Mar 30 2006
Reading Rainbow
Before yarn, there was books. Books were my undying passion. I devoured them at voracious speeds. I acquired them like nobody’s business. I collected them in huge wooden cases… and I left some of them in random places for others to find. I have worked in numerous libraries, and managed a bookstore. I feel comfortable when I am surrounded by books.
However, since I began to knit, my reading rate has declined. It is possible to find the happy medium: audio books and my "read while you knit!" arrangement, but the fact remains, I don’t get to read as much as I used to. (Clarification: I don’t get to read for fun like I used to - mind you, I am a graduate student, so I have plenty of reading, but those are work, not fun!)
I saw some other Project Spectrum participants posting their red and pink books, and I thought it would be fun to have a little book talk here too. Here are a few of the red and pink books I had on my shelves. As I was pulling these out, I was amazed at all of the colors - I could easily do a book post each month with all of the colors! (Are you up for a monthly meme - show your orange/yellow/green/blue/purple/neutral books in your shelves?)
I have a large reference collection - things that I use often and will be on my shelves forever. These books are many of my school books (archaeology, religion, geography, library science and history), dictionaries, and books that were given to me as gifts. Fiction books are usually just visitors on my shelves; after reading, I often pass them off to another reader, give them to a charity, or bookcross them.
Carole tagged me for a book meme earlier this month. I usually do not post memes (although I love to read them) but this one fit so well with the whole theme of this post…
Meme instructions: Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you might read, cross out the ones you won’t, underline the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
(Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
If this meme is right up your alley, I tag you!
I am taking this book slow: going month by month along the Project Spectrum wheel as I read this fascinating book about the history of colors.
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
The book does not begin with RED, but I read that chapter first. I am currently reading the Orange chapter, and am equally impressed with Finlay’s research and writing style. There is an interview with the author, as well as some various excerpts from the book, for those of you who are interested…
A little search on the internet also yielded some other color-themed books. Who wants to bring some color to their reading list?
A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield
The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy
Blue: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau
I know that there are probably scores of other works out there that revolve around colors and the history and symbolism of colors. If you have some titles, please feel free to share!
**Many thanks to those of you that shared your thoughts in my last post. It was wonderful to read your responses and gain more insight on the issue of art and craft.
I had just added the “Red” book to my list this week. Your Colors book was added when you first mentioned it.
I enjoyed the more “scientific” account of the introduction of mauve in “Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World” by Simon Garfield.
I used to be a big reader as well. The commute to and from NYC was great for reading. That’s an interesting list with some canon-type things and more modern books.
how little you know…
DUNE is my favorite movie, book, perfume!
I can’t believe you didn’t know Dune.
(pouts) okay now you HAVE to watch it next time we knit.
This was a good month..I love the reds and the pinks
I meant to italicize _Dune_. Of course I have heard of it…
what a thought-provoking post! I absolutely adore reading and books (and there’s nothing like opening up a brand new book for the first time to read!), but like you, I find I have little to no time to do so! I have at least 8 books on my shelf right now that I am eagerly anticipating reading.
that color book sounds really, really interesting. I might have to consider purchasing it.
I love the bookcrossing idea. definitley going read over the site and check through my books to see what i can give away!
thanks for such a lovely post about books!
.♥.
wow! i had no idea so many books have been written about single colors. color has always facinated me in symbolism and art. i’ll have to put the history of color on my reading list for sure!
I know what you mean about reading time, I don’t read nearly as much as I did before knitting! If only there were more hours in a day! No, never mind. I’d spend those extra hours spinning, not reading.
Thanks for giving that link for bookcrossing. I’d never heard of it before, it sounds really cool! I should get rid of more of my fiction books that way, especially after seeing how many I have with this move! I noticed the one book on your shelf in the second picture that I basically forced you to buy that one time we went to Ollsson’s, remember? It was on sale, after all.
The link I added above is to my post on art vs craft. It is a compelling and controversial subject.
I was too lazy to pull all my red or pink books together. Nice work! The color book by Finley is fabulous!
I used to do bookcrossing too! I actually did have someone pick up a book, read it, and then post on the site. Pretty fun. I should do that again…
I am (was) a big reader too but lately it has been put on the back burner. Book crossing is truly international - my sister in law is an avid book crosser in Santiago Chile and I have participated here in Berlin!
I still haven’t figured out how to read and knit at the same time. I used to read all the time too. Now I try to read when I’m not knitting which means - hardly ever!
I enjoyed reading Empire Falls but now I have the audiobook for Straight Man and I can’t get through it. I think it might be the narrator’s voice. I didn’t imagine Russo’s characters being so…down and whiny…until I listened to how this guy interpreted it.
Anyway, I enjoy reading too, and enjoyed seeing all your books
Oh what a fun entry. I’d love to play along with all of this but thanks to the recent move, all of my books are in boxes and bins.
You really make me want to pull them all out though and now I’m pretty sure that when I do get my shelves up, I’ll have to put my books up and organize by COLOR. That’d be fun LOL
Don’t forget The Red Tent! One of my personal favorites.
ha! so funny. we have so many red-bound books, and i always thought it was because chris studied the soviet union in college. all books about communism are red. how cliche! but it turns out a lot of perfectly non-authoritarian books are red as well
lolly my dear, you simply amaze me with all that you do. you must be the busiest little bee in the whole wide world. I’m not sure how you do it all, but i’d love your secret! I’m going to have to check out “color” that book sounds really interesting…
Your book pictures are lovely! And the Color book is going on my (very long) to read list. I don’t know how I would manage if I didn’t read while I knit.
Wow! What a great list of books on color. I am going to have to make a trip to the library soon!
Thanks, Lolly for the nice compliment on my Backyard Leaves scarf, too.
Don’t forget the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White and Red–separate movies)
Lolly, thanks for the link to BookCrossing! I had heard about it ages ago, but there wasn’t much happening in my area…thanks to your link today, I went hunting on a whim, and found that a book was released only two days ago in a supermarket I was planning to visit today anyhow. I stopped by, and sure enough, there it was!
And of all things, the book is “Bee Season” by Myla Goldberg - and the cover is red. I never officially joined Project Spectrum - and I think I’ll still abstain - but it keeps chasing me down!
I’ll join in the colored bookshelf fun!
I’ll hunt up some yellow and orange books tomorrow… (if my knee’s not aching too much…)
hey lollygirl!
great to see you bookcrossing - i do to!
Its such a great idea
i really enjoy your blog, and am looking forward to getting orange yelloow for april!
I noticed that The Kite Runner is one of your “maybes”. You should definitely read it! It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, and I’m an avid reader. It’s one of those that stays with you long after you read it!
Reading for pleasure has been pushed aside here too-seems like everytime I curl up with a good book I fall asleep! Of course, the kind of books I am usually reading are “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”1;-) The color book looks very interesting-thanks for the links. And I am going look into that bookcrossing a little more-what a neat idea!
Take care and have a fantastic weekend!
xo,
-T
Wow, Lolly! You have a Greek New Testament Dictionary in there. You have my profound respect.
-Melissa
Wow, that is a lot of red books!
What I’m wondering is if all your books will be categorized in rainbow order when you’re done with this project!
I’m still just trying to get to the point that I can watch TV while knitting! Reading and knitting hasn’t proved too successful at my house as of yet. oh well, we’ll get there!
And it’s true, they really need to invent some page-turning, book-holding gizmo for knitters!
Great books, wonderful colors. I, too, miss reading for pleasure, but I just can’t find the time for it as often anymore - not to mention the fact that I’m a book a holic and have a very hard time putting books down until I’m done. It makes for a very bleary eyed person! lol
I try every book holder that I can find in an attempt to knit and read. I’ve also tried the toe prop and various pillow arrangements.
I have found book holders that work well, but I have to stick to relatively simple knitting patterns when I’m reading at the same time.
Love the bookshelf idea for project spectrum.
The same thing has happened to me…my reading time has been eclipsed by knitting. I still try to make 30 min to 1 hour before bed sacred reading time but it’s just not like the good old days. I need to find more balance between knitting and reading for certain…
What an interesting collection of books, Lolly.
Unfortunately, I left all my books back in PR and my mom has been slowly getting rid of them. *sigh*
Now, after moving so many times, the library has become my friend. Unless it’s a reference/knitting/paper craft book.
I miss my books, but I also don’t read as much as I used to.
Anyway, this post made me a little melancholic.
I worked in bookstores and libraries to pay my way through college…ah, the memories…those were the good times.
Reading your post, I couldn’t help but think of The Red Tent–a great book!
Memoirs of A Geshia is my favorite book I have read so far. Hope IPoding counts? The other day we rented the dvd movie of this and I have to tell you it was not a great as the book. I often find that I enjoy the book far more because of the details they leave out in the movies. It’s also fun to see if the movie is what you had pictured in your mind after reading the book beforehand.
You are truly gifted with an eye for color. Your site is such a treat to visit. Keep up the beautiful work!
Great post. And I have to ask: do you arrange all your books by colour on your shelves? I will admit that I have seriously thought about doing that, but opted to keep together loosely by subject.
I have been reading the Victoria Finlay Book off and on for a couple of months, and love her history and her narratives. I ALSO have a ton of colour books, as I am a bit of a colour freak myself - and recognize another in you - I will get a list together and send it on to you. Love the Turqouise Book you posted above, great front cover.
Looking forward to April!
A great post. I particularly like the books since I’ve been a great reader forever (although quilting takes away from the reading time now. The one about Mauve is of interest to me because my husband and son are chemists and they had enjoyed reading it.
I hope to actually make something in this months colors. Last month I just posted and old project and a painting I like.
I was just posting my second Project Spectrum photo of my daughters’ books. Great minds think alike, eh?!
I’ve always enjoyed the colors of the books on my shelves, almost as much as the contents — can’t really understand the mindset that needs to re-cover one’s books in a single color.
Do read 100 years of solitude! It’s one of my favorite books and, in my opinion, has the best opening sentence.
I love your idea of reading color themed books. Reading is a lesser obsession of mine since yarn took over, but I do love a good book!
I can’t help but think of the “Scarlet Letter”!
Liebe Lolly,
I see you read “Empire Falls”. Did you like it? I did!! And, a little info on the side: while living in Carbondale, Ill. I was told that Richard Russo used to live there and go to the same Coffee Shop I went to all the time. He used some of the observations he made there in his book. Mind you, he was long gone when I stayed in Carbondale and I don’t know how much of it is true.
Now I wonder if I should do the Meme, ’cause there are a lot of books I haven’t read in it….
Take care!
Mona
Before knitting, my first love was reading too. In a huge way. I still love to read, but since knitting has taken over my life, the reading time has gone down considerably. I’m trying to work more reading time into my life. Hopefully with an iPod later this year. I do go through periods where I just want to read and the knitting takes second fiddle and when I’m stressed out and life hands me a curveball, reading is still the method that soothes me and allows me to “escape” the madness for a bit, unlike knitting, surprisingly.