The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal: A New York Times’ journalist found Florence Wolfson’s diary in a dumpster. Florence had kept a diary every day from 1929 to 1934. The journalist was able to track down the journal’s owner, a woman in her nineties. The book includes passages from her diary as well as information from interviews between the journalist and the woman. I loved reading about Manhattan in the 20s and early 30s. It was interesting to read about some of the places I walk past every single day. It is amazing that author, Lily Kopel, found the diary and was able to track down the owner who was so touched to be able to relive her youth through the pages of her old journal. I want to read Lily’s recent book, The Astronaut’s Wives Club.
Why Not Me?: I loved Mindy Kaling’s first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, so I was so excited to see that she published another book. Mindy’s essays are funny and candid. I especially liked her piece about confidence. I recommend it!
The Girl You Left Behind: This book tells two different stories: the story of Sophie Lefèvre and Liv Halston. Sophie’s husband painted her portrait before leaving to fight in World War I. Sophie’s town is invaded by the Germans and she has to serve them at her hotel. A Kommandant admires the painting and Sophie gives up the painting with the promise that the Kommandant will reunite her with her husband. She ends up spending much of the year in concentration camps. The second half of the story takes place in the modern-day. Liv’s late husband gave her the painting as a wedding gift. After his death, she takes comfort in the painting. She begins dating again and dates someone who helps to return art to family’s that had art stolen by the Nazis. A court battle over the painting begins and we learn more about its history and meaning to Liv. I really enjoyed the way the author weaved the two stories together. It was also interesting to learn more about the process of art restitution.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald: This book is a novel about Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book is as detailed as a biography, but it reads like a novel. I read it so quickly! It was like stepping into another era and getting to see the lives of Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and more. Although outsiders may have thought Zelda’s life was perfect, it’s clear that it was far from true. Now I want to read Zelda: A Biography and Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F.Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
The White Rose: The White Rose is about a 48-year-old married professor, Marian Kahn, who falls in love with the twenty-six-year-old son of her oldest friend, Oliver. Marian’s older cousin gets engaged to a student in Marian’s department and their relationships all get entangled. The book is about wealth, status, love, and education. It’s also a modern-day reimagining of Strauss’ opera, Der Rosenkavalier. I’m a big fan of the author, Jean Hanff Korelitz and this book did not disappoint.
Does anyone have any good book recommendations? I have a long commute and lots of time to read!
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