I say Peeps, you say Peppys

I woke up last night around 1:30 a.m. and picked up Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin and finished the last 3 chapters. It is a long journey, but a wonderfully done book.

There is some nonfiction out there that reads like fiction, but this book is straight up nonfiction. Tomalin doesn't hold back the dates, political details, meandering family trees or detailed medical and relationship dirt. But this is exactly what I love about her biographies. I read Jane Austen: A Life and when I finished it I had learned not only about Jane Austen's life, but also about her time. While reading about Pepys, I admit, I had to look up some events in other books. Perhaps because I bought my copy in England there were less explanations of political details that, as an American, I didn't understand (our library copy has a different - uglier - cover...perhaps there are additional footnotes or an Americanized version). Regardless, I feel that I know Pepys (incidentally, I understand the pronunciation is "peeps") and I have a much better understanding of London during the 1660s-1670s. He lived through so many major events - the plague, the great fire of 1666 that destroyed all of medieval London, the killing of Charles I and the creation of a commonwealth in London, the introduction of tea in London, and so on - his daily musings are well written and cover dramatic events.

As I was coming to the end of Samuel Pepys, I (of course) was already planning my next book. I had purchased so many anglobooks (my new word) while on vacation but I had just devoted so much time on Pepys, I felt it was time for something different. Ah-ha! I thought! The Red Leather Diary was in my "read soon!" pile in my library. This was the exact opposite of Pepys! He was 1660's London, this was 1930s New York! As I got into the book, however, I found that I managed to find a book that was a biography of a person based on their found diary. As opposite as the locations and times are the books are actually strangely similar.

Finally, as I go through my Pepys withdrawal (I feel like we are friends now) I have come across a really fabulous website. Each day it posts Pepy's diary entry for that day (revolving through, year by year). Today, September 18, for example, has Pepys' entry for September 18, 1665. You can also search the diary for terms or specific dates. How amazing! I can get my daily dose of Pepys and read his diary in "real time" ... day by day!