Currently Reading: August

Yay, books! I love to read and I love to share what I’ve been reading with you :)

Ok, yes, I have been reading Ninth Street Women for about 5 years now (only slight exaggeration). I started it in November of 2021. Then put it down and didn’t pick it up again until last summer 2022. I was determined to finish it by September 2022, but …

at a whopping 700 pages long (with an extra 200 pages for the acknowledgements, notes, bibliography and index that ends on page 927!) I was defeated. Especially since I had to start from the beginning as I had forgotten what I had read the year before… and I had a stack of other books that needed reading.

Well, I am happy to report that I have made some progress. I am currently on chapter 9 (of 53). On top of reading the hard cover version, I decided that getting Ninth Street Women on audible would help me along. It has also made my morning and afternoon commutes to work, more enjoyable. So I am listening and re-playing bits as well as rereading some chapters.

Joan Mitchel

Needless to say this book will take me months to finish not only because of the re-reading and listening. It is a dense book filled with historical details about the setting and characters that birthed abstract expressionism. It is fascinating, and so it has prompted some research. I can’t help but pause and look up artists I have never heard of before. I’m googling writers like André Breton and information about WW II and the Great Depression. I’ve pulled out my art books to look for any art from this period…

I could honestly spend a year reading Ninth Street Women. My art friend joked that I could do my Masters in Art focused just on this book. It’s not a bad idea (if I had any desire to go back to school and get a second masters). I’d love to host a monthly salon/book club based on this book…

Has anyone out there read this Ninth Street Women? Thoughts?

I believe It is a commitment well worth the time. I’ll keep you posted how it goes from this end ;)