Welcome to our 6th annual fall reading poll! Please recommend a great book to add to our fall reading lists, and tell us what fragrance we should wear while reading it.
Or, as always, just talk about something else, and of course, do report your fragrance of the day if you like.
What I've read since the summer poll:
On the fiction front, I finished Javier Marías Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear, Howard Norman's Come to the Window, Armistead Maupin's Mary Ann in Autumn, Claire Keegan's So Late in the Day (short stories), and Colm Tóibín's Nora Webster.
The book I will scent this time is Kate Atkinson's Death at the Sign of the Rook, book 6 in her Jackson Brodie mystery series. It's a bit of a departure from the other Jackson Brodie books — a comic take on a classic British country house murder – and it would probably be a perfect fit with something from the Penhaligon's Portraits series, but instead I will scent it with the memory of Floris Malmaison. It's currently Saturday morning and I'm wearing Aedes de Venustas Oeillet Bengale because that's the closest I can manage to Malmaison.
Other mysteries I finished: The Last Word by Elly Griffiths, Fear in the Sunlight and The Death of Lucy Kyte, both by Nicola Upson, and The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi.
I read 3 non-fiction books: Jessica Mitford Hons & Rebels, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert L. O'Connell, and the hysterically funny The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. If you're a used-bookstore sort of person and you aren't put off by snark and general curmudgeonliness, do give it a read! I'm currently in the middle of (the very long!) Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Note: top image is At a Favorite Book Shop [cropped] by Bill Smith at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hello and happy weekend!
I am suuuper late to the game and I am playing catch up on the easy mystery series of Stephanie Plum the bounty hunter. I think there are 31 in total and I am halfway through book 9.
Light humour, some romance and action. Not bad for light reading.
Those are great books. Not sure the number of them that I have read. I love the grandmother in them. She is a hoot.
She sure is! I hope to have as much sass and energy when I’m her age.
Stephanie Plum is ageless! I remember reading those books back in the 90’s. I was a pretty avid fan until one day I wasn’t.
There was early hilarious ones, and then was a period in the middle where the quality got a little thin.
for my taste. A few of the latest ones are a little meatier…
Happy to hear that the books will improve again. That gives me the motivation to read all of them!
The author made it clear that she’ll be perpetually 30. Suddenly being in the dangerous bounty hunter business seems like a cheap price to pay for eternal youth. Ha.
Glad you are enjoying Jersey Girl Stephanie Plum…I live about 10 minutes from where her stories are set, and recognize many of the locals in the books…great fun!!
That is so cool! I often wonder if the restaurants or neighbourhood are real or complete fiction. I’d love to spend a day in the area, that’ll surely make reading the books that much more enjoyable.
I actually read something this quarter: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which to my discredit I had never read. What a strange little story, and so different than the movie. One of the male characters wears Knize. Holly would wear Fracas, I think.
I remember reading that book back in….1996 🙂 I have a memory of a description of Holly wearing 4711. There may be nothing to my memory-but as soon as I read your comment that’s where my mind went. Did you enjoy the story? I liked the movie so much I think I preferred it to the book.
Yes, you’re right! 4711. I love the story. The book has two other Capote short stories so I’ll be diving into those as well.
The current book I am reading is The Last Empress by Anchee Min. Wearing Eau Premiere today. When I go to Stan Hywet tomorrow, I will wear either Shalimar or Lyric but nothing is set in stone.
Enjoy Stan Hywet, Dawn, and hope it is as gorgeous there as it is here today.
I’m wearing Trayee today but really wanted to wear l’Elephant, which I would have bet my life had cinnamon in it. Call me dead because I don’t see it on any note list I looked up. Anyway, quite happy with Trayee from my travel spray.
As for the poll, once I had to come back to civilization over the summer I hardly read a real book at all. Too much time futzing around on the good ol’ internet. The books I read I passed on to a co-worker at the summer job. I did just download “Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong and What it Means for Our Health” by Marty Makary. Anyone interested in US medicine, be you a patient or a doctor, might find it interesting and engaging. I linked a review here:
https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/blind-spots-when-medicine-gets-it-wrong-and-what-it-means-for-our-health
He has another written in 2020 that I want to read next called “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Healthcare and How to Fix It.” Yep, it’s broke down on the side of the road like an old Ford truck and I don’t think it’s going to be up and running anytime soon. 🙃
Happy weekend to all! Last night it didn’t get below 65F and I’m at 7750 ft in pines of the North Rim. This weather is crazy. I’m appalled and honestly a bit frightened at how fast things are changing. 😬
Blind Spots does look interesting, thanks Deva!
We got down in the 50s last night, but still join you in being worried. Weather has changed dramatically in the 26 years I’ve lived here.
Worry by Alexandra Tanner is one of my favorite books of the year. It’s about a woman whose life is upended when her younger sister moves in with her, and it’s really funny. Due to the age of the protagonist, I’d wear something popular with millennials like Delina, BR540, or Phlur Missing Person.
Worry looks like fun, thanks!
I am in PMdP Milky Musk today as I may be outdoors tailgating before the UW Husky football game, although I will go home to watch the game on tv. Tomorrow will be Theorema.
Since I was sick all last week (which I know I’ve already mentioned here ad nauseum) and wanted something light-ish (finally feeling better), I read through Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club mystery series which I found delightful, although I loved the first one the best. I’d like to scent each main character, but let’s say CB I Hate Perfume In the Library would work well for reading these. Also, PSA that Netflix has made a film of the Thursday Murder Club with a great cast including Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, Ben Kingsley and Pierce Brosnan. Should be a hoot!
On the docket in no particular order (I have them on hold at my library for next available):
The Wedding People – Alison Espach
The Big Burn – Timothy Egan
The End of Drum-time – Hanna Pylväinen
Coming to My Senses – Alice Waters
Once Upon A Time
The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy – Elizabeth Beller
Iron Lake – William Kent Krueger
I really enjoyed The Wedding People. I failed to include this in my list of books I recently read.
I am looking forward to it.
I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Go Huskies!💜
Go Dawgs!
I loved coming to my senses, and want to read the book about Caroline Bisette-Kennedy.
Love love love that series (Thursday Murder Club)! They’re just so delightful and fun.
SOTD is Shalimar EDC. I don’t think that it really goes with any of the books I have recently read. TBH the books I read this quarter I was not that fond of for the most part.
Two books I did enjoy were:
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker-The genres listed are literary fiction/thriller/mystery/feminism. It is a story about a mother that has secrets from her past that come to cause havoc in her life.
What Have You Done by Shari Lapena-She writes psychological thrillers and I thoroughly enjoy most of her books. This was no exception.
Two books I read that I thought were very slow and disappointing, but others gave rave reviews on were:
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters and Colored Television by Danzy Senna. Both of these were book club picks and though I finished both, I could just not get onto them. I am sure many of you have read these two and have different opinions. I would love to hear others take on these books. I must be missing something.
I am looking for a new mystery/thriller author…would you say Lepena-She is gruesome/violent?
I would say some of the best thriller books IMHO are by B.A. Paris, Frieda McFadden, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, Liv Constantine, Sarah Pekkanen, Rachel Hawkins and Linwood Barclay. All of these authors have many books to choose from. Many are excellent! I do like Lapena, but this has some domestic violence so you may not like it as well as books by these other authors.
That you! Of all of those, the only name I know is Ruth Ware. Will do some investigating, no pun intended…
Well, hmm. The academic world is abuzz with an article in a recent Atlantic saying that university students don’t read books any more–at all. I had doubts about it but I retired five years ago, pre-Covid, and reams of people are chiming in to say it’s true. Also they say their students report they weren’t required to read a single book in high school. I taught in our Honors program where we did some variation on standard two-semester Great Books and they had to do LONG readings (Odyssey, Aeneid, Herodotus, Plato…. on up through Rousseau, Hume, Woolf, Freud….) and most of them actually DID it. I’m shocked at the idea of students or young people not reading books for their own enrichment or entertainment. But I don’t have kids and am not teaching any more, so I don’t really know. It’s discouraging though.
I admit I’m not the kind of reader I used to be, so maybe I’m another victim of the social media addiction problem, though in my case at least I watch k-dramas or full length movies. (I’m not constantly scrolling.).
Having said all that, I’ll mention that my book discussion group has just finished James Joyce’s Dubliners and we’re now going to read a book of Tolstoy short stories. I admit to not much liking the Dubliners as it’s so gray and bleak and his portrayals of most characters don’t make them very sympathetic, although The Dead is sublime. Wow. I’ve just read (or re-read) The Kreutzer Sonata and The Death of Ivan Ilyich and they reminded me why I used to love the Russian writers so much (in my own college days): such wonderful story-tellers! I’ll read the rest of the stories soon too but meanwhile I also bought his novel Resurrection, which I’ve never read, and maybe I can report on that later. And does all this perhaps mean it’s time to re-read War and Peace?
I heard the same about books and students. If there is a required book, almost all professors have opted for short (er) books because the students just will not read longer works. But, if you listen to people speak in public- from everyday people interacting to people in positions of responsibility, to people on social media, you can easily hear that lack of reading in their vocabulary, sentence structure, and unimaginative thought processes. I’m just as guilty, so I’m not finger pointing as have 4 books next to my bed, unread. 🤷🏻♀️
I haven’t seen that article, that’s interesting. I think it depends on the kid. My 3 were all avid readers growing up and my oldest (28) reads a lot and fancies himself a bit of a literary snob lol. He’s introduced me to authors I’ve never heard of. My middle (24) is very busy with grad school and I know she’s not reading anything for leisure during the semester but will read over winter break and summer. My youngest (19) is the most voracious reader of the 3 and she is always reading. She’s my kid that read the entire Harry Potter series the summer she was 8. 8! She’ll often have several books going at once. She has a huge bookshelf in her room here at home and when we put it together she said to me, “I’ll be sad to leave all my books when I go to college.”
So, long story short, some university student are still reading Calypso.😊
That’s very good to hear!
Your daughter and my son were kindred spirits. He was reading Harry Potter series in kindergarten. All three of mine were readers like your three but now as adults with busy lives they don’t read like they used to.
Actually I take back what I said, they read for work and graduate school but rarely for pleasure, just like me.
Here’s a link to a blog that is prominent in philosophy. He gives a gift link to the Atlantic article, so you can read it there. https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2024/10/do-your-undergraduates-have-trouble-reading-whole-books.html
Interesting about Dubliners, because read it so long ago that I don’t remember it being bleak, but that’s probably because The Dead is the only one that has really stayed with me.
Reread Anna Karenina instead 🙂
Aw…I adore Dubliners. Probably *because* of the grayness and bleakness. Agree The Dead is wonderful.
On the other hand, I’ve never had much success with Tolstoy.
Go figure.
I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, usually only in planes these days. Or short books that I can finish in a long bath.
Hi, all you well scented people, hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.
I’m still just reading articles on the internet so no books to add.
Today I’m wearing one drop of vintage Coco parfum and huffing myself, it smells so good!
You smell divine and utterly huffable!
Mmm, I bet it does!
vintage Coco is pretty special. Coincidentally a few female chefs I know all wear Coco. Love it!
Finishing Long Island by Colm Toibin in the car.
Starting Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin on audible.
Awaiting new Michael Connelly release.
Rereading Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin.
Am lucky if I get through the NYT every day.
Must fill out my voting card today and mail on Monday.
Will see my sister four weeks from today!
Post shower – SOTD will be Volutes.
I loved Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking. Need to look for her other books.
Do, she is so good.
I loved all Laurie Colwin’s books. She died way too young.
Way too young.
Happy All the Time is a great book. First read it for a book club discussion, now I want to read it again.
I am still stuck in the photo of yesterday’s cinnamon rolls and wish I had one. No scent yet today but I think it will be Infusion d’Iris Absolue. My haircut is wonderful, just below my ears, enhances my natural wave, can be styled by scrunching. I’m in love!
I read nothing of any substance this past quarter, it was all fluff to counteract my increasing anxiety about the coming election. I did enjoy the latest Sparks and Bainbridge mystery, “Murder at the White Palace.” The characters continue to grow and that’s always good. I also read “The Fourth Wing” in a genre I hadn’t heard of before called “Romantasy.” Whatever…But the book was good, one reviewer said it was what Hogwarts might have been like if Voldemort ran it. I also read a memoir, “The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards.” It turns out the husband was a lying, cheating SOB with a huge porn habit and his widow knew nothing of these other interests (although I believe she turned a blind eye to a lot of tip-offs during their marriage).
I have some heavy hitters in the queue for the next quarter although I may end up reading things like “I’m Afraid You Have Dragons” if the election results depress me. I think I would scent the Dead Bastard Husband with Aventus.
Gosh, the politics anxiety!! I am doing more tv binging than usual because of it. If the election results depress me I am just going to spend the next 4 years on the couch watching tv.
I read a couple of novels that I can highly recommend: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. In the non-fiction department I keep re-reading and purchasing to give to others Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and am currently savoring her Gathering Moss. I think only she could write so compellingly about the many and varied reproductive strategies of various mosses (really!) and what an important place they have in the ecosystem. I started the day in (non-vintage) Rochas Femme but post-shower switched to Yves Rocher Rose Absolute as more suitable for a visit to the native plant nursery. Femme felt like a bit much!
Demon Copperhead I listened to. It made me want to re read the Poisonewood Bible. I love her books.
Poisonwood Bible was a masterpiece, right? Her early books had quite a lot of humor and I keep meaning to go back and read them all in order because I think it would be interesting to see how her writing has evolved. What did you think of the Doris Kearns Goodwin book?
I loved Poisonwood Bible, but couldn’t get over the death of one character. I couldn’t believe how I felt – I felt bereft. I know it’s a character in a book but it was surprising how it made me feel. Guess that’s one reason to read.
Maybe that’s the mark of a good book: we become emotionally invested in the characters.
Yes, I loved Poisonwood Bible.
Doris Kears Goodwin – one of my all time best books “No Ordinary Time” so am looking foward to this one.
She is getting up there in age, so I don’t know how many more books we will get.
I really should read Robin Kimmerer’s books — your description of her writing sounds lovely and reasonably suspense-free. I actually met her once, years ago, through a mutual friend while she was here in Oregon researching mosses (we have tons of that here) and liked her very much. A very serene and gentle person.
Both Demon Copperhead and Poisonwood Bible are two amazing books.
I’m in Winter Palace today.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/chemistbottle/3472304639305104254?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MTc3ZG11Yno5aDF0Nw==
Haven’t read anything for a while, wasn’t in a reading mood.
Lucasi, I think I remember your posts from earlier this year-glad you’re still posting here-I always enjoy what you have to say. Hopefully the rest of 2024 is better for you. And you do smell amazing 🙂
Just the loveliest Instagram!
The sun is out and the sky is blue, at last. Hopefully things will start to dry out in the flooded basement. Because it’s been winter here I’ve read a lot of books and I need to think about which ones to highlight so will come back to the list once I’m up. Wearing Amouage Love Tuberose.
Oh dear. I hate a flooded basement more than almost anything.
I’m still working my way through Ngaio Marsh’s murder mysteries, very much along the lines of Agatha Christie, but a bit more substantial.
Perfume-wise, I think I’ll continue the cinnamon theme with Anima Dulcis, but right now I still have plenty of last night’s perfume on my clothes, one of the limited editions from Divine, L’Été Narguilé.
I’m not feeling quite lively yet this morning. We were woken up at 5am by an earthquake. It was a strong jolt and it took us a while to get back to sleep. There are no reports of damage, but it’s always unnerving.
I liked Marsh better than Christie. I should re-read them.
It sounds like it was pretty big, 5.8. Yikes.
I’m glad you are ok Gaynor.
2nd! Being woken by an earthquake is no fun.
I’ve been doing lots of reading this quarter, not much scenting. At the moment we’re in an apparently never-ending heat wave, which I’ve definitely had enough of already. Send in the fog!
Like Foxbins, I read and enjoyed the latest in the Sparks & Bainbridge series. And like Gaynor, I’m working my way thru Ngaio Marsh — just started #6 this morning.
Read all 3 of the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal. Best SF I’ve read in a while. Looking forward to the 4th book in the spring.
Read the 2nd Molly the Maid book by Nita Prose. A little too pat? But still pretty good.
Read The Plotters by Un-Su Kim. So many good reviews, but just meh to me. Korean John Wick.
Read Navola and The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. SF. Both really good.
Read Louise Penny’s latest in the Gamache series… good as usual.
Read My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr. A love letter to his cat. Sad at the end, of course, and maybe a bit on-point for me since we are slogging thru final days with our old kitty.
Read a couple books by PJ Fitzsimmons — the latest in his Anty Boisjoly mystery series, and the first in his Teddy Quillfeather series. Good fluffy Wodehouse-ian fun.
Speaking of Wodehouse, started the Blandings series.
I think that’s about it! Though I’ve probably forgotten something…
Wow! You have really been reading. Good for you. I too read the Molly the Maid books and thought they were okay.
Hi Pixel, nice to see you!
I enjoyed both Molly books. Cutely clever sums them up for me
I adore Wodehouse, so thank you for the PJ Fitzsimmons recommendation.
I got to a point of not caring for the Gamache series any more. It was too predictable and formulaic and too caught up in itself, in the legend of its own characters. Was the latest one any better? (That is, they were less focused on some real mystery story than on the greatness of the great guy Gamache).
Reading Denise Hamilton’s The Jasmine Trade and wearing vintage Laura Ashley no 1. I don’t read much these days, most of my reading is journal articles on stuttering.
That book sounds familiar, did you hear about it here? Or I must have read something about it elsewhere…
Robin, it’s by our lovely DeniseH!
UGH, of course it is. Apologize for the brain freeze!!
No need for apologies, Robin! 🤗
I’ve read all of her suspense novels and loved all of them, especially her last, called Damage Control. I think there are 4 or 5 in all. She has stopped writing them, though, and it breaks my heart.
SOTM on this gorgeous Saturday was Omni’s Ambra, and now post-shower I’m luxuriating in Chanel 19 EDP. My reading is still hampered by a pandemic-induced intolerance for suspense of any kind. Currently re-reading a Miss Marple duology (if that’s a word), A Caribbean Mystery followed by Nemesis. In the first, she solves a few murders and prevents another, aided by a very old and crotchety man, and in the second she is recruited by that man to untangle a years-old miscarriage of justice. I like both novels. I’ve been trying to come out of my re-reading rut, so on deck I have the latest Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities, and The Vanishing Act of Esme Leonard, by Maggie O’Farrell. I’m very fond of the characters in Penny’s Three Pines series, but I’ve never read O’Farrell so that will be a test of my will and attention.
I read the Esme Lennon novel-it was fantastic! I never saw the ending coming and it’s a book I reread every so often. Once you’ve read it-there’s a podcast called Bookclub, by the BBC. There’s an interview with the author you might enjoy.If you listen to the podcast first it may spoil the surprise.
SOTD = Francesca Bianchi Sticky Lips
👄 for an overdose of violets and rose. Love!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAwkgycRbqz/?igsh=MTlseGFwYmZxNng0Yw==
There’s what I think is a new car color which I really really don’t like. It is matte silver gray with a tinge of light blue. I honestly thought that the car my neighbor has is in the process of being re-painted and color me surprised when I kept seeing the same yucky color 🤢 all over. If it was metallic fine, but matte? Color me disgusted!
Books – I’m sure I’ve read several but of course I don’t remember the titles.
I cannot get into those matte colors at all. I am sure there are people that like them, but I am not one of them.
Same, same!
Don’t like the matte auto paint either. About 15 years ago it was really popular where my brother lives, especially matte black. It looks like a primer coat to me.
That’s what I was thinking of – primer coat! Can I say Yuck?
Sampling 4160 Tuesdays Drive Them Wild 4160 Tuesdays today and notes are below.
I am just finishing The Ministry of Time for my book club and love it! Best thing we have read in some time. ♥️📚
Blood orange, red mandarin, osmanthus and orange blossom dance around a chypre heart, with vanilla, tonka and cocoa absolutes spiced with black pepper.
Your sotd sounds like it would smell fantastic.
Hi! Seems you are smelling great, as usual.
This is my late night working weekend. I found a banana peel on the floor in the kids department and chewed up banana over on the bed linens shelf. Sigh…
I’m wearing TF Metalique.
FTLOG! What are people thinking or not thinking as the case may be!?!
And bananas are so sticky and gross, sorry lillyjo.
FFS! Yuck!
Looong weekend for me,and I love it!(thursday-tuesday!).Actually it’s a looong weekend for the whole hospital,we’re in the midst of installing a new Zeiss microscope.This is a messy undertaking with drilling in the ceiling,laying of new cables etc,and because of all the dust and dirt we had to evacuate the OR/CSSD about 95% and will be closed for procedures for the rest of this coming week.Amazing new technology that we’re installing though,especially for patients with astigmatism and those who need custom made artificial lenses after cataract surgery.
I’ve been wearing Costume National 21 a lot,it’s such a comfort scent!
Nothing to add to the reading list!Shocking fact about me remains:I’m still very much denying my own declining eyesight and have not gone to have a fresh test to get the loathesome reading glasses.Lol.I was such an avid reader once,I want to revisit all the Isabel Allende books I enjoyed so much,and have a stack of Dan Browns I’ve not touched.
Happy weekend!
XO’s
And I am sure you have Spare with dust🤣 I do too!
J B get your glasses! I resisted bifocals for years. I can’t see anything without them now. I am sure you can find some cool frames to suit you.
I’m going to back up lillyjo on this. Don’t be stubborn like me! Please get your glasses, pride be d@mned.
I just finished a book about the Nigerian war, Half of a yellow sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I loved it. Her characters are beautiful and it is a great source of information about a country I barely knew.
Also another of my favourite author, Maggie Ofarrell, The hand that first held mine.
That was a wonderful book – Half a Yellow Sun.
Up early this morning watching my Minnesota Vikings playing in London.
SOTD is Indochine. I really like this one.
You smell fantastic — love Indochine!
Thanks. I keep smelling myself so that’s a sign I like it 😊
PSA: 20% off at ZGO Perfumery, SPECIAL20
Looks like today (Sunday) only. Some brands excluded.
Another gorgeous day on the North Rim- mid 70’s and sun on full blast. Still kind of warm for this time of year but at least it’s less than 80F!
We have been hanging out in the peace and quiet of the towering Ponderosa Pines, vegetating and navel gazing. I’ve seen/heard only one other car in the time I’ve been here. Honestly surprised I have any connectivity at all…
I couldn’t decide what I wanted to wear today, but finally chose Korres Saffron, Amber, and Cardamom which seems to fit right in with the dry pine-laden air. The night sky is amazing and makes me wish I had a good camera and some night photography skills. My mind is in a bit of a whirl, as I travel from excitement about my upcoming trip to trepidation about Milton, which has a good change of being a direct hit on my town. Contradictory emotions alway leave me feeling off balance. 😵💫
Happy weekend, and to all the Florida folks, please take care and error on the side of caution! ⚠️🌀
Vintage Shiseido Zen today, no complaints.
I’ve been reading a fair amount lately, here are the highlights:
– Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. – Loved this book so much. Highly recommended – harrowing, engaging (and violent) magical realist noir set during the Sri Lankan civil war
-Andrey Kurkov, Grey Bees -another wartime novel – a beekeeper navigates the “quiet” war in Ukraine before the current escalation, this one more on the realism side of thing; I think it was originally published around 2018, English translation 2020. Also highly recommended.
-Anya von Bremzen, National Dish – essays on how certain foods become associated with national identity (surprise! it’s almost always something manufactured for nationalistic or propaganda purposes) – recommended, but I didn’t love it as much as I did her memoir (Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking), which is very good.
-Sly Stone’s memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) – recommended – all the dish, all the industry trivia, both fun and rough, all the ego (genius is allowed ego, I suppose)
-am currently halfway through Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, which I like but don’t love so far – very readable eco-thriller set in New Zealand (loved her historical novel, The Luminaries)
-next up James McBride, Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (and if you haven’t read McBride’s bio of James Brown, Kill’em and Leave, and that’s your genre, run don’t walk, it is SO GOOD)
Wow, what a great and interesting sounding, varied list!
Vintage Zen is so pretty in a grown-up way.
Now, Sly’s memoir is on my TBR list. I have a soft spot for that band. It was such joyful music to hear in the midst of early adolescence.
It *is* pretty : )
Currently at a craft fair today. Not looking to buy anything but currently in boat loads of Lyric.
Just popping in with a PSA: 20% off site-wide at ZGO Perfumery with code Special20. Good only until 9:00 am EDT Monday. I’m getting Ambre Russe, my newest love. 🧡
Ambre Russe is wonderful stuff!
I had a sample and wore it non-stop until it was gone. That’s a first for me!
My decant of it was getting pretty low and I panicked and ordered a full bottle. It’s one I hope never to be without. Enjoy!!
Thanks, scaresbears. Let’s hear it for full bottles! 👍🏻
Sally Rooney Intermezzo…my fall pick!
I read “Normal People” by Rooney earlier this year and honestly don’t know how I feel about it. In the link below, Rooney discusses books she was reading while writing Intermezzo, which you might be interested in.
https://www.aol.com/chicago-mom-entrepreneur-discusses-her-153728711.html
Sorry, that’s the song link!
https://www.aol.com/8-books-sally-rooney-read-140300141.html
Wrong* geeez!
I can’t get into her books at all. Probably just me.
Nope, don’t care for them, either.
She’s been very hyped up, hasn’t she?
Happy Birthday, Jacques Guerlain!
Still riding the cinnamon train in Ginger Biscuit today.
Me too! Happy Autumn…
Very cool start to the day so in TF Black Orchid.
Mornings are rather nippy here as well. But it warms up quite nicely!
Checking in wearing Sofia by Sofia Vergara.
Good morning! I’m continuing the spice theme with ELdO’s Spice Must Flow.
It’s a lovely sunny fall day and I’m wearing Cuir de Lancôme. It is one of those fragrances that makes me feel more chic and more put together in every way than I really am. It’s a wonderful delusion while it lasts!
Cuir de Lancome is fantastic.
SOTD = Slumberhouse Kiste and Serge Lutens Gris Clair
Separately … both are wonderful. They also each meet the CP because Slumberhouse is … Slumberhouse and Gris Clair is from the bottle that has the Palais Royale drawing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA1GziZx_Zd/?igsh=MXRkeDhrbGRzZHF6bQ==
In other news, here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal on forever skeletons 💀:
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/halloween-decorations-skeletons-home-depot-hoa-d5d70d4c?st=gtEcHV&reflink=article_copyURL_share
How are your SsOTD together?
No no, not together!
No reading recs from me. I am still dipping in and out of the same books as the last reading poll. Fortunately both titles lend themselves to it.
Seeing more fall color and more Halloween decor in the area now.
SOTD = back in Fzotic POOF! It is so darn likeable. I think I have used up half the spray sample already. Such a pretty, somewhat powdery, light to medium-bodied floral.
Staying up too late again to catch up on comments. Lately, I haven’t been posting as much as before since every time I mean to read here and leave the screen, I get distracted and end up staying on for another hour or two. 😖 Do I have a problem? Hahaha. Don’t answer that.
After 3 days of Ambre Russe, I’m wearing my beloved Vetiver Oriental. It feels like a big hug from Autumn itself.
Late posting but kicking off the FOMO CP with Patou Adieu Sagesse. I definitely caught the bug when this series was released and realized I’d overdone it a bit.