Belles of the South discussion

Would love to hear from everyone on this topic.
So what are your favorite books of any type or genre?


You probably know by now that my favorite book is:
Gone with the Wind.

I also love to read historical fiction and
In a Dark Wood Wandering: A Novel of the Middle Ages by Hella S. Haasse is my favorite HF book.
Has anyone else read this one?

One of my favorites is "COLD SASSY TREE" by Olive Ann Burns. The setting is in Georgia. The story is told by a young boy, Will. Will's grandmother dies and his grandfather is married in 2 weeks to a lot younger woman. Will sees a love developing between these two. A very sweet and humorous book.

I love so many!!! But if I had to take only one (besides the Bible) to a desert isle I would be hard pressed to choose between "Signa " by Ouida and "War and Peace" by Tolstoy. I really love "The Summer of the Barshinksys " also, (thats by Diane Pearson).

I have so many favorite books! I guess to narrow them down, if I could only take a few with me to a desert island:
Gone With the Wind, a book from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series (Dragonfly in Amber), Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII (for my Tudor fix), The Road to Avalon by Joan Wolf, something by M. M. Kaye (probably Trade Wind), Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Anya Seton's Katherine, and perhaps a Dickens novel (A Tale of Two Cities). I've only scratched the surface and left out a ton of other favorites. I am always intrigued by other's favorite books/authors.

Oh yes! Cant leave out M.M.Kaye! My desert isle suitcase is getting heavier...

And how could I forget my Robert Tyler Stevens? I would have to take at least one or two, maybe "a summer day is done " or, "in my enemy's arms "...

Dorcas wrote: "Oh yes! Cant leave out M.M.Kaye! My desert isle suitcase is getting heavier..."

@Dorcas -- Hopefully, we will be vacationing on the same desert isle so we can swap books!

@Laurie - I haven't read In a Dark Wood Wandering but it looks very intriguing. Will have to explore that one.

S. K. wrote: "One of my favorites is "COLD SASSY TREE" by Olive Ann Burns. The setting is in Georgia. The story is told by a young boy, Will. Will's grandmother dies and his grandfather is married in 2 weeks to ..."

S.K. Cold Sassy Tree sounds like a great future group read. I've been meaning to read this for quite awhile now.

Dorcas wrote: "I love so many!!! But if I had to take only one (besides the Bible) to a desert isle I would be hard pressed to choose between "Signa " by Ouida and "War and Peace" by Tolstoy. I really love "The S..."

Dorcas, I absolutely loved Summer of the Barshinsky's too. It's been over 20 years since I read it but I think it's time I revisited this one. I do tend to love all HF set in Russia too.

I saw the PBS mini-series War and Peace starring Anthony Hopkins in the early 70's and enjoyed it so much I decided to read the book. War and Peace is HF at its best, no doubt about it.

Marita wrote: "Laurie wrote: "Would love to hear from everyone on this topic.
So what are your favorite books of any type or genre?


You probably know by now that my favorite book is:
Gone with the Wind Marita.

Joanne wrote: "I have so many favorite books! I guess to narrow them down, if I could only take a few with me to a desert island:
Gone With the Wind, a book from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series (Dragonfly in Am..."


Joanne, I'm just getting warmed up listing all my favorites as I also have so many.

Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers was really brilliant I felt. King Henry even had me believing Anne Boleyn was really a witch.

Are you a big fan of any other novels by M. George? I've not had a lot of luck reading any of the others, they didn't grab me like TAOH8 did.

I don't know if you enjoy Medieval HF but if so I think you'll like IADWW. Read Marita's excellent review to get a better feel for it.

@Laurie - I do have Memoirs of Cleopatra by M. George on my shelf. A chunkster but I think the topic would be a good change of pace for me.

I have Elizabeth I and the one on Mary Queen of Scots. They are both chunksters too and I haven't read either one yet.

I did start reading Cleopatra a while back and the pace of the book was so slow in the beginning I lost interest and never got back to it.

Hopefully her books about Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots will be as magical as her Henry 8th autobiography. I'm hoping her talents are highlighted when writing about the Tudors.

I might have said this before but I'm kind of Tudored out at the moment though so don't know when I'll be getting to these 2 books.