New member introductions and group read planning Showing 651-700 of 1,039

[Skye]

Thanks, Debbie!

[Marian]

And this lady who does the blog..lives in Scotland to.

[Anjali]

Fiona wrote: "I have been lurking on this group for quite some time, and it puzzles me that no-one seems to like the Merlin series. To me they are definitely her best books, although I like "Wildfire at Midnight..."

Fiona, it has puzzled me too! I love the Merlin series, especially The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills - I think they are some of her best work.

I have a feeling that some MS fans might be put off by the 'fantasy' tag. They should know that MS has so successfully 'historicised' the legends that the few fantasy elements which appear in the books are utterly believable, so rooted in reality do they seem.

[Annabel]

I am loving the Mary Queen of Plots blog. So much to read! I don't know where to start. But I love the fact that she has seven copies of The Ivy Tree. I bought a copy of The Gabriel Hounds the other day in an Oxfam bookshop because I couldn't resist the cover - I already have a different copy and I don't even particularly like The Gabriel Hounds.

Also it mentioned Wind off the Small Isles which I had never heard of. It seems to be a rediscovered novella which was published a few years ago and I somehow missed. The heroine is called Perdita (a name I've been saving up myself to use for years). Has anyone read it? Is it any good?

Well done for finding the blog, Teaqueen. This is going to keep me busy for weeks.

[Skye]

Actually, it is the fantasy part that put me off, and I did have the collection, but I couldn't quite get into it.

[Teaqueen]

Annabel,
Cannot take credit for finding the blog. I'm always on the search for MS on the net but always come up short. My wonderful friend Linda (and fellow MS fan) discovered it. Linda is an author and also has a wonderful book blog at:
http://www.lindaborromeo.com/single-p...

Linda is having as much fun as the rest of us delving into the wonderful posts.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Annabel, The Wind off the Small Isles novella is finally back in print after many, many years of being unavailable. About 5 years ago someone in this group actually tracked down the magazine it was published in, in the 60s (Good Housekeeping, IIRC), and bought a copy on eBay. She made a PDF copy of the magazine pages and for years we passed them around in this group. We did a group read of it last year. :)

If you're not minded to buy it in book form, you can PM me your email address and I'll forward the PDFs to you (it's a set of three). It's interesting reading, not one of her best but definitely worth your time for MS fans.

[Skye]

Teaqueen wrote: "Annabel,
Cannot take credit for finding the blog. I'm always on the search for MS on the net but always come up short. My wonderful friend Linda (and fellow MS fan) discovered it. Linda is an autho..."

Teaqueen, thank you for Linda's link.

[Annabel]

Okay have had a binge buy on ebay and got wind off the small isles, stormy petrel and rose cottage. I know they are all going to annoy me by not being as good as her best work, but the stylish new paperback versions with the girl in irrelevant clothing on the front will remove some of the sting. (Usually a ball dress - surely no one except Linda Martin ever had occasion to wear a ball dress, although I suppose there is Gianetta in her modelling outfits.)

[Annabel]

I am going to the isle of mull on Friday which will surely be the ideal opportunity to read three 'new' MS books, being a windswept Scottish isle. (I went to Skye for my honeymoon and duly took Wildfire with me and reread it while I was there AND made my new husband read it. He has stuck by me...) Anyone know where stormy petrel is set? I have a feeling that was also Scotland.

[Teaqueen]

I loved Wind off the Small Isles. I read it a few years ago from the PDF a member here sent me. I am so thrilled for the re-issue...will need to buy that asap. I'm not sure if it's a novella or short story....but either way...It's short! That said...it contains all the elements that make a MS story for me. I look forward to reading it again.

[Marian]

I believe it is set Scotland's Western Islands??Sorry,thats all I know.

[Annabel]

So it could actually be Mull. (I think that's one of the Western Isles but get confused.) Anyway I will soon find out.

[Teaqueen]

"The isolated cottage on the remote Hebridean island of Moila seemed like an ideal away-from-it-all retreat for writer Rose Fenemore, a place where she could work in peace, and where her brother Crispin ..."
Stormy Petral

Since Moila is fabricated, maybe it is Mull?? Exciting!!

[Annabel]

Excellent! It won't be much of an 'ideal away-from-it-all retreat' with three children under 13, but still, that's the trouble with trying to live like a Mary Stewart heroine - real life rudely intrudes. Now waiting expectantly to see which of my new MS books makes it to my letterbox first. Thank you for enlightening me about Small Isles - I had never heard of it.

[Teaqueen]

Annabel,
Have a wonderful time on your holiday! We will also be on vacation....so I need to find a good book to read. But we will have our three-year-old granddaughter with us so it might have to be a very short book!

When you first mentioned your vacation location as the "isle of Mull", I read it as the Isle of Mall. 😂 Is it that obvious I live in California?!? LOL!

[Annabel]

Have you read Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog? One of the most irresistible books I know. Although it does have a time travel plot so possibly inconsistent with a three-year-old!

[Dody]

Hi - My name is Dody and I am new here - I am an Audible addict as I do not have much time to sit and read. I want to lobby Audible to record all of MS's books - hopefully with Juliet Stephenson as the narrator! I read all of her books as a teenager/young woman and just listened to the Merlin trilogy on Audible and LOVED it!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Hi Dody! Welcome to the Mary Stewart group! I hope you'll have a great time here. We've just started a group read of Wildfire at Midnight -- the discussion threads are under the "Buddy Reads" topic, if you're interested in joining. Thunder on the Right is on tap for a July buddy read.

Annabel, To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of my favorite time travel books! I'm planning to read it again, hopefully sometime this summer.

[Chris]

I'm so happy to find fellow fans of Mary Stewart. I devoured her novels as a teenager, and I've been re-reading my favorites lately. Hard to choose a favorite, but my top three would be: "Nine Coaches Waiting," "This Rough Magic" and "The Ivy Tree." Followed closely by "Airs Above the Ground." Some things feel a little dated; after all these books were written in the 1950s and 1960s, but what a fine writer. Characters, plots, dialogue; she's just so good at crafting a romantic suspense novel. I hope she won't be forgotten; hard to even find some of her books now. I also love DuMaurier; the movie version of "Rebecca" is superb!

[[deleted user]]

I'm re-reading Mary Stewart's books now, I think my favourite is Nine Coaches Waiting. I think the fact that her books are a wee bit dated just adds charm to the reading experience. Her books have been reprinted recently. As it happens Rebecca is my 'comfort ' read, I don't know how many times I've read it since the first time when I was about 13.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Hi Chris and Katrina! Nine Coaches Waiting is my favorite too, followed by Madam Will You Talk? You should find our buddy reads thread and comment or click to be notified of posts; we'll probably do another buddy read of a MS book in September or October.

[Christine PNW]

Tadiana pointed me over here from the Retro Reads group! My first taste of Stewart came from the Merlin trilogy, back in the 1970's when I was a teen. I actually recently reread The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills and enjoyed them all over again. Of her gothics, I've read The Ivy Tree, Nine Coaches Waiting and Wildfire at Midnight. Nine Coaches Waiting was probably my favorite of the three, but they were all entertaining!

I'll keep an eye out for the next group read.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Welcome here as well, M.R.! A heads up for you and all other newcomers to our group: go to the "more buddy reads?" thread and either comment on it or click to be notified of new comments. That's where we discuss and unofficially vote on the next group read, and I just posted a comment opening it up for discussion and voting on our next book to read.

Here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[debbicat *made of stardust*]

Welcome newcomers. This is a very cool group. :)

[Gogol]

Hello everyone! I'm so glad This group exists. I have been a big fan of Mary Stewart, since I started her Arthurian Series when I was in school. I love her writing, but unfortunately (or fortunately, I'm so glad I have them to look forward to) haven't had the chance to find all her books yet. I've only read Moonspinners, Airs above grounds, Touch not the cat and the Arthurian series. Oh and wildfire at night. Not a fan of Nicolas, I must say! I think I've re-read each book several times. Touch not the cat wasn't really a favourite of mine either, but the writing was captivating.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Welcome, Gogol! I'm so glad you found your way to this group! We've got a buddy read of The Ivy Tree for September if you're interested, and after that in November is The Crystal Cave.

[Gogol]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Welcome, Gogol! I'm so glad you found your way to this group! We've got a buddy read of The Ivy Tree for September if you're interested, and after that in November is [book:The Crysta..."
Thank you! I'm not exactly sure how buddy reads work? I would love to re-read The crystal cave.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Gogol, the way buddy reads work is that everyone who's interested in joining starts reading the assigned book (more or less at the same time; we're not stringent here), and then chats about it in the assigned discussion threads. Everyone just reads at their own pace. We have some great discussions on almost all of MS's books! If you're interested in the commentary on a particular book, you can pull up some of the old threads under the Buddy Reads heading and check them out. People post some great pictures of scenery from the settings, and sometimes pictures of actors and actresses that we think would fit the parts.

When the assigned start date hits for a buddy read (like for Ivy Tree in a couple of days), I'll pull up the old discussion threads from the last buddy read a few years ago, and pin them to the top of the discussion threads so people can find them easily and just keep adding to the old threads, rather than starting new ones. We usually break each book into about 5 chapters per thread for discussion purposes. In those threads we ask people to hide spoilers behind spoiler tags, but then have a separate thread we call "Spoilerland" for discussing the book as a whole, where anything goes as far as the discussion. You'll see how it works; it's not too complicated, and it can be a lot of fun when the discussions really get rolling.

[Teaqueen]

Welcome Gogol,
Happy to have you here! I've been on the list a few years but participated in my first buddy read earlier this year with Nine Coaches Waiting. It was a lot of fun. Looking forward to reading The Ivy Tree along with the group. As Tadiana mentioned...you read at own pace so that makes it nice for peeps like me that tend to read "just one more chapter".

I discovered Mary Stewart as a teen when I read The Moon-spinners and the first 3 of the Arthur books. Many years later I decided to read all her books which is what I've been doing for the past 3 years. Discovering this group has been delightful!

My fave books are Nine Coaches Waiting, Madam, Will you Talk, This Rough Magic and The Moonspinners.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

I can't argue with any of your favorites, Teaqueen. The first three are definitely in my top Mary Stewart books; I would only waffle over whether Wildfire at Midnight beats out Moonspinners for the 4th spot. Tough call! Moonspinners is also a sentimental favorite for me because it was my first Stewart book.

[Gogol]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Gogol, the way buddy reads work is that everyone who's interested in joining starts reading the assigned book (more or less at the same time; we're not stringent here), and then chats about it in t..."

Well! This sounds fantastic. I would love to join in your buddy reads please! I can't wait to join you for the Crystal Cave, as I didn't find the ivy tree on iTunes.

[Gogol]

Teaqueen wrote: "Welcome Gogol,
Happy to have you here! I've been on the list a few years but participated in my first buddy read earlier this year with Nine Coaches Waiting. It was a lot of fun. Looking forward to..."

Thank you Teaqueen. I loved Moonspinners as well! I haven't read any of the rest of the books you mentioned, but I finally did get my hands on an old copy of Nine Coaches Waiting and I can't wait to start.

[Gogol]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Gogol, the way buddy reads work is that everyone who's interested in joining starts reading the assigned book (more or less at the same time; we're not stringent here), and then chats about it in t..."

Btw did I mention that I'm a great fan, and follower of your reviews? I found this group through one of your very well written reviews, in fact.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Thanks for letting me know! It's nice to feel useful. :)

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Gogol wrote: "I can't wait to join you for the Crystal Cave, as I didn't find the ivy tree on iTunes."

It's a source of some unhappiness to Mary Stewart fans that her books aren't more available on Kindle and audio. I can, however, recommend AbeBooks.com as my favorite source for used paperbacks. Their sellers' starting price point for most books is $3.48, which includes shipping, so it's a pretty reasonable deal.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Gogol wrote: "I can't wait to join you for the Crystal Cave, as I didn't find the ivy tree on iTunes."

It's a source of some unhappiness to Mary Stewart fans that her books aren't more available o..."

I was lucky that Amazon UK had a great sale on her books a couple of months ago - loads were reduced to 99p and I was able to stock up on the ones missing from my iPad! But it doesn't happen too often though!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Susan, in the UK you can get most or all of her books in ebook form, right? That's not the case in the U.S.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Susan, in the UK you can get most or all of her books in ebook form, right? That's not the case in the U.S."

Yes we can. In fact I now have most of them on my iPad; although I still have a few paperbacks as well. I didn't realise you couldn't get them so easily in the USA in E form. What a shame!

[Gogol]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and help, but unfortunately the country I live in, is an international pariah, and none of these options are open to me.

[debbicat *made of stardust*]

I am one who wishes they could be gotten as ebooks. I'd spend the money.

[Karlyne]

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "I can't argue with any of your favorites, Teaqueen. The first three are definitely in my top Mary Stewart books; I would only waffle over whether Wildfire at Midnight beats out Moonspinners for the..."

The Ivy Tree is in my top four, because of its sentimental value as my first Stewart - I'm looking forward to the discussions!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

Gogol wrote: "Thank you everyone for your suggestions and help, but unfortunately the country I live in, is an international pariah, and none of these options are open to me."

Your profile page says you're in the US, so now I have to admit I'm wildly curious about where you actually live. If you're willing to tell, I promise not to hold your nationality against you. :)

[Karlyne]

I won't, either, Gogol!

[Susan in Perthshire]

Karlyne wrote: "I won't, either, Gogol!"

I am so pleased Tadiana asked - I am curious too!

[Gogol]

I had sincerely forgotten about that detail in my profile! However my profile was set up for me by a cousin who lives in the US, who is a sweetheart and recommended goodreads to me for the first time. Therefore, I somehow never felt any need to change anything on it, but I'm from Iran. Now I feel I must change my profile! But it's a very two pronged disadvantage.

[Gogol]

There, done!

[Debbie]

Hi Gogol! Welcome to the group! (A tiny bit late, but I seem to be behind on lots of things lately. lol)

My favorite Mary Stewart book is Airs Above The Ground. Glad you have been able to read that one!

I think it is wonderful to be able to meet people from all over the world, no matter what our governments may think of each other. Books bring us all together here....readers are readers all over the world.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽, Moderator]

That's very interesting, Gogol! I'm so delighted to meet people from other parts of the world. It's wonderful that Goodreads can bring us together through a common love of literature.

[Gogol]

Social media are continuing to change the world in a way that is as yet unforeseen, aren't they? It's quite wonderful to meet you all from your corners in the world as well.