Books Make Great Gifts

I was inspired to offer a new item in the shop this month.

A Vintage Book of the Month Club. I think of this as a great way to find books without leaving the comforts of your own couch.  I offered several flavors and sizes of this concept in my JVoyage shop.  You can choose a genre, a time period, hard back or paperback.

It's all good. I am lucky to live in a town with more than 200 colleges and universities. What does that mean? The library shelves of all these academics are teeming with books. The books come spilling out of homes on Beacon Hill and Back Bay.

I tend to favor the old vintage books that are covered in leather or marbeled papers. But like the saying goes, "there is no such thing as a bad book".

I've enjoyed putting together the monthly shipments for the many generous customers that are buying for themselves and buying for others.

Vintage Book of the Month Club
Vintage Art Book Club
Vintage Cookbook Club

My favorite category is called, "Surprise Me". Several of my customers have said they enjoy the adventure of discovering something new and unexpected on their doorstep each month.

Do you have a favorite genre?

Good Bye, Summer. Hello Apple Harvest!

The leaves are fading, the air is turning crisp. The light has that certain clarity I associate with autumn. And now my thoughts turn to the back yard full of apples. We have one apple tree in our tiny urban back yard. The tree produces apples every other year. In the more than 10 years we've lived in the house, I've turned my back on these apples. Thinking of them as flavorless blobs better suited to the composte pile than the dinner table. Oh, I had tried to make apple sauce at one point - but I was so appalled at the amount of sugar that was required to make them palatable that I just walked away.

Well this year, I opened my mind to the possibility that I could do something with the apples to turn their little blob-y selves to productive members of our household. And I am proud to report that I discovered an amazing recipe for apple chutney. Its called Raisin Hater's Apple Chutney. And its the work of Jessie Knadler of rurallyscrewed. Jessie has a brand new cookbook called Tart and Sweet published by Rodale. I haven't checked out the entire cookbook, but if this recipe is any indication - I'm telling you, there will be bliss in the kitchen at our house.

Find the recipe here.
Get the book here

Book Recommendation: The Tiger's Wife

I don't get a chance to read many books these days. Too many other pressing things on my agenda. I did finish a book last week that I enjoyed thoroughly, The Tiger's Wife by a remarkable young author, Tea Obreht. If you like magical realism, you will be blown away by this book. The author has a wonderfully varied vocabulary and her well constructed, yet intricate plot, is a gem that will be enjoyed for years to come. Get a Copy Now

Driven By Art, Driven For Art: Patti Smith

Just finished Patti Smith's great new memoir which won the 2010 National Book Award.  I got it for Christmas and finished it quickly.  Patti tells this great story about her life in the late 1960s as she and her close friend and sometime lover, Robert Mapplethorpe, embarked on a life of creativity in New York City.  As the story describes, they both consciously work on their art, together, separately, and earnestly.  It really can happen like this, I guess. But as this book makes clear, there is a lot of thought, sweat and concentration that goes into art and a life of art.

I was particularly struck by Mapplethorpe's drive to be famous.  His belief in himself - that he was as bood (or better) than Warhol - and his assault on the established NY alternative art scene (irony intended).

I recommend the book. To get you started listen to this interview with Patti that Terry Gross conducted recently. This was my entry point, too. Listen to the Interview