sir Edmund's reclusive, 'singular daughter' has disappeared, along with her nurse and the doctor. Sir Edmund won't share details, but he is desperate to find Christabel.

Here is time held in suspension. Yesterday picked. Eternity in a jar. ~from Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

Sir Edmund has called detective Bridie Devine to find the missing girl.

Bridie's early childhood was spent with a resurrectionist--once a man of science before ruined by drink and gambling--who taught her how to determine how long a body had been dead. Then a gentleman doctor took her from the streets to groom as his assistant. Now, she helps the police, "working out how people died." She failed to find her last kidnapped child case, and perhaps that failure was why she was chosen for this case.

Bridie is a wonderful character. Like Sherlock Holmes, she dons disguises, she is identified by her choice of hat, and smokes a pipe. She is also quite modern, railing against societal restraints on women, the 'market price' of their value. Middle age is creeping up--is it too late for a lover? Ruby Doyle's ghost has been following her, claiming they had a history; there is an affection between them. Who was he?

Kidd captures a time when Darwin's theory is breaking news and science and pseudoscience is all the rage. I love the novels and era that inspired this novel, and I love this novel, too.

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Things in Jars
by Jess Kidd
Atria Books
Pub Date 04 Feb 2020
ISBN 9781982121280
PRICE $27.00 /$36.00 (CAD) hardcover

Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art by Sandra Sider

"How do I develop my artistic voice, and what exactly is that?" is the second most asked question in Sandra Sider's art quilt critique workshops. Inspired by the closing statement in Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming, "there's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice," Sider was motivated to take the risk of sharing her quilts and journey as an artist in the public platform of a book. 

Stir Crazy by Sandra Sider, 60 x 42 in. Cyanotype photograms, paint on cotton

Sider begins with childhood memories of quiltmaking in her family and her early traditional quilts. In the 70s she saw quilt exhibitions that included "outsider art" that broadened her view of quiltmaking. A friend who wanted to learn to make quilts combined cyanotype images on fabric for quilts and this technique spoke to Sider and started her on her art quilt journey.

Sider shares the quilts she made over her career, explaining her growth in technique and artistic eye. She was not interested in traditional "pretty" quilts, but art that evoked a response.

Stem Cells by Sandra Sider

Sider shares what she has learned.

"Artistic voice" is not a goal, but a process, Sider writes. We sometimes get lost in the process or making a piece. We are warned to keep the purpose of your art piece in mind. Editing is important; too much machine quilting can obscure, fabric color choices may not match the message, over embellishing can create confusion.

Art education is ongoing for the artist, always trying new techniques and materials. Viewing art exhibitions can lead to new insights and inspiration. Draw from everything in your life. Keep a notebook of ideas, listen to critiques. Self-promotion is a part of a quilt artist's success.

Road Rage, digitally manipulated images of a Utah License plate,
was inspired by a solo cross-country drive

Sider's book will inspire quilt artists in their journey. Her ability to self-critique makes her a sympathetic and approachable teacher.

I was given access to a free egalley by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Chapters:

• How Many Things Do You Know?
• How Many Things Can You Do?
• Does Your Art Education Ever End?
• You Call Yourself an Artist
• Why Critiques Can Be Helpful
• Using Your Voice

Read Sider's bio here.

Read an interview with Sider at Create Whimsy here.

Images are from the author's website.

Exploring Your Artistic Voice in Contemporary Quilt Art
by Sandra Sider
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
Pub Date 28 Jan 2020
112 pages 60 color images
ISBN: 9780764358876
$16.99 (USD) paperback

from the publisher:This compact guide will make a huge impact on how you choose to express yourself in quilt art. Think of the artists whose work you admire, individuals with a distinctive style or perhaps several styles developed over the years. You might like their use of color, materials, craft expertise, and subject matter. But above all, you recognize in these makers an authenticity, a confident approach to the quilt medium. That is their artistic voice. Develop your own unique artistic voice, see your work mature, and become confident and happy with what you are doing in the studio. Renowned quilt artist Sandra Sider acts as a companion along the path to discovering your voice, and offers photos of dozens of her own quilt design successes and failures as examples to learn from. Even blind alleys, detours, and the road not taken can lead to developing one’s voice as a quilt artist—indeed, as any sort of creative maker. Topics include how to write a powerful artist's statement for yourself, when to stop experimenting, and using your voice once you own it. Looking to broaden your quilting experience, or simply curious about the concept of an artistic voice? Look no further—this is the perfect guide for you!

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson was this month's book club pick. I enjoyed reading this book and found it interesting.  

I am not into fishing or fly tying, and although it is about the theft of rare feathers from a museum to be used in salmon fly tying, that's not the whole point of the book. What is fascinating is the obsessive aspect of fly tying and its roots in a crazy but popular 19th c writer who insisted that rare and beautiful birds needed to be harvested to create perfect flys to attract specific fish in specific streams.

The book also talks about the obsession for birds and feathers in 19th c fashion and how millions of birds were killed for the sake of their feathers.

This book is about obsession and the crazy things we become obsessed with. The obsession of a 19th c naturalist to collect rare birds. The obsession of a man who stole the rare birds from a museum, justifying his action. The obsession of the author who needed to understand the thief and to find what happened to all the birds.

And, there is the obsession of us readers who want to know how the story ends.

Most of our book club readers did not finish the book or were disappointed by the ending. Some parts interested others. One was emotionally upset by the killing of birds. It was the lack of an ending that gave closure that most disappointed the readers. Even if the 'mystery' was not solved, the 'truth' revealed, they wanted the author to offer something to wrap the story up. Two of us did enjoy the book.

I purchased an ebook.

Dreams Coming True: Theresa Nielsen and Her Children's Books

My quilt friend Theresa Nielsen is a woman of many talents. Along with creating crazy quilts such as one that was a finalist in the Grand Central Terminal Centennial Quilt Challenge sponsored by the City Quilter quilt shop in New York, she restores vintage quilts and makes quilts, dolls, and other items.

Theresa is also a writer and recently has published three children's books illustrated by Jake Goodgall. When Theresa puzzled over finding an illustrator for her books, young Jake quipped that if the books were for children they should be illustrated by a child!

First to come out was Pickles and Olive, in which an abandoned stuffed rabbit comforts a premature baby.

Mustard and Honey is the story of sibling frogs who frolic in a lily pond. Mustard likes to scare Honey but things take a happy turn on Honey's birthday.

Stormy and Cloudy don't appear until the end of the book bearing their names; a farmer and his wife are warned against bad weather by their cows, whose offspring are given the appropriate names.

The simple stories offer children an understanding of premature baby siblings, the love behind the teasing between siblings, and how relationships between people and animals are mutually beneficial.

Theresa has been talking about her books at libraries and other venues across Southeast Michigan. Her books are available at Amazon.com for $7.00 each. Her stories have appeared in several publications.

Theresa Nielson's Grand Central Centennial Quilt
read more at
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2015/01/grand-central-terminal-centennial-quilt.html

Conversations with RBG by Jeffrey Rosen

I admit my knowledge and understanding of the Supreme Court is barely adequate, based mostly on headline news and gleanings from my readings in history and biographies.

With some trepidation, I proceeded to read Conversations with RBG, worried it would be 'over my head.'

I was immediately pleased to find Jeffrey Rosen's book was informative, with a good sense of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's personality and ideas about "life, love, liberty, and law," and yet accessible to a general reader like myself. Most of the cases discussed were quite well known, although in Rosen's chapter introductions there were references to cases outside of my knowledge.

Each chapter is a transcript of a conversation between Rosen and RBG that took place over time, focusing on one aspect of her life or career. The conversations consider landmark Supreme Court cases but also consider the present and future of the Court.

Rosen and RBG bonded over a shared love of opera. Classical music and opera are RBG's passion, bringing beauty, joy, and therapeutic escape into her workaholic life.

I appreciated learning about her early cases working with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Women's Rights Project.

RBG endeavored for laws that were neutral in regards to sex, so that men and women had the same, equal protections.

I think that men and women, shoulder to shoulder, will work together to make this a better world.~RBG quoted in Conversations with RBG

All the landmark cases are addressed from RBG's landmark cases to her dissenting votes. A very interesting chapter concerns RBG's meeting with Margaret Atwood. Also discussed is how RBG became a cultural icon, memorialized in opera and social media memes.

Rosen asked, "What's the worst ruling" the current Court has produced, and she answered Citizens United. "I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays fo far from what our democracy is supposed to be."

I read in the newspaper today that Virginia passed the Equal Rights Amendment, which RBG had supported. Last night I had read about Rosen asking if the ERA might be revived in correlation with the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. RBG replied that because some states withdrew their ratification "it would be better to start over."

I appreciated RBG's philosophy of the court being "a reactive institution." She believes the Court should respect the legislative judgment of Congress.

RBG is hopeful, understanding that the American democratic experiment is an ever-evolving process.

"I am an originalist; I think we're constantly forming a more perfect Union, which is what the Founders intended. As bad as things may be, there are better than they once were. These are not the best of times, but think of how many bad time's I've experienced in my long lig.e Starting with the Second World War...then Senator Joe McCarthy...Then Vietnam. Somehow, we have gotten over the worst of times."~RBG in Conversations with RBG by Jeffrey Rosen

I won a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.

Read an excerpt here.

Conversations with RBG
by Jeffrey Rosen
Henry Holt and Co.
Publication: 11/05/2019
hardcover $28
ISBN: 9781250235176