Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The fine arts inspire us, color our world, bring us new perspectives, and even occasionally find their way into books. This week we'll be reading books that involve art, music, dancing, or acting. As Pablo Picasso once said, "art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life", though he was probably paraphrasing a german writer named Berthold Auerbach.

A few lists to peruse for ideas:

Art and artists in fiction https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
A book about art or an artist: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Art fraud and theft: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Best non-fiction about music: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...
A book about a band or musical group: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
YA books about the performing arts: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Best books about musicians, singers, and bands: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
Best books about dance https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Dancers in romance: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Books about movies: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
Hollywood romances: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Thespians: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this prompt? Which art does it involve?

For this, I think I'm planning on Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory, Sarah Polley's book of essays about her life experiences. I expect it will touch on elements of both her acting and directing careers.

If I read that and it turns out it's more about other parts of her life, I also own Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman and As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, which would fulfil the acting aspect.

I'll be reading Top Eight: How MySpace Changed Music by Michael Tedder.

Joanna wrote: "For this, I think I'm planning on Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory, Sarah Polley's book of essays about her life experiences. I expect it will touch on e..."

Joanna, we must have similar tastes! I have Sarah Polley’s book handy to read soon. I loved Alan Rickman in Truly Madly Deeply, and his book is on my tbr too. I enjoyed The Making of Princess Bride more than the original book.

I'm planning on reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, which is supposed to be a funny story about vinyl records and other forms of music

Other options:
The Painted Kiss - Elizabeth Hickey
The Unknown Masterpiece - Honore de Balzac

I'm planning to read a couple of actor's biographies, No Cunning Plan: My Unexpected Life, from Baldrick to Time Team and Beyond and Making It So.

This is another one of those prompts that I have lots of options for. Right now I have pencilled in The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal. Set in the mid-19th century, this gothic novel is about an aspiring artist who becomes a muse for an established artist.

NancyJ wrote: "Joanna, we must have similar tastes! I have Sarah Polley’s book handy to read soon. I loved Alan Rickman in Truly Madly Deeply, and his book is on my tbr too. I enjoyed The Making of Princess Bride more than the original book."

Ha, it seems like we do!

Good to know about the Princess Bride book, I'll keep it handy for if Run Towards the Danger doesn't work out. (Actually, I should probably read it first in any case, I've had it for longer.)

dalex wrote: "This is another one of those prompts that I have lots of options for. Right now I have pencilled in The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal. Set in the mid-19th cent..."

Dalex, I read this book in 2023 and really enjoyed it. This is my review on GR.

"This is a debut novel set in the Victorian era. It’s dark, gothic, and has a fairly high creep factor. Twin sisters Iris and Rose painting doll faces for a laudanum addicted employer. They dream of better lives. Rose wants to open her own shop. Iris wants to become an artist and agrees to model for a pre-Raphaelite artist, upon the condition that he teachers her to paint professionally. Young Albie frequently sells handmade doll clothes to the shop and occasionally sells small dead animals to Silas, a taxidermist.
While watching the construction of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1850 London, Iris meets Silas. It is the beginning of his obsession with her. It sets off a horrific chain of events that it seems only Albie can stop.

This is not an easy story to read. It’s dark, but it’s well done. Macneal does a great job pulling back the curtain on Victorian England and showing some of the horrors of that time. Side note: I also read the author’s second book, Circus of Wonders, and thought it was even better than The Doll Factory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review."

I loved Slocumb's first two books, so I'm excited to read his third. It fits perfectly in this prompt. This is not a series.

The Dark Maestro: A Novel by Brendan Slocumb.

Charlsa wrote: "Dalex, I read this book in 2023 and really enjoyed it. This is my review on GR."

Thank you! It sounds super gothic creepy, which I love!

I'm going with art for this prompt and reading Black Water Lilies and The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez. The second book is by Laura Cumming, and I have very much enjoyed the other two books I have read by her: On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons and Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death.

I have several options for this, a few that I'm thinking about are:

The Swan Thieves
The Hypnotist
The Painted Girls
Sleep, Pale Sister
The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

Charlsa, I didn't realize he had another book coming out! I typically don't like this prompt (I always end up reading a few books set around the arts but it's not something I search out), so I'm glad to have a solid option!

I've read and enjoyed all of these ...

ACTING
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federly

MUSIC
The Cellist of Sarajevo
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
The Soloist
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier

DANCE
Dancing for Degas
Up to This Pointe
Instructions for Dancing
A Time to Dance
The Short History of a Prince


ART
The Art Forger
Artistic License
Ander & Santi Were Here
The Stolen Lady
The Creation of Eve
A Piece of the World
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Chasing Cezanne
The Madonnas of Leningrad
Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet
Orchard
Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Lacuna
Luncheon of the Boating Party
Clara and Mr. Tiffany
The Forest Lover
The Passion of Artemesia
Girl in Hyacinth Blue

Thanks Book Concierge for the list! I’m planning to read either Tom Lake or The Lacuna.

I will probably read The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier or The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. Another possibilty is one I just bought, Memories of the Lost by Barbara O'Neal.

I have so many options for this.

My frontrunners:

Daisy Jones & The Six
The Daughter of Time
If We Were Villains
High Fidelity
My Name Is Asher Lev
The Picture of Dorian Gray

My leading options:
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Girl with a Pearl Earring

For this prompt, I read a historical fiction about a real female violinist who studied under Antonio Vivaldi - it is a beautiful story about the contributions of women to classical music:
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable - 4* - My Review

What are you reading for this prompt? Which art does it involve?

I read is his memoir he talks about how he started acting.

I read The Second Coming MC Jolie plays violin and her violin is very important to her mental health

I'm reading The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. The main character is an artist. This book has been on my TBR forever!

I read Thank You for Listening.

I read A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourne (art and artists)

I read Glorious Exploits and Vanishing Man.

The first one is mainly focused on acting, but dance, art and music also feature. An unusual historical novel, quite sad and sometimes violent in parts, but a real tribute to the power of drama.

I enjoyed Laura Cumming's memoir On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons and I loved her art history book Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death -it was a book I read and then bought as a present for friends. The Vanishing Man was not as gripping, but still interesting.

I read Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein for this topic. The main character is an actor who impersonates a politician who has been kidnapped. (Read May 3rd)

I read and liked these books with actors
Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory
Snow Road Station
Beautiful Ruins

I read By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

I read The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits.

I read Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah

Sam is a pianist who got an audition to Julliard. Ilsa did competitive ballroom dancing.

I quite enjoyed the murder mystery Dead on the Dance Floor, by Heather Graham. It is set in a ballroom dance studio.

I read He's to Die For by Erin Dunn, a m/m romance/mystery in which one of the suspects is a rock star.

I read No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister. Some of the characters included an artist, an actor, and an author.

I really enjoyed this book. It is said to be a novel, but it could also be categorized as a book of interconnected short stories. Each story/chapter was "complete" but could also be lengthened into a full book I think.

Tracy wrote: "I read No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister. Some of the characters included an artist, an actor, and an author.

I really enjoyed this book. It is said to be a novel, but it could ..."

Oh thank you! I love this concept. I already had this book on my long tbr but I couldn’t find it. Thank you for telling me the title!

So I officially now have a new folder : TBR 2026.. 2026-tbr

I will be reading Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy. It relates to music as it is about the Mellstock Choir and was originally entitled The Mellstock Quire.

I had such dreams for this as I love art! But I needed a home for Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong, so it went here for acting.

I read Glorious Exploits