Letters, Letters, Letters

I absolutely cannot stand reading books in hardcover. I find it tiring (maybe I need to start working out more) and cumbersome to read try and find a comfortable position in which to read a hardcover book. So I'm usually 6 months to a year behind the great new books. This week is a great week though because finally The Letters of Noel Coward is out in paperback. With letters to such juggernauts as Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, Katharine Hepburn and even Lawrence of Arabia, this collection of the ever fascinating playwright's letter is not to be missed.

From musings on tea at the Ritz, to serious and touching letters about the Blitz, Noel Coward's letters are absolutely fascinating. A true window into perhaps the one true genius.

Happy Reading,
Julia

Mix it Up

So March is coming to a close, but cook books are still on sale until the end of the month.  In the spirit of cooking (it is cold enough in L.A. to eat some hearty meals...I mean it's like 60 degrees), I thought I'd throw another cookbook recommendation your way.  Last time I talked about bread, but, truth be told, I don't really bake a whole lot of bread.  I mean, on the special occasion when I do Tassajara is the best.  For just everyday food, nothing beats the Moosewood Cook Book.  

It's the perfect, and best, vegetarian cookbook, but it's not just for vegetarians.  Anyone who wants to know how to cook great meals that are hearty and healthy should own this book.  The recipes aren't difficult to make, and you end up with a great dinner, rather than a frou frou meal.  The perfect cookbook for weeknight cooking, from the folks at Moosewood in Ithaca, NY.  

Happy Reading,

Julia

Cooking

Seeing as we're running a little promo at Book Soup, I thought I'd throw in my two cents and recommend some cook books.  For the whole month of March cookbooks are 15% off, and we have some great ones.  

One of my all time favorite books is the Tassajara Bread Book.  Tassajara is a zen retreat up in Big Sur, California, and this bread book creates the most amazing bread ever.  

I will admit I have a personal connection to the Tassajara Bread Book; my mother's copy has pages stuck together, the binding no longer holds the pages in, there is residual flower and coffee rings spattered all over the most important pages of the book, not to mention the fact that some of my best memories revolve around kneading dough made from that book.  

But more than just a personal relic, Tassajara bread is bread how it is meant to be.  Thick and hearty, with actual nutritional value, Tassajara bread trumps all other breads.  Buy it and give yourself over to an afternoon spent in the kitchen kneading dough (rope your friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, children, spouse) into it and spend time chatting and cooking...it's how life is supposed to be.

Happy Reading,

Julia

Travelers Beware

I love a good travel book.  There's nothing quite like living the travel experience through a well phrased sentence.  Nothing like reading an exact experience you've had while traveling in whatever country the author is flawlessly describing.  

This is how I felt when I read Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald.  A pitch perfect account of how crazy, ridiculous, amazing, awe-inspiring, India is, Holy Cow, paints a vivid picture of not only the extreme poverty and life-flashes-before-your-eyes driving, but also the thick cloud of smog that hangs over Delhi, the smells of food and burning trash, the cows meandering through the streets, causing gridlock.  

Macdonald has a way of making you laugh and tugging at your heart strings in the same paragraph, sometimes in the same sentence.  A great depiction of a country that spills over with contradiction and irony.  Great book!

Happy Reading,

Julia

May the Force Be With You

What is it about pop-up books?  No matter how old we get, it's still exciting to turn the page of a book and have some shape literally pop out of the book at us.  Matthew Reinhart is the reigning King of the Pop-Ups.  He's done things with Dinosaurs, Sharks and Lions, Witches, and Wardrobes that could be called revolutionary.   But my all time favorite of his books is Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy.  I'm not a Star Wars person, in fact, I've never seen Return of the Jedi or the last movie that came out (which I don't even know the name of), but this book is amazing.  

Not only does it pop-up in the regular from the middle way, but there are smaller fold outs that pop up Ewoks and Storm Troopers galore.  Of course the fold out light up light sabers at the end of the book are perhaps the coolest pop up feat ever, and the reason that everyone should own this book, whether or not you like Star Wars.  

Happy Reading,

Julia

Naomi & Ely

So there I am on the bus coming home from work last night.  I'm catching the glare of all the lights on Sunset Blvd, squinting at the black words on the white page.  I have music blaring in my ears, trying to ignore the heaps of craziness that ride the bus in Los Angeles at nine on weeknights and all of a sudden, my eyes are welling up.  Holy shit!  I think to myself, I'm about to start crying.  The book I'm reading, Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, is seriously tugging at the strings in my heart I'd forgotten about.

Not a sequel, but a follow up to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I expected somewhat of the same kind of book for Naomi & Ely and was instead given this gift of reexamining modern relationships, be them romantic, friendships, or simply acquaintanceships.  Naomi & Ely not only explores some of the devastation of youthful naivety, but also the tender exhilaration of real and true closeness.  

It hurts just as bad, if not worse, when you break up with your friends, but the proverbial make-up sex is a million times better when you get back together with them.  I seriously loved this book, so much so that I'm pretty sure I'm going to read it again, and again, and again.

Happy Reading,

Julia

Artiste of the Month

In celebration/anticipation of Watchmen coming out on Friday, Book Soup is acknowledging Alan Moore as one of the best (if not the best) comics artist ever.  In our graphic novel section you'll be able to find the vast majority of Moore's seminal graphic oeuvre.  From From Hell to Promethea, Swamp Thing to Tom Strong, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to V for Vendetta we're tipping our hats to the great Alan Moore.  

Alan, we salute you.  Thank you for your ceaseless entertainment and thank you for breaking us out of the men in tights version of comics we were subjected to for so long.

Happy Reading,

Julia