Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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What are you reading these days? (Part ELEVEN (2015) ongoing thread for 2015
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Werner
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Jan 28, 2015 05:56AM
Canadian writer Deborah Cannon, the author of the book I started yesterday, The Pirate Vortex, is one of my Goodreads friends; but I had the book on my to-read list long before we became friends (and it's not a free review copy, but instead checked out from the library). The opening book of her Elizabeth Latimer, Pirate Hunter series, it's a YA SF tale with time travel, pirates (obviously), and a plucky teenage heroine who happens to be well schooled in fencing.
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Jim wrote: "Don't go anywhere near it, Joy. You'd hate it. ;)"I was going to say that! LOL
I just finished South by Lance Charnes. Oh my! A spy thriller set in a very depressing near-future US. The world is depressing, but the story is fantastic. I gave it 5 stars. Here's my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jim wrote: "I just finished South by Lance Charnes. Oh my! A spy thriller set in a very depressing near-future US. ..."Jim, as you suggested in your review, sometimes the good writing makes all the difference in a story.
Nina had asked me if I ever go back to a book I had given up on. Well, for a change, yesterday I DID go back to the print copy of Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler.As I have said before, I've been approaching the story 3 ways: via print, audio, and film. I had given up on the book because it was filled with small-talk and domestic details. The film from the library turned out to be broken. So I've been listening to the audio version.
Yesterday, I had missed a part of audio-version; so I went back to the book to find that part. Lo and behold, it was a very interesting part of the book! So I kept on reading the book. LOL Too bad the book took so long to get interesting! It was the part about the main character and her "old boyfriend".
I also started to realize how much of the writing is missed when listening as opposed to when reading. If one is prone to have thoughts wander, then we miss parts of the audio.
Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch was very good, but very detailed & long. It's amazing that he stuck to just the last century & managed to come up with so many. I gave it 4 stars & a longish review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read your review of "Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory", Jim. It was an excellent review.A while ago you posted about a book that pointed out that the media exaggerates things or reports the worst news in order to get our attention. Nowadays I remember that lesson and when I see sensationalism on TV news it doesn't impress me or disturb me as much. Now I seem to be able to recognize the devious ways of the media after reading your post and/or review. Thank you for that lesson. It was a good reminder for me.
I've added more to my review of The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer. The link to my review is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I'm still reading it and have enjoyed many parts of it.
Today at the library I picked up 3 other books about Hollywood. They are:
Original Story By by Arthur Laurents
Niv by Graham Lord (about David Niven)
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
(I heard about this one from Jim of KY.)
I feel like a kid in a candy store! :)
Joy, I finished the Stephen King book, Full Dark, No Stars. You mentioned King frightens you.Well do not go near THIS one! I like King and even I thought it was a bit dark. Extremely well written though.
Read another of the Jack Reacher mystery series---Persuader and rated it a three as I enjoy the series.Just started a Doctor Who novel tonight---Time of Your Life which is so far starting out average.
Glad to help, Joy. I think you'll like If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. Bruce Campbell is a hoot & a heck of a nice guy. It might not mean as much to you since I'm sure you're not a fan of (probably never heard of) the Evil Dead trilogy which is where Campbell & Sam Ramii got their start.
Mary JL wrote: "...Just started a Doctor Who novel tonight---Time of Your Life which is so far starting out average."Mary JL, I didn't know there were "Doctor Who" books. I first heard of Dr. Who from Jackie who posted about the Dr. Who TV series. I didn't become a fan but at least I learned about the police box he worked out of. Interesting concept.
I did a quick search just now and learned that "Canadian Sydney Newman, was mainly responsible for developing the programme [Doctor Who], with the first format document for the series being written by Newman along with the head of the script department (later head of serials) Donald Wilson and staff writer C. E. Webber."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who
"Although much work on the genesis of the series was done by Donald Wilson, C. E. Webber and others, it was Newman who created the idea of a time machine larger on the inside than the out and the character of the mysterious "Doctor," both of which remain at the heart of the programme. He is also believed to have come up with the title Doctor Who, although actor and director Hugh David later credited this to his friend Rex Tucker, the initial "caretaker producer" of the programme.
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_N...
Joy, if you want to see a film about Sydney and producer Verity Lambert and how DW came about, watch "An Adventure in Space and Time". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2663812/ It was part of the 50th Anniversary specials that aired throughout 2013. There are also DW comics and a DW magazine. Culturally, it's huge in the UK, everyone knows DW and I do mean everyone.
Jackie wrote: "Joy, if you want to see a film about Sydney and producer Verity Lambert and how DW came about, watch "An Adventure in Space and Time". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2663812/ It was part of the 50th ..."Jackie, I would LOVE to see that film! Unfortunately I'd have to pay 6.99 to watch it via Amazon Instant Video.
Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection - 2013
Episode 7 - Season 50
7. An Adventure in Space & Time
"This one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how the beloved Doctor Who was first brought to the screen."
http://www.amazon.com/An-Adventure-in...
Thanks very much for the IMDb link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2663812/
"A dramatization of the conception, birth and early years of Doctor Who (1963), with the story revolving around BBC executive Sydney Newman, novice producer Verity Lambert and actor William Hartnell."
Our library doesn't seem to have it available for requests. I found the following in the catalog:
http://pac.sals.edu/polaris/search/ti...
They tell me to contact the library. I can't request it online.
PS-Our library doesn't seem to have it available for requests. I found the following in the catalog:Doctor Who (Television program : 2005- )
Doctor Who. The doctors revisited, 5-8 [DVD].
http://pac.sals.edu/polaris/search/ti...
They tell me to contact the library. I can't request it online. The library message online says: "This item is not available to fill your request. Contact the library for assistance."
BBCAmerica Will reair An Adventure in Time and Space, check the listings every now and then and it's bound to come up. They're always reairing DW.The Doctors Revisited was a monthly special run during the 50th Anniversary year. They were interesting in that I got to know the Classic DW Doctors a little bit. In it's initial airing, it was paired with an episode of the particular Doctor.
Jackie wrote: "BBCAmerica Will reair An Adventure in Time and Space, check the listings every now and then and it's bound to come up. They're always reairing DW. ..."Jackie, what channel is BBCAmerica? All I can find on my printed Channel Lineup from Time Warner Cable is BBC WORLD NEWS, Channel 209.
Channel 110. An Adventure is not airing this week. I'll try and keep a lookout and let you know when it's coming back on. I leave my TV channel set to BBCA so it's the first thing I see when I turn it on.
Jackie wrote: "Channel 110. An Adventure is not airing this week. I'll try and keep a lookout and let you know when it's coming back on. I leave my TV channel set to BBCA so it's the first thing I see when I ..."
Thanks, Jackie!!! PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW!
PS-I checked my printed schedule again and found it! It's categorized under "Entertainment".
Joy, here's the title of one of our book selections this year and thought you might be interested in it. It is the fictionalized version of the love affair of Robert Louis Stevenson and his future wife/she was originally married when they met and fell in love. You might want to check it out: "Under the Wide and Starry Sky" by Nancy Horan
Thanks for the recommendation, Nina. I'll check it out.Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan.
Well, here's a pleasant surprise! At least I hope so. Harper Lee, the author of one book To Kill a Mockingbird which was originally published in 1960, actually wrote a book about Scout as an adult first which she never published. She's planning to now on July 14th. She's 88. Can you imagine? http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/boo...
I hope it is good, but I think I'll wait. To Kill a Mockingbird is going to be a really hard act to follow. I'm going to have super high expectations of this new one & will be crushed if it doesn't live up to them. I'm not sure any book could.
Wow! What ambition Harper Lee has... even at 88 years old. I didn't realize she was still living. (She was born in 1926.) At Wiki, it says:----------------------------------------------
"Lee announced plans to publish her second novel, Go Set a Watchman, on July 14, 2015. 'In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman... It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort,' she said in a statement issued on February 3, 2015. Her publisher says it isn't likely she will do a publicity tour for the book."
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Strange title for the new book, IMO.
I just heard about Harper Lee. I hope it's good.
I will check out Harper Lee's new books also. But as Jim pointed out it would have to be incredible to equal To Kill a Mockingbird.A lot of high hopes may be dashed.
I thought about pre-ordering "Go Set A Watchman" from Amazon, but the prices are ridiculous. It's $16 for the Kindle edition, $17 for the HB (Save $11!), & $26.50 for the PB. Seriously? I'll wait a few years.
I googled and found an article at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisf... which says:"Some works of art are so beautifully realised that they should be left alone. Here are five others that should never be touched."
It also said: "Lee’s second book, Go Set a Watchman, was written first, and To Kill a Mockingbird was born from its flashback sequences. The sequel, whose title is taken from a biblical quote, tells the story of the same characters from Mockingbird, featuring a grown-up Scout now living in New York."
The quote from the bible is:
Isaiah 21:6 (English Standard Version) - "For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees."
http://biblehub.com/isaiah/21-6.htm
The above-linked page also gives other versions of quote, .e.g.,
Isaiah 21:6 (New International Version) "This is what the Lord says to me: "Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees."
Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody is a brief history of that crazy, fantastic service geared to young adults, but I found it practically perfect. It was well read & gave me a far better insight into it than I'd ever had before. It's short, easy to read (listen to), & just amazing. I gave it 4 stars in my review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jim wrote: "Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody is a brief history of that crazy, fantastic service geared to young adults, but I found it practically perfect. It was well re..."Jim, thanks for the review. I can imagine how dangerous that pony express service was. I didn't realize how short-lived it was. There's another book on the same topic: Wanted: A Few Bold Riders: A Story of the Pony Express by Darice Bailer (only 32 pages).
I'm sure the audio book you listened to was more interesting than the one I'm listening to now: Leonardo da Vinci: A Life by Sherwin B. Nuland. So boring. I'm amazed that authors are interested in all the boring details from the 1400s and 1500s about who was who back then (names we've never heard of!) . The reader must have been bored out of his mind! LOL
Jim, thanks for the extra link at your review:http://www.lrgaf.org/journeys/pony-bo...
"The incredible story of "Pony Bob" Haslam - The most famous of the Old West Mounted Mailmen."
EXCERPT: "Bob saw many tragedies on his runs through this lonely country. Once he passed a spot where ninety Chinamen had been massacred by Indians. Their corpses were still on the ground. The Idaho run was Bob's last job with the Pony Express. The man who took over his route when he resigned, Sye Macaulas, was killed by Indians the first time he covered the route."
I YI YI!
Your observations on how boring Nuland makes daVinci's life are exactly what I was trying to get across in my review, Joy. He wasn't boring, but too much detail makes it so. That's why this Moody did such a great job - great overview & highlights. It enabled me to grasp the whole thing & remain interested as he detailed the more important aspects.
PS-Jim, I learned a new word from the "Pony Bob" link you provided. (See my previous post.) The word is: hippological - relating to hippology or the scientific study of the horse.
Jim wrote: "Your observations on how boring Nuland makes daVinci's life are exactly what I was trying to get across in my review, Joy. He wasn't boring, but too much detail makes it so. That's why this Moody..."Good point, Jim. I guess authors get so wrapped up in the details they discover, that they can't see the forest for the trees.
I'm reading Original Story By by Arthur Laurents, the playwright and screenwriter. He talks about the difficulty of adapting books to movies. It's a whole different ballgame when it comes to deciding what to include. Producers and writers had big arguments over the choices to be made.
In another book I just finished reading, The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer, the author includes too many details about the transactions that Greg Bautzer was involved in. I lost interest in those parts and skimmed through them. Seems to me that there's a great skill in picking out the important details for readers. There's a quote I love: "Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple." -C.W. Ceram
I've just started reading The Haunting of Gad's Hall, by one of my favorite authors, Norah Lofts. This is the sequel to her earlier novel Gad's Hall (which I really liked). Several of the books I've read by Lofts have been common reads in the fan group I belong to here on Goodreads; but this one was just a recent acquisition from BookMooch, which I decided that it's high time I read.
Werner, years ago I read quite a few of Norah Loft's books. Seems to me it might be fun to revisit them or to read more of her books. Thanks for reminding me! It's good to know that the old stand-bys are still there when I am at a loss for a good book almost guaranteed to please!Below are the Norah Lofts books I've read (according to my old notes from before Goodreads):
Madselin
Requiem for Idols
The Lute Player
Lady Living Alone (Originally published under the nom de plume Peter Curtis.)
Pargeters (I made a notation that I didn't like this one.)
Werner wrote: "I've just started reading The Haunting of Gad's Hall, by one of my favorite authors, Norah Lofts. This is the sequel to her earlier novel Gad's Hall (which I really l..."PS-Werner, I notice that some people from Goodreads have those two books on their "horror" shelves. Are they REALLY horror stories or just Gothic tales?
Joy, of the five books on your list above, the only one I've read is Madselin. (I gave that one five stars.) You might also like the House trilogy (The Town House, The House at Old Vine, and The House at Sunset), Bless This House, Hester Roon, and A Wayside Tavern.Of course, I've barely started the second Gad's book; but I'd surmise that it's like the first one in its essential qualities. Gad's Hall definitely has features from the Gothic tradition, with an old, spooky house that harbors a dark secret. It's also supernatural fiction, in which the supernatural elements are real and play a central role in the plot. But they're relatively low-key for most of the book, and there isn't a sustained focus on horrific, bloody events. (My review is here, if that would help: www.goodreads.com/review/show/129382711 .)
Werner, thanks for those links and for the explanation. Looks like I have a lot of reading to look forward to. :)
You're welcome, Joy! Hope you enjoy these books, if and when you get around to reading them. :-)
Werner, IF and WHEN are two important qualifiers. LOL But I think it's important to know the list is there if I ever need it!
I've just finished reading The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I don't want to give away the storyline, but I must say that it was a gut-wrenching story, as are all stories about a parent's deep love for his or her child. The story was made more so by the author's heartrending style of writing. At times I started to think that the author was milking it for all it was worth, but then I told myself that this type of writing is called for in a plot like this. In any case, I was compelled to keep reading because I wanted to see how the story ended.There are many beautiful passages and a good bit of philosophising about life itself, usually through the characters' thoughts, thoughts we all probably have within us but cannot express quite as well. I doubt if I will ever forget this story.
The author is good at using metaphors and writing similes. One of the ones I liked best was on page 30 of the edition I was reading: "The white stone light tower rested against the slate sky like a stick of chalk."
PS-I noticed quite a few "did not finish/abandoned" shelves for the above-mentioned book at Goodreads (_The Light Between Oceans_). I wonder if that's because parts of the story were just too sad to take.
PPS-One GR reviewer said (about _The Light Between Oceans_):==================================
"This book captivated me from the start, and the writing was beautiful. The it turned into a melodrama, which I guess was inevitable. So I give it a mixed review."
FROM: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
==================================
I guess "melodrama" was a word I might have been looking for in my review.
PPPS-Another GR reviewer said (about _The Light Between Oceans_):***********************************
"...So reading about babies, and wanting babies, and trying to get me to cry over babies, just makes me angry. I don't like being emotionally manipulated in novels."
FROM: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
************************************
Can anyone answer this question? Why is a book published in 2004 now on the NY Times Best Sellers list in 2015?The book is: Memories Are Made of This, a book about Dean Martin. The author is shown as Wendy Holden, but the description says: "A revealing and affectionate biography of the legendary Dean Martin by his daughter Deana." (Actually, it SHOULD say: "by Deana Martin with Wendy Holden.")
HOWEVER, back to my main question: why is it so popular NOW in 2015?
Here's the current NY Times Bestsellers list (for non-fiction) where the book is #14: http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-b...
Very often a book gets to the best-seller list by word of mouth, sometimes it takes years to get that following. As to why now, this book is going to be made into a movie, that always brings a resurgence of interest and popularity. http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/dean...
Thank you, Jackie! That answers my question. Until now, I didn't realize that a movie is being adapted from Dean Martin's biography! How could anyone duplicate the charm of Dean Martin. It's impossible! Now I'm really looking forward to see which actor they choose! Let me know if you find out, OK? Thanks.
The Thirteen Hallows and Don Quixote. I borrowed DQ from a friend and realized I've had it over a year! Yikes! Truth be told, I forgot about it.
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