Tasting Life Twice

Author Crystal King muses on life, history, writing and food.

Posts about Books (2):

I Did It! 52 Books in 2015: November - December

I Did It! 52 Books in 2015: November - December

My 2015 New Year's Resolution of reading 52 books in 2015 is complete! I even did better than that and read a few more too.
60.  Slade House - David Mitchell  Ending the year with Slade House was a good decision. I slurped it up in about two nights of reading--it was that good. It's one of the most unusual ghost stories that I've read. Mitchell toys with point of view in the most artful of ways and his method of telling the story across the decades is equally masterful. I didn't find it to be a scary story, just one that kept me wondering what on earth might happen next.

52 books in 2015: A reading list for Jul-Oct

52 books in 2015: A reading list for Jul-Oct

I have been rather remiss, I fear, in keeping my book list updated here on my blog. I've been reading far more than I had hoped, but certainly not as much as I would like. I am happy to have passed the 50 book barrier with more than a month to spare! Let's see if I can get close to 60 books this year. I'm confident I'll finish at least 2-3 more this month, and hopefully another 3-4 in December. October

My Favorite Books of 2013 So Far

My Favorite Books of 2013 So Far

This weekend,  at my fave cocktail bar, Clio, while sipping on Manhattans and rummy drinks called The Sanchez, I got into a conversation with some friends about books. I promised some of my all around historical fiction recommends to them, but I realized that I've read a lot of great books this year that I want to tell others about. And I have a book pile a mile long after the recent Grub Street Muse and the Marketplace conference. I'd love opinions on which one to read first!
This list of 2013 is in no particular order...it would be too hard to do!

Chuck Palahniuk at the Muse and the Marketplace 2011

Chuck Palahniuk at the Muse and the Marketplace 2011

We're coming up on the next Grub Street Muse and the Marketplace and I couldn't be more excited! I have a session on social media at the conference, but I will also be there as a writer, participating in the Manuscript Marts (I'm meeting with two agents this year, more on that in a future blog post), and attending classes. This year's keynotes include James Wood and Amanda Palmer.  It's the first year that the Muse has had two keynotes (one on the Muse, one on the Marketplace) so that should be interesting!
James and Amanda will have their work cut out for them though, to top this amazing keynote by Chuck Palahniuk  (author of Fight Club) two years ago. Absolutely brilliant. And while it's long, it's definitely worth watching in its entirety. I still have chills thinking about it. He's an absolutely masterful storyteller.

A New Fragrance Trend? Smelling Like Old Books & Dead Authors

A New Fragrance Trend? Smelling Like Old Books & Dead Authors

Last year, Karl Lagerfeld, an avid book lover and collector himself, worked with Steidl books to create a fragrance called Paper Passion that supposedly smells just like old books.
And who doesn't love the smell of books?! Well, ok, maybe my husband might not want me smelling like a musty library but I find something terribly romantic about the idea!

Book Review: All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani

Book Review: All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani

With all this talk of love, I have to begin by saying that in one's life there are always certain people who you feel proud to know, who you want all your other friends to meet, and who you wish could always come to every party. One of those people is Christopher Castellani, who I still thank the stars that I met many years past. Christopher is a rare soul, and the hundreds upon hundreds of people in the book industry that know him (he's a key driving force at the magnificent Grub Street writing center) are likely to tell you that.
I have grown to know Christopher more and more over the years but after our initial meeting, my first foray into understanding a little about him was by reading his first book, which still ranks among my most memorable reads in my life, "A Kiss From Maddelena." In it we meet the protagonist of all three of his books, Maddelena Grasso, a sweet, shy and beautiful woman who is swept away by the circumstances around her-- the ending of WWII and a father who wants to arrange her marriage, but not to the boy she loves. I can still picture Maddelena as a girl, flying through the town on her bicycle. I can feel the emotion of the clandestine moments with Vito, the boy who steals her heart. I can still remember the roller coaster of emotions that first book put me through.

Fifty Shades of Green

Fifty Shades of Green

One of my fave blogs, Jezebel, recently reported on a CelebrityNetWorth article about the Fifty Shades of Grey author, E.L. James,  making one million dollars a week.  Yes, that's right -- A WEEK. For poorly written Twilight fan-fiction turned BDSM erotica.