Thilo Wydra schildert in seinem Buch „Grace Kelly und Diana Spencer“ die Verbundenheit zweier Frauen in einem herausfordernden Umfeld von royaler Pflichterfüllung und dem Funktionieren als öffentlicher Person. Er zeigt anhand von Briefen und einem andauernden freundschaftlichen Austausch, sowie der jeweiligen Kindheit und Entwicklungen wie ähnlich letztlich die Lebenswege der beiden prominenten Frauen waren. Es werden vielfältige biografische Inhalte und Eckpunkte geschildert und nebeneinander gestellt. Diese teilweise faktenbasierte Analyse fand ich tatsächlich sehr interessant und man erhält womöglich einen neuen Blick auf die beiden Frauen, die durch ihre „erheirateten Pflichten“ neben allen Vorzügen doch so sehr unter Druck standen. Dazu erhält der Leser einige tolle Fotos zum Hintergrund der Biografien. Thilo Wydra beschreibt in seinem Buch die Menschen hinter den Masken und den royalen Mauern. Doch hier liegt meines Erachtens gleichzeitig auch die Schwäche dieses Buches. Meinem Empfinden nach gab es einfach zu viel Interpretation von biografischen Eckdaten, Entwicklungen, Beziehungen und Begebenheiten. So wirkt das Buch häufig wieder wie eine voyeuristische Betrachtung à la bekannter Gazetten. Weil, wer weiß schon wirklich (trotz schriftlicher Dokumente) wie Grace Kelly und Diana Spencer tickten, dachten und fühlten? Hier psychologisch zum Beispiel die Beziehung zwischen den Frauen und ihren Eltern zu analysieren geht meines Erachtens weit über das Ziel, ein Fakten-basiertes Porträt zu schaffen, hinaus. Vieles war zwar durchaus interessant und beeindruckend, aber insgesamt fand ich das Buch leider doch eher mittelmäßig und zu interpretativ. Insofern würde ich es eingefleischten Royal-Fans sicherlich empfehlen, weil es doch flüssig lesbar und unterhaltend ist, aber wohl auch nur, wenn man gerne in Gazetten über Promis schmökert. Deshalb gut gemeinte 3 Sterne.

Update #1 (June 25, 2020)

9 novellas read (about 25% of total novellas)

1 anthology finished

1 anthology DNF; read 2 out of 11 stories (18%)

I feel like I should be further ahead than I am. I am going to read more from my NOOK. No need for random number generator since the BL-opoly game is doing the job. 

**********************************************************************************************

Original Post

I decided that my summer reading project was to read anthologies and novellas/shorter works (150 pages or less) off my NOOK and Kindle. Short and sweet is the theme for this year, as I wanted space to read longer works at my leisure without feeling unproductive. Also, I want to have short works ready to read so I can structure my days around reading and other hobbies, errands, and such and not the news or social media (BL exception, of course) - I really need to get off my phone more, that screen time tracker is not good for my health.

Dates for this reading project: May 25th (Memorial Day) to Labor Day (Sep 7th) - 106 days. I am aiming for one story from an anthology or novella per day, with the goal of averaging about 100 pages per day. I put a few winter holiday ones on the list for a Christmas-in-July reading week. To kick off the project, I will be starting the longest anthology and use Random Number Generator to pick a novella. After that I will use RNG or go by mood - probably the second method most of the time.

Anthologies

1. No Dukes Allowed by Various Authors 0/3 stories read

2. This Wedding is Doomed! by Various Authors 0/4 stories read

3. Hearts Entwined by Various Authors 0/4 stories read

4. Once Upon a Wedding by Various Authors 2/11 stories read; DNF the rest.

5. Because He's Perfect by Various Authors 20/20 stories read - FINISHED!

6. Love by the Letters by Various Authors 0/3 stories read - Currently reading

7. The Christmas Heirlooms by Various Authors 0/4 stories read

8. Serving Up Love by Various Authors 0/4 stories read

Novellas

Nook:

1. Changing Leaves by Edie Bryant

2. The Cost of Hope (The Cost of Love #1) by G.S. Carr

3. Once Upon a Winter's Eve (Spindle Cove #1.5) by Tessa Dare

4. A New Life (West Meets East #1) by Merry Farmer Done!

5. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

6. Hollywood Holiday (Hollywood Headlines #2.5) by Gemma Halliday Done!

7. Out of the Storm (Beacon of Hope #0.5) by Jody Hedlund

8. A Lady of Esteem (Hawthorne House #0.5) by Kristi Ann Hunter

9. A Search for Refuge (Haven Manor #0.5) by Kristi Ann Hunter Done!

10. Love by the Letter (Unexpected Brides #0.5) by Melissa Jagears

11. Love on the Prairie (McKinnie Mail Order Brides #1) by Ciara Knight

12. Love in the Rockies (McKinnie Mail Order Brides #2) by Ciara Knight

13. Mrs. Sartin's Secretary (Lords of Chance #2.5) by Wendy LaCapra

14. That Healing Touch (Cutter's Creek #1) by Kit Morgan

15. The Christmas Mail Order Bride by Kit Morgan

16. What Lies Behind Us (World War II Sisters) by Sierra Rose

17. A Little Light Mischief (The Turner Series #3.5) by Cat Sebastian

18. Tycoon (The Knickerbocker Club #0.5) by Joanna Shupe

19. A Hero's Promise (Culpepper's Ring Novella) by Roseanna M. White

20. Fairchild's Lady (Culpepper's Ring Novella) by Roseanna M. White

21. Mail Order Cowboy (Gold Valley #1.5) by Maisey Yates

22. Hometown Heartbreaker (Copper Ridge #3.5) by Maisey Yates

23. Claim Me, Cowboy (Copper Ridge #4) by Maisey Yates

Kindle:

24. Proper English (England #0) by KJ Charles Done!

25. Dance All Night (Dance Off #2.5) by Alexa Daria Done!

26. Willow: Bride of Pennsylvania by Merry Farmer

27. Engaging the Competition (With This Ring? Novella) by Melissa Jagears

28. Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure (Worth Saga #2.75) by Courtney Milan Done!

29. Dueling the Desperado (Brides of Blessings #4) by Mimi Milan Done!

30. Where Snowy Owl Sleeps (Brides of Blessings #9) by Mimi Milan Done!

31. Birth of the Butterfly (Brides of Blessings #11) by Mimi Milan Done!

32. Miracle on Ladies' Mile by Joanna Shupe

33. After a Fashion (A Class of Their Own #0.5) by Jen Turano

34. The Husband Maneuver (A Worthy Pursuit #0.5) by Karen Witemeyer

35. Worth the Wait (Ladies of Harper's Station Novella) by Karen Witemeyer

It's Juneteenth, the day the last enslaved person was told the war was over and they were free. Yesterday, I attended (via Zoom) a panel discussion organized by Next Gen Climate Action Committee, a political action group my friend works for, on Celebrating Juneteenth and Ensuring Black Voices in Progressive Spaces. It was a great discussion and I am glad my friend invited me, considering I live in Kansas and the group works in VA on VA matters/policies. Rep Don Scott really spoke to my head and heart and he was on for just a few minutes. 

It's rainy and much cooler here, so no poolside reading today. I've got a beef soup simmering in the slow cooker for dinner; just have to whip up some cornbread to go with it and I am good to go. Spending the day reading and tonight I am going to watch Soledad O'Brien's documentary on the early days of COVID-19 in the US (it is airing on Hearst stations, so I am hoping to catch it streaming online).

Tomorrow is Litha/Summer Solstice and I have plans: including a hamburger picnic (using a plant-based "ground beef") and making Lemon-Ginger-Raspberry Zinger sun tea, while reading in the sunshine. Sunday is Father's Day, so I making a special easy breakfast for the hubby to enjoy, followed by pool time and a nice dinner. 

I'm finishing up Birth of the Butterfly for BL-opoly, then taking the weekend off from the game; right after that I want to knock out finally Proper English by KJ Charles. For COYER #BLM RAT, I am reading The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole and New Year, Same Trash by Samantha Irby. That's my weekend. 

Next week I will be working my way through Beneath a Ruthless Sun and One Person, No Vote for the library's adult SRP prompts. I swapped out Once Upon a Wedding anthology (that first story is a slog and I am still not done with it) with Love by the Letters anthology which I should get done by the end of the week (it is only 3 stories). I might just skip to the Sonali Dev's and Pricilla Oliveras' stories in the Wedding anthology and call it good - those were the reasons for picking up the anthology in the first place. And then whatever the BL game goddesses decide for me to read. 

Happy Juneteenth! Happy Father's Day! Happy Reading!

I wish I were leisure reading.

(and maybe looking as cool as Grace Kelly, but that's a reading fantasy for another day :-p).

15K+ words on POISON GARDEN: An Elle Black Penny Dread (thanks to the amazing versatility of Scrivener), and 1 more illustration to complete for the SUNDARK paper book.

I have been reading, all for research. Victorian cookbooks and garden books are fascinating and all, but for the sake of expediency I'm only looking up what I need (all vegetable dishes, for one; large estate gardens with conservatories, for another). It's a bit of a dilemma listing my 'am reading' list when there really is no realistic goal to finish such books. Kind of like listing how to fix plumbing manuals, where one reads only the section on replacing a garbage disposal.

Therefore, my 'am reading' list is just going to grow, and though I hate being a dilettante with the subjects of my books---because as an obsessive-compulsive, I prefer being thorough and knowing *everything*---I do know that if I read all 400pp of Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage in order to write a brief subplot to Dark Victorian: EVERLIFE, I'm not going to get any writing done.

The version of The Silent World, by Jacques Cousteau, that Grace Kelly is reading is a first print hardcover (of course), and can still be found around. I just listed the 2004 version, though the collector in me would like a 1st edition copy. ;)

Love this photo of Grace Kelly and finally found the title she's reading in this pic. The Silent World : A story of undersea discovery and adventure, by the first men to swim at record depths with the freedom of fish, by J. Y. Cousteau, 1953, the hardcover edition, though the one pictured at Amazon is one cover variation.