I am excited to present you with a giveaway from Simon & Schuster, for an exciting new book by Tracy Rees, Amy Snow.

Winner of the UK’s Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition, this page-turning debut novel follows an orphan whose late, beloved best friend bequeaths her a treasure hunt that leads her all over Victorian England and finally to the one secret her friend never shared.

It is 1831 when eight-year-old Aurelia Vennaway finds a naked baby girl abandoned in the snow on the grounds of her aristocratic family’s magnificent mansion. Her parents are horrified that she has brought a bastard foundling into the house, but Aurelia convinces them to keep the baby, whom she names Amy Snow. Amy is brought up as a second-class citizen, despised by Vennaways, but she and Aurelia are as close as sisters. When Aurelia dies at the age of twenty-three, she leaves Amy ten pounds, and the Vennaways immediately banish Amy from their home.

But Aurelia left her much more. Amy soon receives a packet that contains a rich inheritance and a letter from Aurelia revealing she had kept secrets from Amy, secrets that she wants Amy to know. From the grave she sends Amy on a treasure hunt from one end of England to the other: a treasure hunt that only Amy can follow. Ultimately, a life-changing discovery awaits...if only Amy can unlock the secret. In the end, Amy escapes the Vennaways, finds true love, and learns her dearest friend’s secret, a secret that she will protect for the rest of her life.

An abandoned baby, a treasure hunt, a secret. As Amy sets forth on her quest, readers will be swept away by this engrossing gem of a novel—the wonderful debut by newcomer Tracy Rees.

I have already started reading Amy Snow and I love it. I can't put it down! I love the Victorian era, I love a good mystery, and I love an enthralling page-turner. This book has all of these elements. In short, this is my perfect summer read.

Simon & Schuster are generously offering to give away 5 copies of Amy Snow to lucky readers of The Daily Connoisseur. This giveaway is for US residents only (terms set by Simon & Schuster). Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below and the winners will be announced on the widget one week from today. Best of luck!

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Amy Snow will be released June 7th, 2016, and until then is available for pre-order. Check it out on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or stop in to your local bookstore to buy.

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Today I have an exciting book give away for you from Simon & Schuster. Luckiest Girl Alive, by Jessica Knoll has been one of the biggest books of the summer! Many people have compared it to Gone Girl, which I enjoyed. I do love a good page-turner and am looking forward to reading this book...

Here are what the critics are saying:

"Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will thrill at “the perfect page-turner to start your summer” (People, Book of the Week)

Luckiest Girl Alive—described by Reese Witherspoon as “one of those reads you just can’t put down!”

“Loved Gone Girl? We promise [Luckiest Girl Alive is] just as addictive.”
—Good Housekeeping

“Jessica Knoll introduces you to your new best frenemy, and you’re going to love it. . . .Destined to become one of the summer’s most gripping reads.”
—Bustle.com

“With the cunning and verve of Gillian Flynn but an intensity all its own, Luckiest Girl Alive is a debut you won’t want to miss.”
—Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me and The Fever


And here is the description from Simon & Schuster

HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.

As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.

But Ani has a secret.

There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.

With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.

The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

Simon & Schuster have kindly agreed to giveaway one signed copy of Luckiest Girl Alive to a lucky reader of The Daily Connoisseur. Please note that the giveaway is for US residents only (terms set by the publisher). Please enter the giveaway below via the rafflecopter widget. The winner will be announced one week from today on the widget as well as contacted by email. Best of luck!

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News
Well done to Sonia S. who emailed me via my author website. She was the only person to correctly guess the violinist's song in last week's video as String Quartet in F, Opus 3 No. 5 by Franz Joseph Haydn. For those who were wondering, the other music featured in last week's video was Beethoven Pathetique Sonata 2nd Movement.

Nearly 200,000 people have watched my TEDx talk on the ten-item wardrobe! Check it out here.

Madame Chic Inspiring Thought
I know the days are busy and long but take time out for yourself to read a book today. Get comfortable in a quiet little corner of your house, forget your to-do list temporarily and get lost in a great book.

Comments of the Week
Eulalie writes:

Hi Jennifer, having food for people when they come during eating times is a must in Africa, it is an unspoken rule, whenever people arrive at your place at these times or nay time really; whether you have enough food on the table or not, you must share it... I always struggled with this so are my kids when we are there on holidays as in Africa, there are no "can I come over?"... people just turn up at your door steps and you always have to be ready.
It is funny to me that you talk about this as this concept or principle is not common in the western world... you actually often have to ask for a glass of water whether in Africa you are always offered and it is offensive to refuse to drink or eat... very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Eulalie! I love hearing about the customs in other cultures.

Emily writes:

I was inspired by your ted talk a few months ago and I'm so happy to have found your channel! I have two pretty dirty jobs (working at a zoo and an animal shelter) so I don't dress nicely to work but I am trying to transition into a more "grown up" wardrobe. I have also started my declutter process and i'm just waiting for it to cool down enough so I can have a yard sale. I love your thoughtful videos!

Thank you Emily. You can do it!


Reader Recommendation
On YouTube, Elegance Preferred writes:

Re: Dress Shields
Also made from washable fabric--in white and black.

Brand: "Kleinerts Dress Shields". They are fabric triangles with small safety pins to unobtrusively pin into underarms of dresses, jackets, coats etc. --they have other designs as well. On Amazon, and at sewing stores.

The fabric ones eliminate any issues with very delicate clothes and the stick on shields--it is sometimes possible to get residue from the sticky ones on clothes--brands you recommend probably much better than one I tried that left residue on the fabric.

Thank you for this great recommendation!


Best of luck with the giveaway. This week I would love to know... what great books have you read so far this season?

See you soon!

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Today I have a very fun book review and giveaway for you: Primates of Park Avenue, by Wednesday Martin.



This book is so much fun! I have a feeling it will be the book of the summer. Here is the description from Simon & Schuster:

Like an urban Dian Fossey, Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a brilliantly original and witty memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe.

After marrying a man from the Upper East Side and moving to the neighborhood, Wednesday Martin struggled to fit in. Drawing on her background in anthropology and primatology, she tried looking at her new world through that lens, and suddenly things fell into place. She understood the other mothers’ snobbiness at school drop-off when she compared them to olive baboons. Her obsessional quest for a Hermes Birkin handbag made sense when she realized other females wielded them to establish dominance in their troop. And so she analyzed tribal migration patterns; display rituals; physical adornment, mutilation, and mating practices; extra-pair copulation; and more. Her conclusions are smart, thought-provoking, and hilariously unexpected.

Every city has its Upper East Side, and in Wednesday’s memoir, readers everywhere will recognize the strange cultural codes of powerful social hierarchies and the compelling desire to climb them. They will also see that Upper East Side mothers want the same things for their children that all mothers want—safety, happiness, and success—and not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs can protect this ecologically released tribe from the universal experiences of anxiety and loss. When Wednesday’s life turns upside down, she learns how deep the bonds of female friendship really are.

Intelligent, funny, and heartfelt, Primates of Park Avenue lifts a veil on a secret, elite world within a world—the exotic, fascinating, and strangely familiar culture of privileged Manhattan motherhood.


Here's what I loved about the book: I love observing people. People-watching is one of my favorite pastimes. I love studying why people do what they do and why they are who they are. I love learning what is important to people and why. Wednesday's book takes us to the Upper East Side and lets us into her world: and while her observations aren't pretty, they sure are fascinating! It is a great commentary on the folly that can ensue when you keep up with the Joneses.

Check out my video review of Primates of Park Avenue. If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of the blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur

Simon & Schuster are giving away 3 copies to readers of The Daily Connoisseur. The giveaway is open to US residents only (terms set by the publisher). Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will run for one week. The winner will be posted on the widget and emailed as well. Best of luck!

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For more on Wednesday Martin, visit her author website here.

News
My new book, Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic: Lessons in Everyday Elegance, is coming out October 27th, 2015 and is now available for pre-order.

Lessons from Madame Chic is noted in the Wall Street Journal today as being the #1 bestselling book in Japan for 2015 so far. Thank you to my Japanese readers for embracing the book so enthusiastically!

I hope you have a wonderful week. See you soon!

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Rain has finally made it to California! We've been facing one of the worst droughts on record here in Southern California so it is with great relief that we all welcome the rain. Today I am showing you an outfit of the day, rainy day edition.

Many people automatically think they need to wear jeans in bad weather but you don't have to if you get creative with layers (remember Madame Chic never wore jeans and that Parisian weather was cold).





In this look, I'm wearing my Ann Taylor Loft navy and red spot dress, my felt coat from Anthropologie- the only new addition to my winter wardrobe since shooting my ten-item wardrobe video in the fall (this coat is no longer available online), textured tights from J Crew (key to keeping warm) and my black rain boots. For indoor use, I'm wearing London Sole black suede Henrietta ballet flats.

If you are facing even lower temperatures, I would suggest layering a winter coat on top of this look (or replace the felt coat with a thick cardigan and wear that under a winter coat)and adding a scarf, gloves, and/or a hat.

Check out the video above to see the full look. If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or check out my channel www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur

Choosing a Simply Luxurious Life



I've gotten to know the lovely Shannon Ables of the Simply Luxurious Life blog over the years as she has been a huge champion for Madame Chic. Today I am very excited to share with you her new book, Choosing a Simply Luxurious Life.

Here is a description of the book from Amazon:

How can you have a rich and fulfilling life? The choices you make, not your income or financial assets, are the most powerful determining factor for your quality of life. Women have never had so many options. Yet we often experience a kind of paralysis, an unconscious willingness to follow societal dictates rather than become the CEOs of our own lives. When we mindlessly follow the dots, we smother our innate gifts and miss opportunities to fulfill our true potential. There is another way—choosing to live a simply luxurious life. This book will show you how to invest your time and what to eliminate from your life. It will enable you to: • Design a life of purpose that is aligned with your passions and talents • Become financially independent • Enjoy cultivating a healthy mind and body • Build and maintain strong, loving relationships • Create a chic, timeless signature style • Design a comfortable home that is a true sanctuary • Travel in comfort and style • Discover simple pleasures that make each day something to look forward to You can curate the life of your dreams by being purposeful and selective, no matter where you live, your income, or your relationship status. Luxury and true fulfillment are ours for the having if we know where to look and how to make the right choices.

Shannon was gracious enough to participate in an interview with The Daily Connoisseur so you can get to know her better for yourself:

We write about a lot of the same concepts with regard to living
well. My journey started in Paris, living with Madame Chic. How and
where did your journey start?

I’d have to say that the idea of living simply and living well began as a young girl as I had the opportunity to grow up in the country, having Mother Nature at my doorstep and the freedom to roam with my creative curiosities. However, much like you, the concept of living well as an adult was solidified when I studied abroad in France during college. From pairing each meal with hours of conversation, walking everywhere and taking in the history, museums and artisan talents that were on every corner, my initial experience in France confirmed that such a lifestyle was possible, and it was something anyone or anybody could instill in their everyday life.

What do you like about living in Oregon?

The amazing gift of Oregon is that you have a little bit of everything: all four seasons, vast rural, mountainous regions as well as urban progressive areas such as Portland, oh, and the many vineyards, of course. ;)

How can one live a Simply Luxurious Life no matter where you live?

Part of the mission statement of living simply luxuriously is the understanding that it must be a conscious choice. Living well doesn’t just occur; it is something that each one of us cultivates with the small choices we make each day. And once we understand that, the beauty is realizing each of us holds all of the cards for our own contentment. From sipping a delicious cup of hot tea from Palais des The to begin your day, to the thoughts we allow to run around in our mind, to nibbling on a chocolate truffle before snuggling into bed, such simple choices, not necessarily expensive or difficult, can make everyday moments very pleasurable.

I love that you write about finances, which are such an important
facet of living well. What are your top three tips for keeping one's
finances in order?

Having our finances in order is one of the best ways to achieve peace of mind, and when we know we are on sound financial footing we can be more present with those we love. The top three tips I would recommend are:

1. Schedule a monthly budget date with yourself. Make it a pleasurable ritual. Pour yourself a cup of tea, turn on your favorite jazz album and do something to celebrate at the end of month in which your finances are where you want them. (Need help setting up your own budget? Check out my simple budget template here.)

2. Start saving for retirement yesterday (in other words now), no matter how small. The sooner you begin, the faster compound interest can work its magic.

3. Use cash. Each month withdraw a certain amount of cash for entertainment, groceries and transportation. Do your best to stick to it. Seeing your hard-earned cash exchange hands from your wallet to a cash register is a mental reminder of the labor you expended and what it is bringing into your life.

When shopping for clothes, how can we save money, but still invest in quality?
Cost per wear. Initially paying $100 or more for a quality pair of jeans is going to be hard to swallow, but if they indeed are a quality pair, they will last for years. And with each subsequent time of use, the cost decreases. The goal when going clothes shopping is to purchase items that will last and will still look impeccable with each use. You may not have a lot of clothes, but each item will look stunning, and that is ultimately the goal (and it makes the decision process a lot easier).

How would you describe your signature style?
Casual, chic, classic.

What is your signature scent?
I keep it simple with this decision as well. I love the blend of femininity and masculinity in Chanel No. 5.

How can we learn more about you?
A quick tour of how I live my own simply luxurious life can be seen in this short video below . Readers can now get to know me even better on my weekly podcast The Simple Sophisticate which airs each Monday morning on iTunes. Not only do I talk about the topics addressed on the blog, but I share more of myself, my experiences, etc.

The key for anyone wishing to live well regardless of their income, age or relationship status is self-knowledge and being willing to find the courage to tap into your very unique innate talents. They are there, and they’re waiting to be discovered. When you find them, you will be so glad you made the effort. Trust me. I know it’s scary initially, but it only gets better.

Shannon is offering to give away one signed copy of her new book to a reader of The Daily Connoisseur. Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway is open to all readers (including international). The winner will be announced on the widget after the contest is over. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For more on Shannon visit her at www.thesimplyluxuriouslife.com

See you on Sunday for my Christmas Message 2014!

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Today I have two very fun and sweet classic children's books from New York Review Books to introduce to you that would make wonderful stocking stuffers or Christmas presents for the special children in your life.

We can be so inundated by commercial characters and fast-paced children's TV shows these days that there is something extra sweet about vintage children's books. Something for Christmas by Palmer Brown and Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow will charm you with their simplicity and innocence.

I can personally tell you that I adore both of these books and have read them several times with my own children. Today I'm excited to share them with you.



Something for Christmas

“What are you doing, dear?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Secrets are better if you share them a little. So tell Mother why you look so sad on Christmas Eve.”
“I am wondering what to give—someone—for Christmas.”

So begins the story of a little mouse’s search for a very special gift for a very special person. Nothing seems just right until the little mouse realizes that the best present of all is already at hand.

Palmer Brown has given us something special for Christmas—or any day—an entrancingly lovely story, filled with the true spirit of the holiday season.



Mud Pies and Other Recipes

Whether you’re entertaining garden sprites, feeding a regiment of toy soldiers, or simply whiling away a lazy afternoon, Mud Pies and Other Recipes is the only make-believe cookbook you’ll ever need. With Marjorie Winslow’s timeless guide on hand, you’ll never be at a loss for something to do in your backyard or by the seashore; you’ll be busy scooping up sand (a filling for Stuffed Sea Shells), hunting for flower petals (they make lovely hors d’oeuvres), and collecting raindrops (essential for brewing up Fried Water). The book is organized by course, and includes a general discussion of yard cookery along with detailed ingredient lists, methods for preparation, and helpful serving suggestions. And on every page, Erik Blegvad’s delightful pen-and-ink drawings ensure that Mud Pies and Other Recipes is a feast for the eyes as well as the imagination.

New York Review Books is kindly offering to give away one of each of these books to a reader of The Daily Connoisseur. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. The winners will be announced one week from today on the widget. Best of luck!

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See you on Sunday for a special Christmas candy tutorial...


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I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the wonderment of the season. Thank you for your messages of condolence on my social media sites regarding my grandmother's passing. Last week was very difficult for me and your messages were greatly comforting. I'm back now on the blog and hope to spend this month of December in celebration of Christmas on the blog. One of the many things my grandmother was great at was celebrating in style. So these blogs will be posted in her spirit.

Today I have two Christmas book giveaways for you on The Daily Connoisseur: The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans and The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern.

Both of these wonderful little books would not only make great Christmas presents but would also be a great treat for you to read this holiday season.



The Mistletoe Promise

A love story for Christmas from the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Walk.

Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.



The Greatest Gift

A beautiful gift edition of the heartwarming story that became the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life.

For almost seventy years, people the world over have fallen in love with Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. But few of those fans know that Capra’s film was based on a short story by author Philip Van Doren Stern, which came to Stern in a dream one night.

Unable at first to find a publisher for his evocative tale about a man named George Pratt who ponders suicide until he receives an opportunity to see what the world would be like without him, Stern ultimately published the story in a small pamphlet and sent it out as his 1943 Christmas card. One of those 200 cards found its way into the hands of Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart, and the film that resulted became the holiday tradition we cherish today.

Now fans of It’s a Wonderful Life, or anyone who loves the spirit of Christmas, can own the story that started it all in an elegant, illustrated edition that’s perfect for holiday giving. It includes an Afterword by Stern’s daughter, Marguerite Stern Robinson, that tells the story of how her father’s Christmas card became the movie beloved by generations of people around the world.


Simon & Schuster have kindly offered to give away both of these books to one lucky reader of The Daily Connoisseur. Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is for U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winner will be announced on the widget one week from today. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Also, for a chance to win 15 Simon & Schuster new releases (including At Home With Madame Chic) enter their sweepstakes here. Best of luck!



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Cultivate your mind: one of my favorite lessons I learned while living in Paris. There are so many ways to do this but in our modern society of reality television and lowbrow entertainment, we have to make an extra effort to not let our intellectual and artistic passions go by the wayside. Reading poetry, especially if it's not something you have an appreciation for, can help break the cycle, which is why I'm so excited about this week's featured book, Louise Labé Love Sonnets & Elegies .

Louise Labé was the first recognized female French poet from the Renaissance period. The mere fact that she was a woman poet was very unusual for the time, but that she also wrote about romance, passion and desire was even more unique. New York Review Books, who has been reissuing classic books since 1999, has sent me Louise Labé Love Sonnets & Elegies and is kindly offering to giveaway a copy of this magnificent book of poetry to one lucky reader of The Daily Connoisseur.

In this book, with the French version on the left and the English translation on the right, Louise Labé's poems contain an agony, an ecstasy and a depth that any poetry lover will delight in.

Here is a sample of her work, Sonnet 11:

I live, I die: I flare up & I drown.
The colder I feel the hotter I burn:
Life is too hard & too soft in turn.
To every joy sorrow circles round:

All of a sudden I laugh & I weep,
Taking pleasure in each twinge of pain:
The moment I flower, I fade away:
The treasure I lose, a treasure I keep.

Inconstant Love is my most constant guide:
Whenever the pain grows beyond belief,
to my surprise, I feel nothing inside.

Then, convinced my bliss cannot be denied
And I'm about to climb joy's highest peak,
He reminds me of all my former grief.

Translated by Richard Sieburth

Here is the description of the book from New York Review Books:

Louise Labé, one of the most original poets of the French Renaissance, published her complete Works around the age of thirty and then disappeared from history. Rediscovered in the nineteenth century, her incandescent love sonnets were later translated into German by Rilke and appear here in a revelatory new English version by the award-winning translator Richard Sieburth.


Here are some reviews of Labé's work:

“The deeply learned Louise Labé knew well the love poetry of Sappho, Propertius, Ovid, and Petrarch, but she herself joined the ranks of these great Western tossers and turners by breaking with convention. Across five centuries, thanks to Richard Sieburth’s beautiful translations, her urgent voice, her embodied images, and her rapid, somehow breathless, lines come to us as if they were spoken yesterday.” --Susan Stewart

“Richard Sieburth has captured the vigor, intensity, and vernacular tang of Louise Labé’s startling poems. He has turned the ‘rhymed cordage as twined and tensile as rope’ of the fabled Belle Cordière, daughter of a ropemaker, into spirited poems in English.” --Rosanna Warren

"[Labé] laments for one alone, but the whole of nature unites with them: it is the lament for one who is eternal." — Rainer Maria Rilke

“A great poet, perhaps one of the greatest of all time.” —The Polar Bear, a character in Samuel Beckett’s Dream of Fair to middling Women


New York Review books are kindly offering to give away one copy of Louise Labé Love Sonnets & Elegies to a reader of The Daily Connoisseur. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by publisher). Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. The winner will be announced one week from today on the widget.

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This week I would love to know... Are you familiar with Louise Labé's work? Who is your favorite poet of all time? How have you been cultivating your mind lately?

See you on Sunday for a special #TenItemWardrobe post on 5 Days of Outfits.

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Today's featured book is Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough. Bittersweet is Ms. McCullough's first romantic saga since The Thorn Birds and it has readers swooning.

Here is what the critics are saying:

"Filled with humor, insight and captivating historical detail, McCullough's latest is a wise and warm tribute to family, female empowerment and her native land." (People)

“Just as epic as her ultra-romantic classic, The Thorn Birds.” (Marie Claire)

"Readers of historical family dramas will be excited to find a new, satisfying book to enjoy while longtime fans of The Thorn Birds will be over the moon, welcoming back a dear old friend. Take it to the beach, on the plane, or the couch, this book will be the best traveling companion of the summer." (Library Journal, starred review)

"McCullough's richly drawn characters grab control of the heartstrings from the beginning...and prove that, even when choices are not in wide supply, happiness is attainable--even if, at times, it is bittersweet." (Publishers Weekly)

"A fascinating exploration of the bonds between sisters and a fine historical novel." (Booklist)

Here is the description from Simon & Schuster:

In her first epic romantic novel since The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough weaves a sweeping story of two sets of twins—all trained as nurses, but each with her own ambitions—stepping into womanhood in 1920s and 30s Australia.

Because they are two sets of twins, the four Latimer sisters are as close as can be. Yet these vivacious young women each have their own dreams for themselves: Edda wants to be a doctor, Tufts wants to organize everything, Grace won’t be told what to do, and Kitty wishes to be known for something other than her beauty. They are famous throughout New South Wales for their beauty, wit, and ambition, but as they step into womanhood, they are not enthusiastic about the limited prospects life holds for them.

Together they decide to enroll in a training program for nurses—a new option for women of their time, who have previously been largely limited to the role of wives, and preferably mothers. As the Latimer sisters become immersed in hospital life and the demands of their training, they meet people and encounter challenges that spark new maturity and independence. They meet men from all walks of life—local farmers, their professional colleagues, and even men with national roles and reputations—and each sister must make weighty decisions about what she values most. The results are sometimes happy, sometimes heartbreaking, but always . . . bittersweet.

Rendered with McCullough’s trademark historical accuracy, this dramatic coming of age tale is wise in the ways of the human heart, one that will transport readers to a time in history that feels at once exotic and yet not so very distant from our own.

Simon & Schuster are kindly offering to give away 3 copies. Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winners will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For more information on Coleen McCullough, visit her here.

Follow Simon & Schuster on Twitter @SimonBooks


News
At Home With Madame Chic is number 5 on the New York Times best seller list under fashion, manners and customs.

and is also featured on the following blogs this week:

This Mom Loves

Momzinga

I Wish I Lived in a Library


Signing at Laguna Beach Books

Thank you to everyone who attended my recent book signings. I loved chatting with all of you and getting to know you better.

See you next time on The Daily Connoisseur...

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What a truly wonderful book we are featuring on the blog today: Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography by Meryle Secrest.

Here's the description from Knopf:

Her name was Elsa Schiaparelli. She was known as the Queen of Fashion; a headline attraction in the international glitter-glamour show of the late twenties and thirties, feted in Rome (where she was born), Paris, New York, London, Moscow, Hollywood . . .

Her style was a social revolution through clothing—luxurious, eccentric, ironic, sexy. Her fashions, inspired, from the whimsical to the most practical—from a Venetian cape of the commedia dell’arte to the Soviet parachute. She collaborated with some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century: on jewelry designs with Jean Schlumberger; on clothes with Salvador Dalí (his lobster dress for her, a lobster garnished with parsley painted on the skirt of an organdy dress, was instantly bought by Wallis Simpson for her honeymoon with the Duke of Windsor); with Jean Cocteau, Alberto Giacometti, Christian Bérard, photographers Baron Adolph de Meyer, Horst, Cecil Beaton, and the young Richard Avedon.

She was the first designer to use rayon and latex, thick velvets, transparent and waterproof, and cellophane. Her perfume—Shocking!—was a bottle in the shape of a bust sculpted by Léonor Fini, inspired by the body of Mae West. Her boutique at an eighteenth-century palace at 21 Place Vendôme opened into a cage designed by Jean-Michel Frank. American Vogue, in 1927, presented her entire collection as Works of Art. A decade later, she was the first European to win the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award.
Here is the never-before-told story of this most extraordinary fashion designer, perhaps the most extraordinary fashion designer of the twentieth century, in her day more famous than Chanel. Meryle Secrest, acclaimed biographer, who has captured the lives of many of the twentieth century’s most iconic cultural figures, among them: Frank Lloyd Wright, Bernard Berenson, and Modigliani, gives us the first full life of the grand couturier—surrealist and embattled figure–-whose medium was apparel.

“Dare to be different,” Schiaparelli advised women, and she lived it to the height; a rebel against convention—social as well as fashion. She designed an otter-fur bathing suit and a hat inspired by a lamb chop. (“I like to amuse myself,” she said. “If I didn’t, I would die.”) Chanel, her arch rival, called her, “that Italian woman who makes dresses.”

Here is the story of Schiaparelli’s rise to fame (as brazen and unique as any of the artistic creations that emerged from her Paris workrooms before World War II); her emotionally starved upbringing in Rome (her mother was part Scottish, part Neapolitan; her father, a prominent medieval scholar specializing in Islamic manuscripts, dean of the faculty of Rome; her uncle, an astronomer famous for his description in 1877 of “canals” on Mars); her years overshadowed by a prettier sister; her elopement with a Swiss-born man who claimed to be a count, disciple of mysticism and the occult—who managed to get himself and his young bride deported from Britain . . . her struggle to care for her polio-stricken daughter, Gogo, as a single and financially destitute mother living in Greenwich Village.

Secrest writes of Schiaparelli’s keen instincts—an astute businesswoman, she launched herself into hats, hose, soaps, shoes, handbags, in the space of a few years. By 1930, her company was grossing millions of francs a year.

Secrest chronicles her exploits during World War II (she managed to escape from Europe to the United States) and, using FBI files, shows that during Schiaparelli’s stay in New York, her whereabouts were documented almost week by week; she was never explicitly charged, but the cloud of collaboration lingered long after her return to Paris.

As Secrest traces the unfolding of this dazzling career, she reveals the spirit that gave shape to this large and extravagant life, a woman—a force—whose artistic vision forever changed the face of fashion and redefined the boundaries of art.

Knopf are kindly offering to give away one copy of Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography. Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winner will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

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For more on Meryle Secrest, visit her website here.


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Today I have an exciting new book that will inspire the interior designer in you: Elements of Style: Designing A Home & A Life by Erin Gates. Charming, inspiring, witty and funny, this is a beautiful book from start to finish that would not only be a great addition to your interior design library, but would also make an excellent gift.

Erin has a wildly popular blog called Elements of Style Blog that can provide you with even more inspiration.
Here is the description of the book from Simon & Schuster:

From the rising-star designer and author of the hit blog, Elements of Style, a full-color, fully illustrated book packed with honest advice, inspiration, ideas, and lessons learned about designing a home that reflects your personality and style.

Elements of Style is a uniquely personal and practical decorating guide that shows how designing a home can be an outlet of personal expression and an exercise in self-discovery. Drawing on her ten years of experience in the interior design industry, Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous professional photographs and illustrations with personal essays about the lessons she has learned while designing her own home and her own life—the first being: none of our homes or lives is perfect. Like a funny best friend, she reveals the disasters she confronted in her own kitchen renovation, her struggles with anorexia, her epic fight with her husband over a Lucite table, and her secrets for starting a successful blog.

Organized by rooms in the house, Elements of Style invites readers into Erin’s own home as well as homes she has designed for clients. Fresh, modern, and colorful, it is brimming glamour and style as well as advice on practical matters from choosing kitchen counter materials to dressing a bed with pillows, picking a sofa, and decorating a nursery without cartoon characters. You’ll also find a charming foreword by Erin’s husband, Andrew, and an extensive Resource and Shopping Guide that provides an indispensable a roadmap for anyone embarking on their first serious home decorating adventure. With Erin’s help, you can finally make your house your home.

Simon & Schuster are kindly offering to give away 3 copies. Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winners will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To learn more about Erin Gates visit her blog, Elements of Style.

News
Check out my interview with Heidi Bock of Beauty in Believing blog.

A Domestic Goddess is loving the Madame Chic books.

At Home With Madame Chis is mentioned on the lovely In Sewtopia quilting blog this week.

Don't forget to enter the Christy Luxury Linens giveaway (for Daily Connoisseur readers only!)

Reading
43 Reasons Why Studying Abroad in Paris Destroys You For Life (You'll love this! Thanks to my readers who shared this with me.)

Upcoming Events
Southern California readers: come meet me at one of my upcoming book signings:

October 28, 2014 (next Tuesday!) DIESEL bookstore, Brentwood, CA Presentation, Q&A + book signing 7pm

November 2, 2014 Laguna Beach Books Presentation, Q&A + signing 4pm

(more venues and dates to be announced on my author website events page)



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This week's featured book is A Sudden Light by Garth Stein. This new release is described by Good Housekeeping as a "Haunting family saga", a perfect read as we enter the month of October.

Here is the description from Simon & Schuster:

The bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain presents a long-awaited new novel in which a boy trying to save his parents’ marriage uncovers a vast legacy of family secrets.

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.

Spellbinding and atmospheric, A Sudden Light is rich with unconventional characters, scenes of transcendent natural beauty, and unforgettable moments of emotional truth that reflect Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation—a triumphant work of a master storyteller at the height of his power.

Here's what the critics are saying:

"Take equal parts mystery, lyrical magic, and a healthy dose of natural wonder, add a multi-generational family struggling with the ghosts of the past, literally and figuratively, and you have A Sudden Light—a beautiful, deeply thought-provoking story that is impossible to put down." (Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet)

“Wow! I devoured A Sudden Light, a grand, gorgeous, multi-generational epic of the Pacific Northwest. Garth Stein has given us another singular, soulful, and wise narrator for the ages, who tells us a story full of mystery and yearning. I adored this book.” (Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette)

“This magnificent and haunting ghost story will pull you into its world and hold you captive, awe you with the enduring power and beauty of nature, and, on every page, fill you with amazement at Stein’s infinite compassion for the human condition…. A major achievement by a major American writer.” (Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife and Heading Out to Wonderful)

"Haunting in all the right ways." (Booklist, starred review)

“A Sudden Light is the best of many genres: a ghost story, a love story, historical fiction….a truly killer read…a bold, poignant book about wealth, family ties, and the power—and fallacy—of memory.” (BookPage)

"A haunting family saga." (Good Housekeeping)

Simon & Schuster are kindly offering to give away 3 copies. Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winners will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


News
At Home With Madame Chic comes out next week! Learn more on my author website.

Watch my newly released TEDx talk on The Ten-Item Wardrobe here.

Upcoming Events
Southern California readers: come meet me at one of my upcoming book signings:
October 8, 2014 Pages A Bookstore, Manhattan Beach, CA presentation, Q&A + book signing 7pm
October 28, 2014 DIESEL bookstore, Brentwood, CA Presentation, Q&A + book signing 7pm
November 2, 2014 Laguna Beach Books Presentation, Q&A + signing 4pm
(more venues and dates to be announced)


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I have heard amazing things about this next book featured on our series of giveaways. It is a deeply moving story about families and the power of human redemption.

We Are Called To Rise by Laura McBride has garnered excellent reviews and critical acclaim.

Here is the description from Simon & Schuster:

Three lives are bound together by a split-second mistake, and a child’s fate hangs in the balance.

What happens next will test—and restore—your faith in humanity.

Far from the neon lights of the Vegas strip, three lives are about to collide. A middle aged woman attempting to revive her marriage. A returning soldier waking up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there. A very brave eight-year-old immigrant boy.

This is a story about families—the ones we have and the ones we make. It’s a story about America today, where so many cultures and points of view collide and coexist. We Are Called to Rise challenges us to think about our responsibilities to each other and reminds us that no matter how cruel life can be in a given moment, it is ultimately beautiful to live, and live fully.

Simon & Schuster are kindly offering to give away 3 copies of We Are Called To Rise. Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only (terms set by the publisher). The winners will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For more on author Laura McBride, check out her website at www.lauramcbrideauthor.com

News
Check out the piece I wrote for Huffington Post called, NO MORE BOOTY SONGS, PLEASE. It has a funny title but a serious message about what is happening to our popular culture. If you agree with this article, please share it with your friends. Every little bit of support helps ‪the #‎VulgarityNoMore‬ cause.

Events
At Home With Madame Chic is coming out soon! If you are in the Southern California area I hope you'll come meet me at one of my upcoming signings:

October 8th, 2014- signing at Pages Bookstore, Manhattan Beach, CA 7pm
October 28, 2014- Diesel Bookstore, Brentwood, CA 7pm (**please note: this date has changed)
November 2, 2014- Laguna Beach Books (time TBD)

More dates will be added to this list. Please stay current with all events on my author website events page.


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I am very pleased to announce that as part of special Thursday posts for the next few months, I will be hosting book giveaways on The Daily Connoisseur. Having a good book to read just makes life so much more delicious. I'm an avid reader and try to read for at least one hour a day. Even though the opportunity to win most of the giveaways are for U.S. residents only, I know that these posts will still offer you great book recommendations perfectly tailored to The Daily Connoisseur audience. So whether you win or not, I hope you enjoy!

Today's giveaway would make the perfect gift for your teenage daughter: the young adult novel, Being Audrey Hepburn, by Mitchell Kriegman, Thomas Dunne Books. (With a title like that, how could I turn it down?)



Here's the description from the publisher:

In Being Audrey Hepburn, Clarissa Explains It All-creator, Mitchell Kriegman, tells the story of a 19-year-old girl from Jersey who finds herself thrust into the world of socialites after being seen in Audrey Hepburn’s dress from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Lisbeth comes from a broken home in the land of tube tops, heavy eyeliner, frosted lip-gloss, juiceheads, hoop earrings and “the shore.” She has a circle of friends who have dedicated their teenage lives to relieve the world of all its alcohol one drink at a time.

Obsessed with everything Audrey Hepburn, Lisbeth is transformed when she secretly tries on Audrey’s iconic Givenchy. She becomes who she wants to be by pretending to be somebody she’s not and living among the young and privileged Manhattan elite. Soon she’s faced with choices that she would never imagine making – between who she’s become and who she once was.

In the tradition of The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, this is a coming of age story that all begins with that little black dress…


Please enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. The winner will be announced on the widget and contacted by email one week from today. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Today I would love to know... What do you love about Audrey Hepburn? What is your favorite Audrey Hepburn movie? What do you think young women of today could learn from Audrey Hepburn?

News
Check out my podcast interview with Nicole Longstreath on The Wardrobe Code. We talk all things style, including fashion neurosis, why it's important to look your best, and what I think of those Real Housewives. Nicole's conversational podcast is excellent and perfect for inspiring your wardrobe. Thank you Nicole!

See you Sunday for a Ten-Item Wardrobe Talk-Through!

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