In the gifting tradition of one for me, one for you, ahem, here is a shelf of classics from Jane Mount. Specifically Ideal Bookshelf 353: English Lit. As you can see, they are all sold out at 20x200 so here is your chance to nab one. You can enter to win this 8x10 print by leaving me a comment about your favorite present - to give or to get or both!
Giveaway ends Monday 12/19 at noonish :)
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It's our chance to win $500 worth of books and such from Chronicle Books. And it gives me a chance to make a list, hooray! This year not only will a blogger and a reader win, but the blogger will get to choose a charity to receive $500 of goodies too.
If I win, I will choose my kids' school library - we are a very small Christian school. The economy has contributed to a shrinking enrollment and many budget cuts, particularly in extra places like the library where the librarian regularly purchases new books using her own money.
So let's begin....just leave me a comment to enter (and look around for other Happy Haul-idays bloggers and enter there...you can also follow along the twitter hashtag #happyhaulidays). This year my list includes more drawing & doodle books (for the O), a few for the girlie, and as always - home decor, design, and food books.
Press Here by Herve Tullet, $14.95
I love his books - our home library includes Night & Day and Pink Lemon.
Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog by JR Lee, photographs by Gretchen LeMaistre, $12.95
I don't usually go for cutesy dog books, but how can you not look at the cover and giggle. I can only imagine how fun the whole book would be - and Evie would LOVE it.
Taro Gomi Board Book Box Set - Spring is Here, My Friends, Bus Stops, $19.95
Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messn
er, illus by Christopher Silas Neal, $16.99
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, PhD., $16.99
The Glorious Christmas Songbook compiled by Cooper Edens and Benjamin Darling, $18.95
642 Things to Draw, $16.95
a neat idea book for the boy who always asks, what should i draw?
Holiday Crafting & Baking with Kids by Jessica Strand, photographs by Aimee Herring, $19.95
Practice Makes Perfect: Sketching and Drawing by Matt Pagett, $24.95
This may be too old for the O, but I wouldn't mind brushing up on some skills.
Repro Depot Pattern Book: Flora by Djerba Goldfinger, $24.95
Graphic Design for Non-Designers by Tony Seddon & Jane Waterhouse, $22.95
I could use some help in this area, especially in regards to the etsy shop and a potential blog for it.
Silhouette Art by Vana Chupp, $18.95
The Art of Instruction: Vintage Educational Charts from the 19th and 20th Centuries, text by Katrien Van der Schueren, $35.00I haven't met a vintage educational chart I didn't like. How cool is this?
Decorate by Holly Becker & Joanna Copestick, $35.00
Do you have this book yet? Me neither. And I'd really like it.
Kokeshi Kimonos by Annelore Parot, $17.99
Girl in the Kitchen by Stephanie Izard, $29.95
As a big fan of Top Chef, and of the "girl", I can't wait to have a looksie.
Time for Dinner by Pilar Guzman, Jenny Rosentrach & Alana Stang, $24.95.
Before her wonderful blog, Dinner: A Love Story, Jenny R. was an editor at Cookie magazine. Her philosophy on meal preparation and the family table is spot on.
Sunday Roasts by Betty Rosbottom, photographs by Susie Cushner, $24.95
We are big advocates of a proper Sunday dinner -but in order to enjoy the Sabbath it is also important for the meals to be simple and without much fuss. I think this would help.
Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman, $40.00
Ever since his first book The Making of a Chef, I've been a fan - he is able to communicate all things cooking in a highly readable way.
Ghost Wave by Chris Dixon, $24.95
I recently finished The Wave by Susan Casey and I am hooked - totally fascinated by the science and mystery of HUGE monster waves and the people who dare ride them.
Old School Ledger by Paper & Cup, $10.95.
What can I say, I love journals. Particularly when they look like school supplies.
Pantone: 100 Postcards, $19.95
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picture from BonAppetit.com
An alternative to a typical cookbook are these absolutely stunning titles from Penguin's Great Food Series. You may have seen them around online, but they have only recently (October) been made available in the US. And the covers are by the fabulous Coralie Bickford-Smith (read an interview with her here). These are sorely tempting me, even as I am getting rid of books by the bagful I will happily carve out some space for these slim volumes on my newly tidy shelves. How about you? Here's the list of titles:
picture from Penguin Blog UK
1. The Pleasures of the Table/ Brillat-Savarin
2. The Well-Kept Kitchen/ Gervase Markham
3. The Chef at War/ Alexis Soyer
4. A Little Dinner Before the Play/ Agnes Jekyll
5. Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding/ Dr A W Chase
6. A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig & Other Essays/ Charles Lamb
7. The Campaign for Domestic Happiness/ Isabella Beeton
8. Murder in the Kitchen/ Alice B Toklas
9. Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving/ Hannah Glasse
10. Recipes and Lessons from a Delicious Cooking Revolution/ Alice Waters
11. Notes from Madras/ Colonel Wyvern
12. A Taste of the Sun/ Elizabeth David 13. Eating with the Pilgrims and Other Pieces/ Calvin Trillin 14. The Joys of Excess/ Samuel Pepys 15. Exciting Food for Southern Types/ Artusi 16. An Alphabet for Food Lovers/ Alexandre Dumas 17. The Elegant Economist/ Eliza Acton 18. Recipes from the White Hart Inn/ William Verrall 19. Love in a Dish/ M F K Fisher 20. A Middle Eastern Feast/ Claudia Roden
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Lots going on around here as usual,I'm sure its no different at your house. Currently preparing for the Gaithersburg Book Festival which will take place tomorrow from 10am-6pm. But I'm not going as a book blogger, rather I will have a table for my other passion.... The Paper Pear. I am picking up prints of my collage pieces today and am giddy with excitement to have taken this next step. You can see the new designs and prints at my etsy shop. Here is a preview:
Jane Austen silhouette mounted on a P&P page...
Nancy Drew silhouette mounted on page from The Bungalow mystery...
cupcake
flip flops
handbag print sales to benefit my friends at Change Purse
So much to do before tomorrow all while chasing Evie, picking up kids, errands - the stuff of real life. Thankful to see the weather looks promising since this is an outdoor event - hooray sunshine!
If you are in the area, I'd love to see you. Check out the GBF website for more details, schedules, parking, etc. Planning to be back post-festival with tons of book reviews, including the new Ann Patchett.
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Today is Miss Austen's 223rd Birthday - which coincides nicely with a list of related items for the Austen fan in your life.
A Darcy Christmas - A collection of 3 short stories/novellas revolving around Darcy & Elizabeth by popular Austen fiction authors. This was a fun imagining of holidays with the Darcys, including a take on A Christmas Carol. From what I recall it would make a fine gift for a high schooler as it isn't racy like some of the others in the genre.
Etsy is full of Austen inspired art & housewares:
One of my faves, Brookish is on holiday. But she has fun mugs & such with quotes from P&P.
This is brilliant - Poster Text has prints using the words from your favorite classics as the background with a silhouette imposed overtop. Love it.
This one is Pride & Prejudice, but there are more.
And there are cute coasters from Green Chair Press - in a variety of colors.
Then there are bookends from Two Stray Cats:
and this I have showed you before, my new favorite artist, Janet Hill Studio:
and if you'll forgive the shameless plug - The Paper Pear would be happy to make you a custom silhouette of any shape using any Austen title. I'll even work in your favorite quote if possible. :)
Finally, our good friends at Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21st century format.
Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.
In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will be free on December 16th and 17th in honor of her birthday:
Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
Available wherever eBooks are sold. (This morning there were some glitches I understand which is why they have extended the freebies through tomorrow!)
Enjoy the day and download some free stuff!
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1. Chronicle Books has extended its friends and family 35% off sale. They have some unique titles and gift items and this is a fabulous sale. Use promo code FRIENDS at checkout thru Dec. 12.
2. Don't forget Book Closeouts for discounts on great books. I have a list of titles and search for them at greatly reduced prices. The only drawback...you probably have to order now to get them in time for Christmas - shipping is not the fastest. But they have such good deals it's worth it if you're prepared.
3. I'm all for bundling. For example, the new Louisa May Alcott bio by Harriet Riesen, combined with this lovely Penguin Classic of Little Women (or this one - love the cover
combined with a favorite movie version and a set of paper dolls or coloring book would be a super fun mama/daughter gift. Ditto with any of the classics - Anne of Green Gables, Jane Austens, Sherlock Holmes etc. LEGO would do well to branch out into the land of classics, the nerd in me has already built a Little House on the Prairie settlement out of Lincoln Logs. I'm just saying....
4. I have become well acquainted with several of my local used bookstores and they all have frequent buyer programs for very little money. I think it's $10 a year and buy 3 get the 4th free - the kids love going there too. You should check them out - or put together a little used bookstore daytrip with girlfriends. Plan a route, have some lunch, usually used stores are in cool parts of town with other indy shops and you can discover hidden treasures close to home.
5. Besides just reading, books make great decorations. Stack books (without jackets) to give height to picture frames, glass jars filled with ornaments or other seasonal decor, or as a centerpiece with those nifty flameless candles. (paper + fire = bad idea) This is also where used bookstores are awesome - you can get old copies of A Christmas Carol or other classics.
6. A bookclub basket for a reading mama or grammy. My choices would include: What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen, Every Last Thing by Anna Quindlan, Bloodroot by Amy Greene, Starting from Scratch by Susan Gilbert-Collins, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin, Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman, Room by Emma Donoghue, and A Novel Bookstore by Lawrence Cosse. And anything by Beth Kephart.
Oh look, those are my favorites from this year!
7. Cookbooks. I never buy them for myself anymore. But I love to get them. Oh yes I do. These caught my eye and would go great paired with a kitchen tool or baking dish or new dishtowels. I started to list some here, got carried away, and it will be a new post tomorrow...
8. Books in art - my fave is Jane Mount. Check out her etsy shop for The Ideal Bookshelf.
9. For a family with a newborn or young children, I think these compilations that suggest even more books are great. A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children and Young Adult Literature by Roger Sutton or The Book Tree, or the Read Aloud Handbook.
See also What to Read and When by Pam Allyn.
10. If you haven't signed up for Amazon Prime yet, I must recommend it. For $79 you are guaranteed 2 day no more cost shipping all year. And while it turns out to be worth it just for Christmas, I am thankful I did it each time I order. It's a keeper and might be someone's favorite gift that keeps on giving.
I had visions of orderly thematic gift posts but that is not to be. No more dillying with some dallying thrown in for good measure. I think it's best if we just dig in to the sea of bookmarked goodies I have amassed over the past few months in no particular order (the theme of my life, it seems).
Tea Cupcakes - set of 4 $19.95 (silicone baking cups)
Book Lovers Teapot - $39.95
Book Rest Lamp (oh, i love this) $69.95 (cheapest on amazon, in other places for around $80)
Eco Recycling Game- $28.00 A simple game, with cute factor galore.
Snap photo frames by Umbra- $16 ($18 on Urban Outfitters) - set of 9 - 3.5" frames
Shrinky Dinks - they're back! - these are from Paper Source, but I've seen them at Hobby Lobby too. Also on Amazon...
Slipper Genie (come in blue and in green on amazon)- here from Sur La Table - $12.95 I'm seriously thinking about getting them for each of the boys and my floors will have no excuse :)
Cake stencils from NY Cake- all kinds of cool designs
from my new favorite etsy jewelry shop - Nest Pretty Things by tamar(the ingrid, madeleine, and claire)
and my new favorite artist Janet Hill Studio on etsy. i love it ALL - classic and beautiful prints and paintings. (l to r: Library Ladies, Her Christmas Tree Dress and Austen Dresses)
Fabric bins from Baffin Bags $18. on etsy. With tons of other fabrics (not just Christmas) I think these would make cool teacher gifts. And I'd like one for all the little girl things that are starting to accumulate around here.
That's all for now. Have a great weekend and stay warm! Monday's gift guide will include the always delightful (and useful) calendar.
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Didn't you used to love getting your newsprint copy of the Weekly Reader? This is my version...a sprinkling of bookish news and some quick thoughts on what I've read this week.
1.
Mockingjay (Book 3 in Hunger Games series) by Suzanne Collins - the spoiler free version: first thought, it was kind of slow. Definitely not as much action as we've seen in the first two books. I'm also on the fence about some big plot bummers and what I perceive as a lackluster finale from Katniss the heroine. It was a satisfying although frustrating end and I know I'm going to be thinking about it for a while.
2. Loved this list at Publishers Weekly with 20 indie sellers - I added many to my list.
3.
Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart - did not disappoint. An excerpt:
"That night Katherine gave up trying to talk sense into Anna. That night she did not try to argue her twin sister out of her garantuan joy; she did not try to save her. It was then that Katherine decided to begin to look the other way on purpose, but this time without anger, without the intent to prove a point. She decided to stop protecting Anna, so that she might love her more truly.
It was a decision she had made. She didn't forsee the consequences." (p.94)4. Slogging through Anna Karenina for bookclub. I know it will be worthwhile and I'm determined to finish, please tell me it gets better...I'm only on page 150. Help.
5. Read and LOVED Starting from Scratch by Susan Gilbert Collins - Hope this one doesn't get lost in the shadow of the more heavily marketed Simply from Scratch. Both about cooking and grief...this one gets it just right.
6. As usual I'm reading more than one book...besides AK... The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman - don't know if I'll finish. Also Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs. I already know from trusted reading friends that it's a bit spotty, but her writing can be impeccable and worth it for those little nuggets of goodness.
7. Same goes for Anne Tyler - finished Noah's Compass. Even though I wasn't pro-Liam (the main character) her writing made it worthwhile.
8. Grabbed the new Ivan Doig - Work Song - at the library and didn't realize it's continuing the story of Morrie Morgan, the teacher from The Whistling Season (so good). I love those kind of surprises.
9. Headed to Cricket afterschool so KWB could pick up
39 Clues Book 10: Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
10. Started
Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel on Kindle. I'm getting the hang of e-books and the balance between those and good old fashioned paper. Paper is still winning, but only because I like to share them.
10a.I have joined Twitter. Still holding out on FB. And digging in on that one. Follow along @litchickcafe.
10b.There will be a giveaway here tomorrow, sponsored by our friends at Penguin Group.
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I think reading is officially "in" from all the wonderful stuff I'm finding and adding to my lil file of goodness.
for the littles:
the book buggy from magic cabin - i understand wanting to load up my favorite things and pull them around, if only there was one in my size... oh yeah it's called a stroller
the personal library kit from knock knock speaks to my inner librarian and if you like to share your books, you might actually get them back
the book birdhouse from uncommon goods - oh my
I love this throw from Garnet Hill...apparently lots of other people love it too since it's sold out :(
jane mount @ 20x200 with ideal bookshelf 6
this tote from americajane
part of a dutch marketing campaign it says "time for reading" from isotope
notecards from crescent creations
from a likely story
Library sign from Three Potato Four
Random.org chose no. 5 - JUDE congratulations, you won the book When You Reach Me. Enjoy it! I have another giveaway next week, sponsored by the lovely folks at cookware.com. (Think books and cooks go together).
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Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary
read in January 2011
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned (Vintage Classics)
Anna Katharine Green: The Leavenworth Case
read in 2011
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment (Oxford World's Classics)
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors - A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
abandoned in April 2011
Sherwood Anderson: Winesburg, Ohio (Oxford World's Classics)
Jules Verne: Around the World in Eighty Days (Enriched Classics Series)
Daphne Du Maurier: Rebecca
read in February 2011
Baroness Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel
read in March 2011
Thomas Hardy: The Return of the Native (Oxford World's Classics)
John Steinbeck: The Winter of Our Discontent (Penguin Classics)
read in February 2011
G. K. Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday: Centennial Edition
