Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Need to Read

Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today and alive to the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenups, and divorce?

Looking through many lenses, the Henis ask whether emerging adulthood has truly become a new rite of passage.

The true story of the courtship between Amanda Hesser, a food writer for The New York Times and author of the award-winning cookbook The Cook and the Gardener, and writer Tad Friend, the titular Mr. Latte.

Gail Collins, New York Times columnist and bestselling author, recounts the astounding revolution in women's lives over the past 50 years, with her usual "sly wit and unfussy style" (People).

Essential reading for those who wish to heal themselves and the earth, live gracefully into the future primitive and experience their wildest dreams.

Set in wartime London, Westwood tells the story of Margaret Steggles, a plain bookish girl whose mother has told her that she is not the type that attracts men.

Writing with an exuberant love of language and detail, Anjelica Huston shares her enchanted childhood in Ireland, her teen years in London, and her coming-of-age as a model and nascent actress in New York.

Hand in hand with lovable heroine Aurelie Renard, you will see life as you've never seen it before, discover the key to great art, witness the true cost of love, and learn how all these things may be controlled by the in-breath of a cormorant.

Clinton writes with candor, humor, and passion about her upbringing in suburban, middle-class America in the 1950s and her transformation from Goldwater Girl to student activist to controversial First Lady.

While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, Ryan and Jetha offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Need to Read

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

In 1971, in a corner of Berkeley, California, a young Francophile named Alice Waters opened a small counterculture restaurant for her friends called Chez Panisse and launched an entirely new way of thinking about and serving food in America.

Who really invented the noodle? How had food and culture moved along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking Asia to Europe—and what could still be felt of those long-ago migrations?

From her childhood spent tap dancing in the Bronx, to her rise as the star of Laverne & Shirley, Penny lived by simple rules: “try hard, help your friends, don’t get too crazy, and have fun.”

While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers that children-including her own-are capable of feats she'd never imagined.

This book is a timeless creative bible for all those looking to succeed in life, business and creativity.

Eat is bursting with beautifully simple and quick-to-cook recipes, in a stylish and practical flexible format.

Judy Greer is taking pen to paper and in her honest, self-deprecating, and hilariously relatable way reminding us why she's not America's sweetheart but America's best friend.

You won't be able to decide whether to curl up and sink into the story or to head straight to the market to fill your basket with ingredients for Cider-Glazed Salmon and Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots.

A whopping big celebration of the work of the late, great Nora Ephron, America’s funniest—and most acute—writer, famous for her brilliant takes on life as we’ve been living it these last forty years.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May 2013 : Current Status


Current books: A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
Current music: Iggy Azalea (NSFW or moms)
Current guilty pleasure: Chocolate chips
Current color: Butter yellow
Current drink: Chilled rose wine
Current food: Hummus and toast
Current favorite show: VEEP
Current wish list: This nail polish, this sweater, this ring
Current needs: A job in New York!
Current triumphs: Plowing along in the process of moving out-of-state
Current bane of my existence: Fussy babes
Current celebrity crush: Umm...
Current indulgence: Pedicure with Moorea on Friday!
Current blessing: My little animal family
Current slang: "Get in my belly"... just kidding, I never say that
Current outfit: GAP jeans, striped shirt from H&M (AKA, a very nanny outfit)
Current excitement: I get to see my mom on June 2!
Current mood: Unfocused
Current link: Kale noodle bowl with avocado miso dressing, yumm

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

List Your Favorite Books


1. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
2. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
5. My Life in France by Julia Child (I'm not even finished with it, and I can already tell it will be a lifelong favorite)
6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
7. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
8. Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor
9. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
10. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
11. 9 Stories by J.D. Salinger
12. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
13. Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
14. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
15. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
16. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
17. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Part of the 52 Lists Prompt by Moorea Seal

Monday, October 15, 2012

The Other


I bought this scintillating (such a great word) book last week, because I have a thing for racy historical nonfiction. The book covers all the ladies, from King Solomon's 300 mistresses, to Marilyn Monroe and Camilla Parker Bowles. I'm excited to learn about these fascinating lives and wrestle with the morality of it all. I think that's a good thing to do every now and then.

Friday, June 8, 2012

I Own This


When I saw this book this week, I bought it immediately. I plan on using it as my Bible as I expand my illustrating repertoire. That sounds so fancy, doesn't it?

Here are Kleon's "10 things nobody told you about being creative:"


Gets your brain juices flowing, doesn't it?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Illustrated List


I love this illustrated packing list by artist Adolf Konrad. It's featured in a great book I received for Christmas called Lists (To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists' Enumerations from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art). I love the arrows, plus signs, and art supplies.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Sunday Morning


This is what my Sunday morning looked like. Cuddling in bed with Mindy and Dotty.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? has been a fun read. Highly recommend.

Dot's been super chatty and and clingy lately. It's pretty adorable. She's kind of a weirdo. Like me.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Book Survey



(stolen from After I Do and The Curious Pug)


Favorite book: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Least favorite book: Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
Book that makes you laugh out loud: Bossypants by Tina Fey
Book that makes you cry: Hmmm.... The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Book you wish you could live in: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Favorite young adult book: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Book that you can quote/recite: How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess
Book that scares you: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Book that makes you sick: ?? Girl With a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson has some gross parts in it
Book that changed your life: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Book from your favorite author: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
Book that is most like your life: Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Book whose main character is most like you: Princess Leigh-Cherie from Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
Book whose main character you want to marry: Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, of course!
First "chapter book" you remember reading as a child: The American Girl books
Longest book you've read: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (870 pages)
Shortest book you've read: Day Boy and Night Girl by George MacDonald
Book you're most embarassed to say you like: The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
Book that turned you on: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
Book you've read the most number of times: I Capture the Castle
Favorite picture book from childhood: Walt Disney's Peter Pan
Book you plan to read next: Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
Book you tell people you've read, but haven't (or haven't actually finished): Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Book that contains your favorite scene: 9 Stories by J.D. Salinger
Favorite book you read in school: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Favorite nonfiction book: The Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver
Favorite fiction book: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Last (good) book you read: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Book you're currently reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Favorite coffee table book: The Selby by Tom Selby


you guys should do this too :)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Must Read: "Bossypants"



"Whitney Houston’s cover of 'I Will Always Love You' was constantly on my FM Walkman radio around that time. I think that made me cry because I associated it with absolutely no one."


-Tina Fey, Bossypants

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Style Icon: Madeline




Madeline was one of my favorite book series to read when I was a little girl. I think I liked her because she was a redhead, she was French, and she was fearless! Also, she adopted a stray dog and named her Genevieve; wasn't that socially-conscious of her?!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Beach Reads




Remember how I'm going to Kauai in August? Well, I need some beach reading suggestions! Send them my way! I want something fun and engaging. I've had The Hunger Games series on my list forever (teen fiction, what-WHAT); I want to try out a book by Chelsea Handler because I love reading about other people's dating woes; I've heard great things about The Perks of Being a Wallflower; and The Tiger's Wife is a newish release that's been featured in Vogue and other magazines. WHAT ELSE?!

Friday, April 15, 2011

I Love Your Blog!


Diana runs a fabulous blog called our city lights (introduced to me by Moorea). She shares lovely and thoughtful photographs and she's quite a bookworm! Bonus: she and her husband had a library-themed wedding! How cute is that?!

Check her out!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Italy


"Because the world is so corrupted, misspoken, unstable, exaggerated and unfair, one should trust only what one can experience with one's own sense, and this makes the senses stronger in Italy than anywhere in Europe. This is why ... Italians will tolerate hideously incompetent generals, presidents, tyrants, professors, bureaucrats, journalists, and captains of industry, but will never tolerate incompetent opera singers, conductors, ballerinas, courtesans, actors, film directors, cooks, tailors... In a world of disorder and disaster and fraud, sometimes only beauty can be trusted. Only artistic excellence is incorruptible. Pleasure cannot be bargained down. And sometimes the meal is the only currency that is real."

-Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Your Table Is Ready

On Sunday, my mom and I had the pleasure of hearing former restaurant critic of the New York Times, former editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, and author Ruth Reichl speak.

That isn't what Ruth looks like in real life. But I thought sharing this picture would be fun because one of the reasons Ruth became so renowned was because during her time as the NY Times restaurant critic, she would go to restaurants incognito so as not to be recognized and to get the treatment that regular folks would get. This meant that sometimes she would get treated very badly in certain hoity toity restaurants around the city. If they only knew who they were ignoring...

I loved what Ruth had to say about the tradition of going out to eat. As a restaurant critic she found it very important to inform and give people a better way to appreciate their restaurant experience. When one goes out to eat at a nice restaurant, they have the opportunity to step out of their everyday lives and become anyone they want to be. It is a special experience; so dress up! Order a bottle of wine! As Ruth said, "we all have a contract when we go out to an expensive restaurant..." Expect to get what you pay for: amazing service, along with amazing food. Canlis comes to mind when I'm writing this.

I loooove going out to eat. It is really fun. I love getting dressed up, ordering more than one course, getting treated well by waitstaff. Sure, I may not have a lot of money to go out to nice places often, but when I do have that opportunity, I always try to embrace it.

I'm excited to start reading Ruth's memoirs: Garlic and Sapphires, Tender to the Bone, and Comfort Me With Apples. She's a wonderful speaker, and a thoughtful and passionate woman.