Reading

I always have several books on the go. This does not mean that one book at a time won't capture me sufficiently-I think the reason is that I get very excited when I've got some new books and just want them all NOW. Plus it can be nice to switch between different genres, I suppose. When I'm in a bookshop I invariably ponder my mortality -so many books and not enough time....
Here's what I'm reading and loving at the moment:

Colour -Travels Through the Paintbox by Victoria Finlay
This book isn't about colour theory -instead it investigates the origins of colours and paints, and it does so in a most entertaining way. Finlay travelled the world to research the rich history of the colours of the rainbow and unearthed some well-kept secrets and fascinating stories along the way. A pleasure to read and very informative, and of course full of colourful individuals!

Tinísima by Elena Poniatowska
I first heard about the photographer and revolutionaryTina Modotti in relation to the artist Frida Kahlo, whose work I admire. I have long been a fan of Elena Poniatowska, so when I spotted this book in a second-hand bookshop, I had to get it. It is a fictionalised biography of Modotti. I have only just started reading it, but love it already. The edition I have also includes photographs by and of Modotti which open each chapter.

A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
Lewis wrote this after his wife died of cancer. It is an honest and personal reflection on death and the nature of grief and beautifully written. I lost my father to cancer, and there are so many passages that just made me gasp in recognition. For instance, he writes of how his wife's face now eludes him, while he can vividly recall that of a stranger, but "[w]e have seen the faces of those we know best so variously, from so many angles, in so many lights, with so many expressions -waking, sleeping, laughing, crying, eating, talking, thinking -that all the impressions crowd into our memory together and cancel out in a mere blur." (Lewis, C.S., A Grief Observed, faber and faber London1961, p.15)