The Bolter by Frances Osborne

I could not put this book down. I found it on the Goodwill shelf and the spine of the paper cover caught my attention first. It looked old and yellowed with B&W photos as well. I took it off the shelf and looked at the front cover and saw what you are seeing above. Then I really wanted to read it. I immediately took it to the check out counter and bought it for less than two dollars.

Yesterday was a cloudy day that was cool/warm enough to have the screen doors open in my sitting room. I basically decided to take a staycation and curl up on the couch and read and read and read. Finally finished the book this morning and am sorry to have to say good-bye to it.

The book was written by Frances Osborne whose great-grandmother was Idina Sackville. Idina lived her own life in her own way, being married and divorced five times! She loved Africa and ended up building her home there called Clouds. It sounds wonderful. Idina stripped away any boundaries or mores at the time and had so many sexual encounters that there aren't the pages to fill them. She married men who also, but being British nobility, if you kept it discreet, then nobody said anything.

Idina wasn't discreet.

I think you may find this true story as fascinating and as enthralling as I did. Make sure you devote a staycation to its read.





Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs

Just Breathe is a book that would be a good Summer Read. After all it is set near water.

I think the cover is misleading as this is not a story about a very young girl at the beach but rather about a married woman who has tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant. Over and over. About her marriage that falls apart and about how she begins to put it back together again with the help of her family and so forth. If I tell you the whole story then you won't have to read it, right?

So it's got humor but it's not all rose colored glasses. It's real. We all have our ups and downs, don't we? If not then you just haven't lived long enough yet.

As usual I grabbed this off the Goodwill shelf. 

ME: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn

What a delight to read! Ms. Hepburn writes as she speaks and therefore you get to "see" her as she talks you through the stories of her life. Included amongst the pages are photographs which are always a delight. Especially the big two page spread of her and Spencer. You can see the love.

I enjoyed this book immensely and didn't want to put it down. She was truly a new woman in her day and age. She lived her life as she wanted and acknowledges her selfishness except when it came to S.T.

Wouldn't it have been lovely to be her friend? I think so.



(A Goodwill shelf find)