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Dear Reader, it is with the greatest delight that I invite you to participate in the Patti LuPone Reading Challenge.
We’re reading along with Broadway, baby!
Let us take you on a series of literary adventures, where we recommend books inspired by the letters in the name of the world renowned Broadway singer and actor – ‘Patti LuPone’.
Each letter, a peek behind the scenes of a Broadway Queen, leading you to discover some new favourite reads and a little bit more about Patti herself.
As you read, see if you can unravel fact from fiction. There are 6 false low notes for you to spot, and 5 true high notes to learn.
Settle into your favourite armchair and harmonise with a range of exciting reads, courtesy of Patti LuPone.
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We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop. However, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.
Therefore, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both stock up on Patti inspired fiction! 😀
Break a Leg, Friends!
Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti once trained a flock of pigeons to harmonise with her during a performance in Times Square, creating a viral sensation.
"The Pallbearers Club" Book Blurb:
What if the coolest girl you’ve ever met decided to be your friend? Art Barbara was so not cool. He was a seventeen-year-old high school loner in the late 1980s who listened to hair metal, had to wear a monstrous back-brace at night for his scoliosis, and started an extracurricular club for volunteer pallbearers at poorly attended funerals. But his new friend thought the Pallbearers Club was cool. And she brought along her Polaroid camera to take pictures of the corpses. Okay, that part was a little weird. So was her obsessive knowledge of a notorious bit of New England folklore that involved digging up the dead. And there were other strange things – terrifying things – that happened when she was around, usually at night. But she was his friend, so it was okay, right? Decades later, Art tries to make sense of it all by writing The Pallbearers Club: A Memoir. But somehow this friend got her hands on the manuscript and, well, she has some issues with it. And now she’s making cuts.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti played Fantine in the original London production of “Les Misérables” in 1985, earning her an Olivier Award.
"Affinity" Book Blurb:
Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some ‘good work’ with the lady criminals of one of London’s most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates – the imprisoned spiritualist – Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
LuPone has had a successful television career, appearing in shows like “American Horror Story” and “Penny Dreadful”.
"Tender Beasts" Book Blurb:
With the death of Sunny’s mother, matriarch of the wealthy Behre family, Sunny’s once picture-perfect life is thrown into turmoil. Her mother had groomed her to be the family’s next leader, so Sunny is confused when the only instructions her mother leaves is a mysterious note: “Take care of Dom.” The problem is, her youngest brother, Dom, has always been a near-stranger to Sunny…and seemingly a dangerous one, if found guilty of his second-degree murder charge. Still, Sunny is determined to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. But when a classmate is gruesomely murdered, and Sunny finds her brother with blood on his hands, her mother’s simple request becomes a lot more complicated. Dom swears he’s innocent, and although Sunny isn’t sure she believes him, she takes it upon herself to look into the murder—made all the more urgent by the discovery of another body. And another. As Sunny and Dom work together to track down the culprit, Sunny realizes her other siblings have their own dark secrets. Soon she may have to choose: preserve the family she’s always loved or protect the brother she barely knows—and risk losing everything her mother worked so hard to build.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti once sang so powerfully during a rehearsal that she shattered all the windows in the theatre, earning her the nickname “The Vocal Hurricane”.
"Tress of the Emerald Sea" Book Blurb:
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti’s voice is so unique that scientists have classified it as a new musical instrument called the “Lupophone.”
"Into the Heartless Wood" Book Blurb:
The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain. When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
LuPone won her first Tony Award for her iconic performance as Eva Perón in “Evita” in 1980.
"The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion" Book Blurb:
Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious suicide, Danielle ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa, and witnesses a protector spirit — in the form of a blood-red, three-antlered deer — begin to turn on its summoners. She and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town — or get out alive.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti has a secret hobby of training squirrels to perform mini Broadway shows in Central Park.
"Under Lock and Skeleton Key" Book Blurb:
After a disastrous accident derails Tempest Raj’s career, and life, she heads back to her childhood home in California to comfort herself with her grandfather’s Indian home-cooked meals. Though she resists, every day brings her closer to the inevitable: working for her father’s company. Secret Staircase Construction specialises in bringing the magic of childhood to all by transforming clients’ homes with sliding bookcases, intricate locks, backyard treehouses, and hidden reading nooks. When Tempest visits her dad’s latest renovation project, her former stage double is discovered dead inside a wall that’s supposedly been sealed for more than a century. Fearing she was the intended victim, it’s up to Tempest to solve this seemingly impossible crime. But as she delves further into the mystery, Tempest can’t help but wonder if the Raj family curse that’s plagued her family for generations—something she used to swear didn’t exist—has finally come for her.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti LuPone has been inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame, recognising her contributions to the performing arts.
"Paw and Order" Book Blurb:
Paradise Cove is, well, paradise. Pretty cottages line the quiet beach where waves wash gently onto sugar-white sand. Sunsets paint the sky each evening and gentle sea breezes blow across the dunes into the quaint downtown. Whiskers wears a shiny police badge on his pet collar, and he earned it, but when he tries to tell humans what he’s uncovered in his investigations they think he wants food or a belly rub. Which, of course, he does. But he also needs to catch the killer who is trying to frame Sheila. Fortunately, he can communicate with other animals including a hippie cat that lives on the beach, a great blue heron, and the town’s K-9 officer. Sheila certainly wasn’t planning to form the Paradise Cove Murder Society. It is fun, though, sleuthing with her new friends and sipping margaritas on the deck watching sunsets.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti once performed an entire concert underwater to raise awareness for marine life conservation.
"The Old Woman With The Knife" Book Blurb:
She never presumed she herself would live out her natural life, so she wouldn’t mind leaving this world through an untimely death. Hornclaw is a sixty-five-year-old female contract killer who is considering retirement. But while on an assassination job for the ‘disease control’ company she works for, Hornclaw makes an uncharacteristic error, causing a sequence of events that brings her past well and truly into the present. Threatened with sabotage by a young male upstart and battling new desires and urges when she least expects them, Hornclaw steels her resolve, demonstrating that no matter their age, the female of the species is always more deadly than the male.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti has a memoir titled “Patti LuPone: A Memoir” where she shares stories from her life and career.
"The Naturals" Book Blurb:
Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified programme that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie. What Cassie doesn’t realise is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved murders – especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
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Patti LuPone Fact or Fiction? :
Patti LuPone is said to have discovered a hidden underground theatre beneath Broadway, where she occasionally performs secret shows for an exclusive audience.
"The Echo Man" Book Blurb:
Across England, a string of murders is taking place. Each different in method, but each horrifying and brutal. Jess Ambrose is plunged into the investigation when her house is set ablaze. With her husband dead and the police pointing at her, she runs. Her only hope is disgraced detective Nate Griffin, who is convinced Jess is innocent. Soon, Jess and Griffin discover the unthinkable; this murderer is copying the world’s most notorious serial killers. And now, imitation isn’t enough. The killer dubbed The Echo Man is ready to create his own masterpiece, and it will be more terrifying than anything that has come before.
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