Don't Think, Just Buy

Hi, my name is Celeste, and I am a candle snob. That's right, I'm not proud of it, but I like fragrances with such depth that I can practically smell the dollars bills I am burning when I light a candle. However, I am not without reason: I know a candle bargain when I smell it!

Despite my general candle snobbery, for several years I had a (rather serious) thing for the seasonal Glade "Glistening Snow" candle. That's right, I said it: There was a Glade candle that I liked, and I'm not even calling it Glad-Ay. Unfortunately, Glade had the idiocy to discontinue the scent which is why two-year old Glistening Snow candles are now being sold on eBay for $25.00 (I'm not kidding).

After a couple of Glad-Ay-Free years, I have to admit: Glade has struck gold again with its newest seasonal scent: Cashmere Woods. It is so, so lovely! In all honestly, the name is a complete misnomer: It smells nothing like cashmere and/or woods. However, it is a completely toasty, yummy, warm-n-cuddly scent that fills up a room in the very best way. For around $2.50, you too can have the best smelling home on the block. Grab a few while they are still available! Buy even more and you can sell them for $25 a pop on eBay in a couple of years.

Book of the Month

I've been reading a lot recently, and I have come across some good reads. However, it takes a lot for me to recommend a book. In part, I hesitate to recommend books because my taste tends to run almost exclusively to 1) historical fiction, 2) murder mysteries, 3) some combination of the first two categories. However, sometimes I find a book that I think my friends might enjoy despite the fact that it fits into one of the above categories (I say "despite" because, much to my surprise, I find many of my friends do not enjoy the same literary predilections as me). I think that The Pindar Diamond just might be one of those books (although, in all fairness, I read the book while performing my civic duty of sitting in the juror assembly room, so watching paint dry would seem comparatively fascinating).

Seriously, who wouldn't like a book that includes a woman who washes up on the Italian shore but left her memory at sea, the glamorous gambling houses of 17th century Venice, a daring woman who leaves a harem to return to a convent, a child that may or may not be a mermaid (I'm going to go ahead and tell you that it falls into the "may not" category), a motley crew of circus freaks, a man who lost the love of his life and possibly his fortune, and (perhaps most importantly) an absolutely enormous and impossibly lovely diamond?!?!? Sure, there are a few things that seem a little coincidental about the story, but don't the best stories usually involve a little bit of luck?

The Pindar Diamond might not be the most intellectual read of 2010, but it is certainly one of the most enjoyable. Fair warning: it is the second book in a loose series, but stands alone extremely well. I can sum up the first book with the following: Guy loves girl; guy loses girl. Not much to it. The interesting part is what happens to the guy after he loses the girl and the discovery of what exactly happened to the girl, and this book provides some of the answers.

Let me know what you think about the book! Do you think that there is a happy ending for the characters involved? Who do you think is the strongest female in the story? Do you like Paul Pindar? Do you trust him?