Category Archives: On the Bookshelf

Hollywood, Philo Vance, and what the kids are reading

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Some cool things to talk about for booklovers:

  • I have a new Daily Muse column up on Hollywood themed books and other media.
  • I’ve got my next Where Is My Guru book, a yoga themed novel that I will unveil soon.
  • Renaissance Learning–the people behind the Accelerated Reader program that I loved as a kid–have an interesting new survey out on what high school students are reading now. They compare their 2012 results to previous decades, all the way back to 1907. What do you think of these results?
  • I’m still reading my way through classic mysteries this summer. Lots of Rex Stout, some Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Cater Dickson. I’m in the middle of The Bishop Murders. Not sure how I feel about Philo Vance, though. Any SS Van Dine fans out there?

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Kismet! Demeter’s Paperback Perfume & “Too Many Cooks”

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In what has to be the oddest example of bibliophile kismet, I received my vial of Demeter’s Paperback yesterday and a copy of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mystery Too Many Cooks today…and it turns out Too Many Cooks is a Bantam book. At least one online reviewer has said a Bantam book must have been Demeter’s inspiration for the perfume, which smells of old paper, ink, smoke, and vanilla. To my nose, there is a distinct resemblance between the  two. I’ve been comically smelling the pages of Too Many Cooks today to compare it to the perfume. Paperback is more vanilla-rich than a new Bantam book. However, I’m still curious to smell an older Bantam title….I might need to plan a trip to one of the local used bookstores. Not that my shelves need anymore books, technically-speaking! photo-54

I’m trying to be responsible and work….

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On course planning and other things but I keep getting distracted. Archie Goodwin has that effect on a reader:

“I used as few French and miscellaneous fancy words as possible in writing up this stunt of Nero Wolfe’s but I couldn’t keep them out altogether, on account of the kind of people involved. I am not responsible for the spelling, so don’t write me about mistakes. Wolfe refused to help me out on it, and I had to go to the Heinemann School of Languages and pay a professor 30 bucks to go over it and fix it up. In most cases, during these events, when anyone said anything which for me was only a noise, I have either let it lay–when it wasn’t vital–or managed somehow to get the rough idea in the American language.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                  -Archie Goodwin in the forward of Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout

If you haven’t heard of Archie Goodwin, he is the narrator and Dr. Watson figure for a series of mystery novels by Rex Stout, which began in the 1930s and ended with Stout’s death in the mid-1970s. While the sarcastic Goodwin narrates, he is the “legman” for Nero Wolfe, an eccentric orchid collector, gourmet, and detective who seldom leaves his NYC brownstone. Someone on Goodreads called it the Mycroft Holmes-meets-Sam Spade series in an attempt at derisiveness. However, if you like both of those, the comparison  is fairly apt and not at all negative. I just read 1965′s The Doorbell Rang, where Wolfe is offered $100,000 to stymie FBI harassment of a wealthy widow who criticized J. Edgar Hoover. I had no idea this was a fairly controversial plot for the 1960s (according to Internet rumor, Wolfe fan John Wayne had a falling out with Rex Stout over this one and the FBI compiled a file on Stout, who they assumed was a Communist). Anyhow, my favorite part of these novels is Archie Goodwin’s voice, with its sly sense of humor.

The main characters don’t age, although there are a few contemporary references in the series, which is nice. I’m always slightly depressed by the aging of classic characters in series mystery novels, personally. The end of Tommy and Tuppence was a painful thing for me in high school, y’all. There was a Nero Wolfe television adaptation a few years ago, starring the late Maury Chaykin as Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin. It’s brilliant, perfectly cast and faithful to the books.

Oddly enough, I can’t find any of the books at my local B&N, so I’ve had to order them or dig up copies at my library. I think the library’s copy of The Doorbell Rang might actually be from 1965, but I’m not sure. It certainly looks like old paper.


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Speaking of old paper, I just ordered a perfume that is supposed to smell like old books, Demeter’s Paperback. I’m wondering how this one will turn out. I love how books smell–you know that inky paper scent in bookstores? I’m hoping it smells something like that, although other online reviewers have guessed that vintage Bantam books were the inspiration. Anyone know what those smell like?

Rainy Day Reading

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I’ve been on a mystery reading kick lately, so I decided to incorporate one of my favorite mystery novelists, Carolyn Hart, into this week’s Daily Muse column. Hart writes the “Death on Demand” series, named for her protagonist’s mystery bookstore in South Carolina, and works references to other mystery novels into her books. Every book features a contest, set within the fictional bookstore, to identify a series of paintings based on mysteries. It would be a brilliant idea for a real-life bookstore promotion, too.

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The Hidden History of General Tso’s Chicken

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Have you read my latest Daily Muse column? I linked to a TED talk from Jennifer 8. Lee about the history of Asian food in America. Lee wrote The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, a fascinating look at the development of Chinese food in the US. I really enjoyed it when I read it a few years ago. If you’re interested in history or food, pick it up sometime.

Let go, be bold, unfold!

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If you aren’t following the Where is My Guru Facebook page, we’ve announced my first Book Guru book! I got to choose the book I’d take with me to a desert island. It took a little thought—and then I realized I had the perfect book.

Longtime blog readers will recognize this as one of my absolute favorites: Flora Bowley’s Brave Intuitive Painting. There’s a sneak peek from my much-loved personal copy, below. Isn’t it gorgeous? I am so excited to share this amazing book with WIMG’s listeners! If you are looking to tap into your own creativity and explore art, Bowley is an inspiring teacher. Read more on the WIMG blog or tune in Friday at at 11am to listen live!

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Wow. Just wow.

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It feels like a million things are happening at once. Wait, scratch that: a million fantastic things, including:

  • Nick, Jenn, & I were added to the Where Is My Guru About page. I do my first Book Guru radio segment this week. Friday! It’s going to be about a classic book that I love. Just wait, you’ll love the book. And we’ve decided on my second book which is new and exciting and will be released soon.  I am trying not to die of radio newbie nervousness in the interim.
  • It’s All Yoga, Baby ran my guest post on the Bikram scandal and abuse scandals in yoga on Friday, which is getting a really positive response from readers. Go on over and comment.
  • I realized that, because of the Daily Muse’s content sharing relationship with Forbes, my interview with Susan Cain from last year–about introverts at work–was on Forbes’ website. Which is hilarious, as this may be the only time “Forbes” and my name appear in the same sentence (I wish it was the billionaires’ list, but a girl can dream of book sales, right?). Susan Cain was an amazing interview, so if you’re an introvert or know an introvert, you’ll love her.
  • You should go vote for one of my favorite yoga blogs, The Bliss Project, by watching Manon’s video. She’s trying to win a contest to fund her yoga teacher training! It looks like fun!
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What Do Happy People Know?

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I was skimming Dan Baker’s What Happy People Know tonight and ran across this passage: “In childhood, our spirits were unbridled and unbroken…As we get older, though, and have to solve all our own problems, we become increasingly obsessed with what it takes to survive in this world. Our basic balance begins to shift–from spirit to survival–and we lose our love for life.”

Baker’s solution? Cultivating what he calls the “12 Qualities of Happiness,” which are:

  • Love
  • Optimism
  • Courage
  • A sense of freedom
  • Proactivity
  • Security
  • Health
  • Spirituality
  • Altruism
  • Perspective
  • Humor
  • Purpose

Baker describes these attributes in more detail, but it struck me as I was reading that the late Roger Ebert possessed many, if not all, of these qualities. Despite illnesses and physical limitations, he retained his sense of humor, wonder, and purpose in life. As this lovely Slate article by Dana Stevens mentioned, ”Ebert [responded] to Siskel’s criticism that he tends to go too easy on “cheap exploitative schlock” like The Players Club with this telling reply: “I also have the greatest respect for you, Gene, but if you have a flaw, it is that you are parsimonious with your enjoyment, parceling it out as if you are afraid you will prematurely expend your lifetime share.” Joy—in movies, in conversation, in language, in life—was not something that Roger Ebert meted out parsimoniously. He had more than enough to last a lifetime, and now that he’s gone, he’s left so much behind.”

The NYT reviews “The Perfume Lover”

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I’ve been sick, first with what I thought were early spring allergies, then with flu-like symptoms, for the past two weeks. But I’m beginning to feel a bit better and I can finally smell and taste things again. Isn’t it funny how much sense of smell impacts appetite? For a few days, the idea of eating left me cold. I couldn’t wait to feel better again. Luckily, my nose is coming back–and so is my interest in reading about perfume. I stumbled across this New York Times review of Denyse Beaulieu’s new memoir about perfume via the twitter feed of Victoria Frolova of Bois de Jasmin (@boisdejasmin). Beaulieu’s memoir, The Perfume Lover, is going on my Amazon wishlist. According to the NYT, the book blends perfume science with anecdotes from Beaulieu’s romantic life. She holds a doctorate in French literature, blogs at Grain de Musc, and is known in France for her work as an author and translator of erotic novels. She’s collaborated with L’Artisan Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour on Seville à l’Aube. According to the article:

The idea for the perfume was ignited when she and Mr. Duchaufour were swapping travel stories and she told him of being seduced by a young man during Holy Week in Andalusia.

“That was the most exotic story I could offer him,” Ms. Beaulieu said, adding, “Perfumers are like confessors.” After listening to all the details of her adventure, Mr. Duchaufour made 128 “mods” (industry-speak for versions) before he, with Ms. Beaulieu evaluating each one, arrived at a final interpretation of that lustful night, which took place against a fragrant backdrop of orange blossom, blond tobacco and frankincense from religious processions. 

Doesn’t that make you want to smell Seville à l’Aube? L’Artisan is a French niche brand known for their unconventional scents, like the woody and masculine Mechant Loup (translation: Bad Wolf!), the spices of the circus-inspired Dzing!, and Passage d’Enfer, whose name has a double-meaning. It is named for the company’s address on a street in Paris, which literally translates to “passage to Hell,” but something about the scent also reminds me of funerals. It smells like cold lilies and cedar chests, all at once. I ordered a bottle sight unsmelled years ago and could never wear it. I do, however, love L’Artisan’s Vanilia, which you can read about here. It’s a very smoky, spicy vanilla, not a cotton candy one. Sadly, it looks like the Vanilia I sampled a few years ago has been discontinued and possibly replaced by a Vanilla Absolute.

In a bit of book nerd kismet, the NYT reviewer is Laren Stover, author of two of my favorite books: The Bohemian Manifesto and The Bombshell Manual of Style. I love Stover’s fun, irreverent approach; she describes herself as a kind of “social scientist” exploring the cultures of 20th century bombshells and boho types. And her books are very perfume-friendly.