Interview with Cara Alwill Leyba

December 30, 2011  by Fifi Flowers

Cara Alwill Leyba is a writer from New York City. She has written for music and pop culture sites such as MTV News, MTV Hollywood Crush, AOL Music and Sony Music.

Her hilariously uplifting blog attracts nearly 5,000 followers and  features everything from cocktail recipes, laugh out loud stories about dieting and weight loss adventures, as well as interviews with women who truly live a “Champagne life.” She is known for her witty, down to earth attitude, and swears that all women can live by The Champagne Diet, even on a budget.

Cara is well-known in the wine and spirits online community, and regularly writes for blogs like Thirsty Girl, run by wine expert, author and Today Show regular, Leslie Sbrocco. Leslie recently featured Cara on the site as her “Thursday Thirsty Girl” to celebrate her achievements and involvement in the wine and spirits industry.

My Book Stack

December 29, 2011  by The Single Nester


I inherited my love of reading from my mom and Ms. Everett, my 4th grade teacher.

Rather than play at recess, Ms. Everett would take those who were interested on a walk across the field to my town's public library.

I belonged to many reading book clubs at this library (and still have the certificates to prove it :) and spent many hours with my mom roaming the aisles and shopping at the book fairs.

This is something I still do to this day and last weekend, I attended this same library's book fair where I purchased two bags of books for $2/each! 

I feel close to my mom when I read and go to my library's book fairs. In a few days, she will have passed away 20 years ago and I miss her now more than ever.

Where did you get your love of reading from and have you read any of these books?

"The best conversations with mothers

always take place in silence,

when only the heart speaks."

- Carrie Latet

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

December 28, 2011 by Fifi Flowers

Did YOU give anyone a book for a holiday gift?  I did... here is ONE that I gave... LOVED two other books by this author... and the person I gave it to LOVED her book Devil in the Junior League... and this person loves dogs and Einstein... sounded like a perfect fit just looking at the COVER...

Here is the synopsis of the book via HERE...

He was a man who didn’t deserve a second chance. But he needed one…

Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building.  But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident.  The funeral isn't even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment.  But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies. 

Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was . . . all the while feeling that somehow he isn't really gone.  Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein.  But is Einstein's seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past?  Can he help her find a future—even after she meets a new man? 

______________________________________

Have YOU read this book?  Did you like it?  If not, does it sound like something YOU would like? andddd one more question... 

Have you ever bought a book strictly by the title and cover art WITHOUT reading the synopsis?  

Where do you read

December 27, 2011  by Fifi Flowers 


J'adore dining... j'adore reading...

via Pinterest

What could be more perfect?

________________________________

Do YOU have a reading area YOU would like to share?  Email it to us!

Books Dressed for the Holiday

December 23, 2011  by Fifi Flowers

via HERE

Merry Christmas... Joyeux Noël to ALL!

The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn

December 22, 2011  by Fifi Flowers


Cleaning out bookcases this week... I found this book... I forgot I had it... I started reading it to my kids when they were little and we never finished it... not that it wasn't good but I thought it would be better to read to them a little older and then I guess I packed it away... I think I will read it to myself... as I don't think my teen boys would listen to me at this point...  Have YOU ever read this book?

It all started when Jeff Guinn was assigned to write a piece full of little-known facts about Christmas for his paper, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A few months later, he received a call from a gentleman who told him that he showed the story to an important friend who didn’t think much of it. And who might that be? asked Jeff. The next thing he knew, he was whisked off to the North Pole to meet with this “very important friend,” and the rest is, well, as they say, history.

An enchanting holiday treasure, The Autobiography of Santa Claus combines solid historical fact with legend to deliver the definitive story of Santa Claus. And who better to lead us through seventeen centuries of Christmas magic than good ol’ Saint Nick himself? Families will delight in each chapter of this new Christmas classic—one per each cold December night leading up to Christmas!  (synopsis via HERE)

YOU can purchase this book HERE

___________________________________________

Merry Christmas to All!

Look Who's Reading

December 21, 2011  by Fifi Flowers


Funny man Adam Sandler reading a magazine...

 and reading to a teen...

and with the start of Hanukkah... Adam Sandler singing...

Happy Hanukkah! 

_____________________________________

Share photos of Famous People Reading... Email Us a link or a photo or even a video... and a link to your site... Contact link is in the sidebar... Looking forward to hearing from YOU!

My Book Stack

December 20, 2011  by Demie of Paraphernalia


Hallo Fifi!

It's been awhile... hope you are doing well. your blog is wonderful as always.
Sending you a drawing that might fit your book stack posts...

There is not such thing as too many books ... is it?

love  xoxoxo
demie

New Book Announcement

December 19, 2011  by French Word-A-Day

un grand service = a big favor

 

 The book that took 21 44 days to create, publish and put on-line for sale... thanks to your help (and special thanks to Tamara and Erin at TLC Graphics for this book's cover and beautiful interior).

.
Bonjour!
I am on my way to Marseilles this morning. French Word-A-Day will return on Wednesday.
Before I leave, I wanted to ask you a big favor, or un grand service...
Would you please order a copy of my book Blossoming in Provence? At $14 it makes an economical and educational gift for yourself or for another!
Packed with vocabulary and insights on French life, this "memoirette" is now available at Amazon.com. Please click here to order a copy or two! (Check out Amazon's free shipping offer, when you order two copies.)
Mille mercis for all of your support and encouragement and for your help in getting the word out about this "little book that could". It may not yet have made it to the top of the hill, but the climb, in itself, is exhilarating.
Amicalement,
Kristin
P.S.: My book is illustrated with over 30 black and white photos, including the one below. For those who asked for color (it would have driven up your purchase cost to more than twice the price), I hope you will agree that images chosen for this book were made for black-n-white!

_____________________________________

A true Metamorphosis... from blogging to photography... to compiling... to deciding on a book cover...

to bringing it to YOU... NOW it can be YOURS!!!

Reading is Fashionable wishes Kristin GREAT SUCCESS with HER NEW BOOK!!!

I think you will ALL remember our interview with the lovely author... 

and if you missed it... YOU can read it again HERE

and be sure to visit Between Naps on the Porch to see what others are accomplishing!

Author Interview with Brandyn Barbara Artis

December 16, 2011  by Fifi Flowers

  

Brandyn Barbara Artis, actress and playwright has performed her critically acclaimed play 'Sister, Girl' across the United States and internationally. Her fiction has been published by THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS and in 'The Breast An Anthology.' She is the recipient of a Los Angeles DramaLogue's critic award as Harriet in 'Letters to Harriet Tubman' with the Los Angeles Music Center on Tour, the NAACP Image award for 'Shakin the Mess out of Misery' which she also choreographed, and a Grammy for 'Threshold' a Warner Bros. album. On ABC's General Hospital she played the role of Dr. Diane Erskine. In April, 2011 Brandyn was the Harper's Bazaar Fabulous at Every Age Grand prize awardee. She lives and works in Los Angeles and Paris with Tallulah her Yorkshire terrier.

  ____________________________________

Let's ask Brandyn a few questions... get to know her better...

To the BookStore we go

December 13,  2011  Fifi Flowers

The BookMark Shoppe, originally opened in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn in November 2002. And we quickly outgrew that location and moved to the Bay Ridge area. We have been an independently owned & operated bookstore serving the community for almost eight years.

 

The Shoppe is owned by two extremely attractive, gorgeorus, fun, creative, age-defying beauties.  WHAT? WHAT? We write our own P.R.!

 

Christine Freglette and Bina Valenzano have been best friends since junior high school and business partners for close to a decade. And we are still going strong! 

My Book Stack

December 9, 2011  by Judy

I think I promised some time ago to show you a picture of a few of the books on my shelves.  So, here’s a photo that shows a stack in my Southern authors section, and in particular my favorite author.  

In 1990, I had the pleasure of attending a reading by Eudora Welty and Reynolds Price.  And what a pleasure it was!  After the reading was over, Miss Welty retired to a sofa in the lobby where she entertained questions from one and all.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, a friend who had attended the reading with me made my picture as I was posing a few questions to her.  Because she had told me she would, after I returned home I mailed her my vintage copy of The Golden Apples and she autographed it and returned it to me.  What a lady!

Continuing to enjoy Reading is Fashionable!   

Judy

____________________________________

Author Interview with Jillian Lauren

December 8, 2011 by Fifi Flowers

Author and performer Jillian Lauren grew up in suburban New Jersey and fled across the water to New York City. She attended New York University for three minutes before dropping out to work in downtown theater, where she performed with Richard Foreman’s Ontological Hysteric Theater, among others.

She is the author of the novel, PRETTY, and of the New York Times bestselling memoir, SOME GIRLS: My Life in a Harem, both published by Plume/Penguin. SOME GIRLS has since been translated into fourteen different languages.

Jillian has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine, Flaunt Magazine, Opium Magazine, Society, Pale House: A Collective and in the anthologies My First Time: A Collection of First Punk Show Stories and Tarnished: True Tales of Innocence Lost.

She has performed at spoken word and storytelling events across the country and has been interviewed on such television programs as The View, Good Morning America and Howard Stern. She was a featured dancer with the infamous Velvet Hammer Burlesque. As a performer, she has recently worked with directors as diverse as Robert Cucuzza, Steve Balderson, Lynne Breedlove, Austin Young, Michelle Carr and Margaret Cho.

Jillian recently premiered her solo performance piece, Mother Tongue, at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles.

She regularly blogs at TODAY Moms and Jillianlauren.com.

Jillian is married to musician Scott Shriner. They live in Los Angeles with their son.

_________________________________

Ooooh let's hear MORE...

Books about History

December 7, 2011 by Fifi Flowers

70 years ago today... On December 7th 1941, on an otherwise peaceful Sunday morning on a beautiful Hawaiian island, the first wave of Japanese airplanes left 6 aircraft carriers and struck Pearl Harbor a few minutes before 8 AM local time.  

image via HERE

In two waves of terror lasting two long hours, they killed or wounded over 3,500 Americans and sank or badly damaged 18 ships - including all 8 battleships of the Pacific Fleet - and over 350 destroyed or damaged aircraft.  At least 1,177 lives were lost when the Battleship U.S.S. Arizona  exploded and subsequently sank. (this information via HERE)

Here are some books about the event... there are several books about this historical event... these were the first 4 on THIS SITE... I have not read any of these...

Have YOU read any books about Pearl Harbor?  

If so, please leave a comment and tell us which book you read and if you would recommend it.

Book List

December 6, 2011 by abc15.com 


One of the authors interview by Reading is Fashionable makes this list... WATCH and see who it is...

Books make GREAT gifts!

Made from Books

December 5, 2011  by Real Simple

Festive Decorations 

To grow this smart-looking tree, first construct a trunk by stacking five or six narrow books, preferably with brown or neutral covers. Then layer on roughly 12 opened ones (widest first) with the pages facing down. Try green or red covers, or a mix of both.

Present Topper (seen atop this book tree) 

Take a page from an outgrown or overly loved holiday book and fashion it into a bow.  Glue a hard candy in the center to add a sweet touch.

What you'll need: (All supplies should be available at your local craft store)

• An old book, preferably hardcover so the pages are larger
• Scissors or a utility knife
• A small stapler
• Adhesive glue dots

Instructions:1. Select a book page and cut it lengthwise into nine strips, ¾-inch wide. If you’re using smaller book you might need to cut up multiple pages. Leave three of the strips full-length. Cut one inch off three of the strips. Cut two inches off two of the strips. Cut the last strip down to 3 ½-inches long.

2. Twist each strip to form a loop at both ends and staple it in the center. Shape the last, short strip into a circle and secure it with a glue dot.

3. Layer the three longest pieces on top of each other, spacing them evenly and securing each with a glue dot. Add the next two groups of pieces, doing the same. And finally, stick the small circle into the center. 

Visit REAL SIMPLE for MORE great ideas!!!

 ______________________________

See what others are creating for the holidays via Metamorphosis Monday!

Author Interview with Kim Gruenenfelder

December 2, 2011  by Fifi Flowers

Kim Gruenenfelder lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son, and continues to avoid anything even remotely resembling a real job. Her acclaimed debut novel, A Total Waste of Makeup, has been published in six languages and eight international editions to date. In addition to her three published novels, A Total Waste of Makeup, Misery Loves Cabernet and There’s Cake In My Future, she has written feature films, episodic teleplays and two stage plays. Kim loves her fans and readers, who can contact her here, as well as follow her through her Facebook. and Twitter.

 ___________________________________

Let's talk Cake with Kim...