Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
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What are U reading these days? (Part Five) (begun 3/12/09)
Yes, Siddons is a Southerner herself, and I'd gathered from reviews of her work that it's characteristically set there. I really ought to read more of that type of book --ordinary descriptive fiction set in contemporary (or at least modern) times. It's not that I don't like fiction of that type; I do, and it has real rewards of its own, as any genre does. But I tend to get wrapped up in the speculative genres; and then historical fiction, older classics, and even mysteries clamor for attention, too. So looking back at what I've read so far in my lifetime, regular contemporary novels and stories have tended to get the short end of the stick. One of these days, I need to remedy that (at least a bit)!
I haven't been to this thread in a while. I've missed so much.I've read some Nora Roberts, easy quick reads. I read her Circle trilogy mainly because it had a Celtic theme. Not as much as I would have liked. It was predictable but still good, Robert's talent lies in her ability to get you to really care about the characters.
I've finished the first five of Zelazny's Amber novels. Borrowing the next 5. Started Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. And currently on The Winds of Dune which I am loving. I'm a total Dune addict, I simply cannot get enough. I'm in Dune Heaven right about now.
The Nora Roberts GR page,http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
lists 391 books by her. Do you ever wonder how she can write so many books? Could it be that there are ghost writers involved?
I've started 2666 Part B, that's the cover I have, the hardback, but it's the entire book, not Part B as the title suggests. :?: Sometimes GoodReads listings are...um, different. :)
Pontalba wrote: "I've started 2666 Part B, that's the cover I have, the hardback, but it's the entire book, not Part B as the title suggests. :?: Sometimes GoodReads listings are...um, different. :)"Pontalba, I googled to find out more.
For those who are interested, below are the Wiki links:
ABOUT THE BOOK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2666
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Roberto Bolaño :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_...
Wiki says (about the book):
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" _2666_ (2004) is the last novel written by Chilean-born novelist Roberto Bolaño. Depicting the unsolved and ongoing serial murders of Ciudad Juárez (Santa Teresa in the novel), the Eastern Front in World War II, and the breakdown of relationships and careers, the apocalyptic 2666 explores 20th century degeneration through a wide array of characters, locations, time periods, and stories within stories."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sounds complicated. Is it?
Joy, I don't think Nora Roberts has a ghost writer. She also writes under the psuedonym J. D. Robb. She's quite prolific. If you've ever read her novels, you'll see that they are not complicated and most of them have a similar formula, just change names and scenarios; I don't think it takes a lot of time to write them. Just an observation, I don't mean to minimize her talent, because she is good.I prefer J. D. Robb. I like her 'In Death' series with my all time favorite female detective Eve Dallas. I only have a few listed because I can't remember the names of all the ones I've read. Eve is a take charge, kick-butt now, take-names-later kind of cop, smart, cunning. You can't put anything past Eve. And I think I have a crush on her sexy, shady, Irish husband, Roarke, LOL
Jackie wrote: "Joy, I don't think Nora Roberts has a ghost writer. She also writes under the psuedonym J. D. Robb. She's quite prolific. If you've ever read her novels, you'll see that they are not complicated..."I notice that at Nora Robert's profile,
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
it says: "Under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, she writes futuristic mystery/romance novels called the "In Death" series.".
So, Jackie, I would guess you'd like the futuristic side of her those stories.
BTW, Eve sounds like a fun character.
As for Roberts being so prolific, that's mind-boggling to me. She must LOVE writing a lot! (g)
There's not much futuristic-ness to them though, set in the future, cars drive in the air, but it's pretty much your standard detective novel. It's Eve that I like. I love strong female characters.
Jackie wrote: "There's not much futuristic-ness to them though, set in the future, cars drive in the air, but it's pretty much your standard detective novel. It's Eve that I like. I love strong female characters."I see. Well, you're a pretty strong female yourself, Jackie. Great minds think alike. LOL
I had good literary role models growing up. Even in the 70s when I was a teenager, females were supposed to be submissive to the male, it was changing but not quickly enough. I used to drive my father crazy, but I eventually learned him, and he accepted my headstrong ways. Not like he had much of a choice, LOL
Jackie wrote: "I had good literary role models growing up. Even in the 70s when I was a teenager, females were supposed to be submissive to the male, it was changing but not quickly enough. I used to drive my f..."Jackie, I think being headstrong is in the genes. You see it in little babies. Some are very compliant and some are very stubborn. You even see it in dogs. Our Romeo is very compliant. Our other Maltese, jorji, had a mind of his own. LOL
That's true too. My parents would tell me stories of when I was little and would refuse to do something, totally stubborn. I'm better now, more adaptable and flexible.
Jackie wrote: "That's true too. My parents would tell me stories of when I was little and would refuse to do something, totally stubborn. I'm better now, more adaptable and flexible."As for me, I'm adapting to my OWN ways instead of those of others. That's how I'M adapting. LOL
WooHoo! Just got my Zelazny books in the mail, and my friend said I could KEEP them! I'm so excited! Now I"m going to have to zoom through The Winds of Dune.The Zelazny books are:
This Immortal
And The Great Book of Amber which includes all 10 novels of Amber!
Jackie wrote: "WooHoo! Just got my Zelazny books in the mail, and my friend said I could KEEP them! I'm so excited! Now I"m going to have to zoom through The Winds of Dune.The Zelazny books ar..."
Jackie, now you're set for the winter... or at least through November. :)
I'll bet she's done the Zelazny books in a week. Of course, her family will starve, the house will fall into disgrace, but she won't care!;-)
Anthony has to go out of town to help his sister, I already told him to leave money so I don't have to cook, LOL Me and Eric can live with a messy house for a few days. Eric's actually quite at home in his pig-sty of a room. I had to threaten to throw all his stuff out if he didn't clean it yesterday.
Told you, Joy. (g) Now, should we start a pool on how long it takes her to gobble up the last 5 books?;-)
Jim wrote: "Told you, Joy. (g) Now, should we start a pool on how long it takes her to gobble up the last 5 books? ;-)"Jim, she puts me to shame. I'm still struggling along with the same books after about 2 weeks! :)
It's just a matter of enjoying what you are reading and making the time for it.
Jackie wrote: "It's just a matter of enjoying what you are reading and making the time for it."Jackie, I'm enjoying what I've been reading, but I'm a very slow reader. I take too many notes. I suppose having the notes is my kind of pleasure.
Are your notes the quotes you collect?
Jackie wrote: "Are your notes the quotes you collect?"Yes, they're mostly quotes, but I add only a few of those quotes to my categorized collection. I keep a page or more for each book I read. I save all sorts of phrases or sentences, e.g., good similes. Here's one I just copied tonight from p.311 of _To Ride Hell's Chasm_:
"...his scarce buried rage [was like:] the surprise of a whipcrack unleashed across silence."
Everytime I read it, I hear the crack of a whip signifying the speaker's angry reply. Powerful writing.
When a book is non-fiction and informational, like _Outliers_, I may paraphrase the information. For example, I summarized an idea from around page 206 of the book as follows:
"For success in your chosen field, when you were born matters, including which generation and also what month. As for generations, being born in 1955 was a 'magic time' for software tycoons and being born in 1835 was a 'magic time' for business tycoons"
Of course I do a lot of abbreviating and scribbling. :)
It's fun looking back on the notes I've taken over the years.
That's a really cool idea.Often I see a phrase or sentence I like in a book and want to write it down, but I never do it. I'd like to get one of the pens that you scan over the line and it records it for you. My, how lazy I've become, LOL
Jackie wrote: "That's a really cool idea.Often I see a phrase or sentence I like in a book and want to write it down, but I never do it. I'd like to get one of the pens that you scan over the line and it recor..."
I have one of those digital pens, but it's too clumsy to use. Mine has to be hooked up to the computer while copying. Better to get a digital pen which stores the data inside itself. The data can later be transferred to the computer. That way you can take digital notes with the pen without being hooked up to the computer. Wish I had known that sooner.
PS-My digital pen was a gift from my sons; I had put it on my Christmas list last year.
PPS-I was able to copy text to my computer with the pen. It took time though to go through the process. Maybe I needed practice.
I don't want to be hooked to the computer either. I mostly read in bed, or in the living room. If I had to get up every time, I'd never do it. That's the reason I don't do it now. Do they make them where they store the data inside?
Jackie wrote: "... Do they make them where they store the data inside?"Yes, I believe they do, but I haven't done the research on it. If you do the research, be sure to find out how much data the pen can hold.
I wouldn't be able to buy one any time soon in any case. It's so interesting, all this new technology.It's late, I'd like to get some reading in. You're a night owl like me, Joy.
Ask my daughter, Erin, about the pen. She uses one for college. I think she likes it. It records voice, too.
Jackie wrote: "I wouldn't be able to buy one any time soon in any case. It's so interesting, all this new technology. It's late, I'd like to get some reading in. You're a night owl like me, Joy."Yes, Jackie, I'm a night owl. Always have been. I used to love staying up for Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, and Jack Parr... and before that, Steve Allen! There was even another funny fellow before Steve Allen, but I forget his name. I've googled, but evidently everyone else has forgotten him too.
PS-I remembered his name. See Message #842 below.
Jim wrote: "Ask my daughter, Erin, about the pen. She uses one for college. I think she likes it. It records voice, too."Jim, does Erin's digital pen operate without being connected to her computer? In other words, does it store the data inside the pen itself? What brand is it? Can you point us to a web page ad?
Sorry, Joy. You have to ask the girl. I'll tell her to drop by & give you the answers. I'm not sure if she'll get by or when. She's pretty busy at college. Taking an enormous amount of credits.
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote (in Message 775): "In between reading my hard copy books, I relax with various audio books which I borrow from our library. My current one is an audio disk of _ Midnight Bayou _ by [author:Nora Roberts|..."The above is from Message #775 in this thread. It's about Nora Robert's novel, _Midnight Bayou_. I have just discovered that Netflix has a DVD of the movie based on the novel. See the Netflix description below:
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Midnight...
Naturally, I've put the movie on my Netflix queue. I always enjoy seeing how a movie based on a book compares with the book.
Jim wrote: "Sorry, Joy. You have to ask the girl. I'll tell her to drop by & give you the answers. I'm not sure if she'll get by or when. She's pretty busy at college. Taking an enormous amount of credits."Jim, I understand how that works. Our kids are so busy with their own lives. I was just remarking to Ed that their lives are so much more complicated than ours were, with all the newest technical developments they have to keep up with. The changes are coming at us at a faster rate all the time. I think our lives were more peaceful in comparison but perhaps their lives are more interesting. Everything is relative of course.
I dropped her an email. She said she'd stop by.Hmmm... Living in interesting times! A Chinese curse, I think.
Jim wrote: "I dropped her an email. She said she'd stop by.Hmmm... Living in interesting times! A Chinese curse, I think."
(big grin) Thanks, Jim. I look forward to hearing from her.
Joy, Every once in a while, Lifetime Movie Network runs a month of Nora Roberts books-turned-movies. One a week for 4 weeks. It's where I usually catch them. Midnight Bayou sounded familiar but when I read the netflix description, I realize I didn't see that one.
Though I rarely ever say this, I prefer watching her movies to the books. Like I said previously, I find them vey predictable and I don't like putting time into a book that's like that. A 2 hour movie, yes, I can do that and they are quite enjoyable.
Do you get the LMN, Joy? If so, I'll try to remember to tell you the next time I see them there.
Jackie wrote: "Joy, Every once in a while, Lifetime Movie Network runs a month of Nora Roberts books-turned-movies. One a week for 4 weeks. It's where I usually catch them. Midnight Bayou sounded familiar bu..."Yes, Jackie, I do get the Lifetime Movie Network on TV. Please let me know when they run the Nora Roberts movies. I usually don't enjoy the Lifetime films because they're too much like soap operas.
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Jackie wrote: "I wouldn't be able to buy one any time soon in any case. It's so interesting, all this new technology. It's late, I'd like to get some reading in. You're a night owl like me, Joy."..."
Arthur Godfrey?
Steve Allen was the first host of the Tonight Show, but first made his appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Allen
Arthur Godfrey?
Steve Allen was the first host of the Tonight Show, but first made his appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Allen
Pontalba wrote: "Arthur Godfrey?Steve Allen was the first host of the Tonight Show, but first made his appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Allen "
Pontalba, thanks for the Steve Allen link. He was such a talented man.
The comedian I was thinking of wasn't Arthur Godfrey, although I remember him well, of course.
I was thinking of a comedian who was on late night TV even before Steve Allen. He was actually an early TV pioneer. I can still see his smiling face in my mind. He was kind of a silly fellow... always fooling around with a silly grin on his face. Full of fun. I've searched in vain on the Internet but no one mentions him. Perhaps he was on for only a short period of time. Only a very old night owl like myself would remember him. :)
PS - Wow! I just remembered his name! It came out of nowhere. My mind must have been working on it sub-consciously! His name was JERRY LESTER!
See:
http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/20...
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/25/obi...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 26, 1995
"Comedian Jerry Lester, whose breezy style established the milieu for generations of late-night television hosts, has died in Florida.
Lester, host of the early 1950s TV show "Broadway Open House," the forerunner of the "Tonight" shows, died Thursday at a Miami nursing home, said his wife, Alice."
FROM: http://articles.latimes.com/1995-03-2...
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I have livescribe's pulse pen. www.livescribe.com is where it can be found. It holds either 4, 2, or 1 GBs of data. You need the special paper for it to write on it. If I understand what you want it for, I'd say its not worth it. It records audio and what you write and you can play back the audio from where your notes are. Its targeted to college students, reporters, and people with lots of business meetings. You still might want to check it out, but its pretty expensive because its a mini computer pen.
Erin wrote: "I have livescribe's pulse pen. www.livescribe.com is where it can be found. It holds either 4, 2, or 1 GBs of data. You need the special paper for it to write on it. If I understand what you wan..."Hi Erin. Thanks very much for taking the time to tell us about the pen. Quite a gadget. The digital pen which I have, copies written text from a book as you run the pen over the text. Does the Livescribe pen do that?
Joy wrote: PS - Wow! I just remembered his name! It came out of nowhere. My mind must have been working on it sub-consciously! His name was JERRY LESTER!
See:
http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2008/...
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/25/obitua...
Now that's a name I had not heard! :) I thought Steve Allen was the originator. I liked Arthur Godfrey, and thought he'd had something to do with the Tonight Show because I recall being surprised to see him on a morning show some years ago.
Ahhh, brain confusion. lol
Thanks for the info.
Funny though, I do remember Dagmar, the character. I must have seen it at some point.
See:
http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2008/...
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/25/obitua...
Now that's a name I had not heard! :) I thought Steve Allen was the originator. I liked Arthur Godfrey, and thought he'd had something to do with the Tonight Show because I recall being surprised to see him on a morning show some years ago.
Ahhh, brain confusion. lol
Thanks for the info.
Funny though, I do remember Dagmar, the character. I must have seen it at some point.
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Hi Erin. Thanks very much for taking the time to tell us about the pen. Quite a gadget. The digital pen which I have, copies written text from a book as you run the pen over the text. Does the Livescribe pen do that?"No it doesn't do that. That's what I thought you were looking for. It simply records what you write on the special dot paper for it and records the audio around you. You can use both functions separate from each other.
Pontalba wrote: "...Funny though, I do remember Dagmar, the character. I must have seen it at some point."Pontalba, who can forget Dagmar! LOL
Erin wrote: "No it doesn't do that. That's what I thought you were looking for. It simply records what you write on the special dot paper for it and records the audio around you. You can use both functions separate from each other."Erin, I had no idea there was a special "pen" that did those things!
I saw someone with the pen you are talking about Erin, I had no idea it recorded audio too. That's disturbing to me.
Its really nice for my in school because I can go back and fill in my notes later. I use another program to change my notes into a word document and then listen to the parts that I missed and fill in the gaps.
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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Werner, Siddons stories are usually set in the South. The one I'm currently listening to describes a "sit-in" in a restaurant where they refused to serve African American customers. The African Americans sat at the counter all day waiting to be served. Nora, the character in _Nora, Nora_, went into the restaurant and ordered hamburgers for the six African Americans who were very hungry after sitting there all day. Finally they were served because Nora threatened to invite the press who were waiting outside the door.