THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
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WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WHY!!
Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflection on the nature of grief. Today, we seem..."You are right, it was hard to read. I read it shortly after my father's daath. It was hard to read but I think it helped me through some of it.
Mod
horrific what happened to Dominique- affected her father for rest of his life
Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflection on the nature of grief. ..."I have an aging parent; so I have set this book aside.. The time will come when I will read it again. Jan, I am glad the book helped you after the death, of your father.
Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflection on the nat..."I should warn you that reading it when I did really was not easy. I gave my mother a copy and she was unable to read it. There was a book that helped her but all I can really remember about it is that Bob Greene's mother wrote it, most likely after the death of her own husband. It did have excellent reviews. I just don’t recall the name of the book or her first name.
My mother, too, is aging. She's 94 and about to get her second hip replacement. Other than her pain, she's in fairly good health. She just wants to get on with it.
Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflect..."Thanks for the warning. Hope your mother does well with her hip replacement. At that age it will not be easy. I had one several years ago. Not a fun time.
Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an exc..."She came back pretty good from her first one but that was about 15 years ago. She has had a knee and a shoulder replaced since then.
I'm reading The New World by Patrick Ness which is a prequel to his award-winning YA Chaos Walking series.
Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's b..."I started to answer this but then my computer went crazy. The poor dear, all those replacements must be so difficult. Hopefully, she will not need anymore.
Vicki wrote: "I am going to be reading Distant Hours by Kate Morton. For some reason, I feel drawn to her books. I own all three, but have not read them yet. I think it's time to do something abou..."Is this the same Kate Morton of The Forgotten Garden?
Robyn
I have just started two new books; a classic by Graham Greene, his spy novel, Our Man in Havana. I've also just started a non-fiction historical novel dealing with weaponry and its impact on history, War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History: 1500 to Today, by Max Boot.
Robyn wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I am going to be reading Distant Hours by Kate Morton. For some reason, I feel drawn to her books. I own all three, but have not read them yet. I think it's time to do ..."Robyn, I believe so, yes.
Robyn wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I am going to be reading Distant Hours by Kate Morton. For some reason, I feel drawn to her books. I own all three, but have not read them yet. I think it's time to do ..."Yes it is. The book is amazing so far.
I just started Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon. It won the Pulitzer for non-fiction in 2009. I'm reading the ebook version and so far, it's formatted wonderfully. No pictures cut off at the middle, for example. My one pet peeve is the non-linked footnotes.
Rick wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "Jennifer*Thank you for admitting to 'Twilight'. It receives great scorn and derision here in GR.I too adore the Twilight books. I don't understand why so many people loathe them or make disparaging comments about Stephenie Meyer's skills as an author. I started reading them in spite of the first movie. I initially found the movie to be silly and childish but after reading the first book I found a new appreciation for it. I think what people miss is that it's not really about Vampires. It's a beautifully written love story. If you can see that you can look past all the sparkling Vampires and brooding, lovestruck teenagers and just let your mind and your heart get swept away.
I'm currently reading "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins. It's the third and last installment of The Hunger Games series. I'm really surprised at how much I've enjoyed these books so far. I started reading "The Hunger Games" two weeks and finished up "Catching Fire" last night.I'm still also trying to get through "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it. I've been trying to read it for over a year now.
I am trying to read "The Moonstone" and "The Hobbit" for 2 other groups I belong to. I love both books but I am very tired at the moment and keep falling asleep, open book in hand!I'm also reading a 'Rainbow Fairy' book to my daughter but I'm not sure that counts!
Mod
I'm also readi..."
can't remember the last timeI DIDN'T fall asleep with an open book in hand!
Just finished These is my Words. Liked it, didn't love it. Not one for writing reviews so I'll just leave it at that...now what to read?? Curious Incident of the dog at Nighttime just may be it.
I'm waiting to borrow 'Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' from my son...can't wait to read it!!
Brenda wrote: "I'm waiting to borrow 'Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' from my son...can't wait to read it!!"Did not like this book at all. I have a son with Asperger's and I have to say that the portrayal of Asperger's in this novel is misleading.
I'm reading Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers for a challenge for another group. It's very good. Also, just starting The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman as I won it in a Goodreads giveaway.
Ginger wrote: "I'm currently reading "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins. It's the third and last installment of The Hunger Games series. I'm really surprised at how much I've enjoyed these books so far. I started re..."I read The Hunger Games last night. Literally. I started it and couldn't put it down - finished it at 3:30 this morning. And started the second book this morning. I want to read instead of working!
Gini wrote: "Ginger wrote: "I'm currently reading "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins. It's the third and last installment of The Hunger Games series. I'm really surprised at how much I've enjoyed these books so fa..."They all are wonderful and ever so hard to put down.
Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers which was a library recommendation.
Marialyce wrote: "Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers which was a library recommendation."Just put in a library request for The Invisible Wall. It's a subject that has recently really called to me. I think because, in our school district, we just had a teacher who was fired for teaching Holocaust denial in her history class. And, the year before, the Aryan Youth blanketed the high school (that my son will attend in 2 years) with recruitment fliers; this year they struck another school with graffitti- swastikas, death threats, etc. Makes it important to realize, Jewish or not, we must teach our children never to forget.
Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers which was a library recommendation."..."
...and that teacher should be fired!!! We spoke of this book at my F2F book club and everyone raved about it so. Did you know that the man who wrote it is in his 90"s and apparently there are two others he has authored since then? Amazing!
To deny something so abhorrent is to go against that which makes one human imo.
Marialyce wrote: "Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers which was a library reco..."And she was failing kids who didn't agree with her. The really repulsive thing is that it later came out that she had been teaching this for about 3 years. No one reported her for three years. Makes you wonder how many were scared, how many agreed, or how many just didn't think it was worth their time and effort. So, around 500 people knew and did nothing. The other sickening thing is that until it made the news, she was kept in a non-teaching, PAID administrative post. The boy's parents found out and went to the news station when they found out, that's how she got fired.
Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers which ..."The tenure law's failure is keeping someone like that in the profession. Many people just don't care what happens to their kids in school. It has becomes for many a babysitting service. ...and I blame administration too! Why the heck did they not know about this? Where were they? Did they ever enter her classroom? This has the makings of a lawsuit I think.
Marialyce wrote: "Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Shay wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Reading North and South for a book club selection as well as [book:The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers|4..."We don't have tenure in our school system- no union. I think they probably felt it was cheaper to not renew her contract (it would have been "only" about 5 months) than to take it to review. Or, at least, that's their justification. Contracts here are renewed yearly- no guaranteed employment.
Well then, shame on them even more. They should have released her three years ago. I get so angry. It is people like this that drag down our wonderful teaching profession.
Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflection on the nature of grief. Today, we seem..."I loved The Year of Magical Thinking! It seemed not only a reflection on grief in its extremities, but also to cast light on all the more subtle moments of sadness and loneliness in everyday life.... I wrote more about it at http://shimosreadinglist.blogspot.com...
David wrote: "Shay wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I'm waiting to borrow 'Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' from my son...can't wait to read it!!"Did not like this book at all. I have a son with Asperger's..."
David - I tend to agree with what you said there. I can't comment about the portrayal of Asberger's either, but I did find the story fascinating.
Bill wrote: "David wrote: "Shay wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I'm waiting to borrow 'Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' from my son...can't wait to read it!!"Did not like this book at all. I have a son..."
I think we all have books that we don't enjoy because we have some kind of "specialized" knowledge. So, we can't get lost in a book when we find factual errors because we have a more than average amount of knowledge about the subject. I'm sure most police officers don't enjoy mysteries, doctors don't enjoy Robin Cook novels, etc. I also didn't enjoy the book Molokai because of its many inaccuracies. But, I did enjoy Michener's Hawaii because (most) of its factual errors involved things that weren't known at the time of the novel.
I have just started 'The Prime of Miss Jean Broadie' It definitely has a spark to it.
Ivan wrote: "
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley"oh, you have to tell me what you think when you finish this! i loved the book and was fortunate to meet the author at a book signing for the second book in the series. :)
Jenny wrote: "Ivan wrote: "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley"oh, you have to tell me what you th..."
Thus far I'm loving it.
Ivan wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Ivan wrote: "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley"oh, you have to tell ..."
I've been reading this for months. I just haven't been able to get into it very well. It was a monthly read in another group a few months ago (August?).
I expect that I will continue to try. But it has gone to the pile on unfinished monthly reads. ... It is growing.
David wrote: "Shay wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I'm waiting to borrow 'Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' from my son...can't wait to read it!!"Did not like this book at all. I have a son with Asperger's..."
Sorry to hear that Shay, it's always disappointing when that happens. I will keep yours and David's comments in mind when I read it, and see what I think. I know my son really enjoyed it..
Oh my gosh, Carmel, that is so terrible! Is she OK now? I really feel for your family..*hugs*
Carmel wrote: "Thankyou to those that recommended 
, I'm so pleased my library has a copy:)Cheers"
It is a wonderful story and to think the author is in his nineties!
Carmel wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Janet wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Yesterday I finished The Year of Magical Thinking and I started The Finkler Question. Didion's book was an excellent reflection on the na..."I hope your daughter is doing well, Carmel.
Carmel wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "I hope your daughter is doing well, Carmel. ..."Thanks for your kind thoughts & yes she's getting better all the time:)
Cheers"
Children and cars = a parent's nightmare. I am happy to hear she is recovering. ....and I hope you are too!
Mod
Wow. I'm still peeling myself off the ceiling after hitting the roof over the thread with the Holocaust Denial teacher! But, as a more positive side note, I really want to chime in about The Invisible Wall. It was a WONDERFUL read. And Harry Bernstein was well up into his 90s when he wrote it a few years ago. I read on the book jacket that he was going to write another book. I have not checked into that and this discussion has just reminded me to do so. I would recommend The Invisible Wall to anyone. It was a fascinating living history from someone who knew another time (WWI era) and wrote about it with clarity, insight and flair. So much tragedy...but beautifully told.
Lori wrote: "Wow. I'm still peeling myself off the ceiling after hitting the roof over the thread with the Holocaust Denial teacher! But, as a more positive side note, I really want to chime in about The Invi..."Lori, It is my understanding that Mr. Bernstein has written two other books beside The Invisible Wall. Apparently, he writes at night because he couldn't sleep especially after his wife of 60+ years passed away.
Thanks for the info. I will go look for his other titles right now!
Mod
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could not agree more with you Shay- "lest those who forget the past...for they are doomed to repeat it.."
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THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
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A Year of Magical Thinking was a good exploration of one woman's grief. Difficult to read at times. I agree with you that the grieving process today has certainly changed, or what society now seems to demand of you. You don't just "move on". It is a slow process...yes, one that possibly you will not complete.