Books 78 to 87

This is a motley collection of books read or browsed due to my currently over committed lbut very exciting life these days. 

78 Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend - good as usual but not as good as the Weapons of Mass Destruction one

79 True Prep by Lisa Birnbach -- by the writer of The Preppie Handbook written 30 years ago, it's a description of the social rules of a section of US culture (or class of US society).   One of my interests is in social anthorpology/class rules, so I enjoyed this.   All fresh and current.   There are few good books written about class.   A few of the greats are Class by Jilly Cooper and Elegance by Genevieve Dariaux.   Also, almost any book set in India or England has a motif of class. 

80 Damage Control by David Eddie -- The Globe and Mail advice columnist.  Disappointed.   Far too cute a writer.   Some good rules for people in general and some insight into male rationale.   Don't buy it.

81 Oh No She Didn't by Clinton Kelly -- Good writing about fashion faux pas.   Again, those social rules.   Pretty much knew them all.  

82 The Elements of Personal Style by Joe Zee and Maggie Bullock

83 The Fashion File by Jane Bryant -- the writer is the Costume Designer for Mad Men.  Great book.

84 Old English and Its Closest Relatives by Orrin W. Robinson.   Dipped into this extensively. Great book detailing all the Germanic Languages.   One of my interests is language and its development.

85 The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.   Dipped into this a few hours one evening.   Enlightening look at the marketplace and how it's affected by online commerce.

86 Food That Really Shmecks by  Edna Staebler  That old Amish cookbook, really lovely writing.   From Kim's mother bookshelf.  Thanks.

87 Provence A-Z by Peter Mayle -- very tantalizing.   Better than the previous books.  As always, somewhat condescending to the French and in that way irritating.