Personal History

by Katharine Graham

This was a slow read-- lots of politics in it -- but in the end I was glad I read it.
A biography of the owner/operator/heir to The Washington Post, it was a fascinating journey through the last 80 years of journalism.

A Writer's Coach

by Jack Hart

I started to read this a couple of years ago and it didn't grab me -- don't know why. Then, during Round Two, I was grabbed. Jack Hart is a former Oregonian editor and I've heard him speak at journalism conferences and been taken by his no-nonsense writing advice.
The book was amazing, simple and brilliant -- full of easy to understand examples.
I need to read it again, and again, and again.

Charm City

by Laura Lippman

I tend to avoid book series for the most part, of any genre -- romance, vampire stories, mysteries.
But I have read a few that I've enjoyed, in a beach read, fun way. Earlene Fowler's museum curator/quilt themed series was fun and B has gotten me to read his number series by Janet... whatever.
I'd read another book by Laura Lippman and really enjoyed it so I picked up this one and discovered it was part of a series.
Oh well.
Worth a try.
Turned out to be much better than I expected it. The 'detective' - as always -- is a plucky, quirky woman, a former reporter turned private PI in Baltimore, Maryland.
The characters were unforgettable and the plot was not predictable at all.
That's the best you can expect from detective mysteries.

The Painted Veil

by Somerset Maugham

I'd read some Maugham years ago, during a classics phase, and loved it -- but for some strange reason I never tried again.
This book was so lovely, so spare and unflinching. The characters were very unique and finely drawn, I loved that.
In a nutshell, the book takes place in China before the Japanese make their life hell (late 1920s?). The characters are British colonials, government officials, missionaries and professionals. The Chinese are background characters in this story, which makes it seem racist and appropriate at the same time because that's how the colonials lived -- not as part of the country they were in but apart.
The story is told from the vantage point of an upper class shallow, vain English woman and it's astounding how well written she is, as the author is a woman.