Possess Your STYLE » Good Reads

STYLishly Flip!

Kalyn — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 04:13:01 +0000

I swear I don’t own stock in Apple! But, boy I sure wish I did. For those of you who have iPads, listen up. For those of you who love reading magazines, iPad or not, Flipboard may be for you. Flipboard is one of the coolest apps I’ve come across – it aggregates content based on your interests, reading habits and web links from your social circle (i.e., FaceBook and Twitter) and displays them in a slick, magazine-like layout on your iPad. You literally drag your finger across your iPad as if you’re flipping the page of a magazine et volia! Within seconds of uploading the app, you’re breezing through your favorite magazines, blogs (of course you’d upload Possess Your STYLE, yes that’s a shameless plug!) and newspapers. Not to mention the fact that it makes it easy to feed your FaceBook addiction by presenting FaceBook in such an original way that you may chuck your computer aside. The guru’s behind Flipboard, Mike McCue and Evan Doll, use technology to present breathtaking photos and an amazing use of white space that’s literally taken the digital world by storm in the short year Flipboard has been around.

Lots of magazines have jumped onboard, I betcha JCrew will be one of the first clothing companies to put it’s catalogue on Flipboard.

I’ve flipped for Flipboard – it’s stylishly hip to be stylishly flip!

[photo courtesy of Flipboard]

What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

Kalyn — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:44:15 +0000

Whew! It’s been a doozy. Today’s been one for the record books . . . I know we all have these days – they build character, right? Suffice it to say that as I went through the craziness that made up August 9, 2011 for me all I could think about is the title to Pearl Cleage’s book, What Looks LIke Crazy On an Ordinary Day. No, my crazy wasn’t the same crazy as in Cleage’s book but that didn’t keep the title from coming to me again and again. So, what’s one to do? Be gracious under pressure and keep it moving is my motto! What do you do when you have one of those What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day days?

[illustration by Hennie Haworth, A-1]

Summer Reading

Kalyn — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:56:02 +0000

I come from a family of readers. As a kid, we usually spent family time shopping at the mall on Saturdays. My dad was a good sport; he often joined me, my mom and my sister on these excursions with a book in his back pocket. He’d walk from store to store with us and pull out his book at each stop. My father still carries a book in his back pocket just in case and has been know to read a book a day on vacation – something my husband just didn’t understand about me until we went on vacation with my whole family and everyone had their nose in a book. So, I guess you could say that I come by my love of reading and writing naturally. I’ve read some great books this Summer! If you’re like me and looking to escape the Summer’s heat or enjoy a world far far away, here are my top contenders for Summer 2011:

A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One - I picked up the first of this 5 part series this past Winter when I learned that HBO had made it into a mini-series. HBO rarely picks wrong. If you like lords and ladies and kingdoms far far away with lots of intrigue, this series is for you. I’ve finished the first 2 books so far.
The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine - I’m a closet foodie. If I had the time to have another blog, I’d write one for my husband about our dining exploits around the world. I’m a little bit of a nerd, ok well probably more than a little bit, and I like to know the history behind things like wine, the gourmet food movement in the U.S., the history of the tomato (I told you I was a bit of a nerd), etc. I knew there were high stakes in the world of oenology (the study of wine and winemaking), I just had no idea to what extent!
South of Broad: A Novel - When my friend Lybra heard I was going to Charleston, she insisted I read this book. Hands down, one of the best books I’ve read all year – just a really well told story.
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel – If you love windswept moors, bleak houses and strange families, this book is perfect. It’s a masterful, deliberately old-fashioned story of secrets, ghosts, sexual obsession, murder, madness–you name it.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - One of the better love stories I’ve read in ages. At one point on our flight to Italy I was crying so hard (I a sentimentalist; I tear up very easily) my husband got worried that something was really wrong and forced me to look at him and tell him why I was crying. He’s seen me tear up before at movies, a picture, books – you name it – just never like this over a story. A real tear jerker.
Douglass’ Women : A Novel - My friend Davia finished this book while we were on vacation last week. It so intrigued me – a story told from the viewpoint of the 3 women in Fredrick Douglass’ life: his wife, his white mistress and his daughter. See . . . gotcha, right? I bought it on the spot. It’s next on my reading list.
Murder of a Medici Princess - After touring all around Italy and spending time in the Florence (the city built by the Medici’s) visiting The Uffizi, The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, the Ponte Vecchio - all apart of the Medici empire – I needed to become fully ensconced in their world. So, I’m making my way through a long list of books about the Medicis, various Popes and Italy in general. There’s nothing like a little royal intrigue!

So tell me dear readers, what are you reading this Summer? Have you read any of the above? What say you?

(oh, and yes, I generally read 2 or 3 books at a time . . .)