Journals Books

Scrapbooking is all about recording family memories in a creative way, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a book that contains not only the personal family journals of a few well-known scrapbook artists, but the expeiences that inpsired the work, and their ideas on how the reader can incorporate these ideas into similar scrapbooks. This book takes family journaling to a whole new level.

The book shows the various journals and then gives ideas -- jumpstarts, if you will, for how the reader can create a similar work that reflects their own family memories. That's the beauty of this book. It's not only provides eye-candy, but great ideas and instructions. For example, on page 26 we are introduced to The Strine family's Time Capsule created by Allison Strine (and the credits for each piece contains ALL the names of the family members, not just the name of the individual artist -- I love that special touch!). On the opposite page is a sidebar that contains ideas for things the reader can collect to create their own time capsule. I fell in love with the Adolph family's "South of the Border" journal designed by the children of Christine Adolph. The journal was created while on a family cruise vacation and the along with photos are ideas on what to gather during YOUR family vacations so you can create your own journal. Throughout the book each artist shares her ideas on how you can create journals just like theirs with your own artistic and familial bent.

This is no doubt one of my very favorite art books because it brings to mind what scrapbooking is all about...our own personal memories gathered together in our own artistic way. This is not about what the magazines are looking for, but what our families treasure most. Awesome book. I'll keep it forever!

Enjoy,
Cris Cunningham

This is an incredibly inspiring book. I own many books expanding on mixed media art and this book is by far the most inspiring, creative, colorful and delightful that I've run in to. The techniques are described sufficiently enough to get you headed in the right direction and encourages your own artistic touch. There is enough variety to keep you trying new techniques and ideas for a long time to come. This has become my most favorite of my collection. I will be coming back to this one over and over again! Enjoy!

This book is an amazing venture into journal making. My passion is creating journals, and I own several related books. This is perhaps one of the best. I've poured over it several times. Lots of projects that are technique driven. Many great tips. Well thought out, beautifully written and illustrated. If you love to journal, make journals, make alterted journals, or just love to read about their magic, this is an excellent book to add to your library. I'll be using it for inspiration for a long time.

I read this book in one setting. What a fascinating journey Sladen takes you on in this first hand account of a significant moment in history. I've been reading books on the west my entire life and I have to say this is the best single book one could read on the American Southwest. It chronicles the remarkable meeting between General O.O. Howard and the Great Apache leader Cochise. Sladen records Cochise's personality and style in great detail. He gives a vivid portrait of life in an Apache village. He presents Tom Jeffords and Howard as they really were. He describes the incredible county this drama played out in with the sensibility of a true lover of beauty and nature. Sladen's become one of my heros along with Cochise and Edward R. Sweeney who edited this book and wrote a brilliant biography of Cochise.

Cochise is an elusive character. There are no photographs of him, and only one eloquent speech, which was recorded by an Army interpreter. Otherwise, we are left with vague secondhand accounts that often make him a two-dimensional cardboard cutout. Sladen's journal breathes life into this dynamic individual. It is fascinating reading, and, as Sweeney the editor points out, Sladen is not judgmental. He simply describes life in the Apache camp. A wonderful book.

Another book on my shelf from U. of Oklahoma that gets better with rereading.

Though this one was released more than 5 years ago, it reads as though written yesterday. And that is something, since the diary that underpins it was written in 1872.

This is must reading for anyone enjoying information of the period of the Apache wars in Arizona/New Mexico area. Other than the author's previous biography on Cochise, nothing is available giving personal views of Cochise and his people. And Cochise's statement that no whiteman would look upon his face was well kept. These two military men, and Tom Jeffords were among the few that ever did.

Enough good words cannot be said about this one.

Semper Fi.

For those of you that know of Barron's amazing journals, this is your first chance keep one for yourself! Barron continues to amaze everyone he meets and teaches, and it is no suprise why. In the Marate Sade Journals, Barron is dealing with the classic play, in his very unique style. By combining text and his beautifully rendered images from the story, he brings to life this piece of literature.

The book was published in 1993 and limited to 1,000 copies, so if you can find it BUY IT! The color reproduction is beautiful and it really shows just how amazing his work is.

It took me two years to find a copy of Barron Storey's Marat/Sade Journals...and it was well worth the wait. Inside unfolds a collection of the images thoughts over which Storey obsessed as he dealt with the end of a love affair and his frustrations with his life's work. This collection of sketchbook paintings and quotations from Peter Weiss play out far better than the actual play Marat/Sade and communicate the deep set depression that shrouds any man after he has broken up with the woman he loved. Barron Storey's works are hard to find. I highly recommend the Marat/Sade journals, the 1995 release of Barron Storey's Watch, and the Boy Racer (published in an old issue of Heavy Metal) to any one interested in Storey's work. And good luck, this stuff is hard to find.

For those of you that know of Barron's amazing journals, this is your first chance keep one for yourself! Barron continues to amaze everyone he meets and teaches, and it is no suprise why. In the Marate Sade Journals, Barron is dealing with the classic play, in his very unique style. By combining text and his beautifully rendered images from the story, he brings to life this piece of literature.

The book was published in 1993 and limited to 1,000 copies, so if you can find it BUY IT! The color reproduction is beautiful and it really shows just how amazing his work is.

Mary's done it! Put her beautiful, inspiring artwork together with her favorite "reminders." Great book to use as my own reminder about what's truly important.

I love anything with words of encouragement and this book is perfect. You can just look at a couple of pages and get that lift! I gave the book as a gift and each recipient loved it. The art work is wonderful.

A true Mary Engelbreit fan, I loved reading "Words to Live By" many, many times! The illustrations are beautiful, the text touching, humorous, and truly inspirational! I have given this book to many friends who love it as much as I do....men and women, alike, enjoy her talent of focusing on what is important to us all in life...home and the love of family and friends. Through a variety of quotations and Mary's superb artistry, "Words to Live By" will fill your heart with every emotion leading to the happiest of reading experiences...Mary Engelbreit at her best!

Mr. Philip Hamburger (per the book jacket) has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1939 or 62 years. Writing for The New Yorker is an accomplishment in itself, I have read of no one who has written for the New Yorker for the duration that Mr. Hamburger has. After all these decades one would expect that he would be a man of strong opinions which would entrench him at some point on the Political Yardstick. Any concern about partisanship is dismissed when he scorns the concepts of left and right, and suggests, "common sense, decency, and the better angels of our nature", should be what governs the thoughts of people.

The Author is remarkable for many accomplishments, however his history of having attended every Inauguration since FDR'S First, and missing only FDR'S Third and Fourth is remarkable. These events serve as milestones in his life as he viewed his first from the branches of a tree, and as time passed became a guest at a variety of distinguished functions that he tends to bring down to earth and into focus.

Readers will come away from reading the wisdom this man has accumulated over half a century with different experiences based on what he chose to include in this book, and how he treated the topics. He is a remarkable writer that would attend and observe and then write of his encounters with Washington's major events, or a private gathering with a Mayor, and then write a reflection of the topic and its relevance without discoloring it with personal prejudice. He is clearly an admirer of some of his subjects such as Judge Learned Hand, however after you read his 1946 story about this jurist and orator, you too may find you have a new individual you admire, and have been introduced to a speech that is as powerful as any given in our Country's History.

This is the Author's 8th book and I hope there are more. Perhaps a collection of his work will be forthcoming, for if it is all as good or nearly good as this small collection, a marvelous piece of history it would make.

The subtitle suggests that Hamburger offers a "political excursion" and indeed he does, enabling his reader to tag along with him as he attends national political conventions and Presidential inaugurations, beginning in 1948. Along the way, he shares his reactions to (and in some instances, his direct encounters with) various major political figures such as Fiorello LaGuardia, William O'Dwyer, Harry Truman, Thomas Dewey, Dwight Eisenhower, Joseph McCarthy, Robert Wagner, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. My personal favorites are those passages in which he shares his thoughts and feelings about Learned Hand, Dean Acheson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (in "retrospective"). Most of these essays originally appeared in The New Yorker. Perhaps you read those when they were first published. They are even more enjoyable to read now, especially within the sequence of presentation in this book. What adds substantially to the reader's pleasure is the high quality of Hamburger's writing style which is, in my opinion, places him in the company of George Orwell and E.B. White. Hamburger has a delicious sense of humor and a keen eye for significant detail. Within his commentaries on various world leaders, he is never reluctant to share his own strong opinions about a given subject such as "McCarthyism."

Please allow me a rather personal way in which to express my appreciation of this book. As I read it, I felt as if Hamburger and I had just completed dinner and adjourned to the living room with a beverage in hand. "As you look back over all those years and reflect on all those experiences, what are your most vivid memories of the people you observed? Which moments remain indelible? From today's perspective, what do you make of all that?" Obviously, this is a hypothetical situation but his responses can be found in this immensely entertaining as well as informative book.

In the final chapter, "Postscript: Vermeer Time", Hamburger discusses his great good fortune (in the spring of 1996) in being able to see the Vermeer exhibition at the National Gallery where he was greeted by Arthur K. Wheelock, the museum's curator of northern baroque paintings and co-curator of the exhibition. He shares his reactions, especially to "View of Delft" which he observed intently for "an embarrassingly long time." Here is how he concludes the chapter and the book: "Dreams must end. Back to the Metroliner and the reality of Gotham.. But, as the train left Union Station, there, on the right, under a lowering sky, and a patch of sunlight on a row of houses, I saw, for a glorious moment, an instance of Vermeer time." Those fortunate to read this book rejoice in having shared such a generous portion of "Hamburger time."

This is a terrific collection of short and medium-length pieces that are wise, witty, and thoroughly absorbing. It deserves all of the praise it has earned.

Hamburger is a lifelong Democrat. He is old enough to remember fascism's disastrous effects on the world, and wise enough to have no patience for its contemporary apologists, although he is good at describing them. He is deeply humane and deeply ethical - along with being a wonderful storyteller. He is very, very smart, and has a great ability to listen, to watch, and to get to know people. In a quiet and subtle way, he is wholly present. These are some of the abilities that are at the heart of his writing.

He has been at it, "warily," (his adverb) for a comparatively long time. In his Prologue he offers some interesting autobiographical material. This collection begins with a piece written in 1943, and the most recent is from 1993. He reports on his fourteenth inauguration, and that he had to skip two of FDR's. Students of American politics of the '40's, '50's, and '60's will not be disappointed. "Lonely Day," a short, atmospheric piece about voting for President in 1960, and "One Man's Vote," written in 1992, are two of many pieces that in 2001 seem nearly prescient. In the second one there is some suspense regarding election day, a crisis regarding broken voting machines, and, in this instance, a happy ending. The machines are fixed and voting resumes. Democracy prevails. "One man" votes. This event had deep meaning, and the reader knows it.

An April 1970 piece "Hand on Cardozo," quotes then-Nebraska Senator Roman L. Hruska's public defense - against charges of mediocrity - of Judge Harold Carswell, President Nixon's nominee to the US Supreme Court. Nixon: " Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers, and they are entitled to a little representation, aren't they?"

In addition to being smart and colorful political reportage, his pieces also form a series of lessons on how to write. I can't imagine students not learning from him. Whether it's the grape juice that a public figure happens to be drinking, or the atmosphere of City Hall in NYC Mayor LaGuardia's administration (" ..the Hall seemed electric. Secretaries addressed one another hurriedly, the way spies talk in Hitchcock movies." ), he can distill and enlarge - to great effect. Finally, there is a jewel-like piece on seeing the Vermeer show ("I slipped down on the Metroliner") at the National Gallery in Washington, in 1996.

This is a great collection and thoroughly worthwhile.

Well and engagingly written, this book gives a lively look into the life of a composer who is now known for only a handful of the nearly 100 works he wrote and who deserves a better fate than that.

Whatever may be the matter with the times we live in, we can at least take some comfort in having escaped from a century largely dominated by musical cognoscenti who insisted that music was not music! (The details are lucidly described in Alex Ross's landmark study, "The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century" -- required summer reading if you don't have a copy already.)

Max Bruch (1838-1920) was not so lucky, but he kept the faith: that music was fundamentally about music. The price he paid for this attitude was that for some time his work has been largely overlooked. It is positively amazing that to this day Christopher Fifield's biography is still "the only full-length study of Bruch."

Many are familiar with Bruch's beautiful Violin Concerto in G minor, often the first major concerto attempted by young violinists. Less well known, but just as musical, is his "Scottish Fantasy" for violin and orchestra. And, of course, the great arrangement of "Kol Nidrei," for cello, and any number of other instruments.

That is just a small part of Bruch's output. He composed three violin concertos, three symphonies, oratorios, chamber music, choral music, etc. Fortunately, much of this has been recorded and is available through Amazon.com.

Fifield's book may seem a little pricey, but it is thorough, well-documented, well-written -- and there are no alternatives. So your decision is easy.

I am the pre-concert speaker for all the symphonic programs of the Boise Philharmonic Association and a guest speaker for the Seattle Symphony. My challange is to bring to life the composers and to create a meaningful context for their works so that the audience can get the most out of each performance. This book contains everything one needs to know about this arresting romantic composer who wrote two of the most beautiful pieces aver written: his Violin Concerto in g minor and his Scottish Fantasy. Bruch's secret? The inspiration of folksong and folk music. The grace, simplicity, the authenticity, and the unalloyed power of the voice of humanity taught him how to write orchestral music that will endure forever. It is all in this excellent book, a perfect companion to his musical masterpieces.

One of the most brilliantly funny series of books ever written came to its original conclusion with this title. Although Donald Jack has subsequently produced later works on Bandy's further adventures, these seem as something of a revisionist afterthought, albeit equally well crafted as the first 4 in the original series. Me Among The Ruins, later incorporated as a section into the larger 4th book of the expanded series, manages to be both as laugh-out-loud funny as the earlier 3 books and also at times strikingly poignant with Kathryn's untimely death and Bandy's final reunion with his family in Canada. Donald Jack creates an interesting juxtaposition of hilarity and sadness that gives the whole sequence of the first 4 books a sense of being a farcical tragedy in which essentially only Bandy himself is left standing undefeated by the world.

The gent from Worksop has it right. This is a bit of a summation with the bitter sorrow of Kathryn's death a true disappointment to readers of the previous books in the series. Otherwise holds true to the high standard of ridiculous-ness established in the other books of the series. Historical fiction fans of everyone from George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman to Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder will find this series a Hoot!.

Bandy, sent home to Canada to boost the war effort disgraces himself with the aplomb of an innocent in town - but restores his honour with a successful campaign in Russia. Two things only spoilt this book for me. The sad death of Bandy's wife, Kathryn, and the feeling the author was 'tidying-up' in order to bring the series to a close, ending as it did with Bandy once more at home in the bosom of his family. The fact more books appeared in the series proved a great relief on the one hand, but an almost impossible task in tracing copies(within the U.K) on the other. Despite this these books represent the most enjoyable reading I have ever had.

Although the price is rather high the coupons are definitely worth it! Editor Stocke really has a talent for creating easy, simple, get you off the hook, Christmas presents. I haven't seen a present of this sort since graduating grade school. It's the same as the third grade art projects but it's much more polished and paid for. My parents wonder why the gift seems so familiar . . . The only change I would make is to somehow include a method of magnetically attaching it to the refrigerator.

Words won't really suffice. Let us hope that Stocke and his staff--which must be a mighty talented staff indeed!--have what it takes to create an Arbor Day Coupon book as well.

A great book, edited by a great man, for a great time.

If you're like me, then you love CHRISTMAS!!! If you're like me, then you love COUPONS!!! If you're like me, then you will want to give Todd Stocke (editor) a fat kiss on the mouth and a free trip to Mozambique for giving you all these fantastimorphically fabulicious ideas! It's the best thing to happen to my holidays since my leg went bad and I had to have a chimney sweep come out and rip the soot out of my fireplace, allowing me and the missus to have a rip-roaring fire burning dangerously close to our Douglas Fir. A HAP-DAPPILY WONDERIFFIC BOOK, AND A ZIP-ZIPPIDY CHRISTMAS TO ALL Y'ALL!!!

This is an great idea! I made it for my father two years ago and he absolutely loved it I would recomend it 100%. I must warn you it does take time and patience but it is well worth it!

This book is extremely creative. A neat idea for collecting, sorting and assembling photos of your children. A wonderful gift for Mom. It motivated me!

The Merry Christmas Mother book that Ms. Jameson has put together is truely an interactive heirloom. My children and I went through our family photograph albums, choosing our favorites. Then we matched the wonderful quotations to the photos! It turned out to be a fun family project and the result is a very high quality book of our family to treasure forever. I can't wait to see if there is more in Ms. Jameson's series.

I love this book. It is so true about how men think and how women think. GREAT BOOK.

Bravo to Dwight Brown. He has cleansed his confusion of the Venusians he married. Hopefully he can find someone now to ease his Martian mind. You too will find humor and therapy in this personal reflection of Mr. Brown's.

Men will definitely appreciate the pragmatic humor in this book, especially if they are divorced. The illustrations are hysterical. If you are a man that is tired of being told how you need to change in order to get along with your female partner, this is your book. An easy read at less than 100 pages, this is the perfect type of book to take with you on an airplane, in a waiting room, or anywhere else that you would appreciate a good laugh without a large time investment. This is also a perfect gift for a groom-to-be.