Book picks similar to
Tattoos from Paradise: Traditional Polynesian Patterns by Mark Blackburn


art-history
art-how-to
for-the-culture-tongan
independent-reading

Rack, Rope and Red-Hot Pincers: A History of Torture and Its Instruments


Geoffrey Abbott - 1993
    This bloodcurdling account of instruments of torture through the ages includes descriptions of cells too cramped to allow for lying down, skull crushers, the pendulum, the gridiron, and other gruesome devices.

Johanna: A Novel of the Van Gogh Family


Claire Cooperstein - 1995
    When she married Theo van Gogh, Johanna had everything she wanted - a husband who adored her, an exciting life as part of Paris's thriving art scene, and escape from a doting but oppressive father. Her happiness evaporated with Vincent's suicide. Shattered by his brother's death, Theo suffered a mental collapse from which he never recovered. When he died, Johanna was left with an infant son and an art collection most thought worthless. The Impressionist and Independent artists Theo had championed, such as Monet and Gauguin, were considered incompetents by all but the most avant-garde critics. Determined not to live with her parents, Johanna supported herself and her child by opening a boardinghouse, which shortly became a gathering place for the literati and modern artists of Amsterdam, as well as the feminists of that period.

Rebel Reapers MC Series: Hooper Book One


Holly Moore - 2018
    He was on his way to patching in to the biggest MC around until his father, the VP of the Rebel Reapers, and his mother, were killed by a rival club. He walked away from it all to become a tattoo artist and start his own business as a civilian. Still, something is missing in his life. The club beckons him back constantly. After being burned by his last woman, Hooper decides they are just a complication he doesn't have time for. That is, until Landis Melroy walks through the front door of his shop to start her first day of work. Landis is a scorned little rich girl that got herself disowned. Her parents never understood her love of art that turned into a career in tattooing and piercing. They kicked her out, trashed her name and kept the keys to her fancy sports car. She thought her life was over until she realized she could make it on her own. The first chance she could, she moved far away from her meddling parents and got herself a new job working in Maroon's best tattoo shop. Too bad her 'boyfriend' nearly ruined it all by cheating on her with her best friend, followed by the flu that nearly finished her off causing her to miss her first three days of work to top it off. She's got nothing left to lose. It can't get any worse, can it? When she meets her new boss, Hooper Payne, everything changes. Can Hooper finally make the choice between his civilian life and his MC family? Can Landis ever catch a break? This is book one of a six book series. Hooper's story is your introduction into the Rebel Reapers MC world. Warning ***This story is hot!! If you don't enjoy reading about hot bikers that ride their women as hard as their bikes, then this is not the book for you. Strong sexual content, offensive language and violence. ***

High Art Lite: The Rise and Fall of Young British Art


Julian Stallabrass - 2000
    High Art Lite provides a sustained analysis of the phenomenal success of YBA, young British artists obsessed with commerce, mass media and the cult of personality Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Marcus Harvey, Sarah Lucas, among others. In this fully revised and expanded edition, Julian Stallabrass explores how YBA lost its critical immunity in the new millennium, and looks at the ways in which figures such as Hirst, Emin, Wearing and Landy have altered their work in recent years.

Life, Inc.


Kevin George - 2012
    wants to know...In the near future, a scientific company called Life, Inc. changes the course of human history with amazing creations. Cars that hover and soar in sky lanes hundreds of feet in the air; nanobots able to cure disease; rocket technology that allows greater exploration of the cosmos; colonies built on the moon for tourists.But Life, Inc.'s most significant achievement is the discovery of LifeForce, the essence of human life located in the back of the brain. The company creates a way of measuring LifeForce that allows people to learn exactly how much life they have remaining...After the original founder of Life, Inc. passes away, his ambitious son takes over with plans for an even grander experiment than his father ever could've imagined. But only he knows the real reason for those plans...The world may look drastically different but one thing still fuels people more than power or money or greed: love. And when Life, Inc. offers the chance for a lucky few to test their new technology, Henry Shade is determined to do whatever he must to see his wife again...

Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945


Ruth Brandon - 1999
    In Surreal Lives, Ruth Brandon follows the lives and interactions of such firecracker minds as the movement's didactic "Pope," Andre Breton, and the ambitious and manic Salvador Dali, as well as Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara, Man Ray, Max Ernst, and filmmaker Luis Bunuel. It charts their shifting allegiances, and their ties to muses and patrons like Gala Dali and Peggy Guggenheim. Ruth Brandon spins the many stories of Surrealism with wit, energy, and insight, bringing sharp analysis to an eccentric cast of characters whose struggles and achievements came to mirror and define the way the world changed between the wars. "Fascinating, impassioned... admirable [for] the masterly storytelling, the richness of anecdotal incident, the keen reporting of intellectual enthusiasms and artistic collaborations, and the panorama of a spectacular cultural galaxy." -- The New York Times Book Review; "Superbly entertaining... A cousin to Malcolm Cowley's Exile's Return." -- Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World; "A lively and absorbing complement to [the Surrealists'] work." -- The New Yorker

Here Lies My Heart: Essays on Why We Marry, Why We Don't, and What We Find There (A Beacon Anthology)


Amy Bloom - 1999
    For believers and skeptics, love's fools and love's thieves. It is for people with long memories and long histories and for people who reinvent themselves in every new town, new decade, new relationship. This book is for everyone whose heart lies where it should, where it shouldn't, and, in the end, where it must. -Amy Bloom, from the ForewordIn these intensely personal essays, contemporary writers probe their experiences in and thoughts about one of our most enduring social and cultural institutions. Husbands and wives celebrate marriages that work, mourn those that don't, and write frankly about adultery. Includes essays by Mark Doty, Gerald Early, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cynthia Heimel, Vivian Gornick, Phillip Lopate, Nancy Mairs, and David Mamet.

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts


Debra J. Dewitte - 2011
    Short chapters can be read in any order, with new vocabulary defined on the page as it occurs. Eight “Gateways to Art” images (from around the world and all eras) support the common course goal of learning to interpret art in multiple ways and help students build on what they already know. The text is balanced and global, with over 1,000 illustrations—from around the world, and from everyday life.

Beautiful Ink


S.L. Romines - 2016
    This book is a romantic comedy that is riddled with F-bombs and a variety of other colorful expletives that are sure to peel the paint off the walls. There is talk about vaginas, cockalicious peens, and a pregnant woman crazy enough to stab a fool in the neck. So, if you can handle a group of crazy, gutter-mouthed, ganja smoking best friends then, by all means, read the damn book! I guarantee you're either going to laugh 'till you pee or sit in a corner and cringe. Either way, I nailed it! Happy Reading! THIS BOOK IS INTENDED FOR READERS 18+ AS IT CONTAINS EXPLICIT SEX AND PROFANITY. (Synopsis) “Welcome to Beautiful Ink. One of these bitches will be right with you.” When Harlow Gentry re-opened the doors to Beautiful Ink with her six best friends she never would have thought that it would sustain as the hottest tattoo shop in town. Keeping up with the long list of clients, while trying to keep a shop full of needle-wielding, crazy women in check, makes for some serious late night therapy sessions with a bottle whiskey and a big bag of chocolate. And as if Harlow’s plate wasn’t full enough, her life is thrown for a loop when a sexy inked up blast from her past stumbles back into her life. Slade Harrison, Vice President of Lucky Sinners MC, knows a thing or two about women. He likes em’ quiet, submissive, and easy to please. But when Harlow Gentry shows back up in his life his world is tilted on its axis. She’s like none of the women he’s ever had moan beneath him. Her fiery, independent attitude and sharp tongue was what had him intrigued all those years ago, and there’s nothing that is going to stop him from getting her back. Who will break first? All bets are on at Beautiful Ink… Are you ready to place yours?

Red Team Box Set


Riley Edwards - 2018
    He's a professional, a tier one contractor. She’s the mission. Protecting Olivia Cox, the daughter of a White House aide should be his only objective. So why does he keep finding himself in her bed? Even if she's fully clothed and terrorized by memories of her recent kidnapping. As the days pass it becomes nearly impossible to keep his growing attraction under wraps. With a drug cartel in hot pursuit, Panther and the Red Team have no choice but to take Olivia on the run. Alone in a beautiful mountain cabin, sparks fly. Giving in seems inevitable, and Olivia must decide if she’s all in or if she’ll fold as Panther plays a no-holds-barred game of the heart.
 REDEEMING VIOLET A woman who betrayed her county. Violet Myers has a good reason for her treachery—better to sacrifice the few to save the many. The only problem is, no one believes her. With a platoon of Navy SEALs walking into an ambush, the stakes are high. Her only hope is convincing the sexy Jaxon “Blue” Cain she’s telling the truth this time. A man who took an oath to protect his country from all enemies—foreign and domestic. Jaxon “Blue” Cain bleeds red, white, and blue. The former Air Forces Pararescueman takes the promise he’s made to serve his country as an honor. Disloyalty. Dishonor. Deceit. The three D’s Jaxon hates the most—Violet has a lot to make up for before she’ll find redemption. RECOVERING IVY They met in a bar. The sex was phenomenal. Then she walked away. That’s where the story should’ve ended, but when Ivy Matthews shows up in the middle of Zane “Viper” Lewis’s op she opened his eyes to a life the former SEAL didn’t know he wanted. Ivy's thirst for revenge unstoppable, no one; not even the pragmatic Zane Lewis can quench her desire. Ivy is a closed book, she’s locked up tight and hides behind much-needed walls. But when Zane finds a crack in her armor, he exploits it, like any good tier one operator, he uncovers the secrets of her sordid past. But it’s too late. Ivy’s in the hands of a madman. Zane has one chance to recover the woman who has captured his heart. His perfect match. But as guilt bears down, this is one mission he may fail. Does love conquer all, or are the traumas of war too deep to heal?

Lady in Ermine — The Story of A Woman Who Painted the Renaissance: A Biographical Novel of Sofonisba Anguissola


Donna DiGiuseppe - 2020
    We watch as Sofonisba struggles to realize her dreams against the backdrop of patriarchal Europe. When Royal tragedy unfolds, we learn the true strength of our heroine.Romance, hardship, bankruptcy, and a legacy of hundreds of paintings that still influence today's artists. An authentic story of what it was like to be a woman of ambition in the Renaissance.History comes dramatically alive as we journey through the Renaissance with Sofonisba Anguissola.This is her story.

Freight Train Graffiti


Roger Gastman - 2006
    Until now there was almost no written insight into this vast subculture, which inspires fascination across America and around the world. As dazzling as the art it celebrates, the book is packed with 1,000 full-color illustrations and features in-depth interviews with more than 125 train artists and "writers." Hundreds of never-before-seen photographs span the style's evolution, while the authoritative text from an all-star team of authors provides unprecedented perspective, including the first-ever written history of "monikers," the precursors of graffiti, developed by hobos and rail workers to communicate en route. Bound to surprise graffiti artists, graphic designers, and urban culture buffs alike, this book will inspire anyone who has ever been interested in graffiti.

The God Question: What Famous Thinkers from Plato to Dawkins Have Said About the Divine


Andrew Pessin - 2009
    However, this debate is not a new phenomenon. For centuries, our greatest philosophers, from Aristotle to Nietzsche, have sought to clarify the idea of a Supreme Being and examine the unique conundrums that He raises. Revealing the thoughts of history's biggest philosophers on the biggest question of all, "The God Question" will help you make your own mind up. Presenting pithy arguments from the faithful, atheistic, and downright heretical, Pessin's light-hearted prose will give you a captivating insight into a wide array of God-related puzzles, whether or not you are religiously inclined.

Leonardo on Painting: An Anthology of Writings by Leonardo da Vinci; With a Selection of Documents Relating to his Career as an Artist


Leonardo da Vinci - 1989
    In this anthology the authors have edited material not only from his so-called Treatise on Painting but also from his surviving manuscripts and from other primary sources, some of which were here translated for the first time. The resulting volume is an invaluable reference work for art historians as well as for anyone interested in the mind and methods of one of the world’s greatest creative geniuses.“Highly readable. . . . Also included are documentary sources and letters illuminating Leonardo’s career; the manuscript sources for all of Leonardo’s statements are fully cited in the notes. The volume is skillfully translated and is illustrated with appropriate examples of drawings and paintings by the artist.”—Choice“Certainly easier to read and . . . more convenient than previous compilations.”—Charles Hope, New York Review of Books“A chaotic assemblage of Leonardo da Vinci’s writings appeared in 1651 as Treatise on Painting. . . . [Kemp] successfully applies . . . order to the chaos.”—ArtNews

Born Indian


W.P. Kinsella - 1981
    Kinsella meant little or nothing to readers of Canadian fiction. Dance Me Outside, a collection of stories about the Indian reserve near Hobbema in southern Alberta, changed all that. Then came Scars and now Born Indian, a new collection of stories about such old friends as Silas Ermineskin, Frank Fence-post and Mad Etta. Comedy is rare in Canadian writing and Kinsella is treasured above all for his sense of humour. He also knows how to tell a story, which makes him a delightful companion in any season.