How to liven up your bookstore experience!

A while ago, I wandered into my neighbourhood bookstore and instead of sticking to the few sections that I regularly frequent, I found myself exploring the store.
Philosophy, biography, mystery & fantasy, war history...

I only vaguely even knew that these sections existed!


So, I dreamed up this project whereby each month, I would buy a book from one of these 'new to me' sections. At the end of the year, I would've explored the entire store. And opened myself to all kinds of new knowledge! (Who knows, maybe I'll become fascinated with the War of 1812!)

One of the tricks with the project is that it takes me a while to read books. I tend to think that I'm a slow reader. Combine that with the fact that I don't set aside a lot of time to read, and the idea of reading one book each month is quite ambitious!

Eventually, I found myself back in the bookstore with lots of time to kill, and so I wandered into the Biography section and decided to start my project!
This first book was selected based on the prettiness of the spine:

 

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream
by Wade Rouse

I'd recommend it.
It opened by eyes to Henry David Thoreau - I now want to take a course on 19th century literature. And it made me think about my life in the city.

I haven't decided what's next....

Wisdom on my coffee table

My obsession with Wisdom continues...

I bought the book!

It has been residing on my coffee table for about a month and a half. 

It is a beautiful piece of work. 

From the exhibit, I knew that the images were beautiful, but as I flip through the book I'm struck by the way the words are arranged on the page. 

It really is remarkable how much impact text can make.

 

 

 

This past month I've found myself simple reveling in the beauty of the book rather than soaking in the wisdom! So, I've implemented 'Saturday Afternoon Wisdom'. 

Every Saturday afternoon, after my dog walking, I will take time to read at least one of the interviews.

  

exciting!! 

How to gain Wisdom

Buy it on Amazon!

Wisdom is a book by Photographer/Filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman.

I first came across this work last week - there's an exhibit of Wisdom at Brookfield Place (BCE) in Toronto.

I stumbled upon the exhibit and quickly became mesmerized by the large-scale portraits/quotes. About thirty minutes later I discovered that the book was located at a nearby table! So I became enthralled with that for a while.

I then returned to the space the next day to take another look.

Check out this portrait of Painter Andrew Wyeth: 

 

His face and his facial expression are amazing. Combine that with his quote which is about the power of love, and it's quite possibly my favourite portrait out of all of them. 

I want a copy of this for the dining room in my new apartment. 

Can you imagine? Right over the head of the table?

Speaking of new apartments... the Wisdom book would make a great house-warming gift! (hint hint)

The exhibit is at Brookfield Place until August 5th.
I highly recommend a visit - or two.
(bonus: It's right by Cheeseland!)

The book that changed my life

A few weeks ago I read the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

And my life will never be the same. 

I've been a proud (?) meat-eater all my life. Haven't really ever considered not eating meat. 

In fact, when I first saw this book -  I picked up because I was attracted to the cover. ... yes, I'll admit I usually always judge books by their covers - I read a quote of praise on the back cover that said something along the lines of "If you continue to eat meat after reading this book, you are a horrible human being". 

And I was so offended! The audacity!

So, I snatched up the book and bought it out of spite. ("oh yeah? I'll show you! ...I'll read this book while eating plates of chicken and steak, and I'll continue to be an amazing, honorable person!")

About a fifth of the way through the book, I sent this text to my sister: "I'm reading this book about eating animals. I think I may become vegetarian."

And now, a few weeks later, I'm considering going vegan. 

(I'm having a hard time with the concept of giving up eggs (cake! cookies!!) ... not to mention cow's milk... (Starbucks' lattes!!))

Seriously though, I'm one of the last people I could have pictured forgoing meat. But in the end, after looking at factory farming practices, antibiotic use, environmental degradation... eating chicken for dinner tonight just isn't worth it for me.