Recommendations For Louise Penny
Books By Louise Penny
Tips and Resources From Your Louise Penny Book Club Friends:
Where Louise Penny readers gather to share, chat, read and laugh.
Louise thinks of Three Pines as more of a state of mind than an actual place. She calls it “the place I live in when I choose to be kind.” Do you love Three Pines? Could you see yourself moving there, becoming friends with Ruth, Clara and Armand? Are you F.I.N.E? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have just found your people. Come in, join us! We think you’ll fit right in.
Picks From Louise’s Fans
Recommended Reads
Good books to read while you wait for the next Louise Penny release.
Chief Inspector Gamache
Book Series in Order
Find the right order of the books in the Three Pines series.
Acknowledgements
Letters From Louise
Thoughtfully written, these are must reads.
Nature of the Feast
Food and Recipes
Taste your way through the Three Pines books.
Dig Deeper Into Three Pines With Our Louise Penny Book Discussions
Recommendations From Louise’s Fans
Recommended Books From Louise Penny Fans
Books Louise Recommends
“The White Lady is a triumph of storytelling. Rarely have I been swept up into a novel, into the lives of the main characters, so quickly and thoroughly. Winspear creates in Elinor White (The White Lady), a complex, endearing, achingly flawed hero. This is both fast-paced and thoughtful, bold and nuanced, a thriller that is thrillingly human. I loved it.”
On Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series
“Forensic archeologist and academic Ruth Galloway is a captivating amateur sleuth—an inspired creation. I identified with her insecurities and struggles, and cheered her on.”
On Peter Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series
“The Last Detective….is a wonderful book. The beginning of a superb series. The Last Detective is not simply a puzzle to be solved. It delves into why we do the things we do. Our choices. The suspect’s, the victim’s, the detective’s choices.”
On Josephine Tey’s “The Franchise Affair”
“A perfect jewel of a book.”
More Louise Penny Resources
Inspired by Louise Penny
Readers who love to create, travel and experience the world based on Louise Penny’s work share their passions.
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Tartelettes Au Citron
By Book Club FriendsTartelettes au citron are mentioned in “All The Devils Are -
Louise Penny’s Three Pines Inspired Christmas Card
By James SzarkowiczEvery year I paint a holiday watercolor and have it -
In Honour of Grey Wolf
By Mary Ann RosenbloomPen and Ink drawing with watercolour highlights, paper cutout pines. -
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Saint-Lewis’s Gate Old City Quebec
By Ellen KoehnAnother stone gate entrance to Old City Quebec. These gates -
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Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups
By Ellen KoehnSo many beautiful churches, cathedrals, monasteries…not enough time …Colored pencils,
Why Readers Love Louise Penny
“Three Pines and Louise Penny are both wonderful. My sister Hazel introduced me to Three Pines and shared the series with me. We both loved reading the books every year together. We’d buy our own copies and check in with each other every day after finishing a chapter and would chat and laugh and cry. It was such a wonderful way to spend time together after not being the closest family growing up. We found our bond and it just brought us closer and closer until the last year. The last year and the last book and then I lost her.
We both knew our bond would break and we would again be alone because she was dying. We found out in the spring and the newest book wasn’t due out until the fall and we knew Hazel wouldn’t last through the summer. I wrote to Louise Penny to ask for an advance copy. I knew it would mean so much to Hazel. And so much for me because of our tradition. Louise sent a copy with a beautiful inscription and my sister and I read our last book together. I will always be grateful to Louise Penny for that.”
We both knew our bond would break and we would again be alone because she was dying. We found out in the spring and the newest book wasn’t due out until the fall and we knew Hazel wouldn’t last through the summer. I wrote to Louise Penny to ask for an advance copy. I knew it would mean so much to Hazel. And so much for me because of our tradition. Louise sent a copy with a beautiful inscription and my sister and I read our last book together. I will always be grateful to Louise Penny for that.”
“For me, reading these books a 2nd time has been a deeper experience because I’m already emotionally invested in these characters. I also am a bit surprised at how much I’ve forgotten details from when I read them the first time.
I’m amazed at how Louise seamlessly weaves essentially different stories together. I appreciate and love that she writes in a way that’s not glaringly obvious. Like the dialogue between Gamache and Morin in “Bury Your Dead” and when it will just pop up in scenes that have nothing to do with the Factory. It allows us to really get a sense of how Gamache is feeling or remembering events at varying times. It’s such a brilliantly crafted story and one of the most complex, I think, of all. Loved it so much!”
I’m amazed at how Louise seamlessly weaves essentially different stories together. I appreciate and love that she writes in a way that’s not glaringly obvious. Like the dialogue between Gamache and Morin in “Bury Your Dead” and when it will just pop up in scenes that have nothing to do with the Factory. It allows us to really get a sense of how Gamache is feeling or remembering events at varying times. It’s such a brilliantly crafted story and one of the most complex, I think, of all. Loved it so much!”
I have started to reread the series in order. I’m waiting for #3 from the library. Since I have, over the first read of her 18 books, developed a relationship with the people and Louise Penny’s quirky humour and wonderful prose, I’m savoring this second read through so much more. And taking my time.
It’s a different level of delicious!
And, as I have forgotten many details, it’s like reading them for the first time in many ways. Yet, there’s comfort in knowing the outcomes and knowing all will be resolved, generally speaking. Eventually!
I encourage you who have only read them once to read them again. You won’t be sorry!
It’s a different level of delicious!
And, as I have forgotten many details, it’s like reading them for the first time in many ways. Yet, there’s comfort in knowing the outcomes and knowing all will be resolved, generally speaking. Eventually!
I encourage you who have only read them once to read them again. You won’t be sorry!
I am rereading the series for the 4th time. I am always blown away when I discover something new that I don’t recall from previous reads. This often leading to greater understanding.
I still find things that have deeper meaning, or connect with things in later volumes. I do look for other authors to enjoy, but keep coming back to Three Pines.
I still find things that have deeper meaning, or connect with things in later volumes. I do look for other authors to enjoy, but keep coming back to Three Pines.
I am rereading the series and just finished “The Brutal Telling.” I had forgotten the details of this book and how unresolved and unsettling the ending felt to me. It’s a totally new experience knowing that I can immediately start “Bury Your Dead”. I am really surprised at how new these stories feel to me, how many details I have forgotten or perhaps am seeing in a new way the second time around.
Rereading Louis Penny is better than the first reading! In one scene, Peter makes coffee and the boiling water droplets splash on his hands. I do pour-over coffee one cup at a time and the near-boiling water always manages to splash just a little bit on at least one hand.
LP puts you right in the action.
And so simply that you aren’t aware of all the little things she puts in that make it relatable – until you reread it.
Not sure I want to go through all that basement stuff with snakes and spiders and total blackout . . .
LP puts you right in the action.
And so simply that you aren’t aware of all the little things she puts in that make it relatable – until you reread it.
Not sure I want to go through all that basement stuff with snakes and spiders and total blackout . . .
You know what is interesting to me? I have tried so many other new authors since finishing my first go through of the Gamache series and basically I’ve been left flat!! I come back to my next reread of Gamache and I feel like I’m home. It is such a comforting place to be; it’s like being wrapped in a soft throw while drinking hot chocolate. I never felt this with other books or authors. I guess that even in rereads there is so much to still learn and see in each reading. I don’t know.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Does anyone else feel this way?
I have been rereading the series and just savoring each book. I find myself googling the churches, Quebec landmarks, Canadian geography and French words and phrases.
Because I already know “who done it” in each book, I have also noted something I never realized before. My mind is interacting differently with the characters precisely because I know who the killers are. How interesting to find myself imagining the characters from a completely different perspective. I find myself much more thoughtful about every word, because I am released from the suspense. While I enjoy suspense, it is wonderful to have fresh eyes on these interesting and unusual characters.
Because I already know “who done it” in each book, I have also noted something I never realized before. My mind is interacting differently with the characters precisely because I know who the killers are. How interesting to find myself imagining the characters from a completely different perspective. I find myself much more thoughtful about every word, because I am released from the suspense. While I enjoy suspense, it is wonderful to have fresh eyes on these interesting and unusual characters.
Y’all, I’m struggling. When I got finished Bury Your Dead, I was so upset. My love for the series took a big hit with <event redacted>. I continued working my way along the twists and turns of our beloved Three Pines crew.
Last night, I finished “The Long Way Home”. OMG. I may need a little break
How is Louise so good? I deeply care about these people. I’m almost afraid to pick up book 11. (well, listen to – I do Audible). Has anyone else felt this deeply about characters in a book?
Last night, I finished “The Long Way Home”. OMG. I may need a little break
How is Louise so good? I deeply care about these people. I’m almost afraid to pick up book 11. (well, listen to – I do Audible). Has anyone else felt this deeply about characters in a book?
I am rereading them all, but trying to force myself to go slowly and limiting myself to only one book every month.
I absolutely love her descriptions… “flowers after the storm knocked down in rows like soldiers on a battlefield” …. who else writes like that?
There is always something new to discover each time I read one of LP’s books, regardless of how many times I read them!
I absolutely love her descriptions… “flowers after the storm knocked down in rows like soldiers on a battlefield” …. who else writes like that?
There is always something new to discover each time I read one of LP’s books, regardless of how many times I read them!
Louise Penny is a skilled storyteller, weaving multiple layers of Canadian culture, history and geography through her Chief Inspector Gamache crime novels. I’m reading this series again, this time in chronological order. Thanks to this group, I’m able to untangle the threads to better understand the storyline. I’m picking up details that I missed during the first reading.
Do You Enjoy Louise Penny’s Books?
Why do you love Three Pines?
How did you first discover Louise Penny?
What do Inspector Gamache and Three Pines mean to you?
How does the Three Pines series affect you and your life?
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