With quarantine and social distancing orders in place to keep our communities safe, we’ve been finding ourselves with some extra time on our hands to read! But once our bookshelves have become too familiar, the question of what to read next arises…to help anyone hungry for a brand new book list, we asked some of our Studio Gallery artists for their very own book recommendations! So, what are our artists reading in quarantine, and how can you have these books delivered to your house for cheap? Easy peasy!

“Where can I find inexpensive books and get free shipping?”

If you haven’t heard of Thriftbooks.com, then you’re missing out! On their website, they state that

“We believe reading empowers people, offering them empathy to live for a moment in someone else’s shoes, offers them education, a critical asset to improving one’s life, and offers an occasional escape to fantastic worlds inhabited by interesting characters. Yes, we save millions of books every year from being destroyed, but our mission goes beyond the environment. We save these books and make them accessible to readers for the chance to shape another mind, share another story, and teach a bit of wisdom.”

Besides supporting their cause 100%, we also love that they offer free shipping with any U.S. domestic order over $10! With their books mostly ranging from $3 to about $20 depending on quality/date published, it’s easy to buy armfuls of your favorite titles for much less money than they would cost elsewhere. You can even read their COVID-19 response statement right here, which outlines exactly how they are taking care of their employees at this frightening time.

“So, what should I read next?”

Elizabeth Curren’s recommendations

Studio Gallery’s queen of artist books, it’s no surprise that Elizabeth has some fantastic recommendations for us! You can also learn more about her artwork here.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette (2002) by Victoria Finlay

Why Elizabeth recommends it: “This is a journey (and travelogue) through the actual and cultural history of colors, pigments, their importance and their chemistry. Extensively researched, well written, complete with citations, bibliography and index, Finlay is at her best when she combines the science and the anthropology surrounding the value each culture places on color.”

The Bean Trees (1988); Pigs in Heaven (1993), and The Poisonwood Bible (1998); all by Barbara Kingsolver.

Why Elizabeth recommends them: “Kingsolver is that rare writer who can combine humor and heartbreaking plot twists in incredibly engaging narratives. Strong and interesting women characters, social questions that remain relevant even today, and the ability to provide a deep sense of place (you can envision and nearly taste what’s cooking on the stove) all make her stories very compelling. Start with the Bean Trees (Pigs in Heaven is essentially a sequel) which takes the protagonist and the reader along in the car to the Southwest. The Poisonwood Bible, while not autobiographical, is set in The Republic of Congo where Kingsolver’s family lived for several years (her parents worked in public health). The realities faced by a missionary family surviving in a deeply impoverished and foreign country (a powerful background to this story), examines issues about race, class, and social customs. “

Cutting for Stone (2009), by Abraham Verghese and Alfred Knopf

Why Elizabeth recommends it: “Verghese, an Ethiopian born Indian-American medical doctor, writes the story of twin brothers in Addis Ababa, orphaned when their mother dies in childhood, and unacknowledged by their father. The boys are raised by physicians and trained from childhood to become obstetricians at a hospital that specializes in the repair of birth-related fistulas. This is a character-driven novel with a great deal of science and medical information and largely set during the Ethiopian civil war in the 1970’s. The language is beautiful, exceptionally so; to quote the person who recommended it to me, ‘It is written the way a book ought to be written.’”

The Dubliners, by James Joyce, (1914)

Why Elizabeth recommends it: “Fifteen separate short stories which are connected by their setting in the mostly middle-class community of Dublin, Ireland, in the earlier part of the previous century. Each story contains an epiphany, that moment when a character experiences a life-altering moment. It was my first introduction to Irish literature. The final story “The Dead”, is considered one of the finest stories in the English language.”

Normal People, (2018), by Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber

Why Elizabeth recommends it: “This novel tells of the relationship, and friendship, of two teenagers who attend high school and university together. Marianne is a loner, sensitive and intelligent, from a well-to-do family in County Sligo. Connell, shy, intelligent and handsome, has been raised by a single mother who cleans the house for Marianne’s family. Marianne’s unyielding temperament makes her excluded by the other students at their secondary school while Connell finds himself liked and sought after. Each feels like an outsider. Trusting only one another, they begin a secret affair. They both end up at the prestigious Trinity College in Dublin’s city center where their roles are somewhat reversed: Marianne comes into her own while Connell finds himself lost and unsure how to fit in. Their relationship continues, off and on, throughout university; they develop a deep bond and yet the differences in class and expectations leave them out of sync with one another, exposing their insecurities as they navigate both traumas and successes, struggling to come to terms with who they are and what they want to become.”

Elizabeth’s closing thoughts:

“In very different ways, the first three authors are writing about art: Finlay’s topic is directly related; Kingsolver’s and Vorghese ‘s narratives interweave landscape, folk art, food, and culture.

I chose the last two titles because I think they are an interesting juxtaposition, and because what the heck: my heritage is Irish and I lived in Dublin for two years.”

Pam Frederick’s Recommendations:

A painter, collagist, and art advisor, Pam has been a working artist for over 20 years. With her rich background in art, she has some exciting book recommendations for you! You can also read about her artwork here.

Spying on The South by Tony Horwitz

Pam’s thoughts: “During these historical stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19, I have been concurrently reading three books. All three books are biographies, and this is the first on my list. I have always been a fan of landscape architecture and formal gardens, so it is natural that I would gravitate to Olmstead. In Tony Horwitz’s final book, Spying on the South, Olmstead and his brother, prior to his receiving his first design project, traveled through the South and West. As an author writing under the name “Yeoman”, he described in great detail the lives and beliefs of Southerners, white and black, free and enslaved, rich and poor.”

Olmstead’s America by Lee Hall

Pam’s thoughts: “In my second recommendation, Lee Hall’s excellent “Olmstead’s America” follows how Olmstead’s prior travels informed his desire to create public spaces that would be democratic for all citizens. This would result in the creation of Central Park.”

Traitor to His Class by H.W. Brands

Pam’s thoughts: “My third recommendation is H.W. Brands’ Traitor to His Class, a biography about FDR. His time as president is almost parallel to what the U.S. is experiencing today. As with the Great Depression in the 1930’s and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, this book once again demonstrates the continuing inequities within the United States.”

By staff contributor Halley Stubis, who recommends Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, A Book of Hours by Donald Culross-Peattie, and Blue Mythologies by Carol Mavor. All three books, she says, “explore the wonder and beauty of life’s magic moments, the expansive creativity of the human mind, and the dual feelings of exploration and meditation that a book can provide for a reader.”

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