SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS...GET THEM FOR CHRISTMAS

I LOVE BOOKS! Yes in this virtual world I still love the real books. One of my favorite pastime in town, where ever I am is to go and visit local book stores.
Christmas is soon here so why don't you give this yeah a nice book as a present to someone. I have put together a list of books that I like and you can purchase them here online dirtily from my blog. Ok I agree it is not the same than browsing through a bookstore but I must say most of my books I by them by amazon.com depending in which language I want to get them... I read books in English, French and Finnish and amazon.com is so much more than books...

So I have really start to think about my list of favorite books...I guarantee there are plenty... but at least I can tell you something about each book...

Here are some Marc Levy's books in English. I like to read his books in french because I like his French writing and it makes me to keep up my French. Yes I know I speak French everyday at home mostly to my husband but I also need to keep up my language skills so this is a good way. The following books are written by Marc Levy

Et si C'etait Vrai

La Premiere Nuit (French Edition)                    
Ou Es-Tu? (French Edition)
Le Premier Jour (French Edition)
Vous revoir (French Edition)
Mes amis, mes amours (French Edition)
Les enfants de la liberte (French Edition)
Just Like Heaven Movie Tie-in: A Novel
Toutes ces choses qu'on ne s'est pas dites
If Only It Were True
The Children of Freedom
All Those Things We Never Said

If you are interested in wine and French countryside these books are for you. A real life story of the English lady making wine in France. I have met her ones and her wine is really good. Her story is outstanding and you learn about the life in French countryside. 

The Ripening Sun: One Woman and the Creation of a Vineyard

La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural France

RAISINS DU BONHEUR -LESBelle Saison

Belle Saison

So here are some lovely reading for holiday season and I will post more about lovely coffee table books and decoration books soon. I just need to think all the books I have here in Finland, in Andorra and some still in storage, that I just got back from South Africa...

THE LOVELIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD

This is not only a book about these girls, it's book about all us "GIRLS", young or old. It is about how lovely we all can be. And we all the LOVEliest Girl in the World. This book has the most beautiful photos and graphic art, some parts looks like you are looking at a wall paper or a fabric. Last weekend I went to a book fair in Turku, Finland and I had the opportunity to meet Miina Savolainen the author of the book. What a marvelous lady, she has manage to bring these girls souls in to the photos. Her long term work has given confidence and courage to these young girls. And it shows us all how empowering photography helps many ways. The text in the book is in Finnish and English. This is a type of book that every mother should buy to her daughters. It gives something good for all us girls with our growing pains in life even we are older already.

This award winning book looks like a fairy tale book. The girls looks like fairies in a mystic environment but they all are real with a real life story behind each of them. It is a real art book for the whole family to read about how these girls went through the process of growing up without their parents. If you want to get The Loveliest Girl in the World book you can order it on the www.voimauttavavalokuva.net you can find on the link the English version as well. It will also give for all us girls something to think about ourselves. We all are lovely...

MAKE YOUR OWN DECO BOOKS

In This pile of magazines are most of my favorite decoration mags. This is one of my passion to buy these type of magazines, reading them but I do something more with them and it's fun.

Few times a year I take all my magazines, go them through and take everything out that interest me... It can an atmosphere, scenery, colour, image of the room, accessories, paint effects or even articles about DIY, etc...Sometimes it takes half of the day to do all these but it can be fun on the rainy day...

So to make your deco books you need a pair of scissors, plenty glue and visual diary books, the big ones are better than the A4 size, you can have a really nice collage on your pages...

Buy several visual diaries and make you books by theme, I have made for example a book for any kind of paint effects and colours, rustic chic, country style, then you can just assemble on one or two pages different bath rooms, bed rooms, kitchens etc and add different pictures of accessories that goes with these pictures.

This is really fun, creative and it is also relaxing...Collect your own dream house or houses...

BARCELONA

I spent few days in Barcelona, but this time no postings of sightseeing tours or Antonio Gaudi buildings for you. I had to go through the whole Barcelona tourist routine again because I was with my mother and for her 70's birthday, the few days in Barcelona was part of her present. We were staying in the area of the Arc de Triomf just behind the Palace of  Justice. We rented a flat with 2 bed rooms and a large terrace area on the 7th floor. I took one late morning for me and walked around the area of El Born and La Ribera. This "quartier" is full of narrow street and has lots of interesting shops. I didn't even have time to go to Picasso Museum which is in that area, just went to the museums souvenir store which is full of books and found a lovely small book "Barcelona, Shops & More" written by Angelika Taschen. Actually it is a book about shops, all kind of, but special ones. The posted map and postcard are from this book. In this book there are just photos and the addresses, so for my next visit in Barcelona will visit them all.