Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
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What are you reading or what books have you read or heard about? (Part TWELVE) Ongoing general thread.
I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for your glowing review.
Nina wrote: "I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for your glowing review."Nina, be sure to see the movie. Netflix has the DVD.
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Dani...
"In 1930, Danish painter Einar Wegener elects to have gender-reassignment surgery, with the blessing of his wife, Gerda. This true-life narrative of personal courage also sheds light on the medical origins of transsexual surgery."
Eddie Redmayne plays both Einar and Lili (two sides of the same character). It's amazing because it's like watching two different people! It's hard to get your mind around it. Personally, I like Redmayne as a male. He's very appealing.
I just finished The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell last night & really liked it. I've read it before, but that was over a decade ago, so I'd forgotten a lot of the details & Morrell is great with those. My 4 star review (no spoilers) is here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
He has well drawn characters that act well within their bounds. Their reactions make sense. While they're tops at their craft, none are super human. They have flaws, blind spots, & get tired. That thread of realism makes the rest of the story so much more plausible.
I really liked the nested conspiracies. As I mentioned in my review, it reminds me a lot of the first season of "The Black List". While the later seasons jumped the shark, Morrell never does. Every action has a consequence & they keep coming together into a wonderful crescendo.
Emergence by John Birmingham was a lot of fun & the start of a new urban fantasy series. Dave Hooper is not really hero material, but he just sort of wound up with the job. It was fun, funny, & well read. I gave it 4 stars here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thanks for posting about those books, Jim. I see that the 2 books are either in the SF/fantasy genre or the mystery/thriller genre.I happened to pick up a free book at senior citizens the other day. It's a book in the mystery/crime genre by Sidney Sheldon called Tell Me Your Dreams. I was hooked almost from the beginning. Sheldon has a way of doing that to the reader.
It felt good to finally be "hooked" by a book. I've started several hard copy books lately and am thinking of abandoning them because they don't keep me reading. They're OK but I read a few pages and then put them down. With Sheldon's book I was up all night reading last night. He doesn't use fancy prose but he presents well-fleshed out characters whom you can remember and he keeps the action moving forward with a suspenseful plot. Sheldon hardly ever fails.
PS-I just now re-read my review of Sidney's Sheldon's autobiography, The Other Side of Me. I found it very interesting since I had forgotten what I wrote. :) The link to my review is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Wiki says about Sheldon: "He is the seventh best selling fiction writer of all time." Amazing!
I think I read your review before this and really liked it. I loved his books and especially, "The Other Side of Midnight." And I had no idea he had those other credits. Interesting man, he must have been. I should read this book to find out the rest of the story.
I've still got The Other Side of Midnight on my "Keep in Mind" shelf. I hope to get to it sooner or later. I've been trying to do too much lately. The Internet is so addictive!
As are phone calls for granddaughters who is now at her mother's home in ID awaiting a birth. She teaches in Vietnam and is on leave so I am happy to finally talk to her/impossible in V. Then I get behind after an hour and a half phone call and because of my back situation I had to change chairs three times.
PS She is naming the baby who is a girl after me by calling her "nina."
Nina wrote: "PS She is naming the baby who is a girl after me by calling her "nina.""Nina, that is wonderful. They must love you lots!
Hope your back will keep on getting better.
Speaking of names; my granddaughter tells me that her friends are all impressed with the name, "nina" and wonder how she thought of it. When my first grandchild was born my parents were still alive so they were the Grandma and Grandpa in our family and when I tried to teach my little grandson to say "nana" he kept coming up with "nina." So from then on all eighteen grandchildren called me by that name. I came onto Goodreads by another grandson and because I am Nina to him that's what he put on Goodreads. End of story.
I had my grandkids call me "Nina" because I felt it would be easier for my daughter-in-law to address me as "Nina", rather than "Mom". To me, "Mom" is a special word used only for my own mother.I found it hard to call my own mother-in-law "Mom". When the grands came along, I was able to address her as "Nannie," which the grands called her.
Also, my great-grandmother was known as "Nona". So Nina was close enough.
I am watching the film-adaptation of About a Boy by Nick Hornby.See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dave Dawson on the Russian Front by R. Sidney Bowen is the second book in a row that I'm rereading after a long lapse of time --in this case, I first read it back in, I think, 1962. It's part of an adventure series for younger readers written during World War II. I'd done a Goodreads review of it from memory in Sept. 2008 (and just corrected a typo in the latter) and wouldn't have bothered to revisit it, but for the fact that I've been thinking about posting a more serious review for another site, which I knew would require a reread. (But I may change my mind about that review --the book is more kid-oriented than I remembered.)
This is not our movie goodreads message but I am going to post the fact that I loved seeing "The Audrey Hepurn Story," and Joy if you haven't already seen it/Netflix do so. Hard at first to see the actress as her but it was done very well and you almost got to believing it really was Audrey. I had already known bits and pieces of her life but this was eye opening.
Werner wrote: "Dave Dawson on the Russian Front by R. Sidney Bowen is the second book in a row that I'm rereading after a long lapse of time --in this case, I first read it back in, I think, 1962. ..."Thanks for posting, Werner. Writing reviews can be time-consuming. Unless I'm fired up about a book, I try to keep my reviews short. Either that, or I point (via links) to another good review which gives the information I would look for if I wanted to learn about the book. It's easier that way. :)
The well known children's author, Beverly Cleary or Romona fame is one hundred years old today.
Nina wrote: "This is not our movie goodreads message but I am going to post the fact that I loved seeing "The Audrey Hepurn Story," and Joy if you haven't already seen it/Netflix do so. Hard at first to see the..."Haven't seen that one, Nina. Netflix and Amazon don't offer it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163887/p...
However, Amazon has a documentary about her:
http://www.amazon.com/Audrey-Hepburn-...
PS - OOPS! Yes, Netflix offers it. I'll put it on my queue. Thanks Nina.
PS - OOPS! Yes, Netflix offers it. I'll put it on my queue. Thanks Nina.
Nina wrote: "The well known children's author, Beverly Cleary or Romona fame is one hundred years old today."Thanks for telling us, Nina. I've never read Cleary's stories. I'm sure they're great.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Nina wrote: "The well known children's author, Beverly Cleary or Romona fame is one hundred years old today."Nina, you've reminded me of a wonderful young adult book called Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. The amusing aspect of the book is that Harriet makes all kinds of observations and comments about the people she sees.
One GR reviewer says: "Harriet's inquiring mind leads her to spy on everyone, and to write her impressions in her notebook. Her impressions are brutally honest, too honest..."
See the review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I used to own the book. I hope I haven't given it away. I loved it.
See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I should try reading the other books in the series about Harriet the Spy. See the author's page for the titles.
Listen to an audio sample here: http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/Harrie...
I think I must get that book and maybe save it for a great granddaughter. Thanks for telling me about it. I had heard of it but it must not have been around the same time as my girls would have read it.
Nina wrote: "I think I must get that book and maybe save it for a great granddaughter. Thanks for telling me about it. I had heard of it but it must not have been around the same time as my girls would have rea..."You're welcome, Nina. I hope your great granddaughter will enjoy it.
( Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh )
I had quite a time trying to remember the title of the book yesterday. I searched google and Wiki for "detectives in stories" but came up with nothing. But I didn't give up. Finally, in a random list, the name Harriet popped up. It wasn't the same "Harriet" but it was enough to spark my memory that the word in the title was "Spy" and not detective. Also, I was hunting for the word "Sally" as a detective and that REALLY threw me off the track!
It just goes to show you that tenacity and not giving up can lead to success in a search online. It took me a while, but my brain was finally sparked by the random name "Harriet". Funny how the brain works!
"Funny how the brain works," said Joy and you can say that again.Remember the old saying, "If at first you don't succeed try try again." and you did it!
Nina wrote: "..."If at first you don't succeed try try again."..."Yes, Nina, so true. I had a similar experience at the library today. No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't remember the name of the author, Nick Hornby. I needed to know it because I wanted to find an audio CD of one of his novels.
I had recently watched a movie adapted from Hornby's book, About a Boy. In an effort to recall Hornby's name, I went to one of the library's online catalogues at a special computer at the library. I looked up the movie. The catalog told everything about the movie EXCEPT the name of the author of the book from which the movie was adapted. Imagine!
So then I had to move to a computer which would get me out to an Internet browser so I could access IMDb in order to find the movie. After several unsuccessful attempts to type in my library card number (frustrating!), I finally got online and accesssed IMDb. I looked up "About a Boy" and found Nick Hornby's name... finally!
Meanwhile, Eddie was waiting at home for me. I called him and told him why I was delayed.
Long story short, I managed to get 2 audio CDs if two books by Hornby: A Long Way Down and Funny Girl. I read the first one a while ago but wanted it for Eddie to listen to. I'm going to listen to the latter and then pass it on to Eddie.
Mission accomplished! Whew! Tenacity is one of my strong points. :)
Still into the third book of the "Glassblowers," trilogy and it is keeping my interest.
Nina, glad to hear that you're enjoying the book. I've started several but haven't been hooked yet! LOL
I am still liking the story but it is getting a bet too dramatic. Why do author's feel they have to do that?
Nina wrote: "I am still liking the story but it is getting a bet too dramatic. Why do author's feel they have to do that?"Nina, do you feel you are being manipulated? I've often read that complaint in readers' reviews. The authors sometimes tug at your emotions a little too hard and it becomes a soap box opera.
Today I discovered a book of short stories which sounded very interesting.The Moth ("The Moth: 50 True Stories") edited by Catherine Burns
I first discovered this book today, after hearing a radio program on radio station VPR (Vermont Public Radio). It was called the Moth Radio Hour. The program is dedicated to the art of first-person storytelling. The stories are "true stories told live". I went to the website which was announced on the radio and found further information.
My review provides further info and links. See my review at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The story I heard on the radio today (4/16/16) was told (in person) by a man who had survived the holocaust by being hidden in the attic of an old schoolhouse for many months when he was about 5 years old. Heartbreaking.
You can look inside the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/Moth-Catherine-...
I've already reserved the book at our library.
Back when I read it six years ago, I mentioned the opening novel of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody historical mystery series, Crocodile on the Sandbank, in this group. This is one of many series I've started and left hanging for a long time, just because of the sheer volume of books I want to read, and the variety of reading commitments I get myself into. But I've resolved to be more active in following up on these series; so I've started on the second Amelia Peabody book, The Curse of the Pharaohs.
Werner, that sounds like a very good series! The Egyptian angle is very intriguing. I'll put it on my keep-in-mind shelf. Thank you!PS-I see that one of them is already there. :) ... recommended by you in 2010! I should move it to my To-Read shelf, making it more important. : )
If you do read the series opener sometime, Joy, I hope you like it!
I hope so too, Werner. For a while there I was striking zero on books but things are looking up lately. Now I seem to have too many. LOLI recently started a Sidney Sheldon novel, Sands of Time, about the civil war in Spain. It's very promising. Sidney Sheldon rarely fails me.
I've heard of Sidney Sheldon, of course (being a librarian!), but never read any of his work. We have some of his books in the BC library, though.
Sidney Sheldon is very good at creating suspenseful plots.
Joy H. wrote: "Sidney Sheldon is very good at creating suspenseful plots."I'll keep him in mind for sometime when I've gotten through my 390+ book to-read list (or greatly reduced it), Joy!
Werner, I guess Sidney will have to get in line. :)
Joy H. wrote: "Werner, I guess Sidney will have to get in line. :)"True; and it's a loong line. (Sigh!) "So many books, so little time."
Werner wrote: "... "So many books, so little time.""Werner, it's an embarrassment of riches! lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embarra...
So many books so decisions decisions decisions. Some turn out good and some not so good but that's life.. isn't it?
Nina wrote: "So many books so decisions decisions decisions. Some turn out good and some not so good but that's like isn't it?"But when they're good, it's great! :)
QUOTE: "Real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure” ---Jane Brody
I finished "The Glassblowers," trilogy and miss the characters already.
Interesting that Sidney Sheldon was once a librarian. Wonder where?
Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: "I am still liking the story but it is getting a bet too dramatic. Why do author's feel they have to do that?"Nina, do you feel you are being manipulated? I've often read that complai..."Yes, maybe that is a good way to put it. I didn't think it was entirely necessary to keep my attention but I liked the story so much I forgave the author in the case.
Nina wrote: "I finished "The GlassblowerThe Glassblowers," trilogy and miss the characters already."Nina, that's a tribute to the author of The Glassblower, Petra Durst-Benning.
Here's a page about her: http://durst-benning.de/index.php?id=197
Goodreads doesn't show much: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Nina wrote: "Interesting that Sidney Sheldon was once a librarian. Wonder where?"Nina, where does it say that Sidney Sheldon was a librarian? His Wiki page doesn't mention it.
WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_...
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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A related publication mentioned in the credits was: Man Into Woman: The First Sex Change (1931) by Lili Elbe. It's "a riveting account" of the man/woman upon whom the movie was loosely based. The GR description says: "...this new edition of Man into Woman, the birth, life and confessions of Lili Elbe, is a story of a marriage and of love and romance that paints a fascinating portrait of a 1930's European artistic community. Compiled from Lili's own letters and manuscripts, and those of the people who adored her, Man into Woman is the Genesis of the Gender Revolution."
See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PS-The ending of the movie was the same as the one in the book.