Retro Reads discussion

Hi

I have closed the previous thread as threads on Goodreads with over a 1000 posts tend to go wonky.

Here it is if anyone wants to refer to it.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We have read New Zealand born author Ruth Park in this group before.

My sister (no longer active on Goodreads) has just read one of Park's autobiographies & just loved it. A Fence Around the Cuckoo

This will be my next nonfiction read.

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Hi

I have closed the previous thread as threads on Goodreads with over a 1000 posts tend to go wonky.

Here it is if anyone wants to refer to it.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks for keeping us tidy and unwonky, Carol!🤪

Always my pleasure. :)

;)

All 11 volumes of Upton Sinclair’s Lanny Budd series are doorstops individually, and the complete sequence, well! This is an entertaining way to take in the history of the first half of the 20th Century, because our Lanny is like the young Indiana Jones, he shows up everywhere that’s important. I’m currently 2/3 of the way through the first volume, World's End.

Joseph C. Lincoln (1870-1944) was part of the explosion of “local color” writing at the tail end of the 19th Century, his turf being the otherwise unclaimed Cape Cod. I started in on his Cape Cod Stories (1907) this morning and was immediately struck by the affinity with Neil Munro’s contemporary Scottish stories about Para Handy, which started appearing in 1905. I doubt there was any direct influence, since I’m not sure if Munro’s very Scottish stories appeared in US editions then or ever. But the salty use of dialect, the nautical context, and the conception of the characters are quite similar. “Rollicking” is an appropriate adjective in both cases.

What Sarah Orne Jewett did for Maine in The Country of the Pointed Firs, Alice Brown (1857-1948) does for New Hampshire in her stories of “Tiverton” (Hampton Falls). Local color writers like this should appeal greatly to cottagecore enthusiasts of today! I am reading Brown’s Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life, and a noteworthy characteristic of the writing is her great precision regarding plant life, every species specified, which should make her work a delight for botanists and gardeners.

Patrick wrote: "What Sarah Orne Jewett did for Maine in The Country of the Pointed Firs, Alice Brown (1857-1948) does for New Hampshire in her stories of “Tiverton” (Hampton Falls). Local color writ..."

Hi Patrick
Brown's book is showing on Goodreads as being first published in 1895, so is outside the date range of this group. :) (if this is incorrect let me know, I'm a Goodreads librarian & correct that)

Originally our date range was 1920-1980, but we extended the starting time - in part because we do some Christmas reads each year - & it was very difficult to find out of copyright or otherwise free Christmas reads published after 1920. :)

The first published date is what we use & we go from 1900-1980.

A few of us became hooked on the Poldark books in the 2022 Book Pool. I found I didn't enjoy Warleggan quite as much as the earlier ones, so I took a break.

Ironically, Winston Graham also took a break & The Black Moon wasn't published till 1973. I am enjoying so far - it is featuring characters I like from the earlier books.

Is anyone interested in a buddy read of The Swiss Summer? I've just finished it and feel like talking about it!

It was my first by Stella Gibbons.

I would be interested, Jackie.

I was going to put in the Book Pool next year!

Susan in NC wrote: "I was going to put in the Book Pool next year!"

Well, funny you should mention this, as I have a different idea for next year.

I've got a busy morning, but I will put up my suggestion when I get home. :)

Oh, you teaser! Can’t wait to hear it!

Susan in NC wrote: "I was going to put in the Book Pool next year!"

So was I!

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I was going to put in the Book Pool next year!"

Well, funny you should mention this, as I have a different idea for next year.

I've got a busy morning, but I will put up my su..."

Ooooo! I agree with Susan! Bad form to drop an intriguing comment and then disappear for hours...

I'd be good with reading it next year, book pool or new exciting idea. I already want to re-read it. ;-)

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I was going to put in the Book Pool next year!"

So was I!"

Lol!

Jackie wrote: "I'd be good with reading it next year, book pool or new exciting idea. I already want to re-read it. ;-)"

Jackie, you’ve got us all interested in this title!

Ha, sorry to disappear on you all! It's the school holidays over here & that is part of the reason why the museum was so busy today. & most of the morning I was on my own! I had a nap when I got home & have only just woken up!

I'll make a separate thread for my suggestion for what we do in 2024. :)

Good girl, stay up on your sleep 😴!

Elinor wrote: "I would be interested, Jackie."

@Elinor and anyone interested, I started a thread of it in the folder Carol created.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

👍😁