I have recently joined Librarything and enjoyed looking at your Library. Quite a few of your books are ones that I have read in the past but are not on my shelves because they were from the public library or I have passed them on to people in my book group/family/whoever.

Jean Plaidy was definitely my favourite author when I was 15 or 16. I don't know whether I would want to re-read those books now (in the same way that Wuthering Heights will never be the same for me now that I'm an adult) but I can still remember crying myself to sleep after finishing the Lucrezia Borgia volumes (circa 1964)! Did you ever read Margaret Trouncer's books? She was the other author whom I used to borrow regularly in the 1960s. I remember reading about her death (I seem to recall it was the early 1980s) and you don't hear much about her books now.

posted by katherinemary at 1:06 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2008

I've added you to my Interesting Libraries too! Feel free to visit mine and reciprocate if you want.
Regards,

posted by ariom at 7:16 pm (EST) on Mar 27, 2008

hello Diana,
I saw your comment about The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford. The book's far better than the movie, which was a bit too 'cute' for my taste. Have you read Bel Ria, also by her? I also recommend Blitzcat by Robert Westall for a good animal story for YA readers.
I see you have Anne of Green Gables ... I read that back in the late 1950s when I was at primary school. I still have all my Anne books. Dated but charming reading.
I have more sf and fantasy then you, but we still share a number of books. I enjoy historical novels and have just read The Reluctant Queen by Jean Plaidy, about the wife of Richard lll.
We actually share more than listed on here as I have
listed only a small number of my books. The full list is on my own website.
My book club has just read something quite different: Death of Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong - a police detection story set in 1990s China.
Regards from Busselton in Western Australia

posted by ariom at 7:14 pm (EST) on Mar 27, 2008

Thanks for the suggestions of books by Wright, I'll look for Adultery today. Lucky you and daughter for visiting Chawton! My cousin lives just outside of London and recently visited Bath and sent me all sorts of pamphlets and paraphanalia regarding Jane in Bath *sigh*. Someday, I hope.

I think you will have a wonderful time in the Green Dragon, but be warned, it's highly addictive! ;-D

posted by katylit at 3:03 pm (EST) on Jan 19, 2008

Hi again, I've never read Away, A Map of Glass was my first Urquhart book and I loved it, but maybe that was because she was writing about Prince Edward County and it took me back to old favourite haunts? hmmmm, not sure, but I did like the way she wrote about it too, it was an intriguing story. I'll have to give Richard B. Wright a try, I've heard his name mentioned before and I am trying to read more Canadian authors these days. Thanks for the recommendation.

posted by katylit at 1:48 pm (EST) on Jan 18, 2008

Hi Diana, just dropped in to visit your library and see we have quite a few books in common 103 :-)

I'm from S.E. Ontario originally, but gave up on the climate and now we live on Vancouver Island. I recently read A Map of Glass and it brought back lots of wonderful memories of Prince Edward County. If you enjoyed Mary Lawson which I gather you did (excellent books aren't they?), I think you might really enjoy Jane Urquhart, awesome writing.

posted by katylit at 1:55 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2008

Hope you don't mind my adding you to my Interesting Libraries list. We seem to have similar taste in novels.

Cariola/Deborah

posted by Cariola at 11:47 am (EST) on Sep 8, 2007

Hi, we also share many books so I decided to hook up. Greetings from San Diego, CA.

posted by bearliner at 7:58 pm (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

I loved The Other Side of the Bridge, and think it may even be better than Crow Lake. Quite a feat, since I usually find first novels are the best. In one way, you spend your whole life writing your first novel, and about 2 or 3 years writing your second. First novels cannot be published on reputation or past success -- they have to be really good.

And, yes, I am in Ottawa -- a small town just west of Ottawa actually. I'm on vacation so I am missing all the endless production of briefing notes for our new Minister and tackling my TBR pile, which is taking over my husband's shelf space.

posted by LynnB at 1:10 pm (EST) on Aug 18, 2007

Yes, Canadian authors are always popular. I remember my mother & her friends reading Mazo DeLaRoche's "Jalna" books. I think i have read everything Alice Munro has written. She has to be the best short-story writer in North America. I haven't discovered Mary Lawson yet, but will look for her.
What part of Canada do you live in? I live in Ohio on the Marblehead peninsula on the shores of Lake Erie & when I was young, we could look across & on a clear day, see Pelee Island which is Canada. Now the air is too hazy & we can't see Canada anymore, though we still take boat trips to the islands. I can also remember when the Canadian $ was worth more than the US $.
I have a copy of "Nights of Rain & Stars" but I haven't read it yet. I don't like to read the same type of book or author right in a row, so I'll read a few non=fiction. I like to read memoirs, too, though one wonders how much is really fiction.

posted by MarianV at 2:11 pm (EST) on Aug 5, 2007

Hi

We share 82 books including everything Maeve Binchy has ever written except her short stories which I have & you don't. Actually the novels are better. Yes, she is also a comfort reader to me. I've tried to find similar writers & it seems they are all British, like Rosamond Pilcher & Catherine Cookson (Though not all of their works are what you would call "comfort" just some of them. With Maeve, you know what you are getting. i think "Firefly Summer is my favorite. I've read it several times. I gave "The Glass Lake" to my sister-in-law who just had a foot taken off due to Diabites & it looks like I will be shaaring the rest of my MB collection with her.But that is what books are for, I think. To comfort. Do you have other comfort authors? Sometimes mysteries can take us away from our problems. I like the Brother Cadfael mysteries & others that have settings different from my life.
MarianV

posted by MarianV at 8:24 pm (EST) on Jul 25, 2007

I agree with you about On Chesil Beach. McEwan was on fine form with this novella. Seemingly simple prose but each word meticulously placed.

posted by hazelk at 3:19 am (EST) on Jul 23, 2007