Imagined London

In the movie Sabrina, the title character quotes Gertrude Stein and says, "America is my country but Paris is my home town." And that's how I feel about London. When I studied abroad in England during college I fell in love with the city, it being so well-mannered and full of tradition . . . not to mention literary pedigree. So, when I received Anna Quidlen's Imagined London for my birthday, I couldn't wait to read it. (Although it still took five months to get to the top of my queue.)

I don't read a lot of nonfiction, but I am learning to love travel writing. Quindlen explores London through the many lenses of the city's portrayals in literature. From the dark back alleys of Dickens to the posher surrounding of Waugh, she visits places made famous in novels. I thought this would be right up my alley--and I did enjoy it very much--but I thought I was rather well-read in British literature until I read this book! There were books and authors I had never heard of . . . the Forsyte saga, Nancy Mitford, Trollope . . . But it was still a fun and charming way to look at what the book jacket called "the world's greatest fictional city."

In high school, I wanted to be Anna Quindlen. Back then, I was sure I would grow up to be a serious journalist. Quindlen had just hit the Oprah Book Club with her novel Black and Blue, and then I learned that she worked for the New York Times, too. That's exactly what I wanted to do--work for a major newspaper (although I had my eyes set on the Washington Post) and write bestselling novels on the side! Well, I grew up to do none of those things. But, I enjoyed Quindlen's writing nonetheless.

14 books down, 45 to go!! September will be Kids' Books Month . . . the first of several, I'm sure.