There are books you tend to buy in order to read, books some buy just to collect, and then there are those literary gems that somehow manage to do both. My bookshelves are steadily becoming a reflection of my many interests, and frankly: I’m running out of excuses for needing to scoop up another one.
With a new reading list dictated by my wandering mind, I’ve found myself gravitating towards a rather eclectic selection this time around – no doubt, the ghost of the spooky season plays its part! We’re going from the Parisian runway to the darker corners of the supernatural, with a little romance and a few enigmatic immortals thrown in for good measure. As a pop culture fiend, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Here’s what’s caught my eye for this week’s edition of Booked & Busy.
1. For the Fashion Archivist: Foundational Sartorial Journeying
Yves Saint Laurent: Catwalk (Thames & Hudson)
A pink coffee table book. Need I say more?
Yves Saint Laurent is one of those designers whose work & legacy deserve considerably more than a passing glance at just the famed YSL iconography on purses. And this pretty, cloth-bound volume is quite the addition for anyone with an interest in fashion history, couture, and the people who have shaped the industry.
Part of Thames & Hudson’s Catwalk series I always drool over, the book takes readers through the house’s 1962 to 2002 couture collections – accompanied by runway photography and commentary. Better than a quick documentary that can be so reductive, this book speaks to the ethos Monsieur Saint Laurent had regarding the pace and care with which he approached luxury, and encouraged the rest of the world to do so, too.
I happily leave it within arm’s reach on my coffee table, partly because I know I’ll be opening it every other week, and partly because a good fashion book should be seen as much as it is read.
Having spent more than a decade following fashion weeks, I have particular fondness for the archives & logistics behind the spectacle. There are: the clothes, the styling, the casting, the references, Première Tailleur behind couture construction, and the occasional collection that makes you stop turning pages. This is one for those, like me, who appreciate all of it!
2. For the Dark & Curious: A Cabinet of History-Dappled Curiosities
“The Playboy Book of Horror and the Supernatural”, selected by the Editors of Playboy (Souvenir Press)
The unusual and the macabre make up a large part of both my personality & my interests – well, and anything that looks as though it might have an interesting story behind it, really. So, this one found its way into my collection long ago, and I do so enjoy re-reading it.
First published in 1968, this anthology (I’m amassing quite the collection of those, to be honest) is a rather interesting find for readers who enjoy horror and supernatural fiction. I do tend to favour older literary collections – partly for the stories themselves, how they can be a sensationalist microcosm of marked historical epochs (that 1830s onward Penny Dreadfuls era was a literary boon), but also for the experience of discovering what editors and readers of another era considered worth putting between their covers.
There’s something quite fun about picking up an older book without knowing quite what you’ll find inside. And if you’re anything like me: the slightly peculiar title or lack of cover art & synopsis is sometimes all the convincing you need to just leap!
For the folklore obsessives, horror enthusiasts, and readers who enjoy a little darkness with their evening beverage, this one deserves a look.
3. For the Romance & Fantasy Enthusiast: A Trilogymeister’s Lore Expansion
“Dance of the Gods”, by Nora Roberts, Book Two of the Circle Trilogy
I’ve made no secret of my appreciation for Nora Roberts. The woman has written enough of an arsenal to keep even the most committed reader occupied for a considerable amount of time, and my personal library is riddled with the proof of my own Nora (and J.D. Robb – her other nom de plume) book-collecting habits.
Dance of the Gods picks up the Circle Trilogy’s supernatural adventure, bringing together demon hunters, vamps, witches, sorcerers, and a rather complicated matter of saving humanity. No matter how many times I see the apocalypse and creature lore premise in books and film, I am compelled.
At the centre of this instalment are two key figures: Blair Murphy, a demon hunter (this is pre-K-pop film saga, folks) accustomed to working alone, and Larkin, a shape-shifter who seems to have rather a lot going for and around him.
It’s not for everyone, but I just happen to be one who enjoys more than a bit of fantasy – especially when it comes with a decent dose of romance. Roberts has always known how to keep the two company well enough to avoid a reader ‘DNF’ing (“Did Not Finish”) – this, regardless of how the quality of her storytelling may fluctuate so many years & books later.
This is book two, following Morrigan’s Cross (one of my Top 3 favourite Roberts trilogies), so those who haven’t started the trilogy might want to begin there. There’s always space for one more.
4. For the Gothic Fiction Collector: Immortality Complicated by One’s Human Fallibility
“The Vampire Armand”, by Anne Rice, The Vampire Chronicles
Now, if you’ve been following my reading habits for a while, you’ll know that vampires and I have a history. I was around for the great vampire reading craze of the noughties (2000s), and while some of my fellow readers may have moved on, I remain perfectly content revisiting the genre.
Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles really does not need an introduction among gothic fiction enthusiasts, but The Vampire Armand is one I’ve actually shirked much of the time for my favourites like Memnoch the Devil, so giving this one a re-read has been a long time coming.
This instalment takes us into Armand’s past, from his childhood in Kyiv to Renaissance Venice, where he encounters Marius, the vampire who changes the course of his life. There’s obsession, religion, art, coveted immortality, and the all-too-complicated business of being a vampire in Anne Rice’s world.
Her characters have always been intriguing to me – written with glaring, familiar flaws that even millennia cannot overcome in the human condition.
The way she builds entire histories around her creatures of the night is one of the reasons her books have become divisive movies and critically acclaimed television. Armand is one of those characters whose story deserves its own space, and I’m looking forward to spending a little more time in Rice’s wonderfully dark literary universe; This is especially with AMC continuing its adaptation of Rice’s universe, including the recently announced fourth season, Queen of the Damned, and its companion series. So keen to see where Assad Zaman takes Armand next.
If you’ve only ever watched the film Interview with the Vampire, consider this article another reason to pick up the books.
And that’s what’s on my bookshelf this week.
A little fashion history, some vintage horror, a Nora Roberts romance via mission, and another visit to the vampire realm.
What have you been reading lately?
I’m particularly interested in old bookshop finds, fashion & design publications, gothic fiction, and those wonderfully obscure titles that you stumble across and simply have to take home.
