Persephone Books discussion
Book Suggestions for the group to read
I’m ok to try any of the titles mentioned - and yes, I’m drooling over the catalogue too :O) I need to order They Were Sisters for next month anyway.
Were any decisions made on May to July reads? I know it’s a way off, but I was going to use the choices as an excuse for a Peresphone order ;)
Susan wrote: "Were any decisions made on May to July reads? I know it’s a way off, but I was going to use the choices as an excuse for a Peresphone order ;)"Many thanks all for the great suggestions for the May to July 2019 reads.I will check with Gina if there any she would like to add to the list before deciding on the final three choices.I will let you know asap : ) thanks Karen x
Suki wrote: "I would like to read The Expendable Man by Dorothy B Hughes. I see that the group read it back in 2013-- I don't know if you do rereads or not."Hi Suki , yes we do re-reads ,so any ideas are great thanks
Karen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Were any decisions made on May to July reads? I know it’s a way off, but I was going to use the choices as an excuse for a Peresphone order ;)"Many thanks all for the great suggestio..."
Thanks for working with Gina to keep us organized, Karen!
Susan wrote: "Karen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Were any decisions made on May to July reads? I know it’s a way off, but I was going to use the choices as an excuse for a Peresphone order ;)"Many thanks all for the g..."
We will definitely be adding The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C.Sherriff
Hello all !I do hope everyone will be happy with the following choices:
May 2019- The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C.Sherriff
June 2019- Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
July 2019- The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes
Aug 2019- High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Sept 2019- Long Live Great Bardfield: The Autobiography of Tirzah Garwood
Many thanks and happy reading Karen and Gina
Karen wrote: "Hello all !I do hope everyone will be happy with the following choices:
May 2019- The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C.Sherriff
June 2019- Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
July 2019- The ..."
These look great! Looking forward to reading them, now for a Peresphone order ;).
Susan wrote: "Karen wrote: "Hello all !I do hope everyone will be happy with the following choices:
May 2019- The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C.Sherriff
June 2019- Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
J..."
Hi Susan , happy shopping : ) x
Well, as long as I’m getting The Hopkins Manuscript, maybe there would be room in the package for one or two more ;).
I am very happy with the selection :0). ThanksSusan - there is always space for more :0)
I really appreciate having the titles chosen for several months in advance. I live in Canada, and have to order my Persephone titles from the UK. It can take up to 3 months for them to arrive, so I've missed some discussions. I'm so pleased that you have added The Expendable Man to the list-- I'm really looking forward to reading it!
Suki wrote: "I really appreciate having the titles chosen for several months in advance. I live in Canada, and have to order my Persephone titles from the UK. It can take up to 3 months for them to arrive, so I..."I am also delighted to see Expendable Man on the list. *waves to Suki*
Carol wrote: "Suki wrote: "I really appreciate having the titles chosen for several months in advance. I live in Canada, and have to order my Persephone titles from the UK. It can take up to 3 months for them to..."Hi, Carol! :-)
Suki wrote: "I really appreciate having the titles chosen for several months in advance. I live in Canada, and have to order my Persephone titles from the UK. It can take up to 3 months for them to arrive, so I..."Hi Suki , you are very welcome and feel free to join in the discussion thread at any time, even if we have read the book.
Happy Reading
Karen
Karen wrote: "Suki wrote: "I really appreciate having the titles chosen for several months in advance. I live in Canada, and have to order my Persephone titles from the UK. It can take up to 3 months for them to..."I have a stack of Persephone titles that I missed the discussions for that I still want to read. It is good to know that the threads are still open. :-)
I've been looking for a Persephone copy of High Wages and it seems to be out of print, and quite rare and pricey. Does anybody know if they are doing another print run or reprint?
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Would anyone be interested in doing a buddy read of 'Milton Place' by Elisabeth De Waal in Oct 2019 ?
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Tania wrote: "I'd like to read that one, so would be interested, I don't own it yet, but was planning on adding it to my next order." Thanks Tania : )
Have a book suggestion for the group to read? leave your message here
Well I've had a little think and here goes.......(Apologises if I've suggested some before (I've tried not to repeat myself) or if they've been 'done' before. I shall blame it all the meds.) Please remember these are too discuss and then decide -
'Making Conversation' by Christine Longford. I was tempted because someone said it was like Stella Gibbons' 'Cold Comfort Farm'. Oh no it isn't is my stern reply. I loathed it! So someone out there might change my mind.
'The Village' or 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' by Marghanita Laski.
'Cheerful Weather for the Wedding' by Julia Strachey'
'The Children who lived in a Barn' by Eleanor Granham
'Midsummer Night in the Workhouse' by Diana Athill
'Greenery Street by I can't remember his name
How about a short story collection? One by Mollie Panter-Downes perhaps?
Or Maybe even one of their many Cooking or Gardening social commentary books like 'Kitchen Essays' (Jekyll) or 'Dinners for Beginners' or 'Gardener's Choice' by Evelyn Dunbar and Charles Mahoney - PB's thought they were good enough to publish.
Anyway - Discuss.......
Finally, Karen - You are wonderful! Keep are the good work, we'd be lost without you.
A 'hair'brained Toast
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Cheerful Weather for the Wedding &
Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes (short stories), and I can get a copy of Kitchen Essays.
I also have; Patience, Saplings, Greenbanks and Princes in the Land. I'd like to buy Milton Place for the buddy read suggested by Karen, so I will put in another order then and see what books people choose and add them to that order.
Wonderful suggestions!“Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” is on my TBR pile, too, so it sounds good to me!
I love Diana Athill’s nonfiction and would like to try her short stories in “Midsummer Night in the Workhouse.” And Mollie Panter-Downe’s wartime stories were excellent, so it would be fun to read Minnie’s Room for a peacetime view. She, like Marghanita Laski, is a Persephone author I want to read completely!
Greenery Street by Dennis MacKail (?) is just delightful and would be fun to reread.
The Persephone nonfiction sometimes gets overlooked, but I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read. ‘Kitchen Essays’ is a peek at a way of life that is long gone — where the mistress of the house has to plan a special menu because it’s the cook’s night out, but Ms Jekyll’s prose was so delightful I enjoyed seeing how the other half lived and even picked up a few ideas.
“Dinners for Beginners” is on my wishlist along with “The New House” and “To Bed With Grand Music”.
I think this group read The Village and Patience pretty recently, maybe in the past year? The Victorian Chaise-Longue would make a spooky autumn read.
I’ll have to check out Princes in the Land. One thing I enjoy about this group is discovering new (to me) titles. Saplings and Greenbanks would be rereads for me, but I enjoyed them both. There is one line in Greenbanks that I still chuckle over. And Saplings with a closeup view of WWII’s effect on the children in a happy English family was very moving.
Many thanks Karen for keeping us organized! For someone in the States, it’s good to have time to plan an order from the mothership ;)
Toast wrote: "Well I've had a little think and here goes.......(Apologises if I've suggested some before (I've tried not to repeat myself) or if they've been 'done' before. I shall blame it all the meds.) Pleas..." Thanks Toast for the great suggestions
Some really good ones .Happy weekend and happy reading : )
Tania wrote: "I have a few unread Persephones, among them:Cheerful Weather for the Wedding &
Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes (short stories), and I ..." Hello dear Tania, thanks for the great suggestions too. I would love to read Milton place with you. Greenbanks and Cheerful Weather for the wedding are great reads. I've got Patience on my wanted list too.Happy weekend and happy reading : )
Susan wrote: "Wonderful suggestions!“Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” is on my TBR pile, too, so it sounds good to me!
I love Diana Athill’s nonfiction and would like to try her short stories in “Midsummer ..." Hi Susan, I didn't know you lived in the states. Thanks for the suggestions.
The New House and To Bed With Grand Music are brilliant choices. Maybe we could start adding two books every month so people have the choice between them? Happy weekend : )
Suki wrote: "I would like to read The Expendable Man by Dorothy B Hughes. I see that the group read it back in 2013-- I don't know if you do rereads or not."Hi Suki, this is the book choice for the group to read this July.Thank you
Karen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Wonderful suggestions!“Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” is on my TBR pile, too, so it sounds good to me!
I love Diana Athill’s nonfiction and would like to try her short stories ..."
Maybe we could do two titles in one month sometimes, when they are both short, or if one is non-fiction, etc. But I know I’d always want to be reading both of them....
Susan wrote: "Karen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Wonderful suggestions!“Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” is on my TBR pile, too, so it sounds good to me!
I love Diana Athill’s nonfiction and would like to try her ..."
Hi Susan , so many books and so little time is how I feel sometimes : D
Its great that there are so many wonderful PB books to chose from. And I am so glad I'm not having to pick the final list. What amazing ideas we have come up with so far. So lets give Karen and Gina a few more headaches with some more ideas .......we love you really ladies.
Toast.
Toast wrote: "Its great that there are so many wonderful PB books to chose from. And I am so glad I'm not having to pick the final list. What amazing ideas we have come up with so far. So lets give Karen and Gin..."Thanks for the support Toast, it's much appreciated : ) x
Karen wrote: "Would anyone be interested in doing a buddy read of 'Milton Place' by Elisabeth De Waal in Oct 2019 ?"Is this on? I’d be interested :0)
As for other titles, I do like the sound of pretty much everything, but in particular, of the ones mentioned, Greenery Street, To Bed with Grand Music, and Kitchen essays. Also Wilfred and Eileen, Farewell Leicester Square (intrigued by the movie world setting), Family Roundabout and The Far Cry. Did we mention Woolf’s diaries? It is quite a big book so maybe in parallel with the normal monthly read, over 2 or 3 months?
And thanks, Karen, for everything :0)
Veronique wrote: "Karen wrote: "Would anyone be interested in doing a buddy read of 'Milton Place' by Elisabeth De Waal in Oct 2019 ?"Is this on? I’d be interested :0)
As for other titles, I do like the sound of p..."
Hi Veronique, hope you are well ? Thanks for the great suggestions.I'm thinking of the group having the odd month where there is the option of reading two books.
This way everyone gets more choice.We are reading Milton Place during October and I will add the other choices tomorrow.
Hi all,Hope everyone is happy with the following choices for upcoming reads...
- August- High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
-Sept- Long Live Great Bardfield: The Autobiography of Tirzah Garwood ( Susan's Choice)
-Sept- Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey (Toast's Choice)
-October- Milton Place by Elisabeth De Waal (my choice)
-Nov- Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple (Tania's Choice)
-Dec- To Bed with Grand Music by Marghanita Laski (Susan's Choice)
-Jan 2020- Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton (Veronique's Choice)
Best Wishes Karen : )
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Tania wrote: "Great stuff, I'll put my order in soon then. Thanks." Happy Weekend Tania
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Nice range there - glad you did the picking. Well done Karen.Toast
List of upcoming books looks great! Thanks, Karen, for putting it together and keeping us organized.
I watched the BBC’s Novels That Shaped Our World eps 1/3 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...), which was very interesting. It mentioned Maud’s No Surrender, as well as Woolf’s Orlando and A Room of One’s Own. Actually the whole programme was very good. It is in parallel with the celebration BBC is doing for the 300 years of the Novel (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...).This has made me put Maud’s book higher in my TBR never-ending tower...
Veronique wrote: "I watched the BBC’s Novels That Shaped Our World eps 1/3 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...), which was very interesting. It ment..."Hi Veronique, I watched this programme too and really enjoyed it.I loved the interview with the founder of Virago books, Carmen Callil. I'm looking forward to the next episode.
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Karen wrote: “Don't forget to leave any book suggestions you have for the group to read in the 'Book Suggestions' thread on the home page.”Looking at my little pile of unread Persephones, I’d like to suggest two possibilities for next year: No Surrender by Constance Maud about the suffragettes sounds intriguing, and The Exiles Return by Elizabeth de Wall sounds like it would give a Continental perspective to the world of Milton Place.
And of course with the holidays coming up, it’s a good time to order some more.... ;)
Susan wrote: "Karen wrote: “Don't forget to leave any book suggestions you have for the group to read in the 'Book Suggestions' thread on the home page.”Looking at my little pile of unread Persephones, I’d lik..."
Hi Susan, great choices ! will add to 2020. Thank you : )
Hello all, Does anyone have book suggestions for Aug/sept 2020?
Let me know : )
Best wishes
Karen & Gina xx
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A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes
Minnie's Room: The Peacetime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
Princes in the Land by Joanna Cannan
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
I can borrow Wilfred and Eileen by Jonathan Smith.
I'd love to read one of these if they are of interest to others, I'm going to put another order in soon, so I'll wait and see what's picked.
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I’d like to read Long Live Great Bardfield, and The Writer’s Diary is great. Could we do a read of one of those over two months sometime?
I was just drooling over the catalog and noticed The Exiles Return, which sounds like a different take on WWII, looking at the aftermath. Another one I’d like to read sometime. Miss Ranskill Returns I read a few years ago and really liked for its quirky fresh approach to life on the English homefront. The Expendable Man is one of my favorite Peresphones — so many of their suspense/crime stories are American.
I’m waiting to see what the next line up here is before ordering, though.