War & Peace

War and Peace is a sweeping epic and was my first Project Well Read novel of the year. I received my copy from my sister for Christmas, a lovely Everyman's Library edition split into three volumes. I chose this edition for portability. I started it on Christmas day and finished it on the 29Th of January. In the beginning I was slightly spoiled by the fact that my manager had given away that Prince Andrew dies, so I tried not to form an attachment to him which in the beginning turned out to be easy. He seemed so cold and reserved compared to the brash Nicolas Rostov and the bumbling Pierre. But as it wore on I understood my managers childhood crush on the dashing Prince Andrew who runs into battle and falls passionately in love with Natasha. I think I need to reread this work in order to fully appreciate it, its so large and long and there is so much going on that one reading hardly does it justice. Maybe I'll reread it in a year and see how my perspective changes.

Well Read

A side project of sorts that started with me wanting to read all of Austen's works (which I finished last summer) I've opted to work towards becoming 'well read'. Though I have no actual definition for this, I think I'm headed in the right direction. Last year I read all of Austen's works (the six major novels as well as her uncompleted works, and juvenilia) I finished the Three Muskateers, The Count of Monte Cristo and the Black Tulip making me even more in love with Dumas than ever. I versed myself in children's literature by helping my sister with her course during the summer (The Wind in the Willows, The Princess and the Goblin, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Matilda, and many others). This year had started out well, I finished War and Peace, signed up for a group read of Dostoevsky, have the D'Artagnan Romances all lined up for me to finish and I picked up a couple of Frances Burney's works which I can't wait to dig into. Any suggestions for reaching my well read goal? I know I'll never be fully well read, but hopefully it will help keep my mind sharp post-undergraduate.

84, Charing Cross Road

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff is a lovely story told through a series of letters between the Author who lived in New York City and a London bookshop. Fed up with horrid looking paperbacks she writes the staff at Marks & Co looking for inexpensive but good quality hardbacks. This takes place after WWII and as she gets to know the people in the shop, she starts to take an active role in their lives from across the ocean. She sends care packages full of foods that are not readily availible, nylons and the sorts of things in short supply in London at the time. This is a very quick read, only about 100 pages or so and the letters are generally short. But it is a lovely story and definatly has earned it's place on my books about books shelf.

Blood Red Snow White

Very rarely do books excite me nowadays. I still enjoy reading, but there are so many sub-par works out there and wading through them sometimes gets me down. I've found a real gem though, Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick. Don't be fooled by it being in the teen section, this book is fantastic. It was recommended by my fellow literary junkie Suzie and it's about the Russian Revolution. But it's told in the way that a fairy tale is told, full of fantastic terrors and a character who weaves through the stories. Read this book and tell me what you think, I promise you it's fantastic.

Little Pink Raincoat

My favourite types of fashion books are not the what-not-to-wear type books that tell you that you need the ten classics (which never change from book to book) it's the quirky essay style books like Alligators, Old Mink and New Money. I was excited to see Men May Come and Men May go But I've still go t my Little Pink Raincoat I dove into it and finished it this morning. And while it was cute sometimes, I felt it was sorely misplaced in the Fashion section at Indigo. It's really a book about all the men in Gigi Anders life. And there are a lot. It gets a little tedious when she keeps buying items to try and convince the man she's with to marry her. Some parts I did enjoy, pretty much any part without the men in it. Like the chapters Coco, which talked about her love of perfume and her French friend who worked at the perfume counter. Or Tank where she's living in Paris and is obsessed with the Tank Cartier watches. But all in all it's a somewhat lackluster addition to the 'fashion essay book' genre.

Liz Jones Rips Rachel Zoe a new one

Liz Jones of the Daily Mail critiques Rachel Zoe's horrible new book in this hilarious interview. I hate the way Rachel Zoe styles and I agree with Liz about her book, I've flipped through and then promptly moved on to Nina Garcia's book.