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Post by alias123 on Jan 23, 2017 3:36:37 GMT
I just finished Superhuman by Habit: A Guide to Becoming the Best Possible Version of Yourself, One Tiny Habit at a Time
It's a very short, to the point, quick read. I thought it did contain a number of useful tips. So it was worth the $5 Kindle.
He also recommended The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It which I've requested from my library.
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Post by alias123 on Jan 23, 2017 3:38:48 GMT
I think my next read may be a book that my friend lent me. She is an artist and said it was excellent. The reviews on Amazon are also quite good for it.
I know little about art or Monet so I hope it is not above my pay grade. Anyway, I am going to give it a shot.
Mad Enchantment Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King
synopsis: From bestselling author Ross King, a brilliant portrait of legendary artist Claude Monet and the story of his most memorable achievement, the water lilies.
Claude Monet is perhaps the world's most beloved artist, and among all his creations, the paintings of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny are most famous. Seeing them in museums around the world, viewers are transported by the power of Monet's brush into a peaceful world of harmonious nature. Monet himself intended them to provide "an asylum of peaceful meditation.รขโฌ ? Yet, as Ross King reveals in his magisterial chronicle of both artist and masterpiece, these beautiful canvases belie the intense frustration Monet experienced at the difficulties of capturing the fugitive effects of light, water, and color. They also reflect the terrible personal torments Monet suffered in the last dozen years of his life.
Mad Enchantment tells the full story behind the creation of the Water Lilies, as the horrors of World War I came ever closer to Paris and Giverny, and a new generation of younger artists, led by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, were challenging the achievements of Impressionism. By early 1914, French newspapers were reporting that Monet, by then 73 and one of the world's wealthiest, most celebrated painters, had retired his brushes. He had lost his beloved wife, Alice, and his eldest son, Jean. His famously acute vision--what Paul Cezanne called "the most prodigious eye in the history of painting"--was threatened by cataracts. And yet, despite ill health, self-doubt, and advancing age, Monet began painting again on a more ambitious scale than ever before. Linking great artistic achievement to the personal and historical dramas unfolding around it, Ross King presents the most intimate and revealing portrait of an iconic figure in world culture--from his lavish lifestyle and tempestuous personality to his close friendship with the fiery war leader Georges Clemenceau, who regarded the Water Lilies as one of the highest expressions of the human spirit.
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Post by sullicat1 on Jan 30, 2017 13:09:36 GMT
I read Night yesterday. The most difficult thing I've ever read. It was all kind of blurry thru the tears. It should be required reading.
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Post by gottakeeptryin on Jan 30, 2017 13:24:37 GMT
I just started a series by Mary Alice Monroe called "Summer Girls"
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Post by alias123 on Jan 30, 2017 16:06:41 GMT
I am reading 2 books right now. I'm enjoying both of them very much
Audio book No Dream is Too High - Buzz Aldrin It's very inspiring. I think it should be required reading for all kids in high school.
Paper book Mad Enchantment - Ross King About the painter Monet and WWI
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Post by alias123 on Feb 3, 2017 22:08:06 GMT
Today I finished the audio book No Dream is Too High - Buzz Aldrin
I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book by the hero astronaut Buzz Aldrin. It was on my 2017 Determination Reading List.
He had a birthday recently on January 20th and he is now 87 years old.
This book reflects on the life lessons he has learned during his storied life. He covers his historic moon walk and even his stint on Dancing with the Stars.
I gave it a top rating. He still is inspiring young and old at 87 ! Well done, Buzz !
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Post by surfgirl on Feb 4, 2017 20:43:35 GMT
alias123, thanks for the recommendation on that Monet book. My father loves Monet's Water Lillies so I bought it for him last night and it should arrive tomorrow. If you hadn't posted about it, I'd never have known about it, thank you!
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Post by alias123 on Feb 5, 2017 15:42:20 GMT
alias123 , thanks for the recommendation on that Monet book. My father loves Monet's Water Lillies so I bought it for him last night and it should arrive tomorrow. If you hadn't posted about it, I'd never have known about it, thank you! You're welcome ! I hope he enjoys it as much as I am.
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msu91
Epic Member
Colleen
Posts: 378
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Post by msu91 on Feb 5, 2017 15:48:57 GMT
Thank you all for sharing. I appreciate your recommendations and found Louise Penny here andI have thoroughly enjoyed reading her series!
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