~This year, I have planned all of the books that I would like to read and will share my thoughts and feelings on each one through blog posts! The list is complied of a couple of different genres to help with all aspects of living my best creative life. I hope this blog post gives you inspiration for your own ventures in the reading world and you learn something new about these following books!
P.S If you would like to borrow any of these books feel free to send me an e-mail!
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A Big Important Art Book (Now with Women): Profiles of Unstoppable Female Artists--and Projects to Help You Become One by Danielle Krysa
Danielle Krysa, also known as the Jealous Curator, has always been fed up by the lack on exposure for women in art history. To tackle this issue, she has created her own Big Important Art Book to record contemporary female artists. She also aims to inspire younger generations of female artists by showing them that there is room for them in the art world. This book is filled with insightful interviews of 45 contemporary female artists about their journey and their practice and each chapter begins with exercises to get your creative juices flowing.
I'm very excited to read this book because it has been about 8 months since I graduated University and it's hard to take the time to practice techniques and exercises that help you get into that flow state. I also found it much easier to learn about practicing artists from my peers and teachers while in school, so I think this book will be very helpful in broadening my understanding of contemporary artists.
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How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
This book is full of helpful techniques to teach you how to communicate with others better and be able to talk to anyone. It is an updated version of Leil Londes previous book based off her research. There are 92 lessons from small talk, body language and more complicated social situations to ensure you learn how to feel more confident around people.
Growing up in a small town, I have always been pretty shy, soft spoken, etc. Slowly I have grown to be more comfortable in social settings but there's always room for improvement! It's going to be a lot of work applying these tricks to my everyday life but I think it will really help to improve my communication skills.
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Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer
Wonderbook hopes to inspire but also provide practical skills for creative writing. It is filled with colourful and detail iamges and a step by step process of how to develop a story. It also includes sidebars and essays from some of the biggest and best names in writing today, including Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Catherynne M. Valente, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few.
When I was younger I would always read fantasy books that involved worlds with fairies, dragons, powers/spells, and more! It was always so wonderful to imagine these make-believe worlds and I would love to create a fantastical story of my own one day.
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The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Book by Daniel Levitin
This book helps readers to understand how they can use their attentional and memory systems to harness the power of an organized mind. Currently many of us live in a fast-paced time or have burnt-out lifestyle where we are constantly pressured to work harder and work more. Inevitably we loose our train of thought, forget to make appoitnments and other small simple tasks. This books aims to enlighten us on how the brain operates best in terms of organization and how we can use it to our advantage.
Sometimes I constantly feel like I juggling a mountain of to-do list's in my my head or get distracted by the littlest things. So it would be nice to be able to learn how to organize my thoughts and be able to refocus my attention to what is important.
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The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries From a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares the science behind the interesting lives that trees lead. There are many similarities bettwen communcities of trees and humans, bringing a humble sense of oneness with the natural world. Wohleben also advocates for the sustainability of our planet and illustrates how beneficial it is for us in many different ways to ensure the health of our planet.
My home town where I spent pretty much my whole life is a very small rural town so I have always felt a deep connection to nature and love being outside. To me this book sounds like things I would dream about trees coming true. I'm very excited to learn about all of the aspects of tree's lives.
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Sleeping Your Way to the Top: How to Get the Sleep You Need to Succeed by Terry Cralle, W. David Brown, and William Cane
Based on research by sleep psycologist, W. David Brown, PhD and clinical sleep educator, Terry Cralle, RN, Sleeping Your Way to The Top explains how your sleep and productivity are directly linked. It provides techniques to find out how much sleep you need and how to have your best sleep.
I heard people say all sorts of things over the years about how to get a better sleep, and while I'm not saying this book will have all of the right answers, I think it could provide some help. My sleeping habits are not extremely bad but someimes I will start to feel comepletely exhausted around 3-5, I go through periods where I wake up around 4am every night for what seems like no reason and a couple of other minor things. So anything that could alliviate these patterns Ii think could really change the way I go about my day.
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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This graphic novel is told throuhg the eyes of a child inherently portryaing the contrast of the tradgedies of war and the innocence of life. Her tale shows us how people carry on through adversity as best we can.
My sister has been telling me to read this book for years but I would always forget or be in the middle of another book. So this is the year. I'm looking forawrd to learning about Satrapi's life during the the Islamic revolution and what that must have been like. I don't really know lot about Iran's history but it's so important to step out of your bubble and see a new perspective.
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The War of Art; Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
The War of Art is a self help book for artists written by Steven Pressfield in which he describes the notion of 'resistance' that every artist will feel during their practice. It gives advice on how to work through the feeling of resistance so that you can get back to creating your artwork.
Why is it that it can be so hard to work on something you love? I believe this book can provide guidance to this anxious question that I have asked myself often. Sometimes finding the motivation to do art isn't about coming up with a good idea or finding inspiration but about pushing aside the fears, doubts, pressure, and just getting started.
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Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
This philisophical & comedic fiction examines the importance of entertainment, it's impact on our lives and our relationships. Infinite Jest presents idea of the novel in a unique way and is considered one of the defining books of this time era.
I have heard that this book can be difficult to read at first but you are able to read it easier the more you work through it. It also one of those books that you can read more than once and understand the different layers of the concept more so. I'm excited by it's challenging reputation but also it's thoughtful ideas and concepts.
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
On Writing is Stephen King's memoir but also a guide for practicing writers. This books takes you through King's life from his childhood, to his fatal accident in 1999, and to now. It gives practical insight and inspiring advice on writing and life and shows how they can be intertwined.
I honestly haven't read one of Stephen King book before! I think I did this with with Ernest Hemingway too, where I read about the life of the author before reading their books. This will probably create a bias for when reading their stories later but it will also give me insight to the reasoning behind their stories. Anyways, it's interesting to read about the lives of accomplished people, in any feild, because everyone deals with their struggles and creates success in their own way. I would also like to learn more abou the process of writing a novel. I've been intrigued by writing for a long time but have just never devoted any serious time to the practice.
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Ways of Seeing by John Berger
John Berger analyzes how we look at art and how we understand it. He is able to comprehensively explain elements of the artworld in an inclusive and critical manner. Based on the BBC T.V. series, Ways of Seeing will change the way you see artwork and will allow you to make a more meaningful critique of your own.
I have already read some parts of this book and watched some of the T.V. series online but I would love to read it again since I am at a different stage in my artist practice than when I read it before. I am always interested in ideas around perception and I believe everything I learn about it always influences the way I make and understand artwork.
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Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird is a step by step guide on becoming a writer and advice for living the life of a writer. She gives honest advice and gives great insight into the many factors of the writing process.
Similar to my reasons behind reading Stephen King's On Writing, I would like to enhance my writing skills but I think it's always important to have different sources of reference when learning something new. I honestly don't know a lot about Lamott or her book but when researching a 'good reading list' her book would continually come up and had great reviews.
Thank you for check out my reading list for 2019! Let me know if have a reading list on the go or a favourite book in the comment section below!