Presents the author’s story of leaving his previous life for La Dolce Vita – or rather the Southern Italian version of that seductive way of life,with its luscious foods, physical beauty and sun-drenched vistas.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: English

I liked it:     Yes, but found it too detailed and I lost interest

For people who like: Southern Italy, stories about getting used to another way of life, Mediterranean flair

My thoughts: 

Head over Heel is a fun book about the “adventures” of an Australian moving to Italy to be with his Italian girlfriend. He goes to Italy and has to deal with the very unusual everyday life, corruption, language and what not that every expatriate has to face in one way or the other.

I found the book very amusing and entertaining, however, I just couldn’t be bothered reading about all the details of Italian life. Chris Harrison describes many aspects and I just found it too tedious, maybe because I have been to Italy numerous times (even though never as a resident) and didn’t find the situations as strange as other readers might. I stopped reading after maybe 80 pages when the plot hadn’t gone very far yet and the couple was about to move from the South to the very different North of Italy, so I assume there were many more surprises in store for the narrator.

If you have never been to Italy and know next to nothing about it, you will enjoy this greatly.

Location: Andrano, Puglia, Italy

All images from wikipedia. Image of piazza by user Lupiae

Product info and buy link :

Title	Head over heel
Author	Chris Harrison
Publisher	Nicholas Brealey Publishing
ISBN	978-1857885217
I got this book from	Netgalley
Buy link	Buy Head Over Heel

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Bend It, Shape It , Anyway You Want It…Wire Jewelry

Prolific craft author and instructor, Lora Irish is back with a fresh volume of craft techniques – this time on making wire jewelry.

Using inexpensive wire and tools commonly found around the home, readers will learn how to bend, twist and coil wire to create an endless variety of shapes for attractive necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Once readers master the basic wire shapes, they will learn how to create finished pieces by incorporating fasteners, earring hooks and cording. When these basic building blocks are mastered, readers will learn how to embellish their designs with beads and more complex designs. Practice projects, step-by-step instructions and a gallery of designs will show readers just how easy it is to get started in this fun and rewarding craft.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: English

I liked it:     Yes       

For people who like: beading, making jewelry, creating wire elements from scratch

My thoughts: 

This book reminded me a little of Sara Withers’ “The encyclopedia of wire jewellery techniques”. However, it is even more detailed and gives even clearer instructions about bending and shaping wire.

It consists of three parts. The first is about the necessary tools and materials to create jewelry, the second is about the techniques, the third about projects that you can create with the newly learned abilities.

The techniques part is the biggest one and the amount of shapes is incredible. It starts with the easiest side-loop and continues to the most complicated looking spiral links. All shapes are shown with a number of clear and detailed images so that the instructions are easy to follow.

All links used in the book are listed in a chart complete with numbers and name of the link. This helps when you get to the projects part. For every project you will find a list of links used, a supply list and instructions. The projects go from easy to elaborate and cover earrings, bracelets and necklaces, either made completely with wire and beads, or with additional cord.

I liked how the book was structured, the clear pictures and the overall look of it. I personally prefer silver to copper jewelry, but all instructions can be used for silver wire as well. If you are only interested in creating beautiful bead necklaces using bought wire elements, this book is not for you. If you are looking for a beginner’s book for working with wire, this is perfect.

Product info and buy link :

Title	Easy and elegant beaded copper jewelry
Author	Lora S. Irish
Publisher	Fox Chapel Publishing
ISBN	978-1565235144
I got this book from	Netgalley
Buy link	Buy Easy & Elegant Beaded Copper Jewelry

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Like most women, whether they’ve chosen the Fortune 500 career path or have five kids by 35, Anna David wondered if she’d made the right choices. Then she came upon the classic Sex & the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown, Cosmo’s fearless leader from the mid-sixties to the late nineties.

Immediately connecting with Gurley Brown’s unique message of self-empowerment combined with undeniable femininity, Anna vowed to use Sex as a lesson plan, venturing out of her comfort zone to meet men in new ways and date those she would have never before considered. She decides to open herself up in every way possible, hoping to overcome the fears that have haunted her for years.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:     Yes     

For people who like: self-improvement stories

My thoughts: 

"Falling for me" is the tale of Anna David almost re-inventing herself with the help of a book from the 60s written by Helen Gurley Brown about "Sex and the Single Girl". She takes every single advice from the book and tries to adapt it for her own use and integrate it into her life.

At the beginning of her transformation she is suffering from severe heartbreak and realizes she has to do something to change her attitude. She is a workaholic who has basically no hobbies and never sticks to anything. At times I wondered how on Earth she manages her life on her own. She can’t cook, she buys furniture simply because they are cheap with no sense of what goes together at all, her wardrobe is an eclectic mess, she always picks the wrong men. In some ways she is so naive that I was wondering how she ever gets anything done without being taken advantage of.

Even though she continuously tries to convince me that she is doing all that self improvement for herself and finding a partner is not the main goal, I could never shake the feeling until the end that it is. Even when she says that she is perfectly alright with being single now that she has found her best self, it didn’t quite ring true to me.

Also, on her various dates, there is always something that puts her off the guy. She continuously tells herself she has to lower her standards, but she doesn’t really seem to do that. Before you start arguing now, I am not saying that lowering one’s standards is a good thing per se, but Anna David’s standards seem to be unreachable for ANY man. She doesn’t seem to give them a chance at all or maybe she is just looking for things to complain about. I was starting to wonder whether she even WANTED a relationship and then her therapist puts my thoughts into words when he asks her whether she was available at all.

All her "adventures" are interesting and a lot of them very funny. I suppose that is because a lot of her dates are such failures that you can’t help but laugh.

I wouldn’t say this book is for someone who is looking for the same sort of self improvement project, as quite a few of the steps of the program require a good deal of money. Buying furniture, new wardrobe, taking classes, hiring professionals etc. doesn’t come cheap. So if you are a single girl looking for a man (or simply want to change your style in a big way) and have to live on a small income don’t use Anna David’s way as your guide.

Location: Manhattan, NY, USA & Sevilla, Spain

All images from wikipedia

Product info and buy link :

Title	Falling for Me
Author	Anna David
Publisher	Harper Collins
ISBN	9780061996047
I got this book from	Netgalley
Buy link	Buy Falling for Me
More info	More about the book at Anna David’s website

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: the original English

I liked it:     Yes      

For people who like: royalty, biographies, European history

My thoughts: 

“Catherine the Great” starts before the birth of Sophia (later Catherine) and tells us a lot about the background of her mother and father, which is important to understand later events. The first part of the story until Catherine’s accession to the throne is told chronologically, whereas from then on it is told in a mix of chronological and topical. At first I thought I might not like this topical approach, but it turned out to be the much better way.

A lot of topics, like for example the Turkish war, Pugachev’s rebellion or her relationship with Potemkin could be understood much better when told in one big chunk instead of split up in between other events. Often certain situations were mentioned later again in passing when it came to that moment in the chronological timeline. This helped to see why something happened without having to digress into long explanations.

External events like the French Revolution were given quite a bit of room to make the reader understand Catherine’s actions that sometimes contradicted her own previous beliefs. The story was structured very well and left nothing to be desired. It brought all the characters, not only Catherine herself, to life. It was not only extremely informative but also very entertaining.

For readers who want to know more facts about Catherine the Great, her time and her contemporaries this is the book to go to.

Location: Mostly St. Petersburg, Russia

Images from Google maps & wikipedia

Product info and buy link :

Title	Catherine the Great
Author	Robert K. Massie
Publisher	Random House
ISBN	978-0679456728
I got this book from	Random House Early Bird Read
Buy link	Buy Catherine the Great

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:  Yes    

For people who like: Interior design, home decor, home makeovers

My thoughts: 

This is a great book if you would like to know more about how to decorate your home in a livable way. The book is divided into chapters like for example

• Nice lighting
• Places for chatting
• Cozifications
• Bath as a room
• Delicious scent which deal with one aspect of living in various sub-chapters. 

All topics are accompanied by very nice  illustrations. Those images give you an idea of how to do it but don’t force you to think you have to re-create a specific setting like you do when you see a photograph.

Each chapter gives you additional historical information (for example about what entries were used for in the 18th century) or explanations to the various types of sofas, lampshades or tables. Did you know, for example, what a Bridgewater sofa looks like? Well, I didn’t.

Interspersed there are quotes about living and little side notes with how-tos, style tips, nice to know tidbits and so on. 

It is a fabulous book to either look through whenever you feel like getting some inspiration, when you need a solution for a specific design problem or when you just want to get some new ideas how you could improve your space of living.

Product info and buy link :

Title	The perfectly imperfect home
Author	Deborah Needleman
Publisher	Clarkson Potter
ISBN	978-0307720139
I got this book from	Netgalley
Buy link	Buy The Perfectly Imperfect Home

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

The Sweat Shop Book brings the namesake Paris Sweat Shop founded by Martena Duss and Sissi Holleis to North America with more than 50 DIY fashion and home projects, including instructions and more than 200 helpful, inspiring full-color photographs. The first "café couture" sewing shop in Paris, the Sweat Shop was named to highlight the questionable nature in which store-bought clothing is sometimes made. Instead of rewarding dubious labor practices, the Sweat Shop and The Sweat Shop Book inspire crafters to make something unique with their own sweat equity and creativity.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:     No, but that is me and my lack of skill.

For people who are advanced seamstresses, have an extravagant style.

My thoughts: 

I feel inadequate to talk about this book.

Apart from maybe two projects all the patterns in “The Sweat Shop Paris” are not for beginners, so I am not really the person to judge whether they are explained well or not. All projects are accompanied by a number of illustrations and a photograph of the finished piece. They range from a tote bag to a twisted hoodie to flapper trousers to a sweater and many, many more.

As for the style, it was not mine. While all projects looked very professional they were just not my taste at all and I wouldn’t be interested in recreating any one of them, even if I was able to.

I am sure that for the experienced seamstress with an unusual, very individual taste that matches the one in the book, it will be a treasure trove. Unfortunately I am neither the former nor do I have the latter and don’t belong to the target group.

Product info and buy link :

Title	Sweat Shop Paris: Lessons from a sewing café
Author	Martena Duss & Sissi Holleis
Publisher	Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN	978-1449408404
I got this book from	netgalley
More info	Sweat Shop Pairs website
Buy link	Buy Sweat Shop Paris: Lessons from a Sewing Cafe

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

In the summer of 2009, Alain de Botton will be invited by the owners of Heathrow airport to become their first ever Writer in Residence. He will be installed in the middle of Terminal 5 on a raised platform with a laptop connected to screens, enabling passengers to see what he is writing and to come and share their stories. He will meet travellers from around the world, and will be given unprecedented access to wander the airport and speak with everyone from window cleaners and baggage handlers to air traffic controllers and cabin crew. Working with the renowned documentary photographer Richard Baker, de Botton will produce an extraordinary meditation upon the nature of place, time, and our daily lives. He will explore the magical and the mundane, personal and collective experiences and the interactions of travellers and workers all over this familiar but mysterious site. Like all airports, Heathrow (the 15th century village of Heath Row lies beneath the short stay car park) is a ‘non-place’ that we by definition want to leave, but it also provides a window into many worlds – through the thousands of people it dispatches every day. "A Week at the Airport" is sure to delight de Botton’s large following, and anyone interested in the stories behind the way we live.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: English

I liked it:  x Yes       No

For people who like: Alain de Botton in general, philosophical chatter, airports, travel

My thoughts: 

I love airports. Every time I travel by plane – provided there are no kids with me –, I try to get connecting flights that are not so close that I would have to run from gate to gate without the possibility to spend some time at the airport. So the first sentence of “A week at the airport” struck a chord with me.

While punctuality lies at the heart of what we typically understand by a good trip, I have often longed for my plane to be delayed – so that I might be forced to spend a bit more time at the airport.

From the beginning to the end this was a pleasure to read. I have always been interested in everything travel related so this book was just right for me. Working in the hospitality industry myself I very much enjoyed reading the chapters about his stay at the Sofitel and the training of customer service staff especially. When Alain de Botton describes how beautiful the meals on a hotel menu sound, a beauty that surpasses that of any haiku of the masters; when he wonders about the “scribe” who comes up with those flowery descriptions; and when you then start to think about a colleague of yours who sits in his small chef’s office writing his menus for the day, you can’t help but chuckle.

My line of work has made me very receptive to passages like this one which is all too true:

Though one can inculcate competence, it is impossible to legislate for humanity. In other words, the airline’s survival depended upon qualities that the company itself could not produce or control, and was not even, strictly speaking, paying for. The real origins of these qualities lay not in training courses or employee benefits but, for example, in the loving atmosphere that had reigned a quarter of a century earlier in a house in Cheshire, where two parents had brought up  a future staff member with benevolence and humour – all so that today, without any thanks being given to those parents […] he would have both the will and the wherewithal to reassure an anxious student on her way to the gate to catch BA048 to Philadelphia.

Alain de Botton describes his week at the airport starting from departure to airside to arrivals in small chapters and paragraphs talking about this and that covering a lot of topics, none of them in depth but enough to make you wish to know more. As far as I am concerned the book could have been much much thicker. A mere 107 pages wasn’t nearly long enough. I would have liked to read on and on.

Location: Heathrow Airport, England, UK

All images from wikipedia

Product info and buy link :

Title	A week at the airport
Author	Alain de Botton
Publisher	Vintage
ISBN	978-0307739674
I got this book from	Birgit at The Book Garden as a RAK
Buy link	Buy A Week at the Airport
More info	Heathrow’s website
and more	Alain de Botton’s website
and more	5 minutes with Alain de Botton interview

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Blurb:

Author Betty Barnden shared her knowledge of needlecraft design with embroiderers in The Embroidery Stitch Bible–now she uses her expertise as a hand-knitter to bring readers The Crochet Stitch Bible. This is the book crochet enthusiasts have been waiting for. Hundreds of traditional and contemporary stitches are photographed and accompanied by detailed charts in this essential illustrated reference.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:  x  Yes      No      So so

For people who like: crochet, obviously.

My thoughts: 

This is a must have for every crochet lover who wants to know more stitches than just single crochet row after row after row. It is very clearly structured and easy to use.

In the beginning, there is a short history of crochet (something no crochet books can do without seemingly), an explanation of various stitches and a few instructions on, for example, how to change colors or sew separate pieces together.

I particularly liked that all stitch patterns are shown in small thumbnails on a few pages at first to quickly flick through. Then, on the according page you find the pattern explained in detail accompanied by a symbol chart (which I always prefer).

The pattern categories cover the whole range from basic, filet, lace, trim, puff stitches to Tunisian crochet, and many more. It also offers patterns for various shapes, like clover, triangle, ammonite or Celtic octagon. If you can’t find a stitch pattern in this book, you are a hopeless case.

Product info and buy link :

Title	The crochet stitch bible
Author	Betty Barnden
Publisher	Krause Publications
ISBN	978-0873497176
I got this book from	the library
Buy link	Buy The Crochet Stitch Bible
More info	The buy link to Amazon also lets you look inside

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Blurb:

How do you improve your family’s health and relationships, save money, and raise happier kids who get better grades and are less likely to do drugs? Family dinners! These easy strategies will get your family back to the table.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:     Yes       No    x  So so

For people who: want to get their family around the table to eat, but are totally clueless about anything even remotely cooking related. 

My thoughts: 

This book is for the absolute beginners. If you have cooked for a family for some time and have something that looks somewhat like a family life then you are probably already too advanced for it.

Let’s look at some of the things this book explains:

• It describes the situation as it is in a majority of households
• It describes the advantages of family meals
• It gives tips on how to accomplish a family dinner
• It offers tips what kids of all ages can do to help in the kitchen
• It offers time saving tips
• It suggests how to organize the pantry
• It tells you how to construct a shopping list and how to shop
• It helps you to plan weekly meals
• It talks about must haves for the kitchen
• It tells you how to deal with likes and dislikes of kids of all ages
• It gives you sanity savers for yourself
• It offers a few recipes & web resources

In fact it tells you many things that the average reasonable person knows. I mean, come on, who doesn’t know that a home cooked meal around the dining table is healthier than having a TV-Dinner lounging on the couch while watching a cartoon?

The manifold advantages of a freezer? Check. How to store seasoning? Check. Reading food labels before buying is recommended? Check. Cheaper stuff is in the lowest aisle? Check. Buying in bulk when on sale? Check. Using coupons? Check. I am not saying that this book is useless. Not at all. If you are a woman who just had her first kid, who has never cooked for more people than two, who only ever defrosted her dinner in the microwave, go ahead and read this book! It is a useful resource for how to organize your kitchen and your family meals. If you are an experienced mother, but still feel you are wasting hours or a fortune in your kitchen, likewise. If those criteria don’t apply, then don’t bother!

The recipes are ok, but nothing too fantastic, the web resources might be useful now, but given the short lives of websites, the list might be outdated in six months. Both could have been left out without any regrets, I am sure.

 Product info and buy link :

Title	Dinner for Busy Moms
Author	Jeanne Muchnick
Publisher	Plain White Press
ISBN	9781936005000
I got this book from	Netgalley because I am – among others -  a busy mom
Buy link	Buy Dinner for Busy Moms

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads

 Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Lacy, sexy summer tops. Chic, cozy sweaters. Chunky, funky hats and colorfully crafty afghans—it all starts with the single, simple act of wrapping a hook around a strand of yarn. Then come the stitches, the flourishes, the unlimited creativity. Stylish, cheeky in tone, chock-full of information and inspiration, this is the indispensable guide. Learn the skills. Speak the lingo. Make the stuff. And give old granny square a chance.

In a nutshell:

I liked it:  x  Yes       No

For people who like: crochet, especially beginners

My thoughts: 

If you are a beginning crocheter this is the perfect book for you. It explains all stitches in detail. In fact, it is the only crochet book I have ever come across that explains where exactly to put your needle and which strand(s) to pick up.  It talks about tools, different kinds of yarn and techniques. It shows you how to crochet buttons and button holes, adding tassels, making pompons and how to finish your work with easy to follow instructions and clear illustrations.

The second part is a number of projects and patterns. Scarves, bags, tops, hats and caps, blazers and jackets, it is all there. There is one jacket in particular by Suzanne Kats called FrouFrou which looks absolutely stunning. I’d love to have that (but am probably too impatient to make).

There are patterns for everyone, beginners as well as experienced crocheters. It is such fun browsing through this book or even read it from cover to cover in one go.

Highly recommended!

Product info and buy link :

Title	Stitch ‘n bitch crochet: The Happy Hooker
Author	Debbie Stoller
Publisher	Workman Publishing Company
ISBN	978-0761139850
I got this book from	the library because I love crochet
Buy link	Buy Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Join us for Needlework Tuesday which is hosted by Heather from Books and Quilts.