Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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What are U reading these days? (PART NINE (2013) (ongoing thread for 2013)
message 1051:
by
Joy H., Group Founder
(last edited Dec 22, 2013 03:37PM)
(new)
Dec 22, 2013 03:37PM
Werner and Nina, so far I prefer reading from a real book than from a screen. There's something cozy about a hard copy book. Tech devices never give me a cozy feeling. However, they do have advantages which I greatly appreciate! Most changes in life are trade-offs.
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PS-About rechecking something you've read on a kindle of similar device, doesn't the "search" function help you to backtrack? (i.e., you search for a key-word to find what you're looking for)
Jackie wrote: "Finished the Simon Green book, it as good. Now I've started a book given to me by a friend, A Discovery of Witches"Jackie, I read the GR description of ADOW. Sounds like an exciting story. Wish I could get into a "fantasy" frame of mind. :) Usually, the only way I can do that is by going to another era, as in historical fiction. It's not exactly a fantasy but it's an escape.
I like historical fiction too. It can be classified as fantasy, sometimes. That's a good place to start to get into fantasy, not too hardcore but enough of the fantasy element to maybe get you interested in other aspects of fantasy.
Jackie, I guess it depends on the fantasy.
Joy, I've never actually used the "search" function on my Kindle app (assuming that it has one --I haven't explored the options in the pull-down menu exhaustively). My initial reaction to that idea is that it might prove more complicated and cumbersome than just clicking back a few frames! (But then, I don't read that way enough to make it a high priority to check it out.) Yes, I too find print books much more cozy than the computer screen!
Trouble with receiving goodread messages so I'm trying this to see if it goes through.
Gee, Werner, I had thought that the "Find" feature would be one of the handiest things about a Kindle. I sometimes have to look back to remind myself which character is which, especially when there are a number of characters to keep track of.
Nina wrote: "Trouble with receiving goodread messages so I'm trying this to see if it goes through."It went through, Nina.
Still experimenting with goodreads; trying to get my messages delivered. Let me know if you receive this. thanks.
Nina wrote: "Still experimenting with goodreads; trying to get my messages delivered. Let me know if you receive this. thanks."Yes, Nina, your message appeared!
Thanks, I think it is working again. I hope Jim you and Marge can stop and just have a restful Christmas. Don't fret over underwear. It will last. Once you take a hot shower you won't know the difference. Just take care of yourselves and the rest will take care no matter. Drink hot chocolate.
Joy, it is hard to caterize "11/22/63" as I don't think it is Horror but has a murder and some unpleasant parts. What I like so far are the settings in the 1950's. Not all ring true for me but I couldn't believe when the perfume I used as a teen agaer wss mentioned. It wasn't popular like Chanel # 5. It is not one I would have picked but it is interesting to read.
Nina, was the perfume you used "Shalimar" perfume?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalimar...
I used to like its fragrance.
My mother used Shalimar when I was a kid, I liked it on her.
Nina wrote: "Thanks, I think it is working again. I hope Jim you and Marge can stop and just have a restful Christmas. Don't fret over underwear. It will last. Once you take a hot shower you won't know the diff..."Oh, I wasn't worried about the underwear. I was just joking about how it magically gets washed & folded when Marg is up & about. I'm perfectly capable of washing clothes, though. All ours are washed, folded, & put away. It's not a huge chore. I even managed to vacuum, grocery shop, cook, & have kept up with the dishes & feeding everyone. I just miss having Marg do it!
;-)
Jackie wrote: "My mother used Shalimar when I was a kid, I liked it on her."I first heard of Shalimar perfume in the 1960s when my mom and her friend took a cruise on the old Queen Mary ocean liner and we went down to NYC see her off. Her friend's daughter gave Shalimar to her mother as a bon voyage gift. I had never thought of giving a bon voyage gift. I'll never forget how small their cabin room was! There was hardly room to turn around! LOL But at least they could say they took a cruise on the Queen Mary!
ABOUT THE QUEEN MARY OCEAN LINER: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Quee...
"After her retirement in 1967, she steamed to Long Beach, California, where she is permanently moored as a tourist attraction, hotel, museum, and event facility."
The Queen Mary was part of the Cunard Line. When I was a little kid my dad used to drive us down the West Side Highway from Yonkers to Brooklyn when we visited my grandmother and old aunts. We used to see the Cunard ships moored on the Hudson River as we drove by. I remember looking up at the huge ships and the big letters that spelled the word Cunard. I never knew what "Cunard" meant until I grew up and realized it was a shipping company.
How's that for the ruminations and memories of an old lady? :)
Joy H. wrote: "Nina, was the perfume you used "Shalimar" perfume?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalimar...
I used to like its fragrance. The perfume was, "White Shoulders." As for cozy reading; kindle vrs handback. I prop my Kindle on a small pillow and settle down for just as cozy as ever. It is one of those non explainable things I guess, one person's poison isn't another's. I have been reading since first grade and so far at my age I love my kindle just as much as my books.
Nina, I remember "White Shoulders" perfume. I never really used it but I knew people who did.About the fact that you find your Kindle as satisfying as a book, that's very encouraging. Do you pay for each book you get?
Marg was watching "Antiques Road Show" last night. It was 'the best free deals' or something similar. Mostly stuff found in attics or dumpsters. They had some wild ones. I want to go buy an old house just to look in the attic & eves.She thought I might be interested in a set of books & saved the program for me. I was & recognized the set immediately & made her laugh (which sent her into a coughing fit). It was Romeyn Beck Hough Hough's Encyclopaedia Of American Woods!!! Some folks had found it in the attic of a house they bought in the 70's & kept it around until they brought it to the road show in 2010. They found out it was worth $30,000.
This book is still one of the best off all books on woods because Hough patented a process to slice super thin slivers of wood & mounted them on the pages of the original volumes. A decade ago they did a reprint of it in one volume with just pictures, no actual wood. It is titled The Woodbook. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Marg laughed (another coughing fit) at my copy which is stuffed with various notes & more pictures, even a few slides & pieces of veneer. She thought she was going to show me something neat & new, but it's pretty obvious that I'm fairly well acquainted with this rather obscure book.
Just for fun, I googled it this morning. You can see all the page plates here:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollec...
A quick overview with some pictures are here:
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/03/12/h...
I even found a complete, if edition mixed set, for sale on Ebay. If I only had $28,500.00 extra, I'd buy it!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/14Vols-HOUGHS...
Joy H. wrote: "PS-About rechecking something you've read on a kindle of similar device, doesn't the "search" function help you to backtrack? (i.e., you search for a key-word to find what you're looking for)"Joy, you can Bookmark a phrase, sentence etc on a Kindle and also there is a "Go To" where you can choose the Beginging or End or Middle etc. However, I agree with Werner it is easier to go back with thumbing through pages rather than the Kindle. And to answer another question. Mostly, I pay for the books. Some are free, but most aren't. Some are only .99 or 1.99 but most of the best sellers are around 12-13 dollars but run much less than hardbacks or paperbacks. Quite a few are in the six to seven dollar range, so less than going to the bookstore but not as cheep as the library. I especially like the function to order a book as a gift and it's delivered to my Kindle user kids and grandkids in a minute without the hassle of going to the store and then having to mail the book to them. I only live four blocks from the library so I do use it. In bad weather when I need a book it is good to just order one. Oila! and there it is.
Jim wrote: "Marg was watching "Antiques Road Show" last night. It was 'the best free deals' or something similar. Mostly stuff found in attics or dumpsters. They had some wild ones. I want to go buy an old..."Jim, I see that the book (_Hough's Encyclopaedia Of American Woods_ aka _Uses of American Woods_ aka _The Woodbook_) was published
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_...
(The 1908 date must be the date of the Cresson Medal award.)
The link at your review is interesting. It's:
http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/03/12/h...
Wow! That e-Bay link is a doosey! $28,500.00!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/14Vols-HOUGHS...
About what may be in old attics, that's an interesting topic in itself. One time an antique dealer rang our doorbell and asked if we had anything we wanted to sell. We let him rummage through the loft over our garage. He came out with a variety of items and offered us $300 cash for all them. (He practically waved the bills under our noses.) We took them!
Sometimes I wish I hadn't let him have all the things he took. I often wonder about their value. Oh, well! It's best not to think about things like that. :)
See my correction of publishing dates in my above Message #1072.
Joy, one confusion on the dates is that it took Hough a long time to publish the first edition. He actually invented a special veneer cutter to be able to include the wood in the books & then died before the 14th book was published. His daughter got that done, but the planned 15th was never done. I believe there were 3 editions with updates done to the text & some changes to the tree classifications. The reprint that I have is pretty much just pictures of the wood plates with a very brief description of the tree & wood.The dealer probably did make a fair amount on his trip into your loft, but half of it is finding the right buyer at the right time, something you likely never would have done. He may have lost his shirt, too. When Marg's parents died, she wanted a Tiffany lamp & a painting. Both were supposed to be worth a lot of money. 2 appraisers declared them fakes. Good fakes that had been thought real years before by another appraiser.
Mom made a fair amount of money on antiques over the years, but mostly by picking them up cheap before they were cool & selling them decades later at the height of their particular market. That comes & goes, too.
Right now she wants a particular advertising statue of a horse & rider going over a jump. In mint condition, it should sell for about $350. We found several for sale when she was down in July & I've seen others occasionally since then. A couple of broken ones have been on sale the entire time for close to $300. One just has a cracked tail & I've offered $100 for it. The dealer told me they paid more than that - a lot more. Whoops.
Jackie recently was kind enough to send me a copy of Moon Called, the first novel in Patricia Briggs' acclaimed Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series (thanks, Jackie!). That's a series opener that's been on my radar for some time; since I've been exploring the UF sub-genre more fully this past year, I thought this would be a good time to read it, so I started on it today. I'm already engrossed, which is a good sign!
Nina, thanks for the information about Kindle. I'm surprised that they don't provide a "search" function.As for bookmarking, I found that feature useless after I bookmarked so much stuff on my computer that it was a hassle finding what I wanted. I now use the icons on my desktop for accessing the things I use often.
Because you read so much, I can understand your liking the fact that books are so quickly available via Kindle. I take so long to read one book that I manage with what I can get at the local library or with what I pick up free at senior citizens or places like that. Besides, Eddie doesn't mind going to the library for me. :)
Jim, you're right about antique dealers. That way of life has its ups and downs relative to profits. Most people have no idea what things are worth. You have to take the word of the dealer and, as you have suggested, even dealers can't always be right.When searching for vintage-type Hallmark ornaments at e-Bay, I find that some of the prices are extremely inflated. I have a theory that the pages with inflated prices are planted there to make you feel as if you have found a bargain when you see a less expensive price for the same item.
Werner wrote: "Jackie recently was kind enough to send me a copy of Moon Called, the first novel in Patricia Briggs' acclaimed Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series (thanks, Jackie!). That's a series ..."Werner, I see that that book is part of the "shapeshifter" genre. I had never heard that term before I came to Goodreads.
PS-I guess Mr. Hyde was one of the first shapeshifters.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Interesting comparison of Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde tale with the concept of shapeshifting, Joy! There are both similarities and contrasts.What I think of as shapeshifting involves the idea of changing into a different species, with a completely different physical "shape," and doing this through the supernatural power of some kind of magic. Dr. Jekyll, on the other hand, used science to transform his moral nature back and forth, more so than his physique, which remained human (though Hyde and Jekyll did have some physical differences). Clemence Housman's The Were-Wolf was a purer early literary example of a shapeshifter in the sense that I (and most genre fans) use the term.
Werner, thanks for clarifying about shapeshifting. The book you mentioned (_The Were-Wolf_) can be read free online at the following link:http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/worl...
I might try reading it.
Is it a short story or a book?
BTW, Wiki says that the author, Clemence Housman, "was the sister of A. E. Housman and Laurence Housman".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemence...
I'm so glad you're enjoying Moon Called, Werner. From doing our buddy reads, I have a pretty good idea of what you would like.
Patricia Briggs is a good author. Marg & I only knew her as a straight fantasy author for years before she started writing the 'Mercy Thompson' & the spin off 'Alpha & Omega' series. Erin & I have read & liked them, too.I'd suggest starting with Dragon Bones if you want to try her regular fantasy. It's the first of a duology, but stood alone for a lot of years & does so well. I don't have a review since I last read it before joining GR, but I do have it listed with 4 stars. It's not your typical dragon story. Like the rest of her books, it's a pretty quick read, too. We read other books of hers before this one, but it cemented her name in our minds.
A good list of her books is here on Fantastic Fiction:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/p...
Yes, Jackie, you know my tastes pretty well, and our reading tastes overlap quite a bit, too!Joy and Jim, thanks for the links. The Were-Wolf is a long short story (how's that for an oxymoron?), long enough to be in novella range, and to be publishable as a short book, especially if it's supplemented with introductory material, etc. Written in 1895, it's in the public domain, so I'm not surprised that it's available online (it's also included in A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture. But to be honest, Joy, I'm doubtful if it would really be your cup of tea.
Jim, I used to own a copy of Dragon Bones that I got as a gift. At the time, I'd heard lots about Briggs' UF series, and was interested in that part of her work; but I'd heard nothing about her other fiction, and wasn't enticed by the cover copy. So it sat around in my TBR mountain range for years, until I gave it to a friend on BookMooch who really wanted a copy. Now, your comment makes me wish I'd read it first!
Werner wrote: and our reading tastes overlap quite a bit, tooThat's the only way I can pick a book for someone else to read, is if we have similar tastes. We've been pretty much similar in thoughts and feelings on the books we've read together, it makes it so much easier to say, "Werner would like this".
Jim, Dragon Bones sounds good, I'll have to check it out.
Joy H. wrote: "Werner and Nina, so far I prefer reading from a real book than from a screen. There's something cozy about a hard copy book. Tech devices never give me a cozy feeling. However, they do have advanta..."One Kindle complaint: Werner did you ever get to an exciting part and have your battery go dead?
No, Nina; since my Kindle app is installed on my home computer, it doesn't require batteries. The unit plugs into the wall, and is immune to anything but a general power failure. I can see how that would be a problem with the hand-held, battery-powered devices, though. To me, that would be one of their major drawbacks. Reading is something I've always done without technological assistance (except for my glasses). Making it a function that requires periodic battery recharging just doesn't appeal to me. (Of course, I already own a backlog of unread books big enough to outlast a normal lifetime, I work in a library, and "free" and "cheap" already describes most of the new books I acquire; so the Kindle's selling point of availability of vast quantities of low-priced reads doesn't weigh much with me. It's tailored to a different market.)
I did forget when I mentioned the cost of Kindle books that many classics are free.
Joy H. wrote: "Werner and Nina, so far I prefer reading from a real book than from a screen. There's something cozy about a hard copy book. Tech devices never give me a cozy feeling. However, they do have advanta..."I forgot also to mention one of the good features of the Kindle, for me anyway, is the fact that you can store a multitude of books on one tablet and so handy when you are on an extended trip and can't manage a lot of paperbacks. It would have been great to have had this when I was in France for six weeks and the library was of no use as all books were in French so I re-read my couple of books till I had them memorized.
Nina, yes, I can see the advantage of storing many books on the Kindle tablet. If one doesn't appeal, another might.
Joy, my libraian daughter just recommended, "The Perfume Collector." She says it is very good. You might check it out. And we watched, "The Man Who Cried," the other night at your recommentdation and both my husband and I liked it. Unlike, "Anna Karenia" probably mispelled. It was dreadful. Tolstoy must be turning over in his grave.
Nina, there are so many film versions of Anna Karenina. Which one did you watch?I've watched at least two.
Below are links to two pages which list the different versions of the movie:
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/find?q=anna%20kar...
NETFLIX: http://dvd.netflix.com/Search?ac_abs_...
I will check out The Perfume Collector.
Project Gutenberg has over a million books for free & there are even more on the Australian Project Gutenberg. These are typically older books that are copyright free, but include most of the classics in several different versions that will work on any ereader or PC. It's a great resource that too many forget about.Google Books has a lot of free stuff including magazines. Instead of text like Gutenberg, they use pictures so are better for some types of books.
The Internet Archive has a lot of free books, audio books, radio shows, & movies.
That's just a few of the top sites. It would be very easy to spend your life reading & watching without spending a dime except on the Internet connection.
Thanks for that information, Jim.I am going to copy and paste it at the following topic:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
See Message #16.
The link to Google Books is: http://books.google.com/
The link to The Internet Archive is: https://archive.org/
The link to Project Gutenberg is: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Joy H. wrote: "Nina, there are so many film versions of Anna Karenina. Which one did you watch?I've watched at least two.
Below are links to two pages which list the different versions of the mo..."My word, what a lot of Anna K's...The one I watched was 2012 version starring Keira Knightly. It was shown against a stage background but not as a stage play. Does this sound confusing? It was, to say the least.
Nina, I http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/?...
I also saw the one with Vivien Leigh (1948) in the starring role. I gave it 3 Netflix stars out of 5.
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Anna-Kar...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040098/?...
I know I saw another version as well. It might have been the one with Claire Bloom but I'm not sure.
PS-Nina, see my correction above in my Message #1095. Now I remember seeing Keira Knightley in the role. Her facial expressions weren't good. I think I remember too much phony smiling and not enough of other emotions.
I was bored with my current books and started Birdsong (1993) by Sebastian Faulks which I had picked up free somewhere. I couldn't get into it. It starts out with too much boring (to me) description. Why do authors do that?If you want to see what I mean, go to the following Amazon page and click on "look inside". Go to the first part of the story and see what you think.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679776818/r...
My eyes glazed over at all that description!
Oh, Joy, my reaction to "Birdsong," was just the opposite of yours. I am tempted to order it just by reading the first page. But, I love "being" in Paris. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will check the library first.
Maybe you'd like the British mini-series instead, Joy. I saw it and like it, wasn't bored at all. Movies and TV cut a lot from the book, so maybe the boring stuff was cut out? lolhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127876/
Nina wrote: "Oh, Joy, my reaction to "Birdsong," was just the opposite of yours. I am tempted to order it just by reading the first page. But, I love "being" in Paris. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I ..."Nina, about _Birdsong_, maybe I should skim the description and try to get to the plot. I see that the GR reviews were mostly postitve but there were a small number who didn't like it.
Thanks, Jackie. I see that I can stream Season 1 via Amazon Prime (Birdsong Season 1, Ep. 1 "Birdsong - Part 1") for a few dollars.
http://www.amazon.com/Birdsong-Part-1...
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Birdsong (other topics)Anna Karenina (other topics)
Anna Karenina (other topics)
The Perfume Collector (other topics)
A Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Sebastian Faulks (other topics)Romeyn Beck Hough (other topics)
Colleen McCullough (other topics)
Simon R. Green (other topics)
Mildred Mastin Pace (other topics)
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