One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights) as retold by Hanan al-Shaykh

I don't know about you, but when I think of One Thousand and One Nights, or as it's more commonly known, The Arabian Nights, what comes to mind are exotic tents in the desert surrounded by turbaned thieves, camels with tasseled saddles, beautiful dancing girls draped in veils in emerald green, ruby red, and turquoise blue, … Continue reading One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights) as retold by Hanan al-Shaykh

Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Isabel Allende

This book was one of the most wonderful and sensual I've had the pleasure of reading in ages. Isabel Allende is a an amazingly erotic writer, bringing to life the twin joys of food and sex......something I've blogged about previously. If you truly think about it, these two activities are mirrors of each other in … Continue reading Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Isabel Allende

The Devil’s Larder by Jim Crace

Thanks to Dr. H for the photography. Not so much a novel as a dreamily connected series of 64 short vignettes, The Devil's Larder tells of the many differing viewpoints about, from, on and against food in our culture. It's a pretty twisted read in many ways, subversive against so many deeply held beliefs about … Continue reading The Devil’s Larder by Jim Crace

Homme Fatal by Paul Mayersberg

While digging through my bookshelves the other day, I came across Homme Fatal, a pop fiction novel I'd bought years ago and held onto because the story was so fascinating.  Though quite a smutty novel, I primarily held onto it because the story, told about the same events from two viewpoints, had a sleazy, 1940's … Continue reading Homme Fatal by Paul Mayersberg

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Thanks to TB for the photography. It's October! The month of peculiar things that go bump in the night, the season of the witch, of ghosts and haunted houses, of vampires and demons. And very appropriately, we kick off this month of Halloween-themed blog posts with the bad-ass granddad of all vampires books, Dracula, and … Continue reading Dracula by Bram Stoker

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series)

So I won't bore you with my gushing adoration for the books of Diana Gabaldon. If you're a book lover, a lover of history, a lover of epic love stories, a lover of time travel, or if you watch STARZ, you've probably heard of the Outlander series by this marvelous writer, and hopefully, you also … Continue reading Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series)

La Cucina by Lily Prior

(NOTE: Please do not repost this content, recipe or associated photos without my permission.) I'm not much for bodice rippers. I find them overly dramatic, unrealistic, and the writing is often just bad. But enough about 50 Shades of Grey. That being said, I just finished Lily Prior's La Cucina - A Novel Of Rapture, … Continue reading La Cucina by Lily Prior