As a reminder here is how the "Friday Finds" works: I share with other bloggers the new-to-me books that I have found in the last week -- books that I either want to add to my "To Be Read" list, or books that I'm investigating because they sound interesting and may end up on my list. If you would like to play along leave a comment linking to your blog where you have posted your own Friday Finds, or leave your list in the comment itself.
-----------------------------------------
Friday Finds: September 5
-----------------------------------------
Friday Finds: September 5
Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico. I've actually known of this book for a while, but had forgotten about it until just the other day. Years ago I saw the film adaptation with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. 'Arris and Englishwoman who scrimps and saves so she can travel to Parris to buy a Dior dress. It was a cute movie and I'm sure will be a cute book. Unfortunately it is out of print and my library doesn't have a copy, so I dug around and found a reasonably priced used copy on Amazon. Watch for a review of this book in the coming month.
Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson. I just finished reading The Mother Tongue: How English Got That Way by Bill Bryson and really enjoyed the book. Digging around a little I found several other books written by the American journalist who has lived in both the US and Britain. Two sounded particularly interesting to me. The first was this book written just before Bryson was set to move back to the states after living in England for over 20 years. I'm not sure if I will really end up reading it, but for now it's on my "To Be Read" list, so I can remember it. We'll see.
The Lost Continent: Travels In Small Town America by Bill Bryson. This is the other book I found interesting. Written in the lat 1980s it is a non-fiction book about Bryson's travels from his native town of Des Moines, Iowa across 38 states. From the description it kind of reminds me of John Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie (a book where he traveled around the US with his dog, Charlie). Again, I'm not sure that I'll end up reading this book, but I've marked it just in case.
Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capitol Survived Congress, The Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army by Les Standiford. Ok, so this probably isn't a valid candidate for this week's Friday Finds since I first came upon the book about a month ago while browsing in Barnes and Noble. Nevertheless, here it is. I've just picked up a copy of this book from the library and it looks fascinating. I can't wait to read it. Anything to do with American History, especially Washington, DC just sounds fascinating to me. This is a recent publication, out just this year.
2 comments:
Sarah, thanks so much for your recommendations. Classics and pre-1960s novels pretty much sums up my reading matter too.
My city library DOES have a copy of Manhunt, so I'm going to put it on hold. I picked up an old copy of an Agatha Christie (Sparkling Cyanide) this morning. I've never read AC before and I'm looking forward to starting it. I don't read so fast nowadays so that'll keep me going for a bit, and I'll keep an eye on your blog for more ideas. Thanks!
The first Bill Bryson I ever read was Lost Continent, and it's excellent; always interesting and frequently humorous. (His interaction with the small-town cop who pulls him over had me in stitches!)
Post a Comment