Bought on a whim...

I thought I would love this book. And it was OK, but it was more of a sensory journey than a travel memoir- although she does travel to faraway places like Sri Lanka, France, India and Yemen. I enjoyed learning about the history of perfumes and scents, but thought the author was a bit self indulgent. Imagine spending two years roaming the world to find elements for your signature perfume. (And I wondered about her poor child left behind while she was jet setting!) Maybe I'm just jealous as I can't even find time to go to the local mall by myself :)

BTW, really fascinating chapter on the island of Socotra. I hadn't even known the place existed. Apparently the island was better known in medieval times due to its production of aloe. You learn something new every day!

I will add this to the Travel Narrative bookbox.

Pulled this out of the travel narrative bookbox yesterday. Thanks Jnpert!

Quite an enjoyable read. I enjoy good, readable non-fiction, and this certainly fit the bill. I learned a lot about the art of perfumery; I found it interesting that raw ingredients often are partially processed at the country of origin, then are shipped to another faroff country for further processing. I had to look up the definition of bespoke; I would have thought the author would have explained this meant custom-designed as it was used throughout the book; maybe I just lead a sheltered life, since I can't imagine having the resources to create something like this.

This will be going into a bookbox later this year, but right now it's gone off visiting a work friend who wanted to read it. Thanks again, Jnpert!

Sending out in my Biographies of Things bookbox. Enjoy!

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While the book sounds interesting, I think I will let this title pass me by...going to put this one back in MaryZee's books about things bookbox.

This book sounds really interesting, since I love perfume...but jnpert's note about the author being self-indulgent makes me hesitate to read the book, because this is something that really annoyed me about the book Indigo when I read it last summer...

This book enjoyed a brief visit in San Jose, California before continuing its travels with the Biographies of Things bookbox!

I selected this book from MaryZee's Biography of Things bookbox. Looks like a great read. Thanks!