Christmas Wishlist Book Talk #4

Have a biography or autobiography nut to get something for?  Maybe a fan of literature?

Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1 [of 3] is out!

Twain wanted it to be published 100 years after his death and it was worth the wait.  The man pulled no punches, much like in his fictional work, and nothing he wrote was taken out by an outside editor - good or bad.  Even though the people he goes after are gone as well, their relatives are just as upset as the people themelves would have been.

There happens to be another book, a memoir, that might fit a different literary fan and also happens to be  recently released - release dates are always good to know when buying for a booklover.

Someone who enjoys reading about England, the aristocracy, the Mitford Sisters, or those who want to take a trip into another persons world will like Wait for Me! by Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire.

The product description on Amazon says it best:  "...chronicles her remarkable life, from an eccentric but happy childhood in the Oxfordshire countryside, to tea with Adolf Hitler and her controversially political sister Unity in 1937, to her marriage to the second son of the Duke of Devonshire. Her life would change utterly with his unexpected inheritance of the title and vast estates after the wartime death of his brother, who had married Kick Kennedy, the beloved sister of John F. Kennedy. Her friendship with that family would last through triumph and tragedy. Wait for Me!, with its intense warmth and charm, is a unique portrait of an age, and an unprecedented look at the rhythms of life inside one of the great aristocratic families of England."

You might want to also include a copy of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman or The Duchess, a movie based on her life starring Kiera Knightly and Ralph Fiennes - I liked both.

Other unique biography/autobiographies recently released are Jay-Z's Decoded and Life by Keith Richards - ooo, the things you'd learn in these.