Wedding Books

I love this book. It has lots of creative ideas. Each section gives you a type of shower with preparation ideas (including pictures), invitation, menu, decoration, activities and even type of favors. It makes it easier for you to do. I used one for a baby shower ideas just a month ago it was a big hit, I just added a few more things to it and BAM the perfect shower that was fun and colorful. I have recomended this book to my friend and will like to recommend it to you too.

Pravina Shukla's The Grace of Four Moons: Dress, Adornment and the Art of the Body in Modern India is an elegantly written, yet accessible text that documents everyday art of and on the body of her collaborators in Banaras, India. This book not only documents and elaborates about individual case studies, but envelopes them all together in a larger meta-study of the way in which scholars have (and have not) approached the study of body art as a simultaneous reflection of self and community.

This ethnographic text rooted in Folkloristics, illuminates how choices of individual "adornment" in Banaras become integrated into the different layers of individual life processes and culturally rooted aesthetic-frames from which generalizable principles for the study of body art across disciplines and the globe become abundantly clear. Readers will see that the individuals involved are not those who choose to adorn themselves. The research frames comes to include, the families of the women being featured, the makers of jewelry, the salesmen, as well other social and consumer networks that all relate back to the object and radiate outward to include national and global markets, which implicitly integrate notions of the interconnected "local and global" into the study of individual creativity. The integrated focus of this book brings together the dynamics of individuals-as-artists (of varying sorts whether physical craftsmanship or the art of assemblage) with the objects that they "speak" through, as well as the lenses through which beholders "see" through and read out culturally, regionally, gendered, aged, and class based messages.

This text highlights the hallmarks of folkloristic scholarship that is the focus on individuals as artists, and ability to document tradition and variations within parallel systems of production. This study does not focus on a single women, but multiple women, enacting their realities through material culture in different creative ways--India is by no means demographically homogenous, and we can implicitly read this discourse of regional and cultural diversity out of this text. One of the key elements in this text is the notion of choice. While privilege and caste might bring certain option to the table, the participants here shape their lives of their own volition, choosing each day how to represent themselves, on their own terms to the worlds in which they live. However, choice is also modified by implications of the larger social and cultural systems in which these women live, such as the influence of Hindu religious beliefs and the popularity of contemporary Bollywood films. Reader are able to see the ways in which these larger social phenomena become part of the discourses of the self in India, as they would in any modern, media saturated society.


More explicitly, Dr. Shukla creates explicit dialectics between contexts of production and display through use, which are brought together in a unique social and cultural contexts. Readers can see the way in which personal aesthetics are both individual and cultural, as part of intertwined discourses of the self as produced by a series of participants--jewelry and sari makers, knowledgeable vendors, experienced customers as well as the ultimate factor, personal preference. Where women appear to be the focus, we see the interchange between men who make saris, jewelry and assemble bangle sets, and women who create personal assemblages to adorn their bodies are active, mutually constitutive participants in this larger process of self-adornment in India. This perspective is clearly articulated by the way in which the chapters flow, as displaying and wearing body art in this context is prefaced first by the processes of making and buying it.

This is the perspective that has ultimately been missing from previous studies of dress and adornment. It is at the intersection between contexts where function and meaning gain powered as they are obscured, contested, and ultimately realized. It is the art-object's movement through these places and spaces that facilitates its meaning, which culminates on the wearers body in an intimate microanalysis arising from the interactions that negotiate social and personal aesthetics and expectations--display is however, but one stage in the life of these objects. Through the explication of similar objects in multiple contexts ranging from stages of production, consumption, and display, one sees the convergence of forms in the special context of the wedding. Readers get the range of everyday choices, and the specialized context of wedding attire, which includes the rearticulating of everyday types of art-objects (saris, bangles, and other jewelry) in a ritual context, heightening their relative meanings.

In these spaces between contexts, which are linked through art-objects, interactions between the images of real people become qualified by a person's interactions with the ideal images of gods that pervade Hindu culture, adding yet another qualifying layer from which to modify the meanings of what outsiders might consider simple artifacts.

The author makes nuanced distinctions between what people bring to and take away from their "home" locations, who they are, and what sorts of resources (for instance, financial and cultural capital) they have at their disposal to adorn their bodies to illustrate the utter complexity of often disregarded everyday adornment. She chooses to focus on individual case studies of women in Banaras with comparable resources in order to highlight diversity among rather than between social groups. A focus across between casts would only reaffirm social disunity without illuminating the nuances of personal expression, which allow the reader to experiences these women as agents of their own identity making, rather than solely products of their castes. This is not a study of India, this is the story of multiple Indian women as individual artists living within differentially connected or disconnected social networks that in-turn influence their personal aesthetic choices.

Implicitly readers are able to understand, that while adornment is part of the creative repertory of each of the women that are part of this larger story, it is not their only or preferred creative outlet. The text by no means claims that these women's worlds area defined by dress or confined by their bodies, rather Dr. Shukla points to accompanying examples such as outside professions and domestic food preparation as parts of a larger body of creative opportunities in which these women assert their own tastes and make beautiful things in their own lives.


Within this text readers begin to experience a vocabulary-of-dress as part of a communicative system, that much like verbal communication, both gives and receives messages, and in each interaction modifying the subsequent exchange. This discourse of body art is therefore active rather than stagnant, constantly being rethought and reevaluated through agents. This is not a book about how all Indian women dress and have always dressed (as essentializing discourse of static adherence to "traditional norms") but it is about current, living women expressing themselves through their body art now.


The author complicated the notions of display by highlighting culturally defined norm of both seeing and being seen in this area in India. Being seen and seeing become complimentary, reciprocal activities. The role of beholder is a culturally embedded phenomenon as well as an experience between individuals who share a sign system. Readers are also allowed to enter that relationship, although mediated by time and space, through beautiful photography we are allowed to make out own assessments--to create our own discourse about the art under discussion.

Throughout the text there is a wonderful sense of empowerment, where women are controlling their personal aesthetics and in essence expressing to the participants in their world. "This is how you may view me today." This implied through references the way in which gaze may be turned inward, as women's choices affect how they want to be seen and how they see themselves. At the same time, the reader may understand that not all choices are made to attract gaze, a women may want to distance herself from her husband or family and this chooses an aesthetic to detract gaze from her body (337).

Here we are looking at dress and the body as composite parts of a culturally and socially embedded semiotic system of understanding mobilized through tangible realities of color, texture, length, fabric, and pattern etc. We are shown the relationship of the individual simultaneously engaging with their own trade, aesthetics, and social role, with other individuals in roles of, producer, seller, and audience as a series of cultural mediators.

In The Grace of Four Moons, the author allows us to see that in terms of notions of beauty and art, objects are not where notions of aesthetics begin, but rather where they end. They reflect deeply held personal and cultural beliefs of life, beauty and the production of identity. Terms like "vanity" "modesty" "hygiene" "style" "creativity" "public" and "private" merge onto a continuum of the relative values of personal aesthetics. These elements, positioned relative to the body, then move with the body through geographic contexts, and in their movement, we may see how art becomes laminated on the body to express how an individual becomes situated in and between spaces potentially indicating both physical and social transitions. This perspective illuminates how one may study clothing and body art in diasporic contexts where concepts of home become by force or choice, relocated.

What is most important about this book is the way any reader or researcher working on body art can seamlessly integrate their work in the this multi-part model synthesized here. This is not a work about India, or how Indian women adorn their body, it is a comprehensive model for the study of body art across the world that emphasizes the complexity of self-adornments and how in temporary, transitory and permanent ways becomes simultaneously intertwined in multiple social, personal and economic contexts. By connecting discussions of micro contexts on the body and in the closet, and macro contexts of regional and national trade and commerce, this text shows readers how body art not only allows individuals to enact identities based on social expectations, but to simultaneously recalibrate those enactments in the face of personal desires and social change.
-
Rachel Gonzalez
Doctoral Student
Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology
Department of Anthropology
Indiana University-Bloomington

The Grace of Four Moons' subtitle promises (and delivers!) an exploration of dress and adornment in modern India. The author's discussion is engaging and well-written putting her into dialogue with dress scholars such as Valerie Steele and Joanne Eicher. The book is beautifully illustrated, scholarly, and written in accessible language making it a `must read' for anyone interested in how people everywhere communicate through their appearance. In writing this ethnography of dress, Shukla provides a model for those concerned with material culture in general and dress in particular. Designers, curators, folklorists, and anyone who enjoys learning about the rich possibilities of dress and adornment will find this book a fascinating read.

This is a nice reference book if you are trying to decide whether to purchase a ready-made wedding dress, whether you have the sewing skills to do so, or if it will be economical. The book provides a lot of information in assisting you in designing or choosing your wedding dress design. It is a book you would want to take to a discussion with a professional seamstress to aid in designing your dress.

The reason I can only give it three stars is that you will need other reference materials before you begin to sew. The book would have been improved if it had color photographs.

The fact that this book recommends the Hartness House in Springfield, Vermont makes me doubt its worth. The Hartness House only looks good in the winter when the snow covers many of the problems. I would not trust this book.

No pictures, outdated information. There are thousands of sites I've found online that are not included in this book. And, the ones they rate as the best are definitely not. Very disappointed. Their research is flawed.

I own a info website and thought that this book would be useful for assisting in the reviews and generating ideas. It did just that, although some of the desinations seemed to mundane.

This is a nice little book. It contains and describes a number of places I would never have thought of. The references are very helpful. However, it covers only 100 places (as advertised) and few of them have the WOW! factor I expected from a book with his title.

I recommend the book. It's a can't hurt, might help item that is not very expensive. It's worth the price.

While the information provided for each venue in this book is useful and detailed in its own right, the actual venues chosen are quite suspect in many cases. It seems pretty clear there is an arrangement with some of them to be included in the book, rather than being places that were discovered through research by the author. IOW, many great places are left out because they weren't part of the "marketing plan". Also, while it's admirable to include as many states as possible, the plain fact is many states simply lack any real destination "pull".

Example: South Carolina is a state with literally dozens of beautiful seaside resorts, huge gardens and old historic places where one might want to have a ceremony. There is ONE listing for South Carolina... the same number of places listed for Minnesota (Mall of America???). The fact that Mall of America made it into a listing of America's 100 best "destinations" for a wedding, tells you something about how carefully the places in this book were considered. Similarly one listing for Alaska seems incredibly short-sighted, considering all the cruises and beautiful National Parks there. Meantime there are more than 12 locations listed for New Mexico. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some beautiful locations in NM, but that is a disproportionate number of listings for a place most people will not have on their "short list of states".

Another problem with the book is that it has about a dozen pictures total, all in the front of the book, so there are many many locations you don't even get a sense for. How is the average couple supposed to say "Yes, that's the place we want to look into!" if you can't even see a picture of it? Bottom line: many great locations are overlooked in favor of those the author presumably has some connection with, and that helps no one...

...I do not recommend this book other than to borrow from someone (just in case the place for you happens to be here).

"Whodunit - You Decide!" is a book of twelve mini-mysteries in a court room setting. The book is divided into four sections: An opening statement which explains how the book works; the court cases themselves which are short stories; jury deliberations (arranged alphabetically by story); and the verdicts (again arranged alphabetically by story). At the end of each story is a section called "Trial Witnesses and Evidence" which consists of five different pieces of evidence for each puzzle. Listed at the top of this section is a notation saying how many clues are needed to solve the puzzle. After reading each puzzle, the evidence section, and jury deliberation section readers are to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty.

Although there are only twelve mini-mysteries in "Whodunit - You Decide!" each puzzle is complex and challenging enough to keep you busy for hours. The courtroom setting is a unique idea and a great way of giving readers just enough clues to help solve the mysteries. The puzzles range from easy to difficult and extremely clever. The easiest puzzles are "Our Man in the Field", "The Haunted House Murder", "The Lady in the Dumbwaiter" and "Will-O'-The-Wisp". "Death and the Single Girl" is easy but extremely clever while "Trial of the Black Widow" is a puzzle that has been done in various forms in mini-mysteries which makes it very easy to solve for long-time fans of mini-mysteries. "A Witless Eyewitness" and "No Brake for the Wearys" are tough and very clever puzzles. "The Vanishing Verrocchio" is also very clever with some nicely placed clues. "One Strike You're Out" is also very clever but relies too much on coincidence. Only two of the puzzles didn't work for me: "The Hot Designer" was not very believable and "A Family Feud" was an odd puzzle. I really liked the fact that the jury deliberation and verdict sections are arranged alphabetically by story which makes it impossible to accidentally see the clues or solutions to the puzzles following the one you are working on.

"Whodunit - You Decide!" is an excellent book of mini-mysteries.

The problem with the trial format is that it makes the book predictable plotwise: person A is always innocent, and a person B always has some crazy plan to frame person A. However, the crimes are just as challenging as the last edition. This work is still a far cry from a half-baked whodunit, where a case is "solved" when a suspect blurts out a lie. It's got me hooked and I'm 21, which is quite an achievement.
"The Haunted House murder" is the best case in this book.

This book is a sequel to "Almost Perfect Crimes : Mini-Mysteries for You to Solve". Once again you'll need to fire up all of your little gray cells to solve this new set of 12 clever whodunits! Note that some of the puzzles in this book have also appeared in a slightly altered form at "The Case" website. Buyer beware!

Instead of mindlessly watching TV tonight, why not try a Whodunit mystery? These mysteries are fun and challenging -- think Encyclopedia Brown for an older crowd. Each one has clever twists and it's great fun to exercise your power of deduction.

Each mystery is set up like a court case where the reader puts herself in the shoes of a juror. The general information about the case is given, followed by a set of clues (you don't need all of the clues to figure them out), and the answers are given in the back of the book.

This book would be great on a long road trip, or as an alternative to the mundanity of watching television. I'd recommend it to parents of teenagers, or anyone who wants to sink his teeth into a mystery.