Now Reading ~*~ November 2020

I haven't posted any book reviews or other reading related items since late October, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. I guess I've just not been motivated to sit in front of my computer to write. I don't know...

Regardless, I thought I'd share my November 2020 reading plans and progress. 
If you are struggling with reading during the pandemic, check out THIS post where I talk about increasing my reading amid all the stress and uncertainty in the world right now. 

My full reading plan for November includes:

💙 Lips too chilled by Matuso Basho (poetry)💚 Howl by Allen Ginsberg (poetry)💛 The Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac (poetry)💜 Essentialism by Grego McKeown (non-fiction, lifestyle, self-help)💛 Know My Name by Chanel Miller (memoir, sexual assault)💚 Blueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic (non-fiction, politics, history)💙 The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard (non-fiction, environmentalism, lifestyle)💛 The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (non-fiction, lifestyle, psychology)💚 The Black Painting by Neil Olson (fiction)💙 Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (fiction)
The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard feels like the perfect compliment to The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb (read my review HERE).
I've already finished Know My Name by Chanel Miller, but as of writing this post, I have not written a review yet. I can tell you this much for now though: Miller's memoir is MUST READ material! She recounts being the victim of a sexual assault and the lengthy trial and messy aftermath, including finding her way back to herself. I truly believe you need to read this book!
I've been slowly making my way through The Power of Habit and Blueprint for Revolution, but am likely to finish both this month. I'm enjoying them, but one has lived in my bathroom until recently, and the other was misplaced until recently. 
I've been reading a chapter or two from Crooked Kingdom several nights per week, and it's been a great book to read in the bathtub on cold nights when I need to warm up! The book is the second of a pair and follows a rag-tag group of young adults through peril, adventure, and the under belly of society. They are at turns terrible and wonderful people. Bardugo's characters all highlight that we all have potential for good and bad within us and that the two can co-exist. This is young adult fantasty/sci-fi fiction and great escapism.

The last two days, however, I've been focused primarily on:
💜 The Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac (poetry -- I'll likely finish it tomorrow)......buy it on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3nz5v8e......buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3f59czn

💛 Howl by Allen Ginsberg (poetry -- I'll also likely finish this one tomorrow)

......buy it on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/2HcRbTg......buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3f8qeN0

💚 Lips too chilled by Matsuo Basho (poetry, specifically Haiku -- I finished this one today)

......This specific book is not currently available on Bookshop or Amazon, but I found several copies at reasonable prices with a quick Google search; I happened to buy my copy in Paris, France at Shakespeare and Company.

💙 The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard (non-fiction, environmentalism, lifestyle -- I'll likely finish this one by week's end)......buy it on Bookshop: not available......buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3pBPgcc
Drop a comment and let me know what you're reading these days!
If you aren't in the reading mood, but you still want to occupy your mind, check out my coloring pages and stationery for sale HERE on Etsy! It's all super fast and easy to download and print at home after purchase! I'm a small business owner, and with the pandemic's economic toll, it's more important than ever to shop small, local, and independent -- hence, my including links to Bookshop above!

Please note: links are affiliate in nature. I'm not sharing them to "make a buck" but rather because I love to share what I'm reading and access to finding the same books. If you do purchase through these links, many thanks! I may receive a small commission as a result, but at no additional cost to you!

My week of Frida Kahlo inspired cooking

In THIS post, I wrote about participating in a weekly women's history themed baking challenge and that the theme for the previous week was Frida Kahlo. At the time of the baking challenge, the cookbook Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo by Marie-Pierre Colle and Guadalupe Rivera was not available at my local library. However, I recently got my hands on it and loved it! 

This cookbook is one part cookbook, one part Mexican history and culture guidebook, and one part Frida Kahlo biography. It is packed with photos not just of recipes, but also from Frida Kahlo's life and Casa Azul -- her home and studio. the book is arranged by months and each month starts with three to five pages of biography and memories of the authors' experiences with Frida, followed by a page with a menu plan for the month -- often based around a holiday or celebration -- and then the recipes. 

Because I didn't have the cookbook during the baking challenge week back in August, I only used one of Frida's recipes that week (I found it online). I also went beyond baking and took it as a Mexican cooking challenge. 

The one recipe I did make that was from Frida's cookbook is Macaroni with Spinach Sauce. Due to a dairy allergy, I made some substitutions, but it turned out fairly tasty, although it looked nothing like the photo in the cookbook. Unfortunately, I neglected to get a photo of mine, but what I ended up with was a casserole that was entirely green, not yellow and green with pasta and spinach clearly defined. Oh well! I do have some ideas for making this again and having it turn out more like the cookbook photo, but we'll see. Here's the same dish in the cookbook:

For the rest of my cooking challenge focused on Mexican dishes, I made a vegan/dairy free Tres Leches cake -- but couldn't find one that fit both my and my son's allergies and so did a lot of alterations to ingredients. It turned out sooooo delicious though! For my three milks, I used Ripple dairy free milk, oat milk, and a coconut based creamer. 

The cake was so delicious! I will definitely make it again. My finished cake: 

I also made vegan barbacoa tacos which I loved, but my son didn't like the flavor very much. The filling is lentils based and was excellent as an enchilada filling too.

Lastly, I attempted to make chilaquiles, but they didn't turn out like authentic chilaquiles. I realized halfway through that the recipe I was using was not at all authentic! You don't need to tell me that these aren't authentic -- I know! I had someone tell me on repeat that they weren't authentic even though I had already stated that at the outset! I actually don't care that much that they aren't authentic because the dish tasted great anyhow!

And, finally, here are some images from Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo:

You can buy the book and support independent booksellers via Bookshop HERE.

Or, buy from Amazon HERE.

Links in this post may be affiliate in nature, resulting in a small commission to me via your purchase but at NO cost to you. Thank you in advance!

BOOK REVIEW: The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb

Several years ago, I tutored a teenaged boy who had a curious habit when it came to eating his after school snacks. This young guy, we'll call him Joe, would take the tiniest bites of his snacks and roll the bites around in his mouth with his eyes closed, chewing far more than necessary, and then swallow the bites. When I asked him about this little habit, he told me it was so that he could really enjoy what he was eating and that by closing his eyes, taking tiny bites, and holding the bites in his mouth while chewing and moving them around for longer than necessary, he created a fuller, much more enjoyable experience for himself. He said he was teaching himself to really enjoy and engage with what he consumed, and that in doing so he was also practicing self control and limiting portion sizes too. He was learning to recognize that great joy can be gained through small experiences and was saving himself many calories (he'd spent several years overweight and out of shape) and quite a lot of money (thanks to not over consuming).

What my student was doing falls under the title of frugal hedonism and today's book review is all about the concept.

Title: The Art of Frugal Hedonism -- a guide to spending less while enjoying everything more

Author: Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb

Publisher: Melliodora

Year published: 2016

ISBN: 9780994392817

Genre: non-fiction, lifestyle, frugalism, hedonism

Pairs well with freshly baked cookies, 

your favorite coffee or tea,

and your favorite reading chair.

I first read The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb when it was first published in 2016, and I greatly enjoyed revisiting this little treasure trove of tips, hints, and ideas for how to live better while spending less.

I haven't always been a frugalist or hedonist, but when I discovered that the two ideologies could co-exist, I was converted to both!

A frugal hedonist is a person who understands and takes pleasure in enjoying life to the fullest while also being fiscally conservative. Frugal hedonists aren't necessarily scouring the Goodwill for their next pair of jeans or dumpster diving for tonight's dinner, but they might if they see something that's high quality and worth the energy and effort. A frugal hedonist could just as likely be shopping at Goodwill or pulling a nightstand out of a dumpster as spending over $100 on a pair of shoes that they know are high quality and that have a lifetime guarantee and thus will last years rather than the short life span of a cheap pair of sneakers from the discount store. They understand that they have skills and knowledge that might be useful to their neighbor and vice versa and are happy to trade and barter. They understand that an experience is more valuable than an object. They understand that making small shifts here and there can bring significant improvements in their quality of life without making huge financial outlays.

And, Raser-Rowland and Grubb explore all of this and more in their book.

The Art of Frugal Hedonism is an easy read, thanks in large part to how it is organized with brief chapters ranging from one to five page and written in such a way that you could read the book straight through like any other book, or you could dip in here and there for a tip or pick me up or inspiration as you see fit. The writers both have great senses of humor as well, lending the book a friendly and upbeat tone that also adds to the immense readability. They don't use any fancy terminology and don't get bogged down in statistics and calculations to try to prove their points which I've seen in other books on the same topic. Instead, Raser-Rowland and Grubb keep things simple and easy to understand for the regular reader. 

As I noted, this was my second time reading The Art of Frugal Hedonism, but it probably won't be my last. Both times I've read it, I gleaned great tips and ideas and inspiration for my frugal hedonist journey. The first time I read the book, I was much more focused on the frugal aspects of my life journey. This time, I was much more focused on increasing the hedonistic aspects of life while staying committed to my frugalism. 

Raser-Rowland and Grubb make it clear that you don't have to give up all of your daily pleasures in order to pinch your pennies until they turn into diamonds, in fact, I think they'd be horrified if anyone came away with the impression that their book was simply about wealth building through extreme frugality! No, they greatly encourage significantly increasing your life enjoyment, but without sacrificing your financial stability -- in fact, you can significantly increase your joy in life while also increasing your financial stability. Doing so may require changing some habits and may be even more challenging amid things like the pandemic going on worldwide as I write this, but it can be done.

I urge you to start by baking some cookies or a nice quick bread as you sit down to read The Art of Frugal Hedonism. As you put together your cookies or bread, take pleasure in the act of measuring and mixing and shaping. Smell your ingredients and think about how lovely your home will smell once they are combined and baking in the oven. In the US, we are moving swiftly through fall so I also think about how cozy and warm my home will be during and after baking. I like to put on some soft music as I work in the kitchen, and I clean and put things away as I go -- done with the vanilla? Put the jar back in the cupboard and move on to my next ingredient, smelling or tasting things as I go or noting the various colors and textures. As the oven warms, I take a moment to be thankful for my apartment which I love so much. Once all the utensils and bowls are in the sink and my cookies are in the oven, I set the timer and grab my book for 15 minutes of reading joy while sitting in my favorite chair and sipping some lovely warm tea while I read. As I move further into the book, I close my eyes as the first hint of baking cookies starts to fill the air and I inhale deeply, thinking about how delicious the cookies will taste when they are done. And, with my first cookie, I eat it in tiny little bites, feeling and tasting and savoring each one.

That, my friends, is the peak of frugal hedonism for me! 

If your looking to up your life enjoyment while being more mindful of your financial situation, I urge you to consider reading The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb. This is one that I plan to read again and again, so although I read a library copy, I plan to buy a copy for myself.

You can get it from independent book sellers via Bookshop HERE.

Or, buy a copy from Amazon HERE.

Links in this post may be affiliate links in nature.

Purchases through these links may result in small commissions

for me at no added cost to you. Thank you in advance!

BOOK REVIEW: That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam

I have rarely read a book that more completely and accurately captures the sometimes monotonous feelings of motherhood while also capturing the fierce protectiveness of motherhood, the tension between one's responsibility to their family versus to their career, and so on. That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam captured it all for me. Additionally, the book is set in the 1980s and 90s -- basically my childhood through my early 20s.

I loved That Kind of Mother, but I'm glad I didn't read it when my son was young and I was in the thick of new motherhood -- I think it might have been too real, too accurate. Alam doesn't portray motherhood as overly negative or messy or anything bad, but he does present us with a mother who, while loving her children fiercely, is also a bit stuck. She fixates on Princess Diana and returns to thoughts of Diana throughout the novel when she feels unable to move on in life or when life is just dragging on and on without anything really interesting happening to her. She channels Diana when she feels the need to be strong or elegant, but relates to Diana when she feels trapped in her own life. Yet, our protagonist, Rebecca, also manages to eventually reach for and achieve her goals in life.

Rebecca is not the most likable of characters. At times she is selfish, ignorant, sheltered. She has no idea what life is like for many of those who are on the periphery of her own life. But, she also allows herself to be confronted with her own flaws and she attempts to learn from such confrontations -- not always fully successfully and not always without stepping into a bigger mess first.

I actually found that I liked Rebecca more because of her un-likableness -- she felt more real and well rounded because of her flaws.

Rebecca struggles to breastfeed after her son's birth, but is met in the hospital by Priscilla, a lactation consultant who gently helps -- if I'd had a Priscilla in my life, I'm sure my own breastfeeding experience would have been much different (it was awful). After returning home post-delivery, Rebecca still finds herself struggling and returns to the hospital in order to seek out Priscilla and help. 

Rebecca feels both overwhelming love and protectiveness for her son, as well as irritation and frustration. But, as parents, don't we all feel both at times? Priscilla helps Rebecca navigate through her complex feelings while also encouraging and supporting Rebecca in her career pursuits as a writer after Rebecca hires Priscilla as a nanny. Ultimately, they form a very tight relationship, but not necessarily with the support of Rebecca's husband. 

All seems to be going well when Priscilla becomes pregnant herself and unexpectedly passes away. Rebecca, by now familiar with Priscilla's adult daughter, ends up taking in Priscilla's newborn son. 

But, I didn't mention...

Rebecca, her husband, and their child are white. Priscilla and her son are Black.

Rebecca loves this little boy and new addition to her family just as much as the son she gave birth to. She dotes on them both and supports both, but as the two boys grow and get older, society begins to treat them differently. Society treats her differently -- the white mother of a Black boy? 

Ultimately, this is a novel about motherhood with an undercurrent of a story about race. I suppose a non-mother or non-parent might see it as the opposite -- a story about race with an undercurrent of a story about motherhood. That would not be wrong. It is also a story about adoption and what it means to be a family. And, it is a story about being a woman, separate from the role of mother. 

We all bring ourselves to what we read, and I read this as a story of motherhood and womanhood first. I also read it as a story of adoption. I am a mother. I am adopted. 

Race is brought up several times throughout the novel -- when Rebecca meets other mothers or has a parent-teacher conference, when her adopted son's biological family has concerns about "the talk" about being Black in America, and so on. These issues are dealt with carefully and sensitively, as are the issues around adoption.

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam is a great novel with chapters short enough that a busy parent could easily read a chapter, put it down to attend to a child or dinner or whatever else, then come back to it later in the day without getting lost. The writing is clear and focused and you are carried along in Rebecca's story of motherhood and autonomy as a woman as she grows as in both roles over the years, ultimately stepping fully into herself in both roles. 

You can buy That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam on Amazon HERE or on Bookshop HERE.

BOOK REVIEW: The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

Title: The Year of Pleasures

Author: Elizabeth Berg

Publisher: Ballantine 

Year published: 2005

ISBN: 9780812970999

Genre: fiction; chick lit; USA fiction

Pairs well with your favorite flannel pajamas,

a slice of berry or peach pie,

and a glass of Merlot.

As I've noted previously, when I'm in a reading slump, I often turn to a well loved novel that I've read several times over. This past week, that was The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg. 

As a woman who has completely started over more than once in my adult life, I identify closely with the main character, Betta Nolan: after the tragic loss of her husband to cancer, Betta sinks into an understandable period of depression, confusion, worry, loss, and so on. Ultimately, she decides to follow through on a dream she and her husband had involving moving to the middle of the country and starting over in a small town. 

But, of course, nothing is ever as easy as just picking up and moving. Betta does make the move, but it is filled with a sense of directionlessness and a pull towards something that is ill defined yet also tinged with feelings of fate. 

Throughout the story, we learn more and more about the woman Betta was, who she wanted to be, and who she becomes (which is really who she was all along). We meet an adorable cast of characters along the way, ranging from sweet college kids that feel almost like lost puppies looking for their mother to a single mom and her sweet son to a cranky old woman who is dealing with losses of her own, not to mention three old friends from Betta's life before marriage. 

I love this novel for its familiarity, not just because I've read it so many times (at least ten!), but also because I see myself in Betta and her joy in little pleasures that she often denies herself even though her husband encouraged her to indulge. I see myself in her love of fine things, comfortable things, joyful things, heartwarming things. I see myself in her love of quirky things and her joy in creating stories both professionally and as a hobby. I see myself in her use of baking and cooking as a love language. 

Betta starts out lost and very much alone, but throughout the novel, she rebuilds her sense of self, learns to enjoy life again despite a huge loss, and she creates a new home and a new sense of family and community. 

I hope you'll give The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg a chance and that you'll fall in love with the story and the characters just as I did. 

And, I hope you'll come away with the knowledge and belief that it's ok to use the good soap that you set aside for company, the plush towels you keep for guests, the chocolate that you only buy on special occasions. Don't wait for guests or special occasions. Use the fancy soap and soft towels. Eat the good chocolate. Buy the little bowl that you love even though you don't know what you'd use it for. Life is too short not to indulge in some pleasures.

Buy it on Amazon HERE or on Bookshop.org HERE.

BOOK REVIEW: Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi

I have enjoyed watching Padma Lakshmi cooking or talking about cooking for several years, but after watching her show "Taste the Nation" on Hulu, I decided to look for her cookbooks at my local library. Naturally, there is a long hold list for the one that my library has -- Tangy, Tart, Hot, and Sweet -- so I settled for her 2016 memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate. 

Although the memoir was not the best I've ever read, I still enjoyed it very much. Within the first twenty pages, I was drawn in with both my wanderlust and tastebuds ablaze! Lakshmi has me wanting to travel, to cook, and to eat new foods.

The memoir follows Lakshmi's life back and forth between the United States and India, as well as to London, Paris, and Miland. She describes in beautiful detail her extended family and the importance of food in her life from a very young age and uses food to explore her relationships with her family members, friends, and lovers. 

I had no idea Lakshmi had been a model, nor that she'd been a television host in Italy, and until watching "Taste the Nation", I'd never really noticed the large scar on her arm (even though I'm sure I've seen it before!). Lakshmi's background is at once highly familiar and exotic. She had many of the same struggles as a teenager as myself and many others, but she also straddled two cultures. She was raised by a single mom and had to navigate two different stepdads and the resultant challenges in her relationship with her mom and these men. 

Lakshmi also goes into great detail about her difficult marriage to Salman Rushdie and the lingering effects it had on her psyche and her post-divorce relationships, and she is quite frank and open about her struggles with endometriosis and fertility. I took comfort in several aspects of her story, as memoir readers often do, and saw myself reflected in many of her experiences. 

I do wish that the book had a been a bit more tightly edited and that there were more recipes sprinkled throughout. While I don't mind a metaphor here and there, they are quite heavily used in the first half of the memoir -- occasionally so frequently that I almost put the book down. And, I'm a sucker for a memoir that includes recipes, but again, there were several in the first half of the book and then far fewer in the second half. I would have loved a recipe with every chapter or every other chapter, especially since so much of the book revolves around food, spices, and the pleasure of eating. 

Overall, if you enjoy memoirs, food, and travel, I do think Love, Loss, and What We Ate is well worth your time, just be prepared for the metaphors and uneven spacing of recipes. I enjoyed it enough that I likely will re-read it at some point in the future. 

You can find Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi on Amazon HERE or Bookshop.org HERE.

Have you read Lakshmi's memoir or used her cookbooks? If so, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of them.

BOOK REVIEW: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

I was BLOWN AWAY by Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi! I was drawn in right away by Gyasi's descriptive and detailed writing style which reminded me a bit of the writher Paul Theroux's style. 

I wish I could say that I read Homegoing straight through and without big breaks, but a friend and I picked it up and decided to read it together back in mid-April when Covid-19 shutdowns were still somewhat new in the United States and we were all still figuring out how concerned we should be. I figured, "Hey, I'll likely have plenty of time to read!" 

And, I did...

But, as I really started to get into the book, I found myself having to slow down and step away a few times because some of the descriptions are so vivid and difficult to read that I had to take a few breaks. And, as I stepped away from the book a few times, the pandemic really ramped up in the United States, followed quickly by the murder of George Floyd and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests -- including protests in my city of Portland, Oregon.

My friend and I could not have predicted the protests, nor the huge surge in interest in reading and learning about racism and bigotry, shopping Black-owned businesses, and so on, so it was coincidental that the book we'd chosen to read was written by a Black woman. And, her novel is rooted deep in the history of slavery. 

Homegoing follows two lines of a family through a pair of half-sisters in 18th century Ghana. The sisters are separated with one being captured and sold into slavery, eventually resulting in a family line in the United States and the other marrying an Englishman who happens to be part of the slave trade but with her line staying in Ghana. 

Gyasi weaves two familial lines together by alternating between them every other chapter. Each chapter follows the life of one generation of the family from the 18th century to near-modern day with the final chapter wrapping up the entire story in a way that I won't spoil for you here other than to tell you this: the end is PERFECT. I don't know that I've read many (if any) books where the ending is so perfectly crafted and makes so much sense. That alone makes Homegoing worth reading.

The novel includes views of the slave trade from the point of view of Ghanian villagers, British slave traders, and those captured and forced into slavery, and shows quite forcefully just how strongly the past clings to the present. Gyasi deftly weaves the lingering echoes of slavery and all of the institutionalized racism that came with it and still exists today into every chapter. Her characters feel complete and real. Those of the last few decades feel like people I might see walking down the city street -- I could picture them and hear them so clearly. 

Even though the two family lines diverge for many, many generations and across two continents, the way Gyasi wrote her story shows the deep connections between the two. What's also interesting about her novel is that you could read it straight through, as my friend and I did, or you could read one story line first and then the other. In fact, I plan to re-read it following one story line and then the other soon. 

I HIGHLY recommend Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi! Some descriptions and events in the book are definitely hard to read (the conditions of the dungeon in which slaves are kept, whippings, and so on), but every word of this book has importance and bearing on the entire novel. 

Have you read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi? What did you think of it? Drop a comment and let me know!

You can buy the novel HERE on Amazon or HERE on Bookshop.org.

My favorite Frida Kahlo books

Each week I participate in a baking challenge celebrating women in history, and this past week's theme was the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. I have long been a Frida fan, discovering her in high school at a time when I felt very much out of place in my family and my school. I was artistic (but not yet confident enough to call myself an artist), dressed semi-eccentrically, and had political ideas that were quite different from those of much of my family. As many teenagers tend to do, I looked outside of my family for others I might identify with. I'm not Mexican, didn't consider myself an artist at the time, and so on, but I still saw something of myself in Kahlo.

Years ago, I had a sizeable collection of books about Frida, but due to money woes in my 20s, I sold all of them -- this, my dear readers, is one of my biggest regrets when it comes to books! I wish I'd held onto them!

Fast forward to the past four or five years, and I've started to rebuild my Frida Kahlo library and thought I'd share my books with you (I'll share the dishes from my Frida Kahlo themed cooking in a future post). 

I have four Frida Kahlo books, of which two were bought at the Victoria and Albert Museum (or V&A) in London, England, one was bought in the United States, and one was bought at the beautiful El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Buenos Aires, Argentina (more on El Ateneo Grand Splendid in a future post). However, all four are available to purchase in the United States. I love these particular books because they are colorful and full of vivid images and don't shy away from some of the realities of her life. 

The first two books are children's books written in English. Despite being for kids, these are both easily enjoyable by adults too. 

Library of Luminaries: Frida Kahlo -- an illustrated biography by Zena Alkayat with illustrations by Nina Cosford

While the illustartions in this book are not Frida's own art, they are highly engaging and help to tell the story of Frida's life. The text and artwork are both equal parts whimiscal and serious. I love looking at the pictures and seeing little details that I've missed previously. It feels like every time I open this little book, I see something new. I also like that the text looks like handwriting instead of a normal book font. 

Buy it on Bookshop HERE.

Buy it on Amazon HERE.

V&A Introduces: Frida Kahlo published by and For the V&A Museum, London, England

I had the great fortune to visit the V&A Museum in London when they had a Frida Kahlo exhibit in 2018 and it was one of the best museum exhibits I've ever attended! While photos weren't allowed inside the exhibit, you can learn more about it and HERE.

This little book is a highly colorful, richly illustrated children's book that, like the one above, does not shy away from the details of Frida's life and perhaps goes a bit further into them than the first book, though without being gruesome or too "adult" in theme. It is superbly illustrated and gives bite sized details and information rather than being a regular text that goes straight from start to finish.

Not currently available via Bookshop.

Buy it on Amazon HERE.

Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up published by and For the V&A Museum, London, England

This is the book that was developed for adult visitors as an accompaniment to the V&A Frida Kahlo exhibit I attended in London in 2018. And, wow, is it packed with information, photos, artwork, patterns, color, and so much! It's easy to dip into the book here and there or simply read it cover to cover. The book covers much of Frida's life, as well as how she presented herself to the world and to herself and those in her life.

You may notice that the title is a little bit of a play on words: "Her Self" versus "herself". Much of the exhibit was focused on a tension between Frida presenting herself as fiercely and proudly Mexicana while also contending with her incredibly damaged body which caused her pain for her entire life, contrasting both with her life as an artist, a wife, a daughter, a revolutionary, and more. There was also a strong focus on her clothing and artifacts from Kahlo's life, including beauty objects and tools, notebooks and journals, art supplies, family photos, professional portraits, her own artwork, her husband's artwork (Diego Rivera), and more. The exhibit included clever use of mirrors to create illusions and different ways of viewing many of these objects. And, many of the display cases were designed to look like beds since large portions of Frida's life were spent confied to her bed. Many of the objects and works of art had not been displayed until a couple of years prior to this exhibit, so it was interesting to see parts of her life that had been closed away from half of a century. You can explore some of the exhibit HERE.

Buy it on Bookshop HERE.

Buy it on Amazon HERE.

Now....best for last!

Frida by Sebastian Perez and Benjamin Lacombe

While I truly love the above three books, I wanted to save the fourth for last. This book is truly one of my treasures! I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina around the time of its publication and first saw it at the gorgeous El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore, but I didn't buy it. I thought I would just pick it up when I returned home. Well, when I got home, I looked the book up on Amazon and the only copies available were over $100 each! I was shocked! My uncle was still in Argentina and graciously went back and bought the book for me. I treasure the book to this day because it's so incredibly beautiful and becuase my uncle was willing to go back and buy it for me. He died from a brain tumor just six months later and I miss him every day.

Anyhow, back to this amazing book! 

This book is a MASTERPIECE! While it does not contain Frida's actual art, the illustrator captured the essence of Frida and her art on every page. But, what's even more incredible is that every three to four pages are layered in such a way that pieces of the top two to three pages are cut away, revealing portions of the pages beneath. This book is so visually interesting that I don't even care that I'm not fluent enough (yet) to read the book (it's written in Spanish)! This book is a true piece of art in and of itself! Everyone that's come to my home and looked through it has been blown away! Like the other two children's books I've mentioned, this one also does not shy away from some of the harsher realities of Frida's life, but the artwork also includes many references to some of her more disturbing paintings (and those that are less difficult to view). Please keep that in mind if buying this for a child.

I'm happy to say it is now available in the USA for a much better price (ranging from $25 to $50 on most websites). 

Buy it on Bookshop HERE.

Buy it on Amazon HERE.

I look forward to sharing my Frida Kahlo cooking and baking with you in a future post, as well as photos from my visit to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, and more.

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