Cecilia's comments (member since Jul 28, 2008)

Cecilia's comments from the Chicks On Lit group.

Meg wrote: "I just got American Wife, I can't wait. It has had a lot of PR, I will let you all know if it is living up to it."

I loved this book.

I am always on Facebook.

Here is my account: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6...

I do not see the CoL group?

Rebecca wrote: "Thats what I thought of Holden too. Have you read a Sepaarte Piece?"

No, I have not read that one.

I did my senior thesis on the Public School System in England pre-WW1 & WW2, so I read all their books. I should read this one.

Catcher in the Rye...

I read it now that I have a child and I think Holden Caufield is a spoiled rotten over privileged brat.

Of course, when my daughter reads it and LOVES IT, which she will, I will keep my new opinion to myself. :)

Lori wrote: "I did a bit of research and one of the sites (I think it was Consumer Reports) said that the Sony didn't work too well with Macs, which is what I use. Does anyone use a Kindle with a Mac or a Sony..."

I am a Mac user and I have a Kindle2. It does not require me to use my computer at all to purchase, organize or archive my books. Since I have an iPod, I do not use my Kindle to play music, so I cannot comment on that part of it.

I really liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie society too, but not for my sisters. We have such different reading taste that, they both like to cook so The School of Essential Ingredients, so apart from being a fabulous book worked for them. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie society, I have passed on to my friends. I still like The School of Essential Ingredients much better.

My sisters were here this weekend and these are the recommendations they had for me.

My sister Wendy Suggested:
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

My sister Cathy Suggested:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, Bagram Ibatoulline

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

I am suggested:
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

I am pushing that book on everyone.

Wanda is right you need to do what is best for you and your budget.

When I priced out the cost of the two, (newer not older models) the Kindle 2 was cheaper. I believe, like the Older version of the Sony Reader, you can get an original Kindle much cheaper than the new Kindle. My final decision was based on the storage capacity.

Wire Magazine has a side by side comparison.

But in reality... It is sort of like the iPod vs. the Zune. They both basically do what you want, one company just has better Marketing.

Sheila wrote: "Does anyone here belong to any "in person" book clubs, or any other bookclubs, online or off? This is the only book club I belong to so I don't know how other groups do it. But for people that mee..."

Shelia--I belong to live in person book club. We meet once a month and only discuss one book at a time. Everyone reads the whole books and we just talk about it. Nothing really formal. The person who chooses the book does not come up with discussion questions or author background. All these things just flow naturally into the conversation.

I think online book groups are a different animal all together. Everyone reads at a different pace and discussions can begin right away, sometimes as soon as the book is announced.

I think a good way to manage an online book discussion would be to keep it generic.

Give the book its own Heading and break it down by using subheading. Something like this:

Book
Author info/Interesting Background
Characters
Favorite
Least Favorite
Subject Matter
Favorite Part of the book
Least Favorite Part
Did the book have a clear message. What was it? How could it have been better.
Ending:
Did you like it. Would you do it different?
Misc.
Favorite Quotes
Books with similar subjects
Would you recommend this book?
To who
Why/Why not.

I also would say, no discussion on the book until the second week of the month. This way slower readers won't give up and feel like everything they wanted to discuss as already been discussed before they have even cracked the book.

There are so many other discussions going on. It will not kill us to wait.

Also, having a generic set up would take the burden off on one person leading the discussion.

But of course this is only a suggestion, like I said, online book groups are a totally different animal a live boo group Organizing or controlling anything online is very tough.

I am going to follow along on your coat tails. I am also considering the Kindle, Sony Re..."

Wanda, I was really worried about missing the feel of holding a book, that and not being able to pass books along that I really loved to my friends were the two biggest reason's why I was on the fence so long about the Kindle. But I go a really nice cover for my Kindle and that solved the problem of holding the book to the point that I find I sometimes try to manually turn pages. As for passing on books to my friends. Well I can always tell them the titles--RIGHT?

I also have the Kindle app for my iPhone. It is great if I find myself somewhere without my book (that is what I call my Kindle-my book), I can sync my phone and it finds the page I was last reading, and then when I get home I can sync my kindle to find the last page from my phone.

I love the built in dictionary and the Wiki links. I also like the search feature. I cannot tell you how many times I have flipped back and forth in a book looking for a reference. Now I just type in a key word and it tells me all the pages that work or topic were on.

But the feature I love best is the clippings. I am always finding quotes that I would love to write down and remember but never get around to it. Now I can simply highlight the quote and my book stores it for me. FOREVER!

As for the cost, it is pretty expensive, but the way I was buying books, it should pay for itself within a year.

I have not read all the comments on this link, so you probably have heard all this already, but just in case you didn't ... now you know.

Happy Reading!
Cecilia

I went back and forth on the Kindle for months. I finally broke down and got the Kindle2. Every day I like it more and more. I tried the Sony at Borders and test drove my friends Kindle. For me the Kindle2 was the best choice.

I twitter, but not as much as I use my facebook. funny thing is my twitter updates my facebook.

my user name @cissygold

Has anyone read anything by Maeve Binchy

I was thinking of picking up her book "Heart and Soul" but I wanted to know what your thoughts were, or if there is another of her books I should start with first.

There are two really good books:

One is called "Dog Heaven", the other is called "I will always love you".

If this is your child's first pet the book "Angel Dog" is also a very good book.

If you are not religious and even if you are "Ten Good things about Barney" is also good. Barney is a cat, but it is great story about nature and the circle of life.

As you can tell, we have been through this this. Sadly twice.

We actually had both dogs put to sleep here at home. Holly my dog since college we did in the backyard where she would play hide as seek, and my Nanook we did in front of the fireplace where he loved to sit on cold days. My dogs were so much part of our lives that I could not imagine doing it any other way. It was sort of a celebration.

There is also a wonderful candle you can buy to burn at night to help send their little spirits off.
http://www.furryangel.com/

All of these things really helped my daughter. She felt as if she was part of the whole process. She made special things for them to take to be cremated with. And when we buried their ashes in the backyard, she place St. Francis medals and flower seeds in the ground with them.

With all being said, "DO" take care of yourself. I spent so much time making sure my daughter was okay, I found myself lost one day. A pet is so dear, and so many people will reach out and comfort YOU, let them.

My thoughts and heart are with you.

I don't know if you have Comcast or not, but they have a karoke channel. That is always fun.

Wendy... I got you letter yesterday. Thank you so much. I will be sending one soon.

Rebbecca. I am mailing you letter on Monday.

Lots of Fun!

Jo wrote: "I really REALLY want to read this but none of the libraries here have it & buying it right now isn't in our budget. :( I LOVE anything to do with Ancient Egypt, have for years now. I've watched ..."

There is a service call SwapTree where you can trade books for free, well almost, you have to pay for postage. It might be something you can look into. My sister uses it and loves it. There is also a Bookcrossing website where people leave books in random place for people to pickup for free. You just have to record where you found and where you leave it when you are done. I cannot guarantee you will find this book by it is worth a shot.

I feel like I picked up one book and got another, so that has lessen my enjoyment of the book. Hopefully I will finish it this weekend and am hoping for a big finish and recovery.

I do agree with the sentiment that this book is the Egyptian version of "The Other Boleyn Girl."

I will

I hope to finish my current book today and start Nefertiti tomorrow. The Glory Cloak I may wait to read until later this month.

KrisT wrote: "****Pen Pals for April****
Just wondering if we all want to do a new list for April or just keep things as they are? If there are newbies who want to join we can make a list and they can either be ..."

I would like to be added to a list if you do this again in April. Thanks! Cecilia