Friday, November 12, 2010

Chronicle Books Contest!



Chronicle Books is having a contest which I am entering even as I am writing about it now!  In order to enter the contest, the blogger makes a list of titles from the Chronicle Books catalog up to $500 in value (which means there will be math involved in this post) and, if they win, they win their list of books.  And here's where it gets interesting for you.  If I win, one person who comments on my blog post will also win my list.

And, one imagines, if one doesn't win, one has just posted their first Christmas wishlist of the year on their blog entirely from the Chronicle Books catalog.  Well played, Chronicle Books.

So, here is my wish list:

1.  I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita $14.99- Somewhere at the beginning of the new year, I have slated to read Marcel Proust's Rememberance of Things Past.  I think owning a good macaron cookbook is going to be essential for this project.

2. Dante's Divine Comedy boxed set by By Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders $100.00- I read about this version back when I was deciding which version of Inferno to read this past year.  I ended up passing on it because of the uncertain line between version and adaptation, but it is a work I've read very good reports on.  Considering the full Divine Comedy is coming up in my Harvard Classics series, this is one I would love to have and am very curious about.  Curious enough to blow 1/5th of my make-believe money on it.

3.  This is NPR  By Cokie Roberts, Susan Stamberg, Noah Adams, John Ydstie, Renee Montagne, Ari Shapiro, and David Folkenflik $29.95-  Laurie and I are rabid NPR heads and everyone knows it.  My step-daughter, completely unprompted, knew that the perfect Christmas gift for me would be a season of This American Life.  One of the most exciting things that ever happened to me was when Robert Krulwich wrote on my blog comments urging me not to really vote for him for president.  We get most of our news from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.  This would be the perfect coffee table book for our home. 

4.  San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five By Janice Ross $60.00- A venue of world class proportions so close to us that we would both like to visit someday.  This looks like a gorgeous book and one that both Laurie and I would enjoy.

 5. Tea & Crumpets: Recipes and Rituals from Tearooms & Café By Margaret M. Johnson $19.95- Ah, something for the twee, cardigan wearing, Pooh Bear Paul.  I love tea, European culture, and comforting foodie books.

6. Coffee: Scrumptious Drinks and Treats By Betty Rosbottom $14.95- However, as a bohemian, an Americano, a fervent J.S. Bach fan, and one who rages against his natural tendency to sleep about 10 hours a night left to his own devices, I also love coffee.  Having worked in a few coffee houses in my past, I also am a bit of a coffee snob.  Also, I make elaborate coffee drinks.  I think I would get a lot of use out of this book.

7. New Vegetarian: More Than 75 Fresh, Contemporary Recipes for Pasta, Tagines, Curries, Soups and Stews, and Desserts By Robin Asbell $19.95- As vegetarians, we are always looking for new recipes.

 8.  Absinthe Cocktails: 50 Ways to Mix with the Green Fairy By Kate Simon $19.95- Favorite drink of most of the stark raving mad historical figures I read about.  Picasso, Lautrec, Van Gogh, Poe, Wilde, Baudelaire,Verlaine, Rimbaud, Alfred Jarry, Erik Satie.  I hear Mark Twain used to drink absinthe too.  Due to its scarcity and my poverty, it seems likely that this will be more of a pretty decorative book and conversation piece than anything practical, but I think it would still be fun to have in my library.  However, should we ever happen upon the Green Fairy, this seems like to book to have.

9. Cheese & Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying By Janet Fletcher $24.95- This is more our actual speed.  It's a book about two of Laurie and my favorite gustatory delights.

10. Dean & DeLuca: The Food and Wine Cookbook By Jeff Morgan $35.00- Anyone who has read my blog know that I consider myself a Classicist.  One of the reasons for that is that I like to go directly to the excellent and stay there without wasting time wading through a bunch of muck to find the diamonds.  This translates to music, movies, and, indeed, cookbooks for me as well.  The product description touts this volume thusly :
 In the alphabet of gourmets, D stands for Dean & DeLuca, long considered one of the finest food emporiums in the world. Now they bring their vast culinary expertise to this stunning new cookbook with over 80 inspired recipes, each complemented by carefully chosen wines. 
Sounds like a book I ought to own.

11. Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile By John Ochsendorf $60.00- Also, those who follow my photo dumps on my other blog know of my fascination with architecture.  This book looks just gorgeous.

12. Edie: Girl on Fire By Melissa Painter and David Weisman $29.95- Edie Sedgwick is a cultural figure I find absolutely fascinating.  A figure from (arguably also a casualty of) the Warhol scene, Sedgwick was one of those doomed figures of the glamorous life of the fat days of mid-last century America.  It's a piece of space-time shared with Warhol, Truman Capote, The Velvet Underground, Taylor Mead, Dennis Hopper in his arty period, Candy Darling, Studio 54 and all of that jazz straddling the gilded age between the Hepburns and the Hiltons (wow.  I may as well submit this for a writing position with E!)

13. Ramayana: Divine Loophole By Sanjay Patel $29.95- I've heard wonderful things about this artistic adaptation of the Ramayana.  Contemporary religious art is of great interest to me.

14. Paris Out of Hand: A Wayward Guide By Karen Elizabeth Gordon With Barbara Hodgson and Nick Bantock $22.95- Someday.  Someday.

 So, there's my list.  I hope I win it.  If you would like a chance to win this entire list too, comment (on the blog.  If you're reading this in a Facebook cross post, you're going to have to go to my original blog post to comment)!

75 comments:

  1. I would like to win this too! But what on earth we would do with two of each I'm not sure. I know: re-gift!

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  2. my goodness! i'm hungry just reading your picks!
    -lindsay

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  3. What an interesting list, most of them are ones I would enjoy reading too.

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  4. I am perfectly willing to win all these books.

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  5. I'd like to have the Divine Comedy and the Coffee books, although I dislike words like "scrumptious."

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  6. Sure! Count me in. *big grin on my face*

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  7. Paris Out of Hand is a fantastic book, I hope you win your list!

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  8. This would be a real 'score'!!
    rosedotsallyatgmaildotcom

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  9. Great selection of books. Some of these are a surprise to me, but ones that I will enjoy too. Perhaps we can all discuss our readings over a glass of Absinthe in my favorite city - Paris !

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  10. Each time I look at one of these lists, I see completely new-to-me titles. Chronicle Books is awesome!

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  11. I wasn't familiar with Chronicle, but browsing their website I saw a rather yummy looking bread book. Tartine Bread. Less interested in "What's Your Poo Telling You?"

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  12. Definitely on board with your list, well done! To see my short and sweet list: http://blog.nolawest.com/2010/11/happy-haul-idays.html

    Good luck!

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  13. It's been a long time since I had a good vegetarian cookbook. I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for sharing your picks!

    mrsderaps @ hotmail . com

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  14. This Haul-idays contest is so much fun, and I get to visit blog I never visited and to re-visit blogs I have stopped by before.

    Stop by my blog if you like to see what I chose.

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

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  15. I have heard good things about the New Vegetarian. Best of luck to us both!

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  16. The macarons cookbook sounds good :)

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  17. Awesome list!
    cjwallace43 at gmail dot com

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  18. Count me in. The Divine Comedy Box set would be an awesome addition to any book collection.

    BookNoise at gmail dot com

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  19. I want to win this so bad. Good luck!

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  20. Love your list! Good choices! Good luck!

    Mollydedwards AT yahoo DOT com

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  21. We picked a few of the same books - NPR FTW!

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  22. What a fantastic list.
    Best of luck!

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  23. Terrific list! Fingers crossed :)
    adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. Nice list! I see some real gift potential there! Good luck!
    shetreadssoftly(at)gmail(dot)com

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  25. Great list - I like particularly like the cookbooks. Good luck to us!

    gaby317nyc at gmail.com

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  26. I love your list! I hope you win!!! Stop by my blog to check out my list too!

    jamie.l.torres at gmail dot com

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  27. Love your selections and wish you the best of luck!
    tanyainjville at yahoo dot com

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  28. Excellent selection. The cookbooks are making me hungry :)

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  29. Interesting list of books! Thank you for the chance to win this wonderful giveaway!

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  30. Super list. Love the coffee one.
    Great gift ideas.
    dorcontest at gmail dot com
    Canada

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  31. Great selection!

    ncnguyen514 [at] gmail [dot] com

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  32. i love the mix you have!

    lauren51990 at aol dot com

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  33. Looks like a load of great books! It would make for a fun mail day when the box arrived!

    lahlstedt (at) gmail (dot) com

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  34. Thanks, hope we both win!
    pinkpeonyblossom at gmail dot com

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  35. great book choices
    floatingonabiscuit@gmail.com

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  36. Macaroons, NPR, and Dean and Deluca... what a fab combo! I picked some of the same choices for my own list, check it out here if you like. Cheers!

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  37. This is by far one of the greatest lists out of all the blogs entered in the contest!

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  38. A great list with lots of variety. Nothing at all like the one I selected over at my blog(see here) but a great list nevertheless. I would love to win either one.
    Teresa [AT] LadySilk [DOT] Net
    Smiles,
    Teresa

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  39. Such a great contest! I loaded my list up with cookbooks!

    nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

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  40. This is a great list of books!

    jowanjowan73@yahoo.com

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  41. i'm completely loving your list! here's hoping we both win!

    k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com

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  42. I might need to amend my list to include "Paris Out of Hand"!

    Great list, and good luck!

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  43. sweet list! thanks for commenting on mine :)
    j.

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  44. Wonderful list...How did I miss a book about Edie and one on Absenthe? Too many good books to choose from. Fingers Crossed.

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  45. a little absinthe, a little cheese, and then some structural vaulting. Sign me up!
    kat dot owens at gmail dot com

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  46. I Love Macaroons looks fun, too!
    musesofmegret (at) gmail (dot) com

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  47. Great list! Macaroons are definitely a guilty pleasure as well as teahouses!

    XOXO,
    Danielle
    itisajoiseywayofthinking.blogspot.com

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  48. Any list that includes the Divine Comedy is a list worth winning. Love your selections.

    Murder, Mystery and Mayhem
    http://murdermysterymayhem.blogspot.com/

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  49. Thanks for stopping by my Chronicle list today. We have books in common including Divine Comedy. Let's hope for a win!

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  50. Would LOVE The Divine Comedy Box Set...great choice. Good Luck!

    Courtney
    stilettostorytime at gmail dot com

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  51. A fantastic list!

    Angelica[at]throughaglassonion.com

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  52. Very interesting list. Good luck! & Thanks for commenting on my list.

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  53. Good stuff! My housemate would like the macaroon book and it would be fun to learn how to make them!

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  54. Um please please PLEASE win. Wow I seriously think I would cry if I won all these books!

    happy_haylee_3(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  55. Great list of books! Good luck!

    xxsquigglesxx(At)Gmail(Dot)Com

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  56. Ooh looks great! Thanks for commenting on mine as well.

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  57. Excellent choices... the Dante looks just amazing.

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  58. Love your list! I hope we both win! :)

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  59. Thanks for your comment! Your list is great too! Esp would love to get the food books - yum!

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  60. Chronicle has such nice books. I'd love to win any of these.

    undermyappletree at gmail dot com

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  61. Good selection of titles. Good luck to both of us. And Thank You to Chronicle Books.

    jcamp2020 at aol dot com

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  62. Fabulous choices, especially the NPR book!
    Lilyhoot at gmail dot com

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  63. Good luck, man!
    Thanks for entering!

    http://joyanddisquiet.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-haul-idays-from-chronicle-books.html

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  64. Interesting list of books!
    nicolesender@yahoo.com

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  65. It's a very interesting list of books. Good luck.

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