Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
>
What are U reading these days? (PART NINE (2013) (ongoing thread for 2013)
Jackie, I agree! My problem with season two was that I was reading the book and watching it at the same time... so I got spoilers accidentally by the tv series a couple of time, and was mad at myself over that. Also, I liked the book better in the second season... and why do they need to worry about the non-readers? Soooo not fair. I keep hearing that non-readers get so mad at all of the deaths, and I do to if it's a character I liked or was intrigued by, but the GoT slogan is you win or you die. They need to realize that.
Well, maybe I'll go see if I can get a couple chapters of book 4 in now. Have a great day!
Joy, It can't be disputed, and that's the sad and awful truth.Jenni, we learn right from the beginning with Bran that this is not a unicorns and rainbows kind of fantasy, that's what non-readers are lacking, the understanding of what this series really is. I don't like deaths to occur when it's for shock value, it's a waste, but when it furthers the plot then I'm all for it, even if I like a character. Let's take Ned, I love Ned, he's written so that you love him, but without Ned's death, nothing else could have followed, it was necessary to further the plot.
All I can say to the crybaby non-readers is, you ain't seen nothing yet. They're missing half the story, all the nuances and subtlety of the books. Besides, how can their feelings possibly compare with ours, we who have put in countless hours in reading, waited years for each book to come out, and are completely invested to the point of obsession.
I say screw the non-readers, I feel us readers have earned the right to be catered to, we should be considered first. Do I sound resentful? Yeah, that's because I am, lol
Hi Joy, glad to hear that you're enjoying the Ender's Game audio book. I love to listen to audio books when I'm in the car or doing chores. I'll have to see if my library has any Ender's Game audio books!My daughter and I are currently listening to Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. The funniest joke was in the part that we listened to today, and I have to share:
Why did the librarian fall in the library? She (or he) was in the non-friction section! Haha!
Werner wrote: "I've read several reviews of Hounded, and have always thought it looks intriguing...."I thought they were pretty good. I read the first 3 or 4. I'm not in a rush to get any more. The first thing I read was a free short story about that world, though. I found it good enough to want to read the books. That's a neat way to give readers an introduction & get them interested.
Jackie wrote: "I'm watching GOT. I agree that they did a superb job of casting and that Season one was identical to the book which is why it was so good. Season 2 is where it fell apart, too many changes and no..."I'm sorry to hear about that. Maybe I won't watch season 3. I don't want to have to re-read the books when/if book 6 comes out.
I actually didn't mind having these actors in my head. They did a great job casting.
Glad you're enjoying "Ender's Game", Joy. I've listened to a lot of audio books lately. Picking, carding, & spinning takes a lot of time & playing an audio book then is perfect, not to mention over an hour a day in the car during my commute.I now have two skeins of Speedy/Alpca yarn spun up. It's fairly horrible stuff. Speedy's fur feels kind of like cactus. I tried spinning just it thinking if I did it tight enough it might lay flat & plait, but that didn't work out. I had to card it together with the Alpaca fur to be able to put enough tension on it.
Now I just have to figure out what to knit or crochet with it to make it into keepsakes. Erin & Marg both nixed the idea of a scarf or hat. Maybe coasters. It has to be simple, though. I don't know how to do anything complicated. Any ideas?
Yes, Jim, you could make me a scarf, lolHuummm, let's see, I can't really think of anything, not being a knitter so I don't know what's simple. Coasters sound really cool though, a unique item. I'm laughing about Speedy's cactus fur, hahaha
Jim, watch the series, I am, don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, I just love the books better. I don't understand why the changes. I'm hoping they get back to the like how they did in S1, there were many voices crying out "Oh why?" and maybe they've heard us.
Also you are not as crazy as I am, I think you could accept the changes without having a freak out like me, lol I'm laughing but I'm not even kidding about myself.
Can you tell me the name of the Iron Druid short story you read, maybe I'll find it and read it someday. Just another to add to my monstrously bloated List.
Jackie wrote: "Joy, It can't be disputed, and that's the sad and awful truth."Oi!
Jenni wrote: "Hi Joy, glad to hear that you're enjoying the Ender's Game audio book. I love to listen to audio books when I'm in the car or doing chores. I'll have to see if my library has any Ender's Game aud..."Cute joke, Jenni.
Yes, I get a lot done while I'm listening to my audio-books. That's another good thing about them.
Jim, about the hair for carding and spinning and knitting, I tried to gather some of Romeo's but it seems to be a dull gray, even when I wash it. Strange, because he looks white. Also, I can't get much off of him. Maybe the groomer can gather some for me at his next grooming in the spring.A small hat for a doll or stuffed animal would be a good item to knit. Or could you crochet a necklace for a doll or stuffed animal. A necklace for Mardi Gras! :)
Jackie wrote: "Yes, Jim, you could make me a scarf, lol..."Send me a bag full of his fur, Jackie. I'd think his undercoat would be very soft & good for spinning. Rosie the goat & Jazz the dog both have undercoats like that. I'm planning to start brushing Rosie occasionally to see if I can't get enough of hers.
I reviewed the Iron Druid story here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I got the story for free from the author's site.
The thing with the GOT program is that it's just one more. We have too many other shows to watch so if I can find something to skip, I often do. The girls can watch it without me which gives me extra time out in the shop to play.
Joy, we don't have any dolls & the only stuffed animals are the dogs' toys. I can't use Speedy's yarn for anything to wear, the yarn is too prickly. Maybe some sort of doily or place mat for pictures or awards or something. I'll want to put it in the china cabinet because I don't want to wash it.It likely will be somewhat gray, Joy. You could bleach it, but I had the same issue with Speedy's & didn't. It's up to you, but going natural is the way to go, IMO. It's a remembrance for the animal. Just keep a bag & add to it as you can. It's amazing how fast little bits add up.
Doilies are a good idea, Jim. I use them all the time under my knick-knacks, etc. Under pictures too, as you said. I'll try to collect more of Romeo's hair somehow. His tail hairs are very long but I hate to cut them. His tail is his prettiest part. :)
I see you're all talking about GOT. What is that?
Jim, that is awesome! I will save Juneau's hair til I get a good amount. Even now he's shedding, but he does a monster shed with the change from Winter to Spring, a good 3 weeks of daily brushing and still there's more! I just did a quick swipe of him and the fur is incredibly soft. The undercoat is grey but that's a great color because it will go with everything. After reading your review for the ID story, I'm very excited, in fact, it's a must read for later today.
Joy, GOT = the "Game of Thrones" TV series by HBO, not to be confused with AGOT which is the first book in the series it's based on, "A Game of Thrones".
Long overcoat & tail hairs don't seem to be good for spinning & knitting. The soft undercoat is what I want, so go for that. If you can get a loosely packed plastic grocery bag of it, that should be enough for a short scarf.
Juneau doesn't shed the long guard hair, it's the insanely thick woolie undercoat that is a constant source of hair everywhere in my house! Even on top of the fridge! It flies! lolI'll be able to get a good amount of the undercoat for the project, Jim. It takes about 3 weeks from when he starts his massive Spring shed til the end, and that will surely give us plenty.
You are so awesome doing this for me. I'll always have a part of Juneau with for all of my days, and that is a priceless gift.
Thanks, Jackie. Now I remember having tried to watch GOT. It just wasn't my cup of tea.Jim, why aren't longer hairs good for spinning?
Joy, the longer, stiffer hairs tend to stick out to the side & turn the yarn into cactus. Also, all the fibers need to be even or else I can't properly draw it out to an even thickness. That last is a bit hard to explain unless you watch someone actually spinning. I start with a rolag, a rolled up hunk of fibers in my right hand. I get a bit twisted up near the wheel & then pull back from the wheel, letting the twist run up the fibers as I pull them to the thickness I want - controlling that some with my left hand - then allow the resulting string to twist a bit more as it gets pulled on to the bobbin.
It takes some real practice to get yarn that's even in thickness, as you might imagine. It starts with creating even rolags, then becomes a delicate balance between how fast my foot is pedaling the treadle of the spinning wheel, how much twist or suction my left hand is allowing with my right hand controlling both the amount of fiber coming off the rolag as well as how hard it is pulling against the suction of the bobbin.
The thickness of the thread & amount of twist in it should always be even. If it's not, then it's a pain to knit with. It might be really hard & lumpy if it's twisted too much or fall apart if it isn't twisted enough.
Watch at least the first 2 minutes of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HNrfl...
You'll see some spinning, then a quick carding of the wool into rolags, then more spinning. I don't do a real long draw, but it's pretty much the same. Notice how evenly she keeps the speed of the wheel. She's VERY good. She works with opposite hands from me - the rolag is in her left - but you can see how she has to do everything evenly or the thread won't be even.
If you go over 2 minutes, you'll see how to deal with sluffs & tufts. These are what happens when the fibers get tangled. Think about that. What I'm doing now is mixing Speedy's fur with Alpaca fur when I'm carding. They're completely different types - Speedy's is much thicker, harder, & slicker than the Alpaca. By itself, his fur doesn't grab together enough to form a thread. I twist it & pull, only to have it fall apart. So the Alpaca fiber is in there to hold everything together.
If Speedy's fur is evenly spaced through out & is about the same length, I get the same type of fiber to work with. If a mane or tail hair gets in there, I wind up with tufts or clumps of other hair around it because I can't pull properly. I hope that makes sense.
The thread you're seeing made here is too thin to be yarn by itself. I just completed a bobbin of Speedy/Alpaca mix that was a bit thicker. Still too thin for yarn. I'm going to do another bobbin full of similarly thin thread, then I'll spin the threads from both bobbins together on to a third. That is called plying & can be done as many times as needed until the yarn is as bulky as needed. I've never tried it before, so it should be interesting.
Before this, I've always just spun one ply yarn, just one thick pass. You might wonder why it doesn't all untwist when I pull it off the bobbin. (I did.) What I do is unroll it from the bobbin on to a niddy noddy.
That keeps tension on it. Then I wet it down really good with hot water & let it dry. Then I can pull it off the niddy noddy & it won't untwist much. The fibers have been trained into place.
Woah! I wrote a book. Sorry, but it's a good question, complicated, & something I had to figure out. Spinning just looks easy. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
It sounds complex, doing two different things with each hand, and using your foot too. I found you book interesting. And it answers all the questions I've always had about spinning.
Thanks, Jackie. I think I've posted a couple of weeks ago about how much of a klutz I felt like. It is tough doing everything all at once. One YouTube video I watched really helped me out because the lady talked about just practicing pumping the spinning wheel evenly without trying to actually spin. She said it might take a few minutes to get it down. I think I spent 15 & spend another few every now & then. Learning how to stop & start again was tough, too. Sometimes I can grab another rolag while spinning like the gal in the video I posted, but often I have to stop. Other times my rolag will tear in half, so I have to stop. She's an expert & makes it look effortless. I'm a tyro, but I'm getting there!
As they say, Practice makes perfect. You're putting in the effort, you'll be a master in no time.
Jim wrote: "Joy, the longer, stiffer hairs tend to stick out to the side & turn the yarn into cactus. Also, all the fibers need to be even or else I can't properly draw it out to an even thickness. ... Watch at least the first 2 minutes of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HNrfl... "Jim, thanks for that explanation about carding & spinning and for the YouTube link. That answers a lot of questions. I never knew anything about that process at all before now. It's interesting how you start with the rolags (a brand new word for me too).
They don't show how the finished yarn looks as it's taken off the spinning wheel.
Jim, how did you ever get interested in spinning?
Joy, I needed something to keep my hands busy while watching TV & had some knitting stuff that came with my grandmother's sewing machine. Back when I was a kid, I'd learned to knit & did a bit 20 some years ago when I also wound up with a bunch of yarn. Then I knit the boys each a scarf. My needles were made out of some extra slate catchers. James still has his & mentioned it fondly, so I got to thinking I should try it with Gram's stuff & did.I quickly found out that I'm not much good at anything complex. Keeping track of rows & stitches is tough with interruptions. Since the dogs think my lap is just one more convenient part of the furniture, I get quite a few. Then my boss mentioned chiengora, making yarn out of dog hair. He knows we have a lot of animals & he's got a dog that he dotes on. So I thought about spinning dog &/or horse hair into yarn. That was over a year ago. I thought I could spin in the house while watching TV. Maybe someday, but not yet.
Learning to spin turned into an interesting project. I made a drop spindle & tried that. It took me about 15 minutes to make one, but it's very slow going, so I built a spinning wheel & started to learn to use that. Then a friend in MD downsized from her farm house to a townhouse closer to work. While up for Brandon & Ashley's wedding in April, I picked up a really nice spinning wheel & a bunch of Alpaca fiber from her. Spring is pretty busy for me, so it wasn't until after Xmas that I had the 'spare' time to get back into spinning.
The spinning wheel Cathy gave me is an Ashford Joy. LOL! Here's the link to it:
http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Ashfo...
I think my next project is going to be to fix up my homemade spinning wheel more. It actually has some features this really good one doesn't have. For instance, I should be able to give it an adjustable orifice - where the spun thread goes in toward the yoke which wraps it on the spindle. It's nice to have a smaller one when working on smaller yarns, but there are artsy yarns that require a larger opening. They make one for this wheel, but it's over $100.
Everything about spinning is crazy expensive. A niddy noddy is almost $30!
http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Ashfo...
I made one up out of a couple of scraps in 10 minutes.
A threading hook is over $10!!!
http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Ashfo...
I made mine up out of a bit of wire, folded one end & put a few wraps of duct tape on it. Took me a minute & cost nothing.
Seriously, these people are crazy on what they'll spend. My drop spindle is fine - the lady at the store liked it - but she had a table full of them. Some were fancy & over $60.
Here's a basic drop spindle that looks very much like the one I made:
If you want to see some wild ones, take a look at this. It's a Google image search on "drop spindle":
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&a...
Amazing stuff, Jim. That's another world I know nothing about. It has things I have never even heard of!I wondered about the etymology of "niddy noddy". Below is what I found:
==================================
Definition of NIDDY NODDY
: a hand reel for yarn
Origin of NIDDY NODDY
perh. fr. obs. niddy-noddy to nod to and fro unsteadily, by redupl. & alter. of nod
FROM: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio...
================================
Jim wrote: "Joy, I needed something to keep my hands busy while watching TV ... Then my boss mentioned chiengora, making yarn out of dog hair."Chiengora! *** LOL Great word.
Below is more about the etymology of "niddy noddy":
============================================
"niddy noddy" - "The origin of the name is the subject of much conjecture. I like to think that perhaps the granny (who was commonly called the "niddy" in many families) often sat and skeined the yarn, and that her head and the the skeining device she used nodded in rhythmic enjoyment; hence the term 'niddy noddy' ".
FROM BOOK: The Whole Craft of Spinning: From the Raw Material to the Finished Yarn By Carol Kroll
FROM: http://books.google.com/books?id=CAeD...
=======================================
*** MORE interesting stuff:
===============================================
Angora wool or Angora fibre refers to the downy coat produced by the Angora rabbit. While their names are similar, Angora fibre is distinct from mohair, which comes from the Angora goat. Angora fibre is also distinct from cashmere, which comes from the cashmere goat.
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_wool
================================================
Hobbies expand the mind in unforeseen ways.
I just finished On Guns and Hunting by Donald Hamilton. 5 stars. It's by an action/adventure author, but factual. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I finished Hounded and really liked it, 4 stars worth of like. I'm starting The Book of Atrus even though I never played the Myst games. Fantasy is fantasy, no matter the medium.
I'm still reading Caleb's Crossing but today I got hooked into Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross, the current selection of a book group at our local library. Below is a link to a sample of the Prologue and first 3 chapters. They hooked me in:https://play.google.com/books/reader?...
PS-I finished _Ender's Game_. It was terrific! As they said at our library's group discussion on Monday, it's rich with interesting themes to talk about, one of them being the problem of the manipulation and control of people. However, even without the important themes, it's a great story!
Bullying was a big theme in the book too. Did you ever find out why he's called Ender?
Good idea, Jackie. The subject of bullying never came up during the discussion. It certainly should have!I wish I had brought up the subject of the many meanings of the name "Ender". (view spoiler) The book never really addressed the meaning directly, besides the fact that it was a derivation of his real name, Andrew.
PS-I found a page where you can read the Sci-Fi book, Ender's Game, online. Here's the link:http://www.litmir.net/br/?b=125900&am...
The page linked above is page #1.
(To "turn" to the next page, click on the appropriate number in the box in the row of squares near the top of the screen. It's right above the author's name, Orson Scott Card.)
BTW, it's a Russian web page. The text of the book is in English but the rest of the page is in Russian. LOL
Do you think they are breaking copyright laws by publishing the book free online?
It was addressed. You know how people were only allowed 2 children? He was a 3rd child, requested by the government because of two older brilliant siblings, though they were both deemed unacceptable for Battle School. So he was the 'end' of their family, hence, Ender. There was no way of knowing he'd end the Bugger wars, especially before he even went to Battle School.The end of the battle was horrifying to me, the use of children was repugnant to me, but how they wiped out all the Buggers, Bugger genocide. It's one thing to beat the enemy, quite another to completely wipe them out of existence.
Joy wrote: Do you think they are breaking copyright laws by publishing the book free online? I don't know, I would imagine they'd need the author's permission and we have no way of knowing if he gave it or not.
One other thing bothered me about the end, Ender's brother Peter, he was such a psychopath, I don't see how he could have changed into this benevolent leader. I think it's a mask, in order to gain power. The friend I read it with disagrees with me. What's your take on Peter?
Jackie, I never thought of the "end-of the family" idea. I knew Ender was the third and last child of the family but that was as far as my mind took it. Did the book explain the idea in so many words beyond the fact that he was the third? I mean did they say he was the "end" of the family? If they did, I missed it.At our discussion, we talked about (view spoiler)
I didn't like Peter. I agree that it's hard to believe he could change for the better. Yes, he was power-hungry. I agree with that. His motivations would make a great discussion.
Yes, it did say it in so many words, I never would have made that connection on my own. I generally don't analyze what I'm reading, I just go with it. I liked Ender's solution, it mitigated the damage he caused, albeit unknowingly. That's another thing I didn't like, making the kids think it was a game when it was really happening, they were commanding ships in the real world not a computer simulation like they were led to believe.
I never understood why they had to use children, Col Graff said it had to be children but I don't remember if he said exactly why. I think using children would be worse, they are not emotionally equipped to deal such heavy things. Battle does psychological damage in adult, it would be worse in children, I would think.
I must have missed the part about the "end" of the family. For me, that's one disadvantage of listening to a book as opposed to reading it. When reading, it's necessary to give full attention to the words; but when listening, the mind is more apt to wander.The only reason I can think of for using kids is that they can be molded, trained, and indoctrinated more easily than adults.
Yes, it was a dirty trick on the kids to tell them it was a game when it was real war. That brings up the question: Does the end justify the means?
PS-Another angle we discussed was why some of the kids were such bullies. Someone suggested that bullies are that way because they feel inferior and have to prove themselves. I suggested that some people are sadists for some reason, whether they feel inferior or not. That brings up the whole subject of sadism. Not a pleasant subject.
That's why I can't 'read' audiobooks, my mind would wander. I do it all the time with watching TV and have to rewind. Inferiority may be the reason in some cases but I think it's bullies act they way because they can, because they have a size advantage. Look at when Ender was on the shuttle going to Battle School, no one knew anyone, how could one feel inferior when all are on equal footing? Later when that other one, Bonzo, was messing with Ender, he was inferior and he knew it. Peter bullied Ender because he was sadistic, and jealous of Ender, but he tortured animals so sadistic and psychotic were part of his make up. I think bullying is a character defect and any reason is just a poor excuse for bad behavior.
Jackie wrote: "...I never understood why they had to use children, Col Graff said it had to be children but I don't remember if he said exactly why. I think using children would be worse, they are not emotionally equipped to deal such heavy things. Battle does psychological damage in adult, it would be worse in children, I would think. "The reason they used kids was because adults had too many preconceptions & had their butts handed to them. That's why the video game & the battle school & Ender got picked. He consistently came up with unique & odd solutions to insoluble problems.
Kids are tougher than most adults think, but they didn't really care if they used the kids up or not. Sacrificing the few for the many & all that.
Ender's siblings both had a lot of political meaning & were point/counterpoint characters that came more into focus in the later books, as I recall. The 'good' sister is ineffectual while the evil brother is actually the only thing that can hold the system together. He does bad things so worse won't happen (shades of Jack in "A Night in the Lonesome October"), but he does them for selfish reasons. I could be off base, but that's what I remember. It's been 20 years or more since I read any of the books besides "Ender's Game" & "Ender's Shadow", though. I read the first few when they first came out. I think Xenocide, the 3d, was the last I read.
You both might want to try reading Treason, also by Card. It's a standalone, a pretty quick read, & one of my favorites. You'll note some of the same ideas in it if you look at overall themes. He handles it a bit different & doesn't come to the same conclusions, though.
I just finished I am Legend and Other Stories. As an audiobook, I can't recommend it. The first story is FANTASTIC to read, but the readers messed it up & the short stories were very hit & miss. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
More on Ender's siblings being point/counterpoint: Ender was a mix of the two. He was as effective & ruthless as Peter at times. Think about the bathroom scene.
Yes, he was. The govt got exactly what they wanted. I got Enchantment by Card a couple of weeks ago. I bought Pathfinder, and Ruins recently came out. I've read Magic Street, a standalone, and wasn't that impressed. Once he completes Pathfinder's series, I'm done with Card for a while.
Let me know what you think of "Enchantment", Jackie. I found that my library has it as an audio book. I just got "Ender's Game" & "Treason" as audio books today.
I will whenever I get to it. Won't be soon though.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
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)
More...
I'm spending HOURS listening to this audiobook. It's almost 12 hours long. Listening to a book takes longer than reading it but I like the dramatization of the dialogue. I want to finish it before our local library book group discusses it. It should be an interesting discussion.
Here's an interesting excerpt from about halfway through the book:
=============================================
[To beat Bonzo (sp?) you had to]: "hurt Bonzo enough so that his fear was stronger than his hate".
"Peter had been right... the power to cause pain is the only power that matters... the power to kill and destroy. Because if you can't kill, you are always subject to those who can. And nothing and no one will ever save you."
============================================
Frightening words when applied to international relations. But who can dispute those words?