Oh, the glory of Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and Borders, and little shops tucked away in Amish country full of Books With Clean Content. Easily 1/3 of a suitcase was full of books! A teeny taste:
David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames (recommended by readers of Manolo for the Big Girl. Francesca is only a few chapters in and has been laughing out loud!)
Michael Cunningham, Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown (purchase inspired by the discovery that Francesca associates Provincetown, Mass. with quaint tourist shops and picnics, because she had only ever been there during the day, whereas her friend Lisa associates it with a thriving gay scene, because she’d only ever been there at night.)
Alexander McCall Smith, The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (not yet read by Francesca and it’s about time)
G & R Publishing (but really it’s by Amish people), Gifts in a Jar: Bars and Brownies (instructions for preparing various cookie and brownie mixes as “sand art” — they make unusual host gifts. Twistie would love this.) Also check out soups, cocoas and coffees, and one-dish meals.
Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (Francesca wonders how much of this book holds up, 10 years after it was first published.)
Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (already read, cried over, and recommended by Francesca; now she has her own copy)
Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting (never read by Francesca and she thinks it’s about time)
Bill Bryson, I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away (already read and enjoyed by Francesca, who needs her own copy now that she’s living outside the US again)
and, best of all, and advance copy of Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition, and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves by the beautiful plus-size model Crystal Renn — which Francesca will be reviewing soon in full here on this blog.
Francesca is so happy!
Since you bring up Crystal Renn’s book, I thought I’d mention that I recently read a thorough review of Hungry on the forums of The Judgment of Paris, a great fan site for plus-size models:
http://www.judgmentofparis.com/
The site’s forum has many thought-provoking discussions about body image and the media.
Comment by Lois — September 14, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
I resisted the #1 series because it seemed so DUMB. And POPULAR. And why would a popular book be any good?
Then I surrendered out of desperation. And discovered I had been wrong. In 6 weeks, I have read every single book the guy has written, including the Portuguese Verb and Scotland series, and am ticked that he is not publishing RIGHT NOW.
Comment by class factotum — September 15, 2009 @ 9:35 am