Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro

 

So, my only excuse is that the last three months have literally whizzed by. I realised only last week that yesterday was Father's Day, and I thought, 'ahh the perfect opportunity to finish Elegance and post my review - this way I could still dedicate the post to a parents day' (it would've still been dedicated to my mum)... So I apologise Ma, here's your post.

I usually tell you when/where/why I brought the book I'm writing about - in all honestly I cannot remember at what point in my life I came to have this book in my possession - so instead I'll tell you about what the book has sparked in me in this particular point in time. I've been reflecting on my writing in relation to my Ma... I started writing creatively when I was 16 with the hope that one day I'd be a published writer with the book I had started to write (I won't give the title away) - Ma wrote in my birthday card for my 17th birthday that she couldn't wait for it to be published and (I quote) 'to get a move on with writing it' - 5 years later, I'm yet to finish it. After a lapse in all creative writing, I started write again last year, and felt that I was a completely different person to my 16year old self and to continue writing 'that story' didn't feel right, I had a 'Dear Me' moment (see below).  Too much has happened in the past five years for me not to be a different writer, with different motives, intentions, beliefs and experiences I want to share. So Ma, one day I will have a published novel - that is still absolutely one of my goals in life.

As well as this post having significance to the person I wanted to dedicate it to, it's quite significant to the book itself and the main character - Louise Canova.

Louise is a native American, living in London, who we see grow and develop (as we do with all well written characters) - we see a number of life changes and painful decisions that she makes. Her goals and motives for doing things changed. She re-evaluates her life and she gets on with it. Her aid throughout the novel, is a book called Elegance by Madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux which she found lying around in a dusty bookshop. This book is effectively a self help guide (or at least that's how Louise treats it) and an A to Z as to what constitutes as being elegant in both appearances and in life.

From the extracts Tessaro uses from Dariaux's Elegance she's cleverly woven Louise's life around them, created some real laugh out loud moments as well as some absolute tear jerking moments. Does this constitute as an intertextual text? I'm not sure. It is really unique in this relatively tired genre (it was published in 2004, Dariaux's book was published in 1964- its stood the test of time in the 21st Century context), so I really love that aspect of it. Similarly to the way Tessaro uses the extracts in the book and the way Louise uses the book, I dipped in and out of reading this text because it allowed me too. Just like an old friend you may not have spoken to in ages, if the chemistry and foundations are there - whenever you meet up for a chat it should feel seamless. That exactly how I felt with this book, I was able to pick up exactly where I left off 'seamlessly'.

Louise crafts a new identity, which I and I'm sure Madame Dariaux, believe for any healthy person, is a perpetual part of life. You shouldn't live an unhappy life and if you've the power to change it and be brave enough to change it then by all means you should. Louise proves this, Madam Dariaux proves this and so does my Ma.
I really recommend it as a reserved pick me up, it's effortless throughout, I love both Tessaro's and Madame Dariaux's style of writing - Elegance book with a lot of beauty and style (just like the lady on the cover). The quote at the top is the first thing you read when you open the book, it set the tone perfectly - and I completely agree with it. xxx


Tessaro.K, 'Elegance' (2004) HarperCollins; London
Galliano, J., (2009) 'Dear Me, A Letter To My Sixteen-Year-Old self'. Simon & Schuster: London



Elegance - Happy Mother's Day

The next novel I will write on is Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro. I’ve chosen this as a dedication for Mothers day...  My mother absolutely epitomizes elegance, so let’s hope it’s a good read... xx

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani



Yep, I ate all of those chocolate hearts after taking this pic :)

 So three weeks after Valentine’s day here’s my valentine-y post... it’s actually quite appropriate that I didn’t post the ‘Very Valentine’ post on (or around) valentine’s day because the novel wasn’t about Valentine’s day at all, instead it was about our heroine, a woman called Valentine. This teaches me to not judge a book by its cover as it can lead to pre-judgements about what to expect from the novel....

We follow the story of Valentine, a woman from a large Italian family who has to find her way through the trials of life - Romance, independence, fighting for her job and home and dealing with the many dramas of her huge family. Very Valentine was full of laughs and there was plenty to take away and think about.

Valentine and her Grandmother, Teodora, run the Angelini Shoe Company Greenwich Village. It comes to light fairly early on in the novel that the company which has been around since 1903 is on the verge of financial collapse. It’s up to Valentine and her grandmother to think of new innovative ways to bring the company back into the 21^st Century and save it from ruin and the claws of Valentine’s banker brother.

I really felt that in terms of what happening in our economic world this story-line was very fitting and I felt the struggle Valentine and her grandmother faced. There were so many dilemmas surrounding pride, integrity, the will to keep fighting for what you believe in and what’s true to your heart Let’s just say when the right opportunities presented themselves to these girls, boy did the seize them! (I’m not going to say how they manage to save themselves but let’s just say the Angelini shoe company wasn’t such a small player in the world of competing with the creations from the likes of Chanel and Dior ;) …)

I have to admit, there were several times where I did struggle to relate to Valentine as a character. I think in terms of personality and the ways she went about certain things are most certainly not the way I would never go about things – for example kissing men in Italy while you have quite a lovely man waiting for you back in New York City..? She was a good girl at heart and I loved her relationship with her grandmother. They were perfectly written - very human! Valentine’s mom, was a character that I think I would like to know in real life – she oozed the (cheap) glamour that we all try and stay away from (I hope), she was loveable and these three characters were the anchors of the novel.

As much as the story was about Valentine, her love dilemmas, her work, and living, and family situations, the character that stole my heart was Valentine’s grandma – Teodora. An Eighty year old woman, still working and just managing to keep her company and jetting off to Italy once a year to get the finest Italian materials for the shoes she makes and also to meet the second love of her life – Dominic Vechiarelli (wasn’t expecting that twist). Teodora kept her love a secret from everyone for ten years as she didn’t want them to feel hurt that she had found someone who made her happy after the death of the grandfather of the family (which is understandable). She was completely adorable and the most loving and empathetic of all the characters – so when she has a surprise proposal at the end of the novel, it’s just the icing on the cake!!

At the end of the novel we have a real heart warming scene as Teodora, Valentine and Valentine’s mom are looking on at the shop window, seeing the work they have been a part of their entire adult lives and feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment that can only come from something you’ve practically dedicated your life to. Yes - that’s how the novel ends, a cliff-hanger..? I think so...

p.s ...By the way who am I kidding? I’ll always be the one judging a book by its cover...

xxx

Very Valentine

 

So the next post is dedicated to Valentines day.. I know the last post was for Welsh Valentine's day, but what can I say there are plenty of days to spread and share the love. So I brought 'Very Valentine' back in February 2009. This was at a time where I was coming to the final slog just before the final final slog of my A-levels. To get to Sixth Form I used to have to walk across an asda car park to cut through on to the main road of my Sixth Form (glamorous, I know). So anyway I decided to take a detour and went into the supermarket for a bit of retail therapy (this story is just oozing glamour) and the place was heaving with endless valentines displays, hearts and a massive haze of red hit me...as did the beautiful lady and the beautiful dress and the beautiful shoes on the cover of 'Very Valentine'... I picked it up and four years later I'm taking it off the bookshelf and I'm finally reading it! I have to say I also brought 'The Holiday' on this crazy shopping expedition and that has become one of my absolute favourite films, not only because I love Jack Black and Cameron Diaz, but the writer Nancy Meyers just epitomises what I love about this type of fiction/cinematic text - it doesn't matter how trivial people think it is, it resonates on some level - if a text is doing that, it's doing something right... Anyway I hope to have finished the novel by the weekend, it's pretty hilarious and the plot has got me hooked - I think I'm on to a winner xx

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

I first heard about TPoL when watching the ‘Romance’ episode ‘The Delicious Miss Dahl’, Sophie Dahl’s cookery programme back in 2010 – She read an extract from the book *(see below) and I knew I had to get my hand on a copy of the book and let’s just say I ended up buying all five of the re-published Mitford books (the power of persuasion of a cookery show on the desire for literary purchases..?)...

So the novel is narrated by a woman called Fanny, cousin of the Radlett family; the novel is essentially about Linda Radlett and the highs and lows of her (love) life.  We follow the girls from their younger years all the way to adulthood; we see marriages, births, deaths, lots of laughs, cries and lessons in life. On reflection I would call this novel a coming of age narrative, as we follow all of the characters on their journies through life.

I was rooting for Linda throughout the whole novel, the girl who had all the dreams and plans of how her life was going to pan out, but as she got older and made various decisions, she had to deal with her life choices, and the consequences – including motherhood which she struggled with terribly. Linda is an old romantic, she’s in love with the idea of love and her life pretty much revolves around her want for love in her life.  Funnily enough, Linda reminds me of Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, this whole ‘mission’ of finding the things in life which please oneself and that carefree attitude is what they both have in common... There are traces of Scarlett O’Hara present too, she too was a hopeless romantic... I have to say I really do admire the three women mentioned above and Linda’s younger sister Jassy because they really do follow through with what drives them in life (including travelling to America to marry an actor), going across the world find love may seem trivial and also maybe a privilege of the middles classes but all in all the bravery and the fearlessness shown are wonderful attributes to have in any character.

A female in the 1930’s and 1940’s was all about being ‘the angel in the house’, not to disgrace and to stick to the rules of the society you came from.  Linda, as well as the other Radletts (except Louisa – who did everything the ‘right way’), are all radical and creative with their lives in their own ways. 

So, Linda very willingly marries Tony (a Tory...urgh) against her parent’s wishes because she is so passionate about following her heart (and not so much her head). To show for this marriage, she has a little girl (who she abandons because she feels no connection) and the marriage ends in divorce.  A little while later she falls in love again, this time with Christian. He is completely selfish, but I think that is what the attraction is. He was so engrossed in his views on life and his writing and took every day at a time; he's the kind of distraction one wants from the reality of life. This is a short lived love and Linda soon realises she's made a mistake with Christian.  The man she realises she loves and who reciprocates her love and passion for love and life is Fabrice. She meets him in France and is torn from him on several occasions because of WW2. They end up having a child together, but Linda dies in childbirth and Fabrice doesn’t die too long after in the War... With each love she thought he was, what we would call, ‘the one’...

Mitford has created a gem here, beautifully written and she strikes so many chords – you can’t help but want Linda to triumph in love and when she finally does, it’s the end of the road for her. Fanny’s mother, who similarly to Linda wasn’t a great parent (she was only concerned with her own happiness prevailing in her life), makes a visit at the end of the novel and she sums up Linda’s (love) life perfectly...

‘But I think she would have been happy with Fabrice’, I said. ‘He was the great love of her life, you know.’

‘Oh dulling,’ said my mother, sadly. ‘One always thinks that. Every, every time.’

...Perfect...

* Sophie Dahl bringing Ms Mitford into my life -

‘She was filled with a strange, wild, unfamiliar happiness and knew that this was love. Twice in her life she had mistaken something else for it; it was like seeing somebody in the street you think is a friend, you whistle and wave and run after him, and it is not only not the friend, but not even very like him. A few minutes later the real friend appears in view, and then you can’t imagine how you ever mistook that other person for him.’ 

This quote speaks such a truth that can’t be worded any better in my opinion...

 

p.s Happy St Dwynwen's day for last Friday :)

Mitford.N ‘The Pursuit of Love’ (2010) [1945]. Penguin: London

 

A belated Happy New Year!!

Hello everyone...

So its been a while since I last posted anything - the life of a working and commuting lady has taken over (yes, I got a job - I'm working in publishing and loving it!)... although I never thought being a student was quite as relaxing until I started working, which clearly tells you what kind of a student I was!  So, due to my complete lack of stamina with life and old age creeping up on me - it saddens me to say I have neglected 'BookCoverBeauty'.. One of my New Years resolutions is to do more blogging and to dedicate each post (if I can) to someone or something in my life whom I am very glad to have met or experienced for whatever reason. 

Over New Year I went to Paris and fell in love with a bookshop called 'Shakespeare and Company', as much as I would have liked to have spent lots of money and time in Chanel and Dior and Jean-Paul Gaultier and the list goes on... I'm glad I spent my time in 'Shakespeare and Company'... this little visit reignited my verve for literature and being surrounded by new and old (slighly battered looking) books, and to get back on with blogging and getting myself lost in literature... Here's a little fact about Shakespeare and Company, they were responsible for publishing Joyces' 'Ulysses' when no-one else would take it on, knowing this I knew this was going to be the highlight of Paris for me..

 

Little old me getting stuck into books...(quite literally)

This quote is on one of the walls in the shop... it's perfect.

 

Back to BCB, the first six chapters of 'The Pursuit of Love' have been read and I will be posting my review this week.  To be more specific, the post will dedicated to Friday 25th January - Welsh Valentines day...St Dwynwen's Day...and a certain Ms Poole, a young woman from Wales who is just brilliant! (you can follw her at http://bookandbiscuit.com).

xxx

The Pursuit of Love

Sneaky look at 'The Pursuit of Love' and you guessed it - I love her!... (the hat, hair, gloves, the expression on her face)

Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford

I started Wigs on the Green (1935) at the end of September and have finally got round to finishing it – it was quite a pleasant read. One thing I have to say is this novel reminded me of Wilde’s ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ (which I love). I have to admit, reading the Introduction and the blurb I did feel a little twinge of ‘do I want to read this’, written before the outbreak of WW2, two of Nancy’s sisters, Diana and Unity were quite besotted with Hitler and his views. Mitford, quite obviously used this all as a backdrop to Wigs, and upon its publication it upset the two sisters. Nancy wanted Wigs to cease being published as the atrocities as the outbreak of war occurred and after 75 years, the novel was published again by Penguin as a part of a collection of five of Mitford’s novels.

 So as I have said the novel was incredibly reminiscent of Earnest, through its setting and the two characters I loved the most – charming Jasper although a womaniser and dear old poor Noel.

The novel commences with Noel inheriting a sum of money after his Aunts death – he doesn’t want to work anymore and wants to find himself a wife to settle down with and live a relatively easy life. The only glitch with the ‘wife figure’ is that she has to be rich or an heiress! Pretty shallow..you think that until Jasper comes along on the journey to find a lady to marry...

The only way to describe the characters are they are all hopeless romantics, either looking for love or falling ‘madly’ in love with people they’re not supposed to (because they are married – oh the sacrilege) or as in the case of Eugine Malmais passionate about political values and the future of your country! She really was the eccentric and deluded by the values of the Union Jackshirts, I didn’t like her for the extreme – but the passion doesn’t falter anywhere in the novel, I suppose that’s what can happen when a charismatic ‘leader’ has the chance to indoctrinate you.

On the whole it was a nice read, the village setting made me chuckle – and it’s funny to think that these small community antics are still thriving today, I think it’s quite possible to suggest that this the a version of ‘Made in Chelsea’ from the 1930’s..

I cannot wait for the next read ‘The Pursuit of Love’ I’m thinking it’s going to have pretty much the same themes running through... but I think I read the first chapter when I brought it and it was good.

Until next time – happy reading...

 

  

Nancy Mitford

So I have decided after a visit to Chatsworth (which was incredible) last week, that I will read the five Nancy Mitford (1904-1973) books I have. She was the eldest of six sisters who lived some very interesting and fruitful lives. Her books all have some sort of reference to these six sisters... The connection Nancy has with Chatsworth is through her youngest sister, Deborah, who is now the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire... I took this picture whilst there - I love it!! (Deborah is top left; Nancy is bottom right).

I will post the first Nancy Mitford review at the end of Septemeber. Happy reading :)

I heart New York by Lindsey Kelk

Ok, I’m a few days late with this post (apologies) but here we go...

The story behind the purchase of this book wasn’t an actual intentional purchase but believe me if I saw this book/cover online or in a bookshop, I absolutely would have bought it. I attended an event last year, ‘Marie Claire – How to get Published’ (take a look at http://shewhoscrivens.wordpress.com to read about the event) and we were given a goody bag with A LOT of goodies including ‘I heart New York’. Lindsey Kelk, the author, was there speaking about her journey to publication and then she signed everyone’s copy of the book. As I’ve already said I think she is a very lovely lady (she complimented my dress – so I can say this even though I don’t actually know her).  

Anyway, on with the review of the book. ‘I heart New York’ was published in 2009 and has several other titles that followed it including ‘I heart Hollywood’ (2010), ‘I heart Paris’ (2010) and ‘I heart London’ which was published this year.

So we follow the life of Angela Clark, and I have to say the start was completely unexpected. As I started reading, I thought ‘Great here we go again another wedding... the main character is getting married, where exactly is this going’. I was caught completely off guard, Angela’s narration is hilarious as she is walking up the aisle, you think Angela is getting married, she isn’t - her best friend is. This is the wedding where Angela’s life comes crashing down as she manages to completely trash the wedding, make a slight scene, alongside breaking the grooms hand and the event that caused all the mayhem was Angela catching her fiancée in a compromising situation with another woman. Angela ups and leaves to New York (after committing a very embarrassing and quite shocking act of revenge!), not knowing anyone there and having never been there before she jets off... A lot to take in the first chapter but I was hooked.

We follow Angela on her, completely out of character, adventure and how by taking this brave, courageous, plain stupid no no, impulsive action the world quite literally opens up with all of these opportunities and experiences she would never have had, if all that happened to her within those 24hours hadn’t happened.  So we share Angela’s three weeks in the Big Apple, we see everything through her eyes and it really is amazing. So to sum up, because I don’t want to ruin this for any potential readers, she stays in a hotel one of the concierge staff befriends her and basically takes her under her wing. Through this friend she manages to get a major makeover and be fed everything her heart could content, the most I’ve been offered from a hotel is sandwiches and a safe journey home. She buys a brand new designer laden wardrobe (thank goodness for credit cards and ‘multinational banks as she says) and bags herself two men!! I know it all happens very fast. Oh, and she starts to write a dating diary blog for a sister website of ‘The Look’ magazine. Angela has these amazing three weeks where her life is ‘perfect’. But, as always when you run away from your problems new ones pop up such as to be dating two men at once and be writing about them on a website? To my relief she gets rid of the ‘rich one’, I never really liked him as he quite clearly was a slime ball but he did buy her a necklace from Tiffany’s, but still...  She has the minor problem of needing to figure out if she will go back to Britain or if she will set up permanent camp in NYC after she’s offered a job back home by the London branch of the magazine? We find out in the epilogue that she does take the job... but the rest is left on a bit of a cliffhanger.

‘I heart New York’ was a great read, full of one-liners (shoe-icide pg113 – it killed me) and it was really funny and I think I will carry on with the series because Angela is a great character! Also, I need to see what happens with ‘the one’ she might start dating again.     

‘I heart’ the very last part of the book which is an actual guide to NCY!! When, if I ever get there (which I most definitely intend to do) I will absolutely be making use of ‘Angela’s Guide to NYC’... One dollar in my back pocket...NCY here I come!

 

References

Kelk.L. (2009) I heart New York. Harpercollins: London 

 

I heart New York...

...Ok, so I fell in love almost, what do I mean almost, it was immediately when I saw this lady. I know she's not looking at us, but it was the hair and the dress and the fact that this woman is in NYC!! What's not to love?...

The next book I will read and write about is I heart New York, by the lovely Lindsey Kelk - I think I'm allowed to say she's lovely because I have met her, only for a few minutes but first impressions always count :)  I can't wait any longer to read this book, so I shall see you back here in August!...Happy reading :)

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Ahhh... I told you I’d read the novel by the end of July and we’ve still got a few days to go.

Firstly I’m going to start off with my story behind buying Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958 [2011]). So I bought this novella at the beginning of the year, I think most students buy their books for their courses online, and at the beginning of the year I became a little fed up with online shopping and really just wanted to go into a bookstore, browse and of course only buy the books on my reading list. So there I was in Waterstones, enjoying the atmosphere and calm ambience of the store, looking for Angela Carter’s ‘The Magic Toyshop’ (I ended up paying a little more for an amazing cover, it was worth it). I found the book but I couldn’t reach it as it was on the top shelf! There was a taller lady (not hard to be) not too far from me, I thought I’ll wait until she gets a little closer and I’ll ask if she can get it down. So as I waited I continued to look, and the book that caught my eye was Breakfast at Tiffany’s... and I instantly fell in love with the cover (thanks to Methane Studios) and didn’t want to put it down even though I knew it wasn’t on my reading list. The lady approached and I asked if she would get The Magic Toyshop off the shelf for me, which she kindly did and told me about her PhD on Carter. A truly bizarre and interesting experience... So to end my story I bought the book I needed and Breakfast at Tiffany’s – I think we’re all allowed some indulgence! ...p.s Carter will feature on the blog very soon.

Now on to the review. I haven’t outlined the complete plot here as I feel I shouldn’t give any huge spoilers for those who may want to read or watch Tiffany’s. I read Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the space of a few hours, a novella and therefore it was easy to read and remember. I have watched the film so many times that I sort of knew the plot even though most books and the film version of them are never exactly the same; I found this to be true of Tiffany’s, but enjoyed them both. The novella is about a young woman called Holly Golightly, it’s all in the name, she’s a twenty year old who lives a life which is very transient and full of glamour. The novella is narrated by one of Holly’s old neighbours who had both hated and loved Holly when he knew her, he is called back to the neighbourhood years later by a bartender who also was in love with Holly after hearing about her ‘travels’ in Africa, the narrator (a writer) revisits his memories of this ‘most amazing person’ (p65).

Holly is quite a complex character, allusive about her past until a blast from the past turns up and spills the beans on her marriage as a 14 year old. She ran away as this was not the life she wanted, she wanted an easy life a luxurious life, away from her sordid insecure childhood. The song the narrator recalls her singing a song which sums up her character and what she wanted in her life ‘Don’t wanna sleep, Don’t wanna die, just wanna go a-travellin’ through the pastures of the sky’ (p58). Her dream of wanting to belong and feel settled all comes down to the feeling she gets whenever she enters Tiffany & co, hence the title. ‘Fred’ (isn’t the narrators name, but she called him Fred because he reminded her of her brother Fred) manages to encapsulate all of this in a really beautiful and poignant way at the end of the novella. Holly and a no named cat lived in the same apartment but didn’t belong together; they were simply two independents waiting to find somewhere where they belonged.  Fred spots the cat in a house and ‘wondered what his name was, for I was certain he had one now, certain he’d arrived somewhere he belonged. African hut or whatever, I hope Holly has, too’ (p98).

One of my favourite parts of the novella was when the narrator follows Holly into a public library and watches her from afar. Somehow he is reminded of a girl he knew at school called Mildred and how she is/was the complete antithesis of Holly...‘the one had splurged herself into a top-heavy realist, the other a lopsided romantic...Mildred still studying the menu for its nutritional values, Holly still gluttonous for everything on it’ (p52). It was at this point that I really fell in love with Ms Golightly!

I think the difference between the film and book is that the film really does exude the glamour of the novella and that’s why it is such an icon. I feel the book in comparison allows the reader to question issues of identity in so many ways, Holly, the no-named cat, the no-named narrator. At the end of the novella I really felt a sense of the short periods of time we experience, that are so significant at the time, but within a blink of the eye they’re gone. Holly’s life was transient and to come from a dire childhood to becoming the ‘It Girl’ of New York and to get caught up in drug smuggling (without realising it of course) just goes to show the ‘transient nature of life’.  I loved this novel (and the cover) and it made me think there are so many ways to read this classic. I really wish Breakfast at Tiffany’s had been on the reading list... I think I may have been able to write a pretty good essay on it :)  

 Here's A.Carter's The Magic Toyshop... Amazing cover ;)

 References

Truman.C (2011) [1958] Breakfast at Tiffany's. Penguin: London

Carter.A (1981)[1967] The Magic Toyshop. Virago Press: London

Breakfast at Tiffany's

My review on Truman Capotes 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' (1958) will be coming very soon along with my story behind buying the book... We all know the iconic film starring the beautiful Audrey Hepburn, but does the film live up to the novel or vice versa?... Watch the space - old school Hollywood glamour is coming your way...

BookCoverBeauty - What's it all about???

Hi Everyone,
Over the past 5 years I seem to have developed a habit (or addiction) of falling in love with books based on their covers. I know this goes against the saying - 'don't judge a book by it's cover', it's a fair comment but lets face it, we all do it (or at least I do).  So over the past 5 years, I have been studying my A-Levels and have been reading an English degree therefore reading what I have wanted to read has been a little difficult, and during this period of time I have managed to buy (and not read) 60 books (now do you believe me about my addiction?)!! I bought them all based on their covers, how beautiful I thought they were and of course the blurb...

So now as I am about to embark on my career in publishing (deep rooted love of anything to do with literature and publishing) I aim to read a book a month and write a review on it. I need to do justice to the story behind the cover...

I really hope you enjoy this journey of my bookshelf and the beauty of the book...