David's Updates

David added 'The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen'

Mon, 12 May 2025 17:17:00 -0700

David gave 5 stars to The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen (Hardcover) by Beth Wagner Brust
This book is one of those special volumes that will appeal to people of all ages, IMHO. The biography of the great Danish storyteller H.C.Andersen will be of interest, to be sure, and it is written for/aimed toward younger readers. The true fascination of the book, however, lies in the illustrations: black-and-white renderings of Andersen's many paper cuttings. The book brings out his motivation for doing them, his procedures, and the effect the resulting intricate designs had on all who saw them. The cuttings are, quite simply, amazing beyond words in their imagery (many motifs drawn from Andersen's tales) and their staggering detail and delicacy. This is a book to be marveled over -- again and again.

David wants to read 'Berengaria: In Search of Richard the Lionheart's Queen'

Mon, 12 May 2025 09:27:24 -0700

David wants to read Berengaria: In Search of Richard the Lionheart's Queen by Ann Trindade

David is on page 154 of 496 of The Pretender

Sat, 10 May 2025 20:38:28 -0700

David Dunlap is on page 154 of 496 of The Pretender.

David wants to read 'The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown'

Sat, 10 May 2025 20:37:08 -0700

David wants to read The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown by Nathen Amin

David wants to read 'Tudor Wales: Full-Colour Guide to the Many Places in Wales Associated with This Famous Dynasty'

Sat, 10 May 2025 20:37:08 -0700

David wants to read Tudor Wales: Full-Colour Guide to the Many Places in Wales Associated with This Famous Dynasty by Nathen Amin

David wants to read 'Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York'

Sat, 10 May 2025 08:26:05 -0700

David wants to read Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York by Peter Quinn

David added 'Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky'

Fri, 09 May 2025 16:38:46 -0700

David gave 3 stars to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Composer's World) by Wendy Thompson
This is a well-written biography of the great Russian composer written for younger readers. It contains a wealth of information -- it does not skirt the issue of Tchaikovsky's sexuality or dilute it with euphemisms, which is praiseworthy. There are a number of musical excerpts included. The illustrations are superior, and many photographs of places and things familiar to the man (a portion of a letter to his patroness, a view of his study in Klin) make the narrative more lively and lifelike. I found this interesting to read (I had not previously known the cause of Nadezhda von Meck's husband's death, for example). But the author includes the now largely discredited theory of Tchaikovsky's death by suicide shortly after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony. This mars an otherwise commendable book.

David wants to read 'Schubert: The Music and the Man'

Fri, 09 May 2025 15:59:58 -0700

David wants to read Schubert: The Music and the Man by Brian Newbould

David added 'Tchaikovsky'

Wed, 07 May 2025 18:21:16 -0700

David gave 3 stars to Tchaikovsky (Hardcover) by Greta Cencetti
This is a biography of the great Russian composer written for younger readers. The basic facts are there. (It was a bit surprising that the author chose not to mention that Tchaikovsky's patroness Nadezhda von Meck stipulated that the two of them were never to meet in person; I believe this is a detail that would be interesting to the reader.) The art work is lovely and sensitive and quite wonderful, worth the price of admission alone.

David wants to read 'Sonata for Miriam'

Wed, 07 May 2025 18:19:05 -0700

David wants to read Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson