Let the Great World Spin

After not even finishing the third Lisbeth Salander novel, I was feeling a little down on my reading choices of late. However, I just finished Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann and loved every word of it. So much that I got the nubby pencil out of my bedside table and started marking favorite passages. Jeff just looked at me puzzled, obviously surprised that it was possible I could turn into my mother a mere 8 months into our marriage. If you liked the movie Crash and or Man on Wire, you'll love this book!

Ideal Bookshelf

Katie introduced me to this artist a few weeks ago and I'm in LOVE. This is so on my dream Christmas list (understandable expensive, they're custom!). Jane Mount takes a list of your favorite books and paints their spines. Obsessed. You can visit the Ideal Bookshelf site or her etsy shop.

The titles I would choose:

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Red Tent - Anita Diamant

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

The Woman at the Washington Zoo - Marjorie Williams

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

Truth & Beauty - Ann Patchett

My Life in France - Julia Child

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt

Maybe instead of getting a painting, I'll just collect all of these books and make my own little 'favorites' shelf! That way I can add as I collect more favorites!

Things I'm Lookin' At Today...

Obvi work is a little slow...

Kelly Wearstler's Beverly Hills home is for sale. A cool $46 million. I love her and I love her designs. Not sure I could live here though. Vacation perhaps. Where do you go when you want to wear sweats and watch reruns of 90210 on SOAPnet?

I'm in love with the antique engagement rings at Claude Morady. If I were in the market for an engagement ring, I think this would be my first stop!

Yesterday was Font Day on Design*Sponge. What could be better! Jefe and I recently watched Helvetica and found it fascinating. I have a whole new appreciation of fonts!

And, I really want to check out this book: Crafting a Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco. Not because I need things to be meaningful. I just like being crafty!

Book Update

I hate admitting this, but I put down The Corrections. It was just SO depressing. I was reading it on my way to the dentist... in the rain... when I finally decided to part ways with the Lambert family. At least for now.

So I picked up Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and I'm loving it. I may never eat in a restaurant again, but the stories are terrific and I love his 'voice' (talk about an eighth grade Language Arts term).

I think next I might try to plow through Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. I'm in a bit of a Lincoln phase. Weird, I know.

Holden

I just finished The Catcher in the Rye this morning on the Metro and LOVED it. Somehow I never read it in high school. I thought it was such a great story and loved the stream of consciousness style.

I just ordered The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen from the library. His new book Freedom is getting so much press, I thought I should start with his previous book that got such rave reviews as "The Great American Novel". Has anyone read it?

Cod

I just finished Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky. I have to admit, I usually stay away from non-fiction, but this tale of fish wasn't nearly as boring as it sounds. I had no idea how much of a role one single species of fish could play in the world order. Cod is fascinating and I definitely recommend.  It's a short read, well-written and enjoyable. Too bad after reading it I can't go get a nice filet of cod because it's on this list!

Recent Purchases

The 'Haters Gonna Hate' print is for sale again. Whoopee!

I also bought the new Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.

Delish!

Currently Reading...

In the last 36 months, since I became a member of Goodreads, I have read 49 books. Not too bad. About 1.3 books a month to be precise. I love that I can keep track of everything I have read with the virtual bookshelf. Here are some of my favorites from the last year...


Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
John Berendt

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Alan Bradley

The Red Tent
Anita Diamant

The Help
Kathryn Stockett

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

I just started Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland which Ms. Whelan promises is a delightful summer read. I'll keep you posted. Please send suggestions my way, I'm always looking for new material! What's on your bookcase?

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

I just finished reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell as recommended to me by Dee. It takes a little while to get the hang of the narrative because the author jumps between narrators and times. But once you adjust, I think the style adds to the story. This is a compelling read with lots of surprises. Read it so we can discuss!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Go buy this book or borrow if from a friend immediately. I think Dee put it best when she described it as "enchanting". It's a novel, but is made up entirely of letters between characters. The setting is London and Guernsey (Channel Islands) and follows an author and the islanders she meets as they rebuild their lives after World War II. I finished it in less than a week, I was so enthralled. Let me know what you think!

Prodigal Summer

I just finished Prodigal Summer and thought it was delicious. You probably know Barbara Kingsolver's (a Kentucky native!) works of non-fiction like The Bean Trees and The Poisonwood Bible. If you liked those, you will most certainly like Prodigal Summer. The characters and setting feel so authentic and though I just put the book down a few hours ago, I miss them already! Now I want to go back and re-read some of her other books, too.

Here's the jest: 

Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia. From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off-guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected.

Domino

I also got this yumminess for my birthday. It's on my nightstand right now, I think I'll read a page a night to ensure beautiful dreams.

Color

I got this great book from Jefe for my birthday. It's called Color: A Natural History of the Palette. I'm so excited to get started, it's right up my alley. After I finish American Wife of course!

Currently Reading

I just finished reading Reputation by Marjorie Williams and it was, of course, fantastic. I learned a lot about how weird Larry King is, and how contradictory Anna Quindlen is, among many other interesting tales of fascinating people. Read it.

Now I'm on to Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife. I had no idea it was loosely based on Laura Bush. I'm a little suspect, but it's supposed to be good and I enjoyed Sittenfeld's Prep, so I'm willing to give it a go. I'll keep you posted!

The Friday Night Knitting Club

I finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs last night. I really enjoyed the book and it was a nice change of pace from what I had been reading. I do agree with one review I read, most of the characters could be from Central Casting , but maybe that's not always a bad thing. After I put it down, I couldn't stop thinking that it could be a great movie, in fact, the book almost seemed to be written with a movie in mind. Before I fell asleep, I decided that Julia Roberts should play the role of "Georgia". I'm sooo insightful late at night!

Well, I'll be damned if I didn't do a little research this morning and find out that Julia Roberts' production company has optioned the book and she is set to play the lead role of "Georgia". Too funny.

Turns out there is a sequel as well called Knit Two. Can't wait to dig in and find out what all the characters are up to now! I hear Italy is involved. Yummy!

More Marjorie Williams...

One of my first posts ever was about one of my now favorite books: The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family, and Fate by Marjorie Williams. I was so excited to get the most recent anthology of her work for Christmas, Reputation: Portraits in Power, edited by her husband Timothy Noah of Slate fame. I can't wait to start!

The Floatplane Notebooks

I've been on a bit of a reading hiatus, which is very unlike me. But I'm back in action. I finished The Floatplane Notebooks last night. 170 pages in one sitting! The novel spans 150 years and is told by different characters. Lots of great family stories. I felt like I was listening to my Great Aunt Ruth tell old stories about her youth in western Kentucky. 

Virtual Book Club

Last fall a friend turned me on to the website www.goodreads.com. The site provides a place online to keep track of what you have read, plan to read and, I think most importantly, what your friends are reading. Good Reads is a social networking site for readers. I use it as a central location to keep track of all things books. If someone suggests a book to me, I just go online and add it to my list before I forget the title, which I am prone to do. Members can also review books they have read, and read other's reviews before committing to a book. Check it out. Sign up, and be my friend!

The Woman at the Washington Zoo

I just finished The Woman at the Washington Zoo, an anthology of writings by Marjorie Williams. I highly recommend. I skipped some of the Washington profiles but be sure to check out "The Wife (Barbara Bush)", "Scenes from a Marriage (Bill Clinton and Al Gore)", and "Bill Clinton, Feminist". Also, ALL of Part 3: Time and Chance are AMAZING. It's one of those books where you are sad when it's over, because it has become a part of your daily routine. Silly I know.

You can read the final piece, The Halloween of My Dreams on the Washington Post.