Book reviews: French style, cooking and interesting retreats

BOUDOIR
Just as every girl secretly wants a little bit of the life of the characters on Sex and the City, so will every girl want a bedroom out of author Hilary Robertson's feminine extravaganza, Boudoir, Creating the Bedroom of Your Dreams (Whitecap, $54). We all know the bedroom is the most personal room in the house, filled with items that speak to the heart. But make no mistake: this is a very girly book, with sensual fabrics, sparkly jewels and a pair of high heels on nearly every page. All that's left to you is to choose which girl you are: a romantic Dangerous Liaisons girl, into the opulence of the past; a sexy Baby Doll, whose mantra is 'think pink'; or an exotic Spice Girl who likes hot, vibrant colours. With 15 decorating schemes (including a style signature and tips for getting the look), there's sure to be a room to indulge your every fantasy.

Best boudoir: Vintage Girl, whose light-filled attic mixes country florals, stripes and faded linens with antiques and second-hand furniture.

THE MAGIC OF PROVENCE
One person's fact is another person's fiction. So to me, what happens in The Magic of Provence (Broadway Books, $21) by Yvone Lenard, a Year in Provence-like memoir, seems too good to be true. Take the serendipitous discovery of the perfect country village in the Luberon, mere hours before the author's flight back to her home in California; renovations to the hastily purchased 16th-century wreck that go off without a hitch, despite the absence of Lenard and her husband; lunches with the prince and princess who live up the hill upon their return. Originally from France, Lenard weaves an intoxicating spell, describing fields of fragrant lavender outside her windows, generous (and sometimes cantakerous) villagers who become treasured friends, and the customs of people and place that make her second house truly a home. And just as you'd expect, life in Provence is inevitably tied to food – languorous meals eaten on a stone terrace under the shade of overhanging olive trees are de rigueur. So fittingly, each chapter ends with a quick recipe for some Provençal delectation: kir, ratatouille, soupe au pistou, tapenade, etc. Magic, indeed.

Best Chapter: The Chicken Rustlers, in which impromptu British guests spark a surreptitious midnight run on a local chicken coop.

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CUISINE GRAND-MERE
If your taste for all things français hasn't been sated with the book above, dig in to Cuisine Grand-mère, Traditional French Home Cooking by Marie-Pierre Moine (TimeLife, $33). A sort of rediscovery of the classic cooking that flavoured the country before the onset of nouvelle cuisine, Moine's childhood memories of food and family at her grandparents' home in the Loire valley season this highly personal collection of recipes. Perhaps the best part is the sense of the relationships that shaped the author's life and her connecton to food – especially the tie between Moine and her grandparents' cook, Madeleine, who dispenses wisdom and gossip as readily as soups and stews. Focussing on thrift and practicality, with a dash of traditional French country flair thrown in, Cuisine Grand-mère features soups, appetizers, fish, meats, vegetables and desserts, all perfect for warming the cockles of your heart as days get crisper.

Best Recipe Oeufs à la Neige: or Eggs in the Snow, a cold dish made of meringue, egg yolks, almonds and caramel, perfect for an innovative dinner party dessert.

LITTLE RETREATS
Vistas of mountains, evergreens and a cabin or two in the woods always bring to mind fall and winter, Hudson's Bay blankets and crackling fires. Great Lodges of the Canadian Rockies (Raincoast, $52), then, is the perfect book for this colder season. From majestic landmarks like the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise to off-the-beaten-path places like Num-ti-jah Lodge and Shadow Lake Lodge, this book traces the history of Rocky Mountain hotels set amid the magnificent scenery of our national and provincial parks. History comes alive with narrative by author Christine Barnes, as 12 rustic yet elegant lodges beckon the reader in to curl up before a stone fireplace, hot toddy in hand after a day of hiking or skiing, and relive stories of our own wild and wilful west, told by the legacy of pioneering mountain men.

Best Lodge Lake: O'Hara Lodge, one of Canadian Pacific Railway's bungalow camps, where guests of the main lodge and the cabins scattered along the shoreline of the lake have been gathering in the central hall to hang out in its après-ski ambiance since 1926.