mid century – Cannonball Read 17

“I can’t help wondering whether I was born under a galaxy of lucky stars.”

I Married the World by Elsa Maxwell

February 3, 2025 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Elsa Maxwell is a curious figure in world history because she was famous for throwing amazing parties and being friends with famous people, but she also shows up in the background of other biographies and memoirs of the period with what can only be described as a dark air of menace — as in Philip Van Rensselaer’s Million Dollar Baby, where Elsa is portrayed as a person who lures rich young women into marriages with con artist playboys and then takes a cut of the […]

Could Have Used More Tigers.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

July 13, 2024 by elderberrywine 2 Comments

cbr16bingo scandal I was very much predisposed to like this sort of book. I am a sucker for those mid-century (or earlier) tales of well-to-do families packing up to head out to Cape Cod for the summer; women, children, and the occasional servant, while father stays on in the City, and only comes out for the weekend. The house is, of course, some eccentric pile of lumber that has been in the family for generations and is known, needless to say, as the Summer Cottage. […]

an exercise in lying to liars

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

January 11, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

What began as a slow and cold (le Carré-esque) waiting game grew into a white hot flash of deceit, anxiety, and dangerous thrills. I cannot claim to know the full horrors and trials of World War II- nor can I draw a true comparison between that dark time and the present, but the world of this book is a different world from our current version. One constant remains: the truth is subjective. In 1940 a young woman is recruited into the fold of MI5. Europe […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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