Pam’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2018)

Pam’s comments from the Never too Late to Read Classics group.

Brianna - I remember reading Giants in the Earth in high school and loving it! Hope you enjoy it!

Glad you are on the mend Leslie! I can’t imagine your lawn. Sounds like my brother’s yard in PA. Mine takes 5-10 minutes to mow. It’s too hard to grow grass in Albuquerque!

Last weekend was Independent Bookstore Day. My daughter and I went to 2 of our stores. She won a scavenger hunt at one of them. One of the prizes was a 4 pack of books, none of which she will read but 3 are on my TBR and one I’ve already read. So, now I have even more books to read and maybe one to reread. It was a great event! Nice to see so many folks buying books.

I sold ~20 books (at our indie bookstore) and bought 2, one is a classic- The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. I couldn’t resist! I’ve only read one Nabokov book - Pnin, which was written in English. Amazing that he was such a good writer in both Russian and English! I really need to stop buying books, though, and read the ones I own. This is my goal for the next 8 months! It feels like an addiction.

Leslie- it’s not quite as husky as is appears since there are 142 pages of notes! I think that I won’t read all of it but rather read a few chapters here and there. I skimmed through it last night, looking at pictures mostly, and read the beginning of the Descendants of Ghenghiz Khan section.

Decades ago I read Of Human Bondage and it was my favorite book for years! Then I saw the movie with Bette Davis and decided to read it again with my husband. (I could see and hear Davis with her strong accent every time she would say, “I don’t mind.”) I still enjoyed it but had a different take than in my 20s. After others read it, I’ll add some comments under spoilers. I did have a few issues w the book the 2nd time reading it.

Earlier this year, I read Don’t Look Now which includes The Birds and several other short stories, 2 of which are included in the book tagged. I really enjoyed the collection! I love the way the author builds suspense. This is my 4th book by Daphne du Maurier. I still have a couple more I want to read!

I’m planning on reading it. It looks really interesting but very long! I had bought a copy at Goodwill last year. I’m trying to finish up another book first for a book club meeting. I’m trying really hard to not start several books at the same time!

I bought Oliver Twist several years ago and hope to read it this year! I feel like I will singing Consider Yourself every time I pick up the book. That’s the one thing I remember about the movie. I think the only Dickens book I’ve read is A Christmas Carol. Hard to believe but there it is. I have some catching up to do!

I plan to read A Town Like Alice. Waiting for my library hold to come in.

I DNF’d Kidnapped around page 70. I just couldn’t get into it, at the time. If I start reading something else that captures my attention more, this is what happens!

So, I set Persuasion down on the bed for a few minutes and the next thing I know my husband has picked it up and started reading it! I told him just go ahead and read it. I’ll wait till he’s finished. He’s Jane Austen bingeing! I put a hold on the audiobook so maybe I’ll listen to it.

I bought a used copy of Persuasion at the Friends of the Library bookstore today. I listened to the first chapter on the Calm App the other night and am starting the book tonight. My husband is just about done with Mansfield Park and is really enjoying it.

Rosemarie- Your planned trips sound wonderful! Hopefully, COVID doesn’t get in the way again.

Thanks Leslie and Rosemarie! We are back home now. It was good to get out of town after 2 years of doing nothing. But, I’m glad to be home and feel more motivated now to get some things down around here. I need to start planning our next trip! I’ve been super reluctant to travel with all of the COVID surges and restrictions. Anyone traveling this summer??

Finishing up a week vacation in Las Vegas. It was good but very tiring, a lot of walking on The Strip! The best part for me was going to a free bluegrass festival last Saturday. I was really excited to see Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper for the first time! (If anyone is interested, there is a documentary about Michael titled Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story. He’s an amazing fiddler, maybe the best ever!)

I checked out Kidnapped from the library and plan to start it this weekend. I’ve never read anything by RLS. I like adventure stories so I’m looking forward to this one!

I finished Travels with Charley, Steinbeck’s account of his trip across the US with his poodle Charley. I wasn’t thrilled with it but there were some interesting moments. The book didn’t have a natural flow for me. The parts I enjoyed most were ones involving his dog. There was a scene in the south related to school segregation protests that was interesting. I’ve read about these protests but was too young to know about it first-hand. Having lived in 4 different regions in the US, I can appreciate the differences (and the similarities as he points out) in people and attitudes found throughout the country.

I was trying very hard to not purchase any books this year but I had a huge fail yesterday and purchased 7 books between Goodwill and the library. Somebody donated a bunch of books in Spanish so I grabbed a few. I've been wanting to expand my Spanish learning to something beyond Duolingo and children's books. I'm excited to get started on one but not sure which yet!
Two of the books are published by Salvat Editores, S. A. (in Spain):
1) a French classic Tartarin de Tarascon by Alphonse Daudet. I can't find the exact edition in Goodreads so I may need to add it. The book also includes Tartarin en Los Alpes. I believe there are 3 books in this series. This one sounds really interesting and if I like it, I may try to find the English copy to read along.

2) Tierra bajo los pies by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos. There doesn't seem to be any translations. I can't even find this work on Wiki! The publish date on the book is 1973 but the author died in 1969 so I feel like it should count as a classic. I don't know if it was ever published earlier than 1973.

I also bought 2 Readers Digest Editions in Spanish. (Who knew there were Spanish editions??) These 2 had excerpts from: Jaws, The Riders by Joseph Kessel, a James Herriot book (not sure which one it is), Winds of War (one of my favorite books) by Herman Wouk, The White Dawn by James Houston, and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman.

I also picked up some classics in English - Lost Horizon by James Hilton and O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. These books are also Reader's Digest editions. I love that they both have illustrations, which is one reason that I bought them!

Rosemarie - My grandson is 9. He woke up with a sore throat and congestion so we decided to stay home. We still have a few more days left so we can go another day.

Just curious if anyone has seen the Van Gogh Experience. It just opened here in March. I’ve heard great things about it and plan to go later this month.

I’m thinking about taking my grandson, who is visiting from Iowa, to the zoo today. It’s a little cooler than I like, for a zoo trip, but it doesn’t bother him! I guess he’s gotten used to cold weather living out there. We have to do his schoolwork first. He’s a reluctant reader but I’m trying to build up his confidence! We read a true story about a baby hippo and an Aldabra tortoise who became friends so I thought we could go see those 2 animals today. Maybe we can see the hippo feeding or catch the tortoise keeper talk. Of course, see my favorites- the polar bears and penguins, too!