No “Manners Monday” today. Instead, I’m gearing up for a big October about table manners. In the meantime, enjoy the past posts and send table manners questions to me at readbabbette (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Previous Manners Monday:
Manners Monday :: Addressing Familiar Names Properly
Manners Monday :: Making Introductions
Manners Monday :: Thank You
Manners Monday :: Introduction
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See you next Monday where …

Brunonia Barry’s The Lace Reader is exactly the type of debut novel I love. It isn’t without flaws, but there is enough evidence of brilliant writing to make me feel like I’ve gotten in early on discovering a new writer who raises the craft. I guess I should qualify “gotten in early” – this novel was published in 2008, but I just found it.
When in first person, The Lace Reader is by a narrator (Towner Whitney) who early on admits she’s unreliable. However, she weaves such a personal and convincing …

This may be the single most common rule infraction, mostly because people don’t know that such a standard exists or why. In fact, I believe that most of time when it is kept, it is either by accident or for the wrong reasons.
This is the rule: when using the familiar (first) names of a couple, the woman’s name goes first. Example: Jane and John Smith.
As evidenced by this month’s Architectural Digest, this rule is broken broadly and often. This doesn’t make it OK. At Manners Monday, we strive for excellence.
Many …

Pat Conroy’s My Reading Life will inspire all readers. In this memoir, he chronicles the people who influenced his reading and writing habits – driving home over and over how, for writers, these two practices are intrinsically linked. Reading Conroy’s history made me reflect on the influences of my own life and desire to become a better reader.
Beginning with his mother and what admittedly crossed over to worship for Gone with the Wind, he describes the teachers, librarians, shop keepers and fellow writers who made him the writer he is. …

It happens all the time: you are the common denominator at a gathering of folks who don’t know each other. Your friends are meeting your parents, your spouse is meeting your boss, you’ve just run into a work acquaintance while shopping with a friend.
Etiquette is founded on navigating common social interactions that can sometimes be uncomfortable. The rules associated with manners are often determined by relieving people’s discomfort. In this case, there is that moment when someone is face to face with another person that they don’t know and yet …

This historical fiction and fifth novel from Katharine McMahon, The Alchemist’s Daughter is set in the center of the Age of Enlightenment, and capitalizes on the quandary at the heart of the era – can reason and knowledge be relied upon to form society? Emilie Selden is the only daughter of John Seldeon, notable scientist and alchemist. While she’s been raised in the laboratory studying alchemy alongside her father, without doubt, the greatest experiment she’s taken part in is that of her own life.
Because her mother died during childbirth, John …

When it comes to manners, the art of saying “Thank You” is the Grand Pooh-Bah. It doesn’t get any more essential than this. Showing gratitude for gestures of service or gifts is fundamental to how we nurture relationships. And, while there are appropriate ways to say thank you, more important to how it is done is that it IS done.
But we’re not here to settle, we want to do it well.
The two rules of saying, “Thank You” is that you be sincere and be specific. Don’t say anything that isn’t …

So my sweetie and I celebrated our fourth anniversary mid-August in Charleston. Which means, amazing food. While I was trying to “not plan” as much as possible, I told my mom before we left that with that many fabulous restaurants, the one thing I felt I needed to plan was the food. One bad meal just isn’t an option when there is so much good stuff to choose from. So here’s the food scoop:
Our anniversary dinner was at Magnolia’s, the only reservation I made ahead of time. Magnolia’s is classic …