Under The Lamplight

Forget candy! Delectable reads make the most delicious Valentine

By Caroline Leavitt
Published: Feb 01, 2008

A Perfect Mess
by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
Back Bay Books $14.99
Office look like an earthquake hit it? Laundry breeding on every chair? Maybe you think you need to clean up your act, but is mess really such a bad thing? Not according to the authors of this nifty tome. Using true stories, case studies and anecdotes, they show that mess can actually help everything from business to parenting and even fighting terrorism. Too much organization, the authors stress, can actually shut the door to real creativity and breakthroughs. So leave the laundry and read, already!

Simply Irresistible
by Ellen T. White
Running Press $12.95
First of all, the book is drop-dead gorgeous. From its incandescent cover of a reclining odalisque to the sultry siren photographs inside, this is the kind of book you want to keep close by so you can leaf through it. White’s gathered innovative advice and quips from an all-star roster of sirens like Greta Garbo and Angelina Jolie, and she’s also power-packed the book with fun temptress facts. The perfect gift to bring out the siren in all of us. As if we needed any help!

Death Was the Other Woman
by Linda L. Richards
St. Martin’s Minotaur $23.95
Linda Richards runs the uber-terrific January.com site for books and her new novel is a film noirish mystery that kicks in gear on the first page and never lets up. Plucky Kitty (don’t you adore the name?) is a down-on-her-luck society dame in depression era Los Angeles, working to nab criminals with her gritty gumshoe boss. Richards’ got the thirties lingo down pat, and the book brims with atmosphere and enough plot turns to give you whiplash. Lots of thrills, and lots of fun.

The Senator’s Wife
by Sue Miller
Knopf $24.95
What makes a good, lasting marriage? And what are we prepared to overlook in order to keep it? Sue Miller’s known for her dense, psychological portraits of women’s lives, and here she exposes two marriages connected by both an attached house and a friendship. Delia, the wife of a senator, befriends Meri, a newlywed. But when the senator suffers a stroke and Meri grapples with a new baby, a shocking betrayal erupts, redefining marriage, friendship and the very meaning of their lives.

The Sky Isn’t Visible From Here
by Felicia C. Sullivan
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
$23.95
At the dark beating heart of this extraordinary novel is a mother daughter nightmare. Even as a little girl, Sullivan was the adult in her family, shepherding her mother to the hospital when she overdosed, hiding in terror from her rages. Growing up with a series of none-too-paternal fathers and getting more used to drug abuse than any child should, Sullivan learned the hard art of survival by inventing a persona to hide her pain. Brutal, breathtaking, and not to be missed.