00:00 This was from a dressing gown worn by Nicola Copland, aka Penelope Featherington.
00:05 But what makes this really special is that it is signed from both Phoebe Denevore and
00:11 Regé-Jean Page.
00:12 Hi, I'm Julia Quinn, and I'm inviting you in to see my personal library.
00:17 This is Shelf Portrait for Marie Claire.
00:22 One of the most exciting things for me about being an author is seeing my books translated
00:26 into so many different languages.
00:28 And so I keep a lot of them on the bookshelf here, and it's just so much fun for me.
00:32 This is Danish.
00:33 These are some new collections in French.
00:36 Back here, well actually this is Dutch.
00:38 This is a box set for Brazilian Portuguese.
00:41 Got some Spanish here.
00:44 And then these are just some very special English editions that I have.
00:47 And we've got Thai and Korean and Japanese.
00:51 So I'm going to share with you one of my most prized possessions.
00:54 This.
00:55 Yes, it's The Duke and I, which I wrote, but this is a very special copy because for
01:01 one, my bookmark is a scrap of fabric from the actual show.
01:05 This was from a dressing gown worn by Nicola Coughlin, aka Penelope Featherington.
01:10 But what makes this really special is that it is signed from both Phoebe Denevore and
01:17 Regé-Jean Page.
01:18 So sometimes you buy a book just because you see it in the bookstore and it totally cracks
01:22 you up.
01:23 I have purchased Crap Taxidermy.
01:26 This book is so funny.
01:28 I could open to any page and it will just make you die laughing.
01:33 This is the world's worst taxidermy.
01:36 My entire family adores it.
01:38 My mom just cleaned out her basement and we found one of my favorite books from when I
01:42 was growing up.
01:43 It is Louisa Alcott, Girl of Old Boston.
01:46 It is a biography of Louisa May Alcott and it is so much fun to look through because
01:51 you can see my old address that I wrote in.
01:53 That's my handwriting from when I was a little kid.
01:56 And it's just so beautifully illustrated.
01:58 I have to find one for you.
02:00 All in these great silhouettes.
02:04 I read this book so many times as a child.
02:08 Far more times than I actually read anything that Louisa May Alcott wrote herself.
02:11 I love graphic novels and graphic memoirs.
02:14 And one book that I have purchased so many times recently because I've given it as a
02:18 gift to just maybe not dozens of people but a lot of people is They Call This the Enemy
02:24 by George Takei.
02:25 It is a memoir of his time in an internment camp during World War II and it is just so
02:34 moving and told in such an accessible manner.
02:38 Everybody should read this book.
02:39 This is one of my most treasured possessions.
02:41 It is an autographed set of March which is a three part graphic memoir by Congressman
02:48 John Lewis.
02:50 And I met him at the American Library Association conference a few years ago and he signed this
02:54 for me.
02:55 I think everybody should have some comics in their collection.
02:58 Certainly we all need a little Kevin and Hobbes.
03:01 But one that I really like is by Grant Snyder.
03:04 I will judge you by your bookshelf.
03:06 This is a collection of comics about books and reading and they're just so much fun.
03:11 I often share these on social media and so when I saw that he was having a collection
03:16 I knew I had to buy it.
03:17 I actually read books both paper and electronic and it's actually kind of funny because there
03:23 were some books I wanted to recommend and I searched my whole house to find a copy and
03:27 then I realized it was on my e-reader.
03:28 So for example, Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple.
03:32 I love that book so much especially because Seattle, my city, is such an important part
03:38 of it and she gets everything right.
03:40 But I don't have it to show you because it's on my e-reader.
03:43 Here's another author I really love.
03:45 I think I've read everything that she's written.
03:47 It's Jenny Lawson.
03:48 She has a blog called The Blog S but she also writes books and this is her most recent one.
03:53 I think it just came out this year, Broken, in the best possible way.
03:57 She is so funny.
03:59 I mean shake the bed funny but at the same time she's incredibly moving.
04:04 There's a section where she writes an open letter to her insurance company about all
04:07 the things that they give her grief about.
04:09 She has a number of chronic conditions both mental and physical and it just really gets
04:15 you in the heart and I just I think she's so smart and so wise and I would really like
04:22 to meet her someday.
04:23 I love to read romance novels.
04:25 That goes without question.
04:27 I write historical romance.
04:28 I love historical romance.
04:30 If you follow me on Facebook I actually recommend a historical romance every single Monday but
04:34 here are two authors who have new books out that I just happen to have here that I love.
04:39 This is Sarah McClain with Bombshell and she writes books.
04:43 They're just so fierce and feminist.
04:44 I love them.
04:46 And then I've also got a new one by Julianne Long who's one of my favorite authors.
04:49 She's so underappreciated.
04:51 I don't know why everyone isn't reading her.
04:53 You really should.
04:54 Now I also read contemporary romance and one of my favorites is The Hating Game by Sally
04:59 Thorne and this is going to be a major motion picture soon so read the book now before you
05:05 watch the movie.
05:06 My father was also a writer and he wrote for middle grade readers and he wrote this wonderful
05:13 book called Cheesy Mac which is so smart and so funny and so my dad and this was the first
05:22 book and this was I think this was the last and he passed earlier this year and I am so
05:30 grateful that kids can still get a taste of the type of person he was through the books
05:36 that he wrote and we keep these books on a very special part of my bookshelf here which
05:41 is just a section where I've got a lot of people who are important to me.
05:45 I think that no library would be complete without The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
05:49 Careful readers know that this is one of my favorite books.
05:52 If you read and romancing Mr. Bridgerton I have a little homage to it in there.
05:57 Yes in Regency Romance I managed to reference The Hitchhiker's Guide.
06:01 So like every book lover I know I buy more books than I'm able to read in a timely manner
06:07 so this is just one stack of books I purchased in the last month that I have not read yet
06:12 but I will or at least that's what I'm telling myself but I have Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes
06:17 by Alexa Martin, super excited about this one I love her books.
06:22 This one was recommended to me I don't know that much about it except it sounds really
06:25 cool Finding the Mother Tree Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.
06:30 I've also got Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
06:33 I love the Martians so I'm really excited to try this one.
06:37 And then from Daniel James Brown who also wrote The Boys in the Boat Facing the Mountain
06:42 a true story of Japanese American heroes in World War II and this has a big Seattle component
06:48 to it which I'm excited about because I live in Seattle.
06:51 And then finally The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel because we all
06:56 love Alison Bechdel.
06:58 So this is one of my favorite books of all time The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger.
07:04 It's an epistolary novel which means it's written in letters and telegrams and ticket
07:08 stubs and bar mitzvah programs.
07:11 It's set in the early 1940s in Brooklyn and it stars a wisecracking young 12-13 year old
07:18 boy named Joey Margolis and the all-star third baseman for the New York Giants Charlie Banks
07:24 and they end up becoming friends in this kind of bizarre way.
07:29 And it is funny and heartbreaking and it's this great example of how you can write a
07:35 novel in such a different manner and have it be just perfect.
07:41 Thanks for watching Shelf Portrait and don't forget to subscribe to Marie Claire.
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