Books: Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck

I just read a fantastic novel, Three Girls and Their Brother, the first novel written by Theresa Rebeck, a TV and play writer who has won an Edgar and a Peabody award. It's about the four grandchildren of fitional literary critic legend Leo Heller: Daria, Polly, Philip, and Amelia Heller. The three girls are gorgeous, and after a photo spread in the New Yorker, they are launched head-first into the fame game, "helped" along by their clueless mother and questionable publicist. There are four parts, each written in the point of view of one of the siblings, and though they demonize each other individually, the reader realizes each is a whole, multi-dimensional character. It was amusing and slightly sad to find that the children are more fame-weary and cautious than the adults that surrounded them. Three Girls and Their Brother was a great read that had me questionaing whether fame is what it's all cracked up to be.

Books: The Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia

Nina Garcia's The Little Black Book of Style is a fun read, nothing revolutionary (stick to basics, always check for VPL), but illuminating none the less. What I enjoyed the most were her list of style-inspiring movies and the charming quotes throughout the book. Movies include:

Bringing Up Baby

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Love Story

The Great Gatsby

Pulp Fiction

And quotes include:

"I was not ugly. I might not be anything for men to lose their heads about, but I need never again be ugly. This knowledge was like a song within me. Suddenly it all came together. If you were healthy, fit, and well-dressed, you could be attractive." Elsie De Wolfe

"I love America, and I love American women, but there is one thing that deeply shocks me...American closets. I cannot believe one can dress well when you have so much." Andree Putman

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo da Vinci

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." Mark Twain

"It's not money that makes you well-dressed, it's understanding." Christian Dior

"Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy." Albert Einstein

"Is not the most erotic part of the body where ever the clothing affords a glimpse?" Roland Barthes

"Isn't elegance forgetting what one is wearing?" Yves Saint Laurent

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different." Coco Chanel

"If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late? Nobody." Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye

Books: By Myself and Then Some and What Would Jackie Do?

Yesterday, my roommate and I did as we often do and spent the whole day at Borders. I love book stores and libraries, just being surrounded by books make me feel so safe. We always start out browsing all the sections and picking out what we want to get, then we end up in romance, where we pick up the dirtiest book we can find and giggle about it. It's so much fun.

I bought two books I adore. First was By Myself and Then Some, an autobiography by Lauren Bacall. Most people know her as an actress and Humphrey Bogart's wife, however, she is an amazing writer as well. Her tales of growing up in New York idolizing Bette Davis, modeling, and leaving her beloved family for her first movie in Hollywood are funny and real and poignant. And I loved reading about her falling madly in love with Bogart, their life, and her heartbreak as she saw him dying. Lauren Bacall is a very inspiring writer with a fascinating life to write about.

What an amazing couple.

The second book is What Would Jackie Do? by Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway. Now this book's title is my life's motto, and I was very excited to find out that it existed. I often find myself in positions where I want to convey Jackie's poise, self-assuredness, and charisma. The authors have definitely done their research and found Jackie's philosophy in every aspect of life, from dressing to dealing with friends, family, husbands to working. I plan on reading it often.

My idol.

Books: Into the Wild

I recently read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; this book was an eye-opener. The nonfiction book is about Christopher McCandless, a young man afflicted with wanderlust, who died at the age of 24 in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness, after living there in solitude for 112 days. There are rare books that truly make me feel something deep in my stomach, and this was one of them...I was overcome by a feeling of longing, insignificance, peace, and loneliness all at once, which is a compliment to Krakauer's story-telling skills. I was also reminded of the "mean reds," a feeling that Holly Golightly, Holden Caulfield, McCandless, and I'm sure many other people (including myself) are overwhelmed with from time to time. I know that there was a movie version released, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch, and I definitely plan on watching it, but I also recommend reading this book.

Emile Hirsch is great, I can't wait to see him in one of my childhood favorites, Speed Racer!