Starleigh

If you like big epic historical novels, you should give her others a try! They were reprinted a few years ago, so I got nice new copies to replace my old secondhand copies. My favorite is Shadow of the Moon.

True but her whole life she would have been brought up to do anything to prevent her name getting dragged though the mud, to prevent scandal, to get married. There's simply no way she would have found another "gentleman" to marry in these circumstances, and she would have had a lifetime of that being pounded into her head.

Just one thing to point out...once news of her pregnancy got out, she was "ruined" forever. Even if she had miscarried, she no longer had a "good" name. So, she needed to marry somebody ASAP especially once her engagement with Colin was broken off.

I still love M.M. Kaye books, including Trade Wind. But I feel guilty for liking it which takes away from my enjoyment of the romance in it. Maybe because it was written so long ago makes it ok? If I'd read a brand new book with the same problematic kind of scene, I'd probably be squicked out by it.

I think it probably is my tastes changing. A few months ago, I reread a couple of the Simply series by Mary Balogh that I used to love and was disappointed not to enjoy them anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still love a good romance, but I don't have patience anymore for most of those written by prolific writers that just churn them out. Maybe it's just that I've become a pickier reader, in general.

I read the Bridgerton books years ago and enjoyed them. However, after watching the series this week, I tried rereading one and it just fell flat for me. Not sure if it is just my tastes changing or that her books haven't aged so well. You need to be able to suspend your belief a bit to enjoy a Regency of course, but there are some good ones out there. I think Marion Chesney's books are still entertaining to read, and the characters can be a bit more three dimensional. Jude Morgan (a male author, believe it or not) has written a couple of good ones, closer to the Jane Austen type than a bodice ripper kind.

IIRC, it was Grace who reached out to Carrie to see if she could get some old hand me downs from Laura to pass along to her. It's not like she was even asking for money, but she was scared of Laura getting mad at her. TBH, as fascinating as Prairie Fires was, I found it a depressing read. The poverty, the struggles, the less than close family ties once Laura moved away.

I was rereading These Happy Golden Years recently, and she did have a character (Uncle Tom) admit he and a group of white settlers were wrong for trying to take Indian land (they were forced off by the American army and all their belongings confiscated). Who knows if that really happened, or Rose stuck that in or changed the dialogue as Laura wrote it. Reality is, Laura wrote these books in the 30s and 40s. We are looking back through a modern perspective and it just isn't realistic to expect her to have had such radical changes in the way she viewed these things. If we had been living back then and read these books when they were first published, I don't think any of us would have given these parts to her book a second thought.

Pride and Prejudice grew on me after I watched the 2005 movie version. Somehow, it made the writing come alive, I've read it several times since, and my Mr. Darcy literary crush is still going strong, lol.

I would have requested it, too, but sadly as I said, my library gets rid of older books like crazy:( Harriet the Spy was the only actual Fitzhugh book listed in their inventory...If Harriet holds up, I may try interlibrary loan for the sequel.

I tried reading Ruth Rendell book years ago, but couldn't get into it. You guys are making me want to try her again, I just put in a request for 1 of the 2 Barbara Vine books at my local library system (sadly, they most just carry the latest books and get rid of books that don't circulate well rather quickly.) I also put in a request for the upcoming biography of Louise Fitzhugh, called Sometimes You Have to Lie. I read an excerpt online, and it intrigued me. It also inspired me to request Harriet the Spy-- haven't read it in years, so will be interesting to see how it holds up.

I read this, too, and had the same reaction. I do this all the time, read the biography or published journals or whatever of one of my favorite authors and then regret the depressing read. For a double whammy, try both LM Montgomery's private journals as well the recent definitive biography written by one of the editors of her journals. Boy, was that heavy and hard to digest. Also, the biography of Shirley Jackson was a real downer. Not to say these weren't fascinating reads, because they were....

Yes, I agree with you there. To me, they are kinda like historical cozy mysteries. Easy and fun, but fairly formulaic. But a step up from the typical cozy mystery, both because of her writing and the historical setting. Interesting fact about Rhys Bowen is that she started her writing career as a ghostwriter for popular girls teen paperbacks in the 80s. I don't remember which ones, but along the line of Sweet Valley High, which would be the very definition of formulaic. So, hardly surprising her books follow the same sort of pattern.

I find that happens in other series by Rhys Bowen, like the Molly Murphy mysteries. The first several are fun and charming, but once the narrator pairs off, within a book or two, the series runs out of steam and just isn't fun anymore. I haven't read the latest Royal Spyness mystery yet, but the previous one in the series (Love Among the Cheetahs?? I think that's the title) was starting to get to that point. She is writing some good stand alone historical mysteries now, though, that I can recommend. I think there is one being published in the spring.

I've read and enjoyed The Autobiography of Agatha Christie several times. She was very candid and overall it's just a fascinating read. (Of course she completely ignores that week of her disappearance, but other than that she's pretty open. Although imo, her second husband was probably a bit of a gold digger, though I don't think she ever let herself acknowledge that.)

I've been wondering on and off for years about the title/author of this book: It is set during the Great Depression. Main character is a girl whose dad is unemployed or making a very low wage, so they are poor. Their new neighbors are a well to do family, who act very snobby towards them. They have a girl the same age as the main character who becomes her friend (I think her name may be Gwendolen or Guinivere) but is very patronizing to her. She is obsessed by the British Royal Family and has a scrapbook all about the "little princesses" Elizabeth and Margaret. Towards the end of the book, it is found that the wealthy neighbor was involved in criminal activity and it is very humiliating for the family. Due to this, the family needs to move. Before leaving, Gwendolyn/Guinivere comes to say good bye to her friend, the main character, who isn't feeling well. She is very humble when she says goodbye (all her fancy toys have been auctioned off, but she brings her some things from her fancy doll house). After she leaves, the main character ends up very sick and is out of it for a few days with a raging fever. The whole time, she is holding onto the toy block of ice from the doll house icebox. When she wakes up, the neighbors have moved but left the scrapbook for her. I read this in the 80s but I wouldn't be surprised if it had been published anytime between the 1950s-70s. It was from my school library that mostly had old, somewhat dated books, lol. I'd love to reread it if anybody has idea of what the title could possibly be so I could try tracking it down!

Very true. Some of my favorite bits were when Jerry and Millie showed up, but that's probably because they weren't overdone.

Just put The Binding on hold at the library. I could use a sweet & diverting read right now!

Yes, I think that was in the first episode, but never mentioned again.

I love her short stories and think she was a serious genius at writing horror/suspense. My favorite book of her short stories is, Just An Ordinary Day. It was published not that long ago, maybe 15 years ago? I think the story was that someone uncovered a bunch of stories she had written but never published, in a box that was being stored in a barn in VT. It was passed along to her children and they decided to get the stories edited and published. But I must admit, I've never been able to read her novels. I don't know why, but I just have trouble following the narration and the plot. I've tried a few. Maybe I should try again.

One interesting thing that's been a result of public book tours being cancelled is that a lot of authors have opened up virtual meets and discussions to the public, instead of visiting a few cities across the country, and it's also pretty cool that so many people in different states and even countries are able to participate in the same meet. So, I have to admit it has been a nice opportunity to hear a few of my favorite authors talk in real time and answer questions, etc. I actually am signed up for a zoom event tomorrow evening with one of my favorite historical fiction authors, Lauren Willig.

My library ha reopened (yay!), so I now have a stash of books I have had on hold since March:) I am currently reading The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James, and it's pretty good! As an insomniac, I find it oddly soothing to be reading a book that is all about people doing their every day living/jobs at night. I also read Marian Keyes newest book, Grown Ups, which honestly wasn't that great. I forced myself to finish it, because I bought it, but this one and her previous were both disappointing. They both seemed super choppy, convoluted, and barely edited. It was weird. As a matter of fact, I don't think her previous one was even published in the U.S. (I got a copy of the book from my visiting sister who had purchased it in England), which is also weird.

This is exactly why I stopped reading the books after the first few. I never even made it to #7. It also bugged me, that as an author, she couldn't, or wouldn't, figure out a way to move things along. It was like, she came with an intriguing angle/dilemma for her readers to think about and just kept using it. How many books can you keep dragging it out over? (Same reason why I gave up on the Stephanie Plum books years ago--I didn't care who she ended up with, Morelli or Ranger. I just wanted her to choose! )

Any good suggestions for a cream foundation or even a tinted moisturizer? I have always just used face powder (usually the Clinique Double powder one) but feel like I need to try something different. Nothing too heavy, though.

Halfway through the Netflix series, and I have to say, it's pretty charming! They did a great job of bringing in enough nostalgic references from the original time setting and weaving it in pretty seamlessly to present times, imo. There are some minor changes to some of the characters that work pretty well. Only thing that seems a bit odd to me is turning Dawn's mom into a New Agey type-- that bit didn't really work for me. The other thing that seems pretty jarring is the way the girls casually address all of the parent clients by their first names. Do 12 year olds really do that nowadays? Not just for close family friends? Some of the best bits for me: Karen and her witch obsession, how they updated Stacey's diabetic situation, Janine's lording her intellect over Claudia. I'm currently in the middle of the Sea City episode and am loving Vanessa and her poetry dialogue:)