PSA: the splitmeet will start next Saturday, on the 22nd.
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.
I read an awful lot this quarter, partly because I was ill for a good chunk of it.
On the fiction front, I finally read Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, which has been on my reading list for years (and which mentions Coty La Rose Jacqueminot, which I've never seen much less smelled). I loved it and I'm sorry I waited so long. Then I read the sequel (Atkinson calls it a companion piece) A God In Ruins, but found it harder going. I'm currently halfway through her latest book, Shrines of Gaiety, which perhaps straddles the mystery category and is exactly what the New York Times called it: "a cocktail of fizz and melancholy, generously poured". Shrines of Gaiety mentions Shalimar, and that would be the perfect match for the book.
Then I read Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These (shortlisted for the Booker, and more like a long short story or novella), George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo, and Maggie O'Farrell's The Marriage Portrait. If you liked her Hamnet, you will probably like The Marriage Portrait, and the obvious choice for a matching fragrance is Santa Maria Novella Queen's Cologne.
Mysteries: I'm still working my way through Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series, and I read quite a pile of them this quarter (I'm up to book 29). I finished Elly Griffiths The Locked Room, then The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (crazy long, and not for the faint of heart), Ann Cleeves The Rising Tide and Richard Osman The Bullet That Missed.
I've read no non-fiction at all this quarter, and hardly any this year. Why does that make me feel guilty?
Note: top image is 73/365: my first reading glasses [cropped] by Mark Bonica at flickr; some rights reserved.
Currently making my way to bed in SmellBent Smoked Ambergris to encourage good dreams.
Thanks to all who offered their opinion on Moby yesterday. Did anyone ever listen to “car talk” on NPR? I used really enjoy that show. What a pair they were.
My TJ’s stalking habits have finally paid off because I found the mother load of pumpkin cream cheese this morning. Selfishly snapped up two of them, and will thoroughly enjoy them. 😋
Was dreading going to work last night because I had two horrendous shifts in a row. Horrendous enough to make me think of canceling my contract. But, saints be praised, I had a nice shift, nice patients, and teamed up with a nice CNA from Africa who is starting nursing school next year. He’ll do great because he a go getter and a self-starter. I really encouraged him because he said he’s starting to Peter out due to overall fatigue. I hope he makes it.
Book wise I have nothing. Last thing I read was about the female lighthouse keepers. For whatever reason, reading just doesn’t hold my attention the way it used to anymore, and I was a pretty avid reader, too. 🤷🏻♀️
Happy weekend and may the God of Dashboard Warning Lights pass right over you!
Glad to hear you got a break last night and you found your pumpkin cream cheese. Small mercies are what make life liveable some times. Hope you have a great trip with no dashboard lights!
Hooray on a better shift and good on you to mentor! My pumpkin cream cheese cravings have been satisfied by Wegmans pumpkin cream cheese. Thais being said, if I make it to TJs on Monday, I will purchase one if available.
I loved Car Talk! The website used to be lots of fun too. Mr. G says there probably wouldn’t be a subreddit devoted to Moby’s ilk, and suggested Auto Zone for code-reading (I told him you’d already addressed that, and several other things too). Hopefully either Moby’s indigestion has resolved, or someone/something on Reddit was able to reassure you, or the situation has resolved in some other way — fingers crossed that you and T-Rex get to do all the exploring you want to do!
I loved Car Talk.
Me too.
Me three, especially the list of fake sponsors at the end – Dewey Cheatum and Howe, etc.
Oh, Deva I adored Car Talk, used to listen when I lived in NYC and I was not interested in cars, but they were hilarious. Apparently it was a favorite of Arthur Miller, so we were in good company.
Another “Car Talk” fan here! I was very sad when I heard the show was going off the air due to poor health of one of the hosts.
And I do have a book rec, but it’s from years ago. Very prescient in subject matter, it’s a book I found myself thinking about a lot as the pandemic unfolded and cut down over a million in the US alone. Some may just be over all this kind of stuff, but I am always drawn to stories about people facing the worst of times imaginable and overcoming these life changing experiences while desperately hanging on to their humanity, sometimes just by their finger nails. It has of course has been made into a movie, but don’t waste your time on that. A review for this interested:
https://www.npr.org/2010/12/28/132292587/in-saramagos-blindness-a-vision-of-human-nature
I’m glad to hear you had a good shift, and a nice colleague!
We used to listen to Car Talk a lot! I got into courtesy of Mr. Ockeghem and his family. He grew up in Massachusetts, and his father has a funny story about them from the early ’80s. For some unknown reason, my father-in-law owned a Renault. (Actually, not an unknown reason, my father-in-law likes to own cars that stand out, but didn’t have a lot of money to buy flashy cars in the early ’80s.) I think anyone who ever listened to Car Talk back in the day probably knows what Tom & Ray thought about Renaults… Anyway, my father-in-law was driving it one day in Cambridge when it started breaking down (go figure), and happened to be just down the street from their Good News Garage. He pulled into the garage just as it died, and Tom & Ray ran out yelling “No, no, no!” and trying (jokingly) to push it back into the street. 🙂 In the end they got it fixed up quickly, though!
But, as Mr. Ockeghem likes to point out — the Renault had seat warmers! (But they didn’t usually work.)
Great story! I was a big fan of the Car Talk. I miss those guys.
Omg, what a fun story! I had almost forgotten about car talk until Deva mentioned it.
😆
Excellent, love that!
Aww, thanks for sharing this fun story! I miss the Car Talk guys!
Oh, that’s great!
Hi Deva, I hope your weekend was restorative after your yucky shifts!
You asked about 19-69 Kasbah last week, and I didn’t get a chance to chime in. I have a little bottle and love it. It’s a hippie incense on me, a bit sweet. But it has a medicinal or camphorous opening that maybe makes it not one for a blind buy. Perhaps a travel spray would be ok though. It manages to be lightish, despite all I’ve said about it!
Oh, thanks for your input. I didn’t see a travel size when I was last on the Sephora site, but that’s ok, I think I’ll give it a pass. I’m trying to clamp down on my inner lemming, which is out of control about everything these days!
Happy Weekend!
Another scorcher of a day,but the wind picked up heavily now and I’m loving the cool breeze through my apartment.Supposedly rain to follow tomorrow!
SOTD!
Tom Ford Lost Cherry.Yum.Marzipan-y almond-y turkish delight cherry fest.It slightly reminds me of Rahat Loukhoum from Uncle Serge,but not nearly as longlasting.
Reading…confession time:I’ve been putting off reading the piles of books waiting for me because…I need reading glasses.Lol.Yup,I’ve reached that age,and since the beginning of the year reading has become really difficult.Some of you might gasp and say “but you’re working at the eye hospital!!!??”,haha.I know I know.
I got some reading glasses at the local pharmacy,because my correction needs are not that enormous,but I loathe wearing them.Small steps.
Would love to see everyone’s rec’s!
My stack comprises of Andre Aciman,Dan Brown,Julia Child’s cookbooks and a phletora of South African writers in Afrikaans….
XO’s!
You smell great! I used to buy prescription reading glasses but gave up as it changed so often, now I just buy the cheap three packs of readers from Costco.
Yes,I got the same feom our version of Costco.They do come in funky designs,I just have to get used to the concept…lol
Oh get yourself a really fabulous pair of funky reading glasses like EyeBobs or Warby Parker. Embrace the fashion element!
Haha!
I like your take on it!
The current pair is actually purple rimmed with green,but I might just go on another reading-glasses-fashion-hunt!✌🏻🤭🤗
Seconding Eyebobs — they do very nice quality readers.
I’ll look into these,thank you!
You smell terrific in Lost Cherry! I buy the cheapy funky reading glasses myself but rarely use them since I find it easier to read without them or my regular eyegasses.
I just don’t read at all,most books are so damn fine-printed!
I’ll get my head around it soon enough.😉✌🏻
One of the reasons I now prefer digital books. I can adjust the font size.
I’m quite tech savvy,but not at all ready for digital books yet!But I hear you!🤗🌹✌🏻
Hello-if you like Julia Child’s cookbooks ( I do, too) then can I suggest a book for you- As Always, Julia by Joan Reardon. Avis Devoto and Julia Child bonded over an article about a particular pairing knife. They became lifelong friends, and Avis Devoto was instrumental in getting the cookbooks published. They supported each other through good times and bad, and they cooked their way through life, and they described what it was like to change the way you cook to meet new circumstances. I promise it’s riveting, and it will enhance your cookbook reading 🙂
Oh yay!Thank you so much for the suggestion,on the list it goes!
I’m no great chef,but I strangely enjoy reading recipe books and the Julia Child ones are so fascinating.🤗🌹
Back around 2011 there was a whole slew of books relating to JC, and I loved them all! So if you like her work think about reading My Life in France, written by her nephew, and also Province 1970, which was written by MFK Fisher’s relative. It’s so interesting to read different accounts of the same events, and I think it’s work your while because each book builds on and compliments the others 🙂
Joan Readon also wrote extensively about MFK Fisher. I have several books about that too and I read them all the time.
Ohh wonderful,thank you so much!
I second “My Life in France”!
I am a voracious reader and thanks to my iPad and my local library app I’m in good standing. I like police/detective books, some no -fiction and that strange genre like Michael Critchen. I just finished a non-fiction book The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi. It follows 3 Indian couples who have each defied tradition and their families by falling in love. The mixed religion couple, 2 women, childhood friends from the same village (which is just not allowed) and the reverberating consequences of their actions. It’s positively fascinating. I’d wear Ineke Jaipur Chai or something heavy with sandalwood.
That book sounds really good. Thank you!
Just added this book to my list, thank you!
I’m wearing the new from Gallivant – Abu Dhabi.
It’s a steaming hot blend of spices and leather with a clean fabric smell effect. Kind of vintage inspired by stuff like Bel Ami.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cju2Mu_KrUM/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Very nice…will have to get a sample, either small or large 🤣.
If you like to read I’d like to recommend a podcast: BBC Bookclub. It’s fantastic. The bookclub interviews authors, and the audience gets to ask questions. I love the calm, measured responses, and the author will read a short passage. I drive a lot and these add a lot of enjoyment to the drive, and introduces me to books I might not have known of otherwise.
I went to Chapters a few weeks ago and got a new stack of books: I like the Charles Todd mysteries. They’re set around WWI, and there is an Inspector who solves mysteries while dealing with the ongoing effects of PTSD from the war. There’s another series about a nurse called Bess Crawford, and I love those too. There’s often scented references, too – so I remember a long descriptive passage about the smell of a table that was waxed with beeswax and what it smelled like.
Currently reading Berta Isla by Javier Marias, and I love it. Also lined up are Frida In America, by Celia Stahr, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, The Sparshot Affair by Alan Hollinghurst and Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami.
As for fragrance-it’s the weekend and I’m not too sure what to wear. I wore a lot of ambers this week. I might wear my bottle of Prada Cuir Ambre, which is a parfum. It comes in a small Baccarat bottle and I love it. So did Hilary Mantel, and if you want to read her words about it go to the Guardian uk website, put her name in the search engine, and enjoy-she wrote about it more than once 🙂
Hope everyone has a peaceful weekend filled with what ever brings you contentment 🙂
I love Javier Marias!
And I have always meant to read something by him, may he RIP.
Anybody have suggestions for the best book to start?
I don’t know about the best one – the one I have is great. I’m going to read more from this author 🙂
Grey rainy fall day (but surprisingly warm for the middle of October, 17°C yesterday and today), and I am wearing Demeter Leather, which is pretty much just that, a black leather jacket (with a vanilla bean in the pocket).
Not reading much of anything because I am still duking it out with German, BUT! Yesterday on a whim I got a library card! I hadn’t had one in years and years, but we were there printing out our vaccination forms (got the bivalent Moderna COVID shot last Friday and the flu vaccine yesterday), and while we were there we figured why not. I must scope out the stacks this coming week: I bet I end up with at least a few books.
My husband and I got the new booster for COVID two weeks ago and then the flu shot this week. The flu shot was a breeze. The COVID booster gave me swelling under my armpit this time and a little achy, but I will take it over the virus.
Congrats on your card!
Off to get my Moderna this coming friday,for what it’s worth!🤞🏻✌🏻
Finally finished Pachinko and I do recommend it, but wow, it took me awhile. I had to check it out from the library (on my Kindle) 4 times! Next up is Bel Canto.
I’m going to wear Ummagumma since a couple of people mentioned it yesterday.
And PSA for any LuckyScent shoppers – they have a friends and family 15% off code (FNF15) good through Sunday, 10/16. Splitmeet materials, anyone?
Oh no! I am SO SORRY you told me about that coupon code. 😉
I loved Pachinko, but yes I had to renew to finish…it’s a big book. My friend was raving about the TV series of this book, but it was on a streaming channel I don’t have.
I loved Pachinko, too. I did get it done in one check-out, but it took a lot of reading.
I also enjoyed Pachinko! Currently reading her other book, Free Food for Millionaires, which is pretty thick too but an excellent read. Bonus, lots of 90s nostalgia.
Gotta pass on the Luckyscent sale and the BBW candle sale. Had other financial obligations to take care if first.
I’m in Tam Dao EDT for a haircut later this morning. The hairs, they are out of control!
Hope it turns out perfectly SheriG!
It did — even more so than usual!
Yay!
A haircut always makes me feel so fresh and new,I love it!Hope you enjoy the new hairs!🤗🌹
The hairs, they are now fabulous. 😍😂
You smell great for your haircut!
Thanks, mtg! I love my hair person, but so far have failed to interest her in fragrance. Nail polish, however, is always a topic during my appointments. 💅
We’re haircut twins! I have a wedding to attend in 2 weeks so my hair should be all settled then!
We ARE haircut twins — two weeks is always the moment of peak perfection for mine too.
Finally trying Shalimar Tonka today and enjoying it so far.
I finished The Dark Angel which is book 10 (I think) in the Ruth Galloway series but the last couple books have gotten progressively more schmaltzy w/ too much contrived soap opera type happenings…yet I will press on. 😉
I had acupuncture and cupping for the first time yesterday for some neck/shoulder pain. Feeling pretty good so far today. I had asked my hairdresser if she ever had acupuncture a couple weeks ago and she said yes and gave me the name of the woman she saw and I recognized the name immediately and knew I worked w/ her but couldn’t remember where. I figured out via LinkedIn that we worked together at a dot com about 15 years ago and she was also going to acupuncture school at that time too. It’s a small world after all.🌎
I’ve had acupuncture for a couple of problems. A long time ago, about 10 years ago, it helped me a lot for hip pain. At that point I was waiting for surgery and it got me through the waiting time. I tried again with the same doctor last year due to shoulder pain, but he had gotten kind of weird and only wanted to convince me to go in for stem cell replacement instead of acupuncture, and so I quit. I did not really like cupping–it was quite painful when he did it, though the pain didn’t last. I just didn’t like having those awful red marks.
Stem cell replacement sounds pretty major! How did he go from acupuncture to that?
Yes, I was more leery of the cupping. It was a bit uncomfortable during but no real soreness afterwards. The marks are prominent though. It’s only been a couple days but I feel like the acupuncture is helping a bit.
I do not think the Ruth Galloway series changes…maybe it gets more so? Mind you, I like them. They’re like comfort food.
I quite like them too but this most recent book had guns being drawn on two different characters in two different countries at the same time. ehaeheh 😉 The last two or three books seem to require more suspension of disbelief from the reader which usually I have no problem with…perhaps I should try one of her other series too b/c I quite like her writing and descriptions…maybe I am getting annoyed w/ the characters themselves. 🙂
I know what you mean. The Richard Osman / Thursday Murder Club series has reached a state of insanity after only 3 books.
I did think that particular Ruth Galloway was esp silly (and I love the series). It’s set mostly in Italy, right?
Overall I love the series just the characters seem to be jumping the proverbial shark in the last couple books. And good memory…this book was set in Italy. 🙂
I was coined by a good friend years ago and it was and interesting experience but not something I wish to repeat.
For those curious:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4170418/
Interesting…I have not heard of coining. Thanks for the link. I am waiting to see how I feel post acupuncture and coining to see if I will do again. There are studies which support acu for neck/shoulder, etc. but I don’t find much research/results on cupping.
Post cupping rather. Cups and coins…I need more of both ehaeheh 😉 drinks and money that is.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/01/the-reclusive-giant-of-australian-letters
I’ve been reading Australian author Gerald Murnane latest book, Last Letter to A Reader which is a kind of rereading of all the books he has published, so a kind of memoir and essay. This got me to rereading his novels….The Plains is his most well known. He really is a wonderful writer. He doesn’t so much write plot and character as contemplates the contents of the protagonist’s brain, writing what he terms true fiction. His sentences are beautiful, sometimes very long and meandering but never sloppy. He lives in rural Australia, and his landscapes are stunning. I was pleased to see him mentioned as a possible Nobel Prize contender in the Atlantic the other day as really no one knows him much. A bit like Sebald in a way ( not really). Start with The Plains.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview24?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Also Scottish writer Janice Galloway’s Clara, another beautiful novel, about Clara Schumann, and her relationship with her husband Richard.
Finally, Exiles by Jane Harper. Australian, thriller set around some deaths in rural Australia. She wrote The Dry which has been made into a Netflix movie ( Eric Bana as Aaron Falk, the cop). It’s not that great a book but very readable and nice characters, good reading for a weekend away or a Sunday afternoon.
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-creative-cities-literature-mobilise-celebrate-first-edition-world-novel-week
It’s UNESCO World Novel Week ( the first time this has been done) so I will check out some of these suggestions from the Creative Cities . My novel was chosen to represent here so quite chuffed about that. A good time for novels, Robin, so no guilt to leave out nonfiction! Though the Prendergast book about Proust is good.
Away for a few days so wearing La Dolce a vita as I face a long drive ( and hopefully no warning lights)
Happy weekend everyone.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/03/books/review/gerald-murnane-last-letter-reader.html
A bit more about the latest Murnane book.
I had not heard of Gerald Murnane. I see the New Yorker did a profile on him in August, but since I am still lolling about in May I have not read it yet.
Also did not know about UNESCO World Novel Week. HUGE congrats to you!!!
Anyone who wants to see Kanuka being honored, last para here:
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-creative-cities-literature-mobilise-celebrate-first-edition-world-novel-week
Wow that’s amazing! Congrats! Did any scents make it into your novel?
Congratulations! I am thrilled for you! Also, hoping there was a big monetary award attached to it 🙂
Crawling out from under my covid booster yesterday. This one gave me my least worst side effects, but it’s still left me allover stiff and achy. Hoping to be back to human tomorrow. So not feeling too scent-y at the moment.
I’m suffering from series-itis in my reading recently: quite a few series I’ve been reading have had new books released, so I’ve been going back and reading the whole series-es so the details are fresh in my mind. I (re)read the whole Cormoran Strike series from Robert Galbraith before reading Ink Black Heart. Re-read SA Chakraborty’s City of Brass series to get to the final one, The Empire of Gold. Tried to read Ben Winters Last Policeman trilogy; got thru the first book but found it made me so dreary I couldn’t go any further. For much more fun (though serious at times) I re-read Jasper Fforde’s Last Dragonslayer YA series to get to the final one, The Great Troll War. I’ll read anything he writes. Still to go: Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb trilogy and Robert Bennet Jackson’s Founders trilogy.
Holy cow, you reread all of Cormoran Strike? I took one look at Ink Black Heart in HB (from the library) and laughed…you could indeed kill somebody with it, it’s so big.
Plus all those others. I tip my hat to you!
I had a lot of down time on the silly destination wedding trip, and a lot of “it’s too dang hot to go outside” time this summer. All the better for reading!
🙂
I couldn’t read more then 200 pages of it — I kept on getting confused by all the chat room page set ups. But love the other Strike novels!
I did finish it, but did not think the anything about the story justified the length.
If the next in the series is as thick a book as that one, I will wait for the mini series.
I reread all the previous books in a series too, especially if it has been a few years since I read the last one. Have you read the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik? I think you would like them.
Thanks, I will take a look.
I’m currently in the middle of the 4th book of the Cormoran Strike series and have been enjoying these very much.
I am avid reader, but I almost always read fiction and it is usually suspense books. Currently, I am reading Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. One of the characters in the book is a beekeeper so Zoologist Bee would be the perfect perfume to wear with this book.
Recently, I purchased Nahema and so am in this today. I have to say I love it!
I adore Nahema!🌹🌹
Nahema is gorgeous!!
I’m in a sort of Zoom book club which has gone on for a couple of years with changes of membership and began by reading Camu’s The Plague. We finally finished The Brothers Karamazov; it took a long time because it’s so long and dense. I’ve read it several times before but got a lot more out of it this time. Discussing a book like that with others is very helpful. We’re doing some short things now, just finished Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s a true account of his Holocaust experience and of people’s reactions and how they dealt with it both during and after. It’s harrowing but ultimately uplifting. Our next reading is just an essay by Camus and then a play by Chekhov.
For myself I am reading a mystery by the Italian writer Maurizio de Giovanni. He is an absolutely fantastic writer and I await the new installments (i.e., translations of them) of each of his two series, especially the Commissario Ricciardi series. It is hard to describe his style–it’s striking and unique. That series is set in Mussolini’s Italy and has quite a bit of political intrigue. The Commissario is a brilliant, aristocratic, and highly eccentric detective, who has a repressed but intense romance with a young neighbor woman he sees in the window, but who does not follow through on his passion because he has one horrible secret in his life. It’s a bit of a magical realist secret but I won’t say more. I think you will either love it like I do or just hate it (the only friend I have gotten to read him hated it). The books are set in Naples and I might scent him with some kind of coffee scent because he does drop into cafes a lot.
PS: you have to read them in order!
Thank you, I will give that series a shot when I’m done with Poirot. Book 1 in the series is on sale at Amazon for $2.99 and I had a credit, so I got for less than 74 cents 🙂
p.s. the Amazon description gives away the secret immediately so if you don’t want to know, don’t read it!
Oh good, I’m glad you’re going to try it. He really is a terrific and elegant writer!
I just finished Angela Sanders last book Witch and Famous.It is the third book in the series and I recommend it.I would have to go with Commodity Book as a scent since a library plays a big role in the plot,but I’m wearing Nirvana Bourbon today.
Feeling icky due to GERD which has been bothering me a lot lately, so just wearing an easy vanilla, VCA Orchidée Vanille.
Sorry to hear that, and I hope you get some relief. Good choice of scent.
Feel better soon.
Ugh, sorry cazaubon.
Icky is a good way to describe that feeling. Hope you feel better soon!
Oh yuck. I have a friend who deals with GERD. It’s really unpleasant at times.
Oh no about the GERD. Hope you feel better soon!
Get well soon!
Feel better soon and you smell great!
While on vacation I read Mathilde Laurent Sentir le Sens, I don’t know if it has been translated into English, it was published quite recently, I learned she had created my favorite Aqua Allegoria Rosa Magnifica as a sort of little sister to Nahéma.
I am reading also Elizabeth Gaskell Ghost Stories, very atmospheric and well written.
I wore Baiser Volé essence de parfum, it lasts forever and stayed with vanilla with Fragonard Les Naturelles Fleur de Vanille.
Yes!
https://www.nez-editions.us/products/the-sense-of-scent-mathilde-laurent
Glad it’s the case, thank you Robin.
How I love the reading polls! I think it was SheriG who mentioned the Country Club mystery series and I read them all over the past few months. They are short and I can read one in a day. I also read The Ink Black Heart, the Locked Room, The Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham, The Others series by Anne Bishop (the first few, starting with Written in Red, are good and then they go off the rails, I feel) and a lot of other stuff not worth mentioning.
Excellent books that I read: The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung, Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence (harrowing), Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, The Half-Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley (probably the best book I’ve read in the past six months), and I am currently reading This Is What It Sounds Like: What The Music You Love Says About You, by Susan Rogers, a Ph.D. in neuroscience who used to be an audio engineer and a music producer. There is a listening list so you can hear the songs she uses to illustrate her points and I am having so much fun hearing music I have never heard before. I have no idea how to scent a list that runs the gamut from a prisoner in Siberia to authenticity in music so I’ll just say that I am wearing PG Louanes Profanes and smelling nice.
I’ve recommended this book in the past here,and I think you might find it an interesting read: Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.The wiki article is very explanatory as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musicophilia
It’s a fascinating subject and I can testify to the ability music has to calm me/excite me/make me dream a little dream…much like perfumes!
XO’s
I read that when it first came out. I loved all his books and miss him now. Thanks for recommending it, might be time for a reread.
What a great list! I will add them to my list, thank you!
My stepmother also loved The Half-Life of Valery K (I think — it was either that or the previous one, which is also on my list, The Kingdoms), and I am looking forward to it. I did read her Bedlam Stacks and really liked that.
Oh, the book about music might have me hooked. I love that kind of stuff. If it’s available as an audiobook, all the better. A unique recommendation, thanks!
I love psych in general and one of my favorite college courses was “American Lit/American Wars.” We read a books that were birthed by every major war/conflict the US was involved in. For my final paper I did a comparison of the psychological effects of combat demonstrated by the characters in the books based on current day psychological knowledge. Very layman-like, of course, but it’s a paper I so enjoyed researching and writing. Thanks again for the rec 😁
That was a great course topic and your research sounds impressive!
Wearing Lolita Lempicka today from a little sample. I had this in 2000/2001, along with the original Marc Jacobs. It is a fun trip down memory lane, but more sugar than I usually like to wear these days. I would love to have that original Marc Jacobs back. My favorite tuberose.
I pretty much only read (and listen to) mysteries and history books.
Soren Sveistrup The Chesnut Man is really good. I read it after watching the tv series and it was still really good. Jo Nesbo is great, I am in the middle of The Bat and I also liked The Snowman. Love the Cormoran Strike series, and the audiobook narrator Robert Glenister is awesome. Georgette Heyer’s romance novels are great, and her mysteries are really fun as well.
The history books are background to listen to while I fall asleep. I love Dan Jones for history.
I enjoyed The Chestnut Man and Jo Nesbo is always good. I haven’t read any Nesbo books for ages, but always a good read.
Love this poll!
I will recommend two wonderful books:
Underland, by Robert Macfarlane – beautiful book about nature.
Las madre no, by Katix Agirre. This is in Spanish, not sure if it is translated. Best book I have ever read about motherhood. It is a fiction book about a case of infanticide. So you can imagine how the author goes deep into questioning motherhood and insanity…
I think someone might have recommended Underland here recently, in the scent of the day or in the last reading poll? It does look so interesting.
I’m in Le Labo Musc 25 from a sample. This is the second time I’m going through a sample of this one. It is nice, but holy cow expensive. I do appreciate the fact that Le Labo offers a range of sizes, right down to 15 mls.
After yesterday morning’s sleeping in, my body decided to make up for it today and I was wide awake when it was still pitch dark outside. Luckily the big box coffee shop down the street was open. I made a trip out to the “big” mall for the grand opening of a new department store: Von Maur, which I know absolutely nothing about. Their Wikipedia page says they cater to the typical middle-class consumer. Whatever that means. It was pretty crowded, but they were playing some good ‘80’s tunes and handing out free chocolates. I stopped by Sephora too and was able to smell Phlur Somebody Wood, which does smell pretty good despite the fact that I find the name-as my daughter would say- kind of cringe.
As for reading, I got nothin. I’ve been in a real reading slump lately. I did see a book I’m interested in picking up though, Face: one square foot of skin by Justine Bateman. Sounds interesting.
Did your Von Maur have live music? I’ve gone a few times to one about an hour away. Just below the escalator, there is a grand piano, and local professional and/or vetted musicians are welcome to reserve a time and play. Every department has various perfume and cologne testers at the cashier’s station. It also has a deluxe “Ladies’ Lounge,” with large private stalls, and a foyer with dressing tables and seating.
We have a Van Maur in my town and it does have live music. It’s lovely
I believe it will have live music because there was a grand piano in the middle. There was a dj and speaker for the grand opening though. It also mentions on their wiki page they are known for that live music. I saw the sign for the ladies lounge also.
It went into a space occupied by another department store originally and oddly the escalator in the center is now gone.🤔
I’m a big fan of Kate Atkinson and in-line at my library for the new one. I’ve been enjoying Lisa Jewell’s latest in the meantime.
In A Ce Soir by Pont des Arts. I had a bottle muled from France. So great and easy to wear Fall scent
I really like it. I had read all of her Jackson Brodie series and after this will go back and read some of her older books.
Wearing and enjoying Shalimar Millesime Tonka. I suspect MVP has a wow factor that MT does not – do weigh-in if you’ve compared. Today MT stayed fairly close to my skin but I smell a wonderful sweet tonka every time I went back to my boudoir! MT, for me, is a very good version of Shalimar. Book-wise, I am strolling along in Suzanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. While Piranisi was a prose-poem, JSaMN seems to me to be a “writer’s writer” novel, which is ordinarily my least favorite type. But having basked in the delights of Piranisi, I know I will need to finish the book to understand what Ms. Clarke has created. That’s a good thing!
I enjoyed that book more then Piranesi actually. All this talk of MT makes me hope it will be nice offered in the splitmeet 🤞🏽
I just emailed you.😉
I love getting all these reading recommendations! Over the years, I’ve really found some great series and books through it.
Read Witch and Famous by our own Angela M. Sanders and thoroughly enjoyed it, as I did the first two in the series. I started the Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson via a library book but found I kept having to renew. Big book, relatively small type for my aging eyes. So, I finally bought the Kindle. Interesting read about the Blitz with a focus on Churchill, his family, his wooing of FDR, those in his inner circle. Gave me a higher appreciation of what England went through in those early years. Continued the “run and hide” series by JJ Marsh and the Jessica Blackwood/Theo Cray books by Andrew Mayne. I’ve enjoyed most of his books. Easy reads.
Just started The Locked Room after an interminable hold at the library and just placed a hold on The Ink Black Heart. I’ll see that come through in the spring…. Which is okay. I’m also doing two Bible studies, one of which I have to lead in a few weeks, so timing on the Ruth Galloway one isn’t great, but I’m sure it’s a quick read.
Oh…and I wore the Prada Rose Infusion today. Lovely, as usual for those scents. Wore Shalimar Tonka yesterday to get my hair cut, because I know my hair cutter likes scents, and I thought she might like it. She did.
We have snow showers in our forecast for Monday! Yikes! So not emotionally ready. Oh, and gale warnings.
We’re book twins re: Witch and Famous although I just started mine!
And speaking of Prada, there were 3 Prada Infusions on display today at Nordstrom – the new Infusion de Ylang (meh), Infusion de Iris and Infusion de Rose.
My parents had snow October 7th already.😱
SOTD = Lush Turmeric Latte Perfume
Went to the mall today and picked up purchases from Nordstrom (La Mer and 2 pairs of huggie earrings). I always stop by the Lush when I was there and as soon as I saw this 30mL, I reached for it in case someone decides to grab it. It is every bit as good as the body spray with vanilla, amber, tonka and turmeric!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjwPYTtOkH0/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I got my haircut today to allow it to settle before my niece’s big day in 2 weeks. When I got home, I decided to wear Ariana Grande Cloud and it is no bueno. It was on the cheapie side and I much much much prefer the Buy Three Get One Free Pumpkin Cupcake fine fragrance mist that came to $7.86 for 75mL. It’s a candidate for one of a few FB perfumes I am contemplating giving away as a freebie in the near future.
And hallelujah! I finished a book a few days ago – Seven-Year Witch by our very own Angela Sanders! I am now on the 3rd book in the series, Witch and Famous. What would I wear while reading it? Something fluffy and cozy, perhaps Love, by Kilian, don’t be shy Extreme? Or even 4160Tuesdays Clouds Parfum?
In other news … I saw someone just dump a bag of garbage in a mall parking space with the bag not even tied closed. Oy! I don’t think it was an accident. And not that this is anything new — an older smallish Jeep took up a quarter of the space next to it. I mean come on! It’s not even a nice looking car!
I have tried Ariana Grande Cloud twice and I had the same impression, just smells very cheap.
Nothing against inexpensive scents. Some months ago, I picked up a couple of Bath and Bodyworks shower gels and lotions I really like, Oasis and Capri. The packaging is more minimal and I realized they are for men, I think. I am going to have to get some backup supplies in case they get discontinued.
I bought a back up anti-perspirant in Old Spice’s Oasis scent because I no longer saw it on their website. It’s a very low key, nice vanilla.
I am so frustrated with the lack of stock at Lush. Have been trying to sniff Turmeric Latte for weeks but they have no stock nor even a tester. Checked online, sold out. Feh.
I’m a bit behind and just checking in. We are in Sioux Falls, SD tonite. It was a long travel day again. Will be near St. Louis tomorrow. Trying to travel during daylight hours only.
I wore Over The Chocolate Shop today, yesterday was Guerlain LPRN from a teeny mini gifted by Sephora awhile ago. Thursday sotd was Quartz (a vintage version). Off to read yesterday’s comments. I’ll check back in when I can.
Wishing everyone a peaceful quiet weekend!
Glad you’re making it slowly and safely across the country. Hope you enjoy the rest of your travels (smelling good all the while 🙂 )
Thanks allo! So far so good!
OMG Gail. I live in Sioux Falls. Wish I would have known sooner. Safe travels 😊
Hi Kris! That’s too bad! We didn’t really know until last night where our stop was going to be. We’ve been traveling 8 or 9 hours a day then book a place to stay overnight for the next evening. Kinda flying by the seat of our pants!
That’s how we went across country from SF to NYC, but our route was a bit south of yours.
We were mostly on the I90. It’s a great road; tons of truckers and very well travelled/maintained.
I hope you are going someplace fun! We go to North Carolina to see our grandchildren and go about 8-9 hours a day too. We are getting to the age that we don’t like to go much longer than that plus it is better to go when it is still daylight. Hope you have a fabulous trip.
Hi Kris, we are! Heading to our condo just outside of Orlando. It will be nice to have our own vehicle there. It’s a long trip from Western Canada!
Hope the road continues to be kind to you Gail!
I wore Sundowner today, since I didn’t get to it for the CP.
Then I went to the mall during Ockeghem Tween’s orchestra practice and finally found Chanel No. 19 to sample. It doesn’t go that well with Sundowner 🙂 but it’s another that’s right up my alley, with iris.
Books — I just finished Suzanne Simard’s “Finding the Mother Tree” today, which I greatly enjoyed and gave me a lot to think about. I also recently read and liked Emily St. John Mandel’s “Sea of Tranquillity”; it wasn’t conscious, but apparently I’m on a BC author kick. I’m near the end of Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom”, which I started after we got back from South Africa (though I should have read it before, but having now seen some of the places referenced it’s more vivid for me), and he had quite an amazing life. I have Lynda Barry’s “What It Is” from the library (first few pages look amazing), and I need to read the second in the “Book of Dust” series before we head over to the UK for the holidays, since Ockeghem Tween wants to make it a “His Dark Materials”-themed trip (after the last one was Harry Potter-themed).
Oh, a His Dark Materials themed trip sounds great fun! You could do something with the Lyra’s Oxford novella too.
Finding the Mother Tree looks fascinating, will add to my list in case I get back to non fiction.
Thank you for all the kind comments, my medicine is kicking in and I’m feeling a bit better today. Wearing Santal Pao Rosa and heading out to a dog show soon with a friend.
Glad to hear you feel better – enjoy the dog show!
Had to do some cleaning and take care of some financial obligations today. The only fun thing was that Sephora point multiplier thing and that was spent on lipstick. Will spend a little bit at the fall Sephora sale but not much. When I get to take my shower, I think Memoir will be my SOTD. Haven’t found anything that has caught my fancy book wise.
Oeillet Bengale….so glad I have a set of back up travel sprays since my current one is almost gone. I was such a skeptic when I bought this, but my husband convinced me. Glad he did.
Calypso…that last episode of Stranger was great. So much uncertainty in the characters on motivation, morality… Ending made sense. Looking forward to season 2.
I’m still on episode 2 but agree that it’s great
You smell wonderful!
Oh, thanks for this, I also loved the ending. Yes, the complexity of the characters’ motivations was very interesting. It was so great to see Si-Mok smile, for once, at the end! Ha ha. Season 2 is also very good. And I’m glad you are watching it also, yasmina.
His smile made my day….
Commando at the grocery store lol. Got a whole cart of stuff for under 100 bucks not bad. Thanks Kroger(no affiliation). Omgosh the price of eggs though..I saw some for 8 bucks a dozen..like what? Oh and my favorite meatballs..usually 10 bucks a bag..now 16. Just ridiculous. The economy is 💩. But positive note..egg nog is back. I can drink gallons of that stuff lol. I prefer no booze in mine..tastes better to me. I have smelled several women covered in patchouli today whoof. Lol. Hey, it’s better than white musk clouds, I will take it.
$8 for eggs?!
Yep, my jaw literally dropped
I’m in PdN L’Eau Chic. Turns out this has a geranium note, so I could wear it in a couple of weeks for the cp. 🌸
I haven’t read a lot lately, but I am making my way through the Brandi Carlisle memoir Broken Horses. It’s a very good read.
I’m wearing Chanel no 22, a deliberate mismatch to my weekend of chores.
I succumbed to the Trader Joe’s pumpkin cream cheese after all the chatter. Oooh boy, zero regrets!! On toast, it reminds me of eating pumpkin cheese cake. Thanks to all who have mentioned it here.
I’m in a reading slump, it feels like my attention span is shot or I just haven’t found a book that sucks me in. I did finish watching Bad Sisters on apple tv, and really enjoyed it. A fun revenge/dark comedy.
Wearing Saffron Troublant for no particular reason.
😁. I am going to put that on also. Just because.
🙂