I just finished Erik Larson's The Splendid and the Vile, which is about Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz. I found this book that took place during a time of mass death and chaos, and yet heroic clarity, an incredible solace. I can't move on and keep rereading sections--it's a good v. evil story and, not to spoil it for you, but the good guys win. It's so satisfying.
Diaries play an important part of the way Larson tells the story. One of the many things I learned about was a social science project of the time called Mass Observation. For this project, hundreds of Londoners kept a record of regular life as "social anthropology of ourselves."
One of the assignments was to describe your fireplace mantel. Here is mine:
The fireplace mantel in our little London house, in our little London living room, is beautiful red marble. In contrast to this classic aged beauty, hovering above the "fireplace," is our TV. The cable connection is next to the mantel and because the house is over a 100 years old, I can't have more holes made in the walls to move the connection. And of course, the chimney is blocked. So I bought a cozy little insert that looks sort of like real fire if I don't look directly at it. I can't drill holes in the 100-year-old walls to hide the cords, so I camouflage them as best I can by taping them down. Sharing the sofa with two small dogs, watching a movie with Peter, candles burning, rain and early evening outside, wearing thick socks is, like The Splendid and Vile, in spite of drawbacks of the situation, deeply satisfying.