We Are Reading
In A Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor
We are hugely indebted to Debora Robertson (@lickedspoon) for this suggestion, we are trying to get Debora to write a blog post with her best books suggestions since she is an erudite wizz. I’d never heard of this author before,… Read More
Mary Quant by Mary Quant
Mary Quant was the first female designer to encourage women to break with convention and be whoever they wanted to be. The inventor of the mini skirt, her revoloutionary ability to innovate and re-define the way women dress, is still… Read More
The Camper Van Coast: Cooking, Eating, Living the Life by Marin Dorey
Florence Broadhurst, Her Secret & Extraordinary Lives, By Helen O’Neill
Florence Broadhurst was an extraordinary woman who was born on an isolated Australian farm in 1899. At 15 she wrote an article for her school paper saying “I am resolved to do great things.” By 19 she was singing her… Read More
The Elegant Art of Falling Apart by Jessica Jones
Just when Jessica Jones thought she had it all – a job she liked and a man who loved her, in a city she adored, – she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
With the help of friends and family, she… Read More
Homespun Style and Dottie Angel
We love anything crafty here at TWR, be it books, blogs, magazines, craft fairs or classes.
Amanda is a dab hand at quilt/jam/garment making, but I’m more of a ‘collect loads of vintage fabrics, ribbons, antique buttons and interesting haberdashery,… Read More
Pants on Fire by Maggie Alderson
Last week when we had a glitch in our technicals, the lovely Maggie Alderson (amongst others) mailed us to tell us when things went wrong. I loved the column Maggie used to write in The Times so it’s a real… Read More
The Printed Square by Nicky Albrechtsen
A lovely book, we did the review here
Buy here
… Read More
Lingerie by Lillian Bassman
Lillian Bassman’s photography of women in lingerie from the 40s and 50s, many shot for lingerie company ad campaigns, is a stark reminder of just how brashly sexual images of women have become today.
In Lingerie, published by Abrams… Read More
Blue Jeans: The Art of the Ordinary by Daniel Miller and Sophie Woodward
Middleagedad found this for me on the BBC website and I’ve just ordered it. It’s a book on both denim and people; why we love denim so much and what it says about us. It’s written by anthropologist Daniel Miller… Read More
Spitalfields Life by The Gentle Author
We have mentioned Spitalfields Life many times on TWR, as it’s been a daily read since it started in 2009.
Recording the stories of many of the wonderful charachters, past and present that inhabit and work around the Spitalfields area,… Read More
Branded Beauty by Mark Tungate
Recently I had to get up to ‘expert’ speed on the beauty industry as part of the day job. I found this newly released book by Mark Tungate really useful. I love to read Mark’s writing, he’s an old colleague… Read More
Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes
It’s been a while since I read a book I simply couldn’t put down, but this one restored my faith in the joy of a really good novel. The story of Will Traynor, the master of of the universe who… Read More
I Love Stationery by Charlotte Rivers
You know how we feel about stationery.
When this little tome arrived last week I downed tools immediately and read it cover to cover. Well, it’s mostly pictures so it was less taxing than it sounds.
The NICE thing… Read More
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
Call the Midwife is shaping up to be one of those memorable tv programmes that makes you feel good and weep at the same time. A wonderful insight into the lives of women in the East End in the 50’s,… Read More
Gay Men Don’t Get Fat by Simon Doonan
More quirky, life affirming ramblings from Mr Doonan, who has a habit of observing the best and worst of human behaviour (mostly happening in the fashion and media world he inhabits) and feeing it back to us in amusingly absurdist… Read More
Culture Chanel directed by Jean-Louis Froment
This one is for readers who are building up their own personal fashion library and Chanel geeks only.
The hefty and a tad pricey Culture Chanel, Directed by Jean-Louis Froment, published by Abrams Books at £140, is a visual… Read More
The Glass Half Full; A breast cancer blog revisited by Elizabeth Glasson
Written by a ‘local mum’, this is an moving and honest account of what it’s like to have breast cancer. Insightful and often funny and uplifting, this book is a helpful and informative guide for anyone diagnosed with, or helping… Read More
Stylists, New Fashion Visionaries by Katie Baron
Heads up on this lovely looking book, it’s not out until early Feb 2012, but it is going to be a fabulous one to have on your coffee table. We have to fess-up here and say we know young Katie,… Read More
London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins
I heard this being reviewed on the Radio 4 book club programme recently, when all the reviewers loved it. I am only half way through it but love it enough to happily recommend you read it too. Fabulous characters, brilliant… Read More
As Always, Julia edited by Joan Reardon
You may have enough cookery books, but do you have enough cookery biographies? They are often JUST as exciting I think, and this compilation of letters between Julia Child (US cooking guru) and Avis Devoto, her literary mentor, during the… Read More
Clarence House: The Art of the Textile by Kazumi Yoshida and Sabine Rothman
This gorgeous coffee table book takes a look at the work of the renowned interior textile designers, Clarence House. Founded by Robin Roberts in 1961, they have been creating inspiring, luxurious textiles for interiors for the last fifty years.
Kazumi… Read More
Handcrafted Modern: At Home With Mid-Century Designers by Leslie Williamson
This book is a must have for lovers of mid century interiors. This collection of newly commissioned photographs are studies of domestic modernism at it’s most creative. The iconic images of the homes of influential mid-century designers, such as Russel… Read More
Vintage Style by Sarah Kennedy
I may be a little biased when it comes to this book, as the author Sarah Kennedy and I have been friends since we were 15 and dressed like Olivia Newton John in Grease! We have been through every hideous… Read More
Stitch! by Cath Kidston
A good one for budding cross stitch enthusiasts, Cath Kidston’s Stitch! is a colourful, jolly introduction to cross stitch tapestry. Just flicking through it makes me want to start embroidering and if you think it’s a bit girly, take a… Read More
Recipes for Everyday by Jane Cumberbatch
This is a lovely looking cookery and gardening book that would suit a first time house or home maker (probably more girl than boy orientated due to a very feminine feel to the thing). I liked it as soon as… Read More
Londoners by Craig Taylor
Londoners: The days and Nights of London Now, As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It and Long for It written by Canadian writer, playwright and journalist, documents the voices of the rich, poor, native… Read More
Found, Free, and Flea by Tereasa Surratt
A book about collecting written by an advertising creative director with a passion for collecting. Also check out her blog.… Read More
Vintage Flowers by Vic Brotherson
Scarlet and Violet is one of my favourite florists, I first found it at Tom Dixon’s store last year, as a pop up during the London Design Festival, I went home and tried to make my flower vases look like… Read More
100 Years of Active Resistance by Vivienne Westwood
Dame Viv’s been busy recently down at Occupy London, supporting the protesters, but she’s (as always) been ahead of the protest curve for quite a while. This is her timely new book of 100 great images on active resistance, This… Read More