2006 Reading List
Our Man in Vienna- A Memoir- Richard Timothy Conroy- A funny memoir of by a self-deprecating vice-consul in Vienna during the 1960’s!
Regeneration- Telling Stories from Our Twenties – collection of essays/poetry/art and photography by people in their twenties, very interesting and relevant for people of all ages.
Paris Match Kathleen Reid- kind of interesting women’s fiction about a woman whose adopted daughter (child of her wealthy crazy best friend) runs away to find the truth about herself. Bizarre character development.
The True Darcy Spirit: A Novel – Elizabeth Aston—cute historical lit, continued from characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
The Exploits and Adventures of Ms. Alethea Darcy-Elizabeth Aston - 2nd book from above.
On the Wing- A Young Woman Abroad -Nora Sayre- I love memoirs of “Le Grand Tour!”
Playing James-Sarah Mason—cute funny British chicklit
Snobbery by Joseph Epstein- which made me laugh, some people thought it was highly elitist and horribly snobby but I thought was funny. I also recommend Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks.
For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani- which made me exceedingly grateful that for all the American pressure to be thin, blonde and highly succesful in all aspects of life, I don’t have my parents harping on me for not being married at 21!
Playing James by Sarah Mason- Pure fluff, British chicklit and I love it
The Masque of the Black Tulip: Lauren Willig: I’ve been waiting for this forever and finally read it, not as good as the first!
Yoruba Girl Dancing by Simi Bedford: interesting and blissfully short novel about a young Nigerian girl sent off to a posh English boarding school.
Our Hearts Were Young And Gay: An Unforgettable Comic Chronicle of Innocents Abroad in the 1920s – Cornelia Otis Skinner, Emily Kimbrough: I love modern travel (11 hours from Paris to San Francisco) but this seems so much more glamorous.
The Anglophile (Red Dress Ink Novels) Laurie Gwen Shapiro: I know, quasi-romance novels but I love Red Dress Ink, at least the protagonist had 2 brain cells to rub together.
Carousel of Progress : A Novel -Katherine Tanney, while I do want to be a rich girl in the 1920’s, I don’t want to be a rich girl in SoCal in the 1970’s, or at all for that matter.
Holy Cow : An Indian Adventure: Sarah Macdonald, weird search for enlightenment and complaining.
What We Keep : A Novel (Ballantine Reader’s Circle) – Elizabeth Berg, I figured it out, I hate the 70’s! I’m a BoBo product of the 90’s and can’t handle it!
Baghdad Burning : Girl Blog from Iraq – wow, required reading for anyone making decisions or those who vote for those making decisions.
Project Girl -Janet McDonald
Pasquale’s Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town -Michael Rips, ugh, you spent most of your life living in a hotel and have no visible sign of gainful employment, unless you are Eloise, you don’t interest me.
Everyone Else’s Girl- Megan Crane, ehh, ambivalent
Picasso’s War : The Extraordinary Story of an Artist, an Atrocity and a Painting That Shook the World—Russell Martin, fabulous both from an artistic and political/historical perspective.
The Way of the World : From the Dawn of Civilizations to the Eve of the Twenty-first Century (Vintage) – David Fromkin, totally Americentric but an interesting and light overview.
Cafe Europa : Life After Communism -Slavenka Drakulic, I love her!
Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X -Deborah Davis, still waiting for Paperbackswap.com to come with the novel but the historical account will do for now.
Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals : Adventures in Love and Danger – Wendy Dale, my vacations are never this interesting.
The Angel of the Left Bank : The Secrets of Delacroix’s Parisian Masterpiece – Jean-Paul Kauffmann, ahh, les francais!
L’etranger: Albert Camus
L’existentialisme: Vannier, completely incomprensible, made me realize that although I look cute in black turtlenecks and nerd glasses, I am absolutely not an existentialist!
The Room-Mating Season: Rona Jaffe, alright.
Around the Bloc : My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana Stephanie Elizondo Griest
La Peste- Albert Camus—Very interesting.
Le Mythe de Sisyphe: Albert Camus—-so theoretical I wanted to cry.
L’Enfance D’Un Chef: Jean Paul Sartre- ugh, the most self-absorbed, melodramatic protagonist ever!
