What are you reading?

It's my seasonal question...



At the moment I'm reading Jonathan Franzen's Freedom (love it...and yes he is all that!)
Next, I plan to read Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants." (It's nearly 1,000 pages long. It could be my winter and spring reading too!)
In between: I'm studying James Beard's On Bread. (One of my cousins recently gave me an awesome starter, renewing my quest to make the perfect loaf of bread.)

So what are you reading!?


Photo above by Allister Ann via Lomography.com.

(Some of your previous responses here on the EM reading list.)

Weekend in review....

This is my unofficial media roundup for the weekend.
Just a few bits I found especially interesting...

First off, Ken Follett has a new book coming out called "Fall of Giants." It's a novel that follows royals and commoners through World War I and the revolution and it's good, says the NYT, which ran this lovely illustration (below) by the phenomenal Grady McFerrin with their review...


Roger Boylan, who reviewed the Follett book, writes: "The giants of the title, the crowned heads of Europe, are solidly ensconced in their palaces when the story begins in 1911 but all gone (except King George V of Britain) when it ends, in 1924. In between, various upheavals remake the world, affording plenty of scope for action, and Follett takes full advantage of this opportunity."

I'm a Follett fan anyway. Add royalty and scandal and I'm blissed...

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Next, Rita Konig had a wonderful piece in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ has been ramping up its lifestyle coverage and, wisely, grabbed some of the former Domino staffers to help out...

Rita writes about interior designer Todd Romano's
decidedly "Unoffice-y Office."

The photos are by Johnny Miller:


There's also a very cool virtual tour:




It looks better in person so visit it here.

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Finally, we went to see The Social Network. I LOVED it...Rooney Mara (who was recently cast as the lead in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") stole the opening scene playing Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend. (Her character's name is Erica Albright and there's
much discussion at the moment about whether or not Ms Albright actually exists.)

Anyway, Rooney is gorgeous (various Wireimage photos below) and I can't wait to see her in Dragon...



Ok, that's all from me...Have a lovely Monday everyone. I'll be back here tomorrow night!

Shoes Lebowski

Our rescue kitty, fattened up!!


Isn't he cute!!?

My new banner and blog layout...

Hello my dears, I'm very happy to announce several key changes to my blog! In keeping with my new focus here at the English Muse (writing mostly about books), I asked illustrator Lori Langille to create a new banner. Take a look and let me know what you think!

I love Lori's work -- sort of Victorian eclectic. Her day job includes producing illustrations for a variety of newspapers and magazines in Canada and the US. In the evenings, she updates her fantastic design blog, Automatism.

Here are a few more of her works. (Check out her website for more!)





Have a lovely Monday!

Is Jonathan Franzen all that?

The Franzen frenzy started a month ago when TIME magazine put the author on its cover and labeled him the "Great American Novelist." I finally have a copy of his new book, Freedom. (My reading this weekend). I'm anxious to see if he's really all that.

Any thoughts?

(Illustration above by Joe Ciardiello for Barnes and Noble Review.)

Prada 2010 Fall/Winter Look Book

Hello darlings. Is there anything that gets the mind and imagination working quite like the printed page? The other day I wandered into Prada in Beverly Hills. And while I couldn't quite afford anything on the racks, they were happy to let me leave with
one of their lovely new (and free!) lookbooks.

Take a look at some of the images:









The hefty-sized lookbook features styling and artwork by OMA (Alexander Reichert & Fausto Fantinuoli) as well as photography from Phil Meech. It has that cool Internet, on-the-street fashion blog vibe, but printed on craft paper. I wish I had all the back issues!

What's your favorite lookbook?