Blogs to Books

There are a lot of books out and about the world of blogging. This I find a bit ironic since the very definition of blogging implies that it is on the web and not in paper forms. Over the holidays I found myself reading not one but two books published from a blog.

Humans of New York (M) by Brandon Stanton is a book that I had heard about but never realized it was based on a blog until I got my hands on it. They say that a picture says a thousand words, but the words attached to the photos are the things that “spoke” to me. An example of this is the photo of a man carrying flowers with the caption: “Sometimes, when I’m going home to see her, I think: “nobody should be this happy on a Tuesday.” The book has blown my mind away and I must admit I immediately signed up to receive the computer updates. The website, HumansofNewYork.com (known as HONY to its fans), has more than 2 million followers online and well deserves the praise it receives. Stanton is a 29 year old Georgia native who admits he is not a journalist and has never learned the technically correct way to use cameras. Stanton started taking photographs the summer of 2010 in an attempt to create a photographic census of NYC. And the city of a million stories just got another venue to tell its tales.

The other blog that came to my attention I was listening to on audio-book form over the holidays was Jenny Lawson’s Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (M). It was the perfect thing to listen to when I was stressed out wrapping gifts or cooking. I am going to quote what she said on her own blog about the book:

“I wrote a book and it only took me 11 years (shut up, Stephen King) You should probably go buy it right now, because it’s filled with awesomeness. And cocaine. But only if you hollow it out and fill it with your own cocaine. I’m not buying you cocaine. Because I love you. And that’s why you should buy my book.” I will warn you of two things, you will laugh out loud at her absurd life and that there is a lot swearing in this book. Lawson was born and raised in Wall, Texas, and the redneck comes through in her writing. Her father can only be called unbalanced person who is a professional taxidermist who created dead animal hand puppets. This upraising affected Lawson, and it show in her writing. An example of this is that she actually forgot that she had mailed herself a cobra! For more unexpected surprises read her book.

There is a whole other world out there in the blogosphere but some you can find on the shelves of you local library. Enjoy!

Clearly I didn’t think this through: the story of one tall girl’s impulsive, ill-conceived and borderline irresponsible life decisions (M) by Anna Goldfarb.

Written by blogger, Leanne Shirtliffe, Don’t Lick the Minivan and Other Things I Never Thought I’d say to My Kids (M) was not written first as a blog but since she is a blogger……

Picturing the Unexpected

Explore some recent photography books in the library's collection that capture our world in unexpected and amazing ways.

Things Come Apart: a teardown manual for modern living (M) by Todd McLellan

"This extraordinary book makes visible the inner complexity of some of the world's most iconic products. Photographer Todd McLellan disassembles mechanical relics such as the typewriter and modern gadgets such as the iPad, before laying them out and photographing them in meticulously detailed arrangements, or capturing them in an exploded form, the individual pieces frozen in mid-air. Essays by people who work within the world of disassembly and restoration accompany each chapter." publisher

Maddie on Things: a super serious project about dogs and physics (M) by Theron Humphrey

"Maddie is a sweet-tempered coonhound who accompanied her owner, Theron, on a yearlong, cross-country trip while he worked on a photojournalism project. In his spare time, Theron took photos of Maddie doing what she does best: standing on things. From bicycles to giant watermelons to horses to people, there really isn't anything that Maddie won't stand on with grace and patience. The poignant Instagram photos of this beautiful dog and her offbeat poses have captured the imagination of all those who long for a road trip with a good dog for company. Maddie on Things celebrates the strange talent of one special dog and will resonate with any dog lover who appreciates the quirky hearts (and extraordinary balance) of canines." publisher

Dancers Among Us: a celebration of Joy in the everyday (M)
by Jordan Matter

"The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure, joyful optimism of it all. Dancers Among Us presents one thrilling photograph after another of dancers leaping, spinning, lifting, kicking—but in the midst of daily life: on the beach, at a construction site, in a library, a restaurant, a park. With each image the reader feels buoyed up, eager to see the next bit of magic. Photographer Jordan Matter started his Dancers Among Us Project by asking a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company to dance for him in a place where dance is unexpected. So, dressed in a commuter’s suit and tie, the dancer flew across a Times Square subway platform. And in that image Matter found what he’d been searching for: a way to express the feeling of being fully alive in the moment, unself-conscious, present." publisher

More than Human (M)
by Tim Flach

"Award-winning photographer Tim Flach has spent years inquiring into the essential bond we have with animals. Now he presents the culmination of a career-long endeavor, an extraordinary body of work in which each image is more striking and powerful than the last. Just as did Flach’s highly acclaimed previous books, Equus and Dogs, More than Human will amaze and inspire, in a constant affirmation of the animal, whether it be rare or common, powerful or defenseless, odd or majestic. The book showcases a menagerie of creatures—pandas, tigers, bats, lions, orangutans, cobras, bullfrogs, chimpanzees, wolves, porcupines, elephants, owls, armadillos, among many others—as they have never been seen before. Shedding light on Flach’s images will be an accessible collection of texts, written and edited by author Lewis Blackwell." publisher

Marilyn Monroe Revisited - 3 new bios

Marilyn Monroe : the final years (M)
by Keith Badman

"Fifty years ago, Marilyn Monroe passed away at the age of thirty-six under circumstances that have remained mysterious to this day. Marilyn Monroe: The Final Years separates the myths and rumors from the facts as Keith Badman takes readers through the concluding months of 1960 up to that fateful day in August 1962.

In this extraordinary book—the product of five years of exhaustive research—the author takes on the role of detective to uncover long-lost or previously unseen personal records, exclusive interviews, and eyewitness accounts that illuminate the final chapter of Marilyn’s life as she navigates weight gain, drug use, and personal turmoil, along with drama on the set of the ill-fated movie "Something’s Got to Give"". - Publisher


Marilyn & Me : a photographer's memories (M)
by Lawrence Schiller

"An intimate memoir recalling a young photographer's relationship with Marilyn Monroe just months before her death, with extraordinary photographs, some of which have never been published." - Publisher

"With the precision of a surgeon, Schiller slices through the façade  of Marilyn Monroe in his unflinching memoir. Revealing and  readable, it’s a book I couldn’t put down." —Tina Brown


Marilyn : the passion and the paradox (M)
by Lois Banner

"Like her art, Marilyn Monroe was rooted in paradox: She was a powerful star and a childlike waif; a joyful, irreverent party girl with a deeply spiritual side; a superb friend and a narcissist; a dumb blonde and an intellectual. No previous biographer has recognized -- much less attempted to analyze -- most of these aspects of her personality. Lois Banner has.

Since Marilyn's death in August of 1962, the appetite for information about her has been insatiable. Biographies of Marilyn abound, and whether these books are sensational or flawed, Marilyn's fans have always come out in bestselling numbers. This time, with Lois Banner's Revelations, the fans won't be disappointed. This is no retread of recycled material. As one of the founders of the field of women's history, Banner will reveal Marilyn Monroe in the way that only a top-notch historian and biographer could." - Publisher

Life in Photographs by Linda McCartney

Thirteen years after her early death, Linda McCartney's family has paid tribute to her art and her life with Life in Photographs. This beautiful oversized volume was selected from her archive of more than 200 000 photographs. Linda Eastman had made a name for herself in the music scene in the 1960s before she became even more well-known as a Beatle wife. Her first break was to be selected to photograph the Rolling Stones and was the first woman to have a portrait (Eric Clapton) on the cover of Rolling Stone. Her marriage shifted her focus from being a working photographer to capturing moments in the lives of friends and family. This collection goes far to lift the shadow of Beatle/McCartney fame and showcases her creativity and passion.

McCartney's photographs are striking in their simplicity. Subjects aren't posed and there is no sense of a complicated production team. McCartney had a way of sensing a moment and unobtrusively capturing it. The photographs of her children are particularly touching. The children, who must have been continually photographed throughout their lives, did not appear to notice the camera. McCartney excelled at capturing a glint in the eye and a sense of playfulness. This collection includes photographs which have been seen before - Paul with baby Mary zipped up in a sheepskin jacket, Jimi Hendrix (I thought the one with Jimi Hendrix yawning was charming), Rolling Stones, Beatles. Portraits of family life, including Paul at play with the children, a chocolate covered Stella, their home in Sussex and the horses, add a personal and intimate element.

In an introduction to this collection, photographer Annie Leibowitz wrote,
"Linda found her stride in her photographs of her family. My favourite photograph in this book is the one of the dining table at the farm in Scotland. Paul is there, at the edge of the picture, photographed from the back, but the subject is the minutiae of family life. A half-open bottle of wine and a baby bottle with juice. Letters, notes, crayons, dirty dishes. It's wonderful to have photographs like that. Photographs of what she saw and lived."

Leibowitz in a Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 explored her own blending of professional and private photography. "“I don’t have two lives,” Annie Leibovitz writes in the Introduction to this collection of her work from 1990 to 2005. “This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.” Portraits of well-known figures–Johnny Cash, Nicole Kidman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Keith Richards, Michael Jordan, Joan Didion, R2-D2, Patti Smith, Nelson Mandela, Jack Nicholson, and William Burroughs–appear alongside pictures of Leibovitz’s family and friends, reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early Nineties, and landscapes. The pictures form a narrative of a life rich in contrasts and continuities. The photographer has a long relationship that ends with illness and death. She chronicles the celebrations and heartbreaks of her large and robust family. She has children of her own. All the while, she is working, and the public work resonates with the themes of the life." publisher