Thankful for the Written Word 2020

Its time for my annual book wrap-up covering titles from the last year - Be they hardcover or audio through Hoopla.

I touched on some books in my post: Latest Volumes Click Image for link.

You can see my reading taste is mixed.

Jane and the Twelve days of Christmas - I loved this book about Jane Austen and her family during the holidays.

*The Forgotten Garden - I have written before about my great affinity for the author Kate Morton. I love all her works.
The Last Original Wife - This is a fun Dorothea Benton Frank tale of a woman who has had enough of her life and her husband.
Carnegie’s Maid - This is a great piece of fiction introducing a possible relationship between a domestic and Andrew Carnegie.
Pretty Much Screwed - Charlotte’s husband leaves her after twenty years and she must rebuild her life.
The Gown - I enjoyed this story of the ladies who maid Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown - but, I thought the story could have gone farther.
*The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - In 1785, merchant Jonah Hancock hears urgent knocking on his door. One of his captains is waiting eagerly on the step. He has sold Jonah’s ship for what appears to be a mermaid - this is a wonderful tale - I thoroughly enjoyed!

Howards End is a favorite - I love tales about buildings. Click image for link.

*Hillbilly Elegy - a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a look at the struggles of America’s white working class.
Queen Victoria Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow - By looking at the detail of twenty-four days of her life, through diaries, letters and more, we see Victoria up close and personal.
*The Dutch House - Another magnificent work by one of my favorite authors Ann Patchett. This book carries with it all the meaning of home and asks what does a building hold of a family when you don’t have either. This work was very meaningful for me.
The Grace Kelly Dress - I really liked this book - more than The Gown. It centers on the tradition of passing down a wedding dress to your daughter and what if the daughter can’t tell that mother No thank you.
*The Nightingale - A extraordinary tale of the french resistance during WWII. I could not put this book down! I have been searching for a book that would pull me in the same way - since I read it in May - A Single Thread almost did.

Three more amazing books. Click image for link.

Negroland - Since the nineteenth century they have stood apart, these inhabitants of Negroland. A region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by privilege. I enjoyed learning more about this world.
Dear Cary - I loved listening to Dyan Cannon relay her life and times with this icon of American Cinema.
*Shakespeare - I listened to this while painting our kitchen. The author has pulled together all the facts well known or not about William Shakespeare.

Folly Beach - Cate never thought she'd wind up in a cottage named the Porgy House living back near family but, thanks to her newly dead husband who left her homeless and broke she is and she’s also finding her way to a lovely new life.
By Myself and Then Some - Lauren Bacall recants her life’s story.
Whisper Network - Sloane, Artie, Grace, and Rosalita have worked at Truviv, Inc. for years. The death of the CEO means their boss Ames will take over the company - each women has a different relationship with him, he’s always been surrounded by whispers about how he treats women. I found the premise of the book timely, I did not respond to the waffling personalities depicted.
*The Marble Faun is Grey Gardens - Jerry Torre’s touching memoir about his teenage days as caretaker of Grey Gardens, the mansion chronicled in the iconic documentary Grey Gardens and two feature-length films. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” and their reclusive life of squalor in East Hampton and the family bond that developed between them. I enjoyed learning more about this incomparable pair from the remembrances of then teen Jerry.

This design book by my friend Paige Rien encourages everyone to incorporate their personality into their surroundings. Read my interview with Paige here.

Goodbye Paris - Grace once a cello player - has a quiet life in a small village repairing string instruments. Paris is where she meets up regularly with her married boyfriend - when he saves the life of a woman in the Paris Metro, Grace’s life is changed forever - her friends a charming elderly violinist and her store clerk, a teenage girl help her move on - I liked this tale of rediscovering your true self.
Inside Out - I listened to Demi Moore in her own voice tell the story of her life through Hoopla - I’ve seen the movies and the tabloid headlines over the years - but, I appreciated learning more about her.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis - I enjoyed this history of the former first lady.
Losing It - After the death of Eddie Van Halen I found myself reading and watching clips of he and his first wife Valerie Bertinelli - which led me to read this book. I found it inspiring how she gained a healthy perspective about her life and therefore her weight.
*The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters - I’ve always been a fan of the former first lady … I own quite a few books about her. I also own the book Lee by her sister Lee Radziwill - it was great fun to see images I had never viewed before and to learn more about these sisters together and apart.
*Paris Letters - Janice MacLeod doodled this question at her desk. “How much money does it take to change your life?” Then she decided to make it happen. Over the next few months, with determination, she saved enough to buy a year in Europe. When she got there during her first stop in Paris she met a handsome butcher. It was refreshing to read a sweet book about someone making their dreams come true.
*Getting the Pretty Back - Molly Ringwald shares her lifetime of experiences and offers candid great advice and some yummy recipes!
*A Single Thread - In 1932 after the Great War took both her beloved brother and fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Violet moves from her mums home to Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals. There, Violet is drawn into a society of broderers--women who embroider kneelers for the Cathedral, carrying on a centuries-long tradition of bringing comfort to worshipers.
*Miss Austen - England, 1840. For the two decades following the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen has lived alone, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation. Now in her sixties Cassandra goes to stay with the Fowles - the family of her long-dead fiancé, in search of a trove of Jane’s letters.
Searching for John Hughes - For all fans of John Hughes and his hit films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles, and Home Alone, comes Jason Diamond’s hilarious memoir of growing up obsessed with the filmmaker’s movies—that convinces Diamond he should write Hughes’ biography and travel to NYC on a quest that is as funny as it is hopeless.

I’m thrilled to welcome these fabulous volumes to the Chalet! Click images for link.

If you didn’t know what a crazy bibliophile I am - you do now. You’ll see I’ve read 13 books that are personal - I thoroughly enjoy learning more about these humans. I recommend all - the biographies, decor and novels but, any with an * are faves.