Christmas always brings a new crop of reading material -- and not nearly enough time to read. But I have managed to gobble down Z -- a novel about the Montgomery, Alabama belle who became the wife of the young F. Scott Fitzgerald and an icon of the Jazz Age. It's a fascinating take on the literary life in the Twenties -- a veritable Who's Who of Big Names. Whether or not this captures the real Fitzgeralds, I don't know. But it's certainly sending me in search of Zelda's novel and the short stories that, according to this novel, Zelda wrote and allowed to be published as a joint effort. (There's a review in the NY Times HERE that will give you a fuller picture.)
I haven't read it through yet but am enjoying a leisurely perusal of its pages. But wait! There's more -- a CD is part of the package and Madison County's own Sheila Kay Adams (seventh generation ballad singer) is one of the artists.
Another beautiful book is A Kitchen in France. I was overwhelmed with the idyllic life pictured -- rural France, a charming old house complete with adorable children and dogs -- and a chatelaine/chef/mother/author who looks a lot more like a model than a serious cook. But I must say the recipes sound amazing and I look forward to trying them.