Your essay makes me want to go back to the beginning and start over with the Gamache series--maybe in audio this time, which I have never experienced. I find that when I read a series over many years (my usual approach), I can't remember the nuances or even the plots. "Life is all about people"--that's so simple and so important. If only we remembered that every day... Thanks, Jeremy! I will check out your newsletter.
I had read all of the books, but mostly one at a time. I think I read the first four or five and then it was one a year as they came out. But I started at the end of August and I am working on book 15 now. I think I should be ready when the next one comes out.
Part of what I like about reading them back to back is that I am picking up more connections between the books than I saw when I read them a year apart. Many books there is a hint at something that will not happen until several books later. The broad plotting of these books must be charted out way ahead.
I am reading these for characters not specific mysteries. I have been surprised about how many I have not remembered specific perpetrators, but remember small details about the main characters. It is the characters that I read for.
Great piece! It took me a few tries to get hooked on Louise Penny, but I also found that it was best to start at the beginning and follow Gamache and Co from book to book.
I was just introduced to the books of Louise Penny this last January by a couple from southern Quebec. I was immediately hooked. I have read five books now, and have ordered three more. I have found that reading them through once is not enough. Louise Penny provides so much detail, it easy to miss a lot, and not know what is relevant to the plot, or just interesting background material. My second reading is done with note taking. I frequently go to Google to explain things. Like food, and Quebec swear words. Or poetry, or the history and culture of Les Cantons de l'Est. I grew up in New Hampshire and spent quality time in Sherbrooke and Mont Orford in 2018. I am very much looking forward to returning this summer. And to reading the next ten books.
This has been exactly my experience as a fellow newcomer to Three Pines. I just finished the second, Fatal Grace, abd am resisting the urge to download the next one. I want to savor.
I've been reading Penny not only for the people but for the place itself. The fictional town lies about and hour and a half north of the NH town that is still home to my family. Her descriptions of the seasons, the land, the town have drawn me in as much as the people who, as you say so well, are human and do well drawn..I closer Fatal Grace wondering about how the marriage of Clara abd Peter will continue to evolve and I'm desperate for some sort of awakening or redemption for Nichol. I love the women in these books.
Your essay makes me want to go back to the beginning and start over with the Gamache series--maybe in audio this time, which I have never experienced. I find that when I read a series over many years (my usual approach), I can't remember the nuances or even the plots. "Life is all about people"--that's so simple and so important. If only we remembered that every day... Thanks, Jeremy! I will check out your newsletter.
I had read all of the books, but mostly one at a time. I think I read the first four or five and then it was one a year as they came out. But I started at the end of August and I am working on book 15 now. I think I should be ready when the next one comes out.
Part of what I like about reading them back to back is that I am picking up more connections between the books than I saw when I read them a year apart. Many books there is a hint at something that will not happen until several books later. The broad plotting of these books must be charted out way ahead.
I am reading these for characters not specific mysteries. I have been surprised about how many I have not remembered specific perpetrators, but remember small details about the main characters. It is the characters that I read for.
Great piece! It took me a few tries to get hooked on Louise Penny, but I also found that it was best to start at the beginning and follow Gamache and Co from book to book.
I was just introduced to the books of Louise Penny this last January by a couple from southern Quebec. I was immediately hooked. I have read five books now, and have ordered three more. I have found that reading them through once is not enough. Louise Penny provides so much detail, it easy to miss a lot, and not know what is relevant to the plot, or just interesting background material. My second reading is done with note taking. I frequently go to Google to explain things. Like food, and Quebec swear words. Or poetry, or the history and culture of Les Cantons de l'Est. I grew up in New Hampshire and spent quality time in Sherbrooke and Mont Orford in 2018. I am very much looking forward to returning this summer. And to reading the next ten books.
This has been exactly my experience as a fellow newcomer to Three Pines. I just finished the second, Fatal Grace, abd am resisting the urge to download the next one. I want to savor.
I've been reading Penny not only for the people but for the place itself. The fictional town lies about and hour and a half north of the NH town that is still home to my family. Her descriptions of the seasons, the land, the town have drawn me in as much as the people who, as you say so well, are human and do well drawn..I closer Fatal Grace wondering about how the marriage of Clara abd Peter will continue to evolve and I'm desperate for some sort of awakening or redemption for Nichol. I love the women in these books.