Georgette Heyer Fans discussion
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Group Reads 2017/2018
I work on a lot of the cookbooks that come out of Chronicle Books and Ten Speed Press. For ten years I was a freelancer for Bon Appétit magazine, and I worked on their books as well, including the massive doorstop one with the cover that’s the color of a copper kettle.
I second that, cookbooks nowadays are really quite beautiful. While weeding the cookbook section at the library, I have noticed that the improvement in the quality of design and usability over the last 20 years is extraordinary. ..."The first beautiful cookbook I ever got was The Galloping Gourmet Cookbook.
Abigail wrote: "I work on a lot of the cookbooks that come out of Chronicle Books and Ten Speed Press. For ten years I was a freelancer for Bon Appétit magazine, and I worked on their books as well, including the ..."Sounds like an awesome job, Abigail, and I review a lot of galleys from Ten Speed Press. Very nice quality, and wonderful variety of categories.
Howard wrote: "I second that, cookbooks nowadays are really quite beautiful. While weeding the cookbook section at the library, I have noticed that the improvement in the quality of design and usability over the ..."Wasn't my first cookbook, but I do have that and his Minimax Cookbook reflecting the new style of cooking he created following his wife's heart attack. Still often use both.
Karlyne wrote: "My best go-to cookbook from -ahem- decades ago (and it was old when I got it) is the Meta Givens Encyclopedia of Cooking, in 2 volumes. It even has recipes for squirrel! And you just never know whe..."A dear friend introduced me to Meta Givens. I love her books/style. The friend was working her way through her cookbook and meal plans when she was diagnosed with Celiac and had to give it up.
When I'm looking for a straightforward "just like my Mommo" used to make recipe I'll go to Meta Givens.
HiWould anyone else like to lead Sylvester next month? I've decided to reread Simon the Coldheart as sort of a tribute to my late dad. I'll put up a thread in the Books folder if anyone wants to join me. I was thinking I would start reading around the 15th.
If no one wants to, I'm sure after at least 30 reads I know Sylvester's storyline well enough to still lead it. :)
I would be willing to leave Sylvester next month.
Amy wrote: "Ugh. Lead! Not leave."You are a star Amy. I'll change the lead to you.
I didn't want to look manipulative (even though I am!) but just want to explain my reasons for reading Simon the Coldheart this month. A researcher has been in touch wanting more information on my Dad's war record. We know very little as (like many of them) he didn't want to talk about it. One of my sisters has his medals but I have his navigators book, a 45 record he made for his Mum and the photos. I have been very emotional going through the stuff.
So although he was very disappointed in this book when I got it for him at great expense as a reprint, he loved this book as a boy. So I want to give it another shot.
Lovely thought Carol. Hope you enjoy it. I've been going through a bad reading spell at the moment but if I can pull myself out of it I'll read it too. It's actually one I've never read.
Carol,I hope you enjoy "Simon the Cold Heart."
I still haven't tried it.
Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Carol,I hope you enjoy "Simon the Cold Heart."
I still haven't tried it."
My memory of it was that it was nearly as leaden as MY Lord John. But maybe I'll like it better this time. Maybe.
Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: My memory of it was that it was nearly as leaden as MY Lor..."
The secret to enjoying 'Simon' is to read it for what it is--a 1920s' novel, written (very much in the style of Raphael Sabatini) by a young writer. I always read it tongue firmly in cheek. Do NOT take it seriously!
It helps if you have read a bit of 'steadfast young men' Victorian/Edwardian fiction--think G.A. Henty.
I'm looking forward to Sylvester, I've only read it once years ago - but to those reading Simon, I hope you enjoy it! Barb, I look upon you as a wise Book Whisperer - you never steer me wrong (I gave up on Alchemist's Daughter, also - the rats got to me, ick!)
Carol, I salute you paying homage to your Dad by reading 'Simon'. My father also rarely spoke about his wartime experiences (WW2 - Royal Navy), when he did, it made me realise how brave all of these young men were and what extraordinary things they experienced. Wish you luck with the read - I am afraid my memory of it is that is was one of the few GH's that I found utterly devoid of charm. I will be interested to see what you think now - it may well be one of those books that comes across differently as we acquire more life experience!
Carol - I love that you're reading it as kind of a tribute to your dad. That's wonderful. I hope my kids love me that much when I'm gone.My dad right now is writing some of his Vietnam memoirs and I'm helping him edit them. It's a really interesting experience. I'm 35 right now and most of his stories take place when he was 17. Half my age. Some of the battles he was in are just on believable. So many young men dead.
Then I'm hit with a bit of a flash of dark humor. This man that was jumping out of airplanes at 17 years old with an M-16 in his hands worries so much about me and my husband and our kids. My dad tried to talk us out of taking a cruise last year because of the inherent dangers of been on a cruise ship.
It's amazing how people change when they have family of their own. I'm sure his parents were worried sick when he was in Vietnam but it probably never crossed his mind. They were brave men. I had an Uncle who fought in WW2 for England even though he was Irish. He was in the Burma campaign. He died last September aged 100 years old. He still had all his wits about him and was in good general health. He was a gentleman through and through. Amazing they could be like that after all they saw and did. They should never be forgotten.
Susan in NC wrote: "Barb, I look upon you as a wise Book Whisperer - you never steer me wrong (I ga..."Susan, thank you for the kind words.
Amy wrote: "My dad right now is writing some of his Vietnam memoirs an..."
Hahahaha!
Our war memorial day is called ANZAC Day. All shops were shut except for some dairies (corner stores) I hated when that was changed to half a day only & wouldn't shop then. Dad thought I was balmy & shopped!
& it is that time again. We need to think about our nominations for June.We had already decided to read one of GH's mysteries then. Counting Penhallow there are only 12. I've read all but 3 of them since being on GR.
As a group we have already read;
2014 Footsteps in the Dark
Death in the Stocks
2016 A Blunt Instrument
No Wind of Blame
so please don't nominate one of those four - otherwise we will never get all of them read!
Just 5 nominations before I close - & only one per person. Since we had such a lively voting round last time I thought I would go back to polls?
& I don't own all the mystery novels so for some titles I might need a volunteer to lead.
If anything isn't clear just ask! :)
Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "I nominate Penhallow"I have been wanting to read that for some time!
I nominate my favorite--'The Unfinished Clue'. It is a stand alone, with a delightful, understated romance between the policeman and our heroine.
Barb in Maryland wrote: "I nominate my favorite--'The Unfinished Clue'. It is a stand alone, with a delightful, understated romance between the policeman and our heroine."Oh I like that one - I second!
I've only ever read the mysteries we've done here in the group so Penhallow sounds good to me but I'll read whatever is nominated. I'm anxious to read all the mysteries.
I love The Unfinished Clue; Penhallow is OK, too.
Margaret wrote: "I'll go ahead and nominate Behold, Here's Poison, with the "amiable snake" Randall."I'll second that one. It's on my TBR list.
That was going to be my second nomination, good choice! Haven't read it in awhile.
I do want to caution everyone that Penhallow isn't a mystery, but having said that, it's bound to elicit a lot of discussion, so I'll second the nomination!
I guess you could say that Penhallow is a crime novel, since a murder is committed in it.
I think Penhallow would make for an excellent discussion. I have read it once, and thought that I would never want to read it again, but it sticks with me more than other books I thought I enjoyed better. Behold, Here's Poison would also be good fun to read again.
Margaret wrote: "I guess you could say that Penhallow is a crime novel, since a murder is committed in it."Yep, there is the murder, but it's more about how all the characters react to it, so I always think of it as a set of character studies. No detection, no brilliant analysis by an inspector, none of the standard plot devises. But I'm fond of it, anyway!
This is sounding more intriguing by the minute!!!!!
Ok, so far the nominations arePenhallow
An Unfinished Clue
Behold Here's Poison
Duplicate Death
Room for one more. I'll close nominations in a couple of days regardless - so Thursday for me, Wednesday for most of you!
Edited because I'm losing track of time!!!
Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "Ok, so far the nominations arePenhallow
An Unfinished Clue
Behold Here's Poison
Duplicate Death
Room for one more. I'll close nominations in a couple of days regardless - so Wednesday for me, Tu..."
Ok!
Barbara wrote: "If I'm not too late . Penhallow ."Penhallow is already nominated Barbara. :) Post#338 gives the nominations. There is room for one more, but I'm closing nominations tomorrow regardless.
Has the group read The Masqueraders recently? I would be very interested in reading everyone's comments about this book. If you all have read it together in the recent past could someone direct me to the month it was read so I can browse through the commentary? I read it for the first time in October 2016.
Looks like we haven't read The Masqueraders as a group yet (you can visit Bookshelf in the upper right-hand corner of this page to check), but I believe our dear mod has proposed it for April 2018. I, for one, am looking forward to it!
I've read most of Heyer's Regency and Georgian titles so when I found Masqueraders last fall I started it thinking it wouldn't be as humourous and intriguing as some of my absolute favorites. For I very rarely hear folks mention this title when they are mentioning their favorite Heyer titles. I was pleasantly surprised and find I loved this story. I commute for work an hour a day. I loved this story enough to hunt the audio version and have enjoyed it yet again listening as I drive to work each day. I will be interested in reading the commentary of you veteran Heyer readers when the group read visits The Masqueraders. Your insights enhance these stories and give me many more things to think about and consider when I read Heyer's stories. So thanks to all of you as you do these group reads. You make my Heyer story reading an even better experience.
It was my favorite Heyer when I was younger, Ginny! (I love the suspense of cross-dressing stories; Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare play.) Later I found the language stilted, but I still have a soft spot for the tale of courage and effrontery.
Hi Ginny - The Masqueraders was one of the books nominated for this month's read, but was beaten by Sylvester. Next year we are starting a read of GH's Regencies in either order written or order set (not decided yet) About the middle of May I'll call for nominations for July's group read & you can nominate The Masqueraders then. :)
And nominations are now closed for June!Penhallow
An Unfinished Clue
Behold Here's Poison
Duplicate Death
I own a copy of Penhallow & Duplicate Death. That Trove Australia has copies of them from an Australian magazine of the time, but I just don't think I could read a whole book in that format! Link here http://teachmetonight.blogspot.co.nz/...
Barb in Maryland are you prepared to lead An Unfinished Clue? Margaret could you lead Behold here's Poison?
As soon as I have a yea or nay to those questions I'll put up a poll. :)
What's involved in "leading" a discussion? Is it just creating the necessary topics, or is more expected?
Margaret wrote: "What's involved in "leading" a discussion? Is it just creating the necessary topics, or is more expected?"I can create the threads but it's really just keeping an eye on the discussion. Main thing is to remind people not to spoilers in their comments or use the spoiler thread.
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Georgette Heyer Fans
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Karlyne, can you message me the tortilla recipe? I am experimenting with several, and have not yet found one that I completely love.