Over the years I’ve gathered a small collection of books about maps. I bought a few of them, a few were gifts from people who recognized my fascination for all things cartographic, and a few I’ve borrowed from the library but are still on my wishlist. To help get inspired for my upcoming workshop, Mixed-Media Map-Making, I’m revisiting my collection and remembering why maps are so inspiring. If you could use some artistic inspiration, check your local library or bookstore for these titles!
I'm stepping away from the heavy stuff this week to bring you a list of books! Fun, inspiring, beautiful, and possibly magical books. Since this post is a month overdue, and since I spent most of the Christmas holidays reading, I had a huge list of books and though I narrowed them down to my absolute favourites the list is still super long. Buckle up! And maybe take a couple of weeks off work ;) Enjoy!
It was a bit of a slow season for reading: I started plenty of books but these are the only ones I finished and liked enough to tell you about. That should change, though, now that the temperature has dropped and I'll be taking the bus instead of riding my bike. I have at least an hour and a half of extra reading time each day. Can't wait!
I love doing these book lists because it gives me a clear idea of where I have spent my mental energy in the last four months. This time, I can see that I've spent a LOT of time reading self-improvement books around creativity, collaboration, and productivity. I wonder if I have anything to show for it... I've also noticed that the lists are getting longer and longer. I'm not sure if that's because I'm reading more or if it's that I'm more careful about choosing good books (and finishing them!) because I know I'll be writing about them later. Either way, here is a good long list of what I have been enjoying over the last four months.
Elizabeth Gilbert knows a lot about creativity. She makes a living as a writer so it's something that she grapples with daily but she's also given Ted Talks on the subject, discussed it in plenty of interviews and on her Facebook page, and now she's written a book about it. Like me, my mom is a big fan of Gilbert so when I told her that the book Big Magic was coming out on a certain day, she went out after work on that day, bought two copies, came straight to my place and gave me one of them. It made my week. I've now read the book twice, the second time going through with pink, blue, and yellow highlighters (because they match the cover of the book) to pick out what I think are the juiciest bits of wisdom.
The fact that it's been 4 months since my last books post tells me that I don't finish very many books, or at least I don't finish very many books that I feel like recommending. Only the best for you! Here's what I've enjoyed reading since I published my last list back in March:
I decided to start a regular "what I'm reading" list because I always love hearing about what other people are reading. It often gives a lot of insight into why they think the way they do and where their ideas come from. So I figured at least someone will find this interesting. Here are the books that I have actually finished in the last few months.
