We Are Reading
Vanilla Table by Natasha MacAller
This is a lovely book, stuffed with excellent recipes which are linked by the inclusion of vanilla in all. I am a vanilla fiend and will use it whenever I can. I buy the stuff in bulk off the internet… Read More
Have I Said Too Much? by Carole White
Fessing up, I haven’y read this yet, but I bet it’s fabulous. You may remember we interviewed Carole back here, where she was extremely entertaining and very candid on the state of the fashion model industry. She has run her… Read More
The Ruby Slippers by Keir Alexander
This is a sweet, sad and thoughtful novel to fill a bleak January or February. Set in New York, it weaves a list of characters around a mildly mild plot to sell a pair of the Ruby Slippers made famous… Read More
Bread by Dean Brettschneider
This is not a book you may want to consider if you are going carbs-free for the January period but when you come back into the fold, Bread is a lovely book for anyone who loves to bake. With over… Read More
Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
I was recently given this wonderful and uplifting American cookery book by my friend Kay Gardiner, one half of the magnificent Mason Dixon Knitting. More cooking memoir than recipe book, it is a gentle, funny, charming and highly readable book… Read More
Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwall
On the back of my Serial addiction, I read my first Patricia Cornwall last week. I know! My first one…what’ve I been doing? This is a Kay Scarpetta story and I enjoyed it. My sister, who is an avid Cornwall… Read More
Coco Chanel: Three Weeks/1962 by Douglas Kirkland
Can we ever get enough of the influential Coco Chanel? I don’t think so and now there’s this wonderful new look at the later part of her life, by photographer Douglas Kirkland, who spent 21 days with her back in… Read More
Knit Your Own Farm, by Sally Muir and Joanna Osbourne
One of our favourite knitting duets, Sally Muir and Joanna Osbourne have produced another of their Best In Show books, this time you can knit your own farm, including the cutest ducklings, piggies, lambs, and cows. Llamas and donkeys make… Read More
Giftwrapped by Jane Means
As an experienced gift wrapper and stationery geek, I feel well qualified to talk on this subject.
Despite dedication to the cause, I am never quite happy with my wrapping creations, always falling short of what Martha (Stewart, my all… Read More
Lanvin: I Love You by Alber Elbaz
I’ve spent more of my adult life looking at windows than is good for a girl. It’s actually something I get paid for. And before you say ‘cushy number that’, I have to look at all windows and there are… Read More
Artisan Drinks by Lindy Wildsmith
This lovely new book on artisan drinks by Lindy Wildsmith will appeal to anyone who (like me) has a jug of damson gin on the go in the garage or see’s an elderflower tree in full bloom and thinks ‘hmm,… Read More
Haute Couture Ateliers by Hélène Farnault
This is a gorgeous book for fashion lovers, particularly those that make things and appreciate the art and craft of sewing.
Writer Hélène Farnault has gone into the ateliers of the French haute couture houses to interview some of… Read More
The Perfume Bible by Josephine Fairley and Lorna McKay
Do you remember the recent post we did on The Perfume Society? Well, the fragrant team behind that great idea, Jo Fairley and Lorna McKay, have brought out an excellent book on the whole subject of perfume, how to buy,… Read More
A World Of Quilts by Cassandra Ellis
I’m a big fan of Cassandra Ellis’s quilt books and this new one’s no exception. I am yet to make a single project, but I do dream of making one of her lovely designs some day, I’m certainly stock piling… Read More
The Biba Years, by Barbara Hulanicki and Martin Pel
Biba fans, there’s a new book out and it’s by Barbara Hulanicki herself, together with Martin Pel. I flipped through it quickly the other day at Waterstones, it looks wonderful .I don’t need to say too much else do I?… Read More
Elementary Sewing Skills, by Merchant & Mills
This is a glorious little book to have if you are a keen sewer, or want to be. We adore Merchant & Mills, Carolyn Denham and Rodrick Field’s stylish haberdashery company, with its irresistible store based in Rye. They have… Read More
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Set in 1922 , in a genteel Camberwell villa, bereft of brothers, husband and servants due to the war, Mrs Wary and her daughter Frances are obliged to take in lodgers to make ends meet. Enter Lilian and Leonard Barber,… Read More
Completion by Tim Walker
After a few books from this summer’s must-read list had turned out to be non-starters, I was delighted to tuck into Completion by Tim Walker, a feast for anyone with a taste for a character-driven book set in many authors’… Read More
If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel
This is a fabulous read, one that took me right back to the days of teenage love-crushes and desperately wanting to be a grown up, but scared of going too fast. I had nothing in common with Katie, the heroine… Read More
Tout Hache by Theurry De Vissant, Lucile Gargasson, Ahmed Yahi
Lets be honest here, absolutely nobody really needs a new cook book. But sometimes one comes a long that entices you in (with me it’s usually the beautiful design) and Tout Hache has done just that, both with its stylish … Read More
Summer reading: what’s on your list?
Amanda and I are about to go on holiday (not together, that would be weird) so will be taking the first two weeks of July off from work and the blog.
I am off to Spain on a family holiday… Read More
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine
If you’ve ever wanted to be in a band, you need to read Tracey Thorn’s book, followed swiftly by this one by the amazing Viv Albertine. Where Tracey is mostly quite sensible in her music career, Viv is wild and… Read More
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Americanah manages to weave issues such as race, culture and immigration around a captivating love story spanning three continents. I’d avoided this book for far too long, mistakenly thinking it sounded much too depressing and heavy for the early-morning commute.… Read More
Love Story With Murders by Harry Bingham
This is a cracking read for anyone who likes an intelligent crime novel. The heroine is a wonderfully written mash up between Saga from The Bridge and Sarah Lancashire in the dismally grim but completely compelling Happy Valley. The story… Read More
Still Life with Breadcrumbs by Amy Quindlen
Still Life with Breadcrumbs will have you immersed from the first page and leave you wishing for a sequel at the last.
It centres around the life of Rebecca Winter, a 60 year old photographer forced to up sticks to… Read More
Top Bananas by Mumsnet
If you’d rather clean the toilet than think about another evening meal, but find the formidable list of ingredients in most cookbooks deters you from trying anything new, Mumsnet’s latest publication might be just what you’ve been looking for.
The… Read More
Why Fashion Matters by Frances Corner
Francis Corner Head of the London College of Fashion shares 101 reasons why fashion is not only the most immediate and intimate form of self-expression, but a billion dollar industry which has an increasing influence on lives and industries around… Read More
A Curious Career by Lynn Barber
I love reading anything by journalist Lynn Barber. I’d never want to be interviewed by her as she sounds hugely terrifying, but she’s a brilliant writer with a formidable reputation for not pandering to her subjects, however famous they are.… Read More
Toss The Gloss, Beauty Tips, Tricks and Truths for Women of 50+, by Andrea Robinson
I’ve just ordered this from Amazon after reading about it in this excellent article by Bee Shapiro in the New York Times. For anyone with any interest in using cosmetics after 50, it looks a must read. She won me… Read More
The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert
I have it on very good authority (ahem, my sis) that this is a cracking read.
I know, I know, Eat Pray Love wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Ms Gilbert is one hell of a storyteller, and we’re thrilled… Read More