When The Chef got the mail this morning, he immediately took the "Daedelus Books Early Summer 2009" catalogue and tossed it into the trash.He is certainly no enabler, I will give him that.His thoughts on the subject run the course from "You already have more books than you need" to "You can't afford to buy books right now".He muttered the latter as he pitched the precious trove of literary possibilities.'Tis true,I must admit, but it falls far wide of my reasoning.I love to think about books almost as much as I enjoy reading them.My reading list is destined to grow ever longer--I will never be able to keep pace with my desires.But no matter--perusing a catalogue is something akin to flipping through 'Elle'.I will never own 90% of what catches my fancy but I am all the richer for knowing that they exist.And,unlike haute couture, I can borrow all of the books that I want.I am currently quite intrigued with the following.
1-JANE AUSTEN'S GUIDE TO GOOD MANNERS COMPLIMENTS,CHARADES AND HORRIBLE BLUNDERS BY JOSEPHINE ROSS HENRIETTA WEBB ILLUS. (BLOOMSBURY) Although I have no interest in the worshipful cult that has grown up around the witty lady from Bath,I am an unabashed fan of her life and works (that I am an Austen myself makes this somewhat inevitable).This book is an exception to my rule:it looks genuinely engaging.We could all do with a goodly dose of manners, especially as filtered through the Austen sensibility.
2-ALDOUS HUXLEY COMPLETE ESSAYS VOLUME V:1939-1956 and ALDOUS HUXLEY COMPLETE ESSAYS VOLUME VI:1956-1963 ROBERT S. BAKER AND JAMES SEXTON, EDS. (IVAN R. DEE) A compilation series of the non-fiction essays of the famously hard-to-fathom Englishman (at least for high-schoolers trying to work their way through 'A Brave New World').Huxley's contribution to 20th-century literature was immense.These books offer up a fraction of his varied out-put.
3-JOYCE BY IAN PINDAR (HAUS PUBLISHING)I love biographies of dead writers, as I have mentioned on more than one occasion.James Joyce was truly the most fascinating of individuals.Of equal fascination to me is how biographers approach the man and his work in so many odd,convoluted,dense and deep ways, which insures that Joyce as subject will always seem as fresh and new as his writing.
4-ANGUS MCBEAN:PORTRAITS ANGUS MCBEAN,PHOTOS. TERENCE PEPPER, ED. (MONACELLI)Angus McBean was one of the finest photographers of the 20th-Century.His images of British stars from the 1930's onward are amazing:I can only imagine how fabulous this coffee-table edition of his work must be.
5-SUN VALLEY:ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS ALAN EDISON AND JO RABJOHN TIM BROWN, PHOTOS. (GIBBS SMITH)Sun Valley is one of the places in America that I would most like to visit--probably because it is so different from my native neck-of-the-woods.Couple that with my well-known love of coffee table books, and it looks like a winner.
6-ALL IS CHANGE THE TWO-THOUSAND-YEAR JOURNEY OF BUDDHISM TO THE WEST BY LAWRENCE SUTIN (LITTLE,BROWN)Buddhism,while ultimately not for me as a life choice, is a subject that I delve into time and again.I like the approach that this book takes, elucidating the long-history of Buddhism's dance with the West.
7-TRUE VAMPIRES BY SONDRA LONDON (FERAL HOUSE) I,like many,find the literary vampire (and its historical origins) of keen interest.However,this book crosses the threshold into reality, by profiling people who truly believe that they are vampires.I am not sure if the result of reading about such people will be horror or pity.
8-WAVE-SWEPT SHORE THE RIGORS OF LIFE ON A ROCKY SHORE BY MIMI KOEHL,ANN WERTHEIM ROSENFELD,PHOTOS. (CALIFORNIA)This appears to be an analytical-visual take on the gritty nature of coastal life.Rugged shores are some of my favourite places to visit. I harbor a kind of artistic-literary fantasy of living on the wild shores of New England or Cape Breton.As that is unlikely, I will make do with the occasional vacation and this book!
9-FLAVORS OF GREECE BY ROSEMARY BARRON (INTERLINK)You can chalk this one up to a combination of hunger and the fact that I ate at a Greek diner with my boss a few days ago.Oh,and because I really do love Greek food.I still regret not ordering Baklava for dessert on Friday.
10-CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG BY IAN FLEMING (YEARLING) I loved this book as a child, and was in the habit of dreaming myself into the story.That it was written by the man who gave us Bond, James Bond really makes me giggle as an adult.It is one of the little gems that I would love to read aloud to my (hypothetical) future children. Sigh.
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