Book News

From Sarah:

Two things sent me to blogger this morning, both of which were brought to my attention by Barnes and Noble (they send me emails, I'm lazy like that), therefore I've linked back to them.

1.  Edith Piaf's biography No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf
If you don't know who she is, you never had the great misfortune of having me as your French teacher.  She was a singer but in the way that a tragic background and stardom can make you more, she was much more.  I won't go into all of it, as you can read it for yourself either in the biography or the review of the biography found here, but in her life she was abandoned by her mother, raised in a brothel, mixed up with the Parisian mob, a teenage mother (the baby didn't live past age 2), a folk hero of the darker side-with a heart of gold of course-of Paris, a perpetual loser in love (it would've helped if she hadn't continually picked married men to be her lovers), and a national icon.  Her life was interesting to say the least, and I'm adding this book to my list.  And now I have Milord stuck in my head.

2.  Sarah Vowell's new book Unfamiliar Fishes
Depending on when this was released this month, it's killing Carrie that she can't buy it immediately.  {Carrie gives up buying new books for Lent.  It's a long 40 days for book sellers round the world.} This one is also going on my list, as I really liked Vowell's other books and they have a tendency to focus on things in American history that don't often get that much attention.....or attention in this manner.  If you haven't read any of her other books, Carrie and I would encourage you to do so as you learn quite a bit even if you don't try and rarely notice.  Unfamiliar Fishes focuses on Hawaii and its journey from island to state which is enough fodder to fill three books in my opinion.  You can find information about Vowell and her books here.

Happy reading!