Those letters sound so important! That is heartbreaking that they were shredded. I was fortunate to find some papers that my grandfather had kept. His aunt raised him and had kept all of the letters that he ever sent her and every one of his awards and report cards. My grandfather thought that they were all garbage and was amazed that I wanted to borrow everything to scan it and save it.
I'm so glad you were able to save all of that. It was pretty crushing when she shredded them, especially because my dad and his brothers didn't have a good relationship with their father due to the PTSD. I wish they could've read the letters where he talked about how excited he was for their births and how much he loved all of them. I've told them all, but it's not the same as reading the actual words.
Yes to big fat juicy biographies: 'Napoleon The Great' by Andrew Roberts, 'Leonardo Da Vinci' by Walter Isaacson. I'm currently reading 'The House of Medici' by Christopher Hibbert (which admittedly is not so much a biography as history of a whole dynasty) and it is way too short at 300 pages; I need more deets! Favorite memoirs: 'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald, '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff, and 'In the Dream House' by Carmen Maria Machado.
Yes! Go team thick, juicy biographies! In the Dream House is on my TBR this month. I will have a look at all of your other suggestions. If you want a nice, chunky memoir, I read Winnie and Nelson by Johnny Steinberg earlier this year and thought it was really good.
You must read Finding Me by Viola Davis. I read the physical book, but i listened to the audio after she won a Grammy for it. It was a 5 Star for both versions.
Wow… hearing you talk about those letters made me perk up fast. It’s not the exactly the same, but I’m going to give you the relatable story you didn’t ask for. Since my dad is the oldest sibling in his generation, I ended up taking on the role of Keeper of “the box,” which is a big container of old family memorabilia. In that box is a slew of letters penned by my grandmother’s older brother, who was a pilot in world war 2 flying high risk missions in Japan. There are two sets of letters. One, to his mother (my great grandmother), talking about how he was bored because there was ‘nothing going on.’ Because he didn’t want to worry her. There is the simultaneous set of letters to his brother, in which he regularly details the dangerous missions he is flying. Of course, he ultimately lost his life on one of them, as it was simply a matter of time when you were doing those runs. Also in the box is a newspaper article talking about how he sent these two, completely different lines of correspondence. It was almost surreal sitting down and reading all those letters. Great vid.
Thank you for sharing that with me. I'm glad that your family has been able to hang on to those letters. In retrospect, I wish I'd have snagged a few of the letters at least and hidden them, but I felt like they weren't mine to take.
Thank you for sharing the story about your grandparents! Very beautiful.
Thank you for watching! 💜
Those letters sound so important! That is heartbreaking that they were shredded. I was fortunate to find some papers that my grandfather had kept. His aunt raised him and had kept all of the letters that he ever sent her and every one of his awards and report cards. My grandfather thought that they were all garbage and was amazed that I wanted to borrow everything to scan it and save it.
I'm so glad you were able to save all of that. It was pretty crushing when she shredded them, especially because my dad and his brothers didn't have a good relationship with their father due to the PTSD. I wish they could've read the letters where he talked about how excited he was for their births and how much he loved all of them. I've told them all, but it's not the same as reading the actual words.
Yes to big fat juicy biographies: 'Napoleon The Great' by Andrew Roberts, 'Leonardo Da Vinci' by Walter Isaacson. I'm currently reading 'The House of Medici' by Christopher Hibbert (which admittedly is not so much a biography as history of a whole dynasty) and it is way too short at 300 pages; I need more deets! Favorite memoirs: 'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald, '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff, and 'In the Dream House' by Carmen Maria Machado.
Yes! Go team thick, juicy biographies! In the Dream House is on my TBR this month. I will have a look at all of your other suggestions. If you want a nice, chunky memoir, I read Winnie and Nelson by Johnny Steinberg earlier this year and thought it was really good.
@@BandysBooks I hope you enjoy In The Dream House; it's undeniably unique. I'll look into Winnie and Nelson, thanks! 😊
You must read Finding Me by Viola Davis. I read the physical book, but i listened to the audio after she won a Grammy for it. It was a 5 Star for both versions.
Yes! I have it on my library holds list. I've heard nothing but good things about it. :)
Wow… hearing you talk about those letters made me perk up fast. It’s not the exactly the same, but I’m going to give you the relatable story you didn’t ask for. Since my dad is the oldest sibling in his generation, I ended up taking on the role of Keeper of “the box,” which is a big container of old family memorabilia. In that box is a slew of letters penned by my grandmother’s older brother, who was a pilot in world war 2 flying high risk missions in Japan. There are two sets of letters. One, to his mother (my great grandmother), talking about how he was bored because there was ‘nothing going on.’ Because he didn’t want to worry her. There is the simultaneous set of letters to his brother, in which he regularly details the dangerous missions he is flying. Of course, he ultimately lost his life on one of them, as it was simply a matter of time when you were doing those runs. Also in the box is a newspaper article talking about how he sent these two, completely different lines of correspondence. It was almost surreal sitting down and reading all those letters. Great vid.
Thank you for sharing that with me. I'm glad that your family has been able to hang on to those letters. In retrospect, I wish I'd have snagged a few of the letters at least and hidden them, but I felt like they weren't mine to take.
@@BandysBooks You did the right thing. They were her letters, and you let her decide what to do with them 🤗
BRING ON THE BIG BOOKS!
Yeah, I felt like most of my answers were either "both" or "it depends"!
Right?! 😅 I just wanted one question where I could give a direct answer.
Almost all my answers are the same as yours, except I'd rather read arty memoirs.
Sounds about right!