library list for march

my new favorite destination is the main branch of the santa monica public library. it's gorgeous and modern and full of glass and light--and brimming with a million books to read. it has a cafe and its own bookstore, and it's environmentally friendly! oh, library love.

the latest books that i've check out have been almost all about food. inspired by this good idea at the kitchn, i decided to "test out" some new cookbooks before purchasing. needless to say, i now want to own each one of them...

+ chez panisse vegetables & chez panisse fruit are treasures from alice waters. each book is beautifully designed with gorgeous illustrations and bursting with recipes that celebrate fresh produce.
+ the new moosewood cookbook, a 1970s vegetarian classic, is handlettered and illustrated, which makes it feel extra personal, like the recipes are coming to you from a great, food-loving friend.
+ nigella express & nigella's how to eat made me understand why people adore nigella. her recipes are delicious, but simple--and her attitude towards food is celebratory, but down-to-earth.
+ good poems got thrown into my pile for good measure. just as i hoped, this collection of poems from garrison keillor (a prairie home companion) is lovely and surprising and gives a sense of hope and perspective in this crazy world.

so that's what's piled up for me at the moment... what about you?

more cookbook recommendations are always welcome!

listening to: mushaboom by feist (listen)

another library list

on tuesday night, i went to my local city library branch and had one of those awesome moments when every book i came across seemed just right. the library (any library) has been a favorite location of mine for as far back as i can remember. wandering the shelves, amassing a pile, and checking out a stack of new-to-me books gives me a strange but special thrill.

often the subjects are totally unrelated, many of the books i never read from cover to cover, but always i am delighted by all the text and images and ideas and inspirations that a pile of books can offer.

here is my library list from tuesday:

+ alone in the kitchen with an eggplant (hilarious essays on cooking solo.)
+ the girl with the gallery (the title caught me, and the topic's held me.)
+ what i talk about when i talk about running (haruki murakami is fantastic.)
+ paris cafe: the select crowd (illustrated thoughts on the paris cafe scene.)
+ superman: the complete history (for an upcoming exhibition at work.)
+ armageddon in retrospect (kurt vonnegut is genius.)

what books are piled up on your nightstand at the moment?

recently reading

in the offline world, i have been catching up on my reading.

+ cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things
a manifesto for a new [sustainable! creative!] industrial revolution

+ the namesake by jhumpa lhari
the journey of this indian family broke & mended my heart

+ interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lhari
i couldn't stop reading these short stories

+ the chosen by chaim potok
a great coming-of-age novel from the high school reading list


and what are you reading this fall?

current book inventory

books that i am (reluctantly) returning to the library:
1. the other way to listen
children's book about what it means to really listen to the world. beautifully illustrated.
2. nancy silverton's sandwich book
recipes from LA's campanile restaurant & their weekly "sandwich night" tradition. major YUM!
3. living in style: without losing your mind
i wish i could live by this title.
4. a field guide to sprawl
fascinating visuals of sprrrrraaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwl. and some interesting new lingo like boomburb, mall glut, pork chop lot, and snout house.
5. letters to a young poet
simple, real medidations. i'm halfway through. must. finish. why don't we write letters like this anymore?

books recently added to my "to check out" list:
1. the country doctor
2. bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life
3. the cloudspotter's guide: the science, history, and culture of clouds

reading

just starting...
the poisonwood bible. the first book for the crosscountry bookclub! the first 5o pages have me hooked.

just finished...
the house of the spirits. snagged from a bookshelf at home because i liked the cover. i finally got through this book and really enjoyed the writing & the story. reminded me of gabriel garcia marquez, magical realism.

still halfway through...
the audacity of hope. night train to lisbon. the book of laughter and forgetting.

any special book recommendations?

2007 by the books

from january to december
- on beauty (zadie smith)
- what is the what (dave eggers)
- kafka on the shore (haruki murakami)
- white oleander (janet fitch)
- how to win friends and influence people (dale carnegie)
- atonement (ian mcewan)
- a tree grows in brooklyn (betty smith)
- getting things done (david allen)
- refuse to choose (barbara sher)
- no one belongs here more than you (miranda july)
- omnivore's dilemma (michael pollan)
- how we are hungry (dave eggers)
- the bell jar (sylvia plath)
- the history of love (nicole krauss)
- girl, interrupted (susanna kaysen)
- apartment therapy (maxwell gillingham-ryan)
- living the simple life (elaine st. james)
- god bless you, mr. rosewater (kurt vonnegut)
- the fountainhead (ayn rand)
- white teeth (zadie smith)
- the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe (c.s. lewis)
- prince caspian (c.s. lewis)
- the audacity of hope* (barack obama)

*still reading into '08


[backdated]

books invite all, they constrain none

i finished reading the fountainhead this week. it's the sort of book that stole every open moment of my day.

browsing through our bookshelves, i came across a book that i've never read... i thought now was a good time to try the book.

share books with friends: shelfari and goodreads

share books with the world: bookcrossing


[photo from myflickr]

library love

currently reading:
- The History of Love

out from the library:
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- Girl, Interrupted
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Each of my current picks claims to be a "National Bestseller"? Maybe that's my book choice? But how easy is it to be a "bestseller" these days? How long do you have to be selling "best" to earn the title?

[10/29/07: seth godin on the new york times bestseller list]