Retro Reads discussion

Hi all! I'm Tadiana, most of you here probably know me. I'm a huge Mary Stewart fan and am looking forward to exploring other older books and authors with you all! I live in Utah, married with 4 kids in their teens and early twenties. I'm a part-time lawyer (IP, not to be confused with PI) and probably spend way too much time reading and on Goodreads. :)

Hello. I am Amy. I love this whole genre of books from Mary Stewart to Georgette Heyer to DE Stevenson. I'm looking forward to discovering some new to me authors also.

I live in a suburb of Kansas City and I'm married with a 12-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. My husband and I are both engineers and we own a small engineering firm.

Hi. I am Debbie and live on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Al. I'm married and the mother of a few too many fur children. ;). Im a teacher. I read a lot of different types of books. I'm a huge gothic and romantic suspense fan and found my way here because of the Mary Stewart group. I believe I will enjoy reading some of the authors that fit this category. I love buddy reads and discussing books...and making new reading friends.

I'm Carol, one of the moderators here. I'm married with two adult children (one of who is moving to Australia tomorrow :( )

I volunteer at an op (charity) shop & I am in charge of the books. This is like putting an alcoholic in charge of the booze! A lot of the old titles I love don't sell & I bring them home. My boss prefers that to going in the recycling.

My reading tastes were formed by my father. My mother & I read what he bought. He was a massive Georgette Heyer fan, but also loved Frances Parkinson Keyes, Elizabeth Goudge and Jean Plaidy.

I also found my way here through the Mary Stewart group. Carol, I totally relate to your comment about the charity shop. I volunteer once a week at our library in our small book shop. I end up taking home far too many books and some come from our recycling bin. We call it rescuing them. I love many of the retro authors and look forward to getting acquainted with more.

I have 4 grown children (one a published writer and another currently studying for an MFA in Creative Writing) and 7 grandchildren. When not reading, I can usually be found working on needlework and genealogy, or playing with grandchildren.

Hi
I am Kathy and did read The Far Pavilions with this group and loved it. Am in the Mary Stewart group and am moderator for a couple of other groups. I live in Idaho and farm with my husband. I am a retired HS Mathematics teacher.

Looking forward to the new to me old books that I will find here.

Hi! I'm Marissa, married with three kids (two in college, one graduated and gainfully employed, hallelujah!); we're in the western suburbs of Boston though we also spend a lot of time on Cape Cod. I'm a full-time writer of YA historical fiction and contemporary fantasy. I'm here via the Georgette Heyer group, but also enjoy Mary Stewart and Angela Thirkell (and grew up reading every Jean Plaidy and Victoria Holt I could get my hands on!) and and looking forward to finding some new wonderful authors to read.

I'm digging the new and improved group. The group photos are great : )

Glad to see so many who enjoy the retro authors/books. I generally prefer them to today's offering. All the authors you've listed are a perfect fit. I'd like to introduce Beverley Nichols to the list if appropriate. He wrote books based on the gardening life which are informative, funny and just plain fun to read. He had a sarcastic wit which doesn't seem to initially mesh with the idea of a proper English gardener of the 1930's, but somehow it works. Down the Garden Path is probably his most famous.

I'm the single mom of a 22 year old college student. I live in North Carolina. I grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden and progressed to Harlequin romances and those gothics featuring the night-gown-clad heroine fleeing the castle with one lit window. Then on to the wonderful Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters and my favorite author of all: M.M. Kaye. Now I read a lot of non-fiction.

Look forward to seeing what books you all decide to group read.

debbie~cr8zycat ^_^ wrote: "Hi. I am Debbie and live on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Al. I'm married and the mother of a few too many fur children. ;). Im a teacher. I read a lot of different types of books. I'm a huge gothic an..."

On first reading, I missed the "fur" children and thought, "Wow, Debbie - so gutsy to say you have a few too many children - sure hope none of them are on Goodreads!" Still laughing...

Hi
Yet another who cut my adult reading teeth in the late 1950s. As a teen in the '60s I devoured Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Dorothy Eden, Barbara Michels/Elizabeth Peters, Baroness Orczy, Rafael Sabatini, Thomas Costain, Helen MacInnis, and so on and so on. Lots and lots of books across all genres. That is still my reading pattern all these years later. I'm retired; I'm married to another retiree--he reads mostly mysteries.

Welcome everyone! Love your list, Barb. I've read most of those authors, at least a book or two, at one time or another, but I don't think I've read anything by Rafael Sabatini or Thomas Costain yet. Captain Blood has been on my TBR for a good long while, though, and I'm hoping to get to him sometime this year. Ditto with The Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes--several months ago a GR friend recommended it to me strongly enough that I actually went and bought a used copy on Amazon, but it's still sitting on my bookshelf unread. :p Maybe a buddy read in this group will help me move those books from my massive TBR list to the "Read" category!

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Welcome everyone! Love your list, Barb. I've read most of those authors, at least a book or two, at one time or another, but I don't think I've read anything by Rafael Sabatini or Thomas Costain ye..."

The Captain Blood movie has long been a favorite of ours, (I mean, Errol Flynn!), but I've never read Sabatini. The rest of your list, Barb, I have read, though!

Karlyne
Ah yes, Errol Flynn as Captain Blood, swoon!
Sabatini's books are marvelous swashbucklers. If you liked Heyer's 'Beauvallet' you will probably enjoy Sabatini.

That list is just the tip of the iceberg of my teen reading! I somehow managed to read a book a day in addition to my schoolwork. Summer vacation usually meant 2-3 books a day! The thicker the better! Ah, those were the days...

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Karlyne
Ah yes, Errol Flynn as Captain Blood, swoon!
Sabatini's books are marvelous swashbucklers. If you liked Heyer's 'Beauvallet' you will probably enjoy Sabatini.

That list is just the tip of..."

I completely know what you mean! We moved a lot when I was a kid (2-5 times a year) and the first thing that my mother did when we arrived in a new place was make sure I had a library card. I remember one library either in Idaho or Washington (we were close to the border), where you bought a card for $.25 which entitled you to one book. You could buy as many cards as you wanted, so you can imagine where all my babysitting money went - I could only get there every week or two so I needed a lot of cards. It was an idyllic summer of like-minded friends, bicycling along the river, and reading everything I could afford!

I'm Critterbee, and just learned about this group from the secret underground Georgette Heyer appreciation society. Just sticking my nose in to check out this group and discover some new authors.

I currently live in the verdant rolling hills of Virginia, US, and work at our local public library ( Library <3 <3 <3 ). In addition to Ms. Heyer, I adore British Cozies, historical fiction, history, fantasy, cooking, and free advance reader galleys!

Also, I am learning to knit, which is turning out to be nothing like crocheting.

Critterbee wrote: "I'm Critterbee, and just learned about this group from the secret underground Georgette Heyer appreciation society. Just sticking my nose in to check out this group and discover some new authors.

..."

Critterbee! Welcome!

G'day Carole! Looking forward to reading some new authors!

:D

I'm Hana and I live in Brookline, Massachusetts, which is a little suburb carved out of the middle of Boston. The best thing about living in Brookline is the absolutely amazing library system that includes pretty much all of the libraries in Eastern MA, with lots of retro reads.

In my non-book life I teach finance and money management part time. Full time, I am a devoted servant to two cats. I love cooking for friends, museum going and exploring Boston.

I read very few contemporary books (except for non-fiction) I think older novels are so much richer. I'm not a big fan of romance in general but I fell hard for Georgette Heyer about ten years ago and I've been a fan of Mary Stewart's since I was a teenager. Like Critterbee I'm fond of British Cozies and historical fiction.

P.S. The new name and look for the group is just great! Thanks, Carole.

Hana wrote: "P.S. The new name and look for the group is just great! Thanks, Carole."

All credit goes to Tadiana! After my (painful) struggles getting the masthead up for the Georgette Heyer I never want to do another one! :D

Hi, I’m Abigail, and I can’t believe I’m joining another group! Like I’m not doing enough group reads already? But I do like the idea of this one.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am not-quite-retired from a career as a copy editor and proofreader. Trying to write novels that would please readers of Elizabeth Goudge or Angela Thirkell, but life keeps intervening.

I look forward to chatting with you all!

Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "Hana wrote: "P.S. The new name and look for the group is just great! Thanks, Carole."

All credit goes to Tadiana! After my (painful) struggles getting the masthead up for the Georgette Heyer I nev..."

That masthead is such a weird shape -- it was a true test of my not-so-great skills with Microsoft Paint, patching those three pictures together.

Abigail wrote: "Hi, I’m Abigail, and I can’t believe I’m joining another group! Like I’m not doing enough group reads already? But I do like the idea of this one.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am not-q..."

Abigail!:) Welcome!

I'm Lesley and 'see' many of you in various other groups we have in common. I'm widowed, have two children and seven grandkids all of whom now live away overseas so only get to see them on Skype now. Just now I live with a little black and white fox terrier companion named Abby who is also getting on.

I've read since I can remember. Growing up post-war when libraries weren't so prolific, books were few and expensive to buy, I had soon read all the books in school, so I was taken to join the nearest public library. That was a 40 minute bus ride away that necessitated me being 'taken' fortnightly. By the time I was around 10 years old I was able to go by myself, but I had also almost read the entire children's section, so was escorted by the librarian to the adult section where I was introduced to Agatha Christie, Rosemary Sutcliff and other like authors. Around that time I also got to share my Nan and Mother's books they got from their book club, and so met many of the authors mentioned here. My Nan and I particularly loved Georgette Heyer and would eagerly await each new release.

The middle picture of the group banner reminds me of coming home from school and my Mum would be sitting in a chair reading. We would have a cup of tea and talk about what she was reading before she went to prepare dinner, and I to my homework. Lovely memories.

I'm looking forward to re-living more of those memories with this group, as well as recalling authors I've forgotten and discovering new ones I never got to read back then!

Ella's Gran wrote: "I'm Lesley and 'see' many of you in various other groups we have in common. I'm widowed, have two children and seven grandkids all of whom now live away overseas so only get to see them on Skype no..."

Welcome Lesley! :)

Hello everyone. I see that I have a couple of GR friends here and other names I recognize. I love the older, golden age mysteries and am hoping to find some that I haven't read yet.

I am from Almost Heaven West Virginia, have been a member of Good Reads for several years and enjoy WWI/WWII history, British and golden age mystery, and, as one of my GR buddies says "obscure books". Looking forward to some interesting reads here.

Oh good to see you here too, Jill.

Hi I'm Hilary from the UK, disabled avid reader (mainly of Cozy Mysteries, Golden Age but also Heyer and I used to like Jean Plaidy etc)

Welcome Jill & Hilary! :)

A big hello to everyone! My name is Loretta and I enjoy reading all types of books with the exception of fantasy and sci-fi. My favorite genre right now are classics.

I look forward to reading/discussing books with all of you and getting to know all of you too! Till then, happy reading! :)

Welcome Loretta!

Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "Welcome Loretta!"

Thank you Carol! :)

So happy to be a part of this lovely group! I have two great college kids, and I split my time between a home in the New Orleans area and a beach house on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. I was a reading specialist and elementary teacher for many years, but I'm finally living my dream of having some time to read just for pleasure. I prefer big, fat historical novels from authors such as M. M. Kaye, Anya Seton, and Susan Howatch. I'm also a fan of gothic writers and romantic suspense novels by Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart, and Daphne du Maurier. Happy reading everyone!

Joanne, I love your list of authors. They are all my favorites with the exception of M. M. Kaye who I have somehow missed. But, The Far Pavilions is on my TBR list so hopefully will get to that in the not too distant future. I am seeing several author names in this group who are new to me. I think it will be a great group. If only I was not such a slow reader.

Welcome Ladies!

Joanne wrote: "So happy to be a part of this lovely group! I have two great college kids, and I split my time between a home in the New Orleans area and a beach house on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. I was a reading..."

Hi Joanne! I've just joined too! Welcome! :)

Bobbie wrote: "Joanne, I love your list of authors. They are all my favorites with the exception of M. M. Kaye who I have somehow missed. But, The Far Pavilions is on my TBR list so hopefully will get to that in ..."

Bobbie, I'm also seeing several authors in this group that I've never seen before either. It's like a breath of fresh air! :)

Hi everyone! I'm Diane. I live in coastal North Carolina and love to read at the beach! I have 2 adult sons who live in other states. My husband is very understanding of my reading addiction because he also has it. ;) My first serious book love was Nancy Drew and it wasn't until I joined GR that I discovered I didn't read the originals back in the early 1960's. One of these days I'm going to fix that. I look forward to joining some of the group reads, especially Frances Parkinson Keyes. I also love Mary Stewart and MM Kaye and many of the others mentioned.

Hi Diane! Good to hear from you. Reading on the beach sounds great ... I've never lived close enough to a beach to have tried it. :( Somehow reading by the swimming pool doesn't seem like it would give me the same experience.

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Hi Diane! Good to hear from you. Reading on the beach sounds great ... I've never lived close enough to a beach to have tried it. :( Somehow reading by the swimming pool doesn't seem like it would ..."

Lol, I guess it wouldn't! At least you don't have to worry about sand in your books...

Diane Lynn wrote: "My first serious book love was Nancy Drew and it wasn't until I joined GR that I discovered I didn't read the originals back in the early 1960's..."

Diane Lynn,
Some of the original Nancy Drews differ quite substantially from the revised versions. The (The Secret at Shadow Ranch comes to mind (it's basically two different stories with the same title!).

If you ever want to do a read of one of them (original & revised), just say the word and I'll do it with you. It'd be fun to read a ND again!

Hi, I am Kim, I know a lot of you from other groups. I have been re-reading a lot of the mentioned authors on my own, it will be nice to have some company. Are we going to have polls, voting, a book we choose to read together? I just reread Summer Half recently by Angela Thirkell, am coming up on The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart soon...know that is a different group...am coming up on a Helen MacInnes soon, and slowly doing Barbara Pym. I re-read Moonraker's Daughter recently, and have Kirkland Revels in my to-be-read-as-a-treat-soon pile.

I am married with 3 grown children, a lovely son-in-law, 3 cats, a dog, and a busy life in the Bay Area.

Kim wrote: "Hi, I am Kim, I know a lot of you from other groups. I have been re-reading a lot of the mentioned authors on my own, it will be nice to have some company. Are we going to have polls, voting, a boo..."

There should be a poll up in the next few days, hopefully, for our first group read. We've also got a "What would you like to read with some friends?" thread where you can set up mini buddy reads within the group.

Hello, everyone! I'm Samanta from Croatia. I stumbled upon this group by accident, but now that I see who the moderators are, I am not surprised with the name and the content of the group. :)

Hello, Tadiana and Hana. :)

As I love classic, I'm going to give my best to be an active member of the group.

Hannah wrote: "Diane Lynn wrote: "My first serious book love was Nancy Drew and it wasn't until I joined GR that I discovered I didn't read the originals back in the early 1960's..."

Diane Lynn,
Some of the orig..."

Down the road I would love to do that. I'll let you know once I've acquired the "real" ones. Very interesting about The Secret at Shadow Ranch. You are my ND expert!

I remember reading both versions of The Secret of Shadow Ranch as a young girl and being SO confused! I also remember that I liked one of them far better than the other--but I have no idea which one it was.

Samanta wrote: "Hello, everyone! I'm Samanta from Croatia. I stumbled upon this group by accident, but now that I see who the moderators are, I am not surprised with the name and the content of the group. :)"

Hi Samanta! It's great to see you again!

Kim wrote: "Hi, I am Kim, I know a lot of you from other groups. I have been re-reading a lot of the mentioned authors on my own, it will be nice to have some company. Are we going to have polls, voting, a boo..."

Hi Kim

I have a copy of Kirkland Revels & could be persuaded to do a buddy read in a couple of months. There is going to be a buddy read of Mistress of Mellyn on the 21st if you manage to find a copy of that. :)

I have a copy of Kirkland revels and would LOVE to buddy read that one with you guys!

I've just opened a couple of discussion threads for the Mistress of Mellyn and Scarlet Pimpernel BRs. If some of you get serious about Kirkland Revels, we'll add that one too.