Letters to Amelia Earhart actually. Yes, that Amelia Earhart. The first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean. And who was lost at sea amidst much mystery. Lindsay Zier-Vogel, a Toronto author, and I share a mutual love of all things snail mails.
We know some of the same (amazing) people in the world of letter writing and of course, if you aren’t familiar with Lindsay’s The Love Lettering Project you will want to be.
Couldn’t put it down
This book, ‘Letters to Amelia’ is very good. It exceeded my expectations. I’ve read other books where written correspondence has played a central role in the story line, but often I find the story itself falls short.
Not the case here. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down. I had to find out what happened to Grace, the thirty-year-old library tech who has just split with her guy of seven years (way more to that plot line, but I won’t give it away) who finds herself reading the newly discovered letters that Amelia Earhart wrote to her lover.
Lindsay gifted me a card she made on a Letterpress with Amelia Earhart’s bright red ‘Vega‘ letter pressed into the paper. I just love it!
Giving away a copy of the book
Set in Toronto, which is now a stone’s throw from me, it was really fun to recognize street names and buildings mentioned in the book. If you like historical fiction genre in general, you should put ‘Letters to Amelia’ on your Christmas list.
Maybe I can play the role of Christmas Elf? I am giving away a new copy to one lucky winner.
All you need to do is comment below sharing a memory that is related to snail mail OR aviation OR both by December 11th. One person’s name will be drawn randomly and the winner will be notified by email on December 12th.
Note: Thanks to Book*hug Press for the free copy.
Sounds like a great book for us lovers of snail mail! My favorite non-fiction book is “:Gift of a Letter” by Alexandra Stoddard. I bought the book years ago and read it twice a year. This is not a “how-to” book on the mechanics of how to write letters, but a celebration of writing and receiving personal correspondence. It always inspires me and makes me want to rush to my desk and start writing letters!
Roseanne! I think I need to get this book as well. If you read twice a year, it must be incredible. Thanks for sharing that title with us.
Oh that book sounds lovely! I would love to participate by sharing with you how much it cheered me during the pandemic to receive letters from my penpals! It felt (at the time) like things were “normal” and many paper hugs and love were exchanged during that time! I will never forget how those letters, cards and paper goodies made a big difference during such difficult period of our lives.
Wishing you and your readers a joyful holiday season!
Sara, I couldn’t agree more. Snail mail had a very big positive impact to so many during the pandemic. A life line of sorts I think. Just speaks to the power of writing letters. I loved reading your comment. Merry Christmas to you too.
I missed your posts 🙂
I would like to read that book, too.
As you know, I have a lot of experiences related to snail mail. But, related to snail mail & aviation at the same time… I can only recall races in the airport to find post boxes to send the latest postcards before boarding!
Eva! You are so sweet to say. Thank you for always reading my ramblings. And, what a great story about sending off postcards just before boarding. How fun!
Super love reading your Blog posts and would live to read Letters to Amelia too!
Miss ya!
Ahh, thanks a bunch Michelle. I appreciate you even taking the time to read my blog. Miss ya too.
I’ve been wanting to read this book. Can’t remember where I first heard of it but I love stories with a strong female lead. Aviation has always been big in my family. As children wed have to sit in the car a local, municipal while our dad spent hours talking about airplanes with his buddies. He was a private pilot and my brother is now a private pilot. One of his planes is a red, vintage Stinson. He’d also probably enjoy reading about Amelia.
I should have proofread… sitting at local, municipal airports…
Clearly an aviation theme to your day. 😉
I feel that this book would make great Christmas gifts in your family! What great memories, thanks for sharing with us.
I have always been fascinated with Amelia Earhart, who still to this day would be considered extraordinarily brave. I remember as a child reading every book I could lay my hands on to read more about her. How much more would she have accomplished had she survived that last flight?
Hi Denise, Amelia Earhart is legendary for sure. So fascinating her life, and I couldn’t agree more about her being so brave. I bet this book would be extra interesting for you as you have read so much about her already.
A happy memory of my childhood was of me getting to run down to the end of the driveway to check the mailbox! I lived the anticipation and excitement of bringing the mail in each day.
Julie! I also remember running down the driveway to the mailbox! I’m sure the driveway wasn’t as long as it seemed to 8 yr old me. Nothing better than getting mail
Happy to see you posting again, Barb! I have always loved the mail and from an early age I would listen for the sound of the mail truck coming down our street. I could be at the back of our house and I would easily hear the faint stop and go as the truck made its way down to our house on the cul-de-sac. Even if I could not yet see the truck from our kitchen window, I knew the mailman was making his way down the street…and I always hoped he would deliver something for me!
Thank you Jill for taking the time to read the blog. Means a lot. I love this memory of yours of hearing the mail truck. I thought for a minute that it had a bell or something, but it was the sound of the truck itself you recognized. How magical. I hope your mailbox is full for the holidays.