To say that I love to read would be like saying Garfield is fond of lasagna or that Cookie Monster enjoys an occasional cookie. Seriously, I always have… at ANY given time… at least 4 books I’m reading from simultaneously (not counting the Bible, of course, that goes without saying). My little pile of “current reads” follows me from room to room – and it’s usually an especially colorful crowd I run with.
- I am always in the middle of an “Old Hollywood” biography, memoir, or autobiography. Only one at a time because I want each star to have the spotlight they were born to command. I just finished Joan Crawford A Talent for Living (click the link to read my review) and, before that, Unsinkable by Debbie Reynolds (I’ll have the review written and published next week!). I just started Ginger by Ginger Rogers and I’m already head over dancing heels in love with her. Fred will be after her… ladies first.
- I am also always in the middle of a couple of history biographies or books. Currently, a fascinating Cleopatra bio (probably the 12th one I’ve read about her – she’s one of my favorites, in case you couldn’t tell) and a book of our First Ladies fit this bill. I’m a history buff with a particular fascination for US Presidents, First Ladies, the American Revolution, the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, and Ancient Egypt.
- For about 12 years, I have also had an Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot mystery going at all times. Yes, I’ve read and re-read them all many times over but I am never more content than when I’m in the presence of Hercule Poirot and his little grey brain cells.
- I read religiously from a book of Emily Dickinson poetry. I love Emily Dickinson greatly (I even named my oldest daughter in her honor – a daughter who went on to also write poetry. How cool is that?)
Except for my daughter Emily‘s short stories, poetry, and fiction and Emily Dickinson’s poetry, Agatha Christie is the only fiction I read. Every reader has their favorite genre and although it seems the vast majority of people in my family favor fiction, I’m a non-fiction kind of gal (except for Emily, Agatha, and Emily!)
If fiction is your thing, I have a book I believe you’ll love. It seems like it’d make a perfect summer novel. It’s called The Old Cape Hollywood Secret and it’s written by author Barbara Eppich Struna.
Synopsis: In 1947, Maggie Foster and her cousin, Gertie, leave Cape Cod for Hollywoodland in search of glamour and fame. One girl returns home and the other disappears. Present-day Nancy Caldwell travels to Hollywood, where she discovers the paths of Maggie and Gertie.
In “The Old Cape Hollywood Secret,” a novel of historical suspense, Nancy’s curiosity gets her into trouble again. Along the way, a missing ring and a pearl-studded pouch are mixed in with the search. Using alternating chapters, across seventy years, the tragic stories of two young girls unfold and a murderous secret is uncovered. Barbara Eppich Struna, author of “The Old Cape House” and “The Old Cape Teapot,” had as much fun writing “The Old Cape Hollywood Secret”, as she did researching the novel. The 1927 Pig & Whistle Pub and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, located on Hollywood Boulevard, are just a few of the famous landmarks featured in this historical adventure. Struna’s present-day character, Nancy Caldwell, returns in the author’s third novel set in Old Hollywood and on Cape Cod where she leads you on a journey filled with suspense and nostalgia.
Sounds like a real page-turner to me!
About the Author: Internationally best-selling author Barbara Eppich Struna is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod. Her published books are The Old Cape House and The Old Cape Teapot; her third novel in the Old Cape Series is The Old Cape Hollywood Secret. Besides being a storyteller at heart, she is currently President of Cape Cod Writers Center, a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, a panelist at the International Thriller Writers – Thrillerfest 2016, and a member of Sisters in Crime and two writing groups.
See The Old Cape Hollywood Secret for more information, including awards the book has earned and glowing reviews it has received!