Obviously I posted without reading the whole thread! But I’m totally fine with rereading A Town Like Alice. The 1981 miniseries with Bryan Brown was very well done.
As for what I am reading currently reading A Visit from the Good Squad. I remember thinking it sounded intriguing when it first came out and it keeps showing up as part of the clue in the NYT crossword puzzles, so I finally checked it out. I’m not loving it because it has a common problem of contemporary novels, I don’t like the characters.
I’ve been reading a bunch of graded reader type stuff in intermediate Spanish. The quality has ranged from terrible to barely adequate.
Because I wanted something more fun I picked up a couple of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton prequels and have started reading one of them. I always find the contemporary style (and steam factor) of Quinn’s books bit jarring having grown up on Georgette Heyer, but they are nice little bonbons.
What I’m currently reading: I’m about to start on Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. I was reading Horse but the library rudely took the book back leaving me in the middle of the book😀 . And I’m #155 on the waitlist.
And now I will be digging out my copy of The Quiet Gentleman to start a Heyer binge. Perfect for the holidays. I was about to pick up Jane Austen or Fanny Burney for my December nostalgic pick but Georgette Heyer will do nicely.
I’m all caught up on the CC book club books that I missed earlier this year except for Horse. Looking forward to reading the discussions.
Assuming you are reading on a Kindle, you can put it in airplane mode, the book will be returned but the text will stay on your Kindle. You won’t be able to download any new books though.
I had read the Bridgerton books before the show. But a major reason I liked the show was that it brought the Georgette Heyer world to life. The locales, the outfits, the social events, et al - all there on my screen as so frequently described.
The show was very different from the books. I enjoyed both, but I’m not sure you could really say it brought GH’s world to life! All that sex! The mixed race cast. I loved it, but it’s alternate reality for sure.
I meant the look of it, not the actions. Going to the modiste, getting ices at Gunther’s, the carriages, Rotton Row and the Serpentine, Vauxhall Gardens, Almacks…. I can now picture Heyer’s characters in those places.
@ignatius : My three book clubs are all virtual, for better or worse. I enjoy them all for different reasons. This one – well, obviously; it’s because of the company here! Then, one through the local Humanists and Freethinkers organization, because they are generally really smart people. (That’s what I’m reading The Bean Trees for.) And one through the Public Library, because the number of people in it is incredibly tiny (not to mention really old) and I feel an obligation to keep it going. Because it’s so small, I also have an outsized ability to convince the librarian to read certain books that I want to read. So far, I’ve convinced them to read The Street (I convinced you all here to read the same thing); The Lost Man by Jane Harper; and The Woman They Could Not Silence, nonfiction by Kate Moore (author of The Radium Girls).
A town Like Alice - read about two thirds and put it aside - happily will finish the book for the next book discussion.
Kudos to mary13 for making the decision so quickly
Historic book discussion selection process
The most books nominated
The most books quickly vetoed
And the quickest decision made by our wondeful and talented , Mary13
Currently reading Verity - Colleen Hoover ( first book I’ve read by her )
Oh absolutely. I never found the novel romantic. It’s full of characters I love to hate, but they’re all tied together in a fascinating and complex way.
I love that statement – “I no longer see obsession and abuse as romantic.”
I remember when we read Peyton Place and many of us were up in arms over Tom’s (I think his name was Tom) rape of the mother. Of course, the book took place in the 1930s, and the mother fell in love.
And 12 days later I finally finished “Fellowship Point!” My excuse is my 95 1/2 year old father’s health issues and all my driving back and forth to my hometown to see him.
I’ve skimmed through everyone’s comments above and don’t have a lot to add. I enjoyed the book a lot, in spite of several slow parts, varying writing styles and characters who disappeared long enough for me to scratch my head when they popped back into the story. My rating settled at 4 stars – 5 stars was just too generous.
I realized early on that there would be some major revelation in the book. For a while I thought it would be about Maud (which, in a way it was) but after the storyline put Heidi in the hospital outside of Philly with that list of words, I figured it was her. I also realized there were bad things coming when Agnes closed the window in the cabin where Virgil and Nan were living.
As others have noted, Dick was very aptly named – I couldn’t muster much sympathy for him, even in his decline. And Seela? What a witch!! Why did Robert just accept the charges against him instead of fighting them? Oh, and add James to the list of “not at all nice” characters.
As always, I’m good with the next selection. (I’m also OK with it being shorter than this one!)
Random thought now that @CBBBlinker has put Fellowship Point back in my brain: I was very glad Polly had the M Girls in her life. They can’t replace Lydia, of course, but it had to have been some comfort to be surrounded by little (and then not-so-little) girls, who clearly loved her very much.
Yes, he was surprisingly passive. The situation was all “he said/she said.” Supposedly, Robert’s case was hurt by his old marijuana conviction; still, he mustn’t have had a very good lawyer.
Yikes! No librarian should object to audiobooks–especially not an Audie Award-winning full cast version of a play!
Thanks to all for the great Fellowship Point discussion, and to @Mary13 for choosing the next book so I don’t have to feel guilty about missing the voting again.
Also, I read on Libby — not sure if it works the same way! I’ll try it next time I’m this close to the wire.
Going to the modiste, getting ices at Gunther’s, the carriages, Rotton Row and the Serpentine, Vauxhall Gardens, Almacks…. I can now picture Heyer’s characters in those places.