A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler - A three generation family story revolving around their house and home in Baltimore. The writing style is a bit breezy, as is one of the main characters, Abby. The story never seems to fulfill the dark promise suggested by the first chapters as the action moves forward, and sometimes backward along its timeline. Three hundred and fifty-seven pages later, I felt only acquainted with these people, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't inclined to care very much about them. Kudos for a lovely title and cover, though. I think Abby was a sewer. As in a person who sews things on a sewing machine.
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - The rest of the title is "or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death". I haven't read much if any Kurt Vonnegut, and I think I tried Slaughterhouse Five and put it down at some point. I guess it just needed to follow something bland like Spool for me to appreciate the story of Billy Pilgrim and his war experiences and time-travel. I think I loved it. Sometimes it's just in the timing.
A Curious Mind The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Glazer and Charles Fishman - The movie producer Brian Glazer has been having his curiosity conversations with people for many years. In this book he writes about the ultimate quality of his curiosity and how it has contributed to his success. My biggest take away is about asking a lot of questions when making decisions to ascertain what the final goal is for the decision. I also liked the "thanks anyway, I don't want your critique." pages. It's for when someone tells you "no" and then wants to explain all their reasons. Generally, you've spent years on putting the question together, thinking about it, tweaking it, making it as polished as possible, and then with less than an hour of thinking about it, the other person says "no". Really? Thanks anyway, I don't want your critique. This is the anti-curiosity which you have to respect and harness. This has happened to me many times, and it has shaped the way I live my life, but it shaped Brian Glazer's life in a different way.....he is resilient and keeps going back. I have often given in or given up. I don't have a lot of fight in me. But it's all about not letting the other person's doubt be in control of what is ultimately your decision. Love and Mercy - This is the fascinating movie and love story about the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, his mental illness, and obstacles overcome. The very best parts of the movie are about his creative process in making beautiful music. The love story was lovely and inspiring. Talk about curiosity - it's what ultimately drove all the story lines and themes in this film. Brian would tweak a song a million times before he finally decided just how it needed to go. Was it genius or mental illness? Probably some of both.
Her Heart On Her Sleeve: I live in a suburb north of Chicago, and I read, bead, make jewelry, sew, watch TV and movies, crochet, craft, decorate, go to house and garage sales, walk and go on beach walks, listen to music, take pictures, cook and bake, read, and write about all of it on herheartonhersleeve. I have a companion blog called Jewlery by Dianne Sophia at diannesophia.blogspot.com where I write exclusively about my jewelry.
Jewelry By Dianne Sophia: I have been collecting vintage jewelry since I was a girl growing up in Detroit, and have been designing and making jewelry for 15 years. I love to work with pearls and crystals, semi-precious stones, Sterling Silver and Gold, along with vintage beads and materials. I delight in combining shape, pattern and color in new ways. I'm inspired and influenced by my travels and experiences as a reader, writer, photographer and student of life. My blog herheartonhersleeve.blogspot.com chronicles my life in art and popular culture.
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler - A three generation family story revolving around their house and home in Baltimore. The writing style is a bit breezy, as is one of the main characters, Abby. The story never seems to fulfill the dark promise suggested by the first chapters as the action moves forward, and sometimes backward along its timeline. Three hundred and fifty-seven pages later, I felt only acquainted with these people, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't inclined to care very much about them. Kudos for a lovely title and cover, though. I think Abby was a sewer. As in a person who sews things on a sewing machine. 
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - The rest of the title is "or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death". I haven't read much if any Kurt Vonnegut, and I think I tried Slaughterhouse Five and put it down at some point. I guess it just needed to follow something bland like Spool for me to appreciate the story of Billy Pilgrim and his war experiences and time-travel. I think I loved it. Sometimes it's just in the timing.
A Curious Mind The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Glazer and Charles Fishman - The movie producer Brian Glazer has been having his curiosity conversations with people for many years. In this book he writes about the ultimate quality of his curiosity and how it has contributed to his success. My biggest take away is about asking a lot of questions when making decisions to ascertain what the final goal is for the decision. I also liked the "thanks anyway, I don't want your critique." pages. It's for when someone tells you "no" and then wants to explain all their reasons. Generally, you've spent years on putting the question together, thinking about it, tweaking it, making it as polished as possible, and then with less than an hour of thinking about it, the other person says "no". Really? Thanks anyway, I don't want your critique. This is the anti-curiosity which you have to respect and harness. This has happened to me many times, and it has shaped the way I live my life, but it shaped Brian Glazer's life in a different way.....he is resilient and keeps going back. I have often given in or given up. I don't have a lot of fight in me. But it's all about not letting the other person's doubt be in control of what is ultimately your decision. 
Love and Mercy - This is the fascinating movie and love story about the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, his mental illness, and obstacles overcome. The very best parts of the movie are about his creative process in making beautiful music. The love story was lovely and inspiring. Talk about curiosity - it's what ultimately drove all the story lines and themes in this film. Brian would tweak a song a million times before he finally decided just how it needed to go. Was it genius or mental illness? Probably some of both.
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