The cold weather version of our summer reading poll: tell us about a great book to curl up with on a frosty winter night, and what fragrance we should wear while reading it.
Note: top image is the interior of Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, via their Facebook page. The store is closed today after serving as a refuge for stranded customers last night.
I just finished The Girl in the Spider Web, the new book in the Dragon Tattoo series. Since one of the main characters, Lizbeth is usually dressed in a black leather motorcycle jacket, I’d wear Bulgari Black for the rubber smell and the leather.
Now I’m reading Into the Heart of the Sea. But since I generally don’t like “ocean” scents, I’ll go with tropical island florals, Ylang Ylang combined with vanilla sounds about right. I can’t think of a cannibal scent LOL
I want to get this! Loved the first three.
A place called Cannibal Cafe has just opened up near work, thus beating L’Abbatoir for edgy restaurant names. For “edgy” your could read “unappetizing”…
I’m going all out for France today! Vive la France ❤️
For books I would recommend the collected stories by Guy de Maupassant.
My SOTD is also all about France- l’Artisan Safran Troublant.
Sending warm wishes, hope, and prayers to all affected by the recent incidents of human violence and brutality.
Stay strong and smell fabulous!
Nice picks! I almost rescheduled this poll but then figured we’d all need a break today.
So heartbreaking, our condolences to all of France.
I read Kanuka’s “Edwin & Matilda” this week and loved it. Usually I read non-fiction, currently “Stonewalled” by Sharyl Atkisson (about news coverage lacking objectivity) and “The Developing Genome” by David Moore. Yeah, kinda dry but worth the chew. But then I’ve theoretically got all winter.
What, has she got something published? Link please??
Mals, Kanuka writes under Lawrence Fearnley. I looked up her works on Goodreads and plan to read some too 🙂
There was a thread the other day about fragrance associations with them all which I hope Kanuka would be willing to share with us again? 🙂
Thank you!!
Thanks Perthgirl. That’s really sweet. What I was saying was that during the final editing process ….rather than the actual writing ( which lasts months ) I tend to wear just one perfume when I’m working so I have a scent association with each book. It has no meaning but is a ritual and creates a personal memory, almost like a little gift to myself. When I’m actually writing I focus on the dedication, and feel as if I’m writing for that particular person ( or dog, in one case).
Edwin and Matilda – Terre d’Hermes. It has a smell I associate with the central Otago landscape in the book.
The Hut Builder – L’Heure Bleue…evokes the evening and isolation, but also humanity of the central character ( for me)
Degrees of Separation – set in the Antarctic. This was a scent less place in reality but I wore Feu D’Issey while I was there and during editing.
There’s others but that’s enough, eh.
I found 5 or so books on Kindle. (Sorry for the delay)
Thanks so much. I recently read John Williams’ Stoner which I loved. And Tim Winton’s Island Home, a memoir about the novelist’s relationship with the sea, set around Perth and Western Australia. It’s hard to imagine a perfume for either of these two books….so I will just go with CB I hate perfume In the Library and Demeter Paperback…for books in general, and the love of reading.
Stoner was fantastic. I think Erin (who contributes here once in awhile) made me read it. Someone told me about it at any rate.
Wonderful photo choice Robin.
I read a lot of metaphysics/spirituality books, some of the latest great ones Ive read are anything by Dolores Cannon- Ive been catching up on her Convoluted Universe Series. My sister also lent me The Afterlife of Billy Fingers. Great Book.
I also recommend anything by Graham Hancock. I just finished Magicians of the Gods but all his work is worth keeping an open mind for.
The latest great biography I read was A Rage to Live by Mary S. Lovell. I first read A Scandalous Life and was so enamoured of it I ordered A Rage to Live straight away. It’s about Richard and Isobel Burton. Lovell’s research and detail is immense and it was a fabulous journey through 19th century London, India, Africa, Middle East.. Loved it 🙂
One of my most treasured gifts is an 18 volume set of books put out by the Richard Burton Society, it is the full “Thousand and One Nights” story with etchings. Quite racy some of them 🙂 My husbands grandmother gave them to me from her library when she downsized. Both he and his wife were wonderfully interesting people. Have you seen his mausoleum? It’s shaped like a desert tent.
So envious of your 1001 Nights!
That book sounds exquisite. Lucky girl!
Ohhhh! A Thousand Nights and One Night! You lucky girl!!
He wanted them to be translated just the way they were shared around campfires, without changing them for morality’s sake. It appears he and Isobel were both very liberal in their attitudes toward sex and they had a very close r’ship, after Burton had experimented with every other woman 😉 He also translated the Kama Sutra.
So so jealous of your books!! They were subscription only and a very limited edition.
I was going to find a dog picture since we did a cat last year, but hard to post frivolous things at the moment. So, hopefully, dog in 2016.
I read _The Wilder Shores of Love_ by Lesley Blanch recently, which tells the stories of four Western women who went against convention and lived good portions of their lives in the Middle East. (Well, maybe not quite so deliberately for Aimee Dubucq du Rivery, who was kidnapped.) The Burtons take up the better part of the book.
Oh, the Lovell biographies are wonderful, aren’t they? A Scandalous Life reads like a novel.
Oh, commando as yet. Our favorite tea house, Honeysuckle, had a comedy show on its outdoor stage, set as a living room. Elevated teahouse, with bonfires, gardens, play space and stage below. Really beautiful, but the smoke got to me after a bit.
How lovely!
I’ve never been to Paris, but the Shakespeare and Company bookstore is a place I’ve always wanted to go. Vive le France indeed.
I have so many books I have bought but not finished reading, as I get distracted by online articles and other items, but after enjoying Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell, I’ve got Just Enough Liebling next on the agenda. It’s a collection of A.J. Liebling’s best work for the New Yorker, and what little I’ve already read has kept me entertained.
As for scent, I’ve almost used up my L’Ambre de Merveilles sample for warmth and comfort this morning. I first reached for a rose but it didn’t suit, and this lovely scent (made by that most French of companies) seemed much better for the weather and the mood. Wishing warmth and comfort for everyone here and everyone in Paris.
I have always wanted to go there too! And was only in Paris once, eons ago. Enjoy the Liebling, I was thinking about buying that.
Bizarrely enough, it was a person who messaged me on OKCupid last year who suggested I read it.
I’m glad he did, even if he did disappear after that (as OKCupid matches in New York are wont to do.)
I’ve had a copy of “Just Enough…” on my shelf for 10 years and still have not read it… Guiltily I just looked at the copyright date–2004. You’ve inspired me to put it back near the top of my reading “to dos.”
I hope you like it! I enjoy his style and personality.
Just requested Just Enough Liebling from my local library. Thank you for that suggestion.
And I’m wearing Eau des Merveilles today. The few Hermes fragrances I have tried always seem to suit me one way or another, no matter the weather, the place, my mood.
Hope you enjoy it! He was a clever gent.
Oy – Vive LA France, not LE. Time to take a French class.
I’m wearing Shalimar for Paris and I’m going to recommend a book that I think is fitting for today: Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue by Sam Harris and Maajd Nawaz. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s necessary and enlightening. It’s a quick and easy read, a writeup of a conversation.
Otherwise I’ve been reading the “A Very Short Introduction” series by the Oxford Press, excellent for those who have more curiosity than time. I’m currently half-way through The Celts; my favourite so far, incidentally, has been the introduction to Islamic History.
And while I haven’t read it yet, I’m sure I’ll love Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Mercy. I enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy very much – excellently written, intelligent science fiction.
I have some Shalimar, but the books you’ve mentioned sound essential, and I’m hastening off to locate at least a couple. I’m sure last night’s events must feel a thousand times more real in Europe than they do here, and I send my sympathy and hopes for strength and courage.
Thank you, Karen. I have several friends in Paris and our assistant got on the train yesterday evening to go there; not to mention all the colleagues whose families live in France and its capital. Everybody I know is safe, but its surreal and horrible. I was out with some lovely colleagues yesterday and one of them works for the Commissioner in charge of the security agenda, so she spent most of the evening on her phone, working and keeping us briefed. Not the most ebullient evening out I’ve had.
I watched an interesting interview about the initiation of Islam and the Future of Tolerance and made a mental note to read it also.
Definitely worth reading, I say.
Thank you for these important references, Annikky. Now, more than ever, we must read and inform ourselves in order not to reproduce the very atrocities we condemn. Man, can’t these stupid ISIS members see that they hurt vulnerable Islamic immigrants more than anything else?
The sad thing is I’m pretty sure they realize that.
I instinctively sprayed a healthy dose of Shalimar this morning, too. And following Deva’s lead, I’ll be recommending a cute French contemporary novel:
Alexandre Jardin Fanfan
Vive la France!
Yesterday the Volnay samples arrived, so I am in Object Celeste, which isn’t quite working for me but reminds me of Neela Vermiere Bombay Bling. I plan to curl up later with Chrissie Hynde’s memoir.
I read Chrissy Hynde’s book. Fascinating!
Thanks for reminding me of this book. Hubby mentioned he’d like to read it so I’m going to get it for him for Christmas.
Want to try Volnay’s Perlerette. Speaking of literary “rockumentaries,”
Costello’s Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink is supposed to be good.
My 9th grader just read “Little Women” for the 1st time, so of course I had to reread it too. I LOVED this book as a teen, and I couldn’t believe how many passages I had almost memorized! Just as good now as way back then!
French perfume all the way today. Praying for the French and for ALL of us. Wearing “Like This” by Etat Libre d’Orange. What a beautiful scent for a beautiful fall day! Vive la France!
Random comment–but in a recent radio interview with Patti Smith, she cited LW as one of great inspirations to become a writer herself. She says she thinks of herself as a writer/artist, not a musician… Jo is a big hero of hers.
Love it! Good ole Jo!
I am wearing Chanel of course, Cristalle specifically. Before I get to a book, I have a question: Someone mentioned attars the other day, and that reminded me of a series of perfumes from the early ’90s, I think, by a man whose last name was Isbel (perhaps Robert). I found his scents haunting and addictive. Does anyone remember him/them?
On a frosty winter night, I would prefer the sound of another’s voice reading me one of Jossi Adler-Olsen’s Dept Q series. I love the dry tone and pace and the down-to-earth detectives, inspectors, etc. in contemporary Scandinavian films and books. I listen to them on Audible Books.
I remember Robert Isabelle as a florist and party planner in NYC in the 90’s, and vaguely remember he put out a line of perfumes. I was poor so could never afford them, but I seem to recall they were popular.
Foxbins, I remember Robert Isabelle and buying his fragrance and candles and in a whoosh he was gone!
Just finished The Children Act by Ian McEwen. For the past year I flew 2x a week on a passenger jet with no wi fi so read constantly on the flight. Now I have a ninety minute commute each way and am devouring books on CD.
I have been wearing Tauer PHI rose de Kandahar almost continuously for 2 weeks. I am needing to have a strong back and a soft front right now, so the tender toughness is suiting me perfectly.
Vive la France!!
I love the Dept Q series! The characters are so quirky and the pace is so quick and action-packed!
I wore several of the Robert Isabell fragrances in the mid-to late 90’s, (I think there were 4 or 5), but my favorite was Savannah–a very lush white flower perfume. I still have about half a bottle and some body lotion. Also have some of the Paperwhites candles–very beautiful.
Also, wearing Une Rose today–first niche fragrance that I bought and I bought it at the original Malle boutique in Paris. Thinking of my French amis with love tonight.
In solidarity with France this morning I’m wearing Tea for Two. I don’t know if I like it. Might switch to something else French this afternoon.
Books–I can recommend Hand to Mouth-Living in Bootstrap America, by Linda Tirado, a single mother who works as a waitress and discusses the choices she makes to get by on a limited income. I also liked Lives in Ruins, by Marilyn Johnson, about archaeologists and their various interests. For fiction, I just finished the third Cormoran Strike novel, Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith, alias J.K. Rowling. Excellent.
Oh, and I forgot to say a huge thank you to whoever recommended the Kerry Greenwood Phyrne Fisher series. I am reading them all in order and they are delightful.
I think that was me, and I’m so glad you’re enjoying them!
I haven’t read the third Cormoran Strike yet, although I enjoyed the first two, especially the second. Is it very dark?
I wouldn’t call it dark (though I have rather a high tolerance) but it’s not a cheerful book. Someone is targeting Strike through his secretary to avenge an old grudge.
Thank you!
It is more graphically gruesome that the two previous. Lots of dismembered body parts and planned murders from the psychopath’s perspective. But still in the realm of her previous two… I listened to on audio while do chores around the house. Had to shut it off it the kids were around sort of thing… Read it when you are in the mood for that sort of thing 🙂
Thank you for this!
I would wear, and am wearing, Coco with the book I recently finished. It is a historical fiction called What She Left Behind. It is set in the early 1900’s in an insane asylum. Great story and characters. Coco to me is kind of dark and spooky.
On a side note- I am so excited that I received my samples from TPC yesterday. I tried Rue Cambon and fell in love. I have yet to try Misia and the TF Jasmine Rouge.
Two years ago I would never have said I would wear Chanel, but things change over time. I feel like I am becoming the Chanel girl. Not too long ago I read the new book out about Coco (though it is fiction). You people here sure have changed me. LOL.
Read that same book, Kris and loved it. I am learning that I have a love/hate relationship with Chanel fragrances. I bought a bottle of Misia some months ago and loved it. I am thinking about giving it to my mom for Christmas (she loves all things Chanel). But, Jasmin Rouge is a fragrance that is part of my regular rotation. Let me know what you think of those 2 scents. Have a good weekend!
I think that is funny you read this book. I had never heard of it. It is kind of crazy how we have similar interests. That is why I picked those two samples of the four I ordered-I knew you liked Jasmin Rouge and Misia. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Chanel or at least I used to, but am finding I like many of them more and more.
Standing with our French friends, and wearing Chanel
N°5 Eau Premiere.
Vive la France!
Also in preparation for leaving for Paris this week (not sure how I feel about this after yesterday’s attacks) I’ve been reading Vanished Smile by R.A. Scotti which is a fascinating read and quite the mystery on the theft of Mona Lisa ( or as the French call her, La Joconade) from the Louve in 1911. The story weaves in many other artists from that time and goes off on little tangents about this and that, all very enjoyable.
My mother is going this week too…she was supposed to go today but has put it off until Monday. Hope both of you have a great time 🙂
Encouraging to hear this. Thank you.
Been rereading Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories since I moved to the UK a few months back with a bit of Wodehouse added to the mix. Wodehouse is one of the funniest English writers I know of.
I’ve always had a soft spot for ’20s England’ which is inane considering the class divide and the social injustice that came with it. It’s great escapism nonetheless. I’ll move on to Dostoyevski next week or so.
I find Scherrer goes well with such, although I’m wearing Ivoire (new) now.
Wodehouse is so funny.
Adding to the fan club. Adore Wodehouse.
His writing is so amusingly clever it constantly keeps you on your toes, unless you’re seated of course 😀
Here’s a link to Wodehouse quotes to cheer eveyone up on this jour de misere:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7963.P_G_Wodehouse
Ha! Love these. Ginger hair runs in my family, so we often quote Jeeves:
“Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous.”
Bertie Wooster is a name which always makes me smile.
Just finished Jenny Lawson’s _Furiously Happy_. I think she is the funniest writer of our generation. And we needed someone to be honest about mental illness, and yet still ridiculously funny.
To go with it? At least three things that don’t match. 🙂 What makes a perfume non sequitur? Trying to pick three from my current rotation, I’d say: Dita Von Teese the original, In the City of Sin by Kilian, and Fleurs de Rocaille by Caron. Or maybe those are related. It’s hard to come up with nonsequiturs. (I do think it would smell awful to wear them all at once. Or maybe not. I haven’t tried it yet.)
I recommended Furiously Happy to my sister as she was unhappy about landing on a jury recently. She said she had to put the book away as she was laughing out loud and getting odd looks from the other jurors, one of whom is a gynecologist. White coat syndrome. SO FUNNY. Or not, depending.
And I love the idea of “three things that don’t match.” My little niece dresses herself and almost always wears three things that don’t match. She makes herself and her family so happy, but she needs a note pinned to her back that says, “I dressed myself today.”
Oh, I think it’s clear enough that she she dressed herself. Good for her! 🙂
I gave the book to my husband; I hope he likes it as much as I did. I hurt myself laughing a couple of times.
First I want to say my heart is heavy this morning for our friends in Paris. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this tragedy. It was a long night for me last night, so I stopped by my local coffee shop. I had 3 people walk up to me and said that I smell incredible. I told them, sadly it has been discontinued. My SOTD is Leiber by Judith Leiber. I don’t believe that this one ever got a lot of love or exposure that it deserved, but it will always be one that is bear and dear to my heart.
I am reading a book that Cameron Diaz wrote on better health and eating clean and train your body well. It is on my Kindle and for the life of me I can’t think of the title. Anyway, a good fragrance I would wear or suggest others to wear while reading would be Orange Sanguine by Atelier. The scent is pure, natural, and clean just like the book.
Edit: near not bear
Wow, 3 compliments! That’s great.
Minding Robin’s injunction against political talk… but feeling very sad and worried for Parisians, Lebanese, and the world.
In Dzongkha.
Reading: Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets… a potted history of great men and some not so great men, and a few women (apparently). Still, at my age, it is good to get a history refresher from time to time.
I need those refreshers too…had to watch Wolf Hall with my ipad in my lap for historical references.
You may be Tudored out, but Dan Jones’ The Wars of the Roses is supposed to be quite good as well– the historical prequel to Wolf Hall.
Will look it up, thanks!
The Plantagenets sounds really good. Just put a hold on it at my local library.
I know people who live very near where the bombings in Paris took place. Pray for safety, calm and peace in Paris and the world.
I just started (re)reading a very important book by Jared Diamond called Collapse, which describes what has happened in the past when various cultures have had to adjust to changing ecological circumstances. It is extremely thought provoking, and in the end rather hopeful. I wish I could send a copy of it to every head of state and CEO of major corporations in the world…
And to lighten up from that I am listening to a cute alternative universe story called The Invisible Library on tape during my commutes, all about seeking a version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales in a steam punky sort of London with vampires and faery folk and dragons that take a sexy human form. Great good fun!
A needed counterpoint to the intensely real issues in “Collapse”.
SOTD = SSS Rose Musc…I were this practically every weekend, after someone at my office implied that it was a bit much in a meeting. 🙂
wear Rose Musc…why doesn’t stupid spell check understand basic rules of grammar? Oh that’s right, it’s stupid! Couldn’t be me….
“The World Until Yesterday” is good too. I have difficulty sticking with his books as he says the same thing multiliple times in different ways and I find it drives me nuts. It’s all about “traditional” societies, (99.9% of which have been eradicated) and what we can learn (or re-learn) from them. I think it’s his latest.
Just downloaded Collapse, and it might end up as xmas gifts to family this season. Thank you!
Another fan hee, although Guns, Germs and Steal is probably still my favourite. He can be a bit repetitive, as Deva says, and pretty black-and-white, but still fascinating. I like that he tackles the really big, meta questions.
Well, that was meant to read: “Another Diamond fan here” and “Guns, Germs And Steel”.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is set in Victorian England and Japan. It is a story of love and trust and a Clan na Gael bomb blast. There are several scenes in which characters notice Keito Mori’s lemon-scented clothes. And Matsumoto goes to Paris, so I imagine he wears Guerlain Eau de Cologne Imperiale when the scent of cologne from his coat envelops Grace.
Standing in solidarity with Paris and Team Civilization.
Good reads: just finished reading Connie Willis’s Blackout and All Clear, sci-fi time travel novels about life during the London Blitz in WWII. Very good, as all her novels are; really they are only tangentially sci-fi. (Read Doomsday Book before these two, though.)
Wishing I’d worn Chanel today, but I decided to do some sampling, and unfortunately the first sample was one of those hellaciously tenacious synthetic sandalwood things which is apparently impervious to scrubbing. Wonder what the half-life is for this accursed molecule.
Pixel, Can I join Team Civilization? I know I could lend something to help our team edge out the competition…
A big second to your Connie Willis recommendation. Mr. Aparatchick is a big sci-fi fan and got me started reading her with Doomsday Book which was so very good.
I think I need a Team Civilization t-shirt.
I could go for one too.
I’m in the midst of reading Maeve Brennan’s _The Long-Winded Lady: Notes from the New Yorker_; I’m thinking the Liebling collection recommended earlier might be a good companion piece after. Since Ms. Brennan wore Cuir de Russie, that would be the scent to wear while reading her bite-sized, wistful views of NYC in the 1950s and ’60s.
I was going to wear Paris YSL today because of yesterday. But I was meeting my sister for dinner and I know she’s not overly fond of it. So instead I chose Une Fleur de Cassie, a masterpiece of French perfumery, hoping that France will be able to keep it’s cool.
Robin, what a clever choice of picture for today!
I’m currently reading the last interview with Romain Gary, the famous French writer of Russian origin who fought in the RAF during WWII. It’s called “Le sens de ma vie” ( the meaning of my life) and it is beautiful.
It is clever of them to have that image as their Facebook cover…wonder if it always is? Had never seen their FB page before.
SOTD is Parfums de Nicolai’s Vanille Tonka. I keep thinking of those in Paris yesterday and Beirut the day before and remembering John Donne’s “No Man is an Island.”
I’m halfway through Jane Smiley’s Golden Age, the final book in her series following an American family through the last 100 years. Love the first two, the final one is hitting a little to close to home.
I can recommend Crooked Heart, by Lissa Evans, an author I finally got around to reading this year – and I’m so glad I did! It’s a darkly comic novel set in WWII Britain; it’s hard to imagine what scent would go with it, but perhaps a dark rose would fit.
And finally, I’ve mentioned this book before, but for anyone who’d like to read something to lighten the mood, let me recommend Shirley Jackson’s Life Among the Savages and Raising Demons, both recently re-published and both very funny.
Golden Age is on my reading list…
In the latest Jackson collection (Let Me Tell You), there were several domestic stories – a total surprise for me, as I had only read We Have Always Lived in the Castle from her. But I enjoyed her lighter pieces very much.
Just ordered Golden Age for my Kindle…
Love Jane Smiley! I’m a lover of short stories and was entranced by her “Ordinary Love and Good Will.”
Also, highly recommend William Trevor, who is never heard of outside literary circles. He’s just a brilliant novelist, (and has several short story collections as well) and for anyone of Irish background, so relavent to the cultural changes in that country over the past 100 or so years. He is the literate version of my father, who was born just around the corner and one year after Mr Trevor. He is incredibly subtle but deeply moving. A single sentence can take the reader through the entire spectrum of the human experience. Love him, can you tell?!
Oops! This was supposed to be upstairs under Aparatchick’s post.
Adding William Trevor to my “must-read’ list!
Hope you like him! He is a very restrained writer- the spaces between words speak just as profoundly as what he has written, if that makes any sense.
Agree…have 7 of his books (not sure how many he wrote but I think far more than that).
I’ve been alternating between historical fiction: Pargeter’s The Heaven Tree trilogy (excellent), and Rutherfurd’s London; and mysteries: Peters’s Brother Cadfael books, Gardner’s The Thames River Murder, and Edmondson’s A Question of Inheritance.
In my non-fiction category, I’m reading Merchants in the Temple by Nuzzi. This is an eye-opener!
Sending light to the City of Lights.
Love Edith Pargeter! Highly recommend “The Brothers of Gwynedd.” All about the ascent of Llewelyn Fawr and almost successful struggle for an independent Wales. Her writing is just superb and her characters so incredibly nuanced. My copy was all four in the series combined into one huge brick of a book that I could not put down. I think I put out my neck for a good month or two after reading that 😉
Yes! The “brick” just arrived from Amazon! I can’t wait to get to it. I also loved A Bloody Field By Shrewsbury and was in love with Hotspur!
Her writing is very lyrical and beautiful.
Speaking of Amazon, I noticed when I logged on earlier that they’re showing a black mast with the French flag and the word “Solidarite”.
One of my favorite songs from Madeleine Peyroux is J’ai Deux Amours. Je l’aime cela.
Here is the song with Paris scenery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftrHOd4TxVw
“I have two loves
My country and Paris.
By them always
Is my heart ravished.”
Beautiful! Thanks so much for the link.
Finally put on F. Malle Bois d’Orage, a pass-along from allgirlmafia. Thanks, I like this!
Had a humbling encounter at World Market. After I’d loaded up on seasonal goodies, I replenished my stock of Choward’s gum in the flat silver & purple box. At the register, the (male) cashier asked a co-worker if she’d ever smelled it. Then he said, “It smells like Indonesian teak, with patchouli and a bit of cinnamon!” I’ve chewed it for years and would never have broken it down that way, but I think he’s right. Oh, the shame….
Perhaps he is a perfumista in his spare time? Or, perhaps more likely, he loves smelling things 🙂 Nice insight from an unexpected source.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Paris.
Currently reading — Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lee Child. This is the latest in the Agent Pendergast series. All the books have a dark, supernatural quality to them. This book is set in a fictional seaside town with a salt marsh not far from it. I would wear Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt.
SOTD = Aftelier Vanilla Smoke Parfum — It lasted longer than the EDP (but that is not saying much because the EDP lasted barely 3 hours on me); everytime I think it’s gone, I get a tiny whiff. While I think it is very well done, as a vanilla / gourmand lover, this does not have enough oomph for me.
Speaking of gourmands, I don’t know what came over me today. I had my 20% off discount at Sephora and besides a Benefit primer, I bought Philosophy Fresh Cream Shower Cream and Fresh Cocoa Body Scrub. Yummm.
I’m a vanilla fan, too! *wink*
Oh, and not to enable or anything…PSA – Fragrancenet has free worldwide shipping through Nov. 16. I saw Australia and New Zealand and UK listed as qualifying destinations.
Another non-enabler comment–Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is having a 20% off sale with code “sparkle15” until Dec 14th.
OOOOOH.
*opens new browser tab…
I am also reading Agatha Christie, The Complete Miss Marple Collection. I’m commando today, but I would probably wear lavender or rose, in Miss Marple’s honor.
I just finished the Bangkok 8 detective series by John Burdett, which I probably read about in an earlier book poll here. The main character is the son of a Thai prostitute and American soldier of the Vietnam War and a police detective in Bangkok. I have somewhat somewhat mixed feelings about the series. I enjoy the plots, characters and perspectives on Asia and Buddhism, but mistrust the author’s rosy view of sex work.
“Finished” is not quite accurate, because the last book in the series so far ends with a cliff-hanger.
Manoumalia comes to mind, with its lush tropical flowers and hint of corruption.
Love the Bangkok 8 series! I need to see if there are some new titles- the last one I read was several years ago I think. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Wearing Addict, from an old partial bottle I found on ebay. Mmmmm love old Addict, it’s all top layer of vanilla pudding with a spicy floral and incense (or something like incense) finish that laaaaasts.
Hanging out with my mom today, there will be all our favorite things, like good coffee, a light lunch, and holiday shopping. I’ve got my comfy boots and cozy sweater, so it can only be a lovely day.
Peace to all.
What a nice day hanging out with your mom!
I have never tried older Addict but have smelled and loved it on a colleague.
I am wearing Bois d’Armenie. Somebody sent me a decant and I got hooked. It became one of my favorites. It is cold today but no snow yet.
To invoke happier memories of Paris, I am wearing Jo Malone’s Lime Blossom. I was introduced to the honeyed sweetness of linden blossoms during my walks along the Champs Elysées a few years ago and the only perfume that has come close to replicating these olfactory moments is MAC’s Honey.
On my desk, I have a copy of Georges Huisman and Georges Poisson’s Les Monuments de Paris; it’s one of the volumes from the Bibliothèque des Guides Bleus series. Intermittently flipping through it with a heavy heart.
“Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief” by L.Wright, wearing Cologne by Mugler. How to say: looking for spring fresh flowers into a winter snowing night.