a lifestyle blog for book lovers

Links I love and what’s on my nightstand.

Links I love: 

Kate Middleton gives birth to a baby girl. Congrats, Will and Kate! I can’t wait to see the pictures and hear the name. (London bookies say the odds are on Alice or Charlotte.)

• Baby has sinking feeling … This made me laugh out loud.

Shopping at Anthropologie with Marie Kondo. I found The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up hugely inspirational and more than a little bonkers. This shopping trip is more interesting than bonkers. Worth a read if you love shopping, and more so if you hate it.

• Happy Derby Day! Here’s your cheat sheet. It’s from the LA Times, but they know what they’re talking about: “If you’re a woman, please wear a hat of outrageous proportions.” Exactly. (Dead serious.)

What I’m reading:

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while. (I think I say that every week.)

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner. This was good, but I didn’t think it was better than Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper, which it strongly reminded me of.

On the blog: 

The redesign, finally! Go check it out and poke around. Full tour coming Monday.

Have a great weekend!

12 comments

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  1. Victoria says:

    Anne, I know how exciting a redesign is!!! Your old design was perfect, but I completely understand your “need” for something different! Overall, the new design is very navigatable (is that a word?). It’s a lot busier than you’re old design, but I’m okay with it because I know that it is aimed at helping people find what they are looking for. Congrats! I hope you absolutely LOVE it!

    I didn’t even know Kate was having another baby!!! The fact that I was clueless makes me sad and also very glad. After the last baby, my not knowing just means that everyone and their brother hasn’t been watching over Kate’s shoulder. Of course, maybe I AM the only one who didn’t know…

    • Nope, I only found out yesterday from a friend who was flabbergasted when I said, I purposefully don’t watch the news. Really important things will get to me….. 🙂

  2. Leigh Kramer says:

    Morton’s writing tends to have more layers (and is therefore longer) than Meissner’s so that’s a fair critique. But I love most of what I’ve read of Meissner. Try The Shape of Mercy or A Sound Among the Trees next.

  3. I think Alice may be a fair contender for the new baby’s name but IMHO Beatrice is NOT going to happen. William’s cousin Princess Beatrice of York has never been a great friend of the Duchess of Cambridge. Prince George has three names, so the new princess may as well. I’d expect Elizabeth to be one of the three, but we’ll see!

    I’m due June 1 and can I just say, I’m glad I don’t have people watching my every move or making bets on what baby’s name is? 😉

  4. What nice news about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! Alice was always going to be the name I gave my daughter (it was my grandmother’s name), but then I was blessed with two boys, so I’ve never had a chance to use it.

    I’ve heard people say they should name the girl Diana, which would be lovely in one way and a huge name to live up to in another.

  5. jen says:

    I read that Marie Kondo article yesterday and loved it! I thought, I hate pants too! It was such a revelation that I could choose to wear dresses or skirts everyday even if u didn’t have a reason to dress up. So yesterday I wore a casual dress and didn’t even leave the house. I loved it. I’m not quite ready to swear off pants forever, but I’m going to wear a dress again today!

  6. Lindsay says:

    I love the redesign!! I am in the midst of one myself and am anxious to see the final product. I love the logo color and fonts :).
    I love the idea of only wearing what brings you joy from the Marie Kondo article. Since adopting the capsule wardrobe concept this year, I find I am only choosing clothes I love and am comfortable in, mainly skinny jeans and blouse outfits. I did throw in a few dresses for spring.
    I finished Ready Player One this week and enjoyed it. What did you think?

    • Anne says:

      I thought Ready Player One was so much fun, even though I am anything but an 80s pop culture buff. I found it hugely entertaining and delightfully surprising. (What about you?)

      • Lindsay says:

        I loved it! I was very young in the 80s so I didn’t know all the references, but some definitely brought me back to childhood. It was a fun and exciting read. It also made me think about our relationship with technology, especially as a means of escape. I have been reading mainly non fiction and this reminded me how much I love a good novel.

  7. Heather says:

    I love the Marie Kondo article. I also only buy things that really spark something in me and I usually think of things I need or want for specific situations, work or personal. I was seriously looking for ballet flats and just ordered those cream Tieks. They asked on the website where I heard of them and I mentioned your blog. Let me know if they ever contact you!

  8. Teresa says:

    I am relieved to have someone say that the Marie Kondo book was a little bonkers! I love the part about asking yourself if an item sparks joy, but some of it was strangely dogmatic and other parts were very whimsical (at least I hope they were whimsical).

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