Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
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Nina
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Jan 23, 2015 04:37PM
Unfortunately, it's our book club selection for Feb. and that's because two of our members kept saying they laughed out loud. At best I thought it seemed boring. I am really not that picky but guess it is not what interests me. Is it my age?
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I am now reading, "Unbroken." and it's keeping my interest but so far I am not impressed with the main character/non-fiction. I am wonder if I will become impressed as the story evolves. We'll see.
Nina, I know my age has a lot to do with my tastes. As the years go by, I realize that the taste of the younger generations is foreign to me. I guess it's always been that way as people get older. There's a GAP! LOLAbout Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, I read to page 56 and stopped when it got to WWII. Too sad. I may go back to it as we own the book. My husband read the whole book and is now reading more and more books about WWII.
Joy, I recommended, "All the LIght You Cannot See," and it's good but some parts are quite grim. You might not want to get into it. Just a warning. As for "Unbroken," I am almost to his flying War days and interesting to me is that the college I briefly attended for one semester in CA, "Compton" is where his brother went to school. I was startled when I saw that. Also, that school sponsered one of the major track meets in the LA collusiem. Small world, ndeed.
Yes, Nina, I too enjoy it when I come across references to places that are familiar to me.As for, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, I read the sample at: https://play.google.com/books/reader?...
The sample provided 21 chapters of the book.
The book seems "fragmented" to me. One chapter is about one character and place. The next chapter skips to an entirely different character and place. Then it goes back to the other place and character. I know that they come together toward the end, but I'm not a fan of that sort of fragmentation.
Irving Wallace used to write that way and I enjoyed his stories, e.g. The Prize. Perhaps my poor old memory prevents me from enjoying fragmentation these days. I lose track of the thread while hopping around.
Nevertheless I think the story is worth taking a further look at. The sample didn't disturb me but I suppose I haven't gotten to the real grim parts.
Joy, if you can take it/it does go back and forth but I think it's handled well mainly because the date is at the head of the chapters in most cases. The story is absorbing especially from the view of the blind girl and I hadn't really gotten into the view of the young; very young boys who were taken into Hitler's youth camps. It is truly fascinating.
Nina, from now on, I'll be more observant of the dates at the heads of the chapters. That should help! Thanks for the hint.
If you do read, "All the LIght You Cannot See," Joy, do Google, Saint-Malo as it is fascinating to see the acutal village under seige. The story is based on what happened to that village during WW2. It was the most "real" fiction book I have ever read.
Nina wrote: "If you do read, "All the LIght You Cannot See," Joy, do Google, Saint-Malo as it is fascinating to see the acutal village under seige. The story is based on what happened to that village during WW2..."Thanks for the tip, Nina! I'll be sure to do that.
What is fascinating is the way the blind girl is portrayed from age six. Just imagine being blind. Once when I was around six years old my mother awakened me from a nap and played peek a boo with me and when she covered my eye I said, "I can't see." She was frightened and all I remember from that is wearing glasses and a patch over my good eye. But, the left one never improved. I was usually the only child back then who wore glasses. I am legally blind in one eye. If I had had an accident as a child or adult and injured my right eye I would have been blind. So this story spoke to me.
Nina wrote: "... I am legally blind in one eye. ..."Nina, I can understand why you were especially drawn to the story about the blind girl. It's amazing that you can do so much reading despite your eye trouble.
Can you believe I am trying to read "The Rosie Project?" more later to explain.
I am reading the book I really didn't like but I needed a relief from "Unbroken," as at times it is just too grim. And there was Rosie" and it was a welcome antidote/silly and not a favorite but kind of fun at times. Yes, I sort of changed my mind. Have you ever done that with a book Joy?
I'm reading a really good book that's very grim right now, too. If I take a break, I'll never go back to it, though.
Joy, I discovered when I stuck with "The Rosie Project<" I actually did get something out of it. Maybe that is a lesson for my reading in the future. Although I know that there are some books that I would never get through even with good intentions.
Nina, I don't usually go back to a book if I find that I'm not enjoying it. A book has to draw me in. Perhaps I give up too easily. There's nothing like an absorbing story!PS-Sometimes the writing style keeps me reading too if it appeals to me.
"Unbroken" is very diffcult to read before bedtime. I wonder if any goodreads people have read it. I am not sure I can cope with the rest of it/now they are in the execution camp. And I thought the lifeboat surrounded by sharks was bad.
I had that problem with the book I just read, Nina. The story was great, but the world was so dark & realistic that I didn't want to pick it up at night.
Sometimes we just need to laugh and that's what we did tonight when we watched the old movie, "That Darn Cat," and mostly we enjoyed it because we too had a Siamese just like the cat in the movie. That darn cat actually played cards with my youngest child. The game was Match. Kitty would put her paw on a card and Megan would turn it over and then Megan would choose. She acutally kept score.
Nina wrote: ""Unbroken" is very diffcult to read before bedtime. I wonder if any goodreads people have read it. I am not sure I can cope with the rest of it/now they are in the execution camp. And I thought the..."Nina, that settles it! I'm not going back to "Unbroken". (I read to p.57, WWII.) I'm sorry I gave it to the kids for Christmas! Life is hard enough without being brought down by our reading.
Nina wrote: "Sometimes we just need to laugh and that's what we did tonight when we watched the old movie, "That Darn Cat," and mostly we enjoyed it because we too had a Siamese just like the cat in the movie. ...""Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." -Mark Twain
"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." -Mark Twain
"Laughter is the Best Medicine" -Anonymous
"The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman." -Jonathan Swift
Joy, I love quotes and yours are always so timely.
Thank you, Nina. I'm afraid I'm addicted to quotes! LOL
It has snowed all day today and tomorrow it is forecast to continue--up to 7 inches in Omaha! I there am not venturing out al all tomorrow---and probably not Monday either.Not so bitterly cold, but slick and I am so afraid of falling. Barring emergencies, I do not need groceries or anything till Tuesday.
Stay warm & safe, Mary. We're getting rain, but it's only 34 out & the temp is supposed to drop at some point. Might be ugly tomorrow morning.
MaryJL, I too am afraid of falling. There is ice underneath all the snow.Our current temp is 9.9F but last night it went down to 1 degree F. I hate this freezing weather!
Jim, I wouldn't mind a temp of 34 at this point. At least it's above freezing. I can't wait for all this snow and ice to melt away! It will take a while, I'm sure.
Probably an inch of snow here and temps are in the upper twenties and still cold tomorrow but by Tuesday they are predicting 48 degrees/a welcome change but I shouldn't complain after hearing Joy's temps.
More snow is on the way here! Current temp is 15 F.
The best thing about the Super Bowl are the Budweiser commercials. I've been watching a bunch this week. Here are some facts about the Bud Clydesdales.http://www.horsenation.com/2015/02/01...
At the bottom is this year's commercial.
Interesting link, Jim; thanks for sharing it!
Jim wrote: "The best thing about the Super Bowl are the Budweiser commercials. I've been watching a bunch this week. Here are some facts about the Bud Clydesdales. http://www.horsenation.com/2015/02/01... At the bottom is this year's commercial."Thanks Jim, for the link. I'll take a look at it with my morning coffee!
PS-About the commercial, those little puppies can break your heart! They are so cute!Jim, the Clydesdale info was iteresting. I was curious and found this fact at Wiki: "The Clydesdale is a breed of draught horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and named after that region." Never knew that.
Interesting facts and I didn't know they originally came from Scotland. As for myself, I was fortunate to view them at a parade several years ago in Wamego, KS.
They appeared so graceful in spite of their huge carriage. It was amazing how they kept in step with the music.
I finished, "Unbroken" and it was good/unusually brutal at times but historically correct and that is what made it interesting. It did bring back some memories of the wartimes when I was a teenager. I wasn't as affected as some as my father was too old to serve and I had no brother but i did know some who served/fortunately, the only casuality I was familiar with was our grocer's son.
I'm enjoying the books I recently got from the library. Seems I'm into 4 or 5 books at once! When I tire of one, I pick up another. I'll report on them when I get in the mood.
I'm now reading, "The Woman of the House," by Alice Taylor. Sort of a welcome change from the misery of the Unbroken attacks by sharks and beatings of the POW's and worse. This other book is set in Ireland and is a story of a family and a house.
Nina, I'm wary of books about family and house. :) There's always a chance that it may get bogged down in mundane domestic details. Is The Woman of the House like that?
I think you might like the book I mentioned, Joy. No flashbacks and just a nice story with well rounded characters. A virus is showing it's ugly head on my computer today and all day yesterday so I guru live in computer expert is going to spend the day trying to outsmart it. Wish me luck~
Hope you can get rid of that computer virus, Nina. I browsed a sample of The Woman of the House and wasn't drawn in. Too much description, not enough plot. Seems to describe country atmosphere, as on a rural farm. Even the reviews don't give me much hope that I'd enjoy the book. Nina, I think you are more aesthetic than I am. :) In other words, you appreciate scenic descriptions. Am I right?
Yes, Joy I do like descriptive writing but only if I enjoy the characters. I don't need a lot of action but sometimes I like a book even when I think it's going too slow in the beggining up but if it just drags on, than I put it aside. So, I guess my answer is, "it depends." And also, it helps if I have been to the place the book is describing.
Saw a good netflix movie, "Moonlight Magic," great scenery in south of France and very good acting/Colin Firth and I have forgotten the famous woman actress/old woman and it is a fun movie. I recommend it.
Is this the movie, Nina: "Magic in the Moonlight" (2014)? It looks like a good one.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870756/?...
You must have watched a Netflix DVD because Netflix doesn't seem to have it available for streaming. Amazon has it but I'd have to pay. It's not available "free" to Amazon Prime members.
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Moonlight...
Tonight I streamed (from Netflix) "Heavenly Pursuits" (aka "The Gospel According to Vic")(1986) with Helen Mirren. It started out OK but it lost steam toward the end.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089221/?...
http://www.amazon.com/Heavenly-Pursui...
"A religious skeptic who teaches at a Catholic school has his beliefs challenged when he's blessed with unexplained good fortune."
I'll see if they have it on DVD. Sounds interesting. We have been watching a multitude of old Doris Day movies. Some very good/some not so.
These days I'm watching a lot of "old movies"! Most of the new movies don't appeal to me because of the age gap. Young people nowadays have completely different tastes in films, which is to be expected. However, every once in a while a film comes along which the majority of people enjoy.These days I'm also keeping busy with FunTrivia. Today I came across the following question & answer which may be familiar to Jim, especially:
================================================
QUESTION: Which US state has the longest known underground cave system in the world?
ANSWER: Kentucky - Mammoth Cave National Park is in Kentucky. Around 400 miles of caves have been explored. It has been a World Heritage site since 1981.
Here's the Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_...
======================================================
Joy, A VERY good movie if you can stream it is, "The Hundred Foot Journey."
Nina wrote: "Joy, A VERY good movie if you can stream it is, "The Hundred Foot Journey.""Yes, I plan to watch that eventually, Nina. :)
PS-Nina, I read a sample of the book, The Hundred-Foot Journey. Here's a link to my "pre-review":https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
That movie is one of the very few new movies that I really liked/no foul language, no sex, just a fun group of people and nice romance/real like in the "old" days. I recommended it to my daughter and she loved it.
Nina, I know what you mean by the "old" days. Thanks to movie censoring back then, the films were tame.Nowadays it seems that sometimes they use very intimate scenes to sell a movie. I recently streamed "Elegy" (2008) from Netflix, starring Penélope Cruz & Ben Kingsley, and those scenes were a big part of the movie.
However, I was struck by the unique beauty of Penelope Cruz. She almost mesmerizes you; IMO she's even more beautiful than Sophia Loren. (She has that kind of beauty.)
Anyway, the movie had an interesting theme and I stayed with it to the end, even though I gave it only 2 stars, mostly because I felt manipulated to keep watching since there really wasn't much to the plot except that Kingsley's character is obsessed with Cruz's character.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974554/?...
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/700651...
"A divorced college lecturer seduces a sultry young student but can't decide what he wants from the relationship in this well-acted drama."
(Per Netflix, the average of 454,838 ratings is 3.3 stars.
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