Christmas time is the wrong time of the year to be knocked on your keister by a head cold that morphs into a sinus infection. What can you do when you would like to read but your head aches too much to focus your eyes on the printed word? You download audiobooks to your Kindle, of course.
Here's what kept me entertained while I sipped tea and soup:
West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan - This is a fictionalized account of the last three years of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life. From 1937 to 1940, Fitzgerald went to Hollywood and worked as a screen writer. He left his wife Zelda in a mental institution, took up with gossip columnist, Sheilah Graham, failed at screenwriting, and drank until he was dead.
A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott - This is another work of fiction set around real events, the filming of "Gone With the Wind." A starry-eyed girl from Indiana goes to Hollywood in 1939. Her dream is to be a screenwriter. Her reality is to perform the most lowly tasks in an office at Selznick International Pictures. She ends up as Carole Lombard's assistant and becomes the girlfriend of David O. Selznick's right-hand-man. She's a regular on the set of "Gone With the Wind," acts as Lombard's bride's maid when Clark Gable's divorce finally comes through, and eventually gets her crack at screenwriting. Our protagonist's story is a familiar tune, however, there is one element of the book that I found interesting. War is looming in 1939. Writer Alcott brings in Jewish Hollywood's attitude toward Hitler and the war.
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - This is also a novel inspired by real people and events. Hadley Richarson was Ernest Hemingway's first wife. She and her inheritance allowed Ernest to go to Europe and write his first successful novel, The Sun Also Rises. By the time the book was published, the sun had set on their marriage.
An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff - Schroff was a successful advertising executive when she was stopped by a child beggar in New York City in 1986. Instead of giving him cash, she bought him dinner at McDonald's. This was the beginning of four years of weekly dinners and mentoring. It's a story of a lifelong friendship, and it has a happy ending. Schroff's memoir gave me some new insight on the definition of success.
Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre - During World War II the English tricked the German's into thinking there would be an invasion in Greece and Sardinia when the real invasion was in Sicily. The deception was accomplished by planting phony documents on a corpse and setting the corpse afloat on currents that would take it to the beaches of Spain. It was correctly supposed that officially neutral, but German sympathizing Spain would share the information in the documents with the Germans before returning it to the British, as required by war time laws. So, how did the Brits get the corpse and who was he? Read the book to find out.
Longbourn by Jo Baker - Previously, I read (not listened, read) The Mermaid's Child also by Jo Baker. I didn't like that book, but I really enjoyed Longbourn. Longbourn is Pride and Prejudice retold from the perspective of the household staff.
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum - Ana Benz is an American woman married to a Swiss banker. She, her husband, and three children (two belonging to the husband, one belonging to one of Ana's secret lovers) live in Zurich, Switzerland. Instead of getting a job, or working for a worthy cause, or cultivating a hobby, Ana has affairs. There's some pretty explicit sexual content in the book, and it has been compared to Fifty Shades of Grey. Hmmm, also like Fifty Shades of Grey, the protagonist is named Ana. I don't have any sympathy for Ana, and I like how things ended. I'm sure that says something about me.
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich - Complete fluff. Fluff is good somethimes.
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