I have been quite the good, responsible girl lately: I have abstained--and that is surely the only word for it--from purchasing scads of books. I realize that, if I followed my natural bent, I would need a separate building--and a large one--to house my collection. Oh, and I would be parlously close to bankruptcy. As such, I try to tether the passion as best I can. Yet, sometimes a book-addict must let loose. These are some recent acquisitions.
Deciding the order in which to read a new crop of books is almost more fun than choosing which ones to buy. It is a delicate, delicious process of anticipation; often it is also one of elimination. It helps to know which one to save for last. In this case, Simon Callow's Orson Welles Volume 2 Hello Americans, is the clear winner: it will be the last unread, sitting alluringly on my night-stand, impatiently awaiting its turn. The others will be read in rotation, constantly giving way one right after the other, a few chapters at a time. Perhaps, after a certain exciting or thoughtful passage, one will surge past the rest in my affections. For now, as I am in the early, heart-thumping stages of discovering all three, that shall remain to be seen.
Top Left: Proust at the Majestic The Last Days of the Author Whose Book Changed Paris by Richard Davenport-Hines (BLOOMSBURY)-Proust remains the King of pliant, serpentine, evocative language.
Top Center: She & Him Volume One-Zooey Deschanel's quirky, folky voice and thoughtful, simple and literary lyrics are my ideal accompaniment to reading.
Top Right: The Mammoth Book of Private Lives Edited by John E. Lewis (CARROLL & GRAF)-I have an insatiable curiosity about the inner drives of creatives and intellectuals.
Front Middle: Orson Welles Volume 2 Hello Americans by Simon Callow (PENGUIN BOOKS)- Volume 1 was superb.
Front Bottom: The Queen Mother The Official Biography by William Shawcross (ALFRED A. KNOPF)-Although I was sent this by mistake, it has already proven itself a keeper.
