I think I can say it is now officially time to start thinking about the holidays. Are you afraid? I know I am. However, the Holiday catalogs have started to arrive. Only two, but I expect soon they will arrive en masse. The new Bas Bleu and (one of my favorite seasonal catalogs even though I can't afford much of anything in it...) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a bit like wondow shopping when these come. I may not be able to buy the lovely items shown, but I can certainly fantasize over what I would get if I could!
And, yes, I am going to do just that. Would you like to window shop with me? I will go quickly by all the gorgeous jewelry in the Met's catalog....it's beautiful, but at $200 for this Spanish Rosary (I love anything Spanish style), I won't even stop to look. Let's just zip along to the back where the art books are! Now this is a book I would love to have, Dangerous Liaisons-an "elegant new volume of 18th-century French costumes and furniture". Now that might just might feed my appetite for elegant dresses that I envision wearing--well maybe not literally--but it would put a picture in my mind whilst reading historical fiction! Okay, here is a book that I would love to have, but it costs more than the rosary! The Art and Spirit of Paris. But for that price you should be able to go there yourself and pick it up! It is a slipcased two volume set tracing the entire history of the arts in Paris--no mean feat. No wonder it costs so much. Remember, I said we're window shopping.
I can tell you're getting fidgity, so we'll just go directly to Bas Bleu. We can all afford something there! How about Decorating with Books? I want that room with the books going to the top of the inverted "V" roof! I might just be able to fit a few books in there! I will definitely be getting The 2007 Reading Woman Calendar! I buy it every year to hang by my desk at work! Maybe Bloglily could use these Rainbow Carpenter Pencils and Sharpener? I hear she is fond of fancy colored pencils. They would come in handy whilst filling out this New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games! Let's get to some books now. I would love to have The February House (now in paper by the way, so it will be going on my List). How about Endless Love? Do you remember it? Am I the only one who read it (more teenage angst filled years--the same ones that saw me reading Flowers in the Attic!). I didn't even realize it was still in print! And yes, I saw the movie, too! I love, love, love this book--Remarkable Trees of the World. I bought it several years ago here. It is the coolest book--especially if you like trees! How about something serious? I have a friend who has always recommended Sarah Orne Jewett. Maybe I should give A Country Doctor a try? Since I am in a Russian mood, a la War and Peace, this St. Petersburg Church Advent Calendar would be fitting (actually I would love to have this and am contemplating getting it!). If you have not read Susan Fletcher's (Whitbread Prize winner) Eve Green--it's good! And now in paperback! And one more since so many of us are choosing eerie and atmospheric reads these days...A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women. It has stories from writers like Susan Glaspell (way back in 1917) up to Minette Walters (just a few years ago in 2001)!
If you don't receive Bas Bleu already, I recommend that you request a catalog! Just think of all the goodies I didn't share...