Category: Book Review
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Human Artist vs. Machine Artist
How to Define “Art” in the 21st Century What defines art? How will we define it in this new phase of humanity? Is art created using artificial intelligence considered “art”? Can a photograph generated using AI be compared to a photograph taken by a human? What is the distinction? I am trying to sort out… Read more
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The Blessing and Curse of Influence
The Relationship Between Influence and Originality In his book Drawing For Illustration, author Martin Salisbury talks about the number of artistic influences that modern day illustrators have access to. They are exposed to so much creativity from around the world at the click of a button. This access to information is incredible. Before the internet,… Read more
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A New Way of Looking at the World
Viewing the World With Intention I read Drawing for Illustration by Martin Salisbury fully knowing that I will never become a professional illustrator. I just wanted to know more about it. I really enjoyed the way so many of the artists featured in the book talked about drawing. I could feel their love for their… Read more
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When Curiosity Chooses the Book: Reading Drawing For Illustration
Reading For Curiosity, Not Goals I really enjoyed taking the time to read Drawing For Illustration by Martin Salisbury. I would not say it is a form of artistry that I had previously put much thought into. This book gave me a new appreciation for it. I have started to notice all the illustrations around… Read more
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Book #12- Reflections on “Drawing For Illustration”
Book #12 Drawing For Illustration By Martin Salisbury I have been choosing a lot of art books for my 2025 Reading Challenge, which is to read 52 books in 2025. Although I do occasionally create art, it is more of a hobby. I think one of the reasons that I am hesitant to call myself… Read more
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Thinking Like a Critic vs. Thinking Like an Artist
Critical vs. Creative Thinking One of my issues that I have with the modern school system is that it teaches students to largely think like a critic. We are taught to dissect things, find the problem and the solution. Creativity doesn’t work like that. Often the questions are open-ended and the answers are subconscious. It… Read more
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An Artistic Exercise
Art That Makes Me Uncomfortable In his book How To Be An Artist, Jerry Saltz suggests to list three artists whose work makes you feel uncomfortable and then list three reasons why you are uncomfortable. Fine, I’ll bite. I’ll do the exercise. I will write about one of those examples in this blog post. The… Read more
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When Does Standardization Benefit Originality?
Finding Creative Opportunity In How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz, he says in order to be creative, don’t just simply mash two distinct art styles together but instead focus on the space in-between these styles. I think this is great advice, not just for art. The modern world is expanding rapidly- socially, technologically,… Read more
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Getting Lost
Originality is Often Romanticized In my latest blog post about the book How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz, I talked about straying from the well-worn path. I alluded to some of the pros and cons of doing so. However, I also admit that this is something I am still struggling with. I think… Read more
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Book #11- Reflections on “How To Be An Artist”
Book #11 How To Be An Artist By Jerry Saltz Do You Want a Formulaic or Creative Life? In this book, Saltz is talking about artist Sol LeWitt when he says, “Rigid adherence to formula can trap you in a cul-de-sac….” This resonates quite literally with me. My bachelor’s degree is in mathematics. It is… Read more
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Motherhood Highlight Reel
Motherhood & Social Media In Highlight Real by Emily Lynn Paulson, she talks about the way mothers compare themselves to others. It seems like an unlikely place to find competition. Who can bake the best bread? Change the most diapers? Have the best relationship with their kids (or at least look like they do)? But… Read more
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Gritting Your Teeth Over a Blessing
Both Blessing & Burden Can Coexist In Highlight Real by Emily Lynn Paulson, the author describes her fear over her fourth pregnancy. She was angry over the positive pregnancy test because she was already overwhelmed with three young children. She then reflexively had that feeling of “don’t you know how lucky you are” and “children… Read more
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Book #10- Reflections on “Highlight Real”
Book #10 Highlight Real By Emily Lynn Paulson Casual & Serious Lies of the Modern World This author talks openly about only sharing the highlights of her life and the casual (and serious) lies that accompany doing this. Part of the issue with the modern world is that, little by little, people drift farther away… Read more
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The Politics of Gift Giving
Unhappy Christmases I was reading the part of the book Hate Follow by Erin Quinn-Kong, where the fractured family is celebrating Christmas. I have had a lot of those types of Christmases in my life; where instead of eggnog there are eggshells, instead of cheer there is fear, and instead of angels there are devils.… Read more
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Book #9- Reflections on “Hate Follow”
Book #9 Hate Follow By Erin Quinn-Kong Exploring Family Vlogs Through Fiction This is a light-hearted fiction book with serious undertones. It uses fictional characters and scenarios to discuss themes such as parenting, online family influencers, children’s right to privacy, family relationships, and what we owe the people that we love. I enjoy books like… Read more
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How Many Blog Posts Can I Write About a Single Book?
There is No Ethan: A Book With a Lasting Impact For my 2025 goal of reading 52 books and documenting it in blog posts, I typically write one or two posts about each book and move on. For my latest book, There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, I have so far written seven blog… Read more
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Conveniently Timed “Sorry’s”
This blog post will contain spoilers for the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari. Kindly stop reading now if you don’t want to know these details yet. The Manipulation of Power & Powerlessness Several women were catfished by a woman posing as a man on an online dating profile in the early 2010’s… Read more
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When Intelligence Meets Manipulation
This post contains spoilers about the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, kindly stop reading now if you do not want to know any details. When Bad Behaviour Meets Public Trust In the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, a woman poses as a man online and catfishes several women. In… Read more
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The Importance of Healthy Relationships
Learning to Interpret Bad Behavior I have now written several blog posts about the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari. It is a true story of catfishing. Although I have begun to read my next book for my 2025 Book Reading Challenge, my mind keeps coming back to this story. In my own… Read more
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Why is it Always a Health Crisis?
The Use of “Health Crises” in Scams In the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari, the author was communicating with “Ethan Schuman” via a dating site. Ethan had a health crisis around the time when the author began to question the authenticity of his life story. He was offended that she could be… Read more
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Why Do Smart People Get Scammed?
I read the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari and one thing that I noticed is how smart the author’s conversations were with the person who was catfishing her. Their conversations were elevated and funny. They both came off as highly educated, well-travelled, and sociable people. She did not seem like the type… Read more
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Book #8- Reflections on “There Is No Ethan”
Book #8 There Is No Ethan By Anna Akbari In this book, three women team up to find the person who has mutually catfished them. It is a wild ride. It speaks to the chaos, disingenuousness, and danger that the internet can bring. The women met their internet sweetheart on an online dating site. However,… Read more
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Additional Musings on “The Measure”
Would You Want to Know How Long You Will Live? The Measure by Nikki Erlick is a novel where one day, every adult receives a box containing a length of string that corresponds to the length of their life. The characters initially do not understand the meaning of these mysterious strings but once they do,… Read more
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Book #7- Reflections on “The Measure”
Book #7 The Measure By Nikki Erlick How Will You Be Remembered? I was sick recently and spent a few days in bed. I think small illnesses are great for my Reading Challenge because while there, I finished this book in 2 days. I will surely get to 52 books by the end of the… Read more
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Book #6- Reflections on “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki”
Book #6 I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki By Baek Sehee The Fog of Depression At the beginning of this book, Sehee describes her depression as a “vague state of being not fine and not devastated at the same time”. It reminded me of my own words in my blog post… Read more
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Book #5- Reflections on “You Will Not Have My Hate”
Book #5 You Will Not Have My Hate By Antoine Leiris Terror & Tenderness My experience with this book can be summarized in one sentence: there were tears running down my face. It is a short book but incredibly powerful. It is written by a French man whose wife- the mother of his young child,… Read more
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I’m Not Ready To Forgive
Forcing Forgiveness Just Causes More Problems While reading Judgment Detox by Gabrielle Bernstein, I noticed a pit in my stomach anytime she talked about forgiveness. Overall, I have an upbeat disposition but forgiveness feels like a thorn in my side. I am not ready to do that yet. Also, I think so often people feel… Read more
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Book #4- Reflections on “Judgement Detox”
Book #4 Judgment Detox By Gabrielle Bernstein Ugh, Forgiveness This book snuck up on me in surprising ways. It is an unassuming book on spirituality. It is not one of Gabrielle Bernstein’s most well-known books so I guess I went into it without any sort of expectation. I found reading this book to be a… Read more
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Book #3- Reflections on “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying”
Book #3 The Top Five Regrets of the Dying By Bronnie Ware Unfortunately Relatable Content When I was reading this book, I was immersed in the stories within it feeling sympathy for the people within its pages, but not empathy. Sympathy comes when you care about another person’s situation. Empathy is when you understand and… Read more
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What’s in a Name?
The Complication of Sharing a Name With Your Abuser My latest post was a review about The House of My Mother by Shari Franke and something about it got me thinking. As I was writing it, at one point I was typing the author’s name: Shari… then I went back and deleted that to write… Read more