Montag, 8. November 2010

Hairstyling - in a Vintage Style

If you love to dress in a vintage way - I bet you do your hair in a similar style. ;") There are two books that I adore which are dealing with vintage hairstylings:



VINTAGE HAIRSTYLINGS by Lauren Rennells (I am sure you do know her Bobby Pin blog) which is somewhat the bible of so many vintage ladies I know. 200 pages and just beautiful! The 2nd Edition has some make-up tips, too. Look at http://www.vintagehairstyling.com/ to take a peak into the book!

And - I got my copy today and I am totally in love with it:


STYLE ME VINTAGE by Belinda Hay. (And of course there's a blog too: The Painted Lady) Look at www.thepaintedladylondon.com ! - the most styles you'll see there you'll find in her book, too. It is more petite than the first book in this entry - but it is completely lovely! Pretty pictures and an oh-so-old-fashioned feeling when you hold it in your hands. ;")

Both books will teach you that vintage hairstyling is nothing to be feared of. Both of them have easy step-by-step instructions and similar photos.

I love both books and I will never ever give them away. Ne-ver!

Dienstag, 2. November 2010

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell: THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX (2006) is about Iris who suddenly finds out that she has a great-aunt (Esme) who was for about 60 years in a asylum, which is now about to be closed - and the only one who would know something about the things that caused Esme's stay there besides Esme is her sister Kitty. But Kitty suffers from Alzheimer's...



I just discovered this book and loved it - well, it contains some of my favourite book themes:


The early 20th century (seems to be the early 1930ies I guess - anyway it was not pointed out exactly), women, asylums, sisters, mental illness - oh - and a vintage shop - one extra-yay for that! And it is setted Edingburgh, Scotland.



A fast read and really enchaining. I was not thrilled to death but could not put the book away. Really nice read for a autumn week-end - if you are able to put it out of your hand.. ;")

There is one thing in this book which really touches me: I am afraid of being diagnosed with the Alzheimer's disease - how awful to vanish away and be frightened by everyone because you don't know them and they acting like they do know you for years.

In the end I was up to write some whiny text messages and/or letters to my sister, to say that I love her - which I did not do, because maybe my sister would consider to send me into an asylum..



I really love the English cover - the German one is kind of boring - but don't you think it looks a bit like the garden of Manderley ;") - well, maybe the rhododendrons should be all in red.. - :




The German title DIE FRAU, DIE ES NICHT GAB means "The woman who did not exist".

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten books that made me cry


This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.
  1. Harper Lee: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - poor Boo Radley!

  2. Leonie Swann: GAROU - though it is in general funny and also thrilling it made me cry - because cruelty to animals does that to me.

  3. Astrid Lindgren: THE BROTHERS LIONHEART

  4. Christa Winslow: THE CHILD MANUELA - Manuela fells for her teacher but there a strict rules in the German Empire - like every where else at that time.. - about teachers, pupils and homosexuality..

  5. Gudrun Pausewang: DIE NOT DER FAMILIE CALDERA (= "The woe of the family Caldera") is a German children's book about the Indian Ramon Caldera who lives in the Andes and goes to a town to have a better live. He marries Rafaela, a house maid. They are happy and get children. But after a while their luck turns and some of their children die, Rafaela and Ramon loose their jobs and they have to move to the slums. Ramon has to become a criminal to get by. At the end he gets shot.
    We read it in school and after that I was up to save every poor indian - and all in tears.

  6. A. A. Milne: THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER - Christopher Robin is going to grow up.

  7. Almost every story by Hans Christian Andersen: THE STEADFEST TIN SOLDIER, THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE FIR-TREE...

  8. Gudrun Pausewang: FRIEDEN KOMMT NICHT VON ALLEIN (= "Peace doesn't come of its own volition") is a collection of Anti-war stories for children - and some of them were really hard to take for me.

  9. Erica Fischer: AIMÉE & JAGUAR - a true story about a jewish women and a wife of a German soldier in the 3.Reich who fell in love. No happy ending in that - and my favourite love story.

  10. Charlotte Prenzel: KOMM HEIM, HANNE(= "Come home, Hanne") is a German girl's book from the 1950s/1960s about a orphaned girl called Hanne who finds a mother - and me in tears when the dachshund Lumpi is run over by a car. (gee, I think I go and cry right now again..)