What books did you get from library, store or online? ~~ 2017

[John]

I loved it, too. I saw the French movie after reading the book.

[Alias Reader]

John wrote: "I loved it, too. I saw the French movie after reading the book."

My library doesn't have the DVD. :(

Quite awhile ago Amazon Prime had it. I'll have to keep an eye out for it there.

Thanks for the reminder.

[madrano]

Alias Reader wrote: "madrano wrote: "
I'm reading The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen. ...That sounds interesting. I put it on my library to read shelf. I see it's popular and there are a lot of holds and the library seems to be processing new copies. ..."

I suppose i'm naive in international politics but what i'm reading is remarkable. I vaguely recall hearing about some of these events but took them at face value, which i now see was not necessarily the truth. If you read it, i hope you find it as interesting as i do.

[Alias Reader]

I can't wait to read it, deb.

I need 10 heads to read all the books I want to read !

I mentioned it to a friend and she immediately requested it from the library. Thanks !

[madrano]

Glad to be of service, Alias.

[Julie]

Alias Reader wrote: "Megan, I LOVED The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

Ditto!

[Julie]

Started The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer. So interesting!

[Chrissy]

Traveling with Ghosts sounds like a book I'd love; it's gone on my (quite long) list of books to place on hold from the library. I noticed the description mentioned Cheryl Strayed's Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, which I adored, so I'm even more sure I'll like it.

Currently I'm reading Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende. I've read one other of Allende's books (Island Beneath the Sea), and with both I've noticed I have to read quite slowly. Her writing is beautiful though, and I love to imagine the dangerous jungles and lush South American scenery she describes. It's about a young woman who travels to the New World in the 1500s with only her niece to accompany her, unheard of back in those times. Not amazing so far but definitely intriguing.

[Alias Reader]

Julie wrote: "Started The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer. So interesting!"

Oh my..... Another one for my To Be Read Shelf. I wish my library had more copies so I could suggest it for our Group Library read.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts

[madrano]

Julie wrote: "Started The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer. So interesting!"

Julie, i hope you learn as much as i did from this book. It was almost entirely new to me, even though i'd read hints about the Islamic "baddies" previously. I believe it was on my list of favorites from last year.

[Megan]

Alias Reader wrote: "Megan, I LOVED The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

I finished reading it over the weekend and loved it! Such a great book :)

[Alias Reader]

Megan Elizabeth wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Megan, I LOVED The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

I finished reading it over the weekend and loved it! Such a great book :)"

:) I'm glad you enjoyed it, too. I loved the writing.

[Chrissy]

I picked up The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford from the library today. I believe Mike was the one that mentioned it originally earlier in this thread. I haven't read a fantasy book in a while so I'm excited, but I didn't realize how long this one is until I went to pick it up. I've been leaving lots of books unfinished lately (three in a row! Very unlike me!) so hopefully this keeps my attention.

[Alias Reader]

Christina wrote: "I picked up The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford from the library today. I believe Mike was the one that mentioned it originally earlier..."

Edward Rutherford books are always big books. I had his
London
I ended up giving it away unread. It was paperback size not trade size. With the smaller print and the size of the book I knew it was never going to happen. :(

Even though his New York is around 900 pages, I may tackle that tome one day.

Good luck, Christina !

[madrano]

Apparently Edward Rutherfurd doesn't know how to make a slim book. I hear such praise for them, even from my husband, who really liked Sarum: The Novel of England. Maybe someday i'll be willing to make the time but if i'm going to spend that much time, i think i'd prefer it to be nonfiction. (I can say this about SO many topics, btw.)

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: Maybe someday i'll be willing to make the time but if i'm going to spend that much time, i think i'd prefer it to be nonfiction. (I can say this about SO many topics, btw.) .."

I'm with you.

[Alias Reader]

I had some books I requested come in to the library for me.
I hope I can get to them before they are due.

Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life---Gail Blanke

I got this one because a person at my gym said they really liked it. They especially liked the second part of the book which dealt with clutter of the mind and dealing with people.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis--J.D. Vance
I hope I can get to this before it's due as it's a number 1 NY Times bestseller, so the waiting list at the library is a mile long.

[Andy2302]

Hit the jackpot at the city recycling book barn. There were 2 big boxes of Discards from the city library. Hardcover with a little wear. A dozen looked interesting with Genghis: Birth of an Empire topping the pile.
Another was The Kite Runner which my friends have rated highly.
Happy reading.

[Alias Reader]

Lucky you, Andy !

I read The Kite Runner and it is a winner.

[Alias Reader]

I ordered a used book from Amazon the other day.

Dancing Spirit---Judith Jamison

Judith Jamison is, in every sense, a towering figure. Her commanding physical presence and extraordinary technique have made her not only a superstar of American dance and an innovator in her field but also an inspiration to African Americans, to women, and to people of all origins around the world. Last November, Doubleday published Dancing Spirit, this remarkable woman's autobiography. Now, with Anchor's paperback publication, an even wider audience can trace the steps of her career: her early years in Philadelphia, where she began studying dance at the age of six, her discovery by Agnes de Mille; years of frustration and struggle in a field that favored petite, fair, White women; her legendary collaboration with Alvin Ailey; her work on Broadway in the musical Sophisticated Ladies; the formation of her own company, the Jamison Project, and her return to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as artistic director after its founder's death in 1989. Dancing Spirit contains vivid portraits of many artists Jamison has worked with, including Agnes de Mille, Alvin Ailey, Jessye Norman, Geoffrey Holder, Carmen de Lavallade, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, to name only a few. And Jamison talks frankly about the price exacted by a dancer's nomadic life--rootlessness, fleeting relationships, the obsession with physical beauty. Illustrated with sixty photographs, Dancing Spirit is a candid and immediate self-portrait of a unique American artist whose work has left an indelible mark on the world of dance.

[Jacqueline]

I just got Red Queen from the library.

Also bought on my Kindle app:
Empire of Storms
Poison Study
First Year
A Court of Mist and Fury
Heartless

I already finished Heartless. My heart hurts. I loved it so much.

[Alias Reader]

Jaci wrote: My heart hurts. I loved it so much.


:) Only another book lover would understand that feeling.

[Jacqueline]

Alias Reader wrote: ":) Only another book lover would understand that feeling."

It was just a standalone but I really, really thoroughly enjoyed it. I had so many different emotions. It's written by Marissa Meyer, author of The Lunar Chronicles. I just love her retellings of fairytales. This particular one really was just too much for my heart. I finished it yesterday and I'm still grieving lol.

[madrano]

I agree with Alias, a book lover understands.

Yesterday my sister told me her book group will be reading The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. I told her i'd read it just this month & liked it. Then, as conversation moved on, i remember the story and how i absolutely LOVED the ending. I interrupted the conversation to tell her that. It meant so much to me...and it's been awhile since an ending made the book so much better for me.

Alias, i only barely remember the name Jamison in the ballet world. Just the bit you've shared makes it sound as though it will be a good book. I hope you enjoy it.

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: Alias, i only barely remember the name Jamison in the ballet world. Just the bit you've shared makes it sound as though it will be a good book. I hope you enjoy it.


She was a beautiful very tall dancer.

[Barbara]

Beautiful photos!

[madrano]

Ditto!

[Alias Reader]

I decided that Being Nixon: A Man Divided----Evan Thomas
was a book I had to own. The hardcover that I have out from the library is 531 pages.

There is a paperback version so I ordered that. I know there will be tons of things I would want to highlight and I don't want to have to make 100 pages of notes so I purchased the book for $10 on Amazon.

It's also a book I don't want to feel rushed reading because it's due back at the library.

[madrano]

This sounds like a good idea for you, Alias. Having just written out notes for Ralph Nader's Breaking Through Power: It's Easier Than We Think, which is a slender book, i understand your decision. My notes were over 7 pages!

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "This sounds like a good idea for you, Alias. Having just written out notes for Ralph Nader's Breaking Through Power: It's Easier Than We Think, which is a slender boo..."

I still have a Nader book on my shelf that I've yet to read. No reason other than too many books too little time.

[madrano]

I'll be honest with you, Alias. I added Nader's book last month, then forgot to suspend it when i was doing so with others. I was afraid i'd get too fired up & be unable to take action since we are leaving. While he did offer some good ideas, i wasn't chomping at the bit. There was plenty to think about, however, and i believe i will be considering much of what he wrote while we visit other countries. By that i mean, comparing some of notions he mentioned.

I'll share more when i finally post my March books read list, probably tomorrow.

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: There was plenty to think about, however, and i believe i will be considering much of what he wrote while we visit other countries. By that i mean, comparing some of notions he mentioned.

You can't ask more than that.

I just checked my card file for the books I own and I guess I forgot to make up a card for the Nader book. I doubt that it didn't make the cut when I moved. I'll have to see if I can find it when I have some spare time.

[madrano]

Isn't that annoying? I think i'm so careful with my lists and then something will pop up to illustrate my errors. I guess it keeps us mortal. ;-)

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "Isn't that annoying? I think i'm so careful with my lists and then something will pop up to illustrate my errors. I guess it keeps us mortal. ;-)"

I don't know how it happened as I thought when I moved I made a card for each book as I put it on the shelf. Guess not. :(

My next project is to make a card for the books that are on my Kindle. My Kindle is a black hole and I am often surprised to find books that I purchased but have totally forgotten that I did.

[Jill H.]

I just lived up to the saying "variety is the spice of life" with the list of books I got at the library today. The library turns me into something like a starving person who suddenly finds a banquet!!

Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David Browne
The Complete Jack the Ripperby Donald Rumbelow
Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer
Threshold of War: Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Entry Into World War II by Waldo Heinrichs

[Alias Reader]

:) That is some eclectic book haul !

[Jill H.]

And look at the book tote my sister gave me for my birthday. It and other book related items can be found at the Out-of Print site.

[Alias Reader]

That is too cute !

Happy Birthday !

[madrano]

Terrific bag! I recently checked out an old library book & such an insert was on the inside cover. I'd almost forgotten those things and the pleasures of looking to see who else had checked out the book.

Your list of checked out books is varied alright. I sometimes run into a web site which i think is called Atlas Obscura. Is this book related to it? I can't locate the site now that i'm actually searching for it. The reading and articles are fascinating but i'm always too busy to linger.

[Barbara]

Love the book tote!

[Jill H.]

@madrano.......Atlas Obscura doesn't seem to be connected to the web site you mentioned.....it is 450 pages with lots of photos and a short explanation of each of the unusual places around the world. It is a book that you read in spurts.

Here is the web site where you can buy the tote, socks, cups, etc. that are so unique for the book lover.

https://www.outofprintclothing.com/

[John]

Chiming in to recommend my most recent library book: The Refugees, a collection of stories about postwar American and Vietnamese characters. Such a great sense of setting that the stories are almost like watching short films.

[Alias Reader]

John wrote: "Chiming in to recommend my most recent library book: The Refugees, a collection of stories about postwar American and Vietnamese characters. Such a great sense of setting that the s..."

I like to read short stories on my subway ride. Thanks I will add it to my list.

The authors last book won the Pulitzer. Did you read it, John ?
The Sympathiser---Viet Thanh Nguyen

[John]

No, as I don't think that one would interest me much.

[madrano]

My aunt raved about the Nguyen novel, Alias. It's a bit long, so i haven't tried it yet but she said the writing was very good. It is an espionage novel but she liked the themes of friendship , betrayal, human hardship in war and Vietmanese/western cultural differences.

Those short stories may be along those lines, too. Thanks for mentioning them, John. This man sounds as though he has real talent.

Jill, thanks for the link to the library/book-themed store. I've bookmarked it, as i saw a number of items i'd like to "check out." ;-)

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "My aunt raved about the Nguyen novel, Alias. It's a bit long, so i haven't tried it yet but she said the writing was very good. It is an espionage novel but she liked the themes of friendship , bet..."

Espionage is not a genre I normally read. However, since it is the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, I have it on my TBR list.

----
The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as six other awards, The Sympathizer is the breakthrough novel of the year. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

[Francesca M]

Alias Reader wrote: "madrano wrote: "My aunt raved about the Nguyen novel, Alias. It's a bit long, so i haven't tried it yet but she said the writing was very good. It is an espionage novel but she liked the themes of ..."

I've got this on my TBR list too Alias. It sounded like an interesting book when came out and I think I will probably enjoy it. Hopefully I will get the time to read it soon :)!

[Jill H.]

Jill wrote: "@madrano.......Atlas Obscura doesn't seem to be connected to the web site you mentioned.....it is 450 pages with lots of photos and a short explanation of each of the unusual places around the worl..."

I was wrong. The Atlas Obscura is connected to the wonderful web site you mentioned.

[Dem]

I joined the Library last Monday for the First time (I have no idea why it took me so long and the fortune I have spent) I checked out two books The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia 750 Pages and Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire 640 pages. Think I overstretched myself and will be requesting extra time on both.

I have kindle and do audio books as well but prefer paper copy where possible so library seems like a wise idea after all these years and all those books piling up :-)
.

[Alias Reader]

Dem wrote: "I joined the Library last Monday for the First time (I have no idea why it took me so long and the fortune I have spent) I checked out two books [book:The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russi..."

Dem, the library has been a godsend for me. Not only have I saved a ton of money but because I am not buying the book it lets me check out new authors and topics that I wouldn't have if I had to pay for the book. So it has widened my reading horizons.

The only negative for me is I like to write in my non fiction books as it helps me to retain the info. So I still buy books some books too.

I use the library for audio books. That has saved me tons of money. My library is part of OverDrive. They have an amazing selection of thousands of books to listen to. They also have eBooks. But I prefer paper, usually.

I like audio books for when I am at the gym. It makes the treadmill and bike time fly by.