Nightstand: My Mistress’s Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro. I picked this up again the other night when I couldn’t sleep. It’s an extremely cool anthology edited by the incomparable Jeffrey Eugenides.

Coffee table: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. This book is SO GOOD. Expect a review as soon as I can calm down enough to have coherent thoughts about it.

On the metro: The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes. I’ve heard some great reviews of this one, but it’s not doing anything for me so far.

Audiobook: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I love hearing authors read their own work. This one is awesome to listen to.

Internets:

Geeking out over Gem Gossip’s feature on antique date rings!

At Book Riot, we just published our master list of the best books of 2014. This is a treasure trove.

Seriously beautiful photos in this Stay Gold post on the Denver Cartier exhibit.

Discovery wrote this “Gift List Circa 50,000 B.C.” and it’s really cool. Spoiler: pretty rocks and jewelry were valued even then!

Is anyone in the market for a cursed sword? An elderly lady says that one of her 100+ swords is cursed, and she’s had enough of its antics. It’s on Craigslist.

The Cost of Things in Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ Music Video – this post is hilarious, but they don’t mention any of the jewelry. It’s all real, by Lorraine Schwartz and Ofira.

Are you following Monica on her #idazzletravels through the the African gemstone world? You should be.

Why We’re Sad That Chris Pratt Is “Done” With Being a Little Chubby – can you imagine an article like this ever being written about a lady celebrity? Neither can I (I do love me some Chris Pratt, though).

My girl at Spinsterhood Diaries did an amazing all-gold gift guide. Yes, I do think I need gold driving gloves and gold salad tongs.

Nightstand: Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: The Fourth Rule of Scoundrels (Rules of Scoundrels) by Sarah MacLean. SO PUMPED to have this review copy. YAY Sarah MacLean!

Coffee table: Ruby by Cynthia Bond.  Yikes. This is not a happy story.

On the metro: The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. This book is intense, but really well written.

Internets:

A Vogue slideshow with 88 photos of celebrity engagement rings. Tell me your favorites!

Marry, Date or Dump: The Men from Little Women.

How do you feel about the phrase “semi-precious” in reference to gems? Monica of idazzle is not a fan.

The fab Cheryk Kremkow has been doing some great posts on the AGTA Spectrum awards.

So cool for so many reasons: Sphinx unearthed from 1923 Cecil B. DeMille movie set.

Literary Style: A Look at the Homes of Famous Writers.

Two favorite powerful TV ladyheros love to drink gallons of red wine. Maybe this is why watching TV makes me want wine?

The top 10 royal sapphires.

How the fab Allison Janney – a Kenyon alum, just like me! – became “that actor in everything.”

This jewelry creates energy for powering tech devices…by harnessing the power of its wearer’s veins.

The fabulous jewelry of country music stars.

Nightstand: Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema by Anne Helen Petersen.

Coffee table:  The Wise Man’s Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two by Patrick Rothfuss. Why did I wait this long to read this series??? It’s SO GOOD.

On the metro: The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Series Book 1) by Charlie N. Holmberg.

Audiobook: Nothing at the moment.

Internets:

Happy early Halloween from this amazing GIF made with Wendy Brandes jewelry!

Obviously we all want to read a piece called “A time traveler’s guide to medieval shopping.”

I will pretty much always read a blog post about the best red lipsticks.

Here are a couple of cool articles about The Art of Mourning exhibit at The Met.

I can’t imagine a day when I wouldn’t want to see a well-dressed gentleman rescue a whole bunch of baby ducklings from a storm drain.

I agree with most of this “tips for wearing jewelry to work” piece. ESPECIALLY the #5, which is “use rings to improve your mood.”

Some drop-dead gorgeous photos in this post from The Jewellery Editor on the new Cartier Royal collection.

Supposedly prim and proper Victorians getting silly in front of the camera. I love, love, love the Victorians.