Tag: summer reading recommendations

Eat, Drink and Read

This from the pages of MORE magazine; a great concept that I will bring to my book club this year – Eat, Drink and Read. Oh ya, we already do that. We actually have trouble finding time to discuss the books.

So, in the spirit of  keeping on with what you do best, I thought I’d share a great book and cocktail recommendation. Whether you are in a book club or not, I hope you find State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett, and an iced Blood Orange Cipirinha, an easy way to spend one of these warm summer days!

Blood Orange Caipirinha

1 blood orange

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

4 tsp of super fine sugar

4 ounces Cachaca (Brazillian sugarcane liquor)

Cracked ice

Club soda

  1. Cut the blood orange in half lengthwise. Squeeze half, set the juice aside.
  2. Slice the other half into 4 wedges.
  3. Place 4 lime wedges and 2 blood orange wedges in each of  2 rock glasses.  Add 2 teaspoons sugar to each. Muddle the sugar and wedges. Fill each glass with ice to the top. Divide the blood orange juice between the glasses. Pour 2 ounces Cachaca over each. Transfer the contents of  each glass, one at a time, to a cocktail shaker; shake vigorously, and return to the glass. Top off with club soda.

 What delicious books have you MindFULLY read this summer?

Let us know!

The Cultural Concierge

Bored with what you’re reading, listening to or seeing at the movies?  No time to research, no one to ask and plum sick of looking to Oprah for the answers? Well, look no further…Head Butler is the site for you! Think of Head Butler as your own “Cultural Concierge”!

www.headbutler.com

I discovered Head Butler awhile back, quickly subscribed and now eagerly await new recommendations every week. Why wait? Well, as many of you  know, I love a good coincidence. As such, one summer, when we had  just returned from Aspen where we were delighted to hear Josh Ritter, my favorite musician, perform with Grammy-award winning violinist, Hilary Hahn, I was lamenting on how no one knew of Josh.  The following week, Head Butler wrote about him — they loved him as much as I did — and I have trusted HB recommendations ever since.  I was so excited and found more to learn of as I dug deeper and deeper into the site.

Head Butler was created by Jesse Kornbluth. So beyond a coincidence, why trust Jesse’s recommendations? Because…he’s  been tracking down and writing about quality culture for decades. He’s been a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, New York, Architectural Digest, Reader’s Digest, The Los Angeles Times Magazine and Departures, and a contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times, etc. He’s written several books and co-founded Bookreporter.com, now the hub of the Internet’s most successful non-commercial book network.

And btw my friends,  Josh Ritter is also amazing. In 2006, he was named one of the “100 Greatest Living Songwriters” by Paste magazine. He has been compared to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Leonard Cohen. He has a new album out this week, So Runs The World Away. You can take a listen at http://www.joshritter.com/ and link through to NPR. They’ll be streamlining the album for a few days. You can also read Jesse’s interview with Josh on Monday at www.headbutler.com.

Summer is a great time to  stock up on good books, new music and culturally cool stuff. I encourage you to toss Josh’s CD in the car (my personal favorite is Animal Years), try one of Head Butler’s book/movie recommendations and kick back and enjoy the long days of summer. Believe me, there is so much to discover, you’ll wish they never ended.

Let us know which Head Butler recommendations you choose for a MindFULLY creative summer!