fab friday.
vintage penguin classics from hannah ellen.
i need to read more. and not on a kindle or an ipad. while those are very nice, i need the tactile feel of a real-live paper pages…beautiful book covers and bindings, the relaxing sound of flipping through a honest-to-goodness magazine. i like having the option to go back a few pages and check out things i want to understand better, and i even like (heaven-forbid!) highlighting passages that strike me as significant. so with that said, this fab friday, let’s hear it for the printed page!
do tell, what are you reading these days?
while in new york, we stopped into phaidon, and let’s just say i could have bought almost everything, or simply moved in. a beautiful building, containing incredibly beautiful books. i wouldn’t mind starting with their book the sixties, and vegetables from an italian garden.
love the Ladybird Nature Series from hannah ellen; florence and florence has lots of beautiful old classics, like agatha christie mysteries; the new issue of uppercase magazine is out (oh, and i’ve written a profile on flora grubb in this issue!); this is one fantastic cover of the Kandinsky collections from anthropologie.
Anthology, the lifestyle and shelter magazine begun by San Francisco writers Ahn-Minh Le and Meg Mateo Ilasco has its 3rd issue out – and available at anthropologie – it’s full of beautiful and inspiring design and photography.
Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith’s Fine Line Magazine is an international fine arts publication that’s lovely to peruse as well.
i’m quite anxious to read the new kings of nonfiction edited by my personal hero, ira glass. but the one that haunts my bookshelves is infinite jest by david foster wallace. it’s such a large, daunting book (over 1,000 pages), but i’ve sworn to read it. now…to just get off this internet and start.
I’ve been trying to get back into reading too. I’ve been attempting to finish up House of Versace. I actually love the book but for some reason have the attention span of a fly right now. I’m 9 pages from finally finishing! Yay!
Happy Friday
xoxo
http://www.thewrittenrunway.com
Stunning. I do agree, there is nothing like the feel of a good book in your hands. I’ll be hard pressed to make a switch to kindle/ipad etc. Always love your thoughtful inspiration. Keep it coming :)
I literally just got done reading “the poisonwood bible” (finally) SO good, i could NOT put it down. “animal vegetable miracle” was awesome as well. love barbara kingsolver! i am definitely behind on reading, but “water for elephants” i read entirely on a plane from nyc to san diego. i need some good suggestions for the summer! i keep hearing people rave over “the hunger games” trilogy?
On my bedside right now is the latest Anthology, Holly Becker’s Decor 8, and a new (to me) magazine from Canada called House & Home. I’m also readingMurder on the Orient Express. On my wishlist is Bossypants (Tina Fey) and The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (David McCullough). Ambitious, I know! Happy Friday :)
and I meant to say Holly Becker’s book “Decorate” :)
I am reading a couple of things right now. I have a Kindle, and love it to death. It’s true that I will keep some favorite books in their printed versions, but the convenience of the Kindle is awesome for my style of reading–which is to flip back and forth between a couple of books at the same time.
Currently, I’m reading Les Miserables and Eleanor Roosevelt’s autobiography. Oh, and Freakonomics, too.
I love that when you have a good book on the go you always have something you FEEL like doing.
Need to pick up the latest Uppercase at Pedlars this weekend.
ok, one last comment, promise :) … have you see these penguin classics with embroidered covers?
http://jilliantamaki.com/embroidery/penguin-threads/
Somewhere down the line because of a design image on your blog probably!- I have been inspired to stack books precariously around the house. I love the ribbon around the books here. I always take a pencil with me and mark my books with a check mark when I am reading something inspirational. I’m going to read again Oscar Wilde’s The Critic as Artist (originally published 1888!) -with some remarks on the importance of doing nothing and discussing everything. (thats what it says on its cover.) love him.
I’m FINALLY reading everything by Paul Auster. I’ve been meaning to for years, but I’m just getting around to it now. So far, I read the New York Trilogy and I’m now working on Brooklyn Follies.
p.s. Just one more of the many things that makes me sad about eBooks: Do you remember pulling books off of your parents’ bookshelves because the covers or titles looked interesting…and then you wound up reading them? I hate thinking about that not happening anymore. Visual discovery is such a big part of becoming a lover of books.
thanks so much for everyone’s input and reading suggestions – these are great.
also on my must read list are the novels by John Updike. i heard an old npr story with him on the radio when he passed away, and really fell in love with him.
and, anna – again you are quite right. sadly (or maybe not) i often do judge a book by its cover, and they can totally draw you in and cause you to read something you may not have thought interesting. i love book jackets! :)
Just spotted this comment about John Updike. I have put one of his books for sale on ebay this week as part of a selection of three vintage penguins. It’s called “Of the Farm” – is from 1968 and is a great read with an interesting cover.
Have enjoyed reading the recommendations of other book lovers too.
I am in a great book club. So, I try to read at least that one book a month, not on a kindle or iPad. :)
This month is a great one: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. It’s a great non-fiction.
Def. prefer books. I like this self help book I just started called ‘Attached’.. I get very attached, and this is really well written and intelligent, so far.
I do still love bound books, but the story is the thing, so I’m as happy reading from an e-reader as a paperback. Sometimes happier, since I’ve often struggled with comfortably holding large volumes. E-ink is a lot like the paper page experience–no fatiguing back-lighting–but without the heft and papercuts. It’s perfect for a voracious reader with limited space like myself. It’s especially awesome on vacations–I used to fill my suitcase with books, and now I just slip the Kindle in my purse.
BUT I do still keep 4 6′-tall bookcases packed with the books I cherish. We basically keep the Kindles for 90% of our brain candy reading, but stock our shelves with all the books we like to re-read and loan out, or want in our house when we have children. I *loved* reading from my father’s extensive library of sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction growing up. I definitely want my children to have a similar experience.
I’m with Christy. The convenience of e-readers makes it difficult not to convert, but I still have bookshelves stacked with the books I love and want to grow old with. Read Bossypants!
I’m always looking for a good book to read! I recently just finished the girl who played with fire which is the second book in the Stieg Larrson Millenium trilogy. So far the first 2 have been really good! I used to love reading agatha christie and reading this post just reminded me of that so my next book will be agatha!
what a delectable blog post. i could read posts about people reading books all day, i tell you!! i am currently reading immortality by milan kundera. why, you ask? because i read about it on a blog.
xo
sami
ps. check out my adorable print giveaway!
http://glimpseofglamour.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-dream-my-painting-and-i-paint-my.html
Hurrah for reading the written word! I’ve been jobless for a few weeks and took on stacks of books to fill the time–Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez), Zeitoun (Dave Eggers), No Man’s Land (Duong Thu Huon, The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton), I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers), Hanna’s Daughters (Marianne Fredriksson)…I think that’s it. I think I’d recommend them all, eclectic though the mix may be!
Definitely prefer real books… I love my iPhone but I don’t think I’ve ever read a whole book on it in the three years that I’ve owned one!
Pretty books! And I feel you on the tactile-turning-pages-of-a-book thing. I had a Kindle and it felt like cheating…does that make sense?
Oh thank you! I thought I was the only one still left with an unquenchable passion for print on paper. I would love to visit Phaidon next time I’m in NY. I spent a whole morning in Strand Book Store. (I could have bought almost everything in there or moved in!) You have my best wishes and my admiration for continuing in such difficult times. Your blogs are beautiful and much appreciated the other side of the pond!
I just bought the Anthology magazine at Anthro – thanks for the tip! It looks chock full of hip trends and projects.
I have just started A Fairytale of New York by JP Donleavy. I did judge this book by it’s cover so big expectations! And of course it’s Penguin…
I felt awful when I finally broke down and bought a Kindle, but I have to admit it’s probably tripled my reading ability (I keep it in my purse and read everywhere I go). But like some of the other commenters I keep a bookshelf full of my favorites for guests and to loan/give away.
Just finished the Paris Wife, which was a little depressing but interesting insight into Hemingway’s early writing days. Midway through Unbroken and LOVING IT! And Infinite Jest is haunting my bookshelf, as well :)
I love all the photos, they make me so happy!
I read every night before I go to sleep so I am always looking for something to read. Summer reading is usually the classics for me, Updike, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald. Read anything by Truman Capote,especially his short stories. And as a follow up read To Kill a Mockingbird by his friend
Harper Lee. I too love Ira Glass and look forward to reading The New Kings.
ooooohhhh…goodness me, you will LOVE The New Kings of Non-Fiction. as a literary essay junkie (who is also in love with ira glass) i devoured this one and have come back for seconds (and thirds)
i’ve been reading junot diaz and dave eggers for the past few weeks now. i also highly recommend anything written by jonathan safran foer.
happy reading!
xo