Picked up these two beauties this week at Brookline Booksmith! Look at those gorgeous covers!
Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lúcio Cardoso, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa & Robin Patterson (Open Letter Books)
We Show What We Have Learned & Other Stories by Clare Beams (Lookout Books)
Coolidge Corner just got even sweeter with the new addition of a Union Square Donuts! I’ve never been to the popular one in Somerville as it’s so far away but Brookline is on my side of town. I wandered over this past weekend and tried the Vietnamese coffee donut and the maple bacon donut—both were to die for. Check out this great article from Boston Magazine on the store’s opening.
There’s a new wave of Jewish delis popping up all over the Greater Boston area and I, for one, could not be any more excited about it! I visited Mamaleh’s in Cambridge this week with the “Grad School Gals” and had great deli fare. The Jewish Pu Pu Platter and Matzo Ball Soup were especially good. Check out some of the great Jewish deli-dishes the Boston area has to offer with this killer article “10 Standout Jewish-Deli Dishes Around Boston” from Boston Magazine. (Photo by Nir Landau)
I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum earlier this week to catch the exhibit Beyond Words: Italian Renaissance Books on its very last day! I loved the exhibit and if you ever have a chance to look at books from this period of time I’d highly recommend it. They are absolutely fascinating. I also took the chance to explore the museum, which is probably up there on my favorite museums/galleries list. The museum is strange and stunning and the variety of collections is perfect for anyone with wide-ranging interests in the arts.
More on the exhibit:
In the 1400s book production witnessed groundbreaking advances in design and technology that transformed pages from parchment (animal skin) to paper, script to font, and vividly colored illuminations to black and white prints. A surge in literacy and demand for books drove innovation. These radical changes did not occur instantly but through a gradual process of experimentation marked by notable leaps in achievement. Much like analogue and digital culture today, manuscripts and printed books co-existed for a long period serving different purposes and readers.”
Visited the BSA (Boston Society of Architects) today to see the 5th annual gingerbread house design competition. For more information (and pictures of all of the entries) check out this great article from Boston Magazine. It was just the right amount of festive cheer to brighten up my work week!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I love when Harvard Bookstore opens up their warehouse in Somerville. Aisles and aisles of books! I picked up two spectacular books about food and an interesting looking book about the Brontës.
December 1st seemed the perfect time to share this delicious list from Boston Magazine!
“Why settle for a cup of Swiss Miss at home when Boston’s best cafés and coffee shops each have brilliant twists on the classic cup of cocoa? From Flour’s spicy sipper, to Gracenote Coffee’s hedonistic craft chocolate, here are 13 decadent hot chocolates to sip around Boston this winter.”
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death the Boston Public Library is holding a “season of Shakespeare” with various exhibits, classes, book discussions, lectures, film series, and more! I ran across one of the main exhibitions this past weekend. The exhibit, Shakespeare Unauthorized, “pulls back the curtain on four hundred years of adaptation, collaboration, and deception and exposes the many layers of mystery surrounding the life and work of William Shakespeare.” The exhibit was incredible, featuring most importantly rare editions of Shakespeare’s work (including a first folio!) The exhibit is on display until March 31st, 2017. Want to see a full listing of the exhibits and events? It’s available here. Enjoy!
Boston Magazine just released their annual list of the top new restaurants in Boston and two of my absolute favorite new places to eat made the list. The first, Ganko Ittetsu Ramen, I already featured on the blog (remember this glorious picture?) And the second is Chef Tiffani Faison’s new restaurant Tiger Mama which is a blend of Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian cuisine. Just a shout out to these two restaurants (and all of the others that have now been added to my “must-eat” list!)
Drove out to the Berkshires a couple weeks ago to visit The Mount! The Mount is a turn-of-the-century home, designed and built by author Edith Wharton in 1902. It’s now a National Historic Landmark and cultural center that celebrates the life and legacy of Wharton. It’s a gorgeously maintained estate and house and I learned so much that I hadn’t previously known about Wharton―particularly her humanitarian efforts during the war and her widely varied interests (the grounds, gardens, and house were all designed by her.) Stay tuned for a post about more literary trips around New England!
“Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was born into a tightly controlled society at a time when women were discouraged from achieving anything beyond a proper marriage. Wharton broke through these strictures to become one of America’s greatest writers. Author of The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, and The House of Mirth, she wrote over 40 books in 40 years, including authoritative works on architecture, gardens, interior design, and travel. She was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Yale University, and a full membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.”
