Parisian Pantone from How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are, by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret, and Sophie Mas

As should be evident from this blog, I love Pantone, paint chips, and anything charming.  These Parisian paint chips from How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are make me very happy.  One chart shows Parisian colors of winter, including Clouds over the Pont Neuf, Chairs in the Luxembourg Gardens, A mean Yorkshire terrier, The Seine overflowing, It's always raining, Chipped nail polish, Rose-flavored macaron, and A run in your tights.  Summer's swatches include An afternoon fling, A burst of laughter, A novel by Françoise Sagan, An irritating rainfall, Verbena ice cream, The scent of vetiver on skin, Smiling Parisians, A glass of rosé, The Seine, always, A Flore cocktail, Brunch in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, A city tan, and The anise in your pastis.  Aren't they all lovely?  And the authors did a really amazing and thoughtful job of picking the colors to describe what are in most cases abstract or otherwise evanescent terms.    

(Doubleday)

Betty Halbreich's Libertin Book-Print Coat at the Purim Ball 2016 in Honor of Isaac Mizrahi

The coat is by Libertine, and you can try to buy it here, if you happen to have $3000 and wear a size small.

(Avenue Magazine)

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Classic Literature Wallpaper by Murals Wallpaper

British wallpaper company Murals has created a small collection of wallpapers printed with the original illustrations from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (by John Tenniel), L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, (by W.W. Denslow) and the novels of Charles Dickens (by Joseph Clayton Clarke, aka "Kyd").  

(Murals)

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Cover Envy: Sloane Crosley's The Clasp

Here's another (in my opinion) improved hardback to paperback cover design change.  Sloane Crosley's first novel, The Clasp, a comedic treasure hunt/mystery romp, comes out in paperback tomorrow (June 7), and the cover is quite different.  The hardback cover was well-designed, if a bit simplistic and flat (and slightly self-published looking) at first glance.  It was printed in three different bright colors, and the design was actually quite cool, with a gold chain snaking in and out of the letters.  The publisher clearly pulled out all of the stops for this first novel.  The paperback is more to my taste, and hugely different from the hardback cover.  I like the bold yellow and off-kilter font, and I love the background to the text, which is a close-up photograph of a traditional tapestry with bright embroidery added to it.  The background reminds me of the work of Richard Saja's Historically Inaccurate embroidered punk toile de jouy, which you can check out here. Edited: I just found an article on EW.com that says the background art was indeed designed by Richard Saja!  No wonder I love this cover so much!  Another small update (6/7/16): I just got a copy of the paperback, and the cover is embossed!  The text and all of the embroidery are actually raised, making this an even cooler cover.

Paperback cover

Hardback covers

Here's the Dutch cover that the EW article refers to.  Note the toile de jouy!

Cover Envy: Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell Series

Deanna Raybourn's latest mystery series stars a spunky lepidopterist named Veronica Speedwell defying gender conventions and solving crimes in Victorian English.  I haven't read the first book, A Curious Beginning, and the second book comes out in January 2017.  These books sound delightful, but I wanted to point out the newly designed cover for the paperback edition of A Curious Beginning, which comes out this July.  The hardback cover was fine, but nothing to write home about (you can see it below).  The paperback cover, however, made me, I confess, immediately preorder the book, because it is so cleverly designed.  It is meant to look like the elaborate and perhaps over-designed embossed leather covers of Victorian novels.  Barnes & Noble's Collectible Editions is based on the same type of design, an example of which you can see below.  Check out the Victoria Speedwell covers below. I love a trompe l'oeil cover design!

The hardback cover:

Here's an example of a late 19th-century embossed leather binding:

image source

Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics

(Deanna Raybourn)

Lily Nova by Marianna Sanvito for Elle Russia May 2016

(Fashion Mayhem)

Review: Hemsley and Hemsley Good and Simple by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley

The British Hemsley sisters' second cookbook, Hemsley and Hemsley Good and Simple, came out April 12.  This is the latest in the photogenic blogger book deal trend that has been going strong for the last few years.  The Hemsleys focus on fresh, healthy food that can help you (read: women) lose weight.  Note that they don't come right out and say that their book and food are about losing weight, but it's definitely what this book is about.  Their basic message is get rid of processed foods, refined sugars, gluten, and grains.  It's an attractive package, and it clearly tries to make the most of the photogenic nature of the two authors, who are clearly meant to be proof of the fact that their methods work.  Like many of the more recent cookbooks that are veiled diet books, this one shuns low-cal, low-fat recipes in favor of fresh ingredients and whole foods.  Some of the recipes are a bit rabbit-foody, but for the most part, the food looks and sounds tasty, in addition to being nutritious.  I also like how many of the recipes are directly followed by a list of "good and simple tips," which clarify the recipes and suggest ways that they can be changed and reused.  Overall, this is a nice cookbook aimed at 20- and 30-something women who want to lose weight without sacrificing flavor or calories.

(I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.)