All things exquisite

Here's a fun book—the Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights. It will enlighten you about the history and origins of such things as the Bartlett pear (Louis XIV was mad for them), champagne (the bubbles were first thought to be a bad thing, quelle horreur!), the topper (quite shocking when it was first introduced, and made of beaver skins, ew!), keeping a cricket as pets (for their cricket "songs," which sounds quite vile to me), and Japanese pillowbooks (a place to stash secret stuff—ok, that I like). Exquisite delights... what's not to love?

I am only up to the Ds in the book, but so far it has informed me of so many interesting tidbits that I didn't even know that I wanted to know. If you love exquisite things (and who doesn't, darling?) then you need this book on your bookshelf. You'll most certainly want to (in this order) eat a Bartlett pear, drink champagne, put on a top hat, then run outside to catch a cricket to put in your pillowbook. Don't say I didn't warn you.