BOOK SHELF Words: Doris Mousdale
120 Art & About Dec 2015
NEW ZEALAND WINES 2016 MICHAEL COOPER
SIMPLY NIGELLA NIGELLA LAWSON
GRATITUDE
OLIVER SACKS
THE LAST LOVE SONG A BIOGRAPHY OF JOAN DIDION TRACY DAUGHERTY
This is the book that you buy for other people hoping they are going to return the favour and buy you your own copy for future reference. As always, at this time of the year Michael Cooper revises and updates his intensively researched wine guide. Through the different varieties, price ranges and vineyards he offers the best advice on what to drink now and what will keep and age well. He rates a whole 3000+ wines along with tasting notes. Buy an extra copy, wrap it and keep it under the tree for that unexpected guest — if no one turns up you have a treat in store for swotting up on the best buys over the long summer holidays. Cheers!
____ $40
Caught in the news headlights like a trapped rabbit, no foodie could have missed the traumatic time Nigella recently went through. She has however picked herself up, dusted herself down and started all over again and I have to say as a long time fan — even better than ever in my opinion. Nigella’s strength is her enthusiasm for simple but good food and Simply Nigella explains why and gives plenty of recipes for a more relaxed but good way of eating and enjoying food without overindulging. She speaks to you from the page and you are bound to add her new recipes to your repertoire. Beautiful good food made easy — very Nigella.
____ $65
This may seem an odd book to add to your Christmas list but I urge you to do so. Sadly Oliver Sacks passed away earlier in the year but luckily we have his very clever books to draw from, and then along comes this last essay on things he has been grateful for in his packed and extraordinary life. 50 years in his career as a clinician he made profound inroads into our understanding of illness of the mind and body. In this slim little volume he tells of the things that made him happy and the things that he was grateful to have in his life. As always it is the simplest of pleasures that one most appreciates. Inspirational and a beautiful token of appreciation for those you love.
____ $20
Part of the holiday tradition is to catch up on some good reading and this new biography of one of America’s literary queens is one not to be missed. She wrote both fiction and non-fiction and was awarded for her writing by the major prize-givers. When sorrow came to her life during the death of her husband and subsequently her daughter, her book on the loss she felt stayed in the bestsellers lists for a long time. Tracy Daugherty scribes her life with style and intimacy that only comes from impeccable research. If you are going to read one masterly biography this year, make sure it is The Last Love Song — the real story of Joan Didion.
____ $60
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