Suggested Reading: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Via Amazon.com

I am not sure how I have gotten to twenty-eight years of age without reading this book before.  But, alas that has been the case.  I decided to download a free copy to my Kindle over the weekend, and found myself staying up late to finish it last night.  Yes, it was that good.  It was an easy read, and was written in such a way that sucked you in immediately.  I hope you give it a shot.  It's free, so what do you have to lose?  Oh, and forget all the Tarzan characters you've been witness to growing up because they are a far cry from the original character created by Mr. Burroughs.

Bloomington Red Cross Book Sale!

My mother-in-law, daughter, and I ventured to the annual American Red Cross Book Sale.  I'd never been before, but had always wanted to go.  You have my attention when you say the word "book."  I spent twenty bucks (more than I'd intended to), but I got quite a few books that I'm excited to read.

1. Julie & Julia - Julie Powell
2. Pigs in Heaven - Barbara Kingsolver
3. The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
4. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
5. Field of Thirteen - Dick Francis
6. We Are Still Married - Garrison Keillor
7. Happy To Be Here - Garrison Keillor x2 (oops).
8. WLT (A Radio Romance) - Garrison Keillor
9. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
10. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
11. The Road to Wellville - T. Coraghessan Boyle

And of course, I get home and realize that I bought two of the same book.  To be fair, they had different covers and I'd found them at the beginning and end of my book buying frenzy.  It shouldn't be a surprise.  Garrison is a bit of a weakness of mine.  He's rather brilliant in his creativity and improvisation.  So, perhaps I can start someone else on his writings by giving one of them away.  It was for a good cause at any rate.

So, now I have a good reading list to go into winter with.  I'm one happy girl!!  If you live in Indiana, you really should venture to Bloomington and check it out, it's pretty swell.

Doesn't This Sound Amazing?

I downloaded the book A Self Supporting Home by Kate V. Saint Maur. She and her husband were city people who wanted the "Country Life," so in the early 1900s (the book was published in 1904) they rented a small farm and this is how she described it:

"...we eventually discovered a dear old house of nine rooms, two cellars, a summer kitchen, barn, chicken-house, cow shed, small smoke house, and twelve acres of land, five of which were covered with apple trees. Near the house were three pear trees, four peach, three quinces, two plum trees, and about half an acre divided between strawberry plants, blackberry and raspberry bushes. It was the haven of our imagination and could be leased for three years at $180 a year."

How amazing would that be? A time machine would be pretty amazing about now. I'm excited for the rest of the book.

Interesting Little Tidbit.

Today is the author Anne Rice's birthday. Did you know that her parents named her Howard Allen O'Brien after her father? Or that she hated it, and changed her name to Anne in the first grade? Pretty neat, although if I was her, I wouldn't have changed my name for anything. I love boy names for girls--hence "Joelee" instead of "Jolene" or "Josephine" for my daughter. I wanted her to be able to shorten it to the masculine version (Joe) instead of the feminine (Jo). Most people probably wouldn't think that matters much, but it was very important to me.

Anyway, in honor of Anne's birthday perhaps you could pick up one of her novels today. I haven't ever read her work, but today would be a good day to try.

Found an Article on Edward Hopper.

Whilst reading LIFE Magazines on books.google.com I found an article talking about one of my favorite artists--Edward Hopper. I found it in the May 3, 1937 edition--you can read it here. I've always enjoyed his use of light--it always seemed to me that his canvas was illuminated internally. Below are some examples of his work. Be sure to read the article too--he almost didn't paint because he wasn't well received at first--imagine if he would've just given up..."Self-Portrait" (1925-1930)"Nighthawks" (1942)"Early Sunday Morning" (1930)"Chop Suey" (1929)

"Cape Cod Afternoon" (1936)

(all images via here)

One of my favorite things.

I love anything from the past--books of course are my weakness. Since my house is overflowing with books, I was elated when I found books.google.com a few years back. It is a search engine with tons of books available for full view--many of which you can download and read as a .pdf file. My favorites are the photography magazines (such as the Photographic Times--whose editions start in the late eighteen hundreds and end in the early nineteen hundreds), and a new addition to their site Life Magazine (starting in the mid-thirties to the early seventies). There are also lots of wonderful novels (featuring a lot of the classics) and poetry to peruse. Also I've found a lot of nonfiction books dealing with agriculture and housekeeping that are a lot of fun to browse. So if you have some extra time I highly suggest taking a look around that search engine--I know I don't get a lot of things done because I end up over there for hours. Not so bad when you're just waiting around to go into labor (which, by the way, I've been trying to keep my mind off of for a while). It's hard to stay focused when the doctor tells you it could be at any time and then NOTHING HAPPENS. Alas, I'll just keep myself busy working on little things that need to be done and let nature take its course. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!! Oh and please be sure to tell me what you think of books.google.com--I hope you like it as much as I do.From a 1936 Life MagazineFrom Cyclopedia of Farm Animals (1922)

From The Photographic Times (1905)

Thoughts on Books and Other News.

So, as of today I have exactly one month until my due date. Tomorrow I have a regularly scheduled doctor appointment and after that I go every week to see him until the baby comes. It just seems like nine months has flown by. Last night I worked on getting stuff ready to be packed for the hospital and holding the little baby clothes really made it hit home--I'm going to be a mommy. It's amazing how life changes and it just puts you in awe.

Now, on to the thoughts I've been having while reading My Small Country Living by Jeanine McMullen (which I've finished) and Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich (which I'm almost finished with). I really appreciate these women for not sugar coating what a lot of other small-holdings/homesteading type books do...the realities of livestock and agriculture. When you have livestock you learn that death is inevitable. Many of the "How-to" books out there make country living and creating a small farm out to be a walk in the park. Reading those kind of books and then being handed the realities of gardening and livestock would make a person feel like a failure. These women in their books aren't afraid of exposing their mistakes and failures in order for their readers to know that it's okay. Accidents, diseases, and problems abound on a farm, but even at the roughest times you still can't imagine doing anything else--I think that shows in their writings too.

I came across Jenna's book because of her blog--coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com--she's young like me, but that hasn't stopped her drive or ambition to do what she wishes. I'm in the same boat--although I grew up on a farm with livestock and a huge garden--I'm trying to make a go of a small farm on my own now. She's an inspiration because when I read her blog I realize that I'm not the only person out there with these crazy goals and dreams.

Jeanine's book I happened on by accident at a Half Price Bookstore (my weakness is the Clearance section). I'd never heard of her, but she apparently is an Australian born English woman who bought a farm on a whim and then proceeded to plod her way through turmoil and almost defeat only to get her own country living radio program back in the eighties. I found her life to be quite fascinating.

I definitely recommend both books--I haven't been able to put them down since I started reading them.

Lotta Books!!

I love book sales--I couldn't help myself--5 books for a dollar? Come on. This is what I found:

Single Jack by: Max Brand
Larabee of Big Spring by: Chuck Stanley
The Girl by: Catherine Cookson
Jubilee by: Margaret Walker
Whip Hand by: Dick Francis
Decider by: Dick Francis--which I already had at home (oops).
Come to Grief by: Dick Francis--which I already had at home too (oops).
To the Lighthouse by: Virginia Woolf
Daybreak by: Frank G. Slaughter
So Dear to My Heart by: Sterling North
The Charmed Circle by: Catherine Gaskin
Show World by: Wilton Barnhardt
The Friendly Persuasion by: Jessamyn West
Wrack and Rune by: Charlotte MacLeod
Eight Little Piggies by: Stephen Jay Gould
Wandering Through Winter by: Edwin Way Teale
The Fields of Noon by: Sheila Burnford
My Family and Other Animals by: Gerald Durrell
The Greening of America by: Charles A. Reich
North with the Spring by: Edwin Way Teale
Spoon River Anthology by: Edgar Lee Masters
Ragtime by: E. L. Doctorow
Let it Rot by: Stu Campbell
Heroes, Outlaws & Funny Fellows of American Popular Tales by: Olive Beaupre Miller

At any rate I think I found lots of potentially good books and authors--I'm looking forward to reading them. I love my library collection--friends come over to get books to read--I'm glad I'm known as the 'book girl'--reading is a nice time passer.

If there was a book written about me what would the back panel say?

Never has there been a girl with dreams such as hers. Julia grew up on a small farm in Central Indiana to become one of the most well known artists in the United States. Among the livestock and her family she created a life all her own which she wrote about in the numerous books she penned over her lifetime (the most well known being "The Gallivanting Girl gets Grounded: Kids in the Compost Heap and Piglets in the Bathtub"). She attributes all her success to the love and support of her dear husband whom she married at the tender age of twenty-two. If you're looking for a book of inspiration mixed with hilarious real-life events, then this book is for you.

(at least that's what I'm hoping life will dole out for me)...a girl can dream!