A House in Good Taste by Elsie De Wolf is a charming, witty book by the woman credited with inventing interior design in America. Ninety years ago she was helping her wealthy New York neighbors design their town houses and country estates, and it makes fascinating reading today, both as a window on a vanished world, and a look at a pioneer in her field.

Decadent Desserts by Christina Countess De Vogue combines my love of food and design. The author’s family purchased the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte south of Paris over a hundred years ago. It was built by Fouquet, Finance Minister to Louis XIV. When Louis saw how magnificent it was he confiscated the chateau, put Fouquet in jail, and built Versailes. Cristina focuses mostly on mouth-watering desserts and the photos of the food with the chateau as backdrop are ravishing.