On "Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era": A Book Review

Title: Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era
Genre: Non-Fiction

About the book...
A TMC Film Guide, this book presents the reader with an array of information about 50 of Hollywood's biggest stars, accompanied by photographs of them and their biggest movies. 

What I think...
I love this book! It's perfect to flip through at random. it's concise, it has lots of pretty pictures of the actresses and the stills from the movies they were in, and with 50 actresses included you have a nice variety of stars to read about. 

The format of the book is great. There are four pages devoted to each actress. The first page being a full page photo; the second, biographical information; the third, a list of what TCM considers their "essential" films and summaries of them; and the forth, notes on their personal style and pieces of trivia. I though this presented the information in a way that makes it enjoyable to read and did so in a way that didn't make it seem overwhelming. 

 My favorite aspects of this layout are the "Style Notes" and "Behind the Scenes" portions, both which I like because I always adore learning more about who my favorite actresses were as a person, as well as some of the more interesting stories you don't always hear about. 

After flipping through and reading this, I am definitely planning  on getting the Leading Men book as well. 
 
To sum it all up... 
This is a fantastic book with beautiful glossy pages and loads of facts and fun about some of Hollywood's greatest. I highly reccomend this for anyone who adores classic film! ♥️

On Three School Books from Three Different Decades

As September comes to a close and students are reaching the point where they are fully settling into the routine of school, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at three school books from three different decades. Because I’ve been rather busy (hence the silence all month), this is going to be a picture heavy post.

First is Best Stories From the Best Book from 1900. I love the beautiful illustrations in this one. 

Next we have The Common Word Speller: Book Two from 1921.

Here we learn that "Oysters are good to eat in the winter."

And finally, we have English in Action from 1955. This is one of my favorite textbooks because, despite the title it really has a lot more in it than just English and largely because it came with a rough draft of a letter tucked into it.

 

The letter reads as follows (with no corrections made other than connecting the fragment on the left margin to its sentence):

Dear Mrs. Sullivan,

        From toe shoe’s to riding boots is often the quick change I make. I have been taking ballet lessons for about seven year and I have just been promoted to the professional class. I’m really proud of that, though I don’t know how that happened, I never practice. We are rehearsing for a ballet right now, three times a week.

         I am also quite a fiend about horses. I simply adore to go galloping across an open field on my favorite horse, Troubadore, with the wind blowing in my face. Every week I go riding more often when I can. I’m always getting thrown; one of these days I’m going to break my neck. “You smell like a barn,” is my mother’s comment when I come home covered with mud,

        Swimming is fun in the summer and I’ve always wanted to water ski one of these days.

        I love clothes and I’m always on a diet? My diets are really a scream. I’m always eating-about 2 ice cream sandwiches a day and eating between meals constantly.

        That’s what my life

        These are some of the things that help to fill my idle hours.

One of these days I’m going to research the teen who wrote it (I just noticed her name was in front cover hidden under a label with a later owner’s name) and the woman who she was writing to (whose address is in the front cover). Even if I don’t find anything, though, it’s such a lovely treasure to have.♥