Let's talk about books...

Awesome People Reading is an addictive tumblr.
My friend Samantha's book, Well-Read Women, comes out today! She illustrated fifty watercolor portraits of heroines from literature, including Anna Karenina, Daisy Buchanan and Wendy Darling.
Jane Austen's face is coming to British money.
11 authors who hated the movie versions of their books.
Home inspiration: Leaning artwork on bookshelves.
Mr. Boddington’s pretty book plates.
T-shirts with the text of classic books.
Sexy men reading children’s books. Made me laugh, they sound like stalkers.
A closet reading nook.
Bookworms are smarter in old age. Keep reading!

P.S. Round-ups of fashion, cheese and summer...and Roald Dahl mugs and stamps.

(Reading nook photo from Martha Stewart Living and leaning art photo by Victoria)

Humans of New York

When you walk around New York City, it's easy to get in a zone and barely notice the people around you. But Brandon from Humans of New York reminds you that everyone has a beautiful  story to tell. He takes photos of strangers on the street and elicits funny quotes about their marriage or kids, or asks them simple frank questions like, "What was a difficult time in your life?" or "When were you most scared?" Every time I visit the site, I get sucked down a rabbit hole.

I cannot wait for his book to come out this fall.

P.S. This was a great one:
"There’s six people in every relationship: you, the person you think you are, and the person your partner thinks you are. Then there’s your partner, the person they think they are, and the person you think they are."

Funny book for the summer

You guys had seriously amazing summer book recommendations (thank you again!), and after five people suggested David Sedaris, I ordered his newest book of essays, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. An Esquire editor described it as "the kind of book that I finished and just immediately wanted to start reading again." Sounds perfect, except as one reader warned, Sedaris makes you laugh out loud, which isn't always the best when you're nursing a baby to sleep. Have you read this one?
P.S. Another hilarious book.

5 beautiful motherhood tips

During the baby shower, something amazing happened...
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Awesome People Reading

Have you seen the tumblr Awesome People Reading? Above are Alfred Hitchcock, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, and Amelia Earhart. More awesome shots below...
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Summer book recommendations?

Can I ask you guys for a specific type of book recommendation? Our new baby is due in about a month (eeps!), and one thing I'm really looking forward to is rocking him or her while reading a good book. When Toby was a newborn, I remember having those little pockets of reading time, and it was so lovely. (Including a few times in the middle of the night; I'd click on the light, breastfeed him and read magazine articles from 4-5 in the morning:) But, since I'll most likely be sleep-deprived, I'm trying to find books that are light and easy to read but still well-written. Like smart beach reading.

If you're looking for the same thing, books that fall into this category that I've enjoyed in the past include: Blink, Heat, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Bossypants, Operating Instructions, Mindy's hilarious book and Ghost World.

Do you have any summer reading recommendations? I'd love to hear...Thank you!!!

(Photos of people reading on the subway by Ourit Ben-Haim for her brilliant blog, from last summer)

Gendered book covers

Author Maureen Johnson kept hearing from male readers asking for less "girly" covers on her books, so that they could read them in public. She, too, had been frustrated by how books written by women so often got cheesy covers that made them seem less literary and of lower quality. So, she issued a challenge on Twitter: She asked people to choose a well-known book and imagine that the author was of the opposite gender. "There were hundreds of replies within 24 hours," she said. Take a look...Read More >

Three ways to arrange flowers

The Flower Recipe Book is a new book about flower arranging. The clever twist is that the tutorials are written like cookbook recipes—with lists of ingredients and step-by-step instructions. Here are three simple recipes, if you'd like to see...Read More >

Motherhood Mondays: On being your child's touchstone

Did you read this amazing discovery in the New York Times...Read More >

Do you get jealous?

I usually don't get too jealous, but...
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A graphic novel for foodies

Do you guys ever read graphic novels? I first found out about Lucy Knisley when I read French Milk, her memoir about taking a six-week trip to Paris with her mom. She's a funny writer, so I was psyched to see that she just came out with a new book, Relish, which chronicles her food adventures, as the daughter of a chef, from New York to Mexico to Venice to Japan. I just ordered it from Amazon and am looking forward to devouring it this weekend.

P.S. Five best graphic novels.

(Photos by the Kitchn)

Maddie on Things

Photographer Theron Humphrey has a rescued coonhound named Maddie. During a year-long cross-country road trip together, "I discovered her amazing balance and patience," he says. Since then, he has posted photographs of Maddie happily standing on everything from fridges and watermelons to bikes and people. She has become the four-legged darling of the Internet. Happily, they just released a fantastic book, Maddie on Things. It would make all your house guests smile. Thumbs up!P.S. They also have a hilarious MaddieCam app, so you can put Maddie on your own things:)

Any book recommendations?

After seeing Argo last week, I was inspired to reread the fantastic graphic novel Persepolis, which tells the story of the author's childhood in Iran during the Islamic revolution. Her neighbors' homes are bombed, and her relatives are imprisoned. Her father considers fleeing to America, but then asks his wife, "I can become a taxi driver and you a cleaning lady?" As she grows up, the girl's rebellious streak endangers her life. Her personal story is gripping, heartbreaking and surprisingly funny. I devoured it in three days, and now I'm really looking forward to reading the authors' other two books, Persepolis 2 (the sequel) and Embroideries (about her female relatives' sex lives!).

Have you read any good books recently? I'd love to get your recommendations...

P.S. Four other great graphic novels.

A little love note

So I've been sick as a dog this week—and am finally feeling better today, thank goodness. Alex was so sweet to come home early, put Toby to sleep, bring me Gatorade, make me a bland dinner (toast with said Gatorade) and lie in bed and read to me. The last time I was this sick (almost five years ago), he read me "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was creepy and wonderful, but this year I couldn't find any short stories so he read from Bird by Bird. Thank you, Alex; I love you.

(The experience also taught me that it's really nice to read stories in bed. Do you have any favorite books of short stories? I'd LOVE to hear...)

P.S. Toby's reaction.

(Photo of our bedroom by Oh Darling Photography)

Motherhood Mondays: An ode to rituals

My friend Jenny Rosenstrach wrote the cookbook/memoir Dinner: A Love Story, and as I was reading it for the hundredth time in bed this weekend...Read More >

Have you ever fallen for someone's...bookcase?

Years ago, my sister invited her friend Paul over to her apartment. While she was in the kitchen making some snacks, he took a look at her bookcase. At that moment, he says, he knew he would fall in love with her. Her bookcase revealed all her passions—from Roald Dahl short stories and funny plays to mountain biking guides and How We Die. She had even tucked The Baby-Sitters Club next to a book on Linear Algebra.

Three years later, they were married.

It's funny how much your bookshelf can reveal about you. So I was PSYCHED to hear about the new book My Ideal Bookshelf, in which one hundred creative thinkers share their absolute favorite books. The book interviews writers (Michael Chabon, Mary Karr, Jonathan Lethem) and chefs (Alice Waters, David Chang) and Hollywood personalities (Judd Apatow, James Franco) and big thinkers (Malcolm Gladwell, Atul Gawande) and musicians (Patti Smith, Thurston Moore) about the particular books that made them who they are. My only small quibble is that I wish the people explained why they chose each book, but overall the collection is fantastic and makes you want to curl up under a blanket and read all day.
So now, of course, the big question is: What's on YOUR ideal bookshelf? Mine would include: The History of Love, Epilogue, Ghost World, Peter Pan, Private Lives, Operating Instructions, Sense and Sensibility, The BFG, Middlesex, the list goes on...

(Top photo of my sister and her husband by Max Wanger)