Georgette Heyer is my absolute favorite author--I own all 55 of her books. I even have hardbacks and paperbacks of the same title.  (For reading at home and for travelling).  I have my favorites of course; in fact my first blog review in November 2008 was my absolute favorite Georgette Heyer book, The Talisman Ring.

So...I was very pleased to find a biography of my absolute favorite author. I read it all in one sitting and discovered Georgette Heyer and I would not have been friends.  That was a big shock to me.  How could anyone who writes such sparkling repartee between her characters and makes the most ignoble characters funny or even likeable, be so unfriendly and anti-fan?  She would not grant interviews and responded rarely to fan letters.  Guess I should know that authors are not their creations.  Jennifer Kloester said that Georgette could be emotionally unaware.  To me that is pretty damning.  One needs to be aware of the feelings and emotions of the people you love.  And I didn't see that unawareness in her writing.   Still the biography Georgette Heyer is a fascinating, in depth, I could even say in a couple of places nit-picking (although Georgette would never use that term), study of one of the best-loved and bestselling authors.  I can say bestselling because all of her books are still in print and the first one was printed in 1921.  And she is credited with being the originator of the genre Regency romances, obviously another favorite read of mine.  If you enjoy regency novels and have an interest in that era, plus have an interest in the Edwardian Era (a heads up to Downton Abbey fans) you could very well enjoy reading about the life and times of Georgette Heyer.  I did although I am disappointed that she probably wouldn't have laughed at my jokes.

Happy Valentine's Day! Ah, but you may think that romance and libraries don't mix well at all yet here is whole book about the phenomenon! Begun as a website (now seemingly dormant) the many true stories gathered online were easily converted into this handy volume.

And Madeleine has organized these tales into a wide range of categories, with chapters of little vignettes by real people (though often using pseudonyms).

You can read about love blooming:

*  at the reference desk

* in library school

* at library conferences

* in public libraries (of course!)

and even on bookmobiles [blush!] and something called "Interlibrary Romance"!

Now, everyone sing along with that classic Jimmy Buffett number:

"Love in the library, quiet and cool

Love in the library, there are no rules

Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime

 I fell in love in the library once upon a time.

 
I was the pirate and she was the queen

Sir Francis and Elizabeth the best there's ever been

Then she strolled past my table and stopped at the stairs

 Then sent me a smile as she reached for Flaubert..."

Lee, who had been abandoned as a child, turned to dogs as source of affection and love.  When he found a litter of puppies in a burned-out building in France during the war, he took two of them home, naming them Rin Tin Tin and Nanette after the French good-luck dolls.  Thanks to obedience training and love, Rinty became a stunt dog and eventually earned a movie contract with Warner Brothers, bringing both dog and owner high salaries and fame. 

By the time the talkies came along, and silent films were no longer popular, Rin was getting on in age.  It was left to his offspring to carry on the Rin Tin Tin legend.  Thus it was the grandson and successors of Rinty who became the stars of the TV series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, which ran for 164 episodes starting in 1954 and featured the cry, "Yo ho, Rinty."

Orlean, a journalist who spent ten years researching and writing the book, brings a sweeping historical background to the story.  We learn that dogs only became popular as house pets in the twentieth century, when the move from farm to city changed the role of these animals in our lives.  The advent of dog obedience training, pet culture, the popularity of German Shepherds in the U.S., war dogs, and the rise of television are all explored in a fascinating and highly readable biography of this famous dog.

        Cheryl was only 22 when her mother died, much too quickly, of a fast-growing form of cancer. Cheryl had been very close to her mom, and the loss caused her life to unravel.  Her stepfather remarried; her brother and sister grew distant; and her own marriage began to disintegrate as she began casual affairs with other men. Four years later, her downward spiral brought her to the depths of drug abuse, when she made an impulsive decision. Despite little hiking and no backpacking experience, she planned a solo hike of the PCT from Mojave, California to the Oregon-Washington border. 

        Strayed's memoir is a highly revealing and intimate account of her solo odyssey.  Her lack of preparedness resulted in a back-breakingly heavy pack, too-small hiking boots that caused her feet to blister and bleed constantly, and near-disastrous lack of water and food. Her story is told with humor, grit, and suspense as she encounters snow, cold, hunger, fellow hikers, and creatures of the wild. She even lost her boots down a mountainside and hiked for miles with flimsy sandals duct-taped to her feet.

      Cheryl does indeed get lost, but always ends up found, due to the kindness of strangers and to her own intrepid nature, forging ahead despite setbacks. Her journey is a personal odyssey to pull herself from the depths of drugs and despair to find new strength. The exhilarating experience of the wilderness, the beauty and loneliness of the trail, are able to heal her and bring her back to the true self she had lost.

"I came in second in the Karachi 'Bonnie Baby' contest. ...First Prize went to the child of the organizer.  The judges were her friends. ...I was denied the title by blatant nepotism.  I began my life-long struggle against corruption and injustice."

Winner or not, a photo of dapper and earnest one-year old Ahmad fronts his endearing memoir.  Ahmad's record bravely recounts his family's confusing immigration to London followed by his continuous and embarrassing attempts to become the Perfect English Gentleman: James Bond. 

Despite suffering through racism, bullying, and the rejection of his would-be love interest, Ahmad writes with a lighthearted humor, making this an engaging coming-of-age tale.  Told with a self-deprecating tone, the book is also thoughtful and full of genuine affection for his life in both the East and the West.

Many thanks to Monica for recommending this great read and contributing her ideas.  

Intrigued, I went in and perused the shelves longer than I should have for someone who wasn't actually going to buy anything.  Really, $800 for a signed copy of Coraline??

One of the lovely books I came across was a first edition of 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.  I read this wonderful little memoir many years ago, along with its rarer sequel The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.

Hanff worked as a writer in New York City and sent a letter of inquiry to a London book shop (located at 84, Charing Cross Road) regarding a hard-to-find essay collection.  Remember, this was long before Amazon, B&N or Google.  Little did she know that this first letter would spark decades of correspondence and a long and abiding friendship with the shop manager. 

The letters are fun to read as we get to know the feisty Hanff and the somewhat stuffy Frank and it is interesting to see their shared love of books and authors become a shared regard for each other.

This charming book brings back a time before email, twittering, and even cell phones abbreviated our communication style down to sentence fragments and cryptic symbols.  These letters are rich and enduring and remind us of the beauty of human expression when we actually sit down and put pen to paper.

If you think your family was or is dysfunctional, think again.  The author of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, bares the details of her poverty stricken, unstable upbringing.  You will wonder how she and her siblings survived.

She writes in such a story-like style with one bad thing happening after another, you won't be able to put the book down.  Her parents respond to situations in ways that are so surprising you have to keep reading to find out what happens to them all.

There's alcoholism, running from creditors, running from the police, moving with basically the clothes on their backs so often you can't count.  The parents do teach their kids one really important thing, though, but I won't give it away.  For someone who rarely enjoys memoirs I loved this book.

It's available in the KCLS catalog in print, Large Print, on cassette, and on CD.

"I Love Lucy": A Celebration of All Things Lucy: Inside the World of Television's First Great Sitcom

Someone once told me that I reminded them of Lucille Ball.  I took that as a compliment!  So naturally I have become interested in all things Lucy.  So when I saw the new book "I Love Lucy" (I am NOT writing out the whole title again!)  I had to check it out.  This book is a compendium of everything about the show.  It celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast (October 15, 1951).   It starts with an overview of the times.  For example, in 1951 eggs were 24 cents a dozen and a new car was $1520.00.  There are several essays which discuss the history of making the show, Hollywood at the time (they didn't want Desi to be Lucy's husband), and mini biographies of the actors and mini biographies of the characters they played.  The best part of the book is the description, with pictures, of the episodes.  Clothing and costumes are described, emphasizing how they contributed to the show and to American fashion.  It is noted that Lucy wore lots of polka dots-I love polka dots!   Songs, recipes and famous lines, each have their own chapter.  There is even a chapter where fans talk on how important Lucy and Desi are to them.
The author Elisabeth Edwards is a big time fan of Lucy and Desi and has worked with the family since 1992.  She states, "The Ricardos and the Mertzes were there in the beginning,  and are a perfect snapshot of that era, frozen forever in time as a glimpse of the 1950s America."

If you love Lucy you will love "I Love Lucy"...

Yet, as my children grew older, reading aloud together somehow ended. They could read on their own, and they stopped asking for reading time together. Thus ended the cozy bedtime snuggles over storybooks.

Alice Ozma and her father kept reading aloud together for much longer, as I discovered in The Reading Promise .  Alice (whose pen name is derived from her favorite characters, Alice of Wonderland fame, and Ozma of Oz) made a pact with her dad when she was in fourth grade.  She and her dad, a school librarian, promised to read aloud together for 100 nights in a row.  They found they couldn't imagine stopping, and the 100 days turned into a reading streak that lasted eight years, and only ended when Alice went off to college.  Alice then told her story at the age of 22, in her first published book. 

Her story is a remarkable memoir of her connection to her father through words and books, and the lasting impact that made on each of their lives.  I was especially moved by the final chapter of the story, in which her dad's work as a school librarian is jeopardized by the school administration's decision to undercut the importance of books and reading in the library.  Alice's memoir struck such a chord among book lovers that it has become a rallying cry for the importance of reading, and reading aloud, for children, families, and indeed for everyone. 

Visit Alice's website http://makeareadingpromise.com/ to find out more about the Reading Promise and how to start your own reading streak! 

As Jillian navigates her newfound luxurious lifestyle, her learning curve is humorous.  She is escorted in private jets, bought dazzling jewels and designer clothes, and has a full-time wait staff available to her every need.  The relationships between the girls appear sincere and friendly, but in actuality, they are competing not only for the prince's attention and affection, but also for the possibility of marriage.  And while the prince is busy or with other women, most time is spent waiting...Some Girls is a unique, potential fairy tale based on the oldest profession of all-time, prostitution.