My Friday Five...

1.  Patti Smith. I've decided to reread her books since she has a new one (Year of the Monkey) coming out later this year. I have to admit that I am really enjoying them all over again. I finished Just Kids and am now on M Train. I'm at the part where she has found Murakami's books and is obsessing over finding the well in his novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I just love reading about her discovering his novels and devouring them all. I totally get it. When you find an author and fall in love with their writing, you can't help but be consumed by the desire to read everything they've written. Or at least, I get that way. I went through that with Kurt Vonnegut, Jean Rhys, Yoko Ogawa, Sandra Cisernos, John Irving, Paul Auster, and Murakami. Some writers just capture your heart and mind. Patti Smith is one of those writers for me. As I read her books this time round, I find myself jotting down notes from what I've read or memories that come into mind, in my little A6 size black leather Roterfaden journal. And, I keep wishing I had a cafe to write in like she did with her Cafe 'Ino. Instead, I just make a cuppa, read a chapter or three, and write. I have to admit its turning into a favorite part of my morning. What about you? What authors have you ever become obsessed with reading? And, have you read Patti Smith?

2.  Paris books.  I just receive my copy of Literary Paris: A Photographic Tour by Nichole Robertson. Let me just say, Wow! I am in love! Chock full of photos and quotes, this is my kind of book. I am enjoying dipping in and out of it on the daily to get my Paris fix. I love the colors, the books, the cafes and just looking at Paris through these photographs. Oh, and the quotes by Colette, Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein - what a treat! I am in love with this book!

As for my second Paris book, well that will arrive next week. Its the new Antoine Laurain novel and I am super excited to read it. I am a huge fan of his whimsical tales and can't wait to dive into his latest one, Vintage 1954.  Truthfully, I thought the book was coming out earlier this week and eagerly anticipated its arrival, but was sorely mistaken when it didn't arrive. I looked it up and saw the date was June 18th, not June 11th. Ack! Talk about bookish disappointment!  Oh well, I will be delighting in his new novel soon enough.

3.  Precious. I have a question.  Do you own books or journals (or anything) that you treat "precious"? Meaning, you don't throw them around, scratch them up, dog-ear the pages, spill coffee/tea on them, bend the covers, etc.. I'm curious, because I do that with certain ones. And my mom noticed and asked my "why?".  Her logic is that they are just objects and they are meant to be used, so if perchance they get bent or scratched its no big.  I disagree, even though I know she's right. For example, I have a leather cover edition of Just Kids by Shinola. That was the copy I recently read. I was paranoid that the leather would get scratched up, so I was very gentle when I held it and didn't open it wide when reading. Of course, it made reading the book a bit of a chore, but what I can say, I am a stickler for these things. Except, I do notice that I'm not like that with all of my books. I own several books that are stained with coffee/tea and have bent pages. So, its only certain ones I treat in a "precious" manner. Is that weird? Am I alone? Should I just throw caution to the wind and not worry about mucking up my books?

4.  TV shows.  Southern Charm was part 2 of the tree house adventure and Craig's pillow party. K was not happy with D for calling her out on her misbehaving ways and proceeded to ignore her.  Craig was bombarded with orders for his pillows and decided to throw a party where he planned on conning his friends into helping him make the pillows for his orders. Suffice it to say, nothing worked out. K got called out again by D and then by Shep.  Austen got called out by Chelsea for gossiping about her to his girlfriend.  And no one made pillows for Craig. All in all, an uneventful episode, which begs the question, why am I still watching? As for NYC Housewives - holy smokes, Batman! That was a crazy show. Okay, so the women decide to go to a hotel to swim and lunch. Lu and Sonya go to an AA meeting. All seems well until Sonya freaks out at the hotel about the people she just met at AA.  So, the women all head home to lunch and cater to Sonya.  All, except for Lu who thinks Sonya just wants attention. She heads to the beach and to check out the poster of her cabaret show instead. All the women are offended that Lu didn't show up for Sonya, so they massage block her - meaning they book all the massages before her so she gets the dregs of a massage - LOL!  And then at dinner, Lu's minion, Babs, decides to call her out on not being a good friend. Lu goes to hug her and all hell breaks loose. Tinsley starts telling her things and then B jumps in. Lu just sits there acting shocked that they are bullying her for going swimming. B screams at her the most and winds up having a panic attack. Ramonacoaster is crying and Sonya keeps telling Lu they care about her. Its a hot mess.  I laughed, because the whole time they are telling Lu off, the waiters are delivering the kookiest appetizers to the table - one is in a red toaster and the other is in a small popcorn machine. It was crazy!

5.  Music.  The National is still playing in the background, but now I've added Josh Ritter, too.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Happy reading!!