Dinner and Dancing

Photograph by Kelly Shimoda for the New York Times.

Why didn't I think of this? Read about the rest of this little house in the big city here.

Summer Reading

Photograph from I Suwannee's brilliant "Bookcase of the Day" collection.

I am not exactly an avid reader (thanks to my debilitating reality television addiction), but I do manage to enjoy a few good books a year. I am looking for summer reading suggestions if anyone has a good read.

In exchange, here are a few of my favorites. You may notice a running theme in my reading choices, which I generally refer to as "mo' money, mo' problems". I find the ilk to be an inexpensive way to satisfy the materialistic hunger brought on from subscriptions to multiple shelter mags and Vogue.

Auto-Biography
Oh the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey.

I read this Wilsey family memoir and tell-all of San Francisco society on my trip to Costa Rica. (Funny how being in the middle of the rain forest without a TV can inspire a lengthy read). Most of the book is funny, but I was sobbing hysterically by the end.

Non-Fiction
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas

I learned about this book from Coterie Books who has many more great recommendations. If you are the only one in the blogosphere who has not yet read this one, you are missing out. I find it particularly helpful to read about the sham that is the "luxury market" during this time of economic reconsideration.

Classic
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Anyone who loves descriptions of opulent interiors and New York history, will love Edith Wharton, the original Julian Fellowes.

Fiction
Snobs: A Novel by Julian Fellowes

Speaking of Julian Fellowes, the author also penned the screenplay for one of my all time favorite films, Gosford Park. Like the Oscar-winning movie, the premise for Snobs is English manor life as seen through the eyes of the common folk. However, this novel brings the class war to modern day.

Happy summer reading!