The Novel Habits of Happiness, Alexander McCall Smith

Francis Cadell, Iona, Looking North, ?1912-30

(December 28) Loved it, as always with Alexander McCall Smith… I love the way Isabel thinks.

This one was about open-mindedness often, explored in a variety of ways.

Really interesting: the rehabilitation of one of Isabel’s enemies (conributes to the open-mindedness theme, obvi)

As usual: an ambiguous problem “solved” ambiguously (= not solved)

Interesting: Cat is going to marry Jamie’s doppelgänger??? (McCall Smith is surprising and creative)

I want to spend all my time reading about what Isabel and Jamie do during a routine day... how they prepare their meals and open their bottles of New Zealand wines and bathe their adorable son, sit in their back garden and later sing a few “old” songs to each other at the piano… so peaceful and civilized… ::big sigh::

Why Not Me?, Mindy Kaling

Raja Ravi Varma, The Goddess Saraswathi, 1896

(December 17, 2015) I loved this book as much as or more than her first one… just so great.

I laughed out loud so much.

Pages 47-48: laughed out loud then choked up within the space of a half-page:

One very gratifying compliment I sometimes hear is that women want to be my best friend. This endlessly amuses my actual best friend, Jocelyn, because in her estimation I’m “a good friend, but not that great” 

... And all that stuff I do to “appear” better has actually made me a better person. I wish I had always acted like I was a little bit famous.

P. 116:

The Emmy announcements take place at 5:30 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, because when we are finding out the top six contenders for best miniseries, movie, or dramatic special, it’s important that the whole nation watch as one.

So many lines like that throughout … this is her comedic specialty.

It was interesting that on p. 123 she alluded to Catcher in the Rye, because she does sound exactly like Holden Caulfield sometimes … and she is making fun of her own pretentiousness … but, in fact, she does have the kind of wisdom you find in literary works.

Love Style Life, Garance Doré

Réné Gruau, La Cigarette, 1983

(December 11) I liked this quite a bit and am surprised by that!

First, I was surprised that this book was so popular… I was always kind of “meh” on Garance Doré's blog… I liked her aesthetic but didn’t register how well done the writing was… now that I've read a whole book of it at once, I've fallen for the charm and can see the appeal… but initially it surprised me that the library already had copies circulating when I looked it up, whereas Alyson Walsh’s Style Forever and Lisa Eldridge’s Face Paint hadn’t been ordered yet. So Garance Doré is incredibly popular. So I lined up for the library copy.

Charming: even though I read a lot of these blogs and these kinds of books, this book had a few great little tips I’d never heard before and am glad to have,* and I learned a few more details about different fashion-related things, like the names of the various Ray Ban sunglasses, e.g. I knew “Aviator” and I knew “Wayfarer”... but I never knew “Clubmaster.”

I like Garance Doré's take on “being French” or dressing like a Parisian, which is such a hot topic right now: she doesn’t exalt either the French or the Americans but she does find both funny and she identifies the points of view that are completely opposite -- useful to know.

But mostly I fell in love with her voice and her perspective, which had never impressed me that much before from the blog. She’s kind of wise. She pays lip service to fashion and beauty, but mostly she wants to talk about manners, etiquette, social elegance, strength of character… good topics for real human beings.

I love the way she draws… I always liked that about her… the clean, spare sexiness of her lines… but I eventually realized it’s a style she stole a bit from Réné Gruau.

* I no longer have these, three years later when I actually post the review.