Here are some of the things I’ve been reading lately. I call them my “pink links” because…well…I like pink.

To my male readers, don’t worry. My next post will be dripping with testosterone. Okay, “dripping” isn’t the right word. Let’s say “spritzed” instead. I watch Top Gear and have opinions on cars, grilling, tools, and other guy-friendly topics, too. In the meantime, enjoy these stories that caught my attention lately:

• Mary Shelley letters discovered in Essex archive. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, and “got a last-minute ticket to the coronation of William IV in 1831.” This necessitated a 3 a.m. visit from her hairdresser; she wore a plumed headdress, of which I’m already jealous.
• 16 Books to Read Before They Hit Theaters This Year. I’m really only posting this for #10: Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places. I love me some Gillian Flynn. You probably know her from her runaway bestseller Gone Girl, but I didn’t really like that one. I much preferred Dark Places and Sharp Objects. I’ll see the Dark Places movie on opening day, if I can: September 1st.
• Literary Libations from Famous Books. (2019 update: this link was no longer active, so I removed it.) A real gimlet is half gin, half Rose’s lime juice, and nothing else. That’s from Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
• Eat Like a Swede. My Swedish grandparents didn’t eat any of these things. Okay, I’m lying, they totally ate herring. Every year on Christmas Eve, the Swedish side of my family busts out the pickled herring. I thought it would be gross, but I’m totally a fan. I’ve still never had lutefisk, but I kind of want to. I have cast-iron internal organs and would take perverse pleasure in liking something all sane people find repulsive.
• The British Library’s Photostream on Flickr. Most, if not all, of these images are free for you to use in your amazing art creations because they are in the public domain. The British Library is forever my hero for posting them and publicizing them. I could spend hours just looking at these images. To download, click on the image and then on the three dots in the right-hand menu bar. Make sure you see the “No known copyright restrictions” notice, and then have at it.
• The 30 Best Period Dramas from the Last 30 Years. (2019 update: this link was no longer active, so I removed it.) Okay, so they left out Braveheart, which is almost a smoting offence (Rat Race fans will understand what I mean). The choices are mostly spot-on. Stage Beauty is underrated yet awesome, as is Mrs. Brown. Washington Square, Elizabeth, and (be still my heart) Dangerous Liaisons. The author included but didn’t particularly care for The Last of the Mohicans, which is also almost a smoting offence. She redeemed herself with this: “And no Shakespeare in Love, out of my respect for my long-held rule of excluding all things Gwyneth-Paltrow-related from my consciousness.”
• Inside Monopoly’s Secret War against the Third Reich. Holy crap, this is an awesome story. Monopoly, WWII prison camps, Houdini…it’s like someone drew random words out of a hat and was told to create a perfectly constructed story out of them. They succeeded.

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About Me

Jenni Wiltz

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I write thrillers, romance, historical fiction, tiara posts, and more. Right now, I'm working on a nonfiction trilogy: Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mikhailovna of Russia, and Princess Augusta of Brunswick.