Secrets To Drawing Realistic Faces

OK, OK...I get the message. Here is my post finally :)

Right now I'm reading Secrets To Drawing Realistic Faces. I would recommend this book to anyone learning to draw. It is written by professional forensic artist Carrie Stuart Parks and so comes with a more technical approach to drawing. It is very easy to understand and I think I can actually do this. I will be drawing my "before" self portrait and posting it soon so you can help me compare the "before" and "after" pictures and see if her method has helped. Stay tuned!

* * * * One Thousand White Women

One Thousand White Women: The Journals Of May Dodd a novel By Jim Fergus

At first I thought this book was going to be corny. But I persevered and am so glad I did because I'll be remembering this book for a long time. The book is based on a supposed historical event where Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf asks the government to trade one thousand white women for horses. Regardless of the truth of this event, it is a good story and I enjoyed it immensely.

* * * * The Yacoubian Building

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany


I love this book. It is about the inhabitants of the Yacoubian Building, some of which rent space on the roof. There is a huge cast of characters and I enjoyed the switching from chapter to chapter, giving a real challenge in remembering who is who (but the author kindly provides a list of characters at the beginning of the book). I just didn't want it to end and felt that the ending was a little abrupt leaving a few lives with an unsatisfactorily end.

* * * 1/2 The Red Thread

The Red Thread, By Nicholas Jose

Shen, a modern day Chinese art dealer in Shanghai comes across an old bound book, Six Chapters Of A Floating Life, but there are only four chapters. For some reason he is drawn to reading it and holds it back from auction. He meets an Australian woman, Ruth, and they fall in love and so as they read it together, their lives begin to parallel what they read. They pick up a singer, Han, as a third member and the finding of the lost two chapters are critical to Ruth's health.

I give this book only three and one half stars, it could have been better with a such an intriguing storyline.

* * * * Zarafa

Zarafa, by Michael Allin


I loved this story about a giraffe that was given by Muhammad Ali, Sultan of Egypt to the Charles X, King of France. The book focuses on Zarafa's incredible journey, complete with maps, from Sudan to France. Lovely!

The Binding Chair

The Binding Chair, By Katherine Harrison ***

May's feet were bound when she was a child, as many Chinese girls feet were for over 900 years until the 20th century when it was outlawed. The story alternates by chapter between May and the English family that she finally marries into. I find the story and the characters unbeleivable and strange. Foot binding alone should have provided material enough for a story without introducing this English family. Somehow, though, it kept me reading through an agonizing 372 pages. I am amazed that Amazon.com readers give this book a generous 3 1/2 stars.

* * * * 1/2 Spring Moon

Spring Moon, by Bette Bao Lord

A 5 generation Chang family saga that takes place in pre-revolutionary China. The main character, Spring Moon, is a pampered, intelligent and outspoken daughter whose parents fear that she may not make a good match because of her character. Her fate is foretold at birth, she will live to see 5 generations.

There is a nice drawing in the front of the book showing the courts of the House of Chang which I referred to several times while reading the book. Also each chapter begins with a quote from actual Chinese authors which enhances the story. For funs, the Peabody Museum has an entire Chinese house, Yen Yu Tang, which has been dismantled and is on display via the internet complete with fly throughs and a nice slide show.

This is a good read and so I'll be looking forward to reading more of Bao Lord's works. And, yes! Antigone, I'll be sending it on to you.

* * * 1/2 Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe ***1/2

Published in 1958 "Things Fall Apart" takes place at the turn of the 20th century in Nigeria, Africa and is the story of Okonkwo, leader, local wrestling champion and head of a family consisting of three wives and numerous children. Life deals a few blows to him, like when he is exiled from the clan, then later when missionaries come to live in the village. It has a surprise ending which I always like. Widely acclaimed, selling 10 million copies worldwide and now 10,000,000,001 counting my copy:) And is required reading in some high schools and colleges.

* * * Bittersweet

Bittersweet, by Leslie Li

This is a fictionalized account of the author's grandmother's life. Bittersweet was a Chinese peasant farm girl who followed her destiny when when her parents arranged a marriage to Li Tsung-jen, a soldier in the Koumintang army in the early part of the 20th century. He quickly outgrew his taste for farm women as he advanced in his career. This story could have been a blockbuster, but while good, did not quite hit the mark for me.

* * * The Snow Fox

I just finished reading The Snow Fox by Susan Schaffer. It begins with the story of four royal children who were hidden away during a civil war in Japan and later became lost from their parents. But the story is not about this. It is about the adult lives of these children, court intrigue, cruelty, war, samurais and lost love. I enjoyed this book, but not enough to seek out other books by this author.

* * * * 1/2 The Hungry Tide

What I am reading Now

The Hungry Tide

The Hungry Tide is the sixth novel by Indian-born author, Amitav Ghosh. It tells a very contemporary story of adventure and unlikely love, identity and history, set in one of the most fascinating regions on the earth. Off the easternmost coast of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans. For settlers here, life is extremely precarious. Attacks by deadly tigers are common. Unrest and eviction are constant threats. Without warning, at any time, tidal floods rise and surge over the land, leaving devastation in their wake. In this place of vengeful beauty, the lives of three people from different worlds collide. Piya Roy is a young marine biologist, of Indian descent but stubbornly American, in search of a rare, endangered river dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris. Her journey begins with a disaster, when she is thrown from a boat into crocodile-infested waters. Rescue comes in the form of a young, illiterate fisherman, Fokir. Although they have no language between them, Piya and Fokir are powerfully drawn to each other, sharing an uncanny instinct for the ways of the sea. Piya engages Fokir to help with her research and finds a translator in Kanai Dutt, a businessman from Delhi whose idealistic aunt and uncle are longtime settlers in the Sundarbans. As the three of them launch into the elaborate backwaters, they are drawn unawares into the hidden undercurrents of this isolated world, where political turmoil exacts a personal toll that is every bit as powerful as the ravaging tide. Already an international success, The Hungry Tide is a prophetic novel of remarkable insight, beauty, and humanity. From Wikipedia's Entry For The Hungry Tide