On the Bookshelf: Beach Reads

My definition of a beach read is a book that you can easily pause while reading — whether you glance up to look at the ocean or are reading (or listening) while en route somewhere. I also like something that maybe gives you a little conversation fodder. These books all do just that.

Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent by Mandy Aftel

As an artisan perfumer, Mandy Aftel has an intimate relationship with scent. She is also a fabulous story teller and shares the history of scent in the most beautiful and compelling way. In this book, she charts the story of fragrance through five scent superstars: cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine. My copy is completely dogeared as I've attempted to note my favorite stories. There are also scent recipes like a nineteenth century recipe for smelling salts.

The Medici Giraffe: And Other Tales of Exotic Animals and Power by Marina Belozerskaya

My fascination with material culture stems from how much objects reveal about their owners and the cultures in which they were created. This book uses exotic animals as a lens to examine those same concepts. Each chapter tells the story of a different animal, and a different moment in history. It begins with how elephants helped Ptolemy II Philadelphus establish his kingdom and make the city of Alexandria a center of learning throughout the world. She tells the story of how, in the 18th century, Empress Josephine brought black swans from Australia to her gardens at Malmaison. The final story is about how, in 1972, two giant pandas were gifted to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. after First Lady Pat Nixon commented to Mao Zedong how much she liked them.

For many of us, seeing animals in captivity has become abhorrent, and in the introduction Belozerskaya explains, “I hope to show that the way we perceive and treat animals illuminates our own values, concerns, and aspirations. By pondering the relationships we have had with them across the centuries, we may discover something about ourselves.”

Seductress: Women Who ravished the World and the Lost Art of Love by Betsy Prioleau

I adored Betsy Prioleau's deftly written look at women and the art of love and seduction. Prioleau paints fascinating portraits of women like Wallis Windsor (in Belles Laides: Homely Sirens), Mae West (Silver Foxes) and Josephine Baker (Sorcières: Siren-Artist). One of my favorite stories in the book is of early 19th century English aristocrat Jane Digby, who after multiple marriages and love affairs, didn't give up on her hunt for true love — which she found in Syria at age 46. She met and fell in love with Sheikh Abdul Mezrab, who was 20 years her junior. (She even learned Arabic and spent half the year living the nomadic life of her husband.) And when researching Elements of a Home, the chapter on Diane de Poitiers (Silver Foxes), was invaluable. I referred to in my history of Persian and Turkish rugs and in monograms.