Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty.

You may not recognize her name, but I’m willing to bet you’d recognize some of Maira Kalman’s art if you checked out her website or her visual column “And The Pursuit of Happiness” on the New York Times blogsite (where I believe this book originally appeared in monthly segments).  Her Presidents’ Day piece on Abraham Lincoln takes a subject that many of us think of as a dull assignment for a listless middle school essay and makes it sing with beauty and meaning.  Which is what her book does as well with the things many of us take for granted.

Kalman opens this memoir of a year with, “How can I tell you everything that’s in my heart” next to a painting of a dodo and further musings on extinction.  It’s hilarious, touching, and true.  She shows how the stuff of everyday life contains magic.  Even if you feel that you have no drawing ability (like me, though I love to do it anyhow), this book will inspire you to look more carefully at life.  Plus you get the bonus of studying her art.

Great inspiration for journalers, memoirists, and folks who just want to look at their worlds with more curiosity and appreciation.