Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds - A wonderfully compelling debut novel about the intertwining—and darkly surprising—relationships between the teachers and students at an all-girls prep school Spend a year at the Carmine-Casey School for Girls, an elite prep school on Manhattan's Upper East Side: the year when the intimate private school community becomes tempestuous and dangerously incestuous as the rivalries and secrets of teachers and students intersect and eventually collide.

In the world of students, popular and coquettish Dixie Doyle, with her ironic pigtails, battles to wrest attention away from the smart and disdainful Liz Warren, who spends her time writing and directing plays based on the Oresteia. In the world of teachers, the adored Leo Binhammer struggles to share his territory with Ted Hughes, the charming new English teacher who threatens to usurp Binhammer's status as the department's only male teacher and owner of the girls' hearts. When a secret is revealed between them, Binhammer grows increasingly fascinated by the man he has determined is out to get him.

As seasons change and tensions mount, the girls long for entry into the adult world, toying with their premature powers of flirtation. Meanwhile, the deceptive innocence of the adolescent world—complete with plaid skirts and scented highlighters—becomes a trap into which the flailing teachers fall. By the end of the year the line between maturity and youth begins to blur, and the question on the final exam is: Who are the adults and who are the children?

Kreativ Blog Award

I'd like to thank my friend Debra from Paris who honored me with this award - if it wasn't for this blog we may have never met in real life! I am short on time this week but wanted to acknowledge it. If you love jewelry, fashion, and decorative arts you must visit her blogs Paris Originals and Diamonds & Rhubarb.

Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations

Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York's Savviest Hostesses--Benefiting America’s leading center for the research and treatment of cancer, this is an invitation to a year’s worth of fabulous fetes hosted by New York’s most celebrated party-givers and fund-raisers. Taking the reader to some of the most glamorous private homes in Manhattan (and in the country), Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations showcases the unique élan and elegance these ladies bring to entertaining— be it a glittering New Year’s Eve or an alfresco lunch on the terrace. From the mint juleps kicking off Derby Day to the Spanish Christmas cookies by the fireplace, these hostesses offer easy ideas that anyone can achieve at home.These ladies show that taste is all about how you put things together—on a tabletop, in a vase of flowers, with handmade invites. It’s these small touches, and the generous spirit behind them, that will inspire readers everywhere. The recipes they’ve chosen are tried and true crowd-pleasers that are guaranteed to be down-to-earth dishes you’d be proud to present at any occasion.

Chanel, Chanel

Chanel, Chanel more than just one of the world's most successful fashion labels, also the name of a woman who led a fascinating life. This Paris designer banished the corset from women's fashion, created the bouclé suit and the famous little black dress, and made costume jewellery socially acceptable. Her elegant but comfortable clothing stressed the new-won freedoms of 1920's women; her perfume made ladies irresistible. Chanel's head designer Karl Lagerfeld explains why her simple style is still today an inspiration. Unique shots and designs from the archives reveal Coco Chanel's passion both for fashion and for life.

Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow

Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow - Elegant and enigmatic, the silhouette is the simplest of art forms—but that simplicity belies a rich and varied past. In this first major work on the art of the silhouette, art historian Emma Rutherford draws from dozens of American and European sources to create a fascinating history of the art form—and to illuminate the compelling social history hidden behind its shadows.

Emma Rutherford is an art historian who has specialized in silhouettes and portrait miniatures for fifteen years. Formerly a Director of the Silhouettes and Portrait Miniatures Department at Bonhams Auctioneers, she has also worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Phillips Auctioneers in London. She lectures and writes frequently on the subject. Lulu Guinness is a world-renowned designer of accessories with a keen interest in silhouettes. Her handbags are in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Museum of the Handbag in Holland, and the Museum of Fine Art in Houston.

Resort Fashion: Style in Sun-Drenched Climates

Resort Fashion: Style in Sun-Drenched Climates- Like an around-the-world vacation through resort locations and timeless fashions, the history of resort clothing is fashion at its most fun. Crossing continents, styles, and generations, the book travels through the tradition of vacation style, taking a visually stunning trip from early beach pajamas by Chanel and Schiaparelli to sailor stripes, to Pucci and Pulitzer prints, and, of course, to the bikini. Resort Fashion features rare photographs and never-before-published images by photographer legends, including Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Toni Frissell, Norman Parkinson, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Helmut Newton, and Scavullo. The fashions showcase renowned designers from the past and present who have contributed their unique touch to resort wear, including Claire McCardell, Michael Kors, Rodarte, and many more. From Palm Beach to Montego Bay to St. Tropez, this book celebrates resort wear’s vibrant history with an allure that extends beyond runways to the most exotic, far-flung destinations.

Caroline Rennolds Milbank is a fashion historian and the author of the books Couture, New York Fashion, and The Couture Accessory. She has contributed essays to the Costume Institute catalogues Poiret and Chanel, and has been a costume curator for exhibitions at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Clark Art Institute.

Amy Fine Collins is a special correspondent at Vanity Fair, covering culture, style, and fashion. She was previously the style editor at Harper’s Bazaar and House & Garden, an art historian at Columbia University, and is also the author of American Impressionism, Hair Style, Simple Isn’t Easy, and The God of Driving.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry -- Six years after the phenomenal success of The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second novel set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.

When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt; they only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers -- with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling obsessive-compulsive disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive former lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including -- perhaps -- their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

Niffenegger weaves a captivating story in Her Fearful Symmetry: about love and identity, about secrets and sisterhood, and about the tenacity of life -- even after death.

Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire

Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility-- When Mireille Guiliano became a senior executive and spokesperson for Veuve Clicquot, she took the Champagne to the top of the luxury market, using her distinctive French woman's philosophy and style. Now she uses those same talents and savoir faire to help readers pop their own corks and get the mostout of life. Drawing on her experiences at the front lines and highest echelons of the business world, she gives women (and a few men, peut-être) the practical advice they need to make the most of work without skimping on all the other good things in life.

With lively lessons, stories, and helpful hints, Mireille teaches every reader how to identify her own passions and talents, improve her communication skills, balance work and life, cope with everyday stress, turn herself into a winning brand, and so much more. From acing a job interview or performance review to hosting a simple but elegant dinner party, Mireille tells it like it is as she shares her secrets for achieving happiness and success at any stage in business and life.

Stylish, witty, and wise, Mireille segues easily from the small details to the big picture, never losing sight of what is most important: feeling good, facing challenges, getting ahead, and maximizing pleasure at every opportunity.

About the Author
Mireille Guiliano is the bestselling author of French Women Don't Get Fat and French Women For All Seasons. Born and raised in France, she is married to an American and lives most of the year in New York and Paris. She is the former President and CEO of Clicquot, Inc.

The September Issue DVD

If The September Issue isn't coming to a theater near you, you can now pre-order it on Amazon! I saw it, loved it and am definitely pre-ordering mine today.