If you have ever looked at a Japanese silk screen print or sculpture and wondered what the cranes, monkeys or bears mean…this book is for you! I found this beautiful book in an art gallery and decided that, despite the hefty price-tag, I simply had to own it! This elegant coffee table book charts the artistic symbolism of animals in northern Asia with a particular focus on Japan and China. Each page is translated and in both Japanese and English.
Tag Archives: non fiction
Book Review: Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
Rating: ๐๐๐๐ Publisher: Black Inc Books Genre: Non-fiction, autobiography, Australian history, SE Asia. Review in one word: Witty This is vivid story of a family of migrants who flee from the killing fields of Cambodia to the inner west of Melbourne to find sanctuary in the early 80’s. Told from the perspective of the narratorContinue reading “Book Review: Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung”
Book Review: The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Dr Elaine Aron
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Spirituality. Rating: ๐๐๐๐๐ This is the quintessential book about the trait of high sensitivity in people’s personalities. Beautifully written, engaging and informative, it has become a classic of psychology since it was first published in 1996. In case you are unaware of how this personality trait looks, here is aContinue reading “Book Review: The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Dr Elaine Aron”
Book Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology Rating: ๐๐๐ This is a comprehensive guide to trauma. Unlike other guides, it places emphasis on the physical body and how past buried traumas are inextricably connected to the body, or in other words: ‘The Body Keeps the Score’. Although this book is more of a clinical guide for psychologists,Continue reading “Book Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk”
Book Review: The Sky Atlas by Edward Brooke Hitching
* No Spoilers Rating: ๐๐๐๐๐ Edward Brooke Hitching, history-hound, lover of quirky things and writer for the ever-popular and erudite quiz show QI, has written The Sky Atlas. A treasury and history of some of humankindโs most beautiful maps and charts. Yet this book is more than that, itโs a sparkling and glittering array ofContinue reading “Book Review: The Sky Atlas by Edward Brooke Hitching”
Book Review: Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment & Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte
Genre: Non-fiction, Spirituality, Philosophy Rating: ๐ ๐ ๐ 1/2 stars *Contains no spoilers In this slim and elegant volume of philosophy and inspiration, writer David Whyte tackles the big topics and words that rarely get any airtime in our society, the kinds of things that haunt people but that are difficult to resolve and soContinue reading “Book Review: Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment & Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte”
Book Review: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Genre: Fiction, essay, creative non-fiction, travel. Publisher: Text Publishing Rating: ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk won the Man Booker International Prize for this novel in 2018 along with a Nike Award, Polandโs highest literary honour. Tokarczuk is a thrilling and exhilarating writer who effortlessly criss-crosses genres and conventions, Flight is partContinue reading “Book Review: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk”
Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell
Art Historian Jake Hartnell takes us on a macabre and enthralling journey from head to toe in the medieval human body. This is fascinating because, even though we share the same bodies as our medieval ancestors, we had wildly diverging beliefs about the inherent symbolic power of parts of our bodies and what could heal,Continue reading “Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell”
Book Review: The Abundance by Annie Dillard
Creative non-fiction genius and nature writer extraordinaire Annie Dillard has won a Pulitzer Prize for her essay writing. She has a unique, warm and intensely spiritual, even transcendental way of writing that elevates her above most other writers. Thatโs big praise I know, but this is really great writing. She has the ability to probeContinue reading “Book Review: The Abundance by Annie Dillard”
Mind-expanding books that opened up the world to me as a teenager #Booktag
Some books help you as a teenager to move beyond the claustrophobic and limited world you were born into. We can’t help where we were born or who our family is. However, when we are young, if we read the right books, we may just be able to transcend challenging beginnings and see the worldContinue reading “Mind-expanding books that opened up the world to me as a teenager #Booktag”
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