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I can’t quite remember when my childhood bookshelves were emptied of their contents. All I know for certain is that my collection of The Babysitter’s Club, Sweet Valley High, R.L. Stine and various others no longer occupy the white bookcases in my old bedroom. Not that I miss them, I was ready to let them go (whenever that was), and I’m sure that they are in a better place now (wherever that may be).
Ok, so perhaps I do miss them a little, once in a while. I can still picture the bottom two shelves of my bookcases, which were designated for my Baby-Sitter’s Club collection. The way I consumed those books I imagine Ann M. Martin has a castle next to J.K. Rowling in Scotland.
Whenever I feel a twinge sadness at the loss of my beloved Baby-Sitter’s Club I remind myself how easy it is to take a little trip down memory lane:
First, I can head over to Scholastic to take the online quiz informing me which member of the club I am. Although, let’s be honest, if you remember even a little bit about the books you can rig it. I know Kristy was bossy, Mary Anne was sensitive, Stacey was glamorous, Dawn was into the environment, Claudia was artsy, Jessi was a dancer, and… sorry Mallory, I never wanted to be you, I thought you were lame (I see the irony now, since Mallory was the “writer”).
Then over to Mental Floss, which also offers a few fun BSC related items.
{1} A BSC general quiz to see what you can remember about the books (my score: 77%…. very beatable).
{2} A quiz where you have to decide if the outfit described is a Claudia Kishi creation, or something a celebrity wore (my score: 75%…this one was tougher, I’m surprised I did even that well).
{3} The Quick 10 on the BSC, with some interesting information on the series. Also, readers are asked to hypothesize where the members of the BSC would be at 28. I can’t quite decide my own version of where are they now, but Stacey as a Real Housewife of New York City? Sounds right on track!
The Baby-Sitter’s Club was reissued about a year ago with a prequel:
While I’m happy they are reaching a new generation, in my mind they should always look like the originals, many of which are available on ebay. Also available on ebay is the original Baby-Sitter’s Club game, which I once proudly owned.
See why I thought Mallory was lame? Her picture is terrible (bottom headshot), and I totally had pierced ears way before she did. Besides, who lets an 11 year old babysit?
 Designed by Helen Yentus for Viking In my mind, the book cover for Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love is just as memorable as the book. I remember spotting the distinctive cover design across the crowded subway on my way to work a few years ago, and I think I bought it within 24 hours of seeing it. No offense to Julia Roberts, but I was saddened to see the original cover replaced with a picture from the movie on the paperbacks (actually, I’m not really a fan of using movie pictures as book covers in general). What’s my point? Well, even if you have never heard of Helen Yentus, you probably know her work, she’s the one who designed the cover of Eat, Pray, Love. Here are some more of her other memorable covers to enjoy:
 Her black and white series for Albert Camus is great and feels as stark as you would expect from the author.
There is something about the cover of Words Without Borders that I adore. The map admirer in me is here to stay.
The Sun and Shadow cover reminds me a lot of Eay, Pray, Love.
Now, if you meet Helen Yentus someday, you don’t have to be the millionth person to say, “wait, you did the cover for Eat, Pray, Love?” Instead, you can be the awesome person who casually mentions that you think her Words Without Borders cover was inspired. Or, you can tell her how amazing the chickenfish on her website is.
All cover art (except Homecoming and Mindplain) and chickenfish from www.helenyentus.com
Homecoming cover from Amazon.
Mindplain cover from NaNoWriMo.
Last night I had drinks with my childhood friend at the Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. She’s from France, has red hair, and often wears a cute yellow hat. Her name is Madeline, maybe you’ve heard of her?
“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. They left the house at half past nine… the smallest one was Madeline.”
I’ve only been to the Carlyle hotel once before (back in my fashion PR days, I brought Nicole Kidman some clutches for an event) and had never been inside the bar. As I was delighted to find out, Bemelmans Bar is named after the author and illustrator of the Madeline books, Ludwig Bemelmans. The walls of the cozy space are covered in his only remaining public artwork, a mural called Central Park that includes Madeline and her classmates!
 Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel
 Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel
 Not my drink... but let's pretend it was.
It’s probably more accurate to say I had drinks next to Madeline… that’s almost the same, right?
“And that’s all there is — there isn’t any more.”
Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel images from here.
Madeline quotes by Ludwig Bemelmans on www.madeline.com
Madeline original book reissue available here.
Madeline in America book available here.
Has someone been reading my mind? Making my hopes and wishes come true?! Designers & Books just launched last week. Check it out and encourage them to keep adding to the list.
Someone else has been reading my mind, my husband, who just surprised me with some “last day of my twenties” presents.
First, the Encyclopedia of the Exquisite by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins. A book I can’t wait to open up to a random page and start reading! Her blog it pretty exquisite as well.
Second, Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks. John Curran was kind enough to sift through the journals of Ms. Christie and decipher her notes to offer a peek inside her work as an author and how she planned her mysteries. I think Poirot would approve!
Third, Suzanne Kasler: Inspired Interiors, with styled bookshelves on the cover, I know I will enjoy the inside as well.
Thanks to all those mind readers for making the end of my twenties just as great as the beginning!
Yesterday was the start of the Chinese New Year, 2011 being the year of the rabbit. Where did my mind go upon hearing this? First, to Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. Then to the book that I, during my childhood, thought was about rabbits on a submarine, Watership Down (spoiler alert: there are rabbits but no submarines). Finally, I thought, Alice in Wonderland! White Rabbit! (whose autograph I have from a trip to Disney World as a kid, at the time I didn’t appreciate it, I was annoyed he wasn’t Mickey… he signed my autograph book, “I’m late! – White Rabbit”).
{1} Paperback version by Tribeca books {2} Paperback version by Penguin {3} Paperback version by CreateSpace {4} Paperback version by Penguin UK {5} Hardcover version by Penguin Classics {6} Paperback version by Oxford Bookworms Library {7} Paperback version by Barnes & Noble Classics {8} Paperback version Puffin Classics Relaunch
There’s no shortage of options if you want a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I had to edit myself down to eight! Coralie Bickford-Smith, who I just mentioned yesterday, did cover #5 above (I can’t resist the flamingo mallets). There’s also no shortage of amazing photoshoots inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Annie Liebowitz did one for Vogue back in 2005 that I still love.
Just this fall, Anthropologie also did a very cool catalog with the same theme (a bit less literal interpretation). Here are some of my favorite images from it:
And wouldn’t you know, the lovely and welcoming Camila over at Effortless Style just did an amazingly apropos post about Style At Home’s booth at the IDS (Interior Design Show in Toronto), which includes an Alice in Wonderland inspired wall mural by Alanna Cavanagh (the Anthropologie catalog above was also part of her inspiration!).
Year of the rabbit, I think I like you.
Rabbit Image: http://media.photobucket.com/image/rabbit/jessica1019052/Animals/tumblr_l7iy7b1BjS1qd28tqo1_500_large.jpg?o=97
Images from Vogue via: http://caught-in-a-tale.blogspot.com/2010/03/alice-in-wonderland-editorial-by-annie.html
Images from Anthropologie November 2010 catalog http://www.anthropologie.com
Above is the opening paragraph from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, a book I read so many times in high school the bindings started falling apart. I still pick it up with a smile every once in a while. Here’s the thing though, every time that I mention The Princess Bride in conversation it seems to go one of two ways:
So I guess what I’m saying is, to know the book The Princess Bride is to love it. And if you want a random marriage proposal from a book worm (who is already married no less), I highly suggest reading it.
Warning: watching the movie and pretending you have read the book will get you nowhere because the moment I mention Inigo and Fezzik in Prince Humperdink’s Zoo of Death, you’re toast.
Senior cover designer at Penguin Books, Coralie Bickford-Smith first snagged my heart with her stunning series of clothbound classics (I still can’t find Madame Bovary!), but don’t judge her by just one series of covers, the girl is versatile. Clearly, she takes her own advice (see above) to stop designing and start playing! Here are some of my favorites:
 The deco series of F. Scott Fitzgerald books is gorgeous. Aside from wanting the books it also makes me want some deco jewelry to go with it. I may or may not need a Gatsby themed party in my life.
According to Penguin the books of this gothic series are “some of the most extraordinary tales of the sinister and macabre ever written. If these books do not haunt you or scare you or have you leaning closer to the fire then you are probably already dead.” I think I’ll just admire these from afar.
Some other lovely covers including A Truth Universally Acknowledged, which is a compilation of 33 literary commentaries on Jane Austen by other writers including Virginia Woolf, C.S. Lewis, Anna Quindlen and more.
This cover, for a novel in progress, was designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith in less than 24 hours for a lucky NaNoWriMo participant.
 Finally, here is Coralie Bickford-Smith’s self-portrait cover that she designed for UPPERCASE. I can’t help but agree with her sentiments!
Her cover designs can be found on her website http://www.cb-smith.com/. The books can be found through Penguin US or Penguin UK.
All images (except Alma cover) are from http://www.cb-smith.com/
NaNoWriMo cover from here.
I use Pandora radio almost daily, and while creating myself a new station yesterday I had a thought, is there a Pandora for books out there? A site where I can put in a book that I like and it will give me a list of other books to try? Oh the possibilities! It could lead me to the classics I’ve been missing, and then point me to the newest authors that might strike my fancy.
What did I find? Well, there’s some good news and some bad news. It does exist! Kind of. The site is called BookLamp, and they say they have the algorithms to make the book lists I’m dreaming of, but they don’t have the database of books to make it happen. They have been working to get the attention of Google with a site called CanGooogleHearMe.com, and currently they are debating their next move. With such a great idea I can’t help but hope they move quickly… someone is bound to make this happen!
 http://matchbookmag.com/ Just launched online magazine Matchbook, “A Field Guide to a Charmed Life”, has already won me over. An entire page dedicated to gifts for bookworms? Check. Inclusion of a westie in said bookworm page? Double check (explanation of my westie obsession to come).
The magazine also has an article on the popular stationer Mr. Boddington’s Studio, and even shows you the ins and outs of a letterpress.
Matchbook magazine also makes a few book recommendations, one of which, Swamplandia!, just might end up on my reading list! It has a gorgeous cover that strangely reminds me of Peter Rabbit (and something else that I can’t place). I looked into the book a little more and here’s some of what Carl Hiaasen has to say about the novel, “Swamplandia! is the story of Ava Bigtree, a 12-year-old alligator wrestler who embarks on an improbable journey through the mangrove wilderness of southwest Florida in search of a lost sister. Young Osceola has run off with a ghost-figure named Louis Thanksgiving, and only Ava knows where to look for them, dreading what she might find.” He also offers some major praise for the author.
 Hmm… if I can find a way to include man-eating reptiles in my novel I’ll have the support of Carl Hiaasen? Surprise crocodile ending?! If only.
 David Bamber as the classically annoying Mr. Collins, from Pride & Prejudice The process of writing my first novel has had its ups and downs. Some moments I have complete confidence in my writing, and others I’m convinced it’s all complete garbage (in which case I go running to Lemony Snicket). One thing I’ve found to be consistently true is that a grin inevitably creeps up on my face while writing every scene that includes my most obnoxious character. He’s rude, he’s inappropriate, he’s narcissistic and cocky while completely insecure. In short, I adore him.
Someday I hope to share this character with you, but until that time (ie. until I go through about a million revisions) here are a few suggestions for some obnoxious/annoying characters you can enjoy right now!
1. Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice. Nothing says true love like an insincere marriage
proposal from a cousin! “Almost as soon as I entered the house I singled you out as the companion of my future life.”
 Drawing by Chris Chua. http://www.cchua001.blogspot.com/ 2. Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces. Percy Walker’s foreword of the John Kennedy O’Toole novel says it all. “… Toole’s greatest achievement is Ignatius Reilly himself, intellectual, ideologue, deadbeat, goof-off, glutton, who should repel the reader with his gargantuan bloats, his thunderous contempt and one-man war against everybody — Freud, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Protestants, and the assorted excesses of modern times.”
3. More clueless than obnoxious, a similarly fun character is Adrian Mole from Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 series by Sue Townsend.
Have some suggestions for other entertainingly obnoxious characters? Post them in the comments.
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