Book Talk

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes’s Emmy Award-winning PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.

Michael Gregg Michaud, author of Sal Mineo: A Biography shares inside scoop on James Franco’s film adaptation of his book: “Val Lauren, the actor cast as ‘Sal’ told me: ‘Both you and your book were integral tools to my research and understanding of Sal as an artist, and more importantly, as a human being. Your intimate knowledge about Sal fueled my imagination and contributed to my characterization of the true rebel and sensitive soul that was Sal Mineo. This was a rare opportunity for an actor to be able to work with an author, and see so many personal things that belonged to the man he is about to portray.”

Summer means lazy weekends, sand between our toes, and any excuse for ice cream. It also means that it’s time for a great summer reading round-up, when we’re all wondering what to bring along on a weekend getaway. And I love me a good beach read, so maybe it’s no surprise that each one of my books – regardless of when it first went on sale – is considered a “beach read,” especially my new paperback The One That I Want. For you RIFers, I’m opening up my beach bag and discussing this summer’s best sea-side reads for every member of your family.

“I get a weekly round-up of stories from The Seattle Times,” says Tattered Cover Book Store bookseller Jackie Blem, “two articles that popped up recently caught my attention and spurred me to defend my beloveds: books, real-live physical books. Both articles dealt, in different ways, with interior design and new ways to use bookshelves in this digital age. Both made me want to stand up and scream: ‘Books are NOT decorations, they are FAMILY!’”

“Sitting with a book and a child in my lap,” says Meredith Baxter, “was always my sweetest bonding time as a mother. We cannot underestimate the power of our voices in our children’s ears, the shared adventure of breathing life into witches, birds, or bears, the deeply ingrained connection that will be reborn in the next generation.”

I am, apparently, behind on the times. Slow on the uptake. Riding the short bus (I’m slow, too, in coming to this expression. I only learned what it meant last year). I’ve got a list of fantastic books that I’ve been reading lately, all of which I want to tell you about; all of which you’ve already heard of.