Today, we finally made it to the library. We haven't been since before Christmas - and it shows! Within half an hour, we made ourselves leave, having already overloaded ourselves. At least this time, I brought our backpack. They didn't quite all fit, but most did. Just out of curiosity, I weighed it when we got home. It was 25 pounds. *L*
So, this is today's book list. Eldest chose:
Costume and Fashion; A Concise History: ranging from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian dress to 2001.
Fashion, Costume, and Culture; Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations and Footwear through the Ages Volumes 3 (European Culture from the Renaissance to the Modern Era), 4 (Modern World Part I, 1900 to 1945) & 5 (Modern World Part II, 1946 to 2003): These ones look a lot like text books.
Deadly Beautiful; The World's Most Poisonous Animals and Plants; Nature's killers and poisoners in all their glorious, but dangerous, beauty: What a long name for that one! A useful book, considering how common many of these are. Nice to know if you've got a poisonous plant growing in your garden or house.
Poisons; From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean of Calabar: Eldest's interest lie in the area of botanical toxicology. Finding the information she's after seems to always be in books about poison. That could be taken the wrong way... [shiftily glancing over my shoulder... ;-) ]
Harper Collins Latin Concise Dictionary: a different one than she got before. Seems a bit more concise.
How to Draw and Sell Comics; 3rd Edition: A very practical, nuts and bolts kind of book, sprinkled with history and great examples of comic book art.
Youngest chose: 4 Calvin and Hobbes compendiums. *L* She had actually found some car books she'd planned to take out, but after sitting for a while and going through them, they turned out to not be what she was after. It's been harder to find the car books she likes in the library. The bookstores have them, but they're quite out of budget right now. :-P
My list:
Matsuri: Festival; Japanese American Celebrations and Activities: I'd actually been looking for Chinese New Year books, but didn't find anything but general books. This one, however, caught my attention instead.
Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts; Dining in Victorian America: The first section is more a history book, followed by typical menus and finally recipes from the period.
Artisanal Cooking; A Chef Shares his Passion for Handcrafting Great Meals at Home: What caught my attention with this book was that it had instructions to make flavored salts, compound butters, flavored oils, etc. That, and each of the main recipes are prefaced with a story of some sort. I love cookbooks that read almost like novels!
The Afternoon Tea Book and Having Tea; Recipes and Table Settings: *sigh* I do miss taking tea at the Crystal Gardens in Victoria! Since that's not possible anymore, I indulge in books about taking tea. *L*
The Canadian Housewife; An Affectionate History: This looks to be a fascinating glimpse into the everyday lives of women over the past 300 or so years. Most history books follow major events in the formation of countries - battles, political intrigue, exploration, trade, etc. These were more frequently the domain of men, written by men, and from a man's perspective. My personal interest lies in how people lived their ordinary lives; their food, clothing, living conditions, and so on. Not the sort of thing you'd find in a typical history book more interested in names and dates. Inevitably, I've been finding what I'm looking for in books that cover the history of women.
Ah, joy! Now to get some hot chocolate and curl up with some good reading!
4 comments:
'Could be taken the wrong way' now could it?
You wound me, Mother dear.
No problem, jove... :-)
The Canadian Housewife
Rosemary Neering
published by Whitecap Books Ltd
351 Lynn Ave. North Van. BC, V7J 2C4
copyright 2005
ISBN 978-1-55285-717-5
I've read over half of it already, and am really liking it. I've reached a part that is the time period my great-grandparents came to Canada (leaving behind my grandmother) pre WWI. There's that interesting contrast between pioneers in the prairies, most immigrants like my ancestors, and the more established Easterners. A difference that continued for many years. It's so weird to read about life in the early 1900's and think "we lived like that." I grew up in an expanded log house (the origianl part is log, the additions in more modern materials) with no running water (we did have electricity), wood stove, etc. Neighbours of ours were even more the pioneer, in a 2 room house and no electricity. Contrast to my MIL who grew up in the East in a town, who not only had running water and electrical appliances, but didn't know anyone who didn't. From some of our conversations, you'd think *I* was the older generation!
Too funny, I do think you sould watch what you eat and drink for a while after your comment :) I am sure clockwork is just doing some research!
The Canadian Housewife sounds great!
You are all against me, my enemies are everywhere!
...
And I would not even Think of poisoning anyone,
Without the proper research that is.
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