Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
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What are U reading these days? (PART NINE (2013) (ongoing thread for 2013)
message 251:
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Joy H., Group Founder
(new)
Feb 15, 2013 10:44AM
Jim & Jackie, I like your reasoning about the _Ender's Game_ issues. Makes sense.
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I had a hard time reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien but I did finally finish. Review pending.I have now started a science fiction adventure by Timothy Zahn, The Icarus Hunt. Just started, but I am enjoying it more.
I'm just about finished with To Kill a Mockingbird, a re-read, but it's been far too long. It's FANTASTIC!!! Scout's observations on life are just wonderful. She's 8 in 1935. There are so many aspects of life that she takes a look at & describes so well.I remember operators fondly. As an only child with a busy mother & a perpetually absent father, I called them more than once for advice, so I got a real kick out this:
Eula May was Maycomb's leading telephone operator. She was entrusted with issuing public announcements, wedding invitations, setting off the fire siren, and giving first-aid instructions when Dr. Reynolds was away.
Her uncle looks like her aunt, but better.
He and Aunty looked alike, but Uncle Jack made better use of his face: we were never wary of his sharp nose and chin.
Hah! Perfect. Those are just a couple. The book is filled with them.
Now that I've finished Murder on the Orient Express, and while waiting to start a buddy read of Faith Hunter's Skinwalker with Jackie at the beginning of March, I'm filling in the time with Sword and Sorceress XII, one of the volumes in the long-running series of sword-and-sorcery tales with female protagonists edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. If I finish this one before March, I've got more volumes waiting in the wings. :-)
Mary JL wrote: "I had a hard time reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien but I did finally finish. Review pending. ..."MaryJL, I have a lot of reviews "pending". In fact there are lots of things pending around here. LOL Pending is a useful word. :)
PS-Pending seems to mean "hanging over one's head", at this point. :)
Jim wrote: "I'm just about finished with To Kill a Mockingbird, a re-read, but it's been far too long. It's FANTASTIC!!! Scout's observations on life are just wonderful. She's 8 in 1935. There are so many ..."Jim, my notes tell me that I've read Mockingbird... but that was a long time ago. Somehow, I'm never tempted to reread books which I've already read. But, since I've forgotten everything about them, it would probably be like reading them for the first time! Oi. :)
Werner wrote: "Now that I've finished Murder on the Orient Express, and while waiting to start a buddy read of Faith Hunter's Skinwalker with Jackie at the beginning of March, I'm filling in the time with Sword a..."Werner and all, you folks are such dedicated readers! Makes me feel like an imposter! I've been wrapped up in so many non-reading activities these days! I'm finally nearing the end of Caleb's Crossing. It's one of those endings that seems to drag out, a bit anti-climactic. The narrator jumps to telling about how everyone's life ended up. Somehow that doesn't satisfy. Sort of takes away the suspense of "what happens next".
I haven't made much progress with Myst. I've had a migraine headache for days, it's not as bad right now, but I still can't read. I have a friend visiting for a week, so I won't have much opportunity to read or watch TV anyway.
Sorry to hear about your migraine, Jackie. Hope you will feel better soon.BTW, I'm almost at the end of _Caleb's Crossing_ and the pace has picked up. It's a compelling ending. I love being compelled to read on!
Jackie, you and my daughter both suffering from migraines on the same day. She had an appointment to have her hair done and she said she was miserable during the proceedure..hope you are better today.
Jim, In regards to "To Kill a Mockingbird," did you know that Scout's little neighbor friend(I have forgotten his name)is based on Truman Capote. He used to visit in the author's hometown each summer and they were close friends and remained so throughout his life.
When my daughter, Lucy, who is now fifty six read that book in school, she told me it taught her more about Civil Rights than any history lesson later on. She s now a children's librarian in ID.
I'm finally feeling more like myself, but still haven't been able to read. I have a guest here anyway, so not much time for anything so solitary.
Nina wrote: "When my daughter, Lucy, who is now fifty six read that book in school, she told me it taught her more about Civil Rights than any history lesson later on. ..."Yep, that's why To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.
Glad you're feeling better, Jackie.
Lucy is just a couple of years older than I am. I also read it in school. I wouldn't go as far as she did about Civil Rights, but it is a visceral lesson in it. There's a lot more to it than that, though. People stress that theme to the point of missing the others, which is a shame. I pointed some others out in my review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Thank you all for you kind well-wishes!
Great review, Jim! I should read the book again!
Help! I am buried under a foot of Global Warming.
Nina wrote: "Help! I am buried under a foot of Global Warming."Is that SNOW, Nina?
Yes, snow and more expected tonight. We have had four inches of snow all together in the last three years. Today makes up for it. Brrr. this morning en route to the bird feeder.
Wow, Nina. Yes, I saw the storm announced on CNN-TV. Very unusual weather!
Joy, if you can find the time, I think you'll get a real thrill out of re-reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. It's one of those books that aged with me perfectly, anyway. I know you & Nina are old enough to be my mother, who has never read it. I told her to.One of Mom's friends, Mary, broke her leg out hunting a couple of days ago. She got too close to the red ribbon (it's put in the tails of horses that kick) & got a compound fracture of her lower leg. She & her friend rode back to the truck, put the horses on the trailer, & headed for the hospital, but they were concerned about taking it into the hospital parking lot & the horses, so decided to head for home instead.
They got near the fire hall & had a brainstorm, so dropped in there. The ambulance drivers didn't mind taking Mary in to the hospital so her friend could take care of the horses properly. Mary had to have surgery to get a rod in her leg & a few screws, so she won't be hunting the rest of this season, but thinks she'll be off crutches in time for the races in April. Priorities, you know.
Horse women! Sheesh!
I'm listening to Treason (1979) by Orson Scott Card, the guy that wrote Ender's Game (1985). It's really good. There is a foreword by Card & he mentions that this is his second novel. I've never read his first, Songmaster which was published in 1978. He published 2 other novels in 1979, the first two of the Worthing Chronicles, which I also haven't read. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/o...
Jim wrote: "Joy, if you can find the time, I think you'll get a real thrill out of re-reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. It's one of those books that aged with me perfectly, anyway. I know you & Nina are old e..."Thanks for the reading advice, Jim. I will definitely write a reminder to myself about it.
Remind me not to get too near to the back of a horse. LOL That was an interesting episode about Mary's broken leg! I suppose she plans to get right back on a horse as soon as she can. As you say: "Sheesh!". How old is Mary? She should be old enough to know better. LOL But some people are risk-takers and there's nothing we can do about it. I believe in the idea that "It's better to be safe than sorry."
Jim wrote: "I'm listening to Treason (1979) by Orson Scott Card, the guy that wrote Ender's Game (1985). It's really good. There is a foreword by Card & he mentions that this is his second novel. I've never..."Jim, that link you provided (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/o... ) is certainly a strong recommendation for reading more of Orson Scott Card's books!
PS-I've added a new shelf to my GR shelves. I call it: "should-read-more-books-by-this-author".
Mary's about Mom's age, early to mid 70's.I LOVE Fantastic Fiction for looking up author's books. GR is pretty good, but FF puts them in a better order for me.
Jim wrote: "Mary's about Mom's age, early to mid 70's.I LOVE Fantastic Fiction for looking up author's books. GR is pretty good, but FF puts them in a better order for me."
Amazing women! (your mom and Mary)
I liked the FF website. ( http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ )
I read The Voice of the Night for a group read which is to start today, but I've had other plans with Werner on my calendar for month, that's more important to me. I'm not a big fan of the group reads, I'm definitely more of a buddy reader. I started the buddy read book, Skinwalker. I don't read much Urban Fantasy, so I'm making an effort read some. I only got a few pages in before falling asleep so I have no opinion as of yet.
Jackie, Barb's going to stop by the BC mail room today after work (the ladies there know her; we lived on campus for six and a half years) and pick up my copy of Skinwalker if it's in. I've got good hopes that it will be! You're a great reading buddy, and our reads together are top priorities with me, too.
I get more from a buddy read because of the discussions we have during the read, it enriches the experience.
Yes, reading is always more fun when you're sharing reactions and insights with someone who's reading along with you, and the one-on-one interaction can be more free and relaxed than group common reads tend to be. Also, the two people in a buddy read usually take more personal interest in reading and commenting than the members of a group necessarily do; I've taken part in a group read or two where I was the only person commenting on the thread. (That can get a bit lonely!)
It's hard for me to participate in a group read because of all the spoilers, so I usually wait til I'm finished but then my interest is gone as I'm already onto the next book.
Jackie, I hear you about the spoilers; that's a bane of group reads. In some of my groups, we often used to set up two discussion threads for each common read, one that allowed spoilers and one that didn't; but that's a cumbersome system, and fragments discussion. Spoiler tags are a great invention --but, of course, they only help if the people posting spoilers actually USE them! :-(
Or if they post where the spoiler is from, what part of the book. Using the tags isn't enough, either I avoid it or take a chance and hope I passed that part already. Neither is a good option, that's why I wait.
I think the comments of a person who's already read the whole book can be a valuable perspective in a group read. (When I've already read a book one of my groups is reading, I'll chime in with my two cents worth whenever I have something worthwhile to say!) You're right, though --our interest level, when we're commenting from that perspective, can never have the same intensity it does when we're actually reading the book for the first time and reacting to it freshly!
Absolutely! I've noticed that my opinions, thoughts and feelings change over the course of time. One time I suggested a book in DK group, Lightning because I loved it so much when I first read it, almost 30 years ago. What a shock to find that it wasn't all that good of a book now! lol
Jackie wrote: "It's hard for me to participate in a group read because of all the spoilers, so I usually wait til I'm finished but then my interest is gone as I'm already onto the next book."I've never done a group read. Don't think I'd enjoy it. I'm such a slow reader that I would feel too much pressure about keeping up.
I don't mind reading a book that will be discussed by an in-person group at a meeting the following month. I find that I'm motivated to keep reading with the goal of the meeting in mind. That's why I'm trying to finish Pope Joan by March 6. Hmmm, I don't think I'll make it. :) Good story though.
A favorite quote: This from my nine year old great grandson, Jamie: "I feel like I have just unlocked a magic potion," In regards to learning how to make a cup of tea.
Nina wrote: "A favorite quote: This from my nine year old great grandson, Jamie: "I feel like I have just unlocked a magic potion," In regards to learning how to make a cup of tea."What a unique point of view!
I just finished listening to Ender's Game. Although I've read the book a couple of times, listening to this audio production put a new shine on it. Fantastic. Plus, Card's afterword was really interesting. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Jackie, there is some info there about the movie that you'll find interesting.
Jim, I completely agree with Card about the ages, but that's Hollywood for ya, gotta have the popular actors in it to draw that younger crowd into the theater. I think combining Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow into one movie is a stroke of genius, they complete each other. In many ways, I liked Shadow even more than Game.
Jim wrote: "I just finished listening to Ender's Game. Although I've read the book a couple of times, listening to this audio production put a new shine on it. Fantastic. Plus, Card's afterword was really i..."Yes, I really enjoyed the audio-version of "Ender's Game". I read the last few chapters online because of time restraints. (I might have listened to them too, afterwards. Can't remember.) Anyway, reading is definitely faster but hearing the voices enhances the story, in this case, IMO.
As Card pointed out, 'Shadow' shows Ender while 'Game' is all from his POV. It really was an obviously simple idea. Those are often the hardest to come up with, though. Card said that having a teen hero was exactly what the producers wanted for exactly the reason you stated, Jackie. He said they'd agree to keeping his age in the beginning of the contract & then bury in a clause that reneged on it later on. If you ever get a chance, you should listen to it. It's most of the last (9th) CD or file depending on format.
I just finished, The Best American Mystery Stories 1999 as an audio book today while spinning up Alpaca yarn. (I made my first skein of 3 ply yarn today!) It was OK, but they cut a lot of the stories out of it. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Jim wrote: "I just finished, The Best American Mystery Stories 1999 as an audio book today while spinning up Alpaca yarn. (I made my first skein of 3 ply yarn today!) It was OK, but they cut a lot of the sto..."Interesting assortment of authors there! Good review.
I have a little of Romeo's hair (saved for spinning) in a plastic snack-size bag. It will be a while... :)
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