Book of Ages
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore Have you ever found yourself deep in a project, having devoted countless hours and valuable resources, only […]
The Novels of Barbara Pym
The Novels of Barbara Pym 2013 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of my favorite British authors Barbara Pym. So by way of celebration, I reread a […]
The Patriarch
The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw A Multiple Choice Quiz. Choose One: Joseph P. Kennedy was a Surprise! All the above […]
The Viceroy’s Daughters
The Viceroy’s Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters by Anne de Courcy The aristocratic Curzon sisters were the daughters of Lord Curzon, confidants of royalty, and friends, lovers, and […]
Churchill’s Citadel
Churchill’s Citadel, Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm by Katherine Carter Do we really need another Winston Churchill book? Probably not, but author Katherine Carter, curator at Chartwell, takes […]
A VoyageAround the Queen
A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown Craig Brown’s unconventional biography of Queen Elizabeth II was a disappointment. By all accounts, QEII never said (publicly at least) anything interesting, […]
The Sisters
The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell I think I have written about the Mitfords before, but I cannot discuss sister biographies without reference to […]
The Secret History of Wonder Woman
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore When my friend Ginna gave me this book (non-fiction), I was a bit mystified. Not having read comic books as a […]
The Ride of Her Life
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of A Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts In 1954, twice divorced sixty-three-year-old Annie Wilkins was […]
The Nine
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin I know what you are thinking– the Supreme Court– yawnsville. Wrong. This fast paced narrative covers the […]
The Man Who Ate Too Much
The Man Who Ate Too Much by John Birdsall In 1938, thirty-five-year-old James Beard, college dropout and struggling actor, returned to New York City from his home in Oregon to […]
The Girls of Atomic City
The Girls of Atomic City, The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan What are the odds today of the Federal government funding, […]
The Churchills in Love and War
The Churchills in Love and War by Mary S. Lovell From the time that war hero the Duke of Marlborough built Blenheim Palace in 1704, the Churchill family has occupied […]
The Churchill Sisters
The Churchill Sisters by Rachel Trethewey Without question, Winston Churchill was one of the great statesmen of the 20thC, but as a parent, less great. This is somewhat understandable as […]
The Bolter
The Bolter by Frances Osborne A bolter, as readers of the novels of Nancy Mitford know, refers not to a horse, but rather an unconventional (or wicked) woman who leaves […]