Books of 2019 – Numbers 33 and 34 – Journey Inward by Jean Craighead George and Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball by Molly O’Neill

Last weekend, the New York Times Book Review published an article noting the fifty best memoirs published over the last fifty years (that would be since 1969!). I am a lover of the memoir, so I was a little chagrined that of the chosen books, I have only read nine of the selected books. The last two books I read fall into the memoir genre, but neither made the NYT list. I, nonetheless, found them both to be captivating accounts of women who lived lives which were, in turn, charming, thrilling, melancholy, and, above all, memoir-worthy.

The book, My Side of the Mountain made me want to run away from home and live in a tree. Jean Craighead George wrote a novel for kids that kindled the flame of adventure and independence that I loved. My Side of the Mountain is the story is of a boy named Sam who runs away from home. He is unhappy in his city life and he seeks the nature and peace of the mountains. He is on his own for a year. The book describes his day to day existence and his reliance on a peregrine falcon for both friendship and survival. My Side of the Mountain was one of the first kid’s books that Jean Craighead George wrote, but it was not her first book. During her marriage, she and her husband co-authored several nature books and articles while gaining firsthand experience. Through their early years of marriage, they lived in tents in the middle of wilderness. As a young wife in the 1960s, Craighead George felt the need to boost her husband’s career, and in doing so, she abdicated much of her own credit. When family financial stress pushed her, she found her own voice and began to write the classic books that would ultimately win her the Newbery Award for her book, Julie of the Wolves. Journey Inward is Jean Craighead George’s story of becoming a writer and becoming a whole person. She is honest about the struggles of marriage to a dreamer who won’t live up to his potential or understand what it means to have a family for which he is responsible. She is honest about raising kids in the 1960s when society seemed to be changing by the minute. She is honest about the fear and loneliness and doubt that came with divorce. Through all of it, however, she writes of her connection with nature and her bringing her children up and into adulthood with hearts that always were open to creatures in need. It was a terrific book and made me order a new copy of My Side of the Mountain. I now need to read it again and I can’t seem to find my old copy!

The food writer and cookbook author, Molly O’Neill recently died. Several years ago, Molly needed a liver transplant. The liver that was removed was found to be cancerous, and that cancer had spread.  Her final book that she was working on at the time of her death was to be titled, Liver: A Love Story. I am not sure what is to become of that one, but the love story that she wrote her family, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball, is wonderful. Molly was the oldest child of six. She was the only girl in a family where baseball was drilled into the family DNA by a dad who didn’t get his opportunity to play in the majors. Her descriptions of her tale-telling Dad, her opinionated mom, and her gregarious brothers are delightful. You get the feel of the energy and tension that continuously surrounded that family. You watch Molly serve as a surrogate mom to her herd of brothers and yearn to be her own person. Molly finds her way out through art, literature and food. Cooking for her family gave her a path that led to jobs on the East Coast cooking for a who’s who of personalities. In her memoir, she weaves her rise in the culinary and literary world with what is going on with her family. On occasion, some of her brothers find comfort and new skills by moving near her. Always, her parents struggle financially. Finally, a brother does what was meant to be and becomes a major league baseball player. Her dad dies and leaves a complicated relationship. The family bond remains strong.

Being a woman; being a wife; being a daughter – these are complicated roles no matter what timeframe you are talking about them. Both of these books are telling stories when women were less. Reading them today, the world that these books paint is bracing. The women that come out of them, however, are wonders.

 

Bright Spots Because of Joe

 

This blog has always been a fun place for me. When I was doing it consistently, I was happy to have a space to write down some of the things that I was thinking about, experiencing, and liking. I liked the creativity of it and the practice of writing that it offered. I have struggled with the time it takes to keep it up in a way that is meaningful, but I am ready to take it on again. I am inspired by one of my favorite writers out there.

Joe Posnanski used to write about sports for the Kansas City Star. He brought exquisite language to beautiful and not so beautiful sporting events. He wrote with a depth and enthusiasm that I loved. Career decisions moved him out of Kansas City several years ago, but I continued to follow him and his words. Recently, I became a supporter of his blog on Patreon. This means that for $3/month, I get to read Joe’s words. It is among the best money that I spend. It’s not the only place to find his writing, but it is a wonderful experience. (If you do not know him, you will understand what I mean just by reading one of his tributes to baseball legend, Buck O’Neill, or his article about taking his daughter to see Hamilton.)

In his writing, Joe has done lots of series over the years. On his blog recently, he posted his newest series: “Every day I can, I will give you 300 words on someone or something that has brought me happiness (and, I can tell you in advance, that I have a broad definition of happiness). I’m hoping this will be a nice little bonus for JoeBlogs readers, a little day brightener.” He is calling this his Happiness Hall of Fame. I can’t wait!

Joe has inspired me to do the same thing on my blog. If my blog makes me happy, I should use it. If I like to write and want to write better, I need to write. If I want to focus on what is good and what makes me happy, this could be a way to do it! I am making my new commitment.As often as I can, a short little bright spot – right here.

Last Week’s Good Things

Holiday weekends bring free time to catch up on things that didn’t get done in the lead up to said holiday. This is a little outdated, but what can be wrong with reflecting on good things that came my way in the recent past?

The Morning Fox – Nope. This does not refer to anything that has to do with the Fox network. What happened is that I stepped out my front door last week at about 5 AM. It was dark and cold and still. While I walked down the steps to fetch my papers, a beautiful full-grown fox came running down the middle of my street. It was so swift and pretty. The memory of it still is a thing of beauty. Wildlife in the middle of the city happens.

Anne Lamott talk – Anne Lamott was in town last week, talking about her new book, Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace. Hearing her talk was a wonderful thing! I got to know Anne Lamott first via her book Bird by Bird. It is a wonderful book about being a writer, and writing, and life. Hearing her talk is just like reading her words. She exudes a comfort with herself that makes the space comfortable. She speaks off the cuff and with humor and grace. I love the life that the words she writes and she speaks hold. My favorite essay from Bird by Bird is the title one. In it she remembers her brother whining over a school project that he had to do about birds. He could see no way that he could possibly tackle such a project. Her dad gave him the how to lesson that always sticks with me when I have a big project that looks overwhelming in front of me. How can it get done? Bird by bird.

Chrissie Hynde at the Uptown – This seems like forever ago, but it was officially last week. Dan won tickets to go see Chrissie Hynde perform at the Uptown. She is on a solo tour, but she is backed up by a super band. While I like the Pretenders, they aren’t among the bands I would put among my all time favorites, so seeing Chrissie was something I looked forward to, but I wasn’t over the moon excited about. Dan and I listened to her new album in our listening blog series this year, so I was ready for those songs. She did lots of those along with several Pretenders songs. I gotta say that I really loved this concert. Chrissie was charming in her banter with the audience and band, and her voice is amazing. I don’t know what it would sound like if you did a side by side of her singing thirty years ago, but I don’t think that she has lost anything. One interesting thing about the concert was a big warning that she did not want cell phone pictures taken during the concert. She explained later that the screens really mess with her eyes and she doesn’t like it. When the last number was about to start, she told people that they could use them. A sea of cell phone rose in the air. It was a fine example of give and take! She also writes charming and sweet Facebook tour updates (photo above from that).

Lunch with Friends – Some friends from out-of-town were here visiting other friends last weekend and we got to meet up with them for lunch. We met at BB’s Lawnside BBQ. Man! If you want to hang out on a Saturday afternoon, catch up with friends over a couple good beers and some smokey good meat, BB’s is hard to beat. We have been going there since it first opened in 1990. It has always been a place with good food, friendly staff, and great music. Lucky us!

A new tracker App – I have been trying to pay more attention to some lifestyle things and I found an App this week that I think may be an easy, manageable way to do this, and I can 86 my homemade Excel sheet. TrackNShare comes with some items built in for daily tracking – Happiness, stress, weather, sleep. You can then add other things you want to track and decide on what kind of scale you want to track them. For example, you can choose yes/no, severity scale, a number, a volume scale. It is easy and having it on my IPad and IPhone make it convenient to an extent that makes me not have too much of an excuse not to do it.

That’s some of my story from last week. This week – one in which thankfulness was the dominant theme – is filling up my pages. Thanks for reading and I hope that your good things are many.

Last Week’s Good Things

Over the last couple weeks, I have glimpsed the reality that my life is going to be returning to its old normal where my work schedule is a little less high intensity. Looking back at last week’s noted good things, I appreciate that change and what it has brought back!

A day with no meetings and head for home at 5:00 – Last Monday, for the first time in months, I had no scheduled meetings on my calendar. I spent the day in my office, working on a multitude of things that continued to fill up my to do list while I wasn’t looking. During the day, I talked to people as they stopped by my office with questions or just to chat. I had lunch at lunch time. I left my office and got home before 6:00! There was something about that day that felt like a new beginning. The things that have been going on at work since early spring have been exciting and stressful and educational and fulfilling. However, to be finished with the bulk of those and be able to end the year catching up and preparing for 2015 seems lovely!

Great meal at Story – We celebrated a friend’s birthday last Sunday with a meal out at the wonderful Story in Prairie Village. I like good food and I like a good experience. The food part that night was top notch. They really seem to continue to get better and better. For me, the other, as important element of a good experience is when I feel that the server is taking time with the table that isn’t just because they have to. They seem to enjoy getting to know and make the table experience a good one. Our server, Kevin did just that. From the moment I sat down and he made his first appearance, I could tell this was going to be good. He was self-deprecating, knowledgeable, interested and interesting. He made what was an amazingly good food experience, an amazingly good dining experience. The thing is, this was a fancy restaurant where we spent a lot of money. I have had the same thing happen at much different venues. It doesn’t matter where it is. Showing me that enthusiasm makes its mark!

Hearing Rebecca Skloot Speak – When The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks came out a few years ago, I purchased it immediately. Rebecca Skloot had written a story of a woman who died of cancer, but who lives eternally because her cancer cells had a unique quality of being able to be grown in the laboratory – over and over again. This is a great story and by the number of books sold, it obviously is a story that other people want to read. Beyond being a good read, what this book was for me was validation that a medical story that weaves several different threads, can be fascinating. As I worked on my own weaving project, that was inspiring. Last week, I went to hear Rebecca give a talk at a local university. She was better than I even thought she would be. Coming out to begin her talk, she expressed her thanks for people being there and their support. Throughout her talk, she made a point to address the students in the audience. Her grace was present throughout a wonderful event.

Frank Bruni column “Gray hair and silver linings” – Frank Bruni is one of my newspaper loves. Frank is a columnist for the New York Times and his columns are so often personal experiences that resonate with some larger issue. Last week he had a column titled Gray Hair and Silver Linings. The column starts out with him sitting in a waiting room and observing a woman and man getting to know each other over their battle scars of areas of skin cancer. He then goes on to discuss what it is to grow older – to enter a new phase of your life when experiences are not all new. It is an adjustment and it does not come without its regret. He brings it back to where I feel that I am now as a 54 year old woman. He writes: as you age “you finally appreciate the wisdom of  doing so and you come to recognize that among multiple vantage points and arrays of responses to a situation, you really can elect the more positive one.” That is a silver lining.

Saturday non-snow day – We had nothing to do on Saturday, and the weather forecast indicated that we might have some rough patches of weather. That gave us an excuse to stay in. Our staying in, however, did not mean we created our weekend Wunderlist of things to do. This was our serendipity free day. We didn’t tackle projects. I pretty much spent the whole day reading, taking a nap or two, and reading some more.

We are already half-way through a new week! Wow! I hope that there are many things already on your own good things list!

Last Week’s Good Things

After the tumultuousness and eventfulness of June, July gave some weeks to regroup and begin to get back into normal. By the last week of July, I was definitely feeling that I had regained a little of the structure that had been lost. I am not completely there yet. There are things – like going to the gym – that still haven’t made their way back into my schedule. They will. And looking back at last week, I can already see some  old faithfuls returning on my list of good things. Here are five of the ones that I made note of:

1. Begin Again – We had begun a movie night date with friends at the beginning of the year, but it took a couple month hiatus. Last week, we got it back into the schedule. We started our night with cocktails and Chinese food in a restaurant that could have been taken out of Lost in Translation. Our movie choice was Begin Again with Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo. It was – like its creator’s predeseccor, Once – a sweet film about connections and choices and music. There is nothing bad about sitting in a theater with people you like, enjoying a movie with loaded listenable tunes.
2. Yssel getting married – Dan has been in Rotary for a number of years. I have written before about what a great organization Rotary is, and what wonderful work they do. Beside that, we have reaped Rotary benefit by getting to host international visitors who come to the Midwest to learn about many different things. A few years ago, we hosted Yssel, from South Africa. He was the first guy we would host, so I wasn’t sure how that would go. Turns out, it went great! We had so much fun with him, and over the course of a few days, we became solid friends. This past weekend, Yssel got married and pictures of him and his bride greeted us on Facebook. Life gives you lots of opportunities. Getting to know someone from another country is a pretty great thing! There should be more of that going on.
3. Giant Marigolds and Zinnias – My favorite flower, I think, is the marigold. It is strong and colorful and I marigold smell is an all time favorite scent. This year, I planted marigolds and zinnias in my raised bed. I planted them from seed, and I expected they were just your standard variety. The plants that are filling my bed are monstrous. Most of them are taller than me. I am short, but that does not mean that a marigold should tower over me. It is pretty stunning sight, and every time I walk out my back door and see them, it is a super good things!
4. Pasta with Beans and Rosemary – On my day off last week, I wanted to cook something different. Even though it was a beautiful day, I wanted to do a pasta – but not something too heavy. The recipe was from Smitten Kitchen – one of my favorite sites. It worked for me, but I can’t see how one could go wrong with al dente pasta – a light veggie sauce with tasty beans and a rosemary, garlic oil sauce.
5. Working on my book – Also to celebrate getting back to normal, I returned to my desk to work on my book on my day off! The section that I am working on is pretty amazing. It really reflects how people can put their mind to something and make it work. It was so nice to be back with the story.

I hope your week was a good one, and the days ahead are even better!!

Last Week’s Good Things

I don’t get “stressed-out” very often. In general, I am a low-key person who operates on an even keel. The downside of this is that I can be kind of boring, but it is how I like to be. It is how I am most comfortable. This week, there was one day that I came home from work feeling definitely stressed. The next day felt better, but I am definitely in a high intensity period where there are many things going on and I have lots of responsibilities. But I am working it through; I am counting on my team mates who are wonderful; I am reminding myself of work/life balance; and I am remembering all of the good things. I already have this week’s list going, but here are five things from last week.

First hummingbirds – Dan researched the issue and found out that it is the male hummingbird that shows up first. Well, Mr. Hummingbird with a flaming red throat showed up at our feeder last week. I walked out the back door and saw the familiar frantic flight zip by me. I hoped that it was a hummingbird, but figured that it was only a crazy bug trying to fool me. But, it was real. Sitting on the patio reading, I heard the noise and there it was at one of the feeders. They are so pretty and fun to watch. I can’t wait for their wives and girlfriends get here!

Dishwashing and Tidying Up – When I do get stressed, tidying up my surroundings is one way that settles me down. Even finishing up and looking at the colorful plates in the dish drying rack holds so much goodness – the order, the color, the memory of the food that filled those plates.

Finding new tidbits in my book research – Yes, I am still working on that book. Last week I worked on the chapter focused on Marcia’s family and friends starting a fundraising group only months after leukemia took her life. This is really incredible. This was 1949! This was during a time that moving on was the most common way of dealing with grief. This family, along with their wonderful friends, coalesced and used Marcia’s story to begin to raise money for research to help find a cure for the disease that takes children’s lives. I found evidence of a contact that the family made only month’s after Marcia died. The contact was Sidney Wallach. In the 1930s and 40s, Mr. Wallach worked with Jewish causes in NYC. He led the American Jewish Committee and founded The Current Jewish Record Journal (which later became Commentary). In 1933 he published a pamphlet called “Hitler, Menace to Mankind,” which is pretty chilling. In the 1940s, it appears that he switched career paths and started focussing more on public relations for philanthropic causes. Using the items that I have been entrusted with as well as the amazing Internet, I filled in some more blanks of this great story. There is more to learn, but this was progress.

Whitman Illuminated – In December, I forwarded a blogpost to Dan about a new book being put out by fabulous Tin House. That was enough to make him pre-order the book. We had pretty much forgotten about it, so when it arrived last week, it was an incredible treat. It is one of the coolest books I have ever seen. Artist Allen Crawford has taken the words of Whitman’s Song of Myself and illustrated them so incredibly! Every page is stunning. 

Kristie Stremel and Joe’s Pet Project at The Record Bar – Thanks to friends, we went to The Record Bar on Saturday night to hear music. Joe’s Pet Project was playing when we got there, followed by Kristie Stremel who was backed by a great band. Both of these groups filled the room with fantastic rock and roll. Joe’s Pet Project had a kind of Dave Matthews’ vibe; Kristie is a true blue, girl rock and roller, of the best kind. She leads her band with energy and musical chops. Every musician seemed to be having such a good time making music. More music to add to my list.

Keep seeing good things.

Last Week’s Good Things

 

We are into April! It is hard to believe that the first quarter of 2014 is behind us. For me, the week was one of catching up and keeping busy. Since Dan wasn’t here for most of it, I found things to keep myself occupied. Also, with spring starting to peek through more often than not, just paying attention to that was a good thing! Here are other things that caught my attention:

1.  Sounds in the morning – I remember shoveling snow a few months ago and marveling at how quiet it was. There were no cars on the road, so the opportunity for noise was nil. That is winter. Spring is so much different. This week, stepping out of the house each morning at about 5:15, I have been greeted by a louder and louder cacophony of birds. It sounds more like a jungle than a neighborhood street in Kansas City. I am glad that I am not trying to sleep through it! No matter – It sounds like a change of season, which is completely great!

2.  Wentworth Military Ball – Ali has gone to two military balls in the past few months. For each, she wore a beautiful outfit, her hair was lovely, and her make-up was perfect. Saturday was my turn. Wentworth had its military ball and I did my spousely duty and got myself ready to go. It was amusing that both Ali and my sister wished that they were here to offer me support in getting ready, I think that I did fine! Hair (I chose a Goody barette and a bobby pin) – makeup (I had on some chapstick) – clothes (it was something I wore at another such occasion – but I did get some new shoes (flats)). Whatever I looked like did not matter. It was a night for the students. Again, I was overwhelmed by the respect and dignity that the students at the school exhibit. I do not know that I have been called ma’am as many times as I was Saturday night. This is obviously not something that I joyously go into, but once there, it is pretty darn special.

3.  Cooking for Myself – Dan left for California early Monday morning and he came home well past my bedtime on Friday. During that time, I did not have a single frozen meal and I only ate out once! The rest of the time, I cooked for myself. One night it was a ground round burger/steak that I peppered a lot and served like a cube steak. One night it was a hearty salad. One night it was a chicken breast with mushrooms. The best was Dragon Noodles. I had heard about this dish and website on one of my favorite podcasts. I decided to save it for the last night, which was a great plan. It was really hot and tasty and delicious. A good way to end my bachelor stint

4.  Picture of my dad on Facebook – The Internet is bizarre. One morning this week, I woke up and looked at Facebook as I was doing my regular morning routine. One of my high school classmates had posted a picture of the groundbreaking of my elementary school. This was probably in 1967 or so. In the picture are many Sinclairville folk that I recognize. Howard Green, our town postmaster is there. Mrs. Bloomer, our Principal is there. And so is my dad (fourth from right). He was the town lawyer, so he was there for the event. He was probably 35; youngest guy there. It made me think of him at that age, and time. I tend to think of my dad in a different time. This picture was a really nice recollection.

5. Hammersmith and Uppercase – In that I had been by myself all week, I figured I needed to treat myself. On Friday, I put in some work on my book, and later in the afternoon, I went downtown to find some shoes for the ball. Bob Jones Shoes is a wondrous place – even for the non-fashion savvy. After I found the appropriate sensible black flat, I went over to Hammersmith. Hammersmith is a store that also is a wonderful letterpress printer. It is an establishment full of cool cards, posters, gift wrap, and other things that they find interesting. It is my source for one of the most beautiful magazine eye candy that I experience. Uppercase is a wonderful art journal that takes a theme and throws the kitchen sink of ideas at it. The result is page after page of lovely images and accompanying text. I adore it, and when I am feeling wanty, I go buy myself one. It is pricey for a magazine, but I go back to them again and again. The latest issue is patterns – love it, and it is worth it!

I hope that wherever you are,spring is springing out. This week I saw a magnolia and a forsythia in bloom. Wishing you similar!

 

Last Week’s Good Things

 

This was the week that Dan and I listened to Pharrell Williams quite a bit. That means that the song Happy was often in our ears. That wasn’t the only good thing this week. Here are a few more:

1. Larry Tye talking about Superman at the Library – The Kansas City Library has an amazing schedule of speakers during any month. I can remember so many good authors and talks that I have gone to over the years. Last week, I left work and headed to the beautiful downtown library to hear a talk about Superman. Before the talk, I got to roam through the current exhibit focused upon how American comic books took on the Nazis, Hitler and the Holocaust. After that, I got my complementary glass of wine, and plate of snacks, and sat down to hear a very engaging Mr. Tye talk about the genesis of Superman. That was not a bad way to end a day!

2. The Etsy Gift – Dan had been telling me that he had bought me a gift on Etsy, but he wasn’t quite sure if I was deserving of it. This made me pretty sure that this was going to be something greatly amusing. I was not, however, prepared for the awesomeness of what it was. For the past few years, we have been talking about starting a brewpub called Goats & Rabbits. The Goats and the Rabbits were the two political factions in old time Kansas City politics. Over the past several months, the conversation about starting the restaurant has become much more serious as Sam and Jean are making plans to come to Kansas City. It is really getting exciting. And on opening day of that restaurant that will be made, I will be wearing this:

3. Setting the Table for Company – After we came home from our trip to Italy, Dan and I both agreed that we should be more conscious about how we eat. One of the things that we talked about was sitting at the table for meals. As the kids left, it became more routine to sit in the living room and eat. We have gotten somewhat better at that, but there is still work to do. What is great about Dan and me sitting at the table is the same thing that becomes even better when the number of people at the table expands. I love setting the table for a meal. I like figuring out what dishes will be needed. I like setting down the plates, silverware and glasses. I like putting together a centerpiece and ironing the tablecloth and napkins. Saturday night we hosted our dinner club, so I got to get my table-setting jones met. Prettiness ensued.

4. Good books – I finished two different, but both great books this week. Sam recommended Mission Street Food, particularly for the philosophy that they take regarding business philanthropy. The book is an autobiography of their restaurants that started from a food truck night in San Francisco and grew to have a massive cult following. The other book was the novel, Salvage The Bones by Jesslyn Ward. This is the story of a family in Louisiana dealing with alcoholism, poverty, teenage pregnancy, and cruelty – as Hurricane Katrina is coming in. This was my gym book and as my treadmill time ended on Friday, I had about a chapter left. I reset the time and went to the end. It is quite stunning story telling. She manages to get such sweetness in the midst of some really pretty horrible scenes. It was definitely worth extra time on the treadmill.

5. Good Moods – There are just those days when there is nothing special, but it just feels great to be who you are; where you are. I had one of those days on Friday. I should have been feeling a little badly because I didn’t get any book work done, but I didn’t. I just reveled in the moments of the day. I read, exercised, made lists, grocery shopped, organized … Nothing special, but very special.

I hope all of us have some great mood days ahead of us!

 

Judging Books By Their Cover

Do you do that? Judge a book by its cover? I certainly do it, with varying levels of successful outcomes. Like wine bottles, a well designed book cover snatches my attention away from its plainer counterparts. It doesn’t have to be flashy or gaudy. It just has to have a certain something – the font, the photo or illustration, the placement… all working together to represent what lies inside. Whatever it is, some book covers just work better than others.

While you may not know Chip Kidd’s name, you have almost certainly seen his work. He designed this: 

And this: 

And this: 

And so much more.

I went to go hear him talk a couple years ago at our local library. He is a good speaker and his description of how he works is inspiring. His TED talk about book design is fantastic. A few weeks ago I heard him interviewed on the Design Matters podcast.  He commented that he got so many requests from people wanting advice from him about their work, that he could not possibly answer them all and still get his own work done. Subsequently, he decided that he would offer an on-line class to teach what he knows and thinks about book design. That class is now available, and I am taking it!

The content is offered by Skillshare. This is actually a pretty cool deal. There are a multitude of classes that are offered by the site, and I don’t know if any of them cost more than $25 (and there are usually discounts available). The classes come via videos and there is an assignment/project associated with each. You have the ability to create your project on the class site so others can give you feedback. While you don’t lose access to the classes once you purchase them, doing them on the schedule suggested makes the interaction with other participants more timely.

Chip Kidd’s class that I am taking is called Introduction to Book Cover Design: Making Stories Visual. The assignment is to redesign a book that we love.

This morning I watched the first two videos. In the first, he gave a history of book cover design in about 9 minutes. This is not a survey college course by any means, but it is a friendly, efficient way to get some new learning into your life and get your own creative process activated.

That brings me to the book that I have chosen for my assignment. Five Quarts by Bill Hayes is one of my all time favorite reads. Its tagline is “a personal and natural history of blood” – of course I love this book! He blends medical history, personal anecdotes, and contemporary investigation to tell a story about blood. He makes it work really well. There are two editions of this book. I have the white one, but I think I prefer the red one. I don’t dislike either of them, but I don’t know that either is as good as the book deserves.

I have serious doubts as to whether I have it in me to design something that will be better than the current choices, but I am eager to delve into this attempt at creativity.

If you had an opportunity to change a favorite book’s cover, which one would it be?