Books I Read Over Break

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As this is my last full day in Boston and also a blizzard day (16-18″!), and as I have no books left from the library (I had to go back and cancel my extra holds yesterday 😥 ) this list isn’t going to go through any alterations before the actual end of the break tomorrow around 7 pm (at which point I will be at the airport) (unless I finish The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur SUPER QUICKLY), I can get away with posting this a bit prematurely.

I have packed my bags and read my last book.

  • The Secret Lives of Color, Kassia St. Clair: An excellent and really interesting book about the histories of various culturally significant colors (like Mountbatten Pink, Lead White, Cerulean, et al.) featuring odd and various anecdotes from the past.  Each color discussed gets a few pages.  Very far from dry, perfect for increasing your store of random information for use at parties and family gatherings, and a very aesthetically pleasing book.
  • Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult, Bruce Handy: I’m a huge children’s lit reader. Possibly more so than I was as a child (and that’s saying something).  Watching the author discuss and examine childhood favorites (Goodnight Moon, Peter Rabbit, Green Eggs and Ham) through an adult lens, with an attention to various social/cultural movements, is so fascinating. It doesn’t hurt that the author is really witty. I think I audibly chuckled a few times.
  • The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Hyemin Sunim: Part of what inspired my very crunchy and zen resolution list (the other part being that I’m just a crunchy and zen person) (well, I try to be zen).  Beautiful illustrations and lots of crunchy and chewy food for thought. So glad I stumbled on this in Shakespeare and Co. (And so glad BPL carries it!)

Contrary to my usual preferences, if was a very nonfiction-heavy vacation.  But I feel edified, improved, and most importantly full of odd anecdotes to share.

A Words Post Because I Haven’t Written My Resolutions Yet

I was too busy shopping. Whoops.

But the good news is that I now have a pair of winter gloves (that lack was getting a bit problematic in this negative Fahrenheit New England paradise. Even in France I had some trouble with my keys and doors).
And also a pair of fishnet socks, because not everything can be practical.

  • condiment: a spice, sauce, or preparation added to food to give flavor
  • sediment
  • calcify: to get all calcium-y
  • cajole: this is a word with so much imagery behind it, for me. Kind of like guffaw.
  • nematode: ‘Sa worm
  • toff: pejorative British slang for the overly aristocratic/pretentious/landed gentry. A very Britishly British insult. In the US we don’t even have landed gentry.
  • peccadillo: a small and trivial offense, not to be confused with the very inoffensive armadillo
  • glaucous: dull grayish green or blue color. Also the powdery bloom on grapes. I like the connection.
  • pernicious: credit to Roald Dahl.
  • cusp: like Leo on the cusp of Cancer.
  • irascible
  • muse
  • festoon: a chain or garland, more commonly what you do with it.

 

  • bruyère: heather

  • égérie: muse

Links from the USA

Happy Christmas Eve Eve! I arrived home yesterday afternoon and am super jet lagged and being treated to a very New England ice storm.

It’s excellent.  We’re going to see The Last Jedi tonight and I think my excitement will be such that I will stay awake.  I’ve heard lots of interesting things about it but have so far avoided any spoilers.

I have a healthy (and scented!) collection of links this week!

The year-end photo compendiums are coming in, here are two favorites…

On the fashion front:

And the more miscellaneous:

Favorite Color Combinations

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My flight is tonight at 9:20 and I’m too keyed up to write anything very profound- so I thought i would rattle off some of my favorite color combinations.
By rights, this post should have been a list of children’s books I wish I had discovered as a child (as I had planned), but that will have to wait.

In all likelihood, I won’t be posting tomorrow given the mad scramble to get settled in Versailles/Le Chesnay- but if I do post tomorrow, it will be from the country of France.
How weird.

  • Navy blue and hot pink
  • Turquoise and goldenrod
  • Burgundy and camel
  • Powder blue and purple
  • Magenta and light blue
  • Emerald and pewter
  • China blue and buttermilk
  • Midnight blue and china red
  • Olive and navy

Trying to eschew basic color combinations of neutrals or different shades of the same color.