Review of The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day (Paperback)

This book totally saved me.After feeling overwhelmed about planning my wedding for weeks and weeks, I can finally take a deep breath and say that my fiance and I are REALLY EXCITED after reading Mindy's book.There are so many great ideas in here that I would have never thought of, and so many of them are absolutely inspiring.This book is so comprehensive, it really talks about everything you want and need to know about planning your wedding. It's like Mindy is right there guiding you through every step of the way! The BEST part though, is that there are so many fun facts and cute details in the book...I couldn't put it down :) If you're a bride-to-be, I highly recommend Mindy's book...you'll absolutely love it.If you're a bridesmaid, do the bride a big favor and pick this up for her!

Product Description
Announcing the wedding bible: the most complete, lively, handholding, step-by-step guide to help every couple have a perfect wedding-no matter their budget, taste, or personalities. More than 2.2 million North American couples tie the knot each year; until now, only a mere fraction could work with celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss. But the significant fact is not Ms. Weiss's clientele, but the reason for it: She's so very good at what she does. And now she shares all of her hard-won experience, wisdom, inspiration, and style tips.

The Wedding Book covers everything, in a voice filled with understanding: announcing the engagement, and what to do when someone isn't happy about the news; creating a budget; the pros and cons of destination weddings. Drawing up the guest list; planning the ceremony (and how to personalize your vows); menus to inspire; contracts and wedding insurance. Shopping for the dress, six great hairstyles, tuxedo vs. dinner jacket, the etiquette of invitations. Style tips for flowers, the tabletop, linens; a cake that says "you"; the crucial "Sixty Days Until I Do"; rehearsal dinner strategies; plus freezing the cake and preserving the bouquet.

Today the average cost of a wedding is $25,000-at $19.95, The Wedding Book is the smartest investment a bride-to-be could make.

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Review of Your Cat's Just Not That Into You: "What Part of Meow Don't You Understand?" (Paperback)

My cat wrote this review. He says, "What I like most about books is that, if you lay on one, people tend to stop reading and pet you. I plopped down on top of this one and it felt pretty comfortable. Sure enough, my pet human stopped and gave me a great massage. She says the book explains why we cats can be aloof and disdainful. It has many "Dear Abby" type letters, classified ads, advice and definitions.

One classified ad read, "If you're submissive, read on. Upbeat, Rubenesque Maine Coon seeks good home with endlessly giving, insecure owner who'll try to please me even when I'm having a hissy fit. The right owner will never assume he's doing too much for his pet, or experience moral outrage if I "get lucky" with a gopher. Let's have lunch and talk."

This book also offers a peek into a cat's mind and offers other advice that our humans ought to know. Hey, my human is still laughing over it -- so it must be good. Besides, I like to see my pets amused. You might want to educate your pet humans with this book, too."

Product Description
Aloof. Haughty. Disdainful. Withholding. Moody. Petulant. Imperious. Sound like anyone you know? It does if you own a cat. And while you've probably made hundreds of excuses about why your cat's this way, the sad fact is-your cat's just not that into you.

Don't despair. It's not you. It's your cat. Cats invented not being into you. Richard Smith is here to explain, and help.

Forlorn cat owners everywhere will see themselves in this book-in the "I Guess Her Mind Is on Other Things" excuse. In the "Maybe She Needs Her Own Space" excuse. In the "Maybe He Didn't Recognize Me in My New Hawaiian Shirt" excuse. They'll educate themselves about feline indifference through the Know Thy Kitty Quizzes. Test their cat's I.Q. Take the Schnapps-Porsche Well-Adjusted Cat Owner Analysis. Discover Ten Ways to Suck Up to Your Cat, including #2: leave affectionate Post-its in her kitty litter.

In the tradition of All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat (1.7 million copies in print), Kliban's Cat (985,000 copies in print), and even New York Timesbestseller Bad Cat (487,000 copies in print), Your Cat's Just Not That Into You is utterly loopy and yet dead-on wise-this is, after all, from the author of the classic Dieter's Guide to Weight Loss During Sex. It's filled with insights into the interior life of the world's most maddeningly mysterious animal, and into the damaged psyches of cat lovers who are so often given to wonder: Am I my cat's punk?

From the Back Cover
Dear Richard:

It was one of those perfect mornings. There I was, lying in bed with my cuddly Maine Coon, Shakespeare, snuggled up against me, his eyes half-closed, purring and exuding warmth like a giant, smelly heating pad. Suddenly he meowed and in a matter of seconds was off the bed and in the next room. Did I do someting wrong? Should I have let him get under the quilt? I really thought Shakespeare and I were having a "moment."

Allie

Dear Allie,

Are you (still) lying down? Good, then I can tell you that with cats, that's all there is-a moment, which pretty much sums up their attention span. Shakespeare wasn't with you one moment and gone the next; he was gone even while he was there, much like some men who, during a night of bliss, seem to have already put on their clothes and left. The difference, of course, is that cats don't have clothes to put on.

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Review of Sit! Ancestral Dog Portraits (Paperback)

A magnificent display of heroes, scoundrels, statesmen and moguls from times past. Utterly hilarious and even credible, it draws you back again and again for another look. Where is the next edition!!

Product Description
Originally published in 1993, SIT! was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times and was excerpted in Harper's Magazine and The New York Times Book Review. George Booth, writing in the NYTBR, called it "the best of humor....Delightful!" while Cosmopolitan pronounced it "irresistible."

Renamed REMEBRANCE OF DOGS PAST, this fetching collection of 70 disarmingly funny portraits is as fresh and funny as ever. Beginning with an 18th- or 19th-century ancestral portrait, Thierry Poncelet seamlessly paints in a dog's head over the original human subject's. The resulting tour de force is a fantasy that looks uncannily real, the dogs appearing all too human in their military regalia or elaborate gowns. And for a glorious twist, New Yorker humorist Bruce McCall names each dog and offers a brilliant tongue-in-cheek biographical sketch. Thus there's Lord Gristle (black Labrador), proprietor of a vast tabloid chain, with dark memories of rolled-up newspapers; Marie-Claire DuBossy (white poodle), who shocked France's poetry circles by refusing to beg; and Percival Horace Denbeigh (Jack Russell terrier), Britain's foremost military correspondent, with an infallible nose for news.

It's a howl.

About the Author
Thierry Poncelet is a Belgian-born artist and paintings conservator whose dog portraits have earned him international acclaim. His work is exhibited in Paris, London New York, Vienna, and Brussels

Bruce McCall (born 1935) is a Canadian author and illustrator, best known for his frequent contributions to The New Yorker.

Born and raised in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, he was fascinated by comic books and showed an early aptitude for drawing fantastical flying machines, blimps, bulbous-nosed muscle cars and futuristic dioramas.

In his memoir, Thin Ice (1997), McCall admitted that he was never good at physical activity as a boy, but could count on his mother to encourage his creativity. Bruce's father T.C. was imperious and unemotional, and left his alcoholic wife Peg without the attention she needed. Peg and the children tried to strike an attachment to him, but his stormy moods frequently pushed them aside.

Without any serious technical training, McCall began his illustration career drawing cars for Ford Motor Company in Toronto in the 1950s. After several decades in advertising, he sought opportunities elsewhere in the publishing industry.

He went to New York City, and was hired by National Lampoon and made a name for himself as an artist with intelligent and whimsical humor. McCall also spent a brief period writing sketches for Saturday Night Live.

McCall has illustrated magazine covers, regularly appearing in The New Yorker and other magazines. He has been a contributor to the magazine since 1979.

McCall is also a humourist, and has written essays on some of the social ironies of modern life. He writes frequently for the "Shouts & Murmurs" section of The New Yorker.

McCall lives on the Upper West Side of New York near Central Park.

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Review of How to Take Your Grandmother to the Museum (Hardcover)

I only checked this book out from the library because the cover illustration included some dinosaur fossils (my son is always looking for new dino books), but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story of a girl taking her grandmother on a visit to the Museum of Natural History.

Molly is accustomed to going to "Interesting Places" with her grandmother, but after a school field trip to the Museum of Natural History, she is delighted to realize that at last, she has found an Interesting Place her grandmother has never visited.She offers to take Grandma to the Museum and takes charge, right down to reminding Grandma of the importance of comfortable shoes and using the bathroom before leaving the house.

The illustrations are drawings incorporating photos of items on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (NY), which I thought was a nice touch.Molly and her grandmother visit many exhibits--dinosaurs, Africa, the Arctic, ocean life, rocks, bugs, human biology, the Ice Age--and their conversation about what they see presents many interesting facts without sounding too didactic.

This might have a bit too much text for younger readers/listeners, but there are plenty of interesting pictures to look at.A fun read for both me and my 4 1/2 year old son.



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Review of The Order of Things: Hierarchies, Structures, and Pecking Orders (Paperback)

This little book is chock full of information. There is all kinds of neat nuggets of trivia that cover just about every subject. Also a great reference, without having to surf the internet.



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Review of Flanagan's Smart Home: The 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, Scaling Back (Paperback)

Like eco-friendly? Like buying things that are built to last? Useful? Non-cluttering?

That's what drew me to this book, I'm very into decluttering and I love having things that are built to last.

For each of her picks she gives a little history, and some background into why she chose what she did. She gives a review at the end of each chapter with a price range for each item and if she has a brand name she likes she lists that too.

Ideas I liked:
Some new spins on things I'd never thought about before, and she has a few of them. For instance:

A lamp timer instead of an alarm clock. Brilliant in my eyes, alarm clocks scare me in the morning.

A pop-up mesh clothes hamper.

One that I wasn't so sure about but now seems really cool is using a salad spinner for more than just spinning salad - if you buy a good one.

And there's more, such as getting rid of non-stick pans and going to cast iron, which lasts for ever!

I like that she doesn't skimp. Buy the best that you can, but be wise in what you buy. And you know, most things really aren't that expensive. That to me is something I really enjoyed about this book.

Cons:
There wasn't anything bad, but I'd want to research some of her ideas out myself before buying. There were a couple that made me go `eh':

A saltcellar, it's like one of those things Alton Brown uses to get salt from on his show `Good Eats'. If you don't have any kids then I can see having one; personally I think they're cool. But if you do have kids I can see salt flung here and there and little dirty hands reaching into it, ick, and she really downplays salt and pepper shakers which I guess is a personal thing.

Some that were personal preference, like an electric blanket. She has a sound advice in buying one, but I've never really wanted to own one so I don't see how it's essential other than lowering the heat at night but I have warm blankets that can do that without electricity.

I have to say it was a nice read, she has humor, she has her research, and she has sound advice. It makes you think.


Product Description
Purge the clutter. Outfit your home with care: The 34 essential kitchen tools. The 9 essential cleaning and fixing products. The 13, and only 13, things a bedroom needs to make it a haven of rest and privacy. Each item has been field-tested and rated for its environmental, social, and aesthetic impact. There is high-tech: the miraculous microfiber mop, the low voltage electric blanket, the truly responsive iron. And there is low-tech: the French press coffeemaker, the can opener, and the feather duster. Practical, entertaining, opinionated, Flanagan's Smart Home is a timely remedy for the age of excess. Above all, it's necessary. Behind the bath mat, soupspoon, sofa, and lamp lies a far deeper question: how to live.


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Review of Celebrate! (Paperback)

This is simply creative, well done and inspirational.From the unique concept to the exciting layout to the fab recipes, this is one to have and use and celebrate and enjoy.

The author is a cookbook all-star, having done The Silver Palate series and New Basics and several of her own.She branches out now with this one which provides a whole thematic culinary event including recipes, music, wine suggestions, serving and decorating ideas.All centered around great food.

There are 43 themed events with 350 recipes all showing color photos organized into two main sections: A Year of Celebrations, with a dozen of the more classic events e.g. New Year, Seder, Mother's Day, etc., and the second: Celebrating Our Lives, bridal shower, graduation, cuisine & culture outings, e.g. India, morocco; and ingredient feasts such as a blueberry breakfast.There are also adequate sources, bibliography, conversion tables and a nice index.The servings are hefty, sometimes for 24, 8, 2, 16. Buffets, pool party, sit down dining room, beach, etc. venues well covered as well.

While so many could be singled out to inspire you to add this to your collection, let me tempt you with two samplings:A Toast To New Year for 8, with a Celebration Coktail ( Grand Marniew and champagne and more), Sparkling Crab Salad, Frisee Folie with Tangerine Vinaigrette, Mahogany Squabs, Fancy New Year's Pilaf, Carrot-Ginger Whip, Beet and Apple Whip, Frozen Lime Souffle, Chocolate Truffles.All of this decked out in an ambience of Old Painted Hookahs holding apricot-hued roses, with votive candles amid floating white orchids, set upon table of paisly fabriic, with pink linen napkins set off with gold wire-ribbon ties.Suggested music: Rimsky--Korsakov's Scheherazade or John Coltrane's My Favorite Things.

Anytime Sunday Brunch for 8 with Leek Frittata, Roasted Tomatoes and Onions, Rustic Chicken Salad, Tomatoes a la Tapenade, Blackberry Sorbet, and Rich Pecan Squares.

As she suggests, one doesn't have to do all the recipes, and mix and matching of them is allowable and encouraged.She has a good idea too, that of trying a more difficult recipe ahead of time as a dish to gain confidence before preparing as part of a bigger spread.

This is lush, well thought out and executed and a marvelous resource for entertaining, whether one follows it to a tee, some of it, and use for inspiration to dream up your own.This is wo well done and has something everyone can find exactly what you're into.Explore, dine and wine, bon appetit.



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