Artful Readers - July

Slowly catching up with my Artful Readers posts :)

In case you you don't what I'm talking about then check out Darcy's blog, but basically we have all chosen 12 books that have been sitting on our bookshelves patiently waiting to be read - we read them, review them and do some art inspired by them.

My book for July was "The Black Echo" by Michael Connelly.

The synopsis...

"LAPD detective Harry Bosch is a loner and a nighthawk. One Sunady he gets a call out on his pager. A body has been found in a drainage tunnel off Mulholland Drive, Hollywood. At first sight, it looks like a routine drugs overdose case, but the one new puncture wound amidst the scars of old tracks leaves Bosch unconvinced.

To make matters worse, Harry Bosch recognises the victim. Billy Meadows was a fellow 'tunnel rat' in Vietnam, running against the VC and the fear they all used to call the Black Echo. Bosch believes he let down Billy Meadows once before, so now he is determined to bring the killer to justice." 

 

The review...

 

I read this on the recommendation of my husband. I must admit it took me a while to get into this book but I think that was mainly due to having a newborn in the house so I was reading it in fits and starts. It's basically a crime story but there are some decent twists in it and Harry seems to be quite a complex character. It's not too taxing a read which is what I need at the minute! There are quite a few books in the Bosch series so I have the next couple waiting for me on my kindle, I guess that shows that I enjoyed it!

 

The art...

 

Again, like June's effort, this is pretty simple.

 

 

The black circle signifies the tunnels in Vietnam which are referred to throughout the book. Hollywood - the book is set in Hollywood :)

And a quote. Done!

 

August's book was "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin.

 

Artful Readers - June

Time for a catch-up! You read the title right, this is my ARC review and artwork for June! Check out Darcy's blog to see what this is all about.

 

I have a good excuse for being so far behind though...

This little lady (finally) arrived at the beginning of June :)

So, not a great deal of crafting going on around here, though lots of reading got done while I was waiting for her arrival so at least I was ahead with my books.

June's book was "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

The synopsis...

"Enter a vanished and unjusr world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...

There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely on one another. Each is in search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell..."

The review...

I had already seen the film version of this book, but unusually for me I hadn't read the book first, so as I loved the film I made to sure to put it on my ARC list.

The book is very similar to the film, they adapted it quite faithfully. It may be my age, but I always struggle to believe there was such a divide between two groups of people due to their colour, and although this is essentially the theme of this book, it's written in such a way that you almost forget that and just want to hear about the lives of the characters...until something happens that reminds you of the division. I raced through this book (though I didn't have much else to do at the time!) and enjoyed every single page of it. It's a really easy read, but still thought provoking - if you haven't read it then I thoroughly recommend it.

The art...

As I've not had a lot of time to myself the artwork is pretty simple for this book.

I started off by covering the page in bits of map from an old AA map book then painted and stencilled over it with a mix of Fresco Finish paints. I added a picture of a Southern style house and added some JoFY stamped flowers. I kept them white as Miss Skeeter lives on a cotton plantation and I figured the flowers could (kind of) pass for cotton plants! A quote and some doodling finished off the page.

My book for July was "The Black Echo" by Michael Connolly. Hopefully I'll get that post up soon!