We Are Reading
Nomad, bringing your travels home by Sibella Court
Haven’t actually read this yet but it’s Sibella Court and we love her. It would be a nice present for a creative person (big hint family, if you are reading).… Read More
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
Heard this on Radio 4’s Book of the Week. Captivatingly brilliant. We think Winterson is magic.… Read More
The Twelve Knits of Christmas
Since we are on knitting (see the knit-your-own-cat book on the book home page) why not knit your own Christmas Decorations too? From the author of ‘Knit your own Royal Family’, which is really all you need to know…..… Read More
Best in Show: Knit your own Cat by Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir
The Fat Duck Cook Book by Heston Blumenthal
Another book sent to us from The Book People, this one’s a mighty weighty tome in every sense. Fans of Mr Blumenthal will love the history and background read here, how he and his team came together and changed the… Read More
The Liberty Book of Home Sewing
Another nice book sent to us from The Book People and another good one for the Christmas present list is the Liberty Book of Home Sewing, written by Lucinda Ganderton with photos by Kristin Perers and clear illustrations on how… Read More
Beautiful Chickens by Christie Aschwanden
This week the nice crew over at The Book People sent us over this gorgeous edition on chickens. It is the perfect tome to buy anyone who loves chickens but can’t keep them due to space issues, the photography is… Read More
Daphne Guinness by Valerie Steele
Odd Bits by Jennifer McLagan
Another -the newest- book by Jennifer McLagan, who is the sort of cook I think I’d like to be friends with. We reviewed Fat earlier this week, well Odd Bits is a timely review of many of the cheaper, weirder… Read More
Fat by Jennifer McLagan
The sub title of this book is ‘An appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, with recipes’ and on reading that I immediately wanted to read it. I am a natural fat lover, butter, lard, suet, olive oil, I love all of… Read More
Diane Vreeland The Eye Has To Travel by Lisa Immordino Vreeland
This book is an essential by for Diane Vreeland fans. If you have Allure then you have to buy this, no question. It’s an assessment of Vreeland’s career as an editor on Vogue, Harper Bazaar and at the Metropolitan Museum… Read More
Celia Birtwell
Books from Peirene Press
What a joy this little publishing house is, which kindly sent us three of its titles last week to read. Firstly, its an independent publishing house producing interesting European works of literature (not too many of them around). Secondly,… Read More
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Did anyone else see the wonderful Culture Show Special with Hilary Mantel last week? Amazing. We have already read Wolf Hall, which we’re pleased to hear is getting a sequel, but hadn’t read Beyond Black. I am currently half way… Read More
The Drowning Pool by Syd Moore
We met the smart and funny Syd Moore at a Semple’s Secret event where she showed us her Super Strumps. When she said she had a new book out we were keen to read it. She’s a proud Essex Girl… Read More
The Shirt off His Back by Juliet Bawden
A gorgeous craft book that tells you how to make cute stuff out of old shirts. I have a soft spot for this idea as I have been collecting both my sons and middleagedad’s shirts for many years to make… Read More
Street Food Revolution
The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adoree
We haven’t read this, but suspect it is full of lovely ideas for the presentation and cooking of lovely looking tea parties. Amazon has pictures of inside the book and it looks very tempting…..… Read More
Harper’s Bazaar Greatest Hits by Glenda Bailey
One of many big fashion tomes coming out this autumn 2011 season, this covers the last ten years of US Harper’s Bazaar under the stewardship of the British editor Glenda Bailey. A fashion coffee table must-have for the next few… Read More
Scarves by Nicky Albrechtsen & Fola Solanke
A gorgeous book by Nicky Albrechtsen & Fola Solanke, illustrating some of the most iconic and beautiful scarves ever. One for the dressing table while you practise looking fabulous tying yours……We saw this on the Anthropologie website, but also available… Read More
The Homemade Home by Sania Pell
I thought we had already mentioned this charming and useful little book already in our book listing, but I think it must have got a bit lost in our recent site move. It’s a treasure for all crafties out there.… Read More
Westwood by Stella Gibbons
I’ve been listening to Lynne Truss’s Radio 4 Extra adaption of this just re-released version of Stella Gibbon’s Westwood and it’s a joy. Many people think Stella Gibbons begins and ends with Cold Comfort Farm, but she wrote lots more… Read More
The Locusts have No King by Dawn Powell
As recommended by TWR reader (and sometimes book reviewer for us) Lee Randall, this is a gorgeously New York-y book, set at the end of the 40s, full of dames, late night bar activity, high-falutin’ social parties, actors, playwrights and… Read More
The Long Song by Andrea Levy
Ginger Pig by Tim Wilson and Fran Warde
Hussein Chalayan by Hussein Chalayan
Possibly one of the most creative and boundary-pushing designers left, now Mr McQueen is no longer with us, Hussein Chalayan is one of our heros. We will be getting close to the book (which we haven’t seen yet) on Thursday… Read More
Clara Bow Runnin’ Wild, by David Stenn
Clara Bow Runnin’ Wild, by David Stenn takes us back to the Roaring Twenties, when the film industry moved out of New York and headed for sunny Hollywood. Clara Bow was the original sex symbol, dubbed the “It” girl by… Read More
Cyril Connolly: The Life and Times of England’s Most Controversial Literary Critic, by Clive Fisher
Cyril Connolly: The Life and Times of England’s Most Controversial Literary Critic, by Clive Fisher.
Another book in which promiscuity features heavily – all the more extraordinary since Connolly looked like a chubby bulldog. But boy, could he pull! Proof,… Read More
Huxley In Hollywood by David King Dunaway
Huxley in Hollywood by David King Dunaway. This is a great book about an intriguing man. What’s stuck all these years –I’ve just discovered a page full of notes made at the time of reading – is the description of… Read More
The Model Wife by Suzanna Fagence Cooper
The Model Wife, by Suzanne Fagence Cooper is the story of Effie Millais (nee Gray), possessor of the most speculated-about pubic hair in all of history. She was the ill-fated bride of John Ruskin, a man who managed to be… Read More