Saturday, December 26, 2009

Books

Bookstores...I love to spend some time in a (any) bookstore, it makes me calm...nobody talks & everybody is with his nose in a book. Do you realise that when you're looking in books in a bookstore, your mind is free, you don't think of anything but the pictures you see or the summary you're reading. Especially this period of the year, most of us buy a book for someone and 2 or 3 books for ourselfs. That's what happens to me everytime!!So, last week I found a book in 2 volumes about the work of our famous Belgian landscape architect 'Jaques Wirtz', his gardens & parcs are known all over the world.


Wirtz international landscape architecture










Of course, there was more ... A beautifull black covered book with attractive pictures of library & bookcases with old patinated italian looks & mythical aura took my attention. 'The Secret Archives of the Vatican'! It was not an option not to buy it, even without giving it a closer look...













It's not finished!!
There was this nice book about Christian Dior. I loved the cover but I didn't buy it....yet.
I love the dress on the frontpage, this elegant 'post-war fashion look' Dior rocked the world with.






This is elegance.







A very good one
'Queen of the desert', the extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell.
Late 19°C, the first women who went to university in England.
She was an adventurer, Adviser of Kings, Ally of Laurence of Arabia...a true story.
One to read!!

Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist'

The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.
The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a younth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.
But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.
he said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
“Why do you weep?” the goddesses asked.
“I weep for Narcissus,” the lake replied.
“Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus,” they said, “for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand.”
“But…was Narcissus beautiful?” the lake asked.
“Who better than you to know that?” the goddesses said in wonder. “After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!”
The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:
“I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.”
“What a lovely story,” the alchemist thought.

10 comments:

  1. Brigitte,
    Thank you so much for the recommandation of these books!
    Me too, I can never resist going in to bookstores! And never resist on buying a few!!
    I will like al the books you proposed here! "Queen of the desert" seems to be a wonderful book!
    Thank you !
    xx
    Greet

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  2. Brigitte, I love what I have seen on the web of the gardens of Jacques Wirtz... David at The Neo Lifestyle posted some pictures last week. I have this book in my 'wishlist' on Amazon.com and now I will surely add 'The Secret Archives of the Vatican', it sounds wonderful. Like you, I can spend all day in a bookstore... it is one of my favorite things to do when I travel, discover the bookstores, and when home it is one of the few reasons I will travel to town. Thanks for these suggestions and have a great weekend!

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  3. Brigitte, First Merry Christmas to you and your family

    Secondly, I have the same problem as you I think, love bookshops also, we have some nice ones here in Brussel. Impossible to go away without buying at least one nice book.

    Love the Wirtz book also, it's on my list ;-)

    David

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  4. Brigitte, I just discovered your blog (thanks to Greet) and love it. Your header is just "eye candy"! I started blogging the beginning of November. It is so much fun taking pictures and talking design. Come visit me and check out my homes in San Francisco and in Sonoma. --Delores

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  5. Great books...thank you I shall look for them, xv.

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  6. Great suggestions and I love to read! Guess what I received.... a gift cert to Barnes & Noble for Christmas!

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  7. Lovely, lovely blog. So glad I found you. I will be back!

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  8. Wishing you a happy and blessed 2010!!!!. Gypsy Purple--Chamara

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  9. brigitte;

    thank you for introducing the wirtz book, hope i can find it in the U.S., the garden designer in me is excited to see.

    i am looking thru blogs and discovered you. your blog and web site are so lovely. i will add you to my blog as a favorite! enjoy the process, blogging is wonderful
    come visit
    www.5thandstate.blogspot.com
    debra

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