Books I Talk about when I Talk about my Book
notes from the sneaky book tour.
Dear reader,
I love books and, when I am in the company of people who also love books, I cannot help but talk about them. This puts me in a funny place in my book-tour because I am literally surrounded by people who love books. They love books so much that they took time out to come to a book-event. And they are actively listening to me. So, I tell them about books, including my own!
In today’s post, the books I talk when I talk about my book.
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I am in New York City this weekend. If you live in/around the city, let’s get together?
✍🏼 [JOIN] on Saturday 11 Oct, a sketch-meetup + demo with NYC Urban Sketchers. (Note: Books will not be sold here but I will talk a lot.)
🎟️ [ATTEND] on Monday 13 Oct, a book signing + talk + flash-workshop at the Book Club Bar. (Note: Tickets are running out! Books are available and I will talk a lot.)
The Books I Find
Because all my event-venues are bookstores, I walk around before things begin and hide tiny drawings near my favourite titles. Later, attendees are invited to look through the store to find the hidden art, and maybe check out my book recommendations too.
This habit began with leaving tiny drawings inside Little Free Libraries in Vancouver, and I am delighted to take it forward!
The Books That Found Me
During my talks, which are never quite planned and always emerge from a place of mild chaos inside my head, the following books invariably come up. You should read all of them.
Ways of Seeing by John Berger: I knew nothing about John Berger before I started reading this book. (I try not to learn too much about the authors I read.) I came to this book as a natural follow-up to my curiosity for how and why we look at art in museums, the role that art plays in our lives and, by extension, the business of being an artist in this day and age.
Psychopolitics by Byung-chul Han: This book gave words to long-held feelings about social media. It speaks about smart power, and the tyranny of a like button that compels us to conform to a most-liked mediocrity. At its heart is the panopticon of social media, whereby we self-police our behaviours, our tastes, our likes and dislikes, in order to please the algorithm.
Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl: I grew up reading stories by Roald Dahl, illustrated lovingly by Sir Quentin Blake. This first part of his autobiography introduced me to the idea that maybe all good stories should include drawings.
Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut: The writing of Kurt Vonnegut changed my life. I did not know one could do such things with simple words. In Sirens of Titan, the richest man in the world boards his personal spaceship to travel to Mars, Titan (a moon of Saturn), and Venus, before returning to Earth. You begin the book hating him, and you end with love and pity for his impoverished soul. Kurt Vonnegut will make you laugh and cry and become a better human. I recommend everything he has written.
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore: Alan Moore is a great genius of our time, and V… is essential reading right now. From it, I learned how great art and writing can sit together, and the power of individual resistance in the face of fascism.
The Common Man by RK Laxman: I read his editorial cartoons in the newspapers growing up and he is arguably the greatest political cartoonist of all time. From an early age, before I knew it consciously, he showed me that great truths were best served with humour.
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon: A more-recent read that has given me permission to do a lot of things I was shying away from, and validated several good ideas in my mind. I think about this book all the time.
Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson: Every Sunday of my childhood, I read a new Calvin & Hobbes comic in the newspaper. I cannot articulate the depth of its impact upon my life, creativity, thoughts, and ambitions. He said everything that needed to be said in those strips.
Much afterward, I read this illustrated take of a speech Bill Watterson gave at a university: “To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed…”
Books that are Guiding my Next Moves
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Bento’s Sketchbook by John Berger
All my Photographs are Made with Pens by Tommy Kane
Things Become Other Things by Craig Mod
Quarto tells me that Make (Sneaky) Art is on the Bookscan Art bestseller list, at #5 already in its first week! Thank you so much to everyone that has bought a copy. Please, if you’re enjoying the book, leave it a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
Readers in the US, buy from Art Toolkit to also maybe get a personally signed bookmark. Readers in Canada, you can now also order from OPUS Art Supplies!
I hope to see you somewhere sometime on the Sneaky Book Tour. But if not, I am glad we have email to share what happens. Thank you for reading!
You inspire me to let go.
To stop hoarding the small paintings that sit quietly on my shelf, waiting.
Some are test swatches, experiments, or half thoughts that never became a “real” piece. But when I look at them now, I see stories, tiny bursts of color and courage that deserve a home.
So, I’ve decided to start releasing them into the world.
Little pieces of me. Little pieces of practice and progress.
I plan to leave them on park benches in my neighborhood park, small gifts for strangers, bits of beauty to stumble upon.
Thank you for reminding me that art isn’t meant to sit in the shadows, it’s meant to be shared, held, and loved.
Love the idea of leaving little art works after your book signings! Tiny steps can turn into giant statements (your book)