Last call...the freebiemeet is open all day Saturday! The splitmeet will start on the 23rd.
Meanwhile, please recommend a great book to add to our fall reading lists, and tell us what fragrance we should wear while reading it.
Or, as always, just talk about something else.
My recent reading:
I devoured a whole bunch of Wodehouse novels and story collections, all of which I had read before: Very Good Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves, Code of the Woosters, Something Fresh, Leave it to Psmith, Summer Lightning, Heavy Weather, Full Moon, Uncle Fred in the Springtime and Pigs Have Wings (those last 7 are all in the Blandings Castle saga). The best fragrance for Wodehouse is probably Dior Eau Sauvage.
I loved Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun but have no idea what fragrance I'd assign it: something dystopian I'd probably rather not wear, I guess? I enjoyed two novels from Ali Smith's seasonal quartet, Autumn and Winter. I finished my "catching up" on Howard Norman with The Ghost Clause, which would call for something like Guerlain Jicky.
I read two mysteries: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (aka J. K. Rowling, and it would call for Jasmin et Cigarette by Etat Libre d'Orange) and The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleeves.
I read almost no non-fiction this month quarter other than a few sections of Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns.
Note: top image is Kindle [cropped] by mendhak at flickr; some rights reserved.
Happy Saturday! I’m wearing Neroli Outrenoir for this beautiful sunny day.
Bookwise I’m reading Below Stairs by Margaret Powell, which the Downton Abbey series is based on.
That’s sounds good!
Sounds very interesting!
You smell great
By Kilian’s I Don’t Need a Prince by My Side to be a Princess today, from a sample kicking around in my stash. Very faint on me. If it were stronger, I’d like it. Not as sweet as I’d expect from the description. More ginger than marshmallow.
Been doing a fair amount of light reading.. Read both of the “witch” ones by NSTer Angela M. Sanders. Thoroughly enjoyed! The latest Jessica Blackwood book by Andrew Mayne, “Mastermind”. Liked that it was a crossover with the Theo Cray character. Alison Montclair’s latest Sparks and Bainbridge, “A Rogue’s Company”. Continued in the series of Dave Cubiak crime novels by Patricia Skalka…set here in Door County. I’m starting “The Silent Patient” simply because a review of the author’s second novel said it didn’t stand up to this one…which led me to checking this one out of the library.
My reading may slow down because I’m finally starting on the shawl I want to knit for my sister. Bought the yarn well over a year ago.
Good luck with the shawl! I bought yarn for an Icelandic sweater a year ago, and have yet to start it.
Angela has a 3rd witch that was just released. I subscribe to a publication called BookPage, which reviews recently released books and Angela’s was in this month’s issue.
Foxbins, you recommended a biography, Mike Nichols: A Life during a past poll. I read and loved it, so enabler pin for you! Thanks for the recommendation!
Y’all reminded me of my unfinished knitting, and I need to dig that out.
Did not know about Angela’s witch series…thank you for mentioning.
The Silent Patient is much better than the second novel. In fact The Silent Patient is one of my favorites. I think you will enjoy it.
Jambo! 10 hours sweet sleep.
Haircut and mani pedi day so get to listen to book in car.
Finished Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard. Best book I have loved this year.
Watched this seasons end of Ted Lasso…how long till next season?
And of course Happy Birthday to John Lennon.
SOTD for adventures will be SL Ambre Sultan as it’s a delicious cool day in SoCal.
Jambo! Jambo bwana. Habari gani;
mzuri sana!
Asante sana!
???♥️
How do you find the longevity of Ambre Sultan? I recently nabbed a bottle and have only done one test. I just loved it; but don’t remember how well it stayed with me.
It stays on me all day. I spray this one sparingly.
I almost did a picture of John Lennon reading but let it go. Joining you in thinking of him on his birthday though!
You mean you “Let It Be”? (But I guess John Lennon always hated that song even though I think it’s beautiful.)
Ha, exactly.
I will probably wear Bulgari Thé Noir today, since I picked it up at my sister’s on Thursday. (That said, she managed to lose my Tauer solid perfume and Oeillet Bengale sample in her house, along with a couple of other things she received in May 2020, back when I was more optimistic about the virus being over. They’ll turn up someday.
So far so good with the trip to the US. No problem getting in, and no problem getting the COVID tests and results. Now we just have to hope we don’t hit a traffic jam going home that puts us outside 72 hours.
Hard to believe how much has changed down here in the 19 months since we were last here. It’s probably not noticeable to those living here, but a number of our favourite kids stores have closed their retail locations (which I didn’t realize until we turned up in front of where they used to be) and even the REI flagship seemed to have a lot more space and a lot less merchandise. In Canada the shortages are par for the course, but of course the US has always seemed like the land of plenty compared to Canada, so I wasn’t expecting it as much down here.
I’m not reading a book right now. I just finished Lord of the Rings for the fourth or fifth time (comfort read) and also Lauren Groff’s “Fates and Furies”. I’m debating whether I will read the second in the Book of Dust series next, or Hilary Mantel’s “The Mirror and the Light” next. Also, I did start Kristin Hersh’s “Seeing Sideways” in the spring when the chaos of our reno was starting, and need to come back to it.
The last in the Mantel trilogy sits reproachfully on my book shelf, abandoned only after a few pages. I need a holiday to really get into it, maybe ?
I also postponed reading it for over a year, but once I began it, earlier in the summer, I was just as engrossed as with the previous two in the series, coupled by a strong sense of impending doom which made me both want to keep reading and dread getting to the end.
I am still stuck 80% of the way through. Can’t seem to let him die.
Despite knowing that it was coming, I still found the end surprising and upsetting.
Yes, it’s been sitting on my nightstand for over a year; somehow it’s just never been the one that I pick up, despite having loved the first two. Of course, I know how it’s going to end in advance…
They are all postponed forever. I’m good with that decision.
I’ve also read the Lord of the Rings several times… it’s this amazing universe immersion and return to being a child sort of feeling. It never loses its magic. I read it first in Spanish then in English, and I could say I learned English reading this and the Hobbit as a child. Other favourite books from that time are Momo and the Neverending Story.
I love that J. R. R. Tolkein helped you learn English! I happen to be re-reading LOTR now, too; just started The Two Towers. I’d love to read Don Quixote in Spanish; there seems to be so much going on there that might not quite translate.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one rereading it! 🙂 It’s a good way to learn English, too — I keep trying to get my kid into LoTR instead of the manga she’s nuts about, so that it would help her vocabulary, but no luck yet. (I should get her to try Momo in German, but that would be a fool’s errand, I think, since she refuses to maintain her German…sigh.)
You never know.. maybe she’ll change her mind when she grows a bit older! It is so wonderful to have multiple heritages.
Yes, you are right!. Also for us Spaniards it is difficult to understand much of the context and many expressions of old Castillian. The commentary of El Quijote is almost as extensive as the book itself 🙂
I loved Mr JRR Tolkien and was completely obsessed with his books as a child.. reading well loved books in their original language is a really fun way of learning new languages, once you can navigate a little bit. Next is watching well loved movies!
I had no idea Kristin Hersh wrote a memoir! Thanks so much for mentioning it. I was such a huge fan of her early band Throwing Muses when I was in high school…. it will be such a treat to read this.
Same, although I was even more a fan of Belly, her sister’s band. Looking forward to reading this.
I woke up this morning from an elaborate dream in which someone was repeatedly leaving samples and minis of vintage scents out with the garbage (in otherwise empty suitcases, for some reason) and I was gathering them up. Lots of Givenchy, lots of Fendi, lots of made-up dream-state things, So that was nice.
Although it’s a lovely cool autumn day, I’m wearing Guerlain Terracotta Voile d’Ete, because I was in the mood for that particular blend of carnation and vanilla.
Ha! If only
That was a good dream – as much time as I spend thinking about perfume, I don’t know that I have ever had a dream featuring it. Maybe once I dreamed about smelling some – not sure.
That’s a funny dream! Did the feeling that you had to keep checking and gather and give you anxiety? I sometimes have anxiety dreams where I have a limited amount of time to go through objects
No anxiety, but I felt guilty, as though I wasn’t allowed to take them, even though someone was obviously throwing them out as garbage. It was a very perplexing dream.
I wonder what your subconscious was trying to tell you there! I rarely recall my dreams lately, but sometimes I dream about worrying unresolved situations that I did not want to consciously think about. And at times I wake up in the middle of the night and the solution comes to me like an aha moment.. dreams are fascinating.
I managed to spill a generous lashing of Coco from my splash bottle when I re-upped last night, I am still at hazardous levels of the stuff. (Husband: “Yum. You are wearing perfume, right? Smells amazing. It’s familiar.” Everyone else: “Gas mask is on securely, but I am still feeling overwhelmed by the fumes.”)
As for books, I’m really enjoying Clarissa Ward’s memoir On All Fronts. It’s a page turner, which I guess is partly because she is such a skilled storyteller. I am also super gripped by the mystery I’m listening to on audiobook, The Night She Disappeared, by Lisa Jewell, which is very well written and gets extra props for having at its center three multifaceted, intelligent women who are never the least feisty, or sarcastic, or need to sneak cigarettes, per the usual range of women in mystery books.
On my bed stand is Ali Benjamin’s The Smash Up, which is supposed to be a clever, modern day twist on Ethan Frome. I found EF pretty dire way back when, so have been slow to pick up Smash Up, but it’s for my book group and we are meeting soon.
You married well. ?
Yes! 🙂 and you do smell amazing.
I like Lisa Jewell books!
Do you have a favorite?
Making a note of your books esp. The Smash Up. In a similar vein I quite liked Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl, a modern day retelling of the Taming of the Shrew.
Hope you have a good week! Your blanket has been a life saver this past winter, thank you.
Hah! I’ve not read Vinegar Girl, but I have thought through retelling Taming of the Shrew/Pygmalion/My Fair Lady etc. Its a fun mental game. The tension today, between its satisfying tale of transformation and the atavistic gender roles, make it great food for thought on long car rides. Definitely will add to my list.
So happy the blanket gave some comfort, or at least a laugh!
Adding The Smash Up to my list. I agree on Ethan Frome. I read it in high school and it soured me on Edith Wharton thereafter. But while packing for my recent vacation, I mistook House of Mirth for a different book and brought it. I started reading it once I had finished everything else and was desperate. I’m enjoying it so far, so maybe a clever retelling of EF will salvage it for me.
Finished my pumpkin muffin and sipping coffee, wafting Vanilla Flash, and trying to decide what direction to head.
It’s a perfect day in my book- sunny and cool! I really enjoyed reading yesterday’s posts! It’s nice hearing about people’s memory of places, friends, family, etc.. I just posted my SOTD over on IG and Andy Tauer DM’d me right away! Never thought I’d be a ”fan girl” but I’m feeling like one now! ?
Wanting to get some leaf peeping in, so shorty we will be on the Umpqua River-Rogue River Scenic By-Way. This is an area that was impacted by recent fires, I don’t know to what extent, but I’ll soon find out. Hoping to find a leaf or two!
Happy weekend! ?
Wow – that’s so cool that Andy sent you a message! Good luck finding pretty leaves.
Yes, way cool that Andy noted your post! Have a great weekend. I’m so glad you’re back on NST – I missed ‘traveling’ with you.
I decided to keep track of my reading and I don’t like GoodReads because Amazon already knows too much about me. I picked LibraryThing for an easy to use interface. I can recommend Great Circle, by Maggie Shipstead, J S Dewes “Divide” series for space SF, Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina by Georgina Pazcoguin, Sunshine Girl by Julianna Margulies, Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (more space SF from The Martian author and loads better than his second book), and Lizzie & Dante, by Mary Bly for the romantics among us. I’m wearing Chipmunk today and smelling very nutty. 😉
I ought to use something like that. I just keep a list in Evernote, since I’m already using Evernote for everything else.
I have Great Circle on hold, looking forward to it.
Happy Saturday! I am going to wear vintage Coco today. I just finished an hour of yoga + abs. Whew. I’m pooped. Most of what I read is from mentions here or by friends.
I read:
Several YA books from my past by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (The Velvet Room and The Egypt Game to name two)
Into the Water – Hawkins
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Saenz
The Night Hawks – Elly Griffiths
My Brilliant Friend – Ferrante
The Midnight Library – Haig
Currently reading:
The Daughters of Yalta – Katz
Next up:
Four Wagons West: the story of Seattle – Watt
The Heron’s Cry – Cleeves
The Vanishing Half – Bennett
My sister recently asked me for cozy mystery recommendations. I love Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffiths. Are those considered cozy? Any recommendations for other favorites?
Love cozy mysteries too…adding Ann Cleeves to my list…and need to get moving on my next Elly Griffiths book…
Oh, I loved The Egypt Game as a kid!
My daughter read it last year and liked it, too!
That’s awesome to hear! I love it when books are appreciated for decades!
I loved Zilpha Keatley Snyder too! I bought every book of hers I could find. My favorite was The Changeling. I read that so many times. A lot of her books are out of print now, which is sad. So hold on to your old copies if you still have them!
Cool. I’ll look for The Changeling.
I would consider them both relatively cozy.
Wearing Liu today. It’s an interesting one, and without overanalysing it, strong aldehydes over a sweet floral-amber base. I think I pretty much love everything coming out of Guerlain these days, even the musky scents that never called my name before.
I wish I could daydream, do nothing and go for a walk with a book… I have things I need to do from work which is lately taking hold of my weekends. I can’t wait for it be finished.
Yes, I was thinking about how I rarely read other than a little bit before I go to sleep. I’d love to sit down with a book during the day but there is always something else I “should” be doing. I’m hoping to read more once I move to part-time hours beginning 10/18 (yay!!!).
I also feel guilty often… miss the times I could just spend a whole afternoon reading in a café and basically doing nothing without regrets.. too much work. I’m glad you can go part time, that’s really exciting!! 🙂 I have been thinking about that too and hope to follow your example.. one of these days!
I rarely read anything during the day but the New Yorker. I do find that lately I just go up to bed earlier so I can read more. Helps that I got a new, more comfortable mattress last year.
I’m reading Hemlock,the new Susan Wittig Albert book.They are usually set in Texas,but this one is in the mountains of North Carolina near Asheville.I always learn more about herbal lore in addition to the mystery.
Wearing MM Replica By The Fireplace
Today and remembering John Prine on his birthday.
I “read” The Warmth of Other Suns audiobook a few months ago and cannot recommend it highly enough. It was so compelling and engaging I could not put it down. I listen to a lot of nonfiction audiobooks, and they often suffer from dry or poor reading. Absolutely not the case here.
I will soon pick up again Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello. I’ve been at it for about a year now – it’s fascinating but incredibly long (30+ hours) and goes into a lot of minutiae so requires heavy concentration. But I am determined to finish it before we go to Monticello over Thanksgiving weekend.
No perfume yet today as I’m about to make some decants. Soon I’ll smell of melange of missed and dribbled sprays.
Note to my swap-mates: I haven’t forgotten about you! I’ll be working on your packages this weekend and contacting you soon.
I need to get back to The Warmth of Other Suns. I had it out from the library a while ago, and only had time to get a bit into it before I had to return it. Putting it back on the list…
I’m in Soivohle Cuir Beurre this morning and smelling like warm leather and spices with a side of bandaids. In a good way. 🙂 My reading habits are still stuck in a haze of re-reading old favorites (because I read at bedtime and can’t get to sleep if I don’t know what’s coming next in the story) … but I did thoroughly enjoy Seven-Year Witch, the second of Angela’s witch series. I’ve been trying to get engaged by some nonfiction — Simone de Beauvoir’s The Ethics of Ambiguity, and Samantha Powell’s The Education of An Idealist, for example — but it has been a bit of a slog. The last nonfiction I remember truly enjoying was a biography of Albert Einstein that I read in middle school. In short, I’ll be looking over everyone’s lists here today for suggestions.
I definitely re-read comforting old favorites when I’m stressed. And as I also read before bed, I’m careful not to read Horrible Things that might be super upsetting. I get it!
I posted a reply for you below re. Books
Does anyone know what the new line “Free to choose” means under the Fragrantica heading on their home page?
I saw that, and was also curious. Seems like an odd slogan to me.
Agree. I don’t get it.
Saw it too… weird.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/24/how-to-live-montaigne-bakewell?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
You might like this biography of Montaigne as it crosses the biography/ philosophy territory and is very readable esp. with looking at how we live, what’s important. The same author also did a de Beauvoir / Sartre book which was also pretty good. But this Montaigne book was great.
Meant for SHERI G above, sorry
Thank you very much for the suggestion, Kanuka — will check it out!
Books that I’ve read recently (which is a miracle, because I stopped reading at the beginning of the pandemic and have finally picked it up again):
Topics of Conversation- Miranda Popkey
The Immortalists – Chloe Benjamin
The Starless Sea – Erin Morganstern (based on a recommendation from the last reading poll – thanks!)
It’s October, and in October I always re-read spooky favorites. Right now I’m reading Lovecraft. Next will be Something Wicked This Way Comes, which I read every year before Halloween.
SOTD is Sunday. Perfect for a day of heavy rain.
Ooh, I loved the Immortalist!
How did you get back into reading? I can’t seem to concentrate enough for it, but I have such a long list of things I want to read I really wish I could!
I went on vacation in early July. Sitting by the pool suddenly made me feel like reading again. Maybe the change of scene jump-started my brain?
Woke up incredibly late today. Going to Holden Arbouratem awash in no 5 body products.
Hope it was lovely!
I’m not reading anything right now, and I have had the same three books on my nightstand for the past few months. Instead, I’m spending my coffee drinking time (my usual reading period) listening to various podcasts from people I find smart and interesting. It helps me start my day with an optimistic mindset.
SOTD is Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia, just because I’m trying to clear out the perfume cabinet a bit, and found this little mini-bottle along the way. One of you fab folks must have given this to me, because I have no recollection of purchasing it on my own.
What podcasts would you recommend please?
I hadn’t followed any in a while but am now listening to the Murdaugh Murders by Mandy Matney b/c of all the crazy news/events w/ that family in the last several months…my brain had a hard time fathoming it… ehaeheh and the podcast confirms it’s all entirely nuts and quite terrible.?
I’ve been listening to Sam Harris and Andrew Huberman — not super-exciting if you’re into murder mysteries! The Huberman Lab podcasts are all about how specific behavioral changes can improve health and quality of life, and Sam Harris’ stuff is all over the place (philosophy, politics, neuroscience). I’ve recently paid for a couple of seasons of Absolutely Mental — conversations between Harris and Ricky Gervais — which are amusing (though not as comedic as RG’s stand-up). I’ve definitely been on a logical, rational, based-on-science kick lately, as an attempt at balance within the overall craziness of the world.
Thanks for sharing…shall check these out…I like listening to smart people talk too. 🙂 The murders one is really b/c I couldn’t make sense of those news stories…and, even with more information, still cannot. 😉
A lot of the Making Sense podcast (Harris) is behind a paywall, but there are some episodes that aren’t, like this one about effective altruism — how to do the most good in the world — called “Doing Good.” https://samharris.org/podcasts/228-doing-good/
I’m home from vacation (boo). At least it means I get to wear perfume again (I wouldn’t trade my fragrance sensitive friend for anything, but I did put some perfume on as soon as I got home). Wearing Tam Dao again, and I do have a fictional character that I’m certain would wear this cologne. Darien Serlast from the Elemental Blessings series by Sharon Shinn fits the bill perfectly. I don’t know if I would call the books perfect fall reading, but it is one of my favorite series. The first book is called Troubled Waters. For fall reading I would recommend Sabriel and Lirael by Garth Nix. Heads up there is so much necromancy…
Hope it was great fun, and Tam Dao is a perfect reentry fragrance!
SotD *eight* sprays of No. 19 epd (current version). I am re-reading Lord of the Rings, which I have often done in September, because that is when the book starts. Before that, I read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, after Jessica mentioned on Perfume Professor. I found the first part not the style of writing I enjoy; but the last third was a page-turner for me, and I thought the ending was inspired and touching.
Oh how nice! You’re reminding me of Hajusuuri
Oh good, that’s on my reading list too!
I couldn’t get past the first part of Hamnet. I might give it a second try because of you.
I thought there was a real change in tone and pace – not sure if those are the proper terms, but will be interested in whether you find the same thing.
I am reading The thirteenth tale by Setterfield right now and like it a lot. As an audiobouk I listen to Ann Rice Mayfair Witches.
We ha a big harvest of beets, Cavolo Nero and chards, so I made pasta with chard, raisins and sardines and a big pot of ribollita today.
SOTD was cardin, first a Paradoxe, later Choc
So much wonderful sounding food!
I’ve also been re-reading Angela’s Vintage Clothing murder mysteries, and have been reminded by your comments about her new Witch series, have just downloaded the first.
Some perfumes have amazing longevity on fabric, I can still smell Amber Eccentrico on a jersey from days ago.
I was planning some perfume shopping to celebrate my second vaccination, but bought a FB with a future occasion in mind. So I can still buy something else 🙂
Of course you can still buy something else! And if you had any side effects you can buy even more 😉
Givenchy L’Interdit- most recent version. I built this perfume up in my mind and was sure I was going to live it, but I think it’s generally too sweet for me but it does settle down
I really wish I could smell what the original was like back in the day! I know they have that museum in Paris, maybe I will make it there one day.
I was watching YouTube videos about Marie Antoinette – I smelled Histoire d’un Amour – it’s a cheapie – but for some reason it made me think that’s what she might have really thought smelled good at Versailles, unlike black jade which must be a very modern concoction
I really liked the Givenchy L’Interdit in the eau de toilette. It didn’t seem too sweet to me and actually lasted quite a while. I was wondering what the original was like as well.
The drive down on fabric is gorgeous, I have unrealistic expectations at first spray, I think I’ll need to wear this if you more times until I make my final determination – I’d like to smell the EDT to compare
I highly recommend the newest William Kent Krueger novel, Lightning Strike, a prequel to his Cork O’Connor series, and for a fragrance, anything that reminds you of the Boundary Waters area of Northern Minnesota or any of the Dame Perfumery Artist Collection series for the Native American connection. I’m partial to Dark Horse at this time of year and that’s my SOTD today.
If you’re not familiar with Kent, you can learn all about him here: http://www.williamkentkrueger.com. I’ve read all his books, seen him numerous times on his book tours, and highly recommend his virtual appearances (no affiliation, I am just a huge fan.)
It’s warm and sunny here, a perfect day for dinner outside tonight at our favorite Greek restaurant with dear friends – will choose a different scent for that, something reminiscent of the Mediterranean and Greek Isles.
Happy Saturday!
Enjoy your dinner!
Oh, I have heard good things about him (possibly here?) and forgot all about it. Will add to my list.
“The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides and “Something In the Water” by Catherine Steadman.
Wear something warm and cozy like FM Fleur de Cassie or DK Gold
I am going to read all of Hemingway, some I haven’t read but I’m starting with re-reading The Sun also rises. Not one of the characters is wholly likeable and it is rather bleak but fascinating. Brett would wear Mitsouko.
Tonight I’m wearing Cartier Baiser Volé Essence de Parfum, a floral vanilla, very rich, weather was perfect today.
When I was MUCH younger, the characters did not seem likable but they did seem enviable in some way that is lost to me now that I am older. So I would agree with bleak but that is not how I saw it when I was 20.
I read it as a teenager as well, I remembered the fiesta part quite well, so maybe like you I found their lives glamorous. Today it’s a ‘lost generation’ study I find.
Wearing La Curie Ossuary and reading Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer for a class on Intergenerational Suicide (which also makes me think of Hemingway because of his and his family’s tragic history with suicide).
On a lighter note, I am also wearing my new Face Veil lip stain in Wineberry thanks to a recommendation by SmokeyToes. I love it!
This class topic is very difficult. How is the instructor doing in your experience so far?
Totally agree. The class itself hasn’t started yet and is entitled “The Intergenerational Transmission of Suicide: Moral Injury and the Mysterious Object in the Work of Walker Percy”
Thankfully, the class is small (10) and we will be able to meet 3 times before the class itself where we will discuss a documentary about Walker Percy, The Moviegoer and an article by the teacher. The small group will be a time to share personal and professional (therapist) experience.
Oof, that’s a heavy topic for a class!
On a much lighter note – where did you buy your lip stain?
Amazon but you can also get it on the facestockholm site. It’s a great stain and I’ve tried many.
Oh, I loved that book but I have never re-read it, or any Walker Percy I don’t think (and I think I read all of them but his last, and some of his nonfiction too).
I’ve got two going on right now one fiction one not. The first is science fiction/fantasy called ‘The Actual Star’. Takes place in three time frames. The first is the waning Maya Empire in 1012. The second period is contemporary Mexico. Follows an American of Maryam descent. The third is after the world has collapse and takes place in 3012 and the world follows much of Mayan beliefs.The story is interwoven and long. Copal Azure by AdV would be a good one.
The second is “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. Hubs and I are watching season 5 of “A French Village”. The story follows the German Occupation of a French village in the Jura near the Swiss border. 7 seasons long with a total of 72 episodes. We are up to fall of 1944. The show is a real nail biter. If you haven”t seen it do so. It is well worth it and raises many questions. I can’t for the life think of what to wear.
I salute you…French Village was so well done but I could not take it, I think I saw 2 seasons and decided I could not do any more. But I would also recommend it to anybody! I am just a wuss, it was too much of a nail biter.
I know! We went from watching 2 episodes at a time to just one. I told hubs that I was just too exhausted after watching. Sometimes I wanted to scream, other times to cry. Always thinking never again.
Sorry. Always thinking this atrocity must never happen again.
I’m not feeling inspired today on either the perfume or book front so I will just continue commenting on other’s delights ?
🙂
Wore a dab of Swan Princess from one of my samples… Haven’t opened my bottle yet. I think I want to order one more bottle and keep one sealed as a keepsake. Can’t wait for the splitmeet and hopefully find the right person/people to try some haute guerlains!!
What do you plan on splitting?
That is the thing… I have never participated in a split before. I am not really looking to be the host of one… Just basically if someone wanted to be splitting some of the Guerlains… I don’t even care what…. Something nice!! I am open to all suggestions. I love the house of Guerlain but there are tons of their frags I haven’t tried yet.
Having hosted a few splits I can attest that it’s a bit of work but such a great community service. Fingers crossed there will be something on offer you like!
Fingers crossed!!
Wafting Pacifica Island Vanilla with a big hat tip to hajusuuri for the introduction! ?
Heading off to a neighborhood Oktoberfest that ends with fireworks!??
I hope you enjoyed the party and ha
…have a good week. Hello and good vibes to your sister for the next round.
Thanks, Kanuka.? She has 9 of 12 today.
And thanks for the Colm Tóibín recommendation too!
Outlander: I was intrigued by the preview video so I watched the show and had to know what happened to these people so I got the eight books out of the library. I don’t usually read books but I really enjoyed my summers dog-sitting and reading these sci-fi/romance novels on my balcony. The ninth book is to be released Nov. 23. Can’t wait, and the sixth season is slated for TV January 2022.
I’m waiting for Tell The Bees in November, too. I’ve been reading Gabaldon since 1991.
Happy Saturday night, y’all!
Wearing A Lab On Fire L’Anonyme, lots of sprays all day long. Love this citrusy, gingery thing. Went well with the turkey sweet potato chili I made today. It’s still warm here, but I was really jonesing for chili.
Recipe?
Here ya go. I started with this recipe and added a half pound of ground turkey while browning the veggies. Careful with the spices; delete the cayenne if you want.
https://cookieandkate.com/sweet-potato-chili-recipe/
Enjoy!
Thanks!
What’s the purpose of the cocoa powder?
It just deepens the other flavors. The chili won’t taste chocolatey.
I have been reading quite a bit recently , mostly novels.
My favourites are Infinite Splendours by Australian Sofie Laguna. A novel that spans 40 years in the life of a boy/adult Laurie who grows up in a rural landscape and paints . Beautiful writing and tone , sad and brilliant characters. If you liked Stoner you will like this ( quiet, slow, powerful).
A Sunday in Ville d’Avray by Dominique Barberis. One sister visits another and hears a story about a meeting with a stranger. Slim book, understated, French.
Magpie Lane by Lucy Aitkens. University (Oxford) “thriller” with an unreliable narrator, a Scottish nanny caring for a mute child of academic. Easy read but good characters.
Speak, Silence by Carole Angier. Biography of Sebald. You need to have read his books to get the most from this book as it tells of how he mined real people to create characters.
Snow Country, Sebastian Faulkner. Set between world wars in a kind of ( mental) hospital. Not a great read but enough to keep you going. Bit plodding sometimes.
The Magician, Colm Toibin. Novel about Thomas Mann. Tight writing, interesting . Good if you like Colm Toibin, sometimes a bit airless and descriptive.
Jane Harper if you like Australian thrillers.
Wearing Debaser. Blue sky, green hills, lambs in paddocks.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/20/infinite-splendours-by-sofie-laguna-review-a-sad-and-sublime-tale-of-trauma-and-art?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/22/a-sunday-in-ville-davray-by-dominique-barberis-review-discreet-charms-of-the-bourgeoisie?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Also, Sebastian Faulks not Faulkner.
I just looked up Magpie Lane – right up my alley! Thanks for the rec
Cool! The main character and her take on Oxford are great
http://crimebythebook.com/blog/2018/6/25/book-review-the-night-visitor-by-lucy-atkins
This is by the same author and also good, psychological thriller category: a well known historian , satisfying life…obsessive research assistant
Ooh again right up my alley as an academic who loves mystery thrillers! Thanks!
Thank you for the wonderful list Kanuka. I was just talking to my stepmother about The Magician last week, trying to decide if I would read it (used to love Thomas Mann but find I can’t read him now — sometimes a bit airless and descriptive seems like it would fit!). Will spend some time googling the others and reading your links.
Hi Everyone. I have not posted anything for a few years as I was busy with change of jobs, deaths in family and now retirement, but I have still been lurking on here. LOL
Now that I am retired I have a little more time to do the enjoyable things like read and wear perfume. It is still weird though after being a nurse for 40 years.
Today I am reading The Husbands and wearing Coromandel for the strong women that are in the book.
Another book, The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, that I believe Lovestosmellgood, recommended a few weeks ago was great! I have listed a few other that people may enjoy below. All are fiction.
The Lost Apothecary
The Guilt Trip
The Paper Palace
The Hunting Wives
Amazing! We are scent twins! I am wearing the Parfum!
Welcome back, Kris!
Thanks Robin!
SOTD = Chanel Coromandel Parfum
I have decided that Coromandel in any formulation is simply gorgeous! So far, I have a BUB of the 2 that I have (EDT and Parfum). The EDP is very nice as well but I currently only have samples.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CU0iE5vpIFW/?utm_medium=copy_link
I am back to reading magazines but I won’t bore you that. Currently, I am going through “Life Hacks” and the one I decided to try out was breakfast on-the-go. I could never do this as it means I have to eat while commuting and I judge people who do it. Judge. I tried the eggs-on-the-go:
1) Crack 2 eggs into a mug.
2) Add toppings. I hand-tore 2/3 of a slice of prosciutto as that was what came out of the package.
3) Stir the mixture. I lightly stirred as I didn’t want scrambled and also didn’t want 2 blobs of yolk.
4) Cover the mug with a paper towel. This was not mentioned but I’m the one who has to clean the microwave if the eggs explode.
5) Microwave on high for 90 seconds, then let stand for 1 minute.
This came out PERFECT! It cooked just right and a spoon worked really well. Be cautious as it was hot!
Tomorrow, I will replace the prosciutto with 2 grape tomatoes and spinach and only use 1 egg + egg white.
Wow- that’s very clever. Hard to believe it really works!
It worked! I would switch step 2 and 3 as I did this morning when I had more toppings.
This is like me judging people who would put on a full face of make up on the subway although tbh it did give us fellow riders something to watch on our commute ?
Ha! I’ve seen that too except I just look away because I don’t want to engage.
I confess to judging on similar things: our local public library lets people eat and drink at the computers, and in all but one of the reading rooms, the one with carpet. GAG!! And the librarians of my youth would be horrified, too. I have seen books and DVDs that show the wrong-headedness of this supposedly “welcoming” rule.
What!? That’s just craziness. Lol.
I remember thinking it odd that in The Breakfast Club, they ate their lunch in the library.
Oh yuck!! I’m a librarian, and we don’t allow food in the library, thank goodness. People still sneak it though. Drinks with lids or covers are allowed, but people still sometimes spill. I hate that “we want to be welcoming!” nonsense; people can refrain from eating for a short time, or they can go outside!
Sometimes I think how did we ever survive without non stop bottles of water/coffee/whatever twenty years ago? Lol, it’s ridiculous.
I know! I agree!
Yes, so silly. No one will dehydrate if they go for 8 hours with out a fluid. Sigh.
The one I used to go to never enforced the library voice policy even though it is on the list of library etiquette posted in a few prominent places.
Late in responding, but glad for the “validation.” Our library had picnic tables out side, too – a hasty bite in the foyer during the depth of winter, maybe – but otherwise: PEOPLE! Eat BEFORE you get to the library. High Five, Socks, to a librarian. Did you ever read the short story, “Rufus M.” by Eleanor Estes?
Thanks for the high five! YES to all you said. I haven’t read Rufus M., so I’ll put it on my list!
Ours also allow it even though you’re not supposed to according to the posted library etiquette.
I am going to teach my son how to do this!
Do you add milk to the eggs?
No milk at all but you could except you then need to experiment with how long to microwave given the additional liquid. Also, it is better to switch step 2 and 3 to avoid traffic in the mug.
My experiment today included using 1 egg, added some egg white (not measured), 2 grape tomatoes cut in thirds, a small fistful of spinach and an asiago cheese snack bite cut into 16 pieces. I did 90 seconds, let it stand for a minute, then added 30 more seconds. It can be seasoned with salt and / or pepper to taste.
Thanks! I will let you know how he did.
‘Mick: the Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger’. Reading magazine articles and online wiki and such about Mick Jagger is one thing, reading about his whole life story, from his (soon to be not-so-humble) roots to the time the book was written (2009, I think) is quite the eye opener. Dude was, and still is, a universe onto himself. Fragrance I would wear: Decadence from Marc Jacobs.
I should read this.
I’m still reading Dune but getting into the home stretch. There’s just been too much going on at home for me to read it as fast as I’d like. I’d pair it with L de Lolita Lempicka for the sweet cinnamon notes for the spice melange. Perfume today is Lubin Kismet. My new decant from a swap package arrived yesterday, so it’s the perfect time to thunk my old decant. Yesterday was L’air de Rien during the day and L’Occitane Miel & Citron at night.
I need to try reading Dune again – I started it years ago, and kinda got into it, but then just wandered off. You have been smelling wonderful – I just nabbed an adorable bottle of L and it was love at first sniff. Kismet (had a sample), L’air de Rien, so many perfumes, so little time….
Did my cleaning in no 5 edp and since that is finished, I am in Epic. I looked at the new extrait version and almost had a heart attack because of the price. Looking at the body stuff too.
https://newsroom.resnicow.com/download/1074634/studioswinelondonrelease-final-9.8.21-3.pdf
Some info about an art installation in London called Silent Fall in which you walk through a forest of trees releasing misty scent bubbles that open in your hands to reveal smells of moss etc. Wish I could go
https://thenudge.com/london-things-to-do/superblue/
Photos of installation
This seems pretty cool. I wish you could go too.
This sounds so amazing, thanks for sharing!
Was reading the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, with an article “The Thrill of the New” about people responding to perfume during the lockdown. Spoiler: Jan Vilhelm is going experimental!
Interesting!
Top book I read so far this year
Beautiful World Where are you? By Sally Rooney
House by the Cerulean Sea
For some fantasy with a dash of smut, Sara J Maas
Currently reading Boy in the Field
Book I stopped reading was Matrix. About 120 pages in I gave up.
I have given up on several this year. I used to feel I had to finish something if I’d already read 100 pages, but no more.
I think I push myself to finish books but during this pandemic I don’t need any more stress to do anything I don’t want to do or like
Exactly. I just read the first part of Pat Barker’s Women of Troy and decided no, that’s for later. I did enjoy the first in the series though (Silence of the Girls).
The Flatshare that you recommended a few weeks ago was so good. Loved it!
I loved that book, I was rooting for them all along
Yesterday I wore Black Orchid and Today I am sampling Cloud Intense. It smells identical to regular Cloud to me.
No reading recommendations from me, but out of nowhere I am now getting Cosmopolitan magazine. Lol. I guess someone told them I miss the 80’s!
I flipped through it and did not find a single perfumed paper strip.
You are getting it but you did not order it? That’s weird!
Late to the party, but if you ordered from FragranceNet, they often have a “scoll down” magazine subscription “bonus.” The default varies, but you can change it if you think to look. I found this out when “People” started arriving in my mail box. Later, I got connected with “Town and Country.” I just go with the flow – a glimpse at how the other half lives.
I recently finished “(Re)Born in the USA: An Englishman’s Love Letter to His Chosen Home,” by Roger Bennett. It was lots of fun. It also felt very soothing to focus on what’s actually good about our country, given all the awful stuff that’s happened in recent years.
I also read “The Thursday Murder Club,” by Richard Osman. It was okay; definitely a cozy mystery! I like my mysteries a little grittier, though. Given that, I can’t explain why I’ve read nearly all the Agatha Raisin mysteries, since they’re definitely cozy! I think because I like Agatha’s saltiness.
I like gritty, and many cozy series are too cozy, but I don’t like graphic violence…a fine line, perhaps.
I’m reading Letters to Camondo by de Waal. I’m only about a third way though, but I know it gets very sad. I would pair it with Après l’ondée.
I’ve had an indulgent weekend, celebrating my son’s birthday. Lots of yummy food and treats!
Last night I tried Gallagher’s Behold Patchouli. I really liked it and was trying to figure out what it reminds me of. Surprisingly, I think it’s Musc Ravageur. Really odd, considering there’s no patchouli nor chocolate in Musc Ravaguer. Maybe it’s the citrus opening in both, and that they’re both ambery scents. I must try them side by side to see if my nose is playing tricks on me.
Happy Birthday to your son!