sarahmichigan | What I've been reading

"Bluebeard: The Life and Times of Gilles de Rais" by Leonard Wolf, the story of the real historical serial killer of children from the 1400s who, in his youth, was the pious companion of Joan of Arc. Wolf tells you his own theories and opinions in the first person but he's also quite coy about de Rais' crimes until near the end of the book. It wasn't a bad read, but I do wonder if some of the books published on the subject since Wolf wrote this in 1980 might be more my speed.

and

"Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" by Ruth Reichl. Reichl was, for several years, the restaurant critic at the New York Times. New York restaurant owners knew she was coming and would warn all their employees to watch for her, so in order to fool them and not get extra-special service just because she's a critic, she donned several different disguises and became those characters for the night. I liked the recipe and food reviews, but the disguise aspect of the book was the most amusing to me. I found this book delightful and would recommend it highly.

My full comments on both books here.