Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
ABOUT BOOKS AND READING
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What are U reading these days? (PART SIX) (2010)
I checked Amazon yesterday and THE HELP is in paperback. nina
I just finished, "Oh, My Stars," by Lorna Landvik, the author of, "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons." It was a book I might not have picked but got it at our annual Book Club Christmas exchange. I really enjoyed it. I think it is good sometimes to read a book like this; inspirational and crazy at the same time. Original characters and background. I recommend it. nina quote I love: "Friendship is the sort of love one imagines between angels," C.S. Lewis
Nina wrote: "I checked Amazon yesterday and THE HELP is in paperback. nina"Thanks, Nina. I see that too. I'm wondering why it's not on the NY Times Best Seller paperback lists. Strange.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/be...
Nina wrote: "I just finished, "Oh, My Stars," by Lorna Landvik, the author of, "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons." It was a book I might not have picked but got it at our annual Book Club Christmas exchange. I ..."Thanks, Nina. Below are the links:
Oh My Stars: A Novel
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons
Author: Lorna Landvik
I'm not usually attracted to "housewife" books, but that's because the only thing domestic about me is that I live in a house.
Of course, it always depends on the style of writing and the storyline. One never knows until we start to read the book.
In _The Help_, there's a room in Skeeter's house which they call "the relaxing room". Is this southern expression? I've never heard the term before this. We usually would say "family room" or "den".
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Nina wrote: "Wouldn't The Help make a great movie! nina"As Jenni said, I'd bet on it! Hmmm, now which actors and actresses shall we cast?
How about the award winning stars from the movie "Preciou..."
Jennifer Hudson
Thanks, Katherine. Good suggestion.Here's Jennifer Hudson's IMDb page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1617685/
I finished reading The Help.It was great!!! I recommend it highly.
I've started a separate thread/topic about it at:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
Jenni wrote: "The Help is becoming a movie!http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/ "
WOW! Good news! Guess we'll have to wait for the details... unless we want to pay for IMDbPro!
https://secure.imdb.com/signup/v4/signup
We'll find out the details sooner or later.
All in good time, as they say.
PS-Meanwhile, all we know is what they say at the link:
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"Because this project is categorized as in development, the data is only available on IMDbPro and is subject to change."
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Thanks, Jenni.
Joy wrote she usually shys away from "housewife" type books. "Oh, My Stars," is definitey NOT a housewife book. It is the story of a depressed(rightly so) young girl who goes away from her abusive father in order to take the bus to San Francisco so she can jump from the Golden Gate Bridge. Her plan is tharwted after the bus crashes in a small town in N.D.The rest of the story is moving and interesting. Eventually she becomes manager of a band. This novel keeps you interested in what you are reading and what happens next. I think you ought to give it a try. On top of all that, it is inspiring. nina
Thanks, Nina. I've never read anything by Lorna Landvik. I'll give it a try.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
I'm in the middle of Life of Pi (2001).Right now, Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger! He's figured out a way to stop the tiger from eating him. He tells you all about it. Pi is an intellectual, like the author, Yann Martel.
Before I started reading this book, I had heard about the tiger in the lifeboat with a boy. I wondered how that could have happened. In case you want to know...
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...it's not really a spoiler, but perhaps you'd like to find out on your own... (I'm alerting you)
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It happened while zoo animals were being transported across the ocean and the ship sank.
PS-If you like learning about animals, you will like this book ( _Life of Pi_ ).Not only is it a good suspense story, but it's told in a unique way. You feel as if Pi is telling you the story, one on one. The book has that kind of intimate feel to it. Hard to explain.
I'm about a quarter of the way into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, third in the millennium series, and last unfortunately.
I read in one of the reviews here on GR that originally Larsson intended there to be 12 in the series. Darned shame.
I read in one of the reviews here on GR that originally Larsson intended there to be 12 in the series. Darned shame.
Pontalba wrote: "I'm about a quarter of the way into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, third in the millennium series, and last unfortunately. I read in one of the reviews here on GR that orig..."Thanks for the info, Pontalba.
Would you say that the author, Stieg Larsson, wrote in the "thriller" genre?
BTW, lovely photo! Nice to put a face with the name!
Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: Would you say that the author, Stieg Larsson, wrote in the "thriller" genre?
Um, I guess it would qualify as a thriller, but it's more than a generic thriller IMO. His characters are complex and to say the least driven. No cookie cutter characters for him. :)
Thanks. :)
Um, I guess it would qualify as a thriller, but it's more than a generic thriller IMO. His characters are complex and to say the least driven. No cookie cutter characters for him. :)
Thanks. :)
Joy, let me add this link I found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_La...
Wiki refers to it as crime fiction/thriller, so I guess that about sizes it up.
Oh, in addition, the wiki article mentions that there were 10 projected books in the series. He left an unfinished manuscript for the 4th one, and synopsis for the 5th and 6th. We can only hope that some one half as talented gets to write those.
Wiki refers to it as crime fiction/thriller, so I guess that about sizes it up.
Oh, in addition, the wiki article mentions that there were 10 projected books in the series. He left an unfinished manuscript for the 4th one, and synopsis for the 5th and 6th. We can only hope that some one half as talented gets to write those.
Pontalba, thanks for the Wiki link to their page about Stieg Larsson. I see that it says:"He is best known for his authorship of the Millennium Trilogy of crime novels which are being published posthumously."
Here's the link to the "Millennium Trilogy":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millenni...
"The novels in the series,
-_The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_,
-_The Girl Who Played with Fire_
-and _The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest_,
were first published in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively."
It says that Larsson died in 2004 at the age of 50. Sad. Too bad he didn't live to see his novels published.
About Life of Pi, there are parts of it that seem like science fiction. What a great imagination the author has! The book is full of surprises. A very unusual presentation.I'm at the end, but will read the beginning again to cement my understanding of the entire storyline. There were some vague parts in the beginning (purposely so, I surmise). As you read, those parts become clearer. I'm very impressed by this book and recommend it highly.
I just finished Sword of Avalon and it was very good. It took me long time to read it because I've been on movie craze and spending way too much time on movies rather than books.I wanted something fast and easy for my next book so I chose Sail by James Patterson.
I am still on "Gone to Soldiers" and still enjoying it. Historical fictionf ans take note, this is a GOOD book in you have the slighest interest in books about WWII and/or books with strong, well written characters.
Jackie and Mary, keep on reading!Believe it or not, I'm still finishing up the last few pages of _Life of Pi_. It's still full of surprises!
For next month, our public library's Monday Evening Book Group will be reading The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard.
From GR description:
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"After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon.
...
"The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived."
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Finished Sail. Always a fast read with Patterson. He sure knows how to keep you on the hook; it's hard to put his books down. Somewhat predictable, yet still enjoyable. I had only one complaint about the main character of Katherine. Her first husband died but he was cheating on her when it happened. Now she's married to another man who is a total snake. I get that he's charming and has a talent for lying but I find it hard to believe that a woman who's been cheated on would so blindly give her trust that easily. Even if it is with a different person. I would have believed her blind faith and trust in hubby #2 if her first husband had been a better man and not a cheater. She'd be ignorant to lies and cheating, therefore more readily to believe in another person. Trust is not just a given, it has to be earned and most especially when your trust has been broken in the past. That's just my opinion. But otherwise a good read.
Next up is Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt. I like McDevitt's Alex Benedict novels so when I saw this at the library book sale, I had to pick it up even if it's not Alex Benedict. I have another new(ish) McDevitt that I'll get to sooner or later: Time Travelers Never Die.
I just started reading "1491" by Charles C. Mann. It's about the Western Hemisphere before Columbus. This book will take me a long time to read, as it's a nonfictional textbook-like tome.Usually when I have something so educational, I intersperse it with a couple of novels. Kind of takes the edge off.
Katherine, I have to do the same with textbook-like books also. I can only do so much reality until my need for escapism sets in.
Jackie wrote: "Finished Sail. Always a fast read with Patterson. He sure knows how to keep you on the hook; it's hard to put his books down. Somewhat predictable, yet still enjoyable. I had only one complai..."
I agree with Jackie. Once your trust in people is broken, it's hard to get it back.
However, I try to live by the meaning of the following:
=====================================================
It would be better to be deceived a hundred times than to live a life of suspicion.
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) _Lectures To My Students_
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TRUST
Better trust all and be deceived,
And weep that trust and that deceiving
Than doubt one heart that, if believed,
Had blessed one's life with true believing.
Oh, in this mocking world, too fast,
The doubting fiend o'ertakes our youth;
Better be cheated to the last
Than lose the blessed hope of truth.
-Frances Anne Kemble
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Katherine wrote: "I just started reading "1491" by Charles C. Mann. It's about the Western Hemisphere before Columbus. This book will take me a long time to read, as it's a nonfictional textbook-like tome.Usually wh..."Like Katherine and Jackie, I like to switch back and forth between my current fiction and non-fiction books. I've always preferred fiction when it comes to reading for entertainment.
It's great when you find a non-fiction book which is interesting enough to keep you reading without the need for a fiction break. If I remember correctly, Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand, was that kind of book.
Katherine, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus sounds like it could be very interesting. A GR review (by Bruce) says: "We tend to think of small villages of teepees or cave dwellings. But Mann shows that the populations of the America were equivalent to those of Europe in 1500, and that there were large, organized communities throughout the continent."
Joy wrote: It would be better to be deceived a hundred times than to live a life of suspicion.-Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I couldn't live suspiciously forever, but after trust is broken, it takes time to get it back.
Entertaining non-fiction is hard to come by. Once, I read a book called The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story that read like a novel. It was informative and entertaining with the drama of it.
Whew, Jackie, that IS a terrifying true story!(_The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story_)
It was! When I first picked it up, I didn't notice the front cover 'true story' part; I was shocked when I finally realized it was all true because it read like a novel.It was highly informative, Ebola, Marlburg, filoviruses. And what horrible diesaes hemorraghic fevers are, complete details on what it does to the body and how cunning this little filovirus is in the way it is designed to spread. The book started with US army personell containing the virus in Africa. They killed anyone who tried to leave the area because it is so contagious. Of course, one person is allowed to leave by a sympathetic soldier and the outbreak is now speading.
And it tells of the monkey houses in Weston Va and their outbreak, the history of Marlburg. Scary stuff.
I'm starting the Childe Cycle by Gordon R. Dickson. He wrote the first book, Dorsai, the year I was born. The last book, Antagonist, was published in 2007 with a co-author since Dickson died in 2001. I've read most of the books, some two or three times, but I've never read them in order nor all in the same decade. So now I will. I just finished the first published (not chronologically) & have started the second, Necromancer.
It should be interesting, reading them in order. Let me know if you find it a different experience from the previous one.
Jim wrote: "I'm starting the Childe Cycle by Gordon R. Dickson. He wrote the first book, Dorsai, the year I was born. The last book, Antagonist, was published in 20..."Jim, I went to Wiki to see the whole picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_R...
I see that the list of books in the "Childe Cycle" is quite long:
Childe Cycle
* The Genetic General (1960) (restored variant title: Dorsai!, 1976)
* Necromancer (1962) (variant title: No Room for Man)
* "Warrior" (1965)(short story) included in Lost Dorsai
* Soldier, Ask Not (1967)
* Tactics of Mistake (1971)
* The Spirit of Dorsai (1979)
* Lost Dorsai (1980)
* The Final Encyclopedia (1984)
* The Dorsai Companion (1986)
* The Chantry Guild (1988)
* Young Bleys (1991)
* Other (1994)
* Antagonist (with David W. Wixon) (2007)
[Above list is from the Wiki link above.:]
They must be good if you are motivated to read them again. Seems to me I recently read something about re-reading a book and seeing it with new eyes, i.e., finding more there than you saw before. Enjoy.
In a lot of ways, "Dorsai!" is one of the formative space war books of SF. It was pretty amazing to read it, 50 years after it was written & find that it wasn't dated. It's also interesting to see how many pieces of it were used elsewhere, so yeah, it's pretty good. I don't know if I'll get through all of them again, but it should be interesting to try.
After struggling along with the protagonist for 12 episodes of Dickens, "Great Expectations," on DVD I was quite let down by the ending. Has anyone out there read the book or seen the movie? If so, what did you think? nina
I've never cared for Dickens. He was paid by the word & writes like it. Luckily, I was never forced to read "Great Expectations" although I had to read "A Tale of Two Cities" & "A Christmas Carol".
Nina wrote: "After struggling along with the protagonist for 12 episodes of Dickens, "Great Expectations," on DVD I was quite let down by the ending. Has anyone out there read the book or seen the movie? If so,..."I've never read Dicken's Great Expectations, but I've seen three different movie versions of it. See them at the links below.
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Great_Ex...
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Great_Ex...
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Great_Ex...
At first my main purpose in watching the movie was to find out the plot of the story. Then I got curious about the different versions. I enjoyed each version since each one offered something different in style and approach. It was interesting seeing how different performers handled the part. As for the ending... yes, it was very sad.
Another classic with a sad ending was _Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.
I recently watched the DVD:
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998):
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Tess_of_...
The beginning was slow, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I was eventually drawn in by the excellent performances and the story itself. Now at least I know the plot of another classic which I will never read.
PS-In my Message #139 above, I said that the ending of "Great Expectations" was sad. But now I remember that, although Pip's life was filled with unhappy times, the Dicken's story ends with a hint that things might get better for Pip. He may have "great expectations", now that he has learned a few of life's lessons the hard way.Sparknotes explains the ending here: ===>
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex...
Scroll down to the final chapter summary to see how the story ends. Sparknotes also tells of a sadder optional ending which Dickens decided not to use. Sparknotes says:
====================================================
"Dickens changed this ending at the suggestion of a friend, the novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton. He seems to have been motivated, at least in part, by the desire to please his reading public with a happy ending."
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PPS-BTW, I recently read the following about the difference between authors Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens:====================================================
Thomas Hardy was frequently compared with Charles Dickens in school literature classes, particularly the fate of their lead characters. While Mr Dickens championed the common man, he did it largely from a state of optimism. For Mr Hardy, however, the terms "hero" and "heroine" were not synonymous with "victor."
Above is from: http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/...
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I need to dump a lot of wood scraps & wanted to get some Maple to turn this weekend, but it's cold & snowy. There's a good sized Maple that I have my eye on, but it's down over a steep hill & it's so cold... I think I'll stack the scraps & scrounge for other wood to turn. Maybe clean the shop.Actually, I might have another piece or two of Walnut to turn before I do a thorough cleaning. I have to be really careful none of the Walnut gets in with shavings for the horses since it can kill them.
Interesting, Jim. I found the following:======================================================
"The toxic phenolic compound, juglone, is found in the bark, wood, nuts, and roots of black walnut. Horses are primarily affected when exposed to shavings that contain black walnut wood. Shavings contaminated with less than 20% black walnut can cause poisoning in 24 hrs. Affected horses exhibit depression, lethargy, laminitis, distal limb edema, and increased temperature, pulse, respiration rate, abdominal sounds, digital pulse, and hoof temperature. Consumption of the shavings may also cause signs of mild colic."
ABOVE IS FROM: http://ohioline.osu.edu/b762/b762_25....
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I also found:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/l...
http://www.horse-sense.org/archives/2...
PS-Jim, what makes black walnut wood so valuable and costly?======================================================
The following is from: http://www.horse-sense.org/archives/2...
"You may have a small gold mine there, because black walnut wood is in demand, and usually quite costly."
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Laminitis is what we always called 'founder' & that's one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a horse. It means their feet get sore & a horse with bad feet is in trouble. A bad case can actually make the hoof soft enough that their bones push down into the hoof itself. We had a pony that foundered badly. I always had to cut the toe of her hoof as short as possible & leave as much heel as I could because it had changed the angle of her ankle.Walnut is expensive because it's really pretty, great to work & slow growing, so it's constantly in short supply & sought after. It's not a hard, hardwood like Hickory, Oak or Cherry, so easier to work with, doesn't chip as easily & not as hard on tools. It's not more expensive because almost all of a log is the dark heart wood. The light sapwood is a very thin band around the outside.
I like to work it into projects when I can, although it can be muddy. New sapwood is very light colored, though. It can make a nice contrast. I've rarely seen any one else use it, though. I've made some neat bowls with it. One of the legs on my chess table has it in there & the two ends of the chess table are made with a mixture. The chess table & all the pieces are made out of walnut & maple. Ditto for the checkers & the dice for the backgammon set on the other side. It was one of my first turning projects, all done on my first, cheap, horrible Harbor Freight lathe.
Jim, thanks for the info and the answer to my question about Walnut wood. I've always loved furniture made out of cherry wood. The color is so warm.Have you ever done any marquetry work?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquetry
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en...
My mom had a table and chairs set completely covered with marquetry. The table opened up to a backgammon board all done in marquetry. Below is a link... mom's set wasn't exactly like this, but this pic shows the marquetry style: ===>
http://www.alandalus.ca/pages/images/...
I often wonder what it's worth.
No, I've never tried inlays or marquetry. I've thought about it, but never gotten around to it. It's pretty, but a LOT of work. Too much fiddling for me. Some people like to make bowls & such out of little pieces of wood all glued together. Very pretty, but I don't find it fun & relaxing. I've done a few to try that, though.
Oh, that table is pretty. Busier than I prefer, but I can appreciate the work that goes into it. I have no idea on worth.
Jim wrote: "Oh, that table is pretty. Busier than I prefer, but I can appreciate the work that goes into it. I have no idea on worth."I wonder how people have the patience to do all that inlay and marquetry.
Personal History (1997), an autobiography by Katharine Graham (owner of the Washington Post and Newsweek Magazine), has been on my back burner for a while. I have finally picked it up again where I left off. Fascinating stuff!The beginning of the book was rather dull because she was telling about her ancestors, but as soon as she starts talking about her own adult life, it becomes almost riveting. She lived among rich, powerful people on a level most of us can only imagine. She takes us behind the scenes to see how intense, and sometimes insecure, their lives can be.
PS-Her anecdotes about LBJ (Pres. Johnson) are very entertaining.
PPS-This book was winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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As Jenni said, I'd bet on it! Hmmm, now which actors and actresses shall we cast?
How about the award winning stars from the movie "Precious" ===>
Gabourey Sidibe?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2829737/
Mo'Nique?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594898/
PS-Halle Berry?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000932/
I could watch her all day. One of my favorites.