I heard about this book from a customer and then saw an interview on TV. I tried to ignore this book. I tried to think that it was too long for me to read right now. But it’s not. This beautiful book is about parents loving their children no matter what. To loosely paraphrase from the video:

“There really isn’t an definition of what’s normal or what’s far from the tree or under the tree. The love that parents have for their children can see them through an enormous amount.”

Andrew Solomon spent years interviewing families with children who are deaf, children conceived in rape, children who are transgender, children who are prodigies, children who became criminals. Each chapter explores a different group of families and the challenges they face. Take it slow and read this book a chapter at a time. This is a book about exceptional families. Listen to some of the stories in the video below.

If you ever wondered what kind of photos Mary Poppins would have taken, these are it. Especially if she lived in mid-century Manhattan, never made enough money to make rent, and didn’t have a magical umbrella to spirit her away.

A professional care-giver and nanny, Vivian Maier remained an undiscovered street photographer until her death in 2009. It wasn’t until a locker, containing hundreds of thousands of negatives, was auctioned, that her art came to light.

Vivian Maier spent most of her life in Chicago and New York. She never studied art, instead she relied on her experience to educate her. We don’t know much about her life, but her photographs, some taken years before Diane Arbus became a household name, are a haunting portrait of post-World War II America.

Vivian Maier: Street Photographer

by John Maloof, 2011

“Vivian Maier represents an extreme instance of posthumous discovery; of someone who exists entirely in terms of what she saw” –Geoff Dyer

A short note to Lemuria customers and Lemuria wannabees:  The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs should be under the tree for every dog lover who thinks books and dogs are tops.  It’s fire engine red with a calligraphic style James Thurber dog on the cover with lots of vignettes about man’s (and woman’s) best friend in between.

Beloved writers, old canine cartoons from New Yorkers past, front covers going all the way back to 1925 when the New Yorker was first published.  Just plain fun and by far, the best New Yorker coffee table book up to this point.  This one is just about perfect.

P.S. . . . If anyone knows my husband (the Santa one), please let him know this is #1 on my wish list.  -Pat

Poetry makes the best gift. I promise. Here are some of my favorite gifts for the reader in your life that has probably read everything.

The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry, edited by Rita Dove

This cloth-bound book looks great on the shelf, and is a great compilation of the last 100 years of poetry.

“Here are the poems I see emblazoned on pennants along the road we have just traversed, my selection from the poetry that accompanied America through the last century, interpolated with the times in which they were forged and upon which they exerted their spirit. This is the proper moment to look back–after the first decade of the twenty-first century has given us the illusion of distance, after we have rocnciled ourselves to owning this scary new millennium by looking forward we’ve begun to forget. The past is never more truly the past than now.” –Rita Dove in the introduction

She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems, selected by Caroline Kennedy

This book is a great gift for Moms, Daughters, and Daughters that are going to be Moms. The poems are divided into categories (Falling in Love, Marriage, Growing up and Growing Old, etc.) so you can read them as you go.

Pablo Neruda: Absence and Presence, Luis Poirot

Published after Pablo Neruda’s death, this book combines black and white photographs of Pablo and Matilde’s home in Isla Negra, as well as remembrances from his friends and fellow writers.

Love Poems, Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda’s love poems are uniquely tender and give a vibrant and complex love explanation in verse.

In the night we shall go in

to steal

a flowering branch.

We shall climb over the wall

in the darkness of a private garden,

two shadows in the shadow.

–from The Stolen Branch

 Birds, Beasts, and Seas: Nature Poems from New Directions, Edited by Jeffrey Yang

If you like Mary Oliver, (she has a new book out this year, by the way. You can read about it here.) then you will love this collection. Spanning centuries of poetry, these poems are easy to pick up and read in any order. A great addition to the stack of books beside your favorite reading chair.

Have you ever stepped up to a bar and wondered how to order a “real” drink-a drink that Clark Gable or Hemingway would have ordered, a drink that would assuage your nostalgia for a simpler era? Or maybe you just need to brush up on your bartender skills! I have selected a few books from Lemuria’s bountiful Bar and Beverage section to assist our Holiday shoppers this season. Below are my picks for a few cocktail books that will take you to a scene straight from The Great Gatsby  or A Farewell to Arms if you’re willing:

Vintage Cocktails by Laziz Hamani

With stunning pictures and a playful handmade look, this book is almost more fun to have on the coffee table than it would be on the bar!

Gatsby Cocktails

If you are needing a recipe for a an Old Fashioned or a Sazerac, look no further than this cute gift-sized cocktail book!

To Have and Have Another by Philip Greene

This Hemingway Cocktail Companion is a great guide to the cocktails of Hemingway’s day, with recipes and reading recommendations to boot!

by Anna