Paula Deen's Savannah Style by Paula Deen and Brandon BranchPublished April 2010 by Simon and Schuster
Source: the publisher and Pump Up Your Book Promotion
Beautiful photography and writing that oozes the Southern charm that Deen is known for make up this wonderful book that showcases the homes in one of the most beautiful cities in the country.
The book is divided into seasons. Spring is dominated by decorating your outdoor spaces--gardens and porches; summer is focused on keeping cool with sleeping porches and parlors designed to keep the heat out; fall is time to bring out the good stuff and get more formal yet be comfortable, and winter is about the holidays and making a house a home.
Sometimes the writing can be a bit much (the "g" is left off the end of a lot of words such as fixin') but then if you've ever watched Deen's television shows, that is the way she talks and I found myself picking up a Southern accent as I read the book. In every chapter there are block of Brandon's Style Secrets. Nothing revolutionary here but they are great tips. Savannah is over the top but there are still a lot of great ideas here that anyone could incorporate into their own homes. Except I think that I'll skip on the taxidermy. Yes, there is an section devoted to taxidermy which is apparently big in Savannah. Instead I'll focus on the sections on collecting and book nooks. And maybe bring in some of those fresh flowers that Branch is so fond of.
I have a hard time taking Paula Dean seriously after I saw her on a cooking show making deep fried butter balls. No, I am not making that up! I also think it's kind of weird that she included a section about taxidermy in the book, but I do think the book nooks sound very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI read about this book but didn't hear there was a section on taxidermy! LOL - I think I would skip that as well!
ReplyDeleteI would love to meet her!! I've been so bad on my WW diet for the past two weeks that I think fried chicken, potatoes/gravy, apple pie w/ ice cream....bring on the butter...it all sounds good! Taxidermy??? strange huh?
ReplyDeleteI loved watching her show until they took it off here and my mom just adores her. I'm sure she'd love this book minus the taxidermy part - yuck.
ReplyDeleteHi, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm a big fan of this mode of decorating, but the taxidermy is making me interested in this book now. Bizarre, I know!