Do I dare ask this question. Have you started shopping for the holidays? (Do I hear groans out there?). With the economy in such a dire state it's really hard to get in the gift buying mood even with the stores already decorated and my niece busy practicing Christmas carols. Yes, tralalalala--singing away. In no time at all I'm going to be Jingle-Belled out! Alas, help has arrived. In the form of fantasy shopping anyway, a la Holiday Bas Bleu catalog. I love Bas Bleu and really should order from them more often. In any case I pour over their catalog every time one arrives in the mail. Shall I share my personal favorites? Their gifts are prefect for any booklover.
André Kertéz's On reading is wonderful. I can attest to it, as I have the now out of print Penguin paperback edition. It's been republished as a lovely little hardcover. The images are black and white taken between 1915 and 1970.
Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz has found a place on my wishlist. It's just the time period I am interested in and concentrates on the US phenomenon. Were there flappers in England? Or were they a particularly American invention like the Jazz that ushered the period in?
Daphne du Maurier's Don't Look Now has been published by New York Review of Books Classics. I'm glad some of her short stories have found an American publisher. The title story is truly excellent (also made into a great movie) and very well worth reading. I'm not sure which other stories the collection contains, but I think I need to get it to add to my du Maurier collection.
Too Many Books totebag. Because you can never have enough bookbags. And the illustration is by Edward Gorey.
I've discovered a new mystery author. L.R. Wright's The Suspect sounds like something I would enjoy. A mystery that is less a whodunit than a why-dunit. It's set in Canada and won the 1985 Edgar Award.
These keychains are the sort of thing you buy for someone else (or hope someone buys for you). I think the Jane Austen is my favorite: "I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other."
Yes. Book Darts.
I love this one. Brilliant Women: 18th Century Bluestockings by Elizabeth Eger. The National Portrait Gallery in London had an exhibit earlier this year about bluestockings. This is the companion book filled with illustrations and "scholarly yet accessible text." It's a bit pricey, but maybe my library would order it.
I wish I wrote more letters, then I could use these cool Bronte Sisters Note Cards. Very pretty in any case.
Okay, so totally frivolous, but it's the perfect weather to snuggle up with a good book and drink some hot chocolate. Belgian chocolate no less. Yum.
Hmm. I think this may only have put me in the mood to buy things for myself. It's good this is only wishful thinking. Virtual window shopping if you will.
I've mentioned Bas Bleu before (no connection with the company by the way--just fond of bookish stuff), and if you don't get their catalog you can ask to be added to their mailing list. They really do have a great selection of unusual books and other gifty items.