Café Quito: 'pub' thread for general discussions Showing 951-1,000 of 1,431

[LindaJ^]

Cindy wrote: "The only Stephen King novel I have read is 11/22/63, which I absolutely loved and recommended widely. I have the feeling it is somewhat different from his typical stuff."

I loved 11/22/63 also. It is in the sci fi branch of King's books, as is Under the Dome, which I also liked.

[WndyJW]

I’ve never been a fan of horror so I haven’t read King. Many years ago my husband read a lot of Dean Koontz.

[Alwynne]

Koontz is very derivative of King but the plots are more blatantly manipulative a bit like those old 'Twilight Zone' episodes and the writing's more basic. So tend to hinge on some bizarre event and what's behind it, then there's a big reveal at the end. King is actually quite good at writing about communities and small town mentality. He's also more political but he's just a bit too self-indulgent for my taste.

[WndyJW]

I wish this was a real pub so I could buy you all a cold drink. Is it really 105F /41C in the UK?! That is Las Vegas weather! I knew it was hot, but I just saw how hot.

Climate change is fun isn’t it? Not at all alarming.

[Roman Clodia]

I think it ended up between 38-9C in London in the end - so thanks, a cold drink would be welcome :)

[WndyJW]

I usually drink a milk stout or whiskey, but a gin & tonic sounds better today.

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Not quite so hot here in Nottingham, though still too hot for me, and I was glad I didn't need to go out, and today is expected to be hotter.

[Emmeline]

Nice and toasty in Spain too. I feel like half my department has covid but is coming to the office anyway for the air conditioning...

[WndyJW]

Oh, that’s not good, Emily. Most homes in my part of the US have central air conditioning and those that don’t have the window box type.
Air conditioning is terrible for the environment so we only turn it on when the humidity is very high as well as the temperature. Otherwise we open windows at night, then shut them and pull down blinds to keep the heat out during the day.

I hope everyone is managing to find ways to not be miserable.

[WndyJW]

When I read Nottingham the theme song from Disney’s Robin Hood popped in my head, “Robin Hood and Little John walking through the forest….”

[Tracy]

WndyJW wrote: "When I read Nottingham the theme song from Disney’s Robin Hood popped in my head, “Robin Hood and Little John walking through the forest….”"

My favorite Disney movie. Ahhh, memories!

[WndyJW]

One of my favorites, too!

[Tracy]

BTW, Wndy- I’m in the far southwest corner of Ohio this weekend- I’ll try to wave big. 👋
My son, his wife, and their pup live in Cincinnati, and we’re visiting. I’m researching bookstores in the area right now.

[Debra]

Welcome to SW Ohio, Tracy! I live in the Greater Cincinnati area. Joseph-Beth Bookstore has a great selection (and good food). However, the much smaller, cozier Roebling Point Books and Coffee is a real treat.

[Tracy]

Debra wrote: "Welcome to SW Ohio, Tracy! I live in the Greater Cincinnati area. Joseph-Beth Bookstore has a great selection (and good food). However, the much smaller, cozier Roebling Point Books and Coffee is a..."

Thank you! I’ll see if I can convince my hosts to indulge my habit- I don’t think I’ll have to twist their arms too hard!

[WndyJW]

I didn’t know I had Ohio neighbors. That nice to know. Cincinnati is about 5 hours southwest of Cleveland so our rest of the world friends would he surprised to hear that we have slightly different accents. Not strong accents, but there is a difference between southern and northern Ohio speakers.

If there is ever a book crisis it good to know we’re close enough to rescue one another!

[Debra]

WndyJW wrote: "I didn’t know I had Ohio neighbors. That nice to know. Cincinnati is about 5 hours southwest of Cleveland so our rest of the world friends would he surprised to hear that we have slightly different accents..."

Yes, that's true! My husband is from Youngstown, but has lived here (Cincinnati) for the last 30+ years. He has lost most of his northeast Ohio accent, but it slips out every now and then.

BTW, we visited friends in Chagrin Falls earlier this month and drove through Mentor after spending the day on a winery and covered bridge tour. You live in a beautiful part of the state.

[WndyJW]

Thank you. I agree. I think the Metroparks forests are more beautiful than Hocking Hills! We have a lot of old growth oak and maple around here. And of course the Metropark system, the Emerald Necklace, covers 23000 acres in the counties surrounding the greater Cleveland area. No matter where you live you’re within 15-minutes of woods, streams, and rivers.

My modest little neighborhood glows green in the summer we have so many big trees.

Lucy Ellmann was right when she said people from Ohio love to hear Ohio mentioned! (We’ll stay away from the politics of our lovely state.)

[WndyJW]

The Mookse and the Gripes podcast is always interesting and they cover books most of us here enjoy. Trevor and Paul are also the nicest guys. I only send them $12 a month to support the podcast, but they sent me a book, Esmond and Ilia: An Unreliable Memoir, with a cute little sloth book clip and personalized 2022 book list for recording this years reads.

[WndyJW]

I do not like the new look of the book pages! Why must things that ain’t broke be fixed?

[David]

I suspect the new desktop version is meant to bring GR pages into ADA compliance.

[WndyJW]

I’m not sure if you’re joking, David.

[David]

I’m not joking.

[WndyJW]

What was wrong with the previous version? This one looks like it’s for elementary school age kids.

[Suzanne]

This is insane. Salmon Rushdie has been stabbed onstage at an event in New York. I would link to an article but I don’t know how to do that on here.

[Rose Annable]

Yeah, madness. It sounds like he was eventually able to walk off stage so hopefully he’s not critically injured. Desperately hope he’s okay, he’s a massively important figure in my life, I love his writing like I love few others. That said, if anything I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before

[Trevor]

Horrible news. I hope he will be okay!

[Trevor]

Oh, and I need to thank Wendy for her kind words up above. I had not seen them until now. Wendy, we appreciate your kindness and support more than we can show with a book!

[Cindy]

Here is a link to CNN's report on Salman Rushdie:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/12/us/sal...

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I had the pleasure to put some questions to him on BBC Front Row in 2019 and then introduce myself to him at the shortlist readings a few weeks later.

[WndyJW]

I just saw this! I pray he’s okay. What a f*cking crazy world we live in. The amount of violence everyday makes me fear die everyone I love.

[Janet]

Just heard this - very shocking. I've always admired Rushdie's unflinching stance against those who wanted to destroy him. And very sad this took place at Chautauqua, which I'm guessing was struggling to come back in the way that all in person events have been struggling.

[Vesna]

Janet wrote: "Just heard this - very shocking. I've always admired Rushdie's unflinching stance against those who wanted to destroy him. And very sad this took place at Chautauqua, which I'm guessing was struggling..."

Yes, they struggled like many other venues. We were there in pre-Covid times, beautiful and peaceful area and the Chautauqua program usually highlights interconnectedness across cultures. It would be a shame if they get the notoriety for this incident because it's the opposite from a sense one gets when at their summer events. We almost went there for Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All this summer but our travel plans changed. I hope Rushdie will come out with only minor injuries and completely recover soon.

[Debra]

Oh, how awful. I can't imagine the fear he has lived with all of these years -- and for it to come to this. I hope he is ok.

We also visited Chautauqua several years back -- stumbled upon it on a road trip and ended up spending the day there. I was not familiar with the place and was taken aback by how peaceful and serene the place was -- it almost felt unreal. I can't believe something so ugly could happen there.

[Cindy]

Current reports on Rushdie’a condition are not good. He is likely to lose an eye and has liver damage and severed tendons in an arm. Terrible.

[LindaJ^]

Some days I think it best to never leave my backyard where I can watch the birds and squirrels and on rare occasion see a fox and a deer pass through, with the fox grabbing a very fat squirrel for breakfast. Sometimes it seems there is no place safe left -- not schools, not churches, not movie theatres, not a sidewalk, not your front porch or even your living and bedroom -- gangs, cops, religious fervents, and others with guns and knives.

[WndyJW]

I feel exactly the same, Linda. I’m an introvert so leaving my house never much appealed to me anyway, but I am truly frightened for my 5 grandkids who go back to school this week, in spite of the rounded halls, bullet proof glass, strong locking classroom doors, and areas of “safety.”

[Paul]

Some point in the last month I passed 10,000 comments on this forum.

I suspect in several ways that isn’t a good thing!

[Emmeline]

Congratulations?!

[Paul]

Commisserations to everyone else, and my family?

[Hugh, Active moderator]

GY and Wendy have catching up to do! I am a distant 4th...

[David]

I am a very distant 11th. It would be interesting to sort that by year.

[Debra]

I'm even farther out at 21 (414 comments --now 415).

[WndyJW]

I saw awhile ago, with some embarrassment, that Paul, GY, and I have quite a lot to say here. I chalk it up to knowing no readers in my real life, or at least not readers of the same books I read, so no real life book club.

[WndyJW]

This is not book related at all, but I know some of our members have teenage daughters so I thought I’d share that my daughter just stopped by to vent about her teenage daughters, aged 14 and 16. I was the picture of understanding and maternal support, I hugged her and reassured her that she’s a good mom, they’re good girls, and the teen years are just tough, never letting her see the warm feeling of satisfaction I felt knowing that she is now going through what I went through with her and her sister 40 years ago.

[Tracy]

My parents had a severe case of ‘smug’ when my boys were teens.

My kids are still childless- they do have pets- but when my younger son was 13, my older asked me if he was that bad two years before. When I told him he was, he apologized.

Maybe that plays a role in the absence of children at his house…

[WndyJW]

I wasn’t too smug, mostly because I didn’t have to deal with social media. My 14 yr old granddaughter will not have social media for a very long time, but teachers now use texting and internet links for assignments. There is so much about the harm of social media, especially with teenage girls, and how addicting social media is, but schools expect kids to use their phones in class and not quickly check Snap Chat or texts. It’s crazy to me.

[WndyJW]

In Reading the 20th Century group we looked at our percentage of ratings and it was kind of fun. I found the my star ratings are;
5* 31%
4* 36%
3* 25*
2* 5%
1* 0%

That 92% of the books I read I rated 3* or better, 67% 4* or 5* is reflective of my vow to only read books I enjoy. I am surprised at the percentage of 5 star books, it’s higher than I expected, I admit. I credit my discovery of indie presses after joining this group with that.

I’m guessing Paul will have the highest percentage of 2* and 1* star books because he needs them for his math thingy.

If anyone is interested in their ratings percentages you’ll find them on your profile page right under your account avatar or photo. Click # ratings (#avg)

[Tracy]

Wow, I have only given 5 stars to 5%. Mostly my ratings hover in the 3 and 4 star range, 2 stars 11% and 1 star 1%. There are quite a few books I read, but didn’t rate- I tend to leave nonfiction unrated, unless I had an extreme love or hate reaction.

If I am not liking the book I’m reading, I DNF, so my 1 star ratings may be skewed.

I wonder how many of my ratings would change over time- but I don’t think I want to go back and reread most of them!

[Debra]

Hmm...I guess I'm too generous. However, I also tend to DNF books I don't like, so the true distribution is probably bimodal.

5 40%
4 47%
3 11%
2 0%
1 0%