Explore how Quiet Luxury and Bookshelf Wealth interior trends intersect, creating spaces that prioritize elegance and personal expression.
Rustic French Food, Cabbage and Galette au Chou - this is not a galette in the Breton pancake or cake-cum-biscuit sense, but is more like a savoury batter that is baked with the cabbage sandwiched between.
Hardcovers, paperbacks, and cocktail table tomes get the attention they deserve
Attending a cultural event (say such a as museum show) can be an educational and enlightening experience. On the day of the show, the FIRST thing that Splendor learned was that her closet contains many strange and wonderful things…spiky Victorian style boots with skull buttons, flowing velvet jackets in gloomy shades of death, ash and midnight and an endless supply of skirts adorned with lacing, zippers and buckles. What this closet of curiosities DOES NOT contain is a winter coat, a pair sensible shoes or any other “NORMAL” attire that should be worn in public during daylight hours. Now the SECOND thing that Splendor learned is that wearing a lace mini skirt and knee high lace up boots to a posh art exhibit will only lead to further scrutiny of one’s person. Although not out rightly stated, there seemed to be a lingering connotation by some that Splendor’s hair is too long, her garments too strange and her general demeanor too scandalous to be considered “professional” and that henceforth she should no to be allowed in to roam freely, mingling with the general public…HA! As to which Belphegor hoodie Seraph decided to wear, that is a story for another day… Now Splendor’s first experience with PROPER BUSINESS ATTIRE occurred back at her first job in high school where it was promptly pointed out that one CANNOT come to work in a Venom t-shirt reeking of Jack Daniel’s and sin and was expected instead to wear a white blouse, a knee length white skirt and a FREAKING PINK APRON (…the horror…the horror…) In case there ever is a Chintz of Darkness category on an upcoming Jeopardy show, the answer to the question would be BAKERY for 1000 points, Alex. And what a fine establishment it was… Now just to set the stage, one only needs to imagine a stately brick building with an elegant tailored awning on a quaint tree lined lane. Upon entering the dignified double doorway, one was promptly greeted with a greasy crumb strewn floor, hazy frosting smudged walls and a collection of rickety café tables with mismatched chairs held together with duct tape and string. Other highlights included a lecherous cocaine huffing boss, an infestation of cockroaches (that yes, now that you asked, dear readers, dropped from the ceiling into vats of chocolate icing on a hourly basis…) and of course let’s not forget about the flasher and his gigantic…er…oh, never mind…Did we mention that both of the dishwashers and one of the bakers were registered sex offenders? And last but not least, who could forget about the “Apple Strudel” that they sold at Christmas time after gathering racks of rotten pastries throughout the year and grinding them up as filling? We kid you not, this putrid pastry resembled a MUMMIFIED ZOMBIE ARM, complete with brown flaking skin and an odd odor… Indeed, Splendor’s first job taught her many important life lessons such as the value of earning one’s own money, as well as how to avoid getting groped while carrying two trays of doughnuts, how to fend off marriage proposals from pedophiles and the subtle art of “borrowing” bus money from the till… Needless to say, the bakery eventually filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors...soon after that Splendor joined the racks of the self employed and has never looked back… …and yes, self employment is a joyous situation where no one minds if you show up to work in your BIRTHDAY SUIT instead of a business suit. In fact around here they (as in Seraph) rather encourage it…hee! So how do YOU earn your keep, dear readers? Please stop by for a visit to our new ETSY SHOP. Thanks! Unveiled in death to the sinner Written in the ancient book of lies Hear the demons call From the crimson waterfall As the blood rains from the skies ("Seven Gates of Hell" by Venom)
Hardcovers, paperbacks, and cocktail table tomes get the attention they deserve
An antidote to the hustle and bustle of modern life
SOUTH AFRICA- In the late 1980s, when he was 12-years old, Martin Pistorius fell into a coma where he remained in a vegetative state for 12 years. Doctors in South Africa were not sure what caused his illness, but suspect it was cryptococcal meningitis.His condition grew worse and eventually he lost all ability to move […]
In a revealing new book, the under-appreciated author’s son shows a new side to his misunderstood mother
Throughout my life, I've read many, many books. None of them have stuck with me as much as And I Don't Want To Live This Life by Deborah Spungen. Each and every page is filled with frighting and emotional stories of Deborah's daughter Nancy Spungen - girlfriend of bassist for the Sex Pistol's, Sid Vicious. Deborah digs deep into the life of Nancy, making you live in the mind of both her and her daughter which can be very disturbing and uncomfortable for the reader. It's hard to get through page after page, but once you do - the story sticks with you. And I Don't Want To Live This Life is and forever will be one of my favorite books of all time. I received this book as a present from my parent's a few year's ago on Christmas. Since I was a child, I was enchanted with Nancy - not with the drug use or the infamous fame she received, I was enchanted with her as a person not her image. I could tell the difference, even at a young age. My happy Christmas was over when I opened this book. I held back tears as I read the Introduction, Deborah's simple yet powerful words describing Nancy's destined death was overbearing. I read only that first page before I closed the book to continue our family celebration - which was now ruined because I couldn't get Nancy out of my head. My family and I soon went to bed at about midnight, I couldn't sleep so I decided to read some more. I read the first few chapters and fell deeper into the mind of Nancy. The way Deborah writes makes you grieve for Nancy and her family. Her mother doesn't make Nancy the victim nor the villain, she makes her a human being - which people seem to forget. The book starts out with Nancy's death with the reporters and all. Even a phone call from Anne Beverly - Sid's mother to Deborah, telling her that her son is also dead. After the telephone call, Deborah is sick with it all and grab's wire and ties it into a noose. Ready to kill herself she thinks of Nancy and her 20 years of pain. She then decides that her pain won't go away until she give's Nancy's death a purpose, until Nancy die's with some peace and dignity. Deborah move's on with life and she over the years has helped many, many families in need of help with their children - she has saved other "Nancy's" out there from the path their Nancy had took. One thing that surround's this book is death. As a child Nancy knew that she would die very young and tragic - even her family knew. As Deborah recalled, her family had nothing to do but sit and watch her die. Nancy once recalled that she would go out with headlines - which she did. She was found murdered in the Chelsea Hotel in 1978, her boyfriend Sid confessed to her murder but died of a heroin overdose before going to trial. Nancy was only 20 year's old and Sid was 21 at the time of their death's. One thing that surprised me was that Sid wrote Deborah after Nancy's murder, the letters are published in this book. They are very personal and give's a little insight on what might have happened in Room 100 the night Nancy was murdered. Deborah never wrote back but she recalled that she felt every emotion that Sid wrote to her. He sent her a poem about Nancy, which was used as the book title: You were my little baby girl, And I shared all your fears. Such joy to hold you in my arms and kiss away your tears. But now you’re gone, there’s only pain and nothing I can do. And I don’t want to live this life, If I can’t live for you. To my beautiful baby girl. Our love will never die… Nancy and Sid. Fans of Sid and Nancy should read this book! Most fan's dislike Nancy but once you read this book you'll see why she acted the way she acted. Since I've read this book, I've grown an attachment to Nancy and her family. Like all the other people I write about I feel like it's my job to protect them from any unkindness thrown their way. This book is a story of sadness and tragedy and will keep any reader trapped in the book - even if your not a fan of Nancy. Deborah's story will stick with you throughout your life.
Can you decipher the signatures within these splattered, ambigious shapes?
The Discussion Challenge is hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts At Midnight. Have you ever looked back at your old Goodreads ratings and said, “WHY in the world did I give THAT rating to THAT book?” I have. As I looked back at my Goodreads ratings from 2014-2018, I noticed that there are a few 5-star books that I barely remember. I must have loved them if I rated them that highly, but they’ve sank into the bookish murk at the bottom of my brain. I only remember vague details. On the other hand, there are some 3-star and 4-star books that have stuck with me. They may not be perfect, but they didn’t end up in the murk. They have staying power. I find myself thinking about them often and comparing other books to them. I’m too lazy to go back and change old Goodreads ratings. Instead, I thought I’d examine all of my ratings from 2014-2018 and choose my 15 favorite books. This was a brutal task because I reviewed 487 books during that time period. The books on this list may not have gotten 5 stars from me, but they’re firmly lodged in my brain meat. The 15 Best Books From The Past 5 Years The Book Thief by Markus Zusak It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. Why I love it: I’ve lost track of how many pages I’ve written about this book. A chunk of my graduate school experience was devoted to it. I’m pretty sure that I crammed so many sticky notes into my copy that it doubled the book’s weight. I love the nonlinear structure and the odd writing style. No matter how many times I read this one, I don’t get sick of it. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Why I love it: I read it shortly after finishing a college class with an extremely opinionated professor. She hated genre fiction. Real artists write literary fiction. Reading anything else is a waste of time. I went through a phase where I only read books that college professors like. Then I picked up Battle Royale because it had been on my shelf for too long. I loved it! It’s over-the-top violent, full of underdeveloped characters, and the Japanese-to-English translations confused me a few times. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Until I picked up this book, I hadn’t realized that one professor had briefly murdered my love of reading. Read whatever you want, no matter how trashy it is. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood It opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as the reader expects to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel-within-a-novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When we return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist. Why I love it: According to academic types, this is one of Atwood’s weaker novels. I disagree. I like the bizarre (and sometimes jarring) mix of sci-fi and historical fiction. This is one of those rare books that hooked me from the first chapter. I wanted to know why the narrator’s sister drove a car off a bridge. What was she hiding? What did her death have to do with a science fiction story? Different Seasons by Stephen King This gripping collection begins with "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption. Next is "Apt Pupil," the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student, Todd Bowden, and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town. In "The Body," four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me. Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in "The Breathing Method. Why I love it: These stories are well-known for a reason. They’re really good! Whenever I read short story or novella collections, I usually forget most of the stories. Not this one. I vividly remember all 4 of them. They have intense characters and odd plots. This is one of my all-time favorite King books. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp Sutter Keely. He’s the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually. Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever. Why I love it: I hate Sutter Keely. I think we all knew kids like him in school. They’re loud, obnoxious, always the center of attention, don’t understand no, always take things a step too far. I love this book because it’s relatable. I knew a lot of Sutter Keelys. Some of them have changed, and some of them haven’t. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell The Bigtree alligator wrestling dynasty is in decline—think Buddenbrooks set in the Florida Everglades—and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, is swiftly being encroached upon by a sophisticated competitor known as the "World of Darkness." Ava, a resourceful but terrified twelve-year-old, must manage seventy gators and the vast, inscrutable landscape of her own grief. Her mother, Swamplandia!’s legendary headliner, has just died; her sister is having an affair with a ghost called the Dredgeman; her brother has secretly defected to the World of Darkness in a last-ditch effort to keep their sinking family afloat; and her father, Chief Bigtree, is AWOL. To save her family, Ava must journey on her own to a perilous part of the swamp called the "Underworld," a harrowing odyssey from which she emerges a true heroine. Why I love it: This novel has the textbook definition of a saggy middle, but it’s still the best magical realism novel I’ve ever read. The magic isn’t just there to be . . . well, magical. The magic has a purpose. It’s used to show how kids see the world and process the things that happen to them. It’s Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself. Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety. Why I love it: I’ve read a few books about suicidal teenagers, and this is the first one that made me say, “Yes, this author gets it.” The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born." "You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her." To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium—a strip of poppy fields lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico—Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA. Why I love it: I considered leaving this one off the list because the sequel ruined it a little. That sequel was really not necessary. This novel is a dystopia about cloning, which has been done before, but it’s so well-written! I love the descriptions of Mexico. And, it’s creepily distressing that Matt uses rotting meat to attract bugs so he’ll be less lonely. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan. But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? Why I love it: I love all of Rainbow Rowell’s young adult books. I probably could have put any of them on this list and been happy. I chose Fangirl because Cath’s college experiences are pretty similar to mine, so I can confirm that it’s realistic. (Even though I’ve never written fan fiction and never will.) Vicious by V.E. Schwab Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archenemies have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end? Why I love it: This is a similar situation to Fangirl. I love V.E. Schwab’s books. I could have put A Darker Shade of Magic on this list and been happy. I chose Vicious because it’s the first Schwab book I read. It started my obsession. It’s escapist literature about people who do bad things, and I had fun reading (and rereading and rereading) it. Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick Have you ever had the feeling that you've lived another life? Been somewhere that has felt totally familiar, even though you've never been there before, or felt that you know someone well, even though you are meeting them for the first time? It happens. In a novel comprising seven parts, each influenced by a moon—the flower moon, the harvest moon, the hunter's moon, the blood moon—this is the story of Eric and Merle, whose souls have been searching for each other since their untimely parting. Why I love it: Have you ever had the feeling that a book was written just for you? If you took everything I love about stories and blenderized (totally a word) my story-loves, they would become this book. Midwinterblood is bizarre, atmospheric, violent, beautifully written, full of historical things, and set on a remote island. It’s basically my personality in composite novel form. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Why I love it: I taught a class on this book and didn’t loathe the book by the end of the class. Normally, if I have to read something a billion times, I get bored and never want to look at it again. I love the setting and the well-developed characters. The characters are in a bad situation, but they try to do the right thing, even if they might be killed for it. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera Sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. He's slowly remembering what happiness might feel like this summer with the support of his girlfriend Genevieve, but it's his new best friend, Thomas, who really gets Aaron to open up about his past and confront his future. As Thomas and Aaron get closer, Aaron discovers things about himself that threaten to shatter his newfound contentment. A revolutionary memory-alteration procedure, courtesy of the Leteo Institute, might be the way to straighten himself out. But what if it means forgetting who he truly is? Why I love it: That ending! Also, I love when authors can seamlessly blend the real and the weird. On the surface, this is a contemporary story about a teenager who makes a mysterious new friend. Under the surface, there’s some sinister sci-fi stuff going on. I still think this is Adam Silvera’s best book. Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin A tense, exciting exploration of what the Times deemed "the greatest story of the century": how Daniel Ellsberg transformed from obscure government analyst into "the most dangerous man in America," and risked everything to expose the government's deceit. On June 13, 1971, the front page of the New York Times announced the existence of a 7,000-page collection of documents containing a secret history of the Vietnam War. Known as The Pentagon Papers, these documents had been commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Chronicling every action the government had taken in the Vietnam War, they revealed a pattern of deception spanning over twenty years and four presidencies, and forever changed the relationship between American citizens and the politicians claiming to represent their interests. Why I love it: I had to put something nonfiction on the list. I chose this one because it’s honestly one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Don’t let the serious suit man on the cover fool you. This book reads like a thriller. It’ll make you wonder what other secrets governments are keeping from us. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Jim Kay, and Siobhan Dowd At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting—he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. Why I love it: It’s so pretty! Seriously, the illustrations are the best. Very eerie and detailed. If you read this book, you need to read the illustrated version. The pictures add a lot to the story. The story itself is sad and sweet. This is another book where the supernatural elements serve a purpose other than being magical. They show how the character sees the world. You made it to the end! If you read this entire post, you’re a hero. (Or a bored person.) What are your favorite books from the past five years?
The Glittering Hour (ISBN: 9781471140709) A highly recommended, stunningly beautiful read set in the period between the First and Second World Wars.
He's a hockey god... and she's the one who got in his way.I had a foolproof plan.Finish college playing the best sport on earth. Hockey.Get drafted by an NHL team.Make my senator father at least a little proud of me. I was on track to do just that... until Violet Reece and I collided. Literally. Turns out, my plan didn't account for a night in jail-and the news articles that followed it.Everything fell apart after that. New school, new hockey team. And a resentment like I've never felt before directed at the girl who set me off course. Lucky for me, she attends this new school of mine.And there are a thousand ways to ruin her. Brutal Obsession is a sizzling, dark college hate to love romance. Our hero does not grovel under any circumstances.Reader discretion is advised. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9781957286105 Media Type: Paperback Publisher: S. Massery Publication Date: 11-30-2022 Pages: 598 Product Dimensions: 8.00h x 5.00w x 1.33d
Repairo. REPAIRO! Nope, no amount of wizard magic can cover up these mistakes. And there are hundreds more over at Movie Mistakes.
I, MARGARET ROACH, am the creator of the book, website and companion public radio show and podcast 'A Way to Garden,' and also the author
Genre Kryptonie: Potty Mouthed Lady Writers who'd make a sailor blush.
well...not really my bookshelf, but more like my bedside table. Where are my readers out there? This post is for you. A few of my favorite bloggers have posted about what they are reading in
Synopsis Expand/Collapse Synopsis From one of the most brilliant writers and thinkers of the twentieth century comes a collection of "passionate, probing, controversial" essays (The Atlantic) on topics ranging from race relations in the United States to the role of the writer in society. Told with Baldwin's characteristically unflinching honesty, this “splendid book” (The New York Times) offers illuminating, deeply felt essays along with personal accounts of Richard Wright, Norman Mailer and other writers. “James Baldwin is a skillful writer, a man of fine intelligence and a true companion in the desire to make life human. To take a cue from his title, we had better learn his name.” —The New York Times
The Corrections author's endorsement gives huge fillip to sales of Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children
Frank Pollard is afraid to fall asleep. Every morning he awakes, he discovers something strange—like blood on his hands—a bizarre mystery that tortures his soul. Two investigators have been hired to follow the haunted man. But only one person—a young man with Down’s Syndrome—can imagine where their journeys might end. That terrible place from which…
So why a book report… haven’t I gotten out of grade school by now? Didn’t I write enough that I should never want to ever write them again? Or not even look at one until I have to review the ones m…
