Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Live Now - #CannonBookClub Discussion of Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
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> Tag: melanie benjamin

A story of two Hollywood legends

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

February 12, 2019 by Mikki Blu Leave a Comment

This is another fictionalized book about real people by Ms Benjamin (who wrote “The Swans of Fifth Avenue”) – and it’s an intriguing read!  I’m sure we all have the basic knowledge of Mary Pickford who was America’s sweetheart, the “girl with the curls” who married Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and lived the glamorous star life.  What I didn’t know is that there was another woman from that era who was also forging a path for herself in a man’s world – Frances Marion, a writer […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: Frances Marion, Mary Pickford, melanie benjamin, Old Hollywood Glamour

Mikki Blu's CBR11 Review No:9 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: Frances Marion, Mary Pickford, melanie benjamin, Old Hollywood Glamour ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Beneath the facade of glitz and glamour

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

January 17, 2019 by Mikki Blu 1 Comment

“The scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley.” This is a fictional telling of the socialite “Swans” of the 1950s and early 1960s that focuses mainly on Barbara “Babe” Paley, and her friendship with Truman Capote; however it includes many other famous women such as Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Pamela Churchill.  These are the fabulously wealthy ladies who lunch, dress to impress, marry often and love to gossip.  The era was […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: 1950s glamour, Babe Paley, melanie benjamin, scandal and glamour, truman capote

Mikki Blu's CBR11 Review No:4 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: 1950s glamour, Babe Paley, melanie benjamin, scandal and glamour, truman capote ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

“It was her style, that indefinable asset. It was said that the others had style but Babe was style.”

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

August 4, 2016 by badkittyuno Leave a Comment

I realized about 4 hours into this book (I listened to the audio version — big mistake, since you can’t skim to reach the ending faster) that nothing was actually going to happen. I slogged on, since I’d already invested so much time, but I was right — this one goes nowhere. I also kept telling myself that I like Melanie Benjamin novels, but I turned out to be wrong there. Like The Aviator’s Wife and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, The Swans of Fifth Avenue was just dull. […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin

badkittyuno's CBR8 Review No:154 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

To Marry a Hero

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

December 16, 2015 by badkittyuno Leave a Comment

And following the feel-good goodness of Willowdean and Dumplin’, I read The Aviator’s Wife, and spent the whole book wanting to strangle the main character. Read on! “Marriage breeds its own special brand of loneliness, and it’s far more cruel. You miss more, because you’ve known more.” The Aviator’s Wife is Melanie Benjamin’s fictionalization of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh and the mother of the poor Lindbergh baby, who was kidnapped and murdered at 20 months old. I’m not sure […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin

badkittyuno's CBR7 Review No:249 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

August 6, 2015 by badkittyuno Leave a Comment

I read Benjamin’s Alice Have I Been a few years ago. In that one, she creates a novel around the young lady who supposedly inspired Alice in Wonderland. I didn’t really like it very much, but I’d heard that The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb was worth a shot, so I grabbed it when I saw it at Half Price Books. I’m glad I did — it was a good story with a fascinating cast. “That’s just it, don’t you see? I don’t want to be taken […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin

badkittyuno's CBR7 Review No:144 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: badkittyuno, melanie benjamin ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Keeping up with the Lindberghs

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

May 17, 2015 by Caitlin_D 1 Comment

Everyone knows two things about Charles Lindbergh: he piloted the first solo, non- stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris and in 1932 his son Charles Lindbergh Jr was kidnapped and murdered. This book is a fact-based, although fictional, recollection of Anne Morrow Lindbergh who tried to create her own life within the shadow of her famous husband. I learned a lot about Lucky Lindy, particularly how far reaching his influence was in the world of aviation, but Anne is the true star of […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: melanie benjamin, Spoilers, the aviator's wife

Caitlin_D's CBR7 Review No:24 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: melanie benjamin, Spoilers, the aviator's wife ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment


Recent Comments

  • MsWas on Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph ClubQ5: The opening prologue ends with Lily wondering if the pageant girls are what Chinese girls are "supposed to look like," and Lily does spend...
  • andtheIToldYouSos on Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph Clubwell said- I think you just summed up the feeling that I couldn't quite place that was keeping me from loving this book
  • andtheIToldYouSos on Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph ClubI want to know more about what happens with Lily's frenemy and HER secrets! She pushed the duty/desire line harder than Lily, IMO, and built...
  • andtheIToldYouSos on Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph Clubyeah! coming of age and also that first fall into love with a capital L
  • Emmalita on Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph ClubYes. And I didn't express my thought very well (I am so tired). Telegraph Club is a YA queer coming of age with a love...
See More Recent Comments »

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