Book Review: The Italian Dream: Wine, Heritage, Soul

Here we are again, new month - new book review. 

The Italian Dream: Wine, Heritage, Soul authored by Gelasio Gaetani dAragona Lovatelli, with photography by well-known globetrotting photographer Aline Coquelle, was recently published by Assouline, maker of the finest, luxury coffee table books. I'm not Italian, but have dreams of one day visiting this magical place that pictures often portray as a sort of second heaven. 

Lovatelli is a member of one of the oldest aristocratic Italian families, and together with Coquelle, he spent three years traveling the Italian countryside, sampling the country's best wines and taking in the scenic beauty of Italy, photographing the journey to present to the world in this impressive coffee table book. 

The photos and stories Lovatelli and Coquelle gathered during their three year journey fill the 372-pages of the book almost like a well organized scrapbook. Vignettes of the countryside next to photos of elegantly effortless dinners, followed by story after story told by passionate Italians who embrace their history, and their wine! Let's take a look, shall we?

It's no surprise, The Italian Dream: Wine, Heritage, Soul is an escape into the beautifully charming Italian lifestyle, the delectable food and wine, the passionate people and the awe-inspiring scenery from the southern seaside, to the heart of Rome, to the villages of Tuscany.

If you're a lover of fine food, fine wine, and fine books about fine living - this book has to be on your must-have list. I desire a trip to Italy more fiercely than ever before, and can't wait to use this book as a sort of insiders tourist guide for the best places to discover the "true" Italy. Take a further look, and purchase the book via the Amazon link below: 

Book Review: The Pearl Necklace

For those of you who know jewelry, you know that Mikimoto is probably the most recognized producer of the finest cultured pearl jewelry in the world. For those of you who know books, you probably would agree that Assouline is known as the top publishing house for luxury coffee table and design books. So when the two of them came together to publish a book on quite possibly one of the most iconic pieces of jewelry in history, you could bet on the book being a stunning work of art. And it is! 

The Pearl Necklace offers up an evolution of the beloved pearl necklace throughout history in more than 200 color photos. Worn for centuries by Queens and Maharajahs, First Ladies, and starlets on red carpets from the teens of the 1900's to the teens of the 2000's, the pearl necklace is a ubiquitous piece of jewelry for any woman that has defied all trends. Let's take a little peek inside:

The Pearl Necklace not only catalogs the history of the jewels themselves, in designs from simple strands to the incredibly intricate work of a Mikimoto collar, it also presents pearls in paintings like Botticelli's "The Birth of  Venus".

An absolutely beautiful book, perfect for those of you with an interest in jewelry, beauty, history, and art; this massive, luxurious volume reminds all of us why the pearl necklace has long been the ultimate object of fascination and fantasy.

Take a closer look, and grab your own copy via the Amazon link below:

Also, if you're interested in learning more about Mikimoto, Assouline published a small, 80-page book about the jewelry house in 2008, which you can find here:

Book Review: Art House

Some of you may know the name Chara Schreyer, some of you may not. Let me give you a quick biography that in either case will catch you up to speed, or serve as a refresher. Chara Schreyer was born in Germany to Holocaust Survivors, and immigrated to the United States in the early 1950's. She honed her love of art at UC Berkeley, where she studied Art History, and she made her money as the director of Shapell Investment Properties, a famed Beverly Hills based group she started that is responsible for the building of more than 70,000 luxury properties throughout California.

Chara is a trustee of many museums, including LA's Hammer and Museum of Contemporary Art and over the past forty years, has a collected more than 600 pieces of art, including masterpieces by Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Diane Arbus, and Frank Stella.

From the beginning, Chara has worked exclusively with California interior designer Gary Hutton, and for the last forty-years, he has designed five homes for Chara, all of which have one rule: the art must get star billing. And when you have pieces valued in the millions, some that are priceless, why wouldn't they?

Art House: The Collaboration of Chara Schreyer and Gary Hutton takes us on a breathtaking visual tour through the rooms of these five luxury homes, blurring the lines of art gallery and home. Let's take a peek:

Schreyer believes that collecting these fine works of contemporary and modern art is her life's work. She sees herself as custodian, giving a place for the art to live long past her lifetime. 

Thanks to Assouline, and the lavish coffee table book Art House, we all now can explore and enjoy the collections that Schreyer has generously curated in her California homes, forever. It's a beautiful book of architecture, design, art, and history that will keep you glued to the volume, page after page. 

Take a closer look for yourself, and pick up your copy via the Amazon link below: 

Book Review: Chic Stays

Chic Stays: Conde Nast Traveller's Favorite Peope on Their Favorite Places

Who doesn't love a vacation? Am I right? I mean, it really doesn't even matter where you go, or for how long you respite, if you're away from the reality of your day to day life - you're vacationing; and we all love it! Unfortunately, we don't all have the opportunity to vacation as much as we'd like, let alone as much as we think we need. That's why books like Chic Stays are so important in our homes. They allow us to take vacations vicariously through pictures while inspiring our interiors, and future vacation plans. 

Chic Stays does exactly that, acting as one part inspiring Interior Design book, one part Travel diary. The glorious coffee table book catalogs the world's most beautiful hotels and homes frequented by our favorite super stars during their luxury jaunts across the globe. Actors, musicians, writers, even models all share their personal stories of thirty-six of some of the most stunning locations on the globe. Let's take a little look: 

The palazzo at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California, which Florence Welch (the songstress of Florence and the Machine) describes as half sanctuary, half madhouse. 

Actress Kate Winslet finds her solice on the Scottish island of  Eilean Shona, where J M Barrie wrote Peter Pan! 

Beautiful siren keys at LES MISERABLES actor Eddie Redmayne's favorite luxury hotel in Italy, Le Sirenuse.

Le Sirenuse. 

Rosamund Pike, the actress from the movie GONE GIRL, and the much anticipated A UNITED KINGDOM, writes about her favorite hotel in Beijing, the Aman Summer Palace Hotel.

Chic Stays is saturated with glorious photographs filling more than 260-pages in a volume that is so large it could also double as a weapon! For years, Assouline has created some of the most treasured and coveted coffee table books in the publishing industry, and this one is no exception. Famous contributors to the book include Sofia Coppola, singer Beth Ditto, Eva Longoria, Guy Ritchie, and socialite Olivia Palermo all on their favorite hot spots, and private escapes from Italy to Oregon, Austin to Sri Lanka. 

It has simply become one of my most favorite books to curl up with on these cold, winter days in Western New York, and I think you'll love it too! Take a closer look, and purchase your copy via the Amazon link below: