Q&A with Sarah Blake discussion

Hi everyone!

I'm so glad to be here with all of you--it's been great touring around the country and Canada talking to readers. I look forward to hearing your questions!

Sarah

As this is the first day of what I hope will be a week long conversation, why don't you start off by introducing yourself when you sign on--and I'd love to know what you've been reading lately!

Hi Sarah.

I'm from Adelaide in South Australia. I teach Year 6/7s in a primary school in the Adelaide Hills. I am also the Learning Technologies Coordinator.

I've recently read Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and have just bought A Secret Kept by the same author. I've just finished Not Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay.

As it's school holidays here in Australia I'm intending to catch up on my reading list - what could be better than a cup of coffee, some Easter chocolate and a good book?

What are your must read books, and whose writing has influenced you?

You paint such a great picture--holidays, reading and a cup of coffee!

I think the book I return to most often is Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. It's the book I first read that made me want to be a writer, and it's Woolf's genius for capturing what she calls "moments of being" that most inspires me.

Right now I'm reading Nicole Krauss's Great House and am so admiring of how she threads the plot lines.

Hi,
I am from London, Ontario Canada. I work in a highschool and love to read. One of my "real life" book clubs read The Postmistress as its first book.
I am currently finishing Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Looking forward to this discussion. Thank you so much for doing this Q&A.

Thanks Sarah. I have just had a look at the blurb of Great House and now ordered it from my local library. Don't you just love technology? :-)

I read The Postmistress at the beginning of the year and I really loved the story. Right now I am in the middle of Cutting for Stone which I am enjoying.

Hi Sarah, I read The Postmistress with the B&N First Look Book Club and loved the story. I can't wait for your next novel.

I just finished reading The Lace Reader and started a cozy mystery last night.

Thank you, Sarah... For a wonderful read. I have this on my Kindle, but I'm going to get a copy for my home library.
The Postmistress grabbed me from the beginning. In the sixties I worked for a major newspaper, just a young girl in the newsroom. But this was before all the technology, which may or may not be a good thing. You captured the real feel of true Journalism, that seems to be gone now.
Best wishes,
Barb

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your nice comments, and I very much like hearing what you are reading-I haven't read Cutting for Stone yet, but I spoke with Abraham Verghese last year in Richmond, and he gave such a great little speech about humanism and reading--that books remind us of our humanity and how vital it is to be reading for that reason.

I don't know The Lace Reader. Who wrote that?

Sarah

Oops I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Debbie I hail from the St. Louis area, I work full time, am a member of the Board of Directors for my local library district, review for a number of publications, publishers and sites on the web. I also moderate the General Fiction book club at B&N.com. It's good to be here and I met Sarah before The Postmistress was published at the First Look forum at B&N.

Deb

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

http://www.lacereader.com/

I saw it in an article talking about books in the same vein as The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and had to read it. I was not disappointed.

Debbie wrote: "Oops I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Debbie I hail from the St. Louis area, I work full time, am a member of the Board of Directors for my local library district, review for a number of publicati..."

Hi Debbie!

It feels like a long while ago that we all convened on First Look--what a great program that is (was?)

Sarah

Tarri wrote: "The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

http://www.lacereader.com/

I saw it in an article talking about books in the same vein as The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and had to read it. I was not di..."

oh great--thanks for that information!

Hi, I am Christy from Carlsbad, CA. I suggested "The Postmistress" for my book club and we just finished it. Everyone loved it, thank you so much. I am a stay at home mom looking for work and I have a passion for reading. I read "The Lace Reader" last year or so and I really enjoyed it. We will be reading "Cutting for Stone" in book club next month. I just finished "Let the Great World Spin" and I liked it. Now I am reading books that are simply for pleasure with "The Fixer Upper" being the current one. I just finished "Mrs. Kimble" and I had a difficult time putting it down. I found I could relate to the women who married a man who misrepresented himself to them. Anyway, happy reading to all.

Hi Christy,

I'm so glad your book club liked The Postmistress! It's great hearing your reading map--I've just finished EM Forster's Howard's End, and Wallace Stegnar's Crossing to Safety. I'm concentrating on reading books that center a family in big old houses.

Sarah

Hi everyone,

One of the things that has been so wonderful going around the country and talking to book groups is hearing what they think makes an ideal read.

i'm wondering how you would answer that? What are the characteristics of a great book? What do you look for in what you are reading?

Sarah

Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone,

One of the things that has been so wonderful going around the country and talking to book groups is hearing what they think makes an ideal read.

i'm wondering how you would answer th..."

Characters that I can relate to and like are top in my ideal list. I like something different than all the rest of the stories I've already read, but I am also a fan of series and continuing characters. Another thing that keeps my interest is learning about places that I have not seen.

Hi ya'll! I'm Kelly from Colorado. My local library recommended The Postmistress as an audiobook to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! There were some parts that made me cry, and I imagine it would have been quite amusing watching me driving to work and crying. I am currently reading Georgette Heyer's Regency-based historical romances. A friend just introduced me to them, and I am having such a great time getting wrapped up in that world.

What I look for in reading include:
1. Characters that interest me. If I wonder about what the characters are doing after the book ends, that's usually a good sign.

2. A story that is compelling enough while I am reading it that I do not want to put the book down and makes me think about it long after. That is what I consider a four-star. If it is a story I want to continue reading again and again, that is five-star.

3. Settings that draw me into an the book's world and give me a vivid image while still letting me use my own imagination to fill in gaps.

4. Some kind of deeper meaning or knowledge behind the story. This is more vague for me, but I do like to feel I've learned something, whether about myself, a character, a place, or a situation.

5. Finally, I do want to be "entertained," which is another vague component that can mean different things for each person.

Kelly

For ma, an ideal read is one with characters that I can get behind and feel for - I guess that is done by having them well developed as they were in the "The Postmistress ". Another thing that had me falling for the "The Postmistress" was how well described the scenes were, I could completely see the story playing out in my mind, I felt like I was right there in the post office with the characters. That is what I like, feeling like I am right there in the book with the story playing out all around me.

I look forward to your next book. :)

Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone,

One of the things that has been so wonderful going around the country and talking to book groups is hearing what they think makes an ideal read.

i'm wondering how you would answer th..."

Hi, everyone! I'm Randi from Pennsylvania. I listened to The Postmistress doing my daily 3 mile run. I don't need much to thoroughly enjoy a book. My recipe for a good book = well-developed characters + a good writing technique + well-researched history thrown in for good measure, and you have a winner.

Hi! I'm Janet from NE Ohio. I was made aware of The Postmistress before it released and bought it the first day or so out I anxious for a good read and it got a great one. I have to add that my dad having been a Postmaster, I felt more pulled to the book.

I very much enjoyed the era and the characters. It was all so well written and not predictable.

As for what I like in a book - characters I can like or get to know is very important. They can be good or bad but I like a way to relate to them. I also enjoy something different (example the postmistress getting "proof" from her doctor), not what you read every day.
I find different eras interesting, too, but not a requirement by any means.

My favorite recent read was The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen.

I very much look forward to your next book, Sarah! Have you announced a title and date? (my apologies if I missed that).

Hi everyone

What a great round up of answers, thank you so much! It's interesting that character seems to be the foundation of a good read for most of you. For me, writing books is all about writing my way towards understanding a character and why they are doing something--(why, for instance, did a woman in a post office pocket a letter? the result is the book you had in your hands, a big long answer to why. this reminds me of the fact that The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's novel was the prologue to another novel, Dostoevsky had in mind!)

The tentative title for the book I'm working on now is The Middle Ages--and I don't have a date yet...I'm just trying to batten down the hatches and work!

all best,

Sarah

Thank you for the discussion, I can't wait for your next book.

Thank you all!

Hi my name is Yajaira from SanDiego California. I found out of the book when i was trying to find a book for a class. When i read the whole War scene i was caprtured. Im a sucker for history! I love reading other peoples lives. Its an escape from my own.Im also in love with the characters!I have never been the adventerous person like Frankie but shes an inspiration! I think im more like Iris a little more cought into order. So far im enjoying the book and cant wait to reach the end!