Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! Welcome to February, and welcome to our annual winter 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.
(As usual, I am running behind. I am going to add my own recent reading in the comments later today.)
Note: the Reading Rabbit Garden Statue ("Our Reading Rabbit Garden Statue is a charming garden accent. And we could all learn a lesson from this clever rabbit: take time to relax and enjoy a good book.") is $40 at Plow & Hearth.
I’m in CdG Jaisalmer today and sneezing like crazy for some reason.
Harrowing three days at work, but I met an Alaskan bush pilot who was also an air traffic controller and boy, amazing (but way too short!) convo.
I love meeting people from all walks of life who are so diverse and have incredible stories. This is one of the perks of traveling in general and travel nursing in particular.
Also, I identified a patients country of origin, when all he could say was “no.” It was a post CVA patient, and while assessing him, because of expressive aphasia, all he could verbalize was “no.” I said “You’re Scottish!” He gave me a big smile (with half of his mouth). So terribly sad, but I was happy to see half a smile.
Forgot to add the book I’m reading. Great story about amazing and resilient people.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7uOqzgJu5W/?igshid=ifa9h5dak4kb
That book – and man- sound amazing. What an inspirational read. Thank you.
Love Carter!
Oops, sorry, this comment was meant for Jiji.
One of my favourite winter books is Collected short stories by Angela Carter!
Don’t read it all in one sitting, because it will be too much.
Fragrance to wear with it:
Anything mysterieus, opulent and/or slightly gloomy/gothic will do.
I think I can pair each story to at least two fragrances 🙂
my SotD is Mohur Extrait
Its really a fairy tale scent…and it makes me think of the story of Belle/beauty and the beast. Though its more for the beast than for Belle. Its so rich, its for a nobleman imo!
(Carter has some beauty and beast-stories as well…including an interesting Bluebeard variant with a twist).
Btw I tried Amouage Portrayal today. Woah. That is quite a big intoxicating jasmine. Almost bubblegum sweet. Just one spray and sillage and staying power is huge. I bet i can still smell it next wednesday ??
I dont know if it ads something to all the jasmine scents already on the market. But If you are a fan of very lush jasmine fragrances and want to announce your presence from 5 miles away, you should give it a try. ?
This is on my must try list, but I would have to save it for days at home.
Move over sista! 😉
I also got lots of banana from Portrayal.
Yup me too. And vanilla. The vanilla sticked like glue.
I loved Carter’s Bloody Chamber collection and agree it has to savoured.
We are scent twins today, I’m wearing Mohur extrait as well!
We smell great! ?
Another Angela Carter fan here! I recently read the biography ‘The Invention of Angela Carter’ by Edmond Gordon, it makes for a fascinating read, I loved reading about all the talented young writers on her post grad creative writing course, like Kazuo Ishiguro, and David Mitchell! One unique and talented lady, that’s for sure. So sad that she was misunderstood and under appreciated for much of her lifetime.
Chiming in to say that our doggo is mostly recovered. It took him seven days to recover from his emotional trauma and we took off the bandage and collar/cone today.
Congratulations to Tannina on your engagement. May you both have a long and happy life together.
Just finished reading a book by Layne Mosler called Driving Hungry. The three main characters are food, taxi-driving and tango. Light, but enjoyable.
SOTD: John Galliano
Did the manager ever call you back?
Hi lillyjo. No, she did not. I eventually decided that one cannot force people to be decent. I left a bad review, but had a bad and busy week (husband was on call for a whole week and then he gets so frazzled that he lost on different days his credit card, cell phone and house keys. Everything was either found or retrieved, but not without major drama beforehand.) and left things at that. Did the principal at your daughter’s school call you back? My youngest son is a different person since we moved him to his new school last July. Could that be something that you would be able to do?
so good to hear your dog is feeling better!
Have you had contact with the people who did this?
Were they able to acknowledge they did something wrong?
Thanks so much!
I’m so glad your dog is feeling better! I felt just sick when I read your post, poor little guy.
Thanks madtowngirl. I don’t always comment, but I enjoy reading about your adventures with your daughters.
?
Thank you,,Amytis
Good news your dog is feeling better. Puppy hugs to him.
Hugs to your little guy from ours!
Just went back to Tuesday to see what had happened: I’m so sorry for your dog 🙁 So relieved he is feeling better <3
Hello February! Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!
Also my birthday month later on.
I haven’t read anything recently except of new issue of NEZ Magazine.
Sotd is Van Cleef & Arpels Bois d’Iris.
Birthday month twins!
You smell marvelous! Happy early Birthday!
I’m on shift 3 out of 4 in a row in a tiny under-my-scrubs spray of Terre d’Iris by Miller Harris. This house always agrees with me.
Oh, and I remembered my rabbits!
I remembered to rabbit too. I have a couple of friends outside of NST who are doing it now, so I got messaged a couple reminders last night betfore midnight! 😀
Good luck with the shifts,you goodsmelling person!??
Hope it’s a good shift!
I’ve been doing a lot of reading in January, but the ones that stuck are as follows: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Hot Milk, Reservoir 13, Reservoir Tapes, The North Water and the amazing Skippy Dies, which has spilled over into February.
Heading out in an hour for a coffee and catching up. I might go in Bulgari Au Thé Noir or SL Serge Noire. Decisions to make…
Happy Saturday, everyone!
Hey Dusan! We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves has been on my iPad, waiting patiently, for AGES, since Erin recommended it. I will get to it eventually, and am going to go look up your others.
I’ve yet to be disappointed by a book endorsed by Erin (usually it’s the other way round, ha!). Let me know when you get round to WAACBO, I’d love to hear your impressions.
She is such an avid reader, she puts me to shame!
Book: I’m really into What Is Real, which is about the history of the debate among quantum physicists about whether quantum theory is “real” or merely a convenient way of doing calculations (um the book explains it better) and is full of all kinds of fun stories of physicists snarking at each other. My favoring insult so far is when Pauli says someone’s paper is “not even wrong.” Burn! Wear a perfume you know to be real.
Also I am starting a Perfume Confessions thread, mostly so I can whisper you mine: sometimes I look back at my previously worn perfumes on Basenotes just so I can feel smug about having good taste. The confessional is open, please feel free to unburden yourself below! I will assign penances, at least until my Pokemon date with my niece.
One of my favorite perfumes ever(Top 20-ish),is KISS for men.Yes KISS,as in Gene Simmons and the freaky white and black faces…they even have it printed on the box!Lol!
Feels good to confess.Haha!
Your penance is to get down on your knees and kiss the KISS. You are absolved! Also, now I want to try KISS.
Hahaha!!(There is a KISS for women as well..I have both.Lol!!)
Is there a Paul Stanley one?
No,it’s just the two KISS perfumes.The box and bottle shows artwork inspired by their painted faces.
As a KISS fan, I really should have this! And happy to know it smells good!
I remember seeing those KISS perfumes at ULTA years and years ago!
How did I miss this!?
I think it was sometime in the mid 2000’s, so those perfumes could be long discontinued by now. I just remember thinking “Huh, this is kind of unusual for ULTA…”
Here is something for you Lillyjo!??
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8DlzUjH3cy/?igshid=e224sx6z8d7y
That’s about the time I bought them,both for like $5 from a local discounter.I’ll post a pic on Insta just for you,Lillyjo!?
These are so awesome! Thanks!. And ha! This makes my first appearance on IG!?
Omg this book sounds amazing. I must read.
So non-perfume related, but related confession: when I was in university my dorm had a party and there was a girl over from another university who was majoring in art therapy, and having a fairly large crisis of “I don’t know if I even believe in this stuff I’m studying.”
So me (nuclear engineering undergrad) promptly said “look, I don’t know if I believe in what I’m studying either” and then spent the next 10 minutes explaining to her that no one has ever actually ***seen*** nuclear particles. So maybe they don’t exist, and it’s all a collective hallucination when we do science experiments. All we really genuinely know is, yeah the calculations mostly work out. Mostly.
But if it feels like we’re making progress and contributing to society… Does whether or not they’re actually real matter? Probs not.
And then I promptly felt like a horrible person for convincing her that nuclear particles were a potential lie in service of making her feel better about doubting her career path.
And then by a year or two later I was like “actually I was right, it’s just a working model that more or less works, but we have no idea what we’re actually doing.”
And then I joined the circus. True story! ?
Loved your confession 🙂
What a wonderful story – I think you’d LOVE this book. Your penance is to stop believing in perfume, because you can’t see it.
?? omg that is the funniest penance ever I am legit cracking up
« Any sufficiently developed technology is indistinguishable from magic. ». Another favourite quote.
I was an econ major who hung out with physicists. They would taunt me that economics was a mere social science, and by their logic, no more than an upstart philosophy. I responded that I totally agreed, but a philosophy trying to answer the question how to improve the lives of the most people.. Occasionally I would freak out fellow economist by saying a demand curve was not real, merely a metaphor.
Anyway, another book you may like: The Three Body Problem by Liu. Science Fiction from China. The Three Body Problem is a physics/math problem. If you have three suns in the same gravitational field, how do you predict the movement and paths of the suns, as their gravity pulls each other in and out of orbits. The problem is an existential crises for the inahabitants of a planet in this solar system, since the sudden appearance of nearby suns or disappearance causes mass extinction and dooms many civilizations.
On earth, a teenage scientist watches her father being murdered by the crowd during the Cultural Revolution, and then becomes one of the first Chineese to read Silent Spring, while she herself has been forced to join a forestry project to chop down central China’s interior forest. She comes to conclude civilization is doomed and humans should themselves be subject to vast extinction.
Years later, the great scientists are dying in mysterious ways. The police inspector on the case is possibly corrupt, possibly an agent of the Chinese political forces, and our hero is introduced to an extraordinary 3d computer game called the The Three Body Problem
Perfume Layer fragrances named Soliel/
One of my favourite physics insults was « He falsifies facts! » (from a non-native English speaker who really meant that the scientist in question interpreted results incorrectly in his opinion).
As for confessions, I don’t know where to start. How about, I buy backup bottles for perfumes I will never run out of, which I know is ridiculous?
I think many of us are guilty of that crime. Penance: Use two extra sprays the next time you wear one of those over-BuBed perfumes. Absolved!
Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!
We are taking a quick trip to warmer climes. I wore Bengale Rouge yesterday for the departure and it was a crazy day with snow to our west and rain rain rain the whole 10 hour way.
I confess to ordering a few travel
sprays from fragrance.net to sample while down south; Mom Guerlain Florale ( it got a great write up on Blog’lovin) and Cartier’s Baiser Vole to be exact. (No affiliation) I just want to throw the ball for the dog on the beach and hit our favorite hangout.
Happy weekend All.
O2/02/2020 is coming up it must be a magical day. Can this be a backwards and forwards emergency CP?
I like the 02/02/2020 suggestion!!
?
Yes, perfect!
How do you like the travel spray packaging?
They aren’t here yet – maybe 2 days more. Some of them look nice from the photo.
Throwing a ball for a dog sounds like the perfect weekend. Sigh. Enjoy!
Thanks, I’ll chuck one for you madtowngirl!
Darn, I forgot to rabbit again this morning. I just never remember. Today I’m trying out another excellent Malle from the Freebiemeet, Pour Monsieur. I love it! Though it leans a bit masculine, I would definitely wear this.
The most recent book I read was Pamela Bannos’s “Vivian Maier: A Photographer’s Life and Afterlife.” It’s an amazing story reflecting an enormous amount of research, yet highly readable, and including many photographs. This distinctive woman who worked as a nanny and led a secretive life as a street photographer became famous and “successful” only after her death, after several men who had purchased contents of her storage locker began to sell and publish them, in what turns out to have been an extremely complex case of copyright violation.The book is part art criticism, part social history of the Internet (sales began on eBay), and part detective story. I definitely recommend it.
And first recommendation I read sounds very intersting!!I need to read this.
Embarassed to admit I have not read ANYTHING recently,apart from management reports,Nursing Council news and theatre protocols…Will see if there are a few good suggestions today!
SOTD was indeed Chanel No.5 as planned,but in an interesting format:the Elixer Sensual.It’s a bodygel,SO fragrant and true to the perfume.Love it!!
SOTE is Pink Sugar,from a rollerball,and its a perfume oil.a Little goes a long way,but it’s actually not doing it for me tonigt(hot and muggy,20:37 and the temp reads 25 celcius)….
Happy Weekend everyone!
Good to see some of you on Instagram as well!
XO
I don’t think I would pick pink sugar for muggy weather. Too sticky!?
Totally.I’ll scrub in a minute…
You too, nice to see you on Instagram!
Thanks!Your foodie pics are awesome!And that doggie is so cute and funny!?
I’m confusing myself,I followed you and Nancy on the same day!Was thinking about Nancy’s doggie when I commented!Lol!
Yes, I’m the cat lady!
Yes you are and they are also adorable!??
My husband always says he has to read so much at work that it is not relaxing to him to come home and read 🙂
I hear him!Instead of reading,I’m always exploring new music when I am home after work!Eye are tired then,but ears need some sounds other than anaesthetic ventilators and patient monitor alarms!Lol.?
Yes, exactly, and then I am telling him to turn it down because I’m trying to read, ha!
SOTM is Cuir Mauresque – very cozy for coffee and crosswording. Later I’ll be doing laundry and nails while Mr. G watches a pre-season (or post-season? who cares?) soccer game. On books, I’ve been reading utter trash lately and would not want to recommend (or confess to) any of it to you. 😉
CM is beautiful. And so is trash lit! Fess up! ?
I couldn’t possibly – what if my idea of trash is someone else’s treasure? I could never ruin someone else’s reading experience. But I will fess up to some of my favorite go-to light reads (“light” not being at all equivalent to “trash”, btw): all of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories, all of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee books, nearly all of the Hercule Poirot stories, and the early romance novels by Mary Stewart (The Ivy Tree and Madam Will You Talk are two especially good ones).
Scents to pair with those? Wolfe wouldn’t appreciate perfume unless it smelled like food, and I think McGee would prefer nature to artifice. But Poirot has a very fine nose for scent, so fragrances to wear while reading about his adventures would need to be complex and perhaps old fashioned – Jicky comes to mind, or VdN. For Mary Stewart’s novels, something very feminine from the 50s or 60s – Chanel No. 5 or Balenciaga Le Dix maybe?
I LOVE the Hercule Poirot mysteries!!! And you’re right, he would have a very fine nose for perfume.
I can’t believe I waited so long to read the Nero Wolfe books (I read them all last year or the year before). They are just perfection.
Oh, I read my share of trash!
Hello!
Right now I am reading 3 books:
The Charioteer by Renault (are you sick of hearing about Renault ?)
Cleaness & Story Tellers of Marrakesh
My TBR pile ?: From Scratch, Daisy Jones & the Six, 9 perfect strangers, The Dutch House and several others..
Also (freebie), I have some samples and decants that need a new home if anyone in the US is interested..
Also my favorite In 2019 NonFiction book was Educated by Westover and for fiction Call me by your name and the sequal by Aciman
I have Call me by your name thanks to you!
What did you think? You have to read Find Me the sequel which in some ways I enjoyed a bit more since I attended a book reading with Aciman himself and he talked about the book from his point of view.
The Dutch House sounds interesting
It got a great review write up in the NYTimes, (not that that means anything…)
Nice to see you here hannahmom! 🙂
-Yawn- had a very very fun dinner out last night with friends who are in town. So fun! Did I say fun enough times?! Really enjoyable.
Today I am preparing for the Superbowl party we are hosting tomorrow, with a bunch of not-really-football-fans. Mostly it’s about the eating 🙂 But we will cheer on our 49-ers (until we lose interest)
No scent yet, will be sampling, arg, so many samples!!
I’ve read quite a few books lately, it seems. Everyone should read Factfulness by Han Rosling. Everyone! Learn to use that brain! Also ‘what if?’ by Randall Munro (xkcd guy). For less think-y stuff, I’ve just finished the latest Invisible Library book by Genevieve Cogman (The Secret Chapter) – librarians and dragons and interplanetary drama, what else could you want? And The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo. And for just-plain-fun, I’m working my way thru the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher – magicians and vampires and faeries in Chicago! But the best SF I’ve read recently is Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Can’t wait for the sequel to that one.
If you liked the Invisible Library I also highly recommend The Library of the Unwritten (Hell’s Library #1) by A.J. Hackwith.
An amazing read about unfinished novels, where they wind up, who might wind up looking after them and the power they could have.
Also features monsters, angels, demons, and a trip to Valhalla. Pretty awesome.
Oh that looks good, thanks!
I looked up Gideon the Ninth at my library. 179 holds on 29 copies! Now there are 180 holds. Thanks!
I love placing things on hold at the library. It’s always a fun surprise when it’s finally my turn.?
I love the Invisible Library series by Cogman! Since I listen to them on my commute, highly entertaining, but in one ear, out the other. So, I am listening to them all again so I can be up to speed for the latest one. Glad to know others are interested.
I am wearing Desarmant today. I am presently reading The Dutch House and enjoying it very much. I tried to read Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano but after 50 pages I realized I didn’t care about Edward so I put it aside and read Swim, Bike, Bonk by Will McGough. He decides to do the Hawaii Ironman on very little training. I liked it. I also read The Great British Baking Show Big Book of Amazing Cakes. There is a gingerbread loaf cake that I must make, but I’m skipping all the showstopper recipes, too much work. I reread all the Cormoran Strike novels because #5 is coming out sometime this year. Cormoran smells of sweat and tobacco, with a hint of deep-fryer chip fat. It sounds awful but is very comforting.
Meant to say that Hilary Mantel’s 3rd Cromwell book, The Mirror & The Light, is being released March 10 in the US. I already put a hold on a copy at my library.
Where is Kanuka the past few days? When I think of books she always comes to mind.
I enjoy the Cormoran Strike novels too… good to know there’s a new one on the way.
SotD Jorum Studios Phloem again.
Recent book recommendations:
Sci-fi fantasy:
Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickenson
Non-fiction:
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Ohhhh I am so curious about that one, it’s in my cart along with Timerious and ‘The Garden’ one who’s name I can’t recall.
Do you love it? Tell me more!
Okay, so: I loved ALL of them as compositions but some of them settled nicer on my skin than others and I think it does very much come down to individual taste.
I got the sample set and wound up able to pass them on to two people on Fragrantica because Euen McCall just ***gave*** me another sample set when I walked in the second time to purchase bottles of Nectary and Phloem because he had issues shipping to North America and wanted more people to be able to try the perfumes – what a sweetheart! I only wish I’d purchased the bigger bottles.
So:
(1) Nectary is SO. GOOD. It’s rose and oud which feels like it would be overdone but this fragrance is genuinely magnificent. It’s a thorny rose ripped from the bush during a dark storm blown in by the sea.
(2) Phloem is a hyper creative and challenging gourmand. It’s very sweet off the top and then smacks you in the face with a persistent/pungent nasturtium and a host of other competing smells. It’s like eating wasabi gelato, or honey mustard – super contradictory and stimulating. I love it to pieces but it won’t be for everyone.
(3) Trimerous is an absolutely beautiful, crystalline, cold iris perfume. Iris just isn’t my thing (heresy, I know).
(4) Arborist: fir and spruce, wonderfully executed but notes that I dislike on my own skin.
(5) Carduus: this one I loved so much in the tester, it’s really complex – but chamomile just goes so wrong on my skin. If you know and love the notes in it, I would still really recommend it.
(6) Medullary Ray: I never found words for this one. It’s beautiful and woody and almost savory, but wasn’t what I was looking for at the time.
Oh I’ve been hovering over this sample set for ages, you’re inching me closer…
Thanks so much for all this great information! There may be more than 3 to try now! I am really thinking about the Rose Oud one. Such wonderful descriptions! And wanting bigger bottles, that’s quite a compliment!
I’ve never heard of these, but you make them sound fantastic!
Digital Minimilism is on my must-read list. 😀
Wearing Lord of Misrule ( Lush) and reading Redshirts by John Scalzi. It is a reread of a funny sci-Fi favourite, but after finally being released from medical care after a year with a shattered wrist, and starting a new job 2 weeks ago, funny and predictable is just fine, thanks.
Thought of you the other day when I wore No.22. It’s been a long recovery for you. I wish you a great and uneventful year ahead!
Ditto!! You deserve a healthy new year. Good luck with all of it hannahmom!
That poor wrist is really for some beautiful perfumes.
Redshirts is fun 🙂 I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read from Scalzi.
Another new job? I was super lazy and stayed at the same place for 21 years, good for you! Glad to hear your wrist is better. I know 2019 was a perfume no-buy year for you. Any plans for this year?
Hope the recovery goes smoothly <3
Showered and lotioned in MB Muddled Plum.
Got up at 8 am to do two loads of laundry. (Even if I had wanted to stay in bed the jackhammer on 1st Ave that started at 8:15 am would likely have gotten me up anyway…)
Someone here had mentioned the Ruth Galloway stories by Elly Griffiths, so I’ve been working my way through them. My version of binge-watching a show that’s been on for years. Light, easy reading.
I’ll spend this weekend logging the book recommendations and checking availability at the library. I love this poll….
Laundry for me this morning, too! 😀 Thanks for mentioning Ruth Galloway. I love a series that’s an easy read.
SotD = Cologne du 68
yay for the book poll! I always look forward to this and make a long list of things to borrow from my library. NSTers are an amazing and interesting group. Thank you to Robin for brining us together.
Cd68 is always an easy choice, a good thing on a day like today when I’m easily distracted.
I went in my bedroom to get my bedside books, then thought since it’s a warm day I’d open the windows for fresh air. There was a large spider in the window frame, so I went and got a cup to catch it so I could take it outside. Now I’m wasting time googling spider pictures to see what it is. It’s a bold jumping spider:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_audax
The spider and I are sitting at my desk having a staring contest. I’ve eaten too much chocolate already today. I’d better get things on track.
Winter reading at the moment is –
Find Me, by Andre Aciman, which is set in Forence and Rome. I’d like to read it wearing Masque Milano Luci ed Ombre, for me the heartbreaking scent of love and longing. I love the tuberose in Luci ed Ombre, and I deeply long for a bottle. But it’s beyond me at the moment to purchase another FB.
Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress, by Christopher Ryan, which I’d pair with Hiris, a scent that for me feels old and modern at the same time. Ryan also co-authored Sex at Dawn, another anthropological look at civilization and the individual.
Posession: A Romance, by A. S. Byatt, a Booker Prize winner that is intellectual, mysterious, heartbreaking, and lovely. I’d like to pair it with Jardins de Bagatelle for the Victorian poets in the story, and for the gardens it is set in.
Sigh.
Possession made me cry the first time I read it. I’m reading it again as I’ve arrived at a time in my life when I enjoy a re-read, something I though I’d never do. It’s interesting to see if my perceptions and understanding of a story have changed over time.
Other changes in my reading habits . . . I stop reading a book if I’m not enjoying it. It used to be I’d finish every book I started. I feel the same way about movies and TV now, I stop after 10 minutes if I’m not enjoying something.
Which reminds me: I liked Ricky Gervais’ After Life series so much I might watch it a second time.
And I like to read more than one book at a time now. In the past I always read one book at a time.
Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. I’m looking forward to everyone’s scent choices and book suggestions.
Oh!I was not aware there was a new Aciman!On the list it goes!
It’s a good follow-up to Call Me by My Name. I hope you enjoy it, johanob 😀
Thanks!I hope to get to it asap!
AAAND I got it this morning!
Let the Sunday reading commence,high time!!
Thanks for the rec!!
??
How did you not know..I must of talked about that book everyday for a week on NST..ha! Reasons to visit NST other than perfume..
I also went to his reading and met him to sign some copies. He was very generous with his time and an interesting, humble man.
fabulous! I love getting lost in a novel on a Sunday afternoon. 😀
I agree with so much of what you’ve written.
I must seek out Possession.
Thank you!!
😀
I hope you will enjoy reading Possession. It was a life-changer for me, a book I needed to experience at a particular moment. I recommend it often.
Oh I loved Possession. Need to re-read it and see if my opinions change. Civilized to Death sounds intriguing.
Possession is definitely worth a re-read. Many of the “scholarly” references in the story are easy to find online now, I often stop reading to google a photo or history info. 😀
Inspired by chocolate marzipan I’m wearing Winter Woods. Thanks for the well wishes for my procedure – one of those things we need to do when we reach a certain age, it went well and I’m glad it’s over. Tonight my son is going to the high school “Sadie Hawkins” dance – they call it Snowball these days. It’s actually supposed to be snowing, which has created challenges finding a place for photographs of his group of 16!! boys and girls. The girls are running the show so we are just showing up at the appointed place and time, and waiting for our Uber assignments as none of the kids has a drivers license yet!
good for you on taking care of yourself! 😀
Hope you and your son enjoy the Snowball festivities. High school is an interesting time. My older teen kids also don’t drive, they Uber too. It seems to be the norm these days.
I just told my son last night that he needs to learn how to Uber.
ha! that’s a good idea. My son taught me how to Uber 😀
It really does. My son didn’t get his til he was 21 and my 19 college daughter doesn’t have hers yet either.
such a change from my experience. My friends and I lined up at the DMV on our sixteenth birthdays.
Yep. I remember getting my learner’s permit as soon as I could!
It was a rite of passage when I was a teen!Got mine on my 17th birthday!
Same here! And my 21 year old son has shown very little interest.
Glad it went well!
Happy Saturday. I forgot to Rabbit as usual. Wearing BK Amber Oud.
I’d love suggestions for books similar to the Ruth Galloway (Elly Griffiths) series or Gemma James (Deborah Crombie) or even Dick Francis/Tony Hillerman type. They don’t have to be mysteries, but while I do read more profound/educational books, I really like to read a few minutes before bed and I don’t want to read about something super disturbing/difficult at that time. I love reading books set somewhere else or including interesting information about another career (like England/archaeology in the case of Ruth Galloway) along with the story. I welcome any thoughts!
Have you read any of the Georgette Heyer mysteries?
She’s an at-least-somewhat-famous authoress who first began writing to entertain her brother when he was convalescing from an illness.
She is considered a “Regency romance” novelist – but they are much more in the line of genuine Jane Austen than contemporary romance novels (a rare kiss is as racy as it gets). No bodice-rippers, just delightful, charming characters. “The Grand Sophy” is my favorite.
However she also wrote a number of mystery books and they’re quite fun as well.
Perfect – thank you!
Anything by Elizabeth Peters. Amelia Peabody is an Egyptologist in a time where women were not supposed to be educated. Her archeological adventures in early 20th century Egypt are fun and interesting, mostly because Amelia takes no guff from anybody. there As a plus, there is a Master Criminal as an antagonist. Really–that’s what she calls the villian.
Excellent! Thanks.
I’ve started the Gemma James series, thanks to (if I remember correctly) you! Here’s my recommendation, to return the favor: James Doss, and his Charlie Moon mystery series.
SotD is Eau des Merveilles. I haven’t worn this one in such a long time! I remembered the rabbits when I woke in the middle of the night.
I made the mistake of going to Trader Joe’s this morning. Oof, I should have known better than to go on a Saturday when all the suburbanites come into the city. I am not there to browse people, I am there to get @#$& done!??
I can’t remember the last time I read for pleasure, the last thing I read for not pleasure was by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.? I have gotten good lists from this poll in the past though, so I look forward to everyone’s picks.
Also add to the fact it’s Super Bowl weekend….Trader Joe’s is perfect for all that food…
Oh right-almost forgot about that!?♀️
yay for EdM, you smell faaaaaaantastic!
Saturday shopping cart traffic is the worst. I try to go to TJ’s on Saturday morning right when it opens at 8 am or at about 8 pm. Both times are quiet at my store. 😀
Thanks! I knew you would approve.?
Yes, in general I try to run my errands when I have a day off during the week when it’s much less busy.
Rabbit , rabbit, rabbit! SOTD is Mon Precieux Nectar, thanks to a generous sample from a generous NSTer! Sweet tho it may be, I see a bottle of this in my future…
I love MPN. 🙂
I am reading three books right now. The first: Mistress of the Ritz on CD in my car during my commute. Since Coco Chanel lived there 34 years, Chanel No. 19 is the fragrance to wear while reading this. The second: The Psychopath Inside by James Fallon, a researcher who did genetic research and found that he carried the gene. For this book, BPAL Mr. Quibit. Finally, La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman, the prequel to the His Dark Materials series. For this one, Demeter Snow which has notes of soil and dust then adding a little Thunderstorm by Demeter with the scent of Petrichor on top.
Ooh! Don’t know if it would float your boat but Confessions of a Sociopath by M. E. Thomas is also quite interesting and tangential to James Fallon’s “The Psychopath Inside.”
It’s fascinating but definitely not an easy read. The author comes off as repetitive and self-aggrandizing to the point where you wonder how much of her memoir is exaggerated to frame her in a different/better light.
IMO it’s debatable if she makes a cogent case for diagnosable sociopaths such as herself having a net benefit to society, as she very much glosses over the most harmful behaviors she enjoys while making much of what she does that *isn’t* reprehensible.
But still, it’s really illuminating (if tremendously uncomfortable) to get inside the mind of someone who really does view themselves and others through a completely different lens.
I can’t even imagine the perfume for that one, but I’m sure Black Alchemy Labs would have some thoughts!!!
Thank you for the recommendation! I enjoy reading nonfiction scientific books. Have you read either the one about the discovery of blood transfusion in the 17th century (Blood Work: A tale of medicine and murder in the scientific revolution) or Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers?
NO but they just got added to my very long Keep list that this thread is producing! Thank you for the recommendations!
Really liked both of these. Mary Roach does some interesting, funny and accessible research.
I really enjoyed La Belle Sauvage and the follow up, The Secret Commonwealth.
I wish I’d enjoyed the recent HBO series more than I did. It just never pulled me in as much as the books did.
I watched the first season, as well. They needed more daemons.
What I’ve read since the fall poll (and for anyone who missed that one, https://nstperfume.com/2019/10/05/lazy-weekend-poll-fall-reading-list-edition-1/ )
Still reading Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, currently at 81% done. That means I might finish by the spring. It is fascinating, but also works like how I imagine Ambien might work…
I read Stuart Kells Library: Catalog of Wonders because someone here recommended it, and they were right, great book, and easy to dip into when you have a few extra minutes because all the chapters are short and self contained.
I adored Philip Pullman’s Secret Commonwealth.
I read 3 more books by Robertson Davies: Tempest-tost, Leaven of Malice and Mixture of Frailties. Liked them all but the first was best.
I read the bits of David Sedaris Calypso that I hadn’t already read in the New Yorker.
I skimmed David Sinclair’s Lifespan. I probably missed all the bits that would have made me live longer.
On the mystery front, I read the 4th through the 9th books in Dorothy Simpson’s Thanet series (they are quick reads). I read Kate Saunders The Secrets of Wishtide because it was recommended in the Guardian Crime column (and one of the few there that didn’t sound too gruesome for me). I read the latest Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway because someone here reminded me that it existed. I read 3 old school british mysteries by the very funny Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop, Swan Song and Love Lies Bleeding. My current mystery is Rennie Airth (highly recommend him in general, although this one is not my favorite) The Decent Inn of Death.
It has been a long stressful day already so I cannot come up with decent fragrance recs, but Philosykos always works for reading.
Thanks, these are great recs.
Most of these sound great, especially the Edmund Crispin series. Thanks, R!
Mr L is reading the Warburgs by Chernow (the same author as Hamilton, which he enjoyed immensely )
Ah, interesting. I was thinking I might eventually read the Grant one. But first I think I will read American Sphinx, can’t remember author, about Thomas Jefferson.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! ???
No book recommendations from me. I don’t seem to have the attention span that books require lately. On the plus side, I managed to give Spooky kitty her first at-home shot of the new medicine. It required both humans to get it done, though.
SOTD = L’Artisan Voleur de Roses again today.
That must have been tough. Congrats on getting the shot done. I remember having to give my cat Sherbert (RIP) just regular medicine and it was an exausting fight.
The worst part was realizing that I had to do the stick. Mr. Jalapeno was better at wrangling Spooky. As soon as we let Spooky go, she was more or less fine. It was the restraining that freaked her out.
It is MUCH easier giving Spooky a shot than it is a pill!
Good job cat wrangling!!!!!
We’re so lucky our current two do Pill Pockets… but one of them has hated the carrier since moving from the West Coast, so we do still have a mini-battle for vet visits.
So far, the two cats I have now are champion-class pill spitters. I haven’t tried Pill Pockets yet, though. I can easily imagine the cats refusing to eat the Pill Pocket. They are surprisingly picky about their treats.
I would have been stressed as well to give an injection, this is an achievement. Hope it will do her much good. Spooky is such a good name, mine was named Schnooky.
Needles freak me out, so I had to do some quick mental gymnastics in order to give Spooky her meds. Her name fits her perfectly, as she is a black cat who (unfortunately) is afraid of almost everything.
I would warmly recommend the collected short stories of Katherine Mansfield, in particular, Bliss (Clinique Wrappings ) and A cup of Tea (Guerlain Liu). I was up early and organizing the second shelf of the perfume cabinet. Yesterday I was wearing Au Pays de la Fleur d’Oranger Neroli Blanc, such a natural perfume, on Fragrantica there is complaint about the smell of orange blossom oil in it, but this is what I enjoy about this perfume, it is a little bit heady full of natural ob. The Neroli Blanc Intense which is rated higher was too sweet for me.
Oh yay for shelf no.2!
Thank you Lillyjo, I’ve already rescued some bottles from the back to the front, like Balenciaga Rumba which I am wearing today.
You smell great, love VdR. And yes, what animals seem to hate most is the being restrained part – except for nail trims, which cause unbelievable drama.
Thank you cazaubon!
Giving a kitty a shot is very tricky 🙁 good job!
Good job on the wrangling! Spooky will start to relax on the handling I bet. We went through so many tries to get meds into our Hallie until we started transdermal. She freaked at being held….two hands, two hands!!! (She could only handle one hand on her). Now, she’s pretty relaxed about it, which is nice.
FM Lipstick Rose for this cool Sunday morning. My reading is all academic lately, so nothing to recommend.
Hope it is the enjoyable sort of academic reading…
I have been pretty lazy and trying to find something new to binge watch on TV. There are so many free apps on my fire stick but when I open them, I would have to pay to watch whatever I want to watch. Yesterday and this morning, I was in the Amouage Epic body stuff and I am about to switch over to vintage Shalimar. One of my favorite authors is releasing a new book in August. I couldn’t really get into Jen Lancaster’s fictional stuff but I like her memoirs.
My husband and I just started watching Prime Suspect Tennison on prime and I think it’s really good. It’s set in the 70’s so I’m loving the fashion and music.
I loved PS so much that I was afraid to try PST…glad to hear it’s good.
It’s so sunny today that I can barely see the screen while I’m typing!?
I’m wearing The’ Pour un E’te’ which is a fabulous perfume that I would never have known about if not for the kindness of Nsters. For anyone who cares today, I hope you’re team wins, and that Bill Murray doesn’t/ didn’t see his shadow ?
Lol. Phil didn’t see his shadow so spring is on the way!?
It’s sunny and 50 here too, after 11 days of gloom!?
Woohoo! It’s supposed to be 48 today but man is it ever windy. Not complaining though, I swear!
Rabbit rabbit rabbit! Hello NSTers. I linger here often and have shied away from posting a lot, but I am determined to get over that.
I’ve just finished Normal People by the Irish writer Sally Rooney. I stuck with it, but didn’t love it. I’ve heard that there is a film in the works as well.
Yesterday I started two other books – Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and There There by Tommy Orange. The latter was difficult reading at night so I decided to stick with Crawdads and finish that book first, then get back to There There when I am not trying to fall asleep.
My scents of late have been all about tea. I’m sampling Qi by Ormonde Jayne. It’s incredibly long lasting for a tea scent. And it doesn’t have some of that extra (too much) woodiness that OJ scents brings forth on my skin. Alas, the price…sigh .
Also Tea Verte by DSH Perfumes, a beautiful minty citrus concoction that has me snorfling my wrist until it’s gone, which is after about an hour and a half. Being that it’s on sale, I bought more and am spraying it lavishly.
I’m also sampling Masque Russian Caravan. I like it.
Any tea scents you all like? (I have and love Bvlgari Blue & Green as well.)
Have a great week, everyone!
Well hallo,and welcome!It’s good to delurk here,everyone is just themselves.
I am stealing your word:snorfling!!
LOVE THAT!!Hahaha!
Have a good week!
?
Thank you Johanob! Have a good week, too!
Snorfles…
Good to see you again Bronuraur! I agree, Qi is lovely but I don’t need a ton and the price makes me wince. Right now I’m into Replica Tea Escape, which smells like genmaicha to me, and Hermès Osmanthe Yunnan.
Hey there Rayleighblue, hope you’re well! I will put Replica Tea Escape on my list of tea scents to try – thank you. I think I tested Osmanthe Yunnan many years ago and I cannot remember anything about it.
It’s very light and doesn’t last long, but it’s a lovely dry, leather tinged osmanthus and oolong!
Is Russian Caravan the same as Russian Tea?
Yes I think the idea behind the Masque perfume was to liken it to Russian Caravan tea. The perfume has a bit of berries and wood as well. I’ve been wanting to try the Russian Caravan Tea by CB I Hate Perfume, too.
Normal People has been on my list for ages but I never seem to be in the mood for it, so glad to hear you didn’t love it, ha.
Yea, it just left me cold.
Oh! I meant to mention the best book that I read in 2019 was Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. An astonishing look into the Troubles of Northern Ireland.
Adding to my list, to read when I am less stressed than I am now 🙂
Nice to see you again!
Thanks Jalapeno!
I have to confess that work reading is so tiring that I go straight for junk reading when I have the chance, and my preferred vice is fan fiction. Why bother even pretending anything is plausible? And Chergui is always a lovely cold weather pick me up (thank you generous NSTer!). SOTD is Nice Bergamot from some samples and it’s very pleasantly summery to go with a warm winter day.
Oh interesting, I have never read any fan fiction and always feel like there is probably a lot there that I would like.
It’s extremely hit or miss, but some are very well written and hilarious, or sad, or whatever you’re in the mood for. I’m a fan of looking for books that I thought we’re kind of meh and seeing if anyone’s written a more interesting story with the same characters.
Well that seems like a good way to approach it! It occurs to me now that all the bad sequels to Pride & Prejudice I’ve read were fan fiction.
I remembered to rabbit! Somehow I managed to read 9 books in January. (Was it just me or was that a really long month?) Of those I would recommend “The Body” by Bill Bryson, “Such a Fun Age”- Kiley Reid and “Night Tiger”. (can’t remember the author)
Currently reading “Janis Her life and Music”. SOTD is Agent Provocateur.
How is Janis? I read a very trashy biography of her when I was a young ‘un, and should go back now and read something decent. I did hear the author on Fresh Air, it was really interesting.
So far it’s great. I think I also read that trashy bio;) First album I ever bought was “Pearl”. I think I was nine or ten. First concert was David Bowie. Man, I miss the seventies.
Thanks eldora! We had Pearl in the house but it was my mother’s, & I did not realize til years later how hip my mother’s taste in music was.
I’ve got the Janis bio on my list as well. Agent P. Is one of my favorites, too!
Book Recommendation. Anything by Donald Westlake and once you’ve read all of his books, try anything by Richard Stark,. The Richard Stark novels are also written byDonald Westlake, who used that pseudonym for his “hard boiled” crime novels. The Westlakes novels are usually humorous crime stories.
In Smoke, two scientists try to eliminate skin cancer by eliminating melentonin.but go too far and create a serum which turns one invisible When they catch a burgler trying to rob their lab, they try it on him. Invisibility, of course, has certain advantages for a thief, but his girlfriend is less than charmed. Perfume Recommendation “Due” or any of those “just skin but better” scents
Good Behavior- Dortmunder is the finest plan of complex robberies there is; it is hardly his fault that some incident no one could possibly anticipate causes things to go awry. So when a tiny convent blackmails him into rescuing a postulate who is being “deprogrammed” away from her vocation at the penthouse of a massive New York office tower, Dortmunder’s planning failed to account for a hidden army of mercenaries planning a coup against a South American government, a porn entrepreneur/conwoman or the charitable wiles of the young nun herself. Perfume Recommendation: Eau de New York.
Over the decades, Dortmunder’s robbery schemes reflected the times. In the sixties, the Hot Rock concerned the holy icon of competing newly emerged African nations and rivals for a seat in the UN. In the seventies, Dortmund tries to steal an entire bank from its temporary location at a construction site. By Westlake’s final novel, “GET REAL,” the cashless economy and omnipresence of security cameras dries up opportunity for honest crime, and Dortmunder and his gang resort to playing thieves on a reality tv show. Perfume Recommendation: Heiress, or anything licensed by the first “reality” superstar Paris Hilton
Laying on sofa with kindle in hand, right foot raised on pillow with ice upon it.
I got up the other day from my desk and my foot was asleep so of course I rolled right over on it. Badly sprained, swollen and black and blue.
Am reading every snippet of every sample I have downloaded over past few months to kindle. Every time I finish one I let myself play a game of scrabble.
Listening to Brene Brown Dare to Lead in car, have Dutch House and Long Bright River on deck.
I like Brene Brown. I work with so many dysfunctional leadership groups daily to get them to align that her lessons of vulnerability and courage are good practice. Just bringing up the word vulnerable can send people running from the room.
Not a football watcher, but has so many things lined up to stream starting with The Cave then onto more documentaries.
SOTD is Passage d’enfer.
Sorry about your ordeal. Take care! (and you smell nice)
OW! Sorry to hear about your ankle sprain.
That’s so true- about using the word “vulnerable”.
Hope your ankle heals quickly!
I have a Kindle and could loan you some books. Mostly I have romances of various sorts (lol) and mysteries, but I also have a few books about perfumes. You can e-mail me at neyronrose at gmail dot com to discuss further. 🙂
I think I was commando all weekend. Ironically, on Saturday I just stayed home and read. I finished the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. It starts with the book Soulless. There were some aspects I liked about the books, and some I wasn’t thrilled with. I enjoyed some of the humor. I liked that gay and lesbian characters were represented at least as side characters, but the gay characters for the most part had very stereotypical mannerisms and interests, so I didn’t think the representation was necessarily that great.
I think I read pretty much light stuff over the holidays — fluffy fiction novellas. I’ve been reading the online versions of “The New York Times” and “Washington Post,” and I tend to end up reading the newspaper for a couple of hours at a time when I’d only planned to read one article. 🙂
I read the first three in that series back when they first came out. How many are there now? I should pick the series up again.
Hello all! I haven’t been here in forever. First, I was in a no buy and this site is just oh-so-triggering. Then I fell into a “going commando” slump. Just wasn’t vibing the fumes.
Found my joy for scent again this week. It’s been fun reading through the last few SOTD. (And yes, it was totally triggering, but since I’ve not shopped for anything but groceries and essentials since this started, and my money is going towards small businesses that I hope manage to survive this… I’m not going to beat myself up.)
Yesterday I enjoyed: Diptyque Tempo, Dior Addict, HdP 1969 and… something else I don’t remember. One benefit of SIP: I can sample all day, and annoy no one.
This morning I tried Sarah Baker’s Leopard, from an Olfactif sampler I hadn’t even opened. This one is meh headed towards dislike: a sour, woody rose that doesn’t feel special. Don’t get cardamom or pepper at all. Good thing I guess, since her stuff is expensive. So many other roses to love! This one is immediately going to the giveaway pile.
As for reading, I’ve just started Christopher Moore’s Practical Demonkeeping. I am so not in the mood for drama in any form right now—books, TV or news!