Larry’s Comments (group member since Nov 23, 2020)

Larry’s comments from the Nonfiction Reading - Only the Best group.

John, what do you think of the recent changes at Everand … most specifically, the Unlock feature?

Truly heartbreaking … elsewhere I mentioned that burn area in LA county now is approaching the size of Manhattan. So many building gone … and so many memories and dreams have been dealt a blow.

We will get a little more snow on Saturday (less than 2 inches), but basically it’s just going to be very cold for the next ten days … lows around 15 degrees and highs around 25 to 35 degrees. This is what winters used to be like in the DC area, so it’s not terrible. But I miss the milder winters of recent years.

John, it looks like a snowstorm is heading your way!

It was 25 degrees (felt like 19 degrees) when we went out to shop at Wegmans to shop. We got there at 6:05am and only saw one other shopper the whole time we were there… schools are closed here again for the third day in a row. Some backroads are bad but the roads we were on were sanded and salted. We love to shop when we are the o ly ones in the store … a shortage of eggs and milk, but they were still available as was everything else in our list.

William wrote: "Hi everyone, I’m William, a Japanese Studies undergrad from the UK, where my degree is mostly history and language. Most of the reading I have done for the past four or so years has just been Journ..."

William, I'm glad you joined. Here are some of my own favorite books about Japan and the Japanese language.

First there is Masayoshi's Shibatani's The Languages of Japan. I have read long sections of the book but never the whole thing. It starts with a long section on Ainu (which I don't have a lot interest in) and then the rest is devoted to all aspects of the Japanese language. Truly excelent.

The other books are. aseries of four books. All deal with aspects of Tokyo, how the city works, how people live, eat, work, etc. They are by a long time resident of Tokyo, Michael Pronko. The series is called TOKYO MOMENTS. The first book is Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life and the fourth one (which I am reading now) is Tokyo Tempos. Pronko loves Japan and especially Tokyo but he is not blinded to its problems. I traveled to Tokyo 20 times when I was working and I wish that I had read these books before I went. They help you to understand Tokyo and the Japanese who live in that wonderfuyl city beter than anything else I have read.

Andy wrote: "I live on the outskirts of Glasgow. I enjoy reading modern European history and spending time hill walking.

Thanks for adding me as a member. I hope joining you helps with my book searching."

Andy,

Welcome. I am reading Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped right now. An exciting look back at your country in novel form.

Carlos wrote: "Hello everyone, my name is Carlos (you can call me David). I am an Engineering Student from Venezuela (yep that country). This is my first time in a book club, but i will try to contribute to the d..."

Carlos, we are happy to have you here!

Carol, is the big snowstorm hitting England affecting you at all? I know that it’s mainly the north and the Midlands. We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow in the DC area tomorrow.

Carol wrote: "Larry wrote: "Carol, one of my employees before I retired actually worked for the Trapp family before she became a government employee. She said that they were nice but could be difficult at times...."

I don't know how she ended up with the Von Trapps, but for years before that she had worked in various USO facilities around the world. (These were facilities to handle the needs of U.S. servicemen .. as they traveled or sometimes were entertained at events.) And then somehow she came to the federal government, working in the Foreign Agricultural Service. She was a wonderful employee, handling everything with quiet energy and grace. She died too soon, taken by cancer.

John, so much of new fiction seems particularist, or geared to a very narrow interest. And I’m not interested in most of this interests. That said, there’s still a lot of fiction I do want to read.

Carol, here’s some basic info on ELLIS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_(...

Carol, one of my employees before I retired actually worked for the Trapp family before she became a government employee. She said that they were nice but could be difficult at times.

Carol wrote: "Happy New Year for tomorrow everyone. Windy here today and very stormy tomorrow so am being a bit timid about venturing out as my leg is still healing from being hit with the roadworks barrier blow..."

Carol,

I hope that healing continues and actually speeds up. Cold and windy here in Northern Virginia ... with possible major snowfall coming on Monday and Tuesday. I'll be watching the weather daily.

Happy New Year to all here! I hope to be here much more regularly in this new year.

Ron wrote: "Sister got me a Star Wars book for Christmas and it is awesome! It's a history book set in the Star Wars universe but it's crazy at how it relates to our current/real world..."

Ron, what's the name of that book? I may want to buy it form my older granddaughter.

Ron wrote: "Hey all, hope your Christmas went well. We're basically celebrating Christmas 3 times. We had our regular Christmas. Then family members came in to town yesterday so we celebrated with them. Then m..."

Carol wrote: "Have been watching an Irish crime drama, Cra, which has spectacularly bleak and striking scenery and is I think set in Donegal. It is in Irish Gaelic, the first time I think I have ever watched any..."

We went through the three episodes of DCI ELLIS in three days. Ellis is sent in to local police force until when help is called for (but sometimes resisted) to solve a difficult case. I see that it was shown on Channel Five in the UK. We watch it on Acorn here. Great stories and great acting.

John wrote: "Three years ago flashes in my right eye led to surgery for a retinal tear. Yesterday had flashes in my left eye. A check this morning found the eye mostly normal but will require monitoring. The ac..."

You were very smart to attend to that right away, John.

Why read this book? Consider this one paragraph in the review in the Guardian: "In this generous, sprawling work, the Spanish historian and philologist Irene Vallejo sets out to provide a panoramic survey of how books shaped not just the ancient world but ours too. While she pays due attention to the physicality of the book – what Oxford professor Emma Smith has called its “bookhood” – Vallejo is equally interested in what goes on inside its covers. And also, more importantly, what goes on inside a reader when they take up a volume and embark on an imaginative and intellectual dance that might just change their life. As much as a history of books, Papyrus is also a history of reading."

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Moderator's Choice for Book of the Month for January 2025