Coffee Table Books

I'm in search of a new side table for my living room and I love this idea~ a substantial pile of coffee table books stacked to make a table! This obviously requires quite a few large, heavy books (which clearly won't get read while doing table duty) but an idea like this is as easy to put together as it looks chic.

ps- I just bought the most amazing coffee table book~ Taschen's Paris. It is a huge collection of the best restaurants, hotels and shops in the city of lights. Love!

Quote of the Day~ By Winnie

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows by now my love for quotes. I think this partly comes from being an English major, and the subsequent years and years I spent immersed in the most powerful of books and awed by the beauty of our language. Also, in part, I love quotes because I'm constantly amazed at how only a few words or one simple sentence can so profoundly move me.

Yesterday was a fun day. While texting with a girlfriend she brought up Winnie the Pooh. Don't ask me why. It just happened that way. I'm a sucker for children's books, especially the enduring classics. Books for kids are generally so wholesome and simple and sweet, but hold messages about life and love and friendship that everyone can relate to. I spent some time after work last night reading through Winnie the Pooh quotes and I immediately felt warm and fuzzy. And so, here starts my latest devotion to Winnie and his lovely way of life. Hmmm, I think I feel like some hunny!

Quote of the Day by Winnie:

"When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish."

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."

more to follow...

(for the Christina's)

Palm Springs Style

After brunching with my gorgeous friend Christina today we wandered through Yaletown and into (wait for it.... where else?) The Cross, naturally. Knowing me as thoroughly as they do and being as thoughtful friends as they are, both Christina and my roommate Nicole bought me gift cards to my "happy place" for my 30th a few weeks ago. Now, normally gift cards of any kind burn a hole in my pocket so intensely that they need to be spent within days (the gift of shopping, what could be better?), but this time I wanted to select pieces that meant something to me, something of significance rather than an item I just thought was pretty (not that I suddenly have issues with pretty, no way). After three laps of the store I bought the 

very thing I knew I had to have.

 Since I was a little girl my favourite stories told to me my parents or my sweetest memories involve Palm Springs. Long before I was born my parents, aunt and uncle and grandparents would migrate to the desert two hours outside of Los Angeles to soak up the sun on vacation from drizzly, grey Vancouver. I was ten the first time I went and that trip still sticks out vividly in my memory. I had never seen such beauty in my life~ the ruddy San Jacinto mountains, thrilling palm trees and manicured lawns, sparkling swimming pools and, best of all, the air heavy with the scent of lemon and orange blossom from all the fruit trees everywhere. It was magical, and continues to be so for me and my family to this day. We can talk endlessly about "the desert" and where we will go, stay, dine the next time we visit. 

The book Palm Springs Style has been in my Amazon cart for ages but today I decided to snap it up in person. Even flipping through the glossy pages and admiring the beautiful photographs makes me giddily happy. Palm Springs was the most chic and decadent of getaways for the movie stars of the 40s and 50s (my parents pointed out Frank Sinatra's house to me on my first visit), yet it experienced a decline in popularity in the more recent decades. However, in the last few years its glory has been revived. Many iconic hotels have been renovated and redecorated and none more spectacularly than the Viceroy. Decorated by famed interior designer (and Vogue regular) Kelly Wearstler, it has been transformed into a quirkily glamourous resort and spa~ and has again become a playground for the young and beautiful Hollywood set. The book, for me, is one part childhood memory and two parts luxurious fantasy~ and I can't wait to one day soak up the desert heat from one of the Viceroy's poolside loungers! 

Hurricane

I saw this passage and it intensely captured me. I've been reading it over and over for at least a month, moved by the words. I love the comparison between people and rain (I understand feeling like drizzle). I think it's an incredibly beautiful and romantic way to describe someone, as a force of nature. He obviously loves her, to want to sleep next to her rather than with her. What must that feel like, to be loved like that? Deep thoughts for me at 2am. Time for bed. 

Home Schooling For a Lit Major

School starts in six days and for the first time in four years I won't be there when thousands of kids flood the campus of UBC, laden down with books and dreams. My part time degree has, admittedly, taken me longer than most but I've never been much of a sprinter. Besides, here I am. Two (torturous) French classes away from my BA (how can a girl who loves France so much be so hideously bad at learning the language? It seems wrong!). 

So here it is September and there is a definite longing in me to pull my book bag out of my closet, go buy fresh school supplies and sit in one of those comfortably charmless classrooms to learn. But just because I won't be on campus doesn't mean I can't stop being a Lit major at home. I've had a summer off with little reading (and I've missed it) so my plan is this: a new book every two weeks means I will have read eight by Christmas. There are some books I've purchased and always wanted to read, others will be suggested along the way. Here are a few on my hit list:

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte~ I've sadly never read this but since being given it as a very thoughtful gift, I can't wait to get into the iconic love story. (My favourite quote by Emily here)

2. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

3. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis~ A life of money and excess means when you're at the top there is nowhere to go but down. Amazon bills it as "The Catcher in the Rye" for the MTV Generation, so I'm reading it. 

4. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

5. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates~ I'm at a stand still with this one after Chapter one, as it just seemed too depressing, yet I keep hearing it's amazing so I will persevere (and I have yet to see the film either, which is on my list too).

6. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls~ A memoir written by the child of two extreme eccentrics, this one sounds touching and hilarious and sad at the same time. 

7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy~ An English Lit major has to read some Russian Lit. 

8. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood~ I've read only one of Atwood's books (Oryx and Crake) and it was for a class, though it still haunts me. This one, while compared to it, is reviewed as even better. It's not released until September 8, but I can't wait. 

What are you reading right now? Or any recommendations of must reads? 

ps- Isn't this the prettiest photo in the world? I love it so much! 

(Photo via Paper Tissue)

Used Bookstores~ In Search of Alice

On the hunt to add to my burgeoning collection of vintage Alice in Wonderland books I have come across some of the best used bookstores in Vancouver. As a literature major I love books, especially old ones. When I first started at UBC many a moon ago my absolute favourite place to hang out (or nap!) was buried in the dusty stacks in the old Main Library. It seriously broke my heart when I re-enrolled many years later only to be back on campus and find the Main Library was basically being torn apart and renovated. Some people say updated... I say ruined. But that's neither here nor there. I love old books as much as I love old libraries. The musty smell, the beautiful fine print, the leather bound covers. There is so much history and character in old books in comparison to ones nowadays. 

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is incomparably my favourite childhood book so I'm scouring the city for the prettiest old volumes of it I can find. You can stumble across so many interesting finds in a used bookstore and it's the mystery of it I love. Plus the markdowns are a great bonus! 

If you're looking for the latest best seller or wanting something with a little more time behind it try one of these three fantastic used bookstores:

Canterbury Tales Secondhand Books

1990 West 4th Ave. (at Maple) 

604-733-1130

Characters Fine Books and Coffee Bar

8419 Granville Street (in Marpole near the Safeway) 

604-263-4660

Tanglewood Books

1553 West Broadway (between Granville and Fir) 

604-736-8876

Update: Have just been sighing over First Edition copies of Alice on ebay. Now that would be the most amazing gift ever! Any great First Edition actually!