5 Books I Want to Read...Postcards

I keep a wish list on Goodreads called "want to read". Currently, it's up to 2547. Yeah. I also have several stacks of books tucked against walls throughout my house. Each is probably at least 3 feet high of books I haven't read yet. I periodically go through my list and purge it, but it still is not slowing down. Nor are the books that keep appearing on my Kindle. They're all still on my wish list, I just haven't gotten to them yet.

Each month I highlight 5 books I want to read. I don't set out to plan themes, but somehow patterns creep into my viewing.

Postcards. I love postcards.

I remember a time when letter writing was the only way to communicate with people long-distance, other than phone calls.

I have hand-written letters that my dad sent me while I was in college and I treasure them, now that he's gone. He traveled quite often for his job when I was young and while most of the time his travels were classified, he would sometimes send us postcards when he could.

I love sending and receiving postcards in the mail. It is always a treat to receive a quick note from someone who was often traveling.

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The Postcard by Leah Fleming

2002, Australia

On his death bed, Melissa Boyd's father confesses a secret so devastating that Melissa, armed with only a few tattered keepsakes, including an old postcard addressed to someone called Desmond, embarks on a journey that will take her across oceans and into the past...

1930s, London

Caroline has led a privileged life, supported by her Aunt Phoebe. But when her impulsive elopement to Cairo quickly turns sour, she finds herself alone with a newborn son. Then war breaks out and Caroline feels compelled to play her part. Leaving her son, Desmond, with Phoebe, she begins a dangerous existence on the front lines. But when Caroline finally returns, Desmond has disappeared.

From the wild moors of Scotland and wartime London to exotic Egypt and the Australian frontier, Leah Fleming weaves an epic tale of love, loss and the ties that bind families together.

Fifteen Postcards by Kirsten McKenzie

History shapes those who travel through it

Following the unexplained disappearance of her parents, and in a last ditch attempt to save the antique store she has inherited from financial ruin, Sarah Lester takes on a deceased estate. Amongst the estate is a collection of fifteen vintage postcards.

Sarah is unprepared for what these postcards hint at about their reclusive former owner, and soon they complicate her life in unimaginable ways.

Traversing three continents and two centuries, where tiger hunts and ruby necklaces are irrevocably entwined with murders and mysteries, auction houses and antiquities, Sarah is drawn into the enigma that could solve her parents' disappearance.

Postcards from Cookie by Caroline Clarke

Award-winning journalist and host of Black "Enterprise" Business Report Caroline Clarke's moving memoir of her surprise discovery of her birthmother—Cookie Cole, the daughter of Nat King Cole—and the relationship that blossomed between them through the heartfelt messages they exchanged on hundreds of postcards.

Caroline Clarke was born in an era when adoptions were shameful, secret, and sealed. While she wondered about her biological parents, she kept her curiosity in check, until a series of small health problems raised concerns about her genetic heritage and its consequences for her two children's lives and her own.

Though Spence-Chapin Family Service, the agency that handled her adoption, could not reveal the name of her birth mother, it was able to provide details that lead to a shocking truth. Caroline's birth mother and her family were related to a friend. The woman who gave her life was none other than Carole "Cookie" Cole, the daughter of iconic crooner and pianist Nat King Cole.

Drawing on details provided by the agency and her own investigative skills, Caroline embarked on a life-changing journey of discovery that stretched from coast to coast, forged through e-mail, phone calls, and post cards. The constancy, volume, and intimacy of her steady correspondence with Cookie filled the days and distance between them. Through brief yet poignant messages squeezed onto three-inch open-faced squares, mother and daughter revealed themselves, sharing secrets, taking risks, and ultimately building a bond like no other.

A heartfelt, inspiring tribute to both Caroline's adoptive parents and her biological mother, Postcards from Cookie illuminates the enduring power of love to shape and guide our lives.

Six Postcards Home by Michelle Jackson

Michelle Jackson's sixth bestselling novel Six Postcards Home is set in Dublin, London and Spain. Karen and Greg fall in love as teenagers but their story doesn't run smoothly as a series of events and circumstances prevent them from being together. As middle age approaches it seems they will never be together...or will they?


Postcards from Wonderland by Rona Simmons

One night, at the end of an alley, Rose Margolin's world changes forever, as if everything she's ever known and trusted was pulled like a rug from beneath her feet.

Everyone sees Isador for the dreamer he is, a talker, and ambitious to a fault—everyone that is except for Rose. She's head-over-heels in love and determined to follow Isador wherever he leads, never imagining she'll one day find herself face-to-face across a table from the boss of one of the 1920s era mobs and seeking help in the most unlikely places, from Jacob Moll a young neighbor and Samuel Bloom, better known as Earl the Ear—one of the mob's most feared leg-breakers.

The Revere, Massachusetts setting for Rona Simmons' touching second novel is no accident. The beach at Revere, once known as "America's Beach", hosted Wonderland Park, an extravagant amusement park some consider a precursor to Disneyland. It was unlike any other seen before but proved to be unsustainable, its founders' dreams dashed and their finances depleted, the park vanished, leaving behind only memories and postcards.

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What about you? What books are on your "want to read/wish" list?

5 Books I want to Read is a monthly meme started by Stephanie at Layered Pages. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their wish lists look like, you can do that here: Layered PagesA Bookaholic SwedeThe Maiden's CourtA Literary Vacation.

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