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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Vintage Affair


Every dress has a history. And so does every woman.

In Isabel Wolff’s captivating A Vintage Affair, a treasured child’s coat becomes a thread of hope connecting two very different women.

Her friends are stunned when Phoebe Swift abruptly leaves a plum job at the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house to open her own vintage clothing shop in London—but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream. In the sunlight-flooded interior of Village Vintage, surrounded by Yves Saint Laurent silk scarves, Vivienne Westwood bustle skirts, cupcake dresses, and satin gowns, Phoebe hopes to make her store the hot new place to shop, even as she deals with two ardent suitors, her increasingly difficult mother, and a secret from her past that casts a shadow over her new venture.

For Phoebe, each vintage garment carries its own precious history. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe is rewarded whenever she finds something truly unique, for she knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread—you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life.

Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of smart suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s sky-blue coat—an item with which Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell—one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again.

Friday, June 25, 2010

One Day

One Day -- It's 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. They both know that the next day, after college graduation, they must go their separate ways. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. As the years go by, Dex and Em begin to lead separate lives—lives very different from the people they once dreamed they'd become. And yet, unable to let go of that special something that grabbed onto them that first night, an extraordinary relationship develops between the two.

Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15th—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

Update: This book was a little tooooo long for me and had a depressing ending which was a total buzzkill.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon


Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon -- Legendary designer and artist Vera Neumann (1907-1993) believed in art's ability to inspire and enrich lives. An innovator and one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of her time, Vera built her company on a radical philosophy: fine art should be accessible to everyone, not just a select few. Known for her iconic images of cheerful flowers, trendy geometrics, and vibrant ladybugs, people should surround themselves with art in every aspect of their lifestyle. For the first time, "Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon", tells her inspiring story through the art and designs she created. "Vera" is a biography about a creative soul, but also a woman who was adventurous and entrepreneurial, traveling across the world from Bombay to Lima gathering inspiration along the way. Richly illustrated with Vera's original sketches, paintings, and photographs of her worldwide travels, readers are introduced to the amazing woman behind the art and the dynamic designs that continue to inspire the world of art, design, and fashion.

About the Author: Susan Seid is an art lover and the owner of The Vera Company based in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology and has held various executive positions in the retail and direct marketing industry. Jen Renzi is a freelance writer based in New York and has written for publications including the New York Times Magazine, Surface, New York, Interiors, Wallpaper, and CondeNast Traveler. Previously a senior editor at House & Garden and Interior Design magazines, she is the author of The Art of Tile and has written or contributed to a number of design books.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Arm Candy


Arm Candy -- Eden is the gorgeous, glamorous muse and lover of abstract painter Otto, who is much older than her. Twenty years ago, she was a struggling model, and she broke her own heart by choosing money and security over her doting boyfriend. Though Otto and Eden have been together since then and have a son, they never married, and Eden turns a blind eye to Otto’s dalliances in exchange for wealth and ease. Now that she is nearly 40, the arrangement doesn’t seem so appealing, and she leaves Otto. Not long after, she meets Chase Lydon, as blue-blooded a New Yorker as they come—and 11 years her junior. She loves the whirlwind new life, but just as their relationship blossoms, Eden’s first love comes back into her life. Eden isn’t sure if it’s her age or her ego, but she knows she is on the cusp of an important choice. Kargman’s third novel is a romance for anyone who has felt that age is just a number.
Update: I LOVED this book but then again, I loved all the others as well. This is a great quick read. I couldn't put it down!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Coco Before Chanel




Coco Before Chanel -- Before she became Coco, the world-famous fashion designer, Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou) struggled to make ends meet. After her mother's death, her father deposited her and her sister, Adrienne, at an orphanage, where they learned to sew (and where Chanel developed a taste for monochromatic ensembles). They went on to become cabaret singers, but when Adrienne runs off with a wealthy suitor, the newly christened Coco must go it alone until she meets gentleman farmer Étienne Balsan. She lives comfortably at his chateau, but he refuses to take her out in public, so she puts her skills as a seamstress to good use and designs outfits for his lady friends, like Emilienne, an actress. Chanel's situation improves further when British investor Arthur "Boy" Capel enters the scene. Her working-class origins present less of a problem with Capel, though the couple will have other issues with which to contend. In the meantime, he gives her the money to open her own Parisian studio, and the film ends with the tweed suit-clad Chanel of the popular imagination. Until that time, writer-director Anne Fontaine presents a very different character, a woman who wasn't worldly or sophisticated, but who saw no reason why fashion--or "style," as she called it--should be complicated or uncomfortable. In transforming herself, Coco Chanel transformed an entire industry and, arguably, an entire gender.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman -- Audrey Hepburn is an icon like no other, yet the image many of us have of Audrey—dainty, immaculate—is anything but true to life. Here, for the first time, Sam Wasson presents the woman behind the little black dress that rocked the nation in 1961. The first complete account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. reveals little-known facts about the cinema classic: Truman Capote desperately wanted Marilyn Monroe for the leading role; director Blake Edwards filmed multiple endings; Hepburn herself felt very conflicted about balancing the roles of mother and movie star. With a colorful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, "Moon River" composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the country, changing fashion, film, and sex for good. Indeed, cultural touchstones like Sex and the City owe a debt of gratitude to Breakfast at Tiffany's.

In this meticulously researched gem of a book, Wasson delivers us from the penthouses of the Upper East Side to the pools of Beverly Hills, presenting Breakfast at Tiffany's as we have never seen it before—through the eyes of those who made it. Written with delicious prose and considerable wit, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. shines new light on a beloved film and its incomparable star.
Update: See related NY Times article here.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch


Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated - For seven years, Alison Arngrim played a wretched, scheming, selfish, lying, manipulative brat on one of TV history's most beloved series. Though millions of Little House on the Prairie viewers hated Nellie Oleson and her evil antics, Arngrim grew to love her character—and the freedom and confidence Nellie inspired in her.

In Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, Arngrim describes growing up in Hollywood with her eccentric parents: Thor Arngrim, a talent manager to Liberace and others, whose appetite for publicity was insatiable, and legendary voice actress Norma MacMillan, who played both Gumby and Casper the Friendly Ghost. She recalls her most cherished and often wickedly funny moments behind the scenes of Little House: Michael Landon's "unsaintly" habit of not wearing underwear; how she and Melissa Gilbert (who played her TV nemesis, Laura Ingalls) became best friends and accidentally got drunk on rum cakes at 7-Eleven; and the only time she and Katherine MacGregor (who played Nellie's mom) appeared in public in costume, provoking a posse of elementary schoolgirls to attack them.

Arngrim relays all this and more with biting wit, but she also bravely recounts her life's challenges: her struggle to survive a history of traumatic abuse, depression, and paralyzing shyness; the "secret" her father kept from her for twenty years; and the devastating loss of her "Little House husband" and best friend, Steve Tracy, to AIDS, which inspired her second career in social and political activism. Arngrim describes how Nellie Oleson taught her to be bold, daring, and determined, and how she is eternally grateful to have had the biggest little bitch on the prairie to show her the way.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Real Housewives Get Personal

Real Housewives Get Personal --The 10 million-plus fans of Bravo's top show The Real Housewives want to know what happens when the cameras aren't rolling. In this behind-the-scenes companion, the women from Orange County, New York, Atlanta, and New Jersey dish on everything from plastic surgery to personal growth and share their top-secret tips on shopping, styling, travel, fitness, and real estate. Candid personal profiles reveal what the ladies really think about the other cast members and provide a backstage view of the show's most priceless moments: Tamra getting Gretchen drunk at her dinner party, the 'retouching incident' between the Countess and Bethenny, Teresa's infamous table-flipping, and many, many more. Brimming with color photos, entertaining tidbits, straight-talking advice, and unforgettable quotes, this book is an absolute must-have, dahling!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Husband and Wife


Husband and Wife -- In this new novel by the celebrated author of The Myth of You and Me, a young mother discovers that her husband's novel about infidelity might be drawn from real life.

Sarah Price is thirty-five years old. She doesn't feel as though she's getting older, but there are some noticeable changes: a hangover after two beers, the stray gray hair, and, most of all, she's called “Mom” by two small children. Always responsible, Sarah traded her MFA for a steady job, which allows her husband, Nathan, to write fiction. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until a truth is revealed: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based in fact.

Suddenly Sarah's world is turned upside down. Adding to her confusion, Nathan abdicates responsibility for the fate of their relationship and of his novel's publication—a financial lifesaver they have been depending upon—leaving both in Sarah's hands. Reeling from his betrayal, she is plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know Nathan? And, more important, how well does she know herself?

For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twenty-something self to try to understand what happened to her dreams. When did it all seem to change? Pushed from her complacent plateau, Sarah begins to act—for the first time not so responsibly—on all the things she has let go of for so long: her blank computer screen; her best friend, Helen; the volumes of Proust on her bookshelf. And then there is that e-mail in her inbox: a note from Rajiv, a beautiful man from her past who once tempted her to stray. The struggle to find which version of herself is the essential one—artist, wife, or mother—takes Sarah hundreds of miles away from her marriage on a surprising journey.

Wise, funny, and sharply drawn, Leah Stewart's Husband and Wife probes our deepest relationships, the promises we make and break, and the consequences they hold for our lives, revealing that it's never too late to step back and start over.

Note: I read The Myth of You and Me. It was awhile ago but I'm pretty sure I liked it. I remember the book jacket!