Time for a new poll!

[Gina]

It looks like we have books to read through October, so it's time for me to create a new poll! What would you like to read next? Please post your suggestions here (either new ones or re-reads), or message me. It might be fun to branch out and read some books written by Persephone authors, but not published by Persephone. Let me know what you think!

[Rosemary]

I still have plenty of Persephones to read, but if you want to branch out, that's fine!
I'll nominate:

New: The Young Pretenders

Maybe also, for World War 1 centenary, Wilfred and Eileen

Reread for the group (new to me): Family Roundabout

[Gina]

Thanks for those ideas, Rosemary!
Does anyone else have suggestions?

[Diane]

How about South Riding by Winifred Holtby. She's a Persephone author (The Crowded Street) which I loved. South Riding was her most popular book, according to her bio.

[Gina]

Excellent, thanks Diane! It looks like a few of our other members enjoyed it also. :)

[Carol]

SOUTH RIDING was a miniseries on PBS

[Diane]

Thanks Carol. I'll look for that. But have to read the book first.

[Gina]

Just posted the new poll! :)

[Gina]

Weird...for some reason, the re-read poll is #18. So when you click on the "Polls" link, you have to scroll down a bit to get to #18.

[Gina]

All right, the results are in!! We had a tie for 2nd place in the re-reads, so we'll do three of those books instead of two.
Nov - Crowded Street
Dec - Wilfred & Eileen
Jan - The Home-Maker
Feb - Family Roundabout
Mar - Winds of Heaven

[Rosemary]

Thanks Gina! I'll look forward to reading or re-reading or commenting on those.

[Gina]

All right, I'll be posting a couple of new polls in the next week - one for books we haven't read as part of this group, and ones we have read and would like to revisit. Does anyone have any book suggestions for these polls? You can either send me a message or respond to this thread.
Thanks!

[SarahC]

Gina, I so hope to get back into the swing and reading with you guys again. I don't have any suggestions right now, but will post if I do. Mainly just looking forward to being with you guys some again.

[Cynthia]

SarahC wrote: "Gina, I so hope to get back into the swing and reading with you guys again. I don't have any suggestions right now, but will post if I do. Mainly just looking forward to being with you guys some ag..."

Me too.

[Gina]

Sounds good! I know, I haven't been reading as much as I'd like to either and would love to get back into discussions here. I'll come up with some ideas then and make a poll soon. Thanks!

[Gina]

Hi everyone - since no one seemed too opinionated about our next books, I decided to select a few that should be fairly easy to find! Let me know if there are any books you'd like me to include on the next poll in a few months.

August - Still Missing - paperback from William Morrow can be found on Amazon
September - The Montana Stories - stories can be found online at these two sites - I'll let you know which stories once I look at the book: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1429?...
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/mans...
October - The Fortnight in September - available as an e-book on Amazon
November - (re-read) Manja - available as an e-book on Amazon. This was a really powerful book - probably one of my favorite Persephones.

As always, let me know if you'd like to lead discussion for any of the books - it would just involve posting a few questions about the book that would prompt discussion. :)

[Diane]

Thanks for doing the research, Gina. I'd love to read Manja.

[SarahC]

Thanks from me also for making the list. These all look like great choices.

[Susan]

These all sound good. I've been wanting to read Still Missing and the Fortnght in September for awhile.

[SarahC]

Would you like me to lead in October for The Fortnight in September?

[Gina]

That would be great, Sarah! Thanks! :)

[SarahC]

Sure thing! It has been a while -- are discussions beginning at the start of the scheduled month -- it seems like they varied in the past. I will pencil in whatever you say.

[Gina]

Oh, thanks for bringing that up! I usually start discussion at the end of the designated month.

[Gabi]

I'd like to read: Fortnight in September...especially in November!

[Gina]

Haha, you're in luck, Gabi! :) It probably would have made more sense if I scheduled it for September...

[Susan]

Nice article on Peresphone Books in Slate. My tablet won't let me paste the link, but a search for Slate Peresphone will turn it up.

[Gina]

Oh yes, I also saw that article!

[Cate]

Here's the article! http://www.slate.com/articles/double_...

[SarahC]

I'm not joining in for Montana Stories, but I have Fortnight ready to discuss and am just now ordering up Manja for November. I also saw the posting of On the Other Side, which looks really interesting...I will try to do that also, Gina and all :)

[Gina]

That's great, Sarah! Feel free to start the Fortnight discussion whenever you're ready. I just got it from the library and will start it soon :)

[SarahC]

I will get it started as soon as possible, Gina. Hope everyone is having a nice Monday.

[Gina]

It's time for another poll - does anyone have any suggestions? If we only get a few suggestions, we'll just read those instead of doing a poll. Thanks!

[SarahC]

Gina, I have been looking around on the Persephone web site. I have two choices that seemed really interesting and were well-reviewed.

The Happy Tree

Vain Shadow

Would you be interested in reading and discussing either of these?

[Diane]

I just ordered "Greengates", by R.C. Sheriff, who wrote "Fortnight in September". It's one of their new fall offerings. Though with different characters, it's described as a sequel of sorts to Fortnight. That might be a fun follow-up.

[SarahC]

Diane,

I was just reading about that one also, Diane. I liked Sheriff's writing style in Fortnight. The Persephone publishing consistently chooses authors of such good writing style...even if the stories may not wind up on my favorites list...the quality of their author choices always stays in my mind.

[Gina]

Sarah - yes, I think both of those books look great! And thanks for the Greengates suggestion, Diane - I would love to read another Sheriff book. :)
If we don't have any more suggestions over the next two days, we'll just go with these three suggestions for our next reads.

Thanks!

[Rose Ann]

I am just now finishing up "Vain Shadow" and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. I would put her right up there with dear Dorothy Whipple. Yes. She's that good.

[Gina]

Wow, that is high praise! Thanks for the endorsement, Rose Ann :)

[Hilary]

I just wanted to add a late comment about Fortnight in September! I loved this book, I read it myself on a fortnight's holiday in September and agree with what you thought about the book. What I also loved about it was the insight it gave us into the social history of that time. I thought it was interesting how this middle class family was the evny of neighbours, having done so well for themselves they could afford a holiday ! Something most can manage these days. They also talk of how they had carefully budgeted dad's pint of beer each night and mum's holiday port and how by the end of the holiday they had enough money to rent the bathing hut ! People seemed to have and expect alot less then. Also obvious, but it struck me how they thought they shouldn't bathe (swim) on the last day as they couldn't dry their bathing suits in time ! So glad they threw caution to the wind and did swim and brought their suits home in brown paper ! I had always taken a plastic bag for granted before reading this book !

[SarahC]

Hillary,

Great comments on Fortnight. I think that is why I went back and forth in my mind -- starting out as critical of them for their specific behavior -- every detail was plotted and enacted so strictly -- it seems so hard for them to relax and have fun. But then I would think, as you have pointed out -- they have budgeted so carefully--almost down to a science -- and it was still important to them, even though their thinking is so different from many of ours in the modern day. Yes, we do take the ease of vacationing for granted -- traveling modern -- there are so many things we don't even have to worry about.

I also think how the expectation of holidays has grown to now. Even when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, families took maybe 1, at most 2 holidays to Disney World. Or an ocean cruise was a one-time thing for an average middle class family or couple. Now these types of trips are repeated pretty often. I think simpler vacations -- a cabin in the woods by a lake for a few days, for example, is less done by people nowadays.

[Gina]

Thanks for your comments, Hilary! This was definitely a character-driven story and a fascinating look at a middle-class family. And it's funny how we take things like plastic bags for granted...how did people live without them before?! :)
And Sarah, you're absolutely right about vacations - and I think childhood in general...everything is much more expensive. It's "normal" for families to go on expensive vacations...and their children have cell phones and complicated toys. I find it harder to buy gifts for younger people now (especially teenagers) - they want tech-related things that tend to be pricey!

And thanks for all of your suggestions, everyone - we'll go with The Happy Tree, Vain Shadow, and Greengates for our next few reads.

[Rose Ann]

Gina wrote: "Wow, that is high praise! Thanks for the endorsement, Rose Ann :)"
Gina, I read in the intro to Vain Shadow that Ms. Hervey has another novel & some short stories, all unpublished. Any chance that Persephone can get those into print?

[SarahC]

Gina, your comment brought out another aspect of the world describe in Sheriff's book -- the family lived very basically, saved and were careful about expenses -- almost like people in that day knew more how much their living "costs." I wonder today if the difficulty in monetary saving and preparing ahead is confounded by the price of modern things being changing and unpredictable.

I know what you mean, I dont even know how much electronics even cost. I steer away from tech-related gifts -- because I have no idea! haha

I am the unusual person in the family who buys the kids things like cookbooks and kitchen tools -- I figure there are some things that you have to experience in life in a tactile fashion -- you cant learn to cook unless you are really in the kitchen doing it -- the virtual experience doesnt make it happen. My friends and family never know what to expect from me!

[SarahC]

Hi all,
I was in the midst of reading Happy Tree and now I think I have fallen out of sinc with the discussion schedule. I will skip ahead and start Vain Shadow, but did anyone comment yet on Happy Tree? I am sorry not to have checked in sooner.

[Rosemary]

SarahC wrote: "Hi all,
I was in the midst of reading Happy Tree and now I think I have fallen out of sinc with the discussion schedule. I will skip ahead and start Vain Shadow, but did anyone comment yet on Happ..."

I couldn't see a thread - I must have forgotten to come in and comment when I finished it. I've started one now here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[SarahC]

Thanks, I would like to discuss.

[Gina]

Sorry, I've gotten behind on the reading lately! Thanks for starting a new thread, Rosemary! :)
I also need to do a new poll. Let me know if you have any suggestions for books!

[Gina]

So, I requested Vain Shadow on inter-library loan, and I picked it up yesterday. It turns out they sent me the wrong book! It's the correct title, but a different author - and it's about an Amazonian explorer. So I will have to sit out this discussion...feel free to start a thread if you want to discuss it!
And I didn't get any suggestions for our next few books, so I've selected these three:
May - Heat Lightning, Helen Hull
June - High Wages, Dorothy Whipple
July - Reuben Sachs, Amy Levy

As always, let me know if there's a Persephone book you'd like us to read in the future. I'll be starting on Greengates soon...looking forward to the discussion!

[Rosemary]

Oh no! I finished Vain Shadow and will start a thread. If you can get it later, it is an aloof but intense family drama, typical of Persephone's British choices. I loved it.

Starting Greengates soon too :)

[Gina]

Hi everyone-
I've just added a couple of books, since I'm running behind and didn't get a poll out! We'll read The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett in September and then one of the new books, A Lady and Her Husband by Amber Reeves, in October. Welcome to all of our new members! Feel free to start the discussion anytime on books we're reading. I didn't get to The World That Was Ours this month, so anyone else who wants to discuss it can get started. Thanks!