Goat Song - small world

Today I had the opportunity to see a terrific photographer/activist, Dona McAdams speak at the Opalka Gallery at Sage College of Albany. You may wonder - how does this story relate to Books - the subject of this blog? Several weeks ago I was in the Troy library and I was attracted to a book with a nice black and white photo of a goat on the cover. The photo was taken by Dona McAdams - the wife of the author. The book was written by Brad Kessler and is called Goat Song. I highly recommend the book if you are a former goat owner (like myself), a foodie, or a fan of the country life in Vermont. Anyways, today was a real treat - Art + Words!

30 more pages

I read about 30 pages of The Reserve - it is more about someone's dramatic personal life and less about art than I had hoped. Not really my cup of tea - but it is entertaining enough to keep reading. 

List of Books Read in 2009

I will be updating this list:
The Fellowship of Ghosts - Paul Watkins

Mountain Beyond Mountains - Tracy Kidder

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith 

Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson (saw him speak at Emma Willard)

Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton

The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri (watched the film, not as good as the book)

Pigeons- Andrew Blechman

Wesley the Owl- Stacey O'Brien

Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese - Brad Kessler

Unless - Carol Shields

Russell Banks - The Reserve

A few days ago I started reading the book by Russell Banks  called The Reserve. It is loosely based on the life of the artist Rockwell Kent and based in the Adirondacks in upstate NY. If you haven't checked out Kent's artwork yet - it is pretty amazing. I was first introduced to his art when I bought a image that had been cut out of one of the books he illustrated. I immediately came home and hung the art up on the wall and did an internet search on Rockwell Kent. Then, lucky for me, the NY State Museum had an exhibition of his work last year.
The author Russell Banks is from NY. This is the first book of Banks I have read. I picked this book up at the local library after the suggestion from a colleague. So far, I am 60 pages into the book and it is easily keeping my interest.