Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

One Can Tell It Was Written in 1954

The Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior

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Best for: Anyone who might enjoy a 1950s time capsule of fashion terms and ideals. In a nutshell: Christian Dior provides definitions and opinions on everything from collars to tweed in this 65-year-old gift book. Worth quoting: “However much you admire a certain frock or coat on somebody else before you wear a similar one yourself you must think to yourself ‘What will this do for me?’” Why I chose it: In April of this year I was fortunate enough to attend the Dior exhibition […]

It’s what makes the hatters mad…

Killer Style: How Fashion Has Injured, Maimed, and Murdered Through History by Alison Matthews David, Serah Marie McMahon

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#CBR11Bingo – History/Schmistory! Killer Style is a quick read for anyone interested in fashion history. It is geared towards tweens and teens, but the information is great for older readers too.  The book accounts different ways that clothes have been dangerous to people. The authors lean less on freak accidents and more on how industrialization and the clothing construction industry have killed people in the making of clothes.  (We do get our fair share of freak accidents, though.) We get information from the ways poisonous […]

Do you take this romance to be your NotMyWheelHouse book?

The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory

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#cbr11bingo #NotMyWheelHouse The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) is my #NotMyWheelhouse read. I do not do romances. Nothing wrong with them, I think they are lovely things to read. And if I was going to branch out into a romance novel, I believe Jasmine Guillory was a good reintroduction as I have read a Harlequin novel or two, a Jackie Collins and, of course, books with romances in them, but overall, not my cup of tea. But of course, I get their appeal completely! […]

Prince Sebastian would like to introduce you to himself, Lady Crystallia

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

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The Prince and the Dressmaker most likely was pretty cutting-edge when it came out last year. We were started to talk about sexual identity and gender fluidness and the issues that come from that. Using the graphic novel format also is a bit different. But this publishers imprint seems to be the one to go to for cutting-edge stories in this usually more approachable format. However, a year later, having a young man dress in woman’s clothing as sometimes he feels male and sometimes female, […]

Take the World by Storm

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This was such a “Wow!” book for me. I did not know the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, though I am somewhat familiar with the style of her time. A style that she helped create. Again, in this day of looking for books to inspire girls to go out and try (especially when they are told they should not because of their economic status, it is “unlady like” or they are not “fill in the blank”) this is another to add to the list. However, some […]

“A man becomes the creature of his uniform.”

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I’ll provide two quotations from this book. If you agree with them, you’ll enjoy this book and find it useful. If you don’t agree with them, skip this book! First:  Every grown-up man should own a dinner jacket, just as he should own a dark suit, and those who do not prize such old-fashioned values may sanctimoniously decline invitations to any fabulous party people by handsome men and dazzling women with bare shoulders and cleavage. Take your pick of value systems. And: Dress: It’s not […]



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