OPRAH’S 10 Terrific Reads of 2009: Her book choices for the well-renowned Oprah’s Book Club is like a golden stamp of approval from a true lover of literature. Every book she chooses becomes a hit!

Oprah’s 10 Terrific Reads of 2009

NEW YORK TIMES‘ 100 Notable Books of 2009: The golden throne of literary success. Even a nod in their Book Review section is the true mark of exceptional literature that is sure to entertain, educate and enlighten! Choose a book from this list and you really can’t go wrong!

NYT 100 Notable Books 2009: Fiction/Poetry, part 1
NYT 100 Notable Books 2009: Fiction/Poetry, part 2
NYT 100 Notable Books 2009: Nonfiction, part 1
NYT 100 Notable Books 2009: Nonfiction, part 2

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for more gift guide ideas!
Next up, Children and Teen Book Guide 2009.
Next Week: Etsy Gift Finds.
Subscribe to my email (in the sidebar) to be alerted when these guides are posted!

I’d love to bring attention to the fact that NYC independent bookstores are finally being due acknowledged.  The first ever NYC Indie Bookstores Week is fast approaching.  Spread the word and support these stores that are under the stronghold of the international chains!  Taking place from November 15- 21, 2009, Independent Booksellers of New York City encourages you to step into your local indie store and promote them.

About ibNYC.org:
The IBNYC is an alliance of independent booksellers working together to promote the cultural, literary and economic benefits of shopping at New York City’s diverse collection of bookstores. We are united in our goal to keep indie bookstores thriving and raise awareness of the vital contributions that these local businesses make to the city’s rich tradition as a center of publishing and bookselling.

It’s the perfect time to poke your head into that little bookstore you’ve passed a hundred times, always saying “I have to remember to stop in there sometime.”  With an impressive 3-page events listing of readings, signings and discussions throughout the city, next week leaves you with no more excuses.  What better time to take a peek into that store than during a week that celebrates the thriving culture of independent bookstores despite rising kindle and ebook sales, Amazon purchases through the roof and chains opening on every corner?

Best yet, help jumpstart this celebration with powerhouse Arena’s kick-off party!  On November 11^th, jump on over to DUMBO, Brooklyn to check out author talks (including Kurt Andersen), live music (including Jones Street Station), refreshments (including cookies) and giveaways (including a poster signed by New Yorker cartoonist Bruce McCall) from 7-10pm.  More details here.

As a literary junkie and an art nut, I’ve been dying to check out (and work at?) powerHouse Arena.  An art publisher with a bookstore, gallery et al.  Love this.  If I can’t make it this Wednesday, I’ll absolutely get there soon.  I suggest you do as well.

In the meantime, here’s a Google Map of NYC independent bookstores.

Among my favorites is Housing Works Bookstore Café—a non-profit bookstore with an old-fashioned mahogany library-feeling décor, complete with a bar that sells wine and beer, cozy chairs and fabulous events.  The best part of all: Profits go toward helping homeless men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in NYC by providing them with housing, meals, medical benefits and more.  Especially in the bitter cold of winter, this mission is remarkably important.

The exhibition which runs through January 24, 2010, is the story of American history as told through its painters.  Broken into four time periods representative of the thematic mindsets of the time, the 100+ works range from colonial portraits through Impressionist influence and early 20^th century New York, telling of the artists’ interpretations of their own time.  These 4 chronological segments travel from the coming and going of the Civil War and American hardships as viewed through the eyes of such artists as Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent.

The four sections of the exhibition, in synopsis:

INVENTING AMERICAN STORIES (1765-1830):

A less outwardly-expressive time period, these years produced many portraits and stifled stories of American life. Some noteworthy pieces in the show were John Singleton Copley’s “Paul Revere” (1768), using the boundaries of portraiture to still express a story about the revolt against tea taxes as the silversmith holds his teapot in an otherwise bare surrounding.

STORIES FOR THE PUBLIC (1830-1860):
During wartime, works concentrated strongly on national identity but maintain a cheerful overtone due to the nature in which they were created: in the hopes of being sold to customers.  On the eve of war, broader themes of race still ran strongly (“The Power of Music”) as did works that gleam a light onto the liberation of women who would have to take charge during dismal times (Spencer); however, these themes were shrouded in an ambiguity in order to sell to the masses.  The paintings were meant to appeal to a diverse audience with generalized figures and subject matters.

William Sidney Mount’s “The Power of Music” (1847) demonstrates the division of races as a black man eavesdrops on a group of white fiddlers creating music.  A clear separation of rights is visible, however the eavesdropper shows a slight grin, indicating what the title suggests: the power of music can bring people together.  This “intended” theme lightens the load of the racial issue at bay.

The controversial artist Lilly Martin Spencer, who can be considered the first prominent and successful woman artist in America, depicted strong women and foolish men as the museum displays “Kiss Me and You’ll Kiss the ‘Lasses (1856)(below) and “Young Husband: First Marketing” (1854) next to each other: She with a “come-hither” intrigue and He clumsily dropping groceries on his walk home.  Empowering and condescending at the same time, but all with a feminine and exquisitely-rendered wit.

STORIES OF WAR AND RECONCILIATION (1860-1877):

Meant to tame the sorrow from the war, artists turned to less political contexts.  Bloody battlefields were seldom generated or distributed over the preferred “aspects of every day life” during the war (inc. nostalgia of pre-war times and children playing), forming a contrast with the journalism reporting news of the time.  Even Winslow Homer, who created graphic works for Harper’s Bazaar at the time, chose to revolt from much of this subject matter in his major paintings.  His “Breezing Up” (1873-76) was an energetic piece expressing a generally-optimistic view for the future with symbols of hope like an endless horizon and boat anchor.

Eastman Johnson’s “Negro Life at the South” (1859) shows a community of African Americans in their everyday lives, reading, talking, sewing, etc.  The painting can be viewed in two extremely separate ways based on a person’s view of society at the time.  Abolitionists would view the poor conditions of their living arrangements to be an indication of inequality while slavery supporters see these people enjoying pleasantries and a good life.

Seymour Joseph Guy’s “Making a Train”(1867) shows a girl by herself in her room imagining the future by arranging her clothes to appear like the train of a gown.  The portrayal of this quiet innocence proves the hope that artist’s wished to depict during a time of devastation.  The audio commentary provided by the museum elegantly expresses that the painting conveys “private dreams that were unfettered by fears.”

COSMOPOLITAN AND CANDID STORIES (1877-1915):

Post-wartime expanded travel opportunities that, according to the exhibition’s press release, “redefined national identity in an international context.”  Many artists used this opportunity to develop new artistic techniques to expand the thematic repertoire of their works. Here, Impressionistic influence enters American painting and subjects.  With the Frontier diminishing, cowboys became a symbol of masculinity and industrialization increased.

Urban settings and modern advancements were now explored just as much, if not more than the rural settings of past.  John Sloan portrays working women in a city setting with “Sunday, Women Drying Their Hair” (1912).  International stories were just as likely told as stories of Americans’ lives.  John Singer Sargent makes the viewer feel as though they’ve interrupted the unclear and possibly sinister interaction between the couple in “A Street in Venice.” (1880-82).

FURTHER OBSERVATION:

For me, George Caleb Bingham’s 1845 painting “Fur Traders Descending the Missouri” (1845), though not my favorite of the displayed works, summarized the conceptual nature of the exhibition which encourages you to draw thematic lines throughout the chronologically-arranged sections.  This painting picturing a chained bear cub next to a reclining boy next to a seated man, along with the North-South axis, trade, settlement and race issues (as noted by the accompanying plaque), represented the development of “beast to civilized humanity.”  Whether Bingham intended it, in the context of this exhibition I saw so much more than that on a conceptual level.

The themes of this show were broad, spanning over 150 years worth of history and artwork, and within these years a progression through many themes was clear.  Slavery, the liberation of women, the progression of a nation succeeding from struggle to stability, the concept of hope… Bingham’s painting was more than a visual line across the canvas. The painting summarized within a single work what the exhibition itself allows its observers to visually see from room to room: how a society progressed in 150+ years.

Nevertheless, I highly suggest a perusal of this exhibition.  Thoughtfully laid out with an exploratory nature that allows you to draw your own dots while exploring artistic technique and expression, this display gave me more than I hoped for.  So easy to get lost in, it truly does tell a story in its images.  One of tragedy, progression, triumph, opportunity and hope.

I love, love, love the fact that the French Parliament is considering a “Full Photoshop Disclosure” law for advertisements.  This would require that these entities inform the viewers if any Photoshopping or airbrushing was done on a given picture.  This would be mandatory for magazine ads, product packaging, press photos and art photography as well.

Much like a cigarette ad, these pictures would require a footer: “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.”  Any violators would be fined €37,500 or up to 50% of the cost of their campaign.

The law reminds me of a Standards Authority rule passed in the UK requiring that advertorials (paid advertisements masked as editorials, leading the reader to believe that the product recommendations are the opinion of the editor and not a paid ad.) be clearly marked with the word “Advertisement” as to not deceive readers.  With so many people trying to make themselves as thin as models in magazines without considering that the model may not even look that way in real life, this new proposal is a welcomed change.

If the law passes, it seems that it may be no more than a formality and I’m not sure that people would change their way of thinking for it (Remember that this doesn’t prevent places from altering images—it only requires them to put a small disclaimer on the bottom of it).  Still, an acknowledgement is a great a start.

That said, do we think this type of law can be in the future for the United States?  I think Americans would be hesitant to pass such a law—Perhaps because it would skew their vision (version?) of reality, proving untrue the idealism that we’ve put in the spotlight for so long.  Perhaps it would lose companies money because our society is built on the concept of unattainable beauty.

And what a shame since it could do our sometimes delusional society a favor by taking unrealistic weight goals, celebrity and unethical publishing practices down all at once!