Fifteen Books

15 books which have influenced me in one way or another.

1. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson: You might know her for her horrifying short story, "The Lottery," but her memoir, which is really a collection of short stories about her wacky family, is absolutely brilliant and hysterical. I bought it for a dollar at a used bookstore when I was in 7th grade and impressed the heck out of my English teacher with my quirky choice of reading. (She actually asked to borrow it.)

2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce: Anyone that knew me in high school or college is aware of my obsession with this book. I have multiple copies if you want to borrow one. And if you'll let me, I'll happily talk your ear off with my theory about language and keys and Berlitz and Joyce and babies. It's a good one.

3. Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl: A delicious and inspiring memoir of the former NY Times food editor/current EIC of Gourmet Magazine.

4. Rosie by Anne Lamott: Something about the way Lamott writes makes me want to write. I have the worst time getting through her books, because I keep putting them down to go dash off my pages. It's the best way to get through a block. Also, I always see myself in her characters.

5. My Sister's Bones by Cathi Hanauer: I read the first chapter of this in Seventeen magazine when I was about 14 and then waited 10 years to finish it because I kept forgetting to buy the book. It was worth the wait.

6. Underworld by Don DeLillo: Huge book, but absolutely incredible. I love the detail. Bought it when I lived in Italy and read most of it sitting (under the Tuscan) sun in the Piazza Republica.

7. The Good Life by Jay McInerney: McInerney once again manages to make tortured rich New Yorkers sympathetic

8. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway: sad and lovely. I think it's the first book that actually made me cry.

9. The Map of Love by Ahdaf Souif: heartbreaking and incredibly sensual romance by the Middle Eastern journalist/writer. I read it for my Middle Eastern Lit class in college.

10. Crescent by Diana Abu Jaber: I have a hard time describing this book because I just loved it so much. It's at time poetic, sexy, romantic, political, and delicious. Yes, delicious, because the main character is a chef and it discusses the intersection of food and life and culture. Oh, and it has recipes too. Wonderful ones!

11. A Literate Passion: Anais Nin & Henry Miller: An erotic and erudite collection of letters between the two lovers/friends/writers.

12. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Most. Hysterical. Play. Ever!!

13. The Awakening by Kate Chopin: Another writer whose use of language I adore. Also check out her short story "Ripe Figs" (http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/kchopin/bl-kchop-ripefigs.htm"

14. Striped Ice Cream by Joan Lexau: The first book I ever loved! And one that still pops in my head all the time. Particularly when eating striped (Neapolitan) ice cream...

15. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warren: Technically a series, but I can't think of any other book(s) that tickled my imagination (and desire to run away and live in the woods) more than this.

Restless Artists

“Had they paints or clay or knew the discipline of dance, or strings; had they anything to engage their tremendous curiosity and their gift for metaphor, they might have exchanged their restlessness and preoccupation with whim for an activity that provided them with all they yearned for. And like any artist with no artform, they became dangerous.”

-Toni Morrison

And the winner is...

Thank you to all who entered the book giveaway. I got some great book recommendations and I'm excited to announce the winner of the four books. The lucky reader (as chosen by a randomly selected number) is:


Comment #2 or Upper West Side Writer of the blog Falling Into Words. Congratulations! I'll pop the books in the mail as soon as I get your mailing info!

Thanks again to all who entered. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @nandita to find out about other fun contests and giveaways.

My own parade of shoes

For nearly two years, I have been meaning to get all these shoes repaired. I've traipsed allover the East Coast dragging the bag from Washington, DC, to New Jersey to my apartment here in New York City. For a while I even brought them all into work, thinking that I'd drop them off at the shoe repair place near my office and so for over a year (!!!) that bag of shoes sat under my desk getting crushed by my feet and the vacuum and stacks of magazines.

Until last week! As one of my 101 goals for the next 1001 days, I decided to finally repair ALL of these gorgeous, comfortable, and expensive shoes that had just been wasting away because of worn down heel tips, torn leather, or ripped slingbacks. I gathered them all in a big reusable shopping tote and marched them straight down to Dino's repair shop during my lunch hour. Three days (and $165) later, I had a brand new shoe wardrobe. Six pairs of fantastic and oh-so-comfortable shoes just waiting to be worn.

Now I just need to figure out what to wear with them...

The repair shop, for any of you in the city and looking for a great place, is called Dino's and it's located in Columbus Circle. It's a great little "mom and pop shop" that is run by an Italian family. (Like real Italy-Italians, not Housewives-of-NJ-Italians.) They also clean and repair leather (purses, jackets, etc) and adjust belts. If you go, tell them that Alejandra with the 6 pairs of shoes sent you. Maybe I'll get a discount when I bring them another half-dozen!