What I read this month
Feb. 1st, 2007 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mojosmom1. Pleasures of the Table. This is a book issued in conjunction with an exhibition at Fairfax House. Pretty fascinating to see how the upper crust dined, or, at least, their extraordinary waaaay over-the-top table decor.
2. The Haunted Hotel, by Wilkie Collins. Sheer melodrama. Fatal beauty, mysterious disappearances, conspiracies and hauntings, set primarily in Venice. I have to say, though, that I felt some sympathy with the "villainess", and not much with the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth heroine. I guess I just don't buy these simpering, always perfect, long-suffering maidens. And considering (SPOILER ALERT!!!) that the man in the case turns out to be rather a jerk, well, murder isn't nice, but he wasn't, either.
3. One Half of Robertson Davies, by Robertson Davies. This is a collection of lectures and speeches given by Davies to a variety of audiences. They run the gamut from ghost stories, to musings on Jung and the theatre, to thoughts on architecture and academe. Davies had a wide-ranging mind and a delightful sense of humor, both of which are on display in this volume.
4. Suitable for Hanging, by Margaret Maron. A collection of short stories, some featuring Maron's series heroine, Judge Deborah Knott.
5. Travels with Alice, by Calvin Trillin. Essays about travel, food and family.
6. The Courtesan's Arts: Cross Cultural Perspectives, edited by Martha Feldman and Bonnie Gordon. Essays that "explore the conditions that have allowed courtesan cultures to evolve and thrive, or caused them to perish." Because the two editors are both musicologists, music is the focus of the book, from early Renaissance Italy to China, India and ancient Greece. An interesting collection that will likely challenge some of your ideas about courtesanship.
7. The Death of Faith, by Donna Leon. Leon (and Brunetti) take on Opus Dei, and the subject of child sexual abuse by priests.
8. A LIterary Companion to Venice, by Ian Littlewood. This will go with me to Venice. No ordinary walking tours, these, but walks accompanied by descriptions from writers such as Henry James, Proust, Goethe and others about the sights and sounds and history of Venice.
9. Cancer Vixen, by Marisa Acocello Marchetto. A graphic novel about how the author fought breast cancer, armed with lipstick and five-inch heels.
2. The Haunted Hotel, by Wilkie Collins. Sheer melodrama. Fatal beauty, mysterious disappearances, conspiracies and hauntings, set primarily in Venice. I have to say, though, that I felt some sympathy with the "villainess", and not much with the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth heroine. I guess I just don't buy these simpering, always perfect, long-suffering maidens. And considering (SPOILER ALERT!!!) that the man in the case turns out to be rather a jerk, well, murder isn't nice, but he wasn't, either.
3. One Half of Robertson Davies, by Robertson Davies. This is a collection of lectures and speeches given by Davies to a variety of audiences. They run the gamut from ghost stories, to musings on Jung and the theatre, to thoughts on architecture and academe. Davies had a wide-ranging mind and a delightful sense of humor, both of which are on display in this volume.
4. Suitable for Hanging, by Margaret Maron. A collection of short stories, some featuring Maron's series heroine, Judge Deborah Knott.
5. Travels with Alice, by Calvin Trillin. Essays about travel, food and family.
6. The Courtesan's Arts: Cross Cultural Perspectives, edited by Martha Feldman and Bonnie Gordon. Essays that "explore the conditions that have allowed courtesan cultures to evolve and thrive, or caused them to perish." Because the two editors are both musicologists, music is the focus of the book, from early Renaissance Italy to China, India and ancient Greece. An interesting collection that will likely challenge some of your ideas about courtesanship.
7. The Death of Faith, by Donna Leon. Leon (and Brunetti) take on Opus Dei, and the subject of child sexual abuse by priests.
8. A LIterary Companion to Venice, by Ian Littlewood. This will go with me to Venice. No ordinary walking tours, these, but walks accompanied by descriptions from writers such as Henry James, Proust, Goethe and others about the sights and sounds and history of Venice.
9. Cancer Vixen, by Marisa Acocello Marchetto. A graphic novel about how the author fought breast cancer, armed with lipstick and five-inch heels.
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OMG it is February 1st....you know what that means
Date: 2007-02-02 03:43 am (UTC)Now why would I think of that? Has the countdown begun? One of my friends here is going on the 14th to be with his partner who lives near Venice.
Am I the only one who'll be here in North Amercia that week ? LOL...great..I'll finally be able to get good parking spots.
HUGS
PS: How do I look in green ?
Re: OMG it is February 1st....you know what that means
Date: 2007-02-02 04:18 am (UTC)Yep, I leave on the 13th. And getting more excited by the day!
PS: How do I look in green ?
Cute!