00:00This was from a dressing gown worn by Nicola Coughlin, a.k.a. Penelope Featherington.
00:05But what makes this really special is that it is signed from both Phoebe Denevor and Regé-Jean Page.
00:12Hi, I'm Julia Quinn, and I'm inviting you in to see my personal library.
00:17This is Shelf Portrait for Marie Claire.
00:22One of the most exciting things for me about being an author is seeing my books translated into so many different languages.
00:27And so I keep a lot of them on the bookshelf here, and it's just so much fun for me.
00:32This is Danish. These are some new collections in French.
00:36Back here, actually, this is Dutch. This is a box set for Brazilian Portuguese.
00:42We've got some Spanish here, and then these are just some very special English editions that I have.
00:47And we've got Thai and Korean and Japanese.
00:51So I'm going to share with you one of my most prized possessions.
00:54This. Yes, it's The Duke and I, which I wrote.
00:59But this is a very special copy because, for one, my bookmark is a scrap of fabric from the actual show.
01:05This was from a dressing gown worn by Nicola Coughlin, a.k.a. Penelope Featherington.
01:11But what makes this really special is that it is signed from both Phoebe Denevor and Regé-Jean Page.
01:18So sometimes you buy a book just because you see it in the bookstore, and it totally cracks you up.
01:23And that is why I have purchased Crap Taxidermy.
01:26This book is so funny.
01:29I could open to any page, and it will just make you die laughing.
01:33It's just the world's worst taxidermy.
01:35My entire family adores it.
01:38My mom just cleaned out her basement, and we found one of my favorite books from when I was growing up.
01:43It is Louisa Alcott, Girl of Old Boston.
01:46It is a biography of Louisa May Alcott.
01:49And it is so much fun to look through because you can see my old address I wrote in.
01:53That's my handwriting when I was a little kid.
01:56And it's just, it's so beautifully illustrated.
01:59I have to find one for you.
02:00All in these great silhouettes.
02:04I read this book so many times as a child.
02:07Far more times than I actually read anything that Louisa May Alcott wrote herself.
02:11I love graphic novels and graphic memoirs.
02:14And one book that I've purchased so many times recently because I've given it as a gift to just,
02:20maybe not dozens of people, but a lot of people,
02:22is they call this The Enemy by George Takei.
02:26It is a memoir of his time in an internment camp during World War II.
02:32And it is just so moving and told in such an accessible manner.
02:38Everybody should read this book.
02:39This is one of my most treasured possessions.
02:41It is an autographed set of March, which is a three-part graphic memoir by Congressman John Lewis.
02:49And I met him at the American Library Association conference a few years ago.
02:54And he signed this for me.
02:55I think everybody should have some comics in their collection.
02:58Certainly we all need a little Kevin and Hobbs.
03:01But one that I really like is by Grant Snyder.
03:04I will judge you by your bookshelf.
03:06It's a collection of comics about books and reading.
03:09And they're just so much fun.
03:11I often share these on social media.
03:13And so when I saw that he was having a collection, I knew I had to buy it.
03:17I actually read books, both paper and electronic.
03:21And it's actually kind of funny because there were some books I wanted to recommend.
03:24And I searched my whole house to find a copy.
03:27And then I realized it was on my e-reader.
03:29So, for example, Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple.
03:32I love that book so much.
03:35Especially because Seattle, my city, is such an important part of it.
03:38And she gets everything right.
03:40But I don't have it to show you because it's on my e-reader.
03:43Here's another author I really love.
03:45I think I've read everything that she's written.
03:47It's Jenny Lawson.
03:48She has a blog called The Blog S.
03:51But she also writes books.
03:52And this is her most recent one.
03:53I think it just came out this year.
03:54Broken in the best possible way.
03:57She is so funny.
03:59I mean, shake the bed funny.
04:02But at the same time, she is incredibly moving.
04:04There's a section where she writes an open letter to her insurance company
04:07about all the things that they give her grief about.
04:11She has a number of chronic conditions, both mental and physical.
04:14And it just really gets you in the heart.
04:17And I just, I think she's so smart and so wise.
04:21And I would really like to meet her someday.
04:23I love to read romance novels.
04:25That goes without question.
04:27I write historical romance.
04:28I love historical romance.
04:29If you follow me on Facebook, I actually recommend a historical romance every single Monday.
04:34But here are two authors who have new books out that I just happen to have here that I love.
04:39This is Sarah McClain with Bombshell.
04:42And she writes books.
04:43They're just so fierce and feminist.
04:44I love them.
04:46And then I've also gotten a new one by Julianne Long, who's one of my favorite authors.
04:50She's so underappreciated.
04:51I don't know why everyone isn't reading her.
04:54You really should.
04:54Now, I also read contemporary romance.
04:56And one of my favorites is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.
05:00And this is going to be a major motion picture soon.
05:03So read the book now before you watch the movie.
05:06My father was also a writer.
05:08And he wrote for middle grade readers.
05:12And he wrote this wonderful book called Cheesy Mac, which is so smart and so funny and so my dad.
05:21And this was the first book.
05:23And this was, I think this was the last.
05:26And he passed earlier this year.
05:28And I am so grateful that kids can still get a taste of the type of person he was through the books that he wrote.
05:37And we keep these books on a very special part of my bookshelf here, which is just a section where I've got a lot of people who are important to me.
05:45I think that no library would be complete without The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
05:50Careful readers know that this is one of my favorite books.
05:52If you read in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, I have a little homage to it in there.
05:57Yes, in Regency Romance, I managed to reference The Hitchhiker's Guide.
06:01So like every book lover I know, I buy more books than I'm able to read in a timely manner.
06:07So this is just one stack of books I've purchased in the last month that I have not read yet, but it will.
06:14Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
06:16But I have Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes by Alexa Martin.
06:19Super excited about this one.
06:20I love her books.
06:22This one was recommended to me.
06:23I don't know that much about it, except it sounds really cool.
06:26Finding the Mother Tree, Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.
06:30I've also got Project Hail Mary by Andy Ware.
06:33I love The Martian, so I'm really excited to try this one.
06:35And then from Daniel James Brown, who also wrote The Boys in the Boat, Facing the Mountain, a true story of Japanese-American heroes in World War II.
06:46And this has a big Seattle component to it, which I'm excited about because I live in Seattle.
06:51And then finally, The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel, because we all love Alison Bechdel.
06:58So this is one of my favorite books of all time, The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger.
07:03It's an epistolary novel, which means it's written in letters and telegrams and ticket stubs and bar mitzvah programs.
07:11It's set in the early 1940s in Brooklyn, and it stars a wisecracking young 12, 13-year-old boy in Joy Margolis
07:20and the all-star third baseman for the New York Giants, Charlie Banks.
07:25And they end up becoming friends in this kind of bizarre way.
07:29And it is funny and heartbreaking, and it's this great example of how you can write a novel in such a different manner
07:38and have it be just perfect.
07:40Thanks for watching Shelf Portrait, and don't forget to subscribe to Marie Claire.
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