Book cover of The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making

Book description

“A beautiful, intricate meditation on creativity and discovery, on fire and rebirth.” —Elizabeth Gilbert

Awestruck at the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving in a London church, David Esterly chose to dedicate his life to woodcarving—its physical rhythms, intricate beauty, and intellectual demands. Forty years later, he is the foremost…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Lost Carving as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a book that I’ve returned to again and again over the years. Each time I seem to discover an aspect of the story that transforms it into something new. That’s a thrilling sensation, almost as if I’ve found a magical volume that hides an entire library of novels, philosophy, and history in just two hundred and eighty pages. 

On the surface, it ought to be a very simple piece of biography: a record of David Eastly’s work to recreate a decorative woodcarving that was consumed by a fire at Hampton Court Palace. Though that alone is gripping enough.…

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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