What are U reading these days? (Part Five) (begun 3/12/09) Showing 451-500 of 1,049

[Jackie]

I saw a commercial for it yesterday. I didn't realize it's coming out so soon, the middle of August, I think. I hope the library book comes in soon.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "I saw a commercial for it yesterday. I didn't realize it's coming out so soon, the middle of August, I think. I hope the library book comes in soon."

Hmmm, it doesn't give us much time, does it. It's already listed at Netflix with an "unknown" availability date. See the description at:
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Time...
(The Time Traveler's Wife) (2008) PG-13)

[Jackie]

The library copy of 2012 The War for Souls came in today, I'm going to start it right now. Ellen said The Time Traveler's Wife should be in by the end of the week. once I receive it, it'll be my priority book due to the time factor. I'm excited to read it, whenever it gets here.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "The library copy of 2012 The War for Souls came in today, I'm going to start it right now. Ellen said The Time Traveler's Wife should be in by the end of the week. onc..."

The GR description of the 2012 book says: "December 21, 2012, may be one of the most watched dates in history. Every 26,000 years, earth lines up with the exact center of our galaxy. At 11:11 on December 21, 2012, this event happens again, and the ancient Maya calculated that it would mark the end, not only of this age, but of human consciousness as we know it. But what will actually happen?"

Quite a prediction!

[Jackie]

It is a fact that every 26,000 years, earth lines up with the exact center of our galaxy. At 11:11 on December 21, 2012, this event happens again.
What happens, who really knows until it does, or doesn't. But the hope is a change in consciousness. A much needed change.
The book starts off right away with some action, now the mystery as to what this galactic event signifies and what will happen next. I think I'll enjoy it.
I've read other books by Streiber and enjoyed them.

[Jim]

The numerologists must be having a field day. Kind of a shame it didn't happen a bit earlier on 11Nov11, isn't it?

When you say earth lines up with the center of the universe, what do you mean? The earth's axis or equator? A line from Sol through Terra to the Milky Way's center?

[Jackie]

We align with the galactic plane. Like how the planets sometimes align with one another.

I'll have to find something that would explain it better than me. I don't have the right words. Let me see if I can find anything about The Mayan Long Count Calendar in regards to the alignment that'll explain it.
BRB

[Jackie]

http://www.famsi.org/pipermail/aztlan...

Still reading it myself.

[Jim]

Thanks. I read it & followed links. I don't think I'll mark the date on my calendar, though. It all still looks like a astrological/numerological stretch to me. Do you believe in that stuff?

[[deleted user]]

I'm reading ]Persuasion by Austen right now, and it's taken awhile for me to start liking it. Even now, 3/4ths of the way through I cannot say I love it, I like ok though.

[Jackie]

No, I just find it interesting to read about, in a sci-fi-y way. I admit it would be cool to witness an extraordinary astronomical event, but I seriously doubt it'll have any effect on us. I was just thinking where I can set up my telescope in the nights leading up to 12/21/12. A few years back, the NorthEast had a major power outage, in December, I remember because it was very cold. Eric had a friend staying over. When the power went out, I grabbed my telescope and took the kids outside with me. Even naked eye observation was incredibly rich and detailed. We made so much noise oohing and aahing that one by one the neighbors came out to see what the ruckus was about and got an astronomy lesson instead, LOL It was one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen, it's the way the sky should be seen, with no light interference.
And while I would love to see the human race's consciousness raised, I don't see that happening, not any time soon, probably not ever.

The book is getting pretty interesting, pretty quickly, alternate universes, alien invaders. I'm enjoying it. I can't wait to finish what I have to here and get out in the yard with the book.

And if that's not enough, I'm watching the Season 3 Torchwood miniseries, Children of the Earth. I'm up to my eyeballs in hostile aliens, LOL

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Pontalba wrote: "I'm reading Persuasion by Austen right now, and it's taken awhile for me to start liking it. Even now, 3/4ths of the way through I cannot say I love it, I like ok though."

I just finished watching Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", both versions, one with Lawrence Olivier and the other with Collin Firth. Enjoyed both. There were more details in the latter; it had been a miniseries on TV. (These were both Netflix DVDs.)

I finished reading _North River A Novel_ by Pete Hamill (a selection of our library's Tues. Afternoon Bk Group).

Am now reading _The Dive From Clausen's Pier A Novel_ by Ann Packer, a selection of our library's Monday Evening Book Group.

I always enjoy the in-person discussions at the library. For more info re the library groups, see the following topic (in this group): ====>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

[Jim]

Have you checked out Google Sky, Jackie? It's pretty cool.

[Jackie]

A while ago, I'll go check it out now.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "Have you checked out Google Sky, Jackie? It's pretty cool. "

What's the URL for Google Sky?

[Jackie]

http://earth.google.com/sky/index.html

You can dowload it for free. It's got other cool features, View the ocean floor, the earth, mars, the moon. It's really cool.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "http://earth.google.com/sky/index.html
You can dowload it for free. It's got other cool features, View the ocean floor, the earth, mars, the moon. It's really cool."

Thanks, Jackie. I've bookmarked "Google Sky" and will go back to it soon. Eddie says he has "Google Earth". I remember our sons talking about it. I'll email Eddie the URL for Google Sky.

[Jackie]

Let me know how you like it

[Jim]

I liked flying around Mars. Cool beans!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "Let me know how you like it"

Haven't had a chance to try out Google Sky. Everyday there's been something which has taken me away from the computer. Maybe today I'll get some quiet computer time.

[Nina]

Am I right Joy that your Lake home is on Lake George? That lake was featured on the Today show this morning. I looked for you among the people. It is a lovely looking lake. They stars of the production were fishing. All for now, tired from my thirteen for lunch..At least it was better than Sleeping Beauty's thirteen; at least there was no wicked witch to put everyone to sleep. My garden friends really seemed to like my garden although it is not as lush as it was a month ago. But the hibiscus tree came through showing off four lovely pink blossoms..Tomorrow a friend comes from CA, I go to bed reading, "The Children's Hour," by Marcia Willet. It is an interesting story set in Cornwall and interesting characters but the writing could be improved so don't think I would recommend it unless you just want some escape reading. nina

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Am I right Joy that your Lake home is on Lake George? That lake was featured on the Today show this morning. I looked for you among the people. It is a lovely looking lake. They stars of the prod..."

Yes, our summer place is on LG. I too saw LG featured on the Today show today. They didn't show enough of the beautiful scenery though. Glad your garden party worked out well for you.

See links below:
_The Children's Hour_ a book by Marcia Willett

_The Children's Hour_, a play by Lillian Hellman

I knew the title sounded familiar! :)

[Jackie]

Nina, it sounds really good. I can get past poor writing, to a degree, if the story is good enough.

[Jim]

I just finished reading Carrie Vaughn's first 5 'Kitty' books. They were fun. Kitty is a werewolf. The basic theme of the books is that werewolves & vampires are just people with a disease. Lots of fun to read & very quick. Candy books, but better than most. Much like the Sookie Stackhouse books.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I just finished reading Carrie Vaughn's first 5 'Kitty' books. They were fun. Kitty is a werewolf. The basic theme of the books is that werewolves & vampires are just people with a disease. Lots of fun to read & very quick. Candy books"

I'll be needing a candy book soon. Trouble is that I feel compelled to read the books we discuss at my library groups each month. At least I'm motivated to read... even if it's just so I'll be able to get to the candy books sooner or later... after I get the reading-group books out of the way. :) I know that's crazy logic, but it seems to work. Motivation is all. :)

[Jim]

The owner of the company I work for has a Sony E-Reader that he is going to bring in & let me try. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've been eyeing the Kindle, Kindle DX & various e-readers for a while, but they're awfully expensive.

I have a lot of books in text & pdf format. I don't like reading at the computer any more than I have to already - lots for work. All the documentation for our systems is online now, so I'm hoping this will work for both fiction & all the non-fiction I need to read.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "The owner of the company I work for has a Sony E-Reader that he is going to bring in & let me try. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've been eyeing the Kindle, Kindle DX & various e-readers for..."

Jim, please let us know what you think of the Sony E-Reader. I'm not sure I could ever adapt to reading a novel any other way than from a hard copy book. I've tried reading a novel from my computer screen, but it just wasn't as satisfying. (Someone had sent me a digital copy of the novel.)

Besides, my bad back has been making it difficult to sit at the computer for long periods lately. So that's another reason I prefer hard copies with which I can curl up in a comfy position. Haven't tried a hand-held reader. I'm sure that might make a difference. But as you say, they're expensive. Also, the digital books cost money whereas now I can get my books free from the library.

[[deleted user]]

I'm reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro and thoroughly enjoying it. I'd started several of his and not gotten far, but finally last year I read and enjoyed his The Remains of the Day. That seems to have been the break through book for me.

[[deleted user]]

Regarding any of the electronic readers, what with all the hoo ha over the removal of purchased books from the Amazon Kindle, I think it will be a cold day in the jungle before I even consider anything like that.

I don't care what their so-called reasoning was for it, to me it was invasion of privacy and the company showing their hand so to speak.

[Jen]

Jim wrote: "The owner of the company I work for has a Sony E-Reader that he is going to bring in & let me try. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've been eyeing the Kindle, Kindle DX & various e-readers for..."

I hope you like it! I love my Sony eReader! Let me know what you think of it.

[Jen]

Pontalba wrote: "I'm reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro and thoroughly enjoying it. I'd started several of his and not gotten far, but finally last year I read and enjoyed his ..."

I'm going to be starting this book in a couple of days... just have to finish the book I'm reading right now. What do you think so far?

[Jen]

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Jim wrote: "The owner of the company I work for has a Sony E-Reader that he is going to bring in & let me try. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've been eyeing the Kindle, Kindle DX & various e..."

Hi Joy - reading from the computer screen is totally different than an ereader. I thought that I'd really miss paper books, but the ereader is so easy to read from that I don't mind it at all. I still buy paper books, but I love the convenience of the ereader. :)

[[deleted user]]

Jenni wrote: I'm going to be starting this book in a couple of days... just have to finish the book I'm reading right now. What do you think so far?

I am so pleased with it, the layering is interesting, the interaction of the family interspersed with pre and postwar Japan images, along with the effects of the war on certain family members is extremely well done. There is mystery as to certain family members involvement, while others involvement is immediately obvious. Ishiguro has written it so that while we understand some, there is a great deal we don't understand at first. I'm only on page 61 at present, so all is far from revealed at this point, but it's percolating nicely.

[Jim]

I LIKE the Sony E-Reader - the 505 not the 700. It's that E-ink screen, so it's easy on the eyes (easier than a backlit screen is, but it means you can't read in the dark as easily - I don't) & only uses energy when it writes the words, so extends the battery life. That also means it doesn't support scrolling in a zoom mode in a big document, though.

It costs about $250 but some extras are needed (see below). It gives me plenty of text at once, something I don't like about other readers with smaller screens. It's about the size of a thin paperback & I can turn pages with one hand on it.

I plugged it into my PC & it brought up a directory where I dumped some books in ePub, PDF, RTF & Text format. All showed up in the menu & read fine. That means I don't HAVE to go online or allow Sony to connect to the device. (Yeah, Pontalba, I agree.)

I also don't have to email the documents through their system like on the $300 Kindle for pdf & doc files. (The Kindle DX is about $500 & has the USB & native PDF support but this is half the price.)

PDF's can be small & if you make them too large, tables or graphs don't always display well, but that isn't usually a problem. This is the one place where scrolling around might be nice, but as I said above, it doesn't support it. Since the trade is for ease on the eyes, speed & battery life, I think it's a good one.

Basically, it does one job, does it well & simply. I think the cover & an AC adapter are a must. It comes with 200mb native to store books, so the 2gb card SD card add-on is probably also needed. I think it will handle up to a 4gb card so I'll probably get one. They're about $15. I have an AC adapter & plenty of PC's around, so I don't need to buy one, but the cover is $25 or more. Anyway, I guess it will be $300 delivered.

The Sony PRC-700 tried to get fancy. They added a touch screen which makes it less readable. The features it added, like the ability to put notes in & such weren't liked or used by the reviewers I found. The owner's wife has this version & swipes his 505 whenever possible because she likes it better.

I looked at quite a few different readers pretty closely & I think this is the best of the bunch, so far. Others are coming soon & one looks promising, the Plastic Logic.

There's a pretty good list of e-readers here:
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/02/pro...
The best reviews I found were on Amazon, though.

[Nina]

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Nina wrote: "Am I right Joy that your Lake home is on Lake George? That lake was featured on the Today show this morning. I looked for you among the people. It is a lovely looking lake. They star..."I enjoyed reading the comments concerning,"The Children's Hour," book and although I am not finished with it I identified with several of the comments. The descriptions of the English gardens were quite interesting to me so I didn't go along with the person who thought that was boring, but what bothers me the most about the book is the constant change of point of view; even the dog is in there. But I am interested enough to keep at it. nina

[Jen]

Jim wrote: "I LIKE the Sony E-Reader - the 505 not the 700. It's that E-ink screen, so it's easy on the eyes (easier than a backlit screen is, but it means you can't read in the dark as easily - I don't) & on..."

Hey Jim - I couldn't agree more with everything you said!

A few things -
-My Sony Reader came with a cover, and it's pretty nice. I ended up also getting the lighted cover because it was on sale, I had a coupon, and I also had a gift certificate that ended up covering most of the price. (It's roughly $60-65.) It's been worth the price, but I only use it when I travel because it does add a bit of bulk and weight to the eReader.
-The Sony 505 is the way to go in my opinion. The 700 wants to be nice, but I've seen so many negative comments about the glare on the screen that I wouldn't get it.
-My Sony Reader holds over 200 books without using either of the memory cards. I do have a 2GB produo and a SD card in the slots, but haven't yet used them.

I like the idea that Sony can't connect directly to my reader, and I wouldn't like if they could. I also love the fact that it supports so many types of files. :)

[Jen]

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Pontalba wrote: "... I'll copy and paste the Amazon synopsis, but there is really much more..."

Pontalba, thanks for posting the synopsis of The Cryptographer by [author:Tobias Hill..."

Hi Joy,

I am currently "reading" it, and I LOVE it! It's a nice read - it's different because the story is told through letters. I feel like I get to know the characters in a different way than in a regular book with person to person dialogue, but I do feel like I could learn more if I could hear a real conversation. The jury is out on what I'll rate it, but I'm thinking probably 4 stars. :) (I'm almost done with it, and should finish it on the drive home tonight.)

[Jim]

Jenni, I'm so glad you agree with everything I found out. I just did some research & touched one for a few minutes. I'm glad to know I got it right. Quick looks like that can be deceiving.

Now I just have to make the toughest decision: Would I really use it or is it just a gadget?

[Jen]

Jim wrote: "Jenni, I'm so glad you agree with everything I found out. I just did some research & touched one for a few minutes. I'm glad to know I got it right. Quick looks like that can be deceiving.

Now ..."

Oh Jim,

Yes it's a gadget, but you're going to use it so much! I don't think you'll regret it... I think it'll just make you even more addicted to reading! :) Let me know what you decide to do. I'm nosy!

[Jim]

Will do, Jenni. It will likely be a while. If I get one, it will likely be as a Xmas present. Too expensive to buy otherwise.

One thing is it will be hard to share books with the girls unless they get an e-reader, too. No, that won't work on DRM files will it? I guess we could swap e-readers...

You know, I think the digital rights Nazi's lost their heads over this one.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

My eyes glaze over with all the facts about e-readers. It's easier for me to stick with my hard copy books... although I would enjoy having the search feature available while reading so I can go back and reference characters or quotes.

As for Kazuo Ishiguro I thoroughly enjoyed _The Remains of the Day_ but couldn't get into the next book of his which I tried. Can't remember the title. I know it wasn't _An Artist of the Floating World_.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I've been reading _The Dive From Clausen's Pier A Novel_ by Ann Packer. It's a compelling book; I can't put it down. I hate to say what it's about because you just can't imagine what it's like until you read it. Hearing what it's about before you read it, might be a turn-off. Once you get into the book, it's impossible to put down. I'm nearing the end now and am afraid to see how it ends.

Ann Packer tells this story in the first person. The characters are so well-developed that you feel you know them... or want to know them better.

I'm looking forward to reading the GR reviews to see what other readers thought of this book.

[Jackie]

It sounds interesting from the GR description.
I finished 2012 The War for Souls and it was very good in a sci fi way. I'd recommend it to sci fi fans, but that's about it. It was a great concept and even fit in with the prophecy but very different than what any of us could imagine. I'll give it 3 stars.
I'll go back to Second Foundation. I didn't really want to put it down, but I ordered 2012 from the library and I like to get it back to them right away. And I do have another book on order so I wanted to be finished with 2012 in any case. Lucky for me, the story was good enough to keep me reading.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "It sounds interesting from the GR description.
I finished 2012 The War for Souls and it was very good in a sci fi way. I'd recommend it to sci fi fans, but that's about it. It w..."

If it's good enough to keep you reading, it's good enough. :)

[Jackie]

For me, yes. I just don't think it's for everyone.

[[deleted user]]

I started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo this afternoon, love it. Everything good you've read about it is true. :)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Pontalba wrote: "I started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo this afternoon, love it. Everything good you've read about it is true. :)"

Wow, this sounds like a real winner, but I wonder if the dark side of it would turn me off.

PS-Is is hard to follow? They say it's a complex mystery.

The description made me think it was non-fiction, but the bookshelves of the reviewers show it to be fiction. I wish the descriptions were more clear about whether a book is fiction or non-fiction, but they don't always indicate which it is.

[[deleted user]]

Joy,
It doesn't seem difficult to follow, I'm only up to page 109/533 though. It's fast paced but Larsson takes the time to explore the characters when introducing them, so it's easier to keep them straight.

It doesn't seem any darker than most of the mysteries I've read. To some extent the heart of a mystery has to be darkish.....most mysteries are after all murder mysteries, exploring the whys and wherefores of human nature. Even "cozy" mysteries have murderers, skimming the surface of emotion as they do.
Don't get me wrong, I love some of them. Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey series is wonderful. If you like cats, which I do. :) Who can resist a talking, crime-solving, smart aleck cat? :)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Pontalba wrote: "Joy, It doesn't seem difficult to follow, I'm only up to page 109/533 though. It's fast paced but Larsson takes the time to explore the characters when introducing them...
... To some extent the heart of a mystery has to be darkish.....most mysteries are after all murder mysteries"

Thanks, Pontalba. Lawrence Sander's mysteries contained awful murders but I never considered his writing dark for some reason. I think it's the writing that makes a movie dark, not necessarily the events. Robert B. Parker is another example of a writer who writes about murders but he's far from "dark". In fact, his style is rather light.

It might be fun to explore this aspect of murder mysteries... i.e., what makes some dark and others not so dark.

[Nina]

Jackie wrote: "I saw a commercial for it yesterday. I didn't realize it's coming out so soon, the middle of August, I think. I hope the library book comes in soon."I am not just now reading "Out of Africa," but I did in the past and it just reminded me that is one book that the movie was just as good. Both were wonderful. nina