Katie's comments (member since Jan 05, 2009)

Katie's comments from the The Next Best Book Club group.

I would love to know how Jem and Scout grew up after "To Kill a Mockingbird". Oddly enough, I live in the same small to medium community as Mary Badham, who played Scout, so I know how she, the actress, turned out. I do not know her personally, but I have friends that do. However, I'd like to know more about the growth of the characters of Scout and Jem..

I hope paper books and ebooks can find a way to coexist for many years to come. I have a Sony Reader and I love it. However, there are certain books I can't imagine having in a digital format, "The Secret Garden" comes to mind as well as art instruction books.

On the other hand I love my Sony Reader, it's so portable for traveling, particularly on those trips where I may go through several books. It is also useful for persons who have visual disabilities, or have a hard time holding a heavy book. There is also an emerging market for downloading textbooks to ebook readers, thus avoiding having a kid carrying 50+lbs. of books in their backpack everyday.

He was such a gracious and talented gentleman. Pancreatic cancer is such a cruel illness.

Epee wrote: "I think honour should be given where honour is due. I think you are bashing Petra because she didn't fall in with your adulation of Kennedy."

Wow, just wow! What on earth has happened to civility in our society?

I do not "adulate" Teddy Kennedy. As I have said he was very human with very human faults. Petra's views are hers and she has the right to speak her views. However, given that this thread is "In Honor of", I suggest we agree to keep it classy and positive (imho, Petra is classy, but her opinions were misplaced, she could have found any number of other forums to go over Teddy's failures). Could you imagine going to an online memorial for a close family member, and reading negative posts about your loved one, especially when you thought they accomplished positive things that impacted hundreds of thousands lives, and yet the focus was on the negative?

I'm well aware of Teddy's faults. However, I'm an American citizen who has benefited from his public service and the laws he wrote. Should I not celebrate his efforts and the impact they had on my life and those of many thousands of Americans?

He had a crappy personal life, and he admitted to making big mistakes. I agree, his personal life was less than stellar.

However, in spite of his failures, he accomplished great things as a U.S.Senator. For those of us who have benefited from his accomplishments, should we not honor the man? Or are we less deserving, or maybe not deserving at all?

I'm continuing this conversation mostly to set a precedent for what comes ahead. We'll continue to grieve the passing of certain celebrities and public figures...but we need to agree as to what is appropriate and inappropriate.

Ixan wrote: "I don't think Petra bashed or smeared Kennedy. She did not say he did more than himself admitted. It would seem to me that if honoring a person is more important than truth, we might as well all be..."
Petra wasn't bashing. However, when someone dies, maybe the best thing is to focus on that person's positive accomplishments, and leave out the negativity. Think of what you would want others to say upon your own passing.

Laura wrote: "I see both sides of this argument, and Petra you know I respect you & your opinion, but I agree that once someone is dead, you should probably try and focus on the good that they did.

I hope tha..."

I appreciate your view on this issue, as I appreciate Petra's view in most discussions as an owner of an independent bookstore. Petra obviously loves books given her dream.

Two people were involved in Chappaquiddick. The investigation was inconclusive. The two people who were involved in that accident are now dead, let them rest in peace.

From Ted and the others, they could have sat back on their wealth and never did a day of hard work. Yet, they have championed the rights of those without health care, a fair wage, folks who were discriminated against because of their skin color or a disability.

It's unfair to say that those of us who have benefited from Ted's hard work, should not celebrate his life because of a tragic event, of which none of us know about a conclusive ending, including law enforcement that conducted the investigation.

I respect the naysayers, I just hate grave-dancing...let those who want to grieve do so. A recent big-news celebrity death occurred, and I wasn't a big follower, but I understood the emotions of the fans, and their grief, I didn't stomp on it with questions about that person's morality.

Human emotions are difficult to understand. Whether it's a family member that you had a difficult relationship with, or someone more distant that has had a positive impact in your life...you get very protective of your emotions.

If Lori is going to keep up this "In Honor" forum, let's agree to be respectful of those who do grieve a person's passing, and leave negativity out of it.

It wasn't a murder, if he had been charged it would've been manslaughter at most, as there was no malicious intent shown on his part.

Chappaquiddick was never swept under the rug, it was openly and publicly investigated. I remember well those days as my dad hated all of the Kennedys. It was brought up again ad nauseum when he ran for president. As far as Mary Jo Kopechne's family go they have been quiet about it for years.

My life has been greatly enhanced because of his work on the American's with Disabilities Act. Imagine being able to get a foot in the door, when in the past 50-70% of the doors were closed to you?

Why can't you just let it go and leave those of us who have benefited from his work grieve with others as we want to? He's dead, now is the time for him to face his redeemer, let it be.

But you're entitled to your opinion :shrug:.

I have a Sony Reader, so I have 70+ books with me whenever I travel.

I guess I'm just of the belief that when someone dies, let's focus on their positive accomplishments, and let their failures be between them and their redeemer. I hope I get the same consideration when I die.

Suzanne wrote: "I haven't seen anything posted, so I wanted to honor Senator Edward Moore Kennedy's life by posting this here.

One of my earliest memories is of watching President John Kennedy's funeral on T.V...."
He changed our country for the better. He was by no means perfect, and a lot of his mistakes were played out over and over in public. However, he was a compassionate man that worked hard to give some sense of justice in this world. I personally have benefited from much of his work, particularly student loans and the ADA.

The Reader, it was full of ethical questions.

Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a favorite of mine.

I love my Sony Reader, and I don't regret buying it for a minute. I've definitely increased the amount I read since I bought it. I understand the fear bookstores have of ereaders, however, not everyone has the ability to go out and buy a book when they want to, nor does everyone have the physical ability to read a paper book. Ereaders increase accessibility to many people who want to read but cannot because of various limitations.

Alexander wrote: "How overwhelming is this group! It's friggen huge!

I'm new to this site, duh, thought I'd say HI to you all. I look forward to getting to know you and getting thrown into this head over heels ma..."

Hi Alex. It is a big group, but it will seem like a small town with time. Enjoy!

Empire Falls was a good fast read. It takes place in a depressed New England mill town.

Caitlin wrote: "Pat Conroy is great. Really like The Prince of Tides, but they're all good."

A good trip is go to Charleston and Beaufort, SC and Savannah, GA. They're within 2 hours of each other, and a lot of Southern lit is based in these towns.

I'd recommemnd Band of Brothers E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose, and the HBO series. Another great HBO series was "John Adams" based on the book by David McCullough.

Blayre wrote: "So now that it's summer I'm trying to start a classic book and movie program for myself. The first movie I chose was The Patriot. Currently I'm about half way through and I love it- the acting, th..."

Susanna wrote: "I read And Ladies of the Club the summer after I had the stroke. Lovely, charming novel."

I read it in the 80s. At the time I was working civil service for the US Navy, and we were very busy for about 6 months of the year, otherwise we would have a lot of downtime. I read many books during those 4 years. I was engrossed by "And Ladies of the Club" for several weeks. When I read it, we were really slow, so I could read for 4-6 hours at the office.

I have a Sony Reader 700, and my reading has increased three-fold because of the ease of downloading free classics that are in the public domain, being able to carry it everywhere with me, and the comfort of holding it (not having to deal with a stiff spine).

Grace wrote: "Another one set in the south would be Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe A Novel "

I live within a stone's throw of the Whistle Stop Cafe. I haven't read the book, but have seen the movie a couple of times.