L.E.a D.s Book Club discussion

Introduce yourself to the group and tell us a little bit about yourself. Let us know...

Your name? (or what you want to be called)
Where are you from?
Your favorite genre?
Why do you reading epistolary style books?
Anything else you would like to share!

Hi, everyone. My name is Lanelle. As you can tell from my avatar, I am from hot and sunny Arizona. I wasn't much of a reader until 8th grade. My best friend and I decided to see who could read all the Nancy Drew books that our school library had first. I've been hooked ever since!

My favorite genre is historical novels, specifically the Regency time period. So one of my favorite epistolary books would be Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot :)
I enjoy epistolary books because it seems I can get to know the main characters better by reading their inner thoughts and feelings.

If I'm not reading, you might find me with my grandkids, sewing quilts or playing the piano.

Hi, I’m Claire. I live in the UK.

I like epistolary books because they are quick to read, usually short letters or diary entries so I can fit several in at a time. I also like seeing what the characters decide to tell us/each other rather than an omnipresent narrator filling in all the gaps.

One of my favourite epistolary books and one of the first ones I remember reading was Letters From Cicely which was a tie-in novel to Northern Exposure, one of my favourite shows as a kid and I loved the book.

I remember watching Northern Exposure. It was delightfully quirky. I imagine Letters from Cicely would be fun for fans of the show.

Hi. I'm Gina from California. I'm an author of two novels, one that's epistolary, and the founder of Girls Love Mail, a charity that collects hand-written letters for women with breast cancer. I guess you can say letters are part of my world. My favorite epistolary novel, (other than my own of, course) :) is Dangerous Liaisons. Glad to be part of a group with such obvious good taste in reading style.

And if you also like to write letters, please think about writing one for Girls Love Mail. You can find out more at www.GirlsLoveMail.com.

What a wonderful and thoughtful charity, Gina. I'm sure your group has helped so many women in difficult times.

Hi everyone! I'm Cassie and now live in Washington (moved from Missouri about a year ago). I like to read a variety, but suppose I am most interested in readings that provide insight or inspiration into another life or world.

Epistolary-style books were the next step for me after engaging in the world of zines and letter exchanges. I love how readings like that are like stepping into a secret world exchanged between two others. In the current Robin Hobb set I am reading, there is an exchange between two "keepers of the birds" who act as a postal service. These interactions happen throughout the books in small snippets at the beginning of each chapter, but I love the additional awareness and details these bring to the world.

Good morning, everyone.
Bardbooks is my handle here in GR and I'm a displaced native Californian who enjoys books of all genres, though mysteries are probably my go-to choice for good, clean, quick fun. Epistolary books are intriguing to me for many reasons, most already shared in this thread; in my experience, depending on how letters have been incorporated into a novel, correspondence can create intimate character portraits, reveal fictional backstory, convey plot, or paint vivid landscapes of other cultures and worlds.

Hoping for recommendations to expand my letterly reading and looking forward to some chat!