Book of the Month Clutch

Kate Spade's gone and done it again. Paying homage to three beloved classics, these Book of the Month Clutches pack in the intellectual with the chic.

And for your desktop, free Book Club Wallpapers.

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2010 Reads: January to July

The Awakening, Kate Chopin

Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

Summerhouse, Later, Judith Hermann

The Pigeon, Patrick Suskind

Slightly disappointed I haven't accomplished more reads so far this year. Though Madame Bovary alone took quite a bit of time to push through. Hoping August - December will allow for more time to dedicate to more reading.

Ernest

Found out recently that we are separated by only four degrees. I'm quite pleased about this news.


"I've plenty to learn everywhere." -Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Bright Star

Finally saw Bright Star the other night. What a gorgeous film! And lovely music too. And who doesn't love a good period piece about a famous author and his lover? I'm a sucker for all of the above.


'Bright Star'

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

- John Keats

Great Journeys

Penguin Books has an incredible series called 'Great Journeys', which features twenty real-life adventure stories written by history's greatest explorers. "Around the world in twenty books!" as their website puts it.
The series includes works by Sir Richard Burton, Herodotus, Anton Chekhov, James Cook, George Orwell, Marco Polo and Mark Twain, spanning the centuries from the ancient world of 4th century B.C. to the early 20th century.
The amazing cover artwork is done by David Pearson Design. I love how each cover has a simple color scheme & vintage feel. I think a poster of all the book covers would look amazing in a home office or studio space.

The Australian Penguin site gives the best descriptions of each book. I am setting a long-term goal to collect & read each work of literature in this series. I think it would be an amazing collection to own & one day pass down.

Also, check out the Great Loves and Great Ideas series.