13 Comments

We are so flattered to be part of this episode! Sylvia and Courtland

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It was one of the best dinner parties I've ever been to!! Thanks for your incredible generosity

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ZOMG: Forster is on the maybe list?! One of my most beloved beloveds. He's who I reach for when I'm in a reading slump. (It happens. Mostly because I have too many WANT-TO-READs on my shelf and I can't decide. Forster and Helene Hanff are both guaranteed to knock me out of the slump.)

I'm on board for pretty much anything, though! Frizzlit is my happy place. :)

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Whoa! Knowing this is how you feel about Forster just knocked him from the "maybe" pile into the "definitely yes" pile.

Reading books with you is MY happy place

PS: I've never read Helene Hanff. Frankly, wasn't familiar with the name! Oh, the things I learn from you... thanks for adding her to my radar

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She's incredibly fun. Best known for 84 Charing Cross Road, a collection of letters back and forth between Helene (a New Yorker) and the staff at an English bookshop. She was a passionate reader (although rarely of fiction! Heresy!) and hilarious writer. I love books about sometimes reading life and hers are my favorite, even though her choice of books hardly ever overlaps with mine. I've written a ton about her on my blog over the years: https://melissawiley.com/blog/tag/helene-hanff/

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I also love Helene Hanff! And the 84 charing cross road plaque in London is a fun find. I reread that book every few years. The movie is fantastic as well, don’t you think?

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Yes!! I loved the movie. Perfect casting. Hard to go wrong with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins!

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(typo: I meant *someone's* not *sometimes*)

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So Jake, what was the WW1 themed film about treating shell shocked soldiers?

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Good question! He never did tell us, did he?

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Regeneration! Sorry I could not for the life of me remember while we were recording. Apparently it was released in the UK in 1997, but was released in the US the following year under the name Behind the Lines.

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Aha! Pat Barker Regeneration - it’s on my bookshelf because of a comment thread in one of our Frizzlit bookclub chats. Rebecca Brown would know. I’ll put it on my 2025 TBR list.

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I forgot that I should never listen to your podcast next to a sleeping person. I almost hurt myself trying not to howl with laughter at the retelling of the hot water/not even coffee incident. And another enthusiast “yes, let’s!” for Forster. Thanks for the fun episode you two!

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