Fancy opticals

I'm not entirely sure about the hessian pirate-inspired accessories but I do really love Ksubi's new range of  reading glasses.

Clubbing

Our book club is a little over two years old. We knew it was going to be a success when Nicole chose Midnight's Children, a book that has broken many similar institutions, and we all made it through. While my (not-in-the-group) friends have described it as "militant" I like to think it's quite a democratic organisation. At the end of each monthly meeting our names are put in to a hat and the person chosen gets to pick the next book and hosts the gathering at their place. People come even if they haven't read the book because it's also a nice opportunity to communally binge on sugary snack foods and play the Nintendo Wii. This month my name was drawn and I chose Just Kids by Patti Smith.

Patti Smith is a musician, poet and artist who has a beautiful way with words. Her book is a gift to her first love, best friend and muse, photographer, Robert Maplethorne. 

Patti and Robert really were starving artists and the most fascinating chapters of the book happen when (in desperation) they move in to the Chelsea Hotel in the late 60's. There they become part of a thriving artistic community and their circle of friends and aqqauintances includes Jimi Hendrix,
Andy Warhol and Janis Joplin.

Their friendship spans several decades and many phases of artistic expression. There are tumultuous times; drug use, disease, homelessness, heartbreak but it's written very much from the perspective of an artist  and what I imagine could have been interpreted by most others as "impossible times" is documented as if were all just part of an awe-inspiring journey 

between two creative souls.

Patti is a strong woman and an addictive character to read and I'll go ahead and assume that you know that Robert is dead and therefore the end of this book is heartbreakingly sad.

Robert takes beautiful photos, it's interesting how "now" his asthetic is. Don't you think this looks like something Russh shot last month?

Next month we're reading Mary by Vladimir Nabokov

Book bag

A Great Gastby clutch purse!

Available at katespade.com, $325

In other Gatsby related news Baz Luhrman has officially acquired the rights and is making another Gatsby film. I think he's doing that whole immersing himself in a character thing as he recently showed up to my best friends BBQ in NYC dressed as a flapper.  

The reader: Amy Richardson

If you put a thousand different candy bars in an industrial sized blender and then added your own body weight in white sugar plus several truckloads of glucose syrup and then blended it all together the resulting formula would still only be a FRACTION as sweet as my friend Amy. Amos is a writer and sub editor who enjoys perpetuating insane celebrity conspiracy theories, anything miniature, anything cute and Mr Shu from Glee. She also writes one of my all time favourite blogs Pretty Pretty Yum Yum. These are her three favourite cook books.

 The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

"I had never heard of London’s Hummingbird Bakery (“a sweet tooth’s delight” with “legendary” cupcakes, according to Gwyneth Paltrow) until I came across this gorgeous cookbook in Paddington’s Ariel bookstore. The bakery opened in 2002 on Portobello Road, after owner Tarek Malouf spent a Thanksgiving in North Carolina and developed an appetite for American pies, brownies and cakes. The cookbook serves up recipes for bake-sale classics such as red velvet cupcakes and banana cream pie, as well as the Hummingbird’s signature creations, like their raspberry cheesecake brownie. It’s a great compilation cookbook of OTT American yumminess.

My favourite recipe: Raspberry cheesecake brownie 

Gooey brownie + cheesecake + raspberry cream, this dessert isn’t just a pretty face – it’s one of the most irresistible combos I’ve ever tried. The triple-layered treat is easy to make. It just takes a bit of time – first make the dark-chocolate brownie base, then the creamy cheesecake layer, and finally the raspberry whipped cream. The standard reaction from friends when presented with this dessert: “OMG." 

Meals I want to cook for my boyfriend

This was a gift from my friends Hon and Mads when we lived in Japan. I couldn’t read the title so I was happily flicking through, looking at all the cute pictures when they started laughing and said, ‘Do you want to know what the cookbook is about? It’s meals to cook for your boyfriend! Haha!!!’ So I guess all the recipes have one thing in common – apparently they make men very happy. I love this cookbook because it has only-in-Japan café-style recipes like Hamburger Steak, Taco Rice, Omu-rice and Oyako-don, and super-kawaii styling. I can’t read all of the directions but I use my Japanese dictionary to work out all the ingredients and go from there. It’s a great way to practice Japanese. 

My favourite recipe: Ethnic Mixed Rice 

This is the tastiest, speediest weeknight meal: minced chicken stir-fried with garlic, ginger, capsicum, green beans, chilli, oyster sauce and fish sauce, served with rice, a fried egg, coriander and peanuts. It makes a great bento box for the next day’s lunch, too.

Bourke Street Bakery: The ultimate baking companion

This hardcover volume is of Macquarie-dictionary proportions and I imagined it to be one of those cookbooks you spend hours drooling over but never actually make anything from (the beautiful photography makes the baguettes, pastries and pies look even more mouth-watering than in real life ~ sigh). I thought, ‘it’s got to be easier to walk over to the Bourkery than make puff pastry from scratch (the recipe is four pages)’. But you can take a bit of liberty with the recipes when you’re short of time… Like making the sausage rolls with puff pastry from the store or the lemon curd tarts (my boyfriend’s favourite recipe) with ready-made pastry shells. In 370 pages, the cookbook reveals the secrets to every Bourke Street favourite: from chocolate sour cherry biscuits to ginger brulee tarts to lamb and harissa sausage rolls. Mmmmmmmm.

My favourite recipe: Pork & fennel sausage rolls

As you are sautéing the ingredients, the aroma of pork, garlic, onion, celery, carrots and fennel fills your kitchen and you almost feel like you are walking towards the store, smelling a fresh batch of sausage rolls. It is pretty awesome that they have provided the recipe for their most legendary offering."

Writing cheques

Last week Forbes announced the top 10 earning authors of the year. 

1. James Patterson ($70 million) JPatz has 17 books due out before 2012 and does it all long hand. He's never owned a computer.
2. Stephenie Meyer ($40 million) Vampires bla bla bla. Bella and Edward bla bla bla. 

3. Stephen King ($34 million) He's still got it. $8 million was from the sale of his back catalogue and the rest was from his latest novel, Under the Dome.

4. Danielle Steel ($32 million) This includes the $1 million settlement from her former assistant, who was convicted of embezzling $760,000 of Danielle's cash. 

5. Ken Follett ($20 million) When The Times of London asked its readers to vote for the greatest novels of the last 60 years, Follett's The Pillars of the Earth came in at No. 2 (just behind To Kill a Mockingbird). 

6. Dean Koontz ($18 million) who cares about his books? Look at his shiny hair.

7. Janet Evanovich ($16 million) Janet works hard for the money. Seven days a week. No breaks.

8. John Grisham ($15 million) Has just released a tween book and is clearly trying to jump on the Twilight express. All aboard!

9. Nicholas Sparks ($14 million) I don't know how many more ways he can write The Notebook?

10. JK Rowling ($10 million) The Harry Potter series made Rowling the world's first author-billionaire. 

So I guess 10 mill is a pretty slow year for her.

All the figures and some of the fun facts plagerised from Forbes.com

The Reader: Tania Gomez

If you were on a plane and the oxygen masks dropped and the seat belt lights went on and it felt like things were about to get a little terrifying Tania Gomez is the person you would want sitting beside the emergency exit. You. can. not. rattle. this. girl. Also she's pretty much great at everything she puts her hand to so she could potentially also rush in and safely land the plane. Tania is a writer, editor and the one of the most stylish people I've seen in real life. Anyway these are her three favourite books.

Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney

"Ahh my new literary love. The novel is written entirely in the second person which made me feel like I was in a Choose Your Own Adventure book (remember them?). Having loved those books when I was younger, I was hooked. It also incorporates many of the magical ingredients which make me fall head over heels for a book, namely: a gritty Manhattan setting, a totally messed up protagonist, and some light comedy thrown in for good measure. It's now my mission to read every single book McInerney's ever written." *

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

"I experienced the movie before the book (which essentially meant I had "Moon River" looping as a mental soundtrack the entire time I was reading it), but this novella really is just as beautiful as the film adaptation. The setting of 1940s New York, combined with one of the most endearing characters I've ever come across in Holly Golightly, makes this an enduring classic."

Essays in Love by Alain De Botton

"I like to throw the occasional non-fiction book into my reading mix, which is what I thought this novel was going to be, but I was pleasantly surprised. Utilising a hybrid approach, this book manages to combine elements of a novel like plot and character development, along with the reporting/analysis style that comes with non-fiction. It also had such an interesting love story anchoring the whole thing that it almost felt like I was reading a romance novel, but just written 10 million times better. And with philosophical extras. So, what's it about? This book examines De Botton's relationship with his ex, Chloe, and philosophically takes it apart stage by stage from their first meeting, right through to their break up. It's an honest, and fascinating take on something I'm sure we can all relate to in one way or another."

* Josh Schwartz, the man behind The OC and Gossip Girl has signed up to write and direct a remake of the film Bright Lights, Big City (the 1984 version starred Michael J Fox and Kiefer Sutherland). 

Shelf indulgence

Over at the Borders US website they have this great section called "Shelf Indulgence" where authors/ celebrities do a walk around the store and pull out their favourites. This one is (my future husband) Ira Glass. He's the host of This American Life which you can subscribe to as a podcast on iTunes (it's free!) and it will change your life for many reasons but mostly because you'll never be short of an interesting anecdote to tell to friends at Friday night drinks. Chuck Klosterman, Sarah Silverman, Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman also do a walk around but naturally I think Ira's is the stand out.

Speaking of Ian McEwan covers...

Judging other people by their covers...

Via The Paris Review

"Can you recommend any books that will make interesting people approach me if I read them on the subway? During A Moveable Feast, people came up and quoted entire passages verbatim, and it really enhanced the reading experience?" This all important question answered here. 


I was once reading On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan in a cafe and the waiter came over and said, "you know there are two other women in this cafe reading that same book right now." Anyway that fun anecdote is just about the only time I've ever been approached while reading.


Yesterday someone from work was saying that reading on an iPad or Kindle sucks because you can't judge or be judged on what you are reading when you can't see a cover. I guess when we all have E Readers and people approach us on public transport we'll assume we're about to be mugged rather than chatted up.

Even more love!

Remember that amazing Love cover? Well it's part of a "slow release" set of four. 

You can also get Alessandra Ambrosio (the angel)

 Gisele (the bombshell)

and Lauren Hutton (the heroine)

It's about time

Jonathan Franzen is on the cover of this month's Time for his new book Freedom. The last time a novelist was on the cover was Stephen King 10 years ago. Great glasses Jonathan! You can read an abridged version of the interview here.

The Brisbane writers festival is on very soon!

How adorable are these little mascots?

I think it would be pretty cool to see Mian Mian

Her first novel Candy, is officially blacklisted in China.

Her publisher says it's "a hip, harrowing tale of risk and desire, the story of a young Chinese woman forging a life for herself in a world seemingly devoid of guidelines. Hong, who narrates the novel, and whose life in many ways parallels the author's own, drops out of high school and runs away at age 17 to the frontier city of Shenzen. As Hong navigates the temptations of the city, she quickly falls in love with a young musician and together they dive into a cruel netherworld of alcohol, drugs, and excess, a life that fails to satisfy Hong's craving for an authentic self, and for a love that will define her."

More festival info here!

Mad Men: better than any book written in the last 10 years?

Via Pedestrian

"Bret Easton Ellis had sanctimonious literary pundits choking on their trail mix at the Melbourne leg of his promo junket for latest exercise in nihilism, 'Imperial Bedrooms', when he announced that the third season of 'Mad Men' is better than any book from the past 10 years. Shitting on his own medium was just one of many quality soundbytes B.E.E. pulled out during his talk on Friday evening, during which he also covered Robert Pattinson, his history of sexual experimentation, writers being "drama freaks" and the practical uses of Grindr"  Read the full story at Pedestrian here 

The reader: Damon Collie

I met Damon in the late 90’s. I’m pretty sure I was wearing an Intencity uniform and a nose ring. He probably had pink hair. Damon always had outstanding taste in books and music and over the years he’s bought me several of the interesting books on my shelf like The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley and A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Damon’s a brunette these days and he lives and works in Washington DC.

The World According to Garp by John Irving

"When I was in Guatemala in 2000, I met an American traveler who upon establishing that Australians speak English gifted me with two books: The World According to Garp by John Irving and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I enjoyed both but only one changed my life. The World According to Garp was the first John Irving book I read and my favourite of his novels. I’ve since gone on to read all of Irving’s novels and I’m not sure if Garp is my favourite because it was my first – it’s definitely possible. John Irving’s usual themes such as death, sexuality, and wrestling are in Garp in abundance but I was drawn to the character of Garp more than any of his other amazing characters. Like all of Irving’s books, Garp contains some truly bizarre characters and _plots but none that are so over the top that they couldn’t possibly be true in this zany world we live in. John Irving is such a descriptive writer and most of his novels clock in at over 500 pages; however, his prose is rarely flowery (not that I have a problem with flowery language). I eventually passed on my original copy of Garp to another fellow traveler but found a hardcover version several years later. I met John Irving at a book reading/signing last year on the National Mall in Washington DC and had him sign my copy of Garp. It was an exciting moment."

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"Although I did not realise it at the time, I found a UK first edition copy of Slaughterhouse-Five at a book market somewhere on the South Bank in London. At ₤3 it cost twice as much as the original price back in 1970. From discussions I’ve had with others, this is a pretty divisive book: you either love it or hate it. Obviously, I love it. I don’t generally love science fiction books but I love (most of) Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. His novels are just so out there, so ridiculous, that they might as well have been written by a Tramalfadorian. Slaughterhouse-Five is filled with humourous characters and storylines – few authors make me laugh out loud like Kurt Vonnegut – but there is an underlying sadness throughout the book. It’s a dark comedy, to put it mildly. Vonnegut writes in a simple style, but he is a deep thinker, and there is always a moral to his stories, even if you have to search through the absurdity to find it. Slaughterhouse-Five is disjointed and set in different timelines, and is partially based on Vonnegut’s experiences as a prisoner of war and witness to the fire bombing of Dresden during World War II. It very successfully depicts the senselessness of war. So it goes."

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 

"In the USA – at least in some of the more affluent neighbourhoods – public libraries will periodically have massive book sales of old library books and books donated by local readers. The sales are a beautiful thing and while you can find plenty of Da Vinci Codes, you will also find some absolute classics. And for dirt cheap. I found Love in the Time of Cholera at a book sale in Virginia. I love the genre of magic realism and some of my favourite authors are Rushdie, Allende, and de Bernieres, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the master of the genre in my opinion. He has such a way with words that his novels consistently blow my mind, but Love in the Time of Cholera sticks out for me with its amazing depth of feeling and wonderful depictions of South American life. It’s a love story with many twists set in an unnamed South American city. Although Florentino Ariza is a flawed character, one can’t help but support him in his lifelong quest for the love of Fermina Daza. A beautiful book by a beautiful writer."