Good Reads

THE GOOD WIFE and THAT CERTAIN AGE, Elizabeth Buchan

donna doberstein — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:38:04 -0800

I am recommending two books to you by Elizabeth Buchan. She is English, lives in London at the present time with her husband and two children. Her background is History and English majors at the University of Kent in Canterbury, followed by juggling careers in editing and writing. She soon left the editing for fulltime writing and has produced a prolific number, fifteen I think, novels about women.

They might be viewed by some readers as "romance" novels or just "falling asleep" books, but to me there were nifty little kernels of truths and wisdom in each book I read. I do recommend you check her out.

WHAT I KNOW NOW, Letters to My Younger Self, Ellyn Spragins

Bonnie — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:40:13 -0800

Here's a nice little companion when traveling, or as a diversion before falling asleep. It is a compilation of letters written by 41 notable women to their younger selves at particularly difficult or decisive times of their lives. This ingenious idea was the brainchild of Ellyn Spragins, one-time editor for Fortune Small Business and author of the "Love and Money" column in the New York Times business section. This book is a small but powerful book. A smattering of the contributors will tell you more than I can about what you will find.

Thinking About Memoir, Abigail Thomas

Bonnie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:10:56 -0800

I picked up this little book because both the title and the cover appealed to me. What I found inside was a treasure!

For any of us who have wanted to write about our lives, this book is a must! It takes you gently by the hand and gets you started, encourages you, and keeps you going.

Abigail Thomas, a Silver Vixen of course, teaches fiction writing in the graduate program at The New School in New York, is a former editor and literary agent, and author of her own memoir.

For both writers and would be writers, this book is a jewel.

Know Your Power, Nancy Pelosi

Bonnie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:04:40 -0800

This is an insightful book into the life and career of our first woman Speaker of the House -- just what you would expect. It is a quick read and does pay deep homage to her love of her family and their enormous influence on her life, from her parents to her grandchildren. Somehow in following her career, I had missed that she was a full-time mother, even though politically active, for the first twenty years of her marriage.

How We Lead Matters, Reflections on a Life of Leadership, Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Bonnie — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:54:00 -0700

This is NOT your usual business leadership book -- no surprise because it is written by a Silver Vixen. Marilyn Carlson Nelson is the Chairman of Carlson, a global company of hotels, restaurants, travel and marketing services. She makes reference in the book to have 160,000 employees around the world.
This is a quick read that is humorous, thought-provoking, insightful, honest and sometimes tugs at the heart. I find myself flipping to favorite pages when I need a quick fresh thought.

Out of the Frying Pan, Gillian Clark

Bonnie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:05:58 -0700

Not being a TV watcher, I had never heard of Gillian Clark. I picked up the book because I liked the cover, title and subject matter -- hot kitchens, single motherhood and the family meal. I so thoroughly enjoyed the book that I finished it in two days! The recipes look delicious -- seven of the recipes are on my must try list!

Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean

Bonnie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:00:37 -0700

This book was recommended to me by Creativity Coach, Mary Lou Johns. Her book group, and evidently thousands of others, read this book and did a Russian lunch to enjoy while discussing the book! It is the story of a young woman who works at the enormous Russia art museum, The Hermitage, during World War II as told through flashbacks. A moving story on so many levels...well written and touching.

Plum Wine, Angela Davis-Gardner

Bonnie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:57:19 -0700

I listened to this book about a young American teacher in Japan in the mid-60s while in my car. I decided to listen to a book I knew nothing about and I am so glad I did. This book transported me to a world I knew nothing about -- Japan and the post-Hiroshima/ Viet Nam War time. Far from being depressing, it is exquisite in its storytelling, framing of cultural differences, and memorable characters. Yes, there is romance!

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted and Other Small Acts of Liberation, Elizabeth Berg

Bonnie — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:10:51 -0700

How could you pass up a book with this title? I was hooked from the first paragraph. In true Berg fashion, some of the short stories nearly took my breath away for the tenderness of them, others because I was laughing so hard! I found something delightful and or thought-provoking in each of the thirteen stories. Written by one of us!

No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a 60th Year, Virginia Ironside

donna doberstein — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:35:56 -0800

Hello fellow readers and Silver Vixens. I bring you a note about my latest reading pleasure and what it holds in store for you.

No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club is a charming, easily read book in diary format, recorded by a sharp-witted yet gentle and compassionate character, Marie Sharp. The British author, Virginia Ironside (and I do love that name) writes as if we're all either Marie's next door neighbor, observing the world through her eyes, or her best friend to whom she "chats" each day, sometimes twice a day. The book is intimate about topics ranging from her advice about sex after 60 to her joy when she is presented with and then can't get enough of her first grandchild. It's personal, iconoclastic, funny, witty, and, to be honest, sometimes a bit boring. But then our daily lives can be, can't they? I was prepared to fight liking this book, given the title and my love of my two book clubs. But, I read on and found I grudgingly liked it.