I read a quote today and immediately thought of this thread 'With a Georgette Heyer you don't buy a book, you buy a world. If it suits you, you are settle down forever.' Just substitute name of your favourite author. (Oh, it was quoted in Friends of the Chalet School magazine but didn't have the ref...

I am in awe of the intelligence in your answers but I'll try to put my point of view. There is nothing wrong with escapism. All literature is escapist to some extent or we wouldn't read it. Much of the value is through cathartis. Take the FF, the books are fairly formulaic but that adds to the enjoy...

My first was Five go off in a caravan. I nicked it from my brothers' shelves when I was about 7 and still haven't given it back forty years later.

My user name is one I use occasionally on line but is also used by my children. I always refused to be called Mum- when they were little Mummy was fine but as they got older it was a bit babyish so they called me mother- or shorten it to Moth.

Sorry but Mum was always a deodorant to me.

I too rate these as among my favourites (but then I really enjoy the non-mystery adventure books). The passing of the seasons is so beautifully evocative and (while I dislike the character) Rose adds a certain cotrating point to the whole thing. Have just read brilliant review in Cave of Books, it b...

Girls/women have always looked after themselves, it's just they use to be more polite about it.

Eddie Muir wrote:

Aurélien wrote:My pet peeve is those who register and never post.....or introduce themselves and then vanish!

Hear! Hear!

Oh dear! I'd better post something intelligent soon then. I'd hate to vanish - though to be honest there's alot of me to just disappear.

A lot of the students at work use 'like' in that way - usually in a long string of repetitious statements as to why they weren't doing whatever it was you're ausing them of.

It grates the soul of this literature graduate.