At the beginning of the New Year, I set myself a goal to read twelve books in one year. For a natural fervent reader, this may seem like an easy feat, but for others, such as myself, who equally love to read but have found time to be a distraction, it is a noble goal I want to accomplish. As of today, I have read three books and am now in the beginning of starting my fourth. When I set out my goal, I did not plan on picking a book and reading one for each month. Instead, I wanted to read as many books as I could; one book after another with at least a day after finishing it to consume and process the story. Maybe by the end I will have read more than twelve books, which would not be such a bad thing.
I actually have a list of books I want to read this year that includes Peyton Place by Grace Metalious, Atonement by Ian McEwan, and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. However, I decided to begin my goal with three newly released books that came out earlier this year: Searching for Grace Kelly by Michael Callahan, Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, and A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott. Coincidentally all three books are set in different time periods and cities that I love; Searching for Grace Kelly is set in 1950's New York; Funny Girl is set in 1960's London; and A Touch of Stardust is set in Hollywood in 1939. What drew me immediately towards these three books were their stories and their connection to film and television. For a long time now, I have been searching for a book that is neither a biography, autobiography, nor a history of the film and television business, but a novel that tells a story set in or related to the exciting world of the entertainment industry. And I found all of that through these three books.