A New Tell-All From a Royal Confidant is One of February's Must-Read Books
- 1/17
A New Tell-All From a Royal Confidant is One of February's Must-Read Books
This month, dive into a hotly anticipated new novel that's already being developed for TV, devour a history of Black artists on Broadway, indulge in a photo-driven testament to the power of collaboration, or tear through stories about world-famous explorers, the horrors of boarding school, or the secret lives of boardroom legends.
courtesy - 2/17
Big Swiss
amazon.com
Jen Beagin's novel is, in the simplest terms, about the transcriptionist for a sex therapist who falls for one of his clients after transcribing her sessions. Really, though, the funny, offbeat story (which is already in the works to become an HBO series) asks questions about telling the truth, falling in love, and who we really are when no one else is looking—or so we think.
amazon.com - 3/17
When Broadway Was Black
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In 1921, composers Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake shook up New York City’s musical theater scene by producing the first all-Black musical on Broadway. The production, called Shuffle Along, brought vibrant jazz tunes to the Broadway stage and gave Black performers an opportunity to shine in the process. Peruse the pages of When Broadway Was Black to explore the history of Shuffle Along and the creators behind this iconic work of art.
amazon.com - 4/17
All the Beauty in the World
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It’s customary to depend on a sanctuary when life gets overwhelming, and for Patrick Bringley, his personal oasis became the Metropolitan Museum of Art after learning that his brother had been diagnosed with fatal cancer. But Patrick did more than visit this art haven every once in a while— he quit his job at the New Yorker and decided to work as a full-time museum guard. In All The Beauty in the World, Patrick Bringley depicts the treasures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art through his own intimate and fascinating perspective.
amazon.com - 5/17
What Napoleon Could Not Do
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DK Nnuro's newest book What Napoleon Could Not Do illustrates the story of two siblings, Jacob and Belinda Nti, all of whom share a common goal of moving from their hometown in Ghana to America. When Belinda realizes the American dream, or in her father’s words, achieves “what Napoleon couldn’t do,” Jacob grows bitter. Through their separate paths toward success, the siblings embark on journeys of promise and disappointment, each navigating in their own way.
amazon.com - 6/17
Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
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To be clear, we'd read anything featuring Irving Penn's iconic portrait of the explorer Peter Freuchen and his wife Dagmar on the cover. But it's made all the better that this book is a captivating look at Freuchen's incredible life and his adventures everywhere from the Arctic to American high society. It's a marvelously told story of a life lived incredibly well, and a good reminder that fortune most certainly favors the bold.
amazon.com - 7/17
Richard Avedon: Relationships
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Richard Avedon—the legendary photographer who would have turned 100 this year—might have been the man behind the camera for some of the world's best known portraits but he didn't work alone. This coffee-table book, published in tandem with an exhibition at Palazzo Reale, focuses on his collaborations with some of his most frequent subjects, from Jasper Johns and Carson McCullers to the Beatles and Truman Capote, exposing the give and take required to make history.
amazon.com - 8/17
I Have Some Questions for You
amazon.com
This new novel from the author of The Great Believers follows a boarding school alum as she returns to her New England alma mater to teach a course and winds up opening old wounds—for herself as well as a number of figures from her past. When a decades-old murder, which has been mostly relegated to the dark world of internet sleuths, becomes a hot topic once again, everything Bodie Kane thinks she knows about the world she lives in and the memories she's made come into question—and the picturesque campus where she's living becomes perhaps the most dangerous place of all.
amazon.com - 9/17
The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival
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Grief is an inevitable part of life, and if there’s anyone who knows this firsthand, it's Bozoma Saint John. While in college, her boyfriend committed suicide. In her first moments of motherhood, her child died prematurely. And in the midst of a separation from her husband, she discovered that he had terminal cancer. Through unveiling her profound stories of love and loss, Saint John encourages others to persevere through tumultuous times in the face of adversity.
amazon.com - 10/17
Whatever Next?: Lessons from an Unexpected Life
amazon.com
Princess Margaret's close confidant, Anne Glenconner, is back with her second memoir. Glenconner was Margaret's lady-in-waiting for over three decades, and her first memoir, Lady in Waiting, was full of interesting revelations about the royal family. "While I was writing it, I realized I had led a very interesting life. The sort of life I led doesn't really exist anymore," she told Town & Country.
Read more here.amazon.com - 11/17
Strong Female Character
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There is no doubt that cinema allows us to examine our surrounding world through a colorful lens. Hanna Flint, a successful film critic, would certainly agree with the former statement. She would also tell you that cinema can be used as a tool for introspection. Strong Female Character follows Flint, who comes from a mixed-race background, as she navigates the tumultuous land of a predominantly white film industry while using film to learn more about herself with every step of the way. In this powerful memoir, readers will also discover Flint's commentary on the ways in which creative industries can strive to be more inclusive.
amazon.com - 12/17
The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams
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Behind every piece of jewelry is a story, and sometimes even a mystery. In 1986, an appraiser by the name of Violine Duplessi was asked to inspect a Louis Vuitton trunk owned by political candidate Paul Osgood. The trunk full of hidden treasures takes Violine on a mission to Paris as she works with the Midas Society, an organization that helps to return lost and stolen goods to their rightful owners. But during her journey, she discovers something even more fascinating, a shocking connection that she has with Paul and to a woman named Suzanne Belperron. Who is Suzanne? Well, we can tell you that she’s more than just one of the most iconic jewelers of her time. We suggest you start from chapter one if you want the full story.
amazon.com - 13/17
Stealing: A Novel
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Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble returns with her fourth novel, Stealing, about a young Cherokee girl removed from her family and sent to boarding school in the 1950s. It's a moving coming-of-age tale about a little-examined period in history, shining a spotlight on the abuses of Native American boarding schools.
amazon.com - 14/17
The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media
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What does it mean to be "authentic" online? Emily Hund, a research affiliate at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania, dives into that question in her masterfully researched book about the origins of the influencer industry. "This is a story of rampant commercialism, questionable ethical decisions, indignities and unfairness," Hund writes. "But it is also a story of scrappy survival, especially for the women who have been at the forefront of this industry since its beginning."
amazon.com - 15/17
My Last Innocent Year: A Novel
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"It's hard to say how I ended up in Zev Neman's dorm room the night before winter break..." our narrator, Isabel Rosen, begins My Last Innocent Year. Daisy Alpert Florin's debut novel is set during one young Jewish woman's senior year at a fictional New Hampshire college in 1998, as she grapples with the sexual politics of her campus, and embarks on a confusing affair with a married professor. Though it's set nearly 25 years ago, My Last Innocent Year is a deeply timely and relevant campus novel.
amazon.com - 16/17
Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
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Malcom Harris's Palo Alto is touted as the first comprehensive history of Silicon Valley, and how northern California reshaped the world. Harris dives into why the small suburb evolved like it did, and in doing so, tries to understand the outsized impact it has on technology and society. Count us very interested.
amazon.com - 17/17
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
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While we're waiting for Succession to come back to the small screen, this new biography of the Redstone family should scratch any lingering itch to learn more about the inner workings of a rich, powerful, and very complicated family. Here, journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams document the battle for control of the media behemoth Paramount Global and the ways money and influence have changed the Redstone family, whose control of the firm (which owns movie studios, TV networks, and publishing houses) has made them one of the world's richest and most watched clans.
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