Book Club Girl - Book Group Recommendations, Reading Group Guides, Audio Book Club Podcasts

Listen to Lily Koppel and Florence Wolfson Talking about The Red Leather Diary Now

What a terrific discussion we had tonight with Lily Koppel about The Red Leather Diary. And as an added treat, Florence Wolfson, author of the original red leather diary that Lily discovered and started her on her quest, called in to answer our questions! That was amazing. Listen in now and a big thank you goes out to Lily, Florence and everyone who listened live and sent in questions. Be sure to visit Lily's website for more info about the book and to invite her to call in to your book group.

Reminder! Tonight is Our Show with Lily Koppel AND a Special Guest!

Tune in tonight at 7 pm EST to join the conversation with Lily Koppel about The Red Leather Diary, and be sure to stay with the show through to the end as we expect a very special surprise guest caller to join us as well! Wondering who it is? Let me just say that if you have a question for the original author of the actual red leather diary, you'll get a chance to ask it tonight! The call-in number is (347) 945-6149.

Set your reminder here, go to the same link to listen and participate live tonight!

Reminder! Our Book Club Girl on Air Show with Lily Koppel is This Wednesday Night 4/29

Tune in Wednesday night at 7 pm EST to talk to Lily Koppel about her unique and inpiring memoir and history of 1930s NYC, The Red Leather Diary. I can't wait for this show, not only because I love this book, but I also because I love the NYC of that era. Oh how I wish I could have lived in those days! Can't wait to hear what you all thought of the book and to talk to Lily about it. If you haven't yet done so, set your reminder for the show here, return to that same link to listen live on Wed night, or to listen to the archived show after it airs. Talk to you soon!

Typepad Malfunction: Attention Red Leather Diary Participants!

So, for whatever reason, I am no longer receiving emails when I get comments on the blog. Those emails from Typepad allowed me to contact you guys for your addresses so I'm a bit hamstrung for my last two giveaways.

So, Red Leather Diary Book Club Girl on Air show participants -- and that's everyone from Darlene to Bonnie, please email me your address at book club girl AT gmail DOT com and we'll get the book to you asap!

Lily Koppel, author of The Red Leather Diary, Joins Book Club Girl On Air!

I'm so pleased to announce that my next radio show (after Adriana Trigiani next Tues, April 7th at 7!) will feature Lily Koppel, author of the acclaimed and unique memoir The Red Leather Diary. As those of you who follow the blog know, Lily's story began when she discovered an old red leather diary in a dumpster outside of her Manhattan apartment building. Within its pages she learned about the life of one Florence Wolfson, living in 1930s NYC, and she set out on a mission to find Florence today. The resulting dual memoir by Koppel is a wonderful and inspiring read. Read more about the book here and here. Browse inside it here.

The show with Lily will take place on April 29th at 7 pm EST. Set your reminder for the show here.

The first 15 people who comment that they'd like to participate in the show, via the phone or online chat, will receive a free copy of the book!

75 Years Later Author Writes in a New Red Leather Diary

I got this great, and inspiring, note from Lily Koppel, author of The Red Leather Diary this week, along with this photo of Florence, the woman whose life she discovered in the pages of the red leather diary she found in a dumpster outside her apartment building. Read my first post about the book here, and to invite Lily to speak to your book group, email her at bookclub AT redleatherdiary DOT com.

Three quarters of a century after she kept her original diary, Florence, 93 puts pen to page and writes in her new 'red leather diary' (the new one was auctioned off for the Broward County Library Foundation) at a dinner at Pocock Fine Art & Antiques in Fort Lauderdale, part of Literary Feast.

 

After fishing Florence's 1930s diary out of a dumpster outside of my Manhattan building, filled with old steamer trunks, and spending years tracking her down and then writing our joint story about the friendship that blossomed in The Red Leather Diary, I realized I had never actually seen Florence write in her diary--until now. As Florence and I autographed books the other night, I asked her, what young Florence, who kept the diary from 14-19 between 1928-1934, would say if she could "peer into her future" and see herself today. "She wouldn't believe it," said Florence, who, upon second thought, said, "Actually, she wouldn't be surprised." She reiterated how she now felt, "I no longer feel like an ordinary older woman. I have a new best friend and am inspired to never put my pen (or laptop) down."

Calling All Mothers, Daughters and Grandmothers to Journey Within the Pages of The Red Leather Diary

I'm so pleased to have today's guest post from journalist Lily Koppel about her compelling book, The Red Leather Diary, which is just out this week in paperback. The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, is the story of Koppel's discovery of an old red leather diary in steamer trunk in a dumpster in NYC. Read on to find out about the amazing woman she discovered within the diary's pages and watch the cinematic book trailer as well.

It's a story that reads like a movie: on my way to work at the New York Times, I stumbled upon a dumpster filled with old steamer trunks, among them a flapper dress, a stunning coat from Bergdorf's, and a young woman's crumbling red leather diary. The Red Leather Diary is about my discovery of Florence Wolfson's diary, kept in New York in the 1930s, the amazing life that is portrayed in its pages, and its return to its owner at 90. Called a real life Titanic and a sexy Tuesdays with Morrie, the book comes out in paperback this week. With so much talk about the Depression, there is also renewed interest in what life was really like in the '30s as recorded in the diary. Florence, who didn't skip a single day in the diary's five years from 1929 to 1934, was crazy about art, but she was also mad about love. When Florence hosted her literary salon, she and its members were committed to the Socratic quest, to "know thyself." Three quarters of a century later, this remains Florence's ongoing journey. In her foreword, Florence writes about going from having no expectations to having a second act at 90, she asks: "How do you feel when a forgotten chunk of your life is handed back to you?" The book gazes beneath the surface of our seemingly "ordinary" lives to disclose the "private truths" of who we are. Thoroughly contemporary and timeless, the book offers a rare opportunity for mothers, daughters and grandmothers to read The Red Leather Diary together and share their own experiences at a cross-generational book club meeting.

You can browse inside the book here, and be sure to read more about the story behind the book in the PS section that is exclusive to the paperback edition. To invite Lily to talk to your book group, email her at bookclub AT redleatherdiary DOT com and check out the reading group guide and the book website.