Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter

-by Randy L. Schmidt
(epub)

I grew up listening to Karen Carpenter's velvet voice wafting from our record player in the late 70s and 80s. My mom always had her records playing, so The Carpenters' music was, in many ways, the soundtrack of my youth. When I was around years old 13 years old, I remember watching the made-for-TV movie of her life. Learning about the sad girl behind the amazing voice always stuck with me. Karen life was obviously tinged with a deep sadness, with hopes unfulfilled.

While Little Girl Blue came across as somewhat cold and factual at times, it was obviously well-researched. I learned many things that I did not know previously about Karen's life.

Karen's story in Little Girl Blue is not a "pleasant" read, by any means, but it is a worthwhile one, even if you aren't a fan of the music.

Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

-by Edith Holden

Country Diary was originally published in 1906. Is it any wonder that reading this book makes me feel like I'm stepping back in time? One flip of a page and I'm instantly in Edwardian accouterment, sitting in a beautiful field atop a quilt on a breezy summer day, with my pen and journal in hand.

Elegant and absolutely beautiful, this book is a visual banquet that I will continue to enjoy whenever I open its pages! Its amazingly detailed drawings and paintings of nature are coupled with the author's notes and poetry of the time.

It has encouraged me to dig out my own art journal now and then, even when I "think" I have nothing worthy to write about or draw. Sometimes it's the little things that mean the most, and the journey - not the destination - that counts.