Welcome to Litsy!

It took me a little while to get into it, but that was mostly because I was reading several other books at that time. The Barbizon. It will make you fall in love with historical non fiction, make you want to maintain the beauty and grandeur in historic buildings, and will stir so much gratitude in your heart for places like The Barbizon that have provided a safe space for women to pursue their dreams and create a long lasting golden legacy.

This the background for the HF novel The Dollhouse (nickname for the Barbizon Hotel) by Fiona Davis - the temporary home for the likes of Joan Didion, Sylvia Plath, Grace Kelly, Betsey Johnson, Eileen Ford models, and many more in the 1950s/60s.

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#ReadAway2024

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Andrew65 @TieDyeDude @DieAReader @Read4life

1️⃣ reading, errands, still decluttering/organizing, walking/exercising, and The Littles❤️
2️⃣ My grands‘ big furry cat Waffles (crammed into a small basket just to entertain us)
3️⃣ Flying bird -freedom
4️⃣ ✅

#motivationalmonday @Cupcake12

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Interesting profile of a women‘s hotel in New York in the mid 20th century and the opportunities it opened for its residents.

What an utterly fascinating bookIs! It is a non-fictional social history of Mademoiselle Magazine‘s college summer interns & the NYC landmark,female only Barbizon Hotel where they resided.Many women walked through those doors with the hope of fulling their dreams.Some did; some did not.But they all experienced NYC with all it has to offer.Some well known women who attended:Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar loosely based on her experience),Joan Didion,🔽

My early morning read. Almost 3/4 way thru & loving it! #porchlife

“ For the very first time in New York‘s history, women were being asked to pull up a seat at the bar.”

Starting this while riding by Portsmouth, NH. #14weeks14books

Spent my weekend reading these two for my IRL book club. Should make for a good discussion. They complement each other well. I really enjoyed learning about this iconic institution. The Dollhouse was a fun, quick read that really gave me a feel for this hotel for women (and NYC) circa 1952. I enjoyed the nonfiction even more. A very well-researched cultural history. I loved following The Barbizon from its inception to present day.

#bookmail part 2

Reading this pair for my IRL bookclub in January. Should be interesting to see how the fiction compares and hopefully complements the nonfiction. Looking forward to both!

This was such a fascinating and informative book!! The Barbizon was an iconic NY landmark/ institution for decades. A safe haven for women looking for a sense of adventure, independence and fulfilling their dreams. Not everyone who walked through the famous doors found what she was searching for but most got a chance to take a bite out of the big Apple. I loved spending time at The Barbizon 😍

More #BookMail 🥳I ordered 8 books from Book Depository and they are slowly winging their way across the ocean😄This was a potential choice for #IndependentWomen #BigBuddyRead and even though it didn‘t make its way to the final contender list it did end up in my cart 😙#ShitHappens

The Barbizon was a residential hotel for (attractive, white) women for many years, providing a space for them to have some independence in NYC. This book is an interesting mix of well-known women who stayed there (Grace Kelly, Joan Didion, etc) and those we don‘t know. As the women were judged on their looks as to whether they could stay, this isn‘t exactly patriarchy dismantling stuff, but was a step in the right direction. Fun book!

#savvysettings #skyscraper

Not your traditional skyscraper but a building I‘m interested in reading about. Two titles from my tbr.

Inspired to read this for Women‘s History Month!

Fascinating look at this hotel for women. Great detail and set against the changing role of women generally in US society. Lots of famous women discussed, including Plath, Didion and Grace Kelly.
Thanks Helen 😘
#booked2022 #setinahotel

Fascinating look at the landmark hotel and the women who lived there. Easily one of my favorites of 2021.

I loved this audiobook, Holly @Hooked_on_books , thank you so much for sending it to me!

The Barbizon was a women-only hotel in NYC, opening in the 1920s. I found the first chapter a little slow but then the rest of the book was fascinating, covering the New York lives of women such as the summer interns at Mademoiselle magazine, students at a secretarial school and models from the newly set-up Ford Modelling Agency. ⬇️

Thanks so much for my audio gift Holly @Hooked_on_books - such a lovely surprise when I looked at my emails this morning!

The book sounds wonderful - strong women in New York City -what‘s not to love! 💪😁

I‘ve nearly finished an audiobook and this one will definitely be next in my ears! 😘

It‘s somehow still 30 degrees at 7pm so I‘m floating, content, and trying to ignore the neighbour children screaming. Enjoying this so far.

I had to keep on airplane mode on my Kindle for the past week to finish this one up after my library e-book due date, but I‘m glad I did. I found most of it a fascinating glimpse of history & the list of women who stayed at the Barbizon & the look at Mademoiselle Magazine‘s history & tie in so interesting. There are times it got repetitive but overall, I enjoyed it. It also moved The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis up in my #TBR & I might finally have ⬇️

My finished soup: Smoked Salmon Bisque: rich & creamy & paired here with one of my current reads because it seems like something you would have found on the menu at The Barbizon.🤷🏻‍♀️

Link to recipe: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-savory-smoked-salmon-bisque-for.htm...

#JulyJourneys #NewYorkCity

Thanks to the lovely @AmyG I have great books ready to be read set in NYC from @Chrissyreadit and her #Staycationintimeswap. I will be diving into these soon.

#QuotsyJul21

Ran across this quote while reading last night & it works for #cement 💛

“Young women during World War II were being told they could do anything they put their minds to. That promise was cemented by Rosie the Riveter‘s relentless message.”

The finished Zucchini Vichyssoise from an Ina Garten recipe which is simple but tasty & can be enjoyed hot, warm or cold. The leeks are the prominent flavor—although I snuck it a little tarragon. With one of my library e-book holds that just came it. Taking a quick look through to see what I think—although who knows when I‘ll actually get to reading it. I love this kind of women‘s history & social commentary though so I think I‘ll enjoy it.

This book was fascinating! Before reading it I had never heard of The Barbizon, but I found it very interesting! 👍🏻

Paulina Bren is professor of international studies, gender and media at Vassar College who uses The Barbizon (a women-only hotel which opened in 1927 and only welcomed men in 1981) as the background to this gadfly look at the social changes that women went through during this period. However, it‘s very white middle class and bounces around between women while ultimately only telling me things I already knew about the hypocrisies of the period.

I never considered myself an avid non-fiction reader. Bellevue by David M. Oshinsky changed that; I loved being emersed in the history and details of a building and the people and stories that are tied to it. This book read the same way...
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Beautifully written and researched... It is both a vivid portrait of the lives of these young women who came to New York looking for something more, and an epic history of women‘s ambition.

Barbizon showcases incarnations of the famous hotel for women featuring stories about Molly Brown, Grace Kelly, and Sylvia Plath among other famous (and not so famous) residents. The Barbizon housed women who arrived in NYC trying to make their mark in modeling, acting or writing, or those trying to make it in the job market from the 1920-70s. The guest editors from Mademoiselle stayed there from Plath to Didion to Wolitzer. #nonfiction #audiobook

What a great way to start off National Women‘s month! The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free is a book about a NY hotel that was singularly built to house Women. This book is not only about the women who lived at the Barbizon, but also about the history surrounding the eras that The Women lived there and New York.
Coming tomorrow, March 2, 2021

#netgalley #nationalwomensmonth