Spring and summer reads
May. 11th, 2017 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
autumniaI've been a pretty voracious reader these days, especially when I'm waiting for the trains (so many delays and weekend construction lately). In addition to the books mentioned in my last post, here's a list (inspired by evilgoddss) of other books I've enjoyed recently if anyone's interested.
* The Roaring Twenties series by Mary Miley. Three books so far (start with "The Impersonator"), and the heroine is a young vaudeville actress who ends up interacting with many great silver screen stars in Hollywood (e.g. Myrna Loy, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks). There's a lot of historical info about vaudeville and Hollywood in there, which is neat. It's almost like an American version of the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood.
* On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution -- am currently reading this right now. Nonfiction and totally relates to many of my interests: history, New York City, and food. There are a few historical recipes (turtle soup anyone?), lots about the people who came here (residents and visitors), and places that no longer exist. Lots of interesting real life characters that would probably be awesome in a film or tv series, inluding a female bouncer who used suspenders to hitch up her skirts, wore a pistol, and had a habit of biting people's ears off if they were troublemakers. I'm currently up to the Civil War chapter.
* Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. The story of an orphan girl from the Midwest who eventually ends up being a celebrated Parisian opera singer in the 1800s. There's a mystery involved about her past and her lovers, and which of them is out to betray her.
* The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman. A historical novel based on real life French courtesan Marthe de Florian. Madame de Florian's Parisian apartment has been left untouched for decades (see the beautiful pictures here) and was the inspiration for the novel.
* The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. Harry is a member of a small group of humans who have the (fortunate?) luck of dying and being reborn over and over again in the same time period as their first lifetime, and remembering everything that occurred in their previous lives. After several lifetimes, one of their group starts to kill them off one by one and changing history by introducing advanced technology decades before they should have been created. Harry's determined to find a way to stop the massacre and get time and history to run its normal course again.
* A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I loved Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility and his second book is a good followup. Gentleman is about a Russian count who is placed under house arrest by the Bolshevik government and ends up spending his life in the Metropol hotel where he lives. I love the characters he meet and interacts with and he really seems to make the most of his imprisonment.
If anyone has more suggestions, let me know!
evilgoddss) of other books I've enjoyed recently if anyone's interested.* The Roaring Twenties series by Mary Miley. Three books so far (start with "The Impersonator"), and the heroine is a young vaudeville actress who ends up interacting with many great silver screen stars in Hollywood (e.g. Myrna Loy, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks). There's a lot of historical info about vaudeville and Hollywood in there, which is neat. It's almost like an American version of the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood.
* On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution -- am currently reading this right now. Nonfiction and totally relates to many of my interests: history, New York City, and food. There are a few historical recipes (turtle soup anyone?), lots about the people who came here (residents and visitors), and places that no longer exist. Lots of interesting real life characters that would probably be awesome in a film or tv series, inluding a female bouncer who used suspenders to hitch up her skirts, wore a pistol, and had a habit of biting people's ears off if they were troublemakers. I'm currently up to the Civil War chapter.
* Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. The story of an orphan girl from the Midwest who eventually ends up being a celebrated Parisian opera singer in the 1800s. There's a mystery involved about her past and her lovers, and which of them is out to betray her.
* The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman. A historical novel based on real life French courtesan Marthe de Florian. Madame de Florian's Parisian apartment has been left untouched for decades (see the beautiful pictures here) and was the inspiration for the novel.
* The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. Harry is a member of a small group of humans who have the (fortunate?) luck of dying and being reborn over and over again in the same time period as their first lifetime, and remembering everything that occurred in their previous lives. After several lifetimes, one of their group starts to kill them off one by one and changing history by introducing advanced technology decades before they should have been created. Harry's determined to find a way to stop the massacre and get time and history to run its normal course again.
* A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I loved Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility and his second book is a good followup. Gentleman is about a Russian count who is placed under house arrest by the Bolshevik government and ends up spending his life in the Metropol hotel where he lives. I love the characters he meet and interacts with and he really seems to make the most of his imprisonment.
If anyone has more suggestions, let me know!