Gardener's Group discussion
Overall Reading Goals&Book Chats
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What Did You Just Finish, What Are You Reading Now & What Books Have You Brought Home Recently? (Spoilers Possible)
Read "Virgin River" a chiclit elcheapo from Wal-Mart which was actually pretty good. Now I'm into "A Game of Thrones" which is the first in a fantasy series by George R.R. Martin. It's a re-read because I've always wanted to read the rest of the series, but needed to go through this one again to get back in the swing of the story. There are literally dozens of characters so it takes a while to keep everyone straight.
Miracle On I-40
5 of 5 stars!!!
Truly a heartwarming and wonderful read at this or any time of year! Shortly after opening any of Curtiss Ann's novels, I am quickly reminded of how much I love her writing. I highly recommend this and her other novels.
Finally I believe my reading rut is over!!! (It's been 4 months since I finished reading anything I've picked up!)
Jo wrote: "Miracle On I-40
5 of 5 stars!!!
Truly a heartwarming and wonderful read at this or any time of year! Shortly after opening any of Curtiss Ann's no..."
Great to hear you're out of your reading valley. I recently looked back over what I had read in 2011 and realized I had very few exceptionally good reads this year. Last year I had so many.
I hear you, not exactly a banner reading year this year!
I had a look at My Books to see if it was the same for me because I thought I had a good year and I find I have rated 50+ books at 5 stars this year. In part because I discovered Trollope and also because I had a very bad year in business and was able to take the really good books (that weren't selling) home where I, sadly, had time to read them.
I have read some really interesting books this year, thanks to a large donation to the library booksale. This person shares many interests with me. Most I just haven't bothered to enter, since I am in such a reading orgy, like 'Tis and All Over But the Shoutin'.
When I look at the list of reviews people are writing if it isn't vampires and fantasy its kidlit. I think I had maybe 3 books all year I gave 5 stars. I'm beginning to think no one is writing the kind of stuff I like anymore.
I'm on book II of the George R.R. Martin series, "A Clash of Kings". Hoping PBS will come through with the last 2 in the series or else I just might have to make a purchase on Amazon.
Found book three and started today. These are long books so I feel like I've made a big commitment!
Just started "Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" for my book club which meets this coming Wed night. I'm still reading book III of the Fire and Ice series, but had to put it down for the book club selection or I might not get it read in time.
Just finished Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. A devil of a read with bad editing. But boy, the ideas are great.
Just started
. I'm on page 37 and am already hooked. This is going to be one of those books I just have to force myself to put down. Otherwise I'll devour it in 1-2 days and even though that can be delicious, I really prefer not to read a book that quickly. Especially a book of this size. Not sure how many pages, but it's HUGE.I read
last week and wasn't impressed.
Rook, welcome and please tell us the story behind your running shoes!
Rook wrote: "Just finished Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. A devil of a read with bad editing. But boy, the ideas are great."Have you read "Gaia's Garden"? Great book, lots of ideas and illustrations on permaculture. Made me want to redo whole areas of my yard!
Anyone get a good gardening book for Christmas?
Not this year, although Gaia's Garden was on my list. :( I may just have to break down and buy a copy. :)
Terri wrote: "Not this year, although Gaia's Garden was on my list. :( I may just have to break down and buy a copy. :)"If you are interested in permaculture I think it is an excellent book.
Am reading
for book club tomorrow night. Have about 1/3 left to go, hope I make it.
If you are interested in permaculture I think it is an excellent book."Definitely interested, so good to know it lives up to the hype.
Book club cancelled and resched for next Wed night. I wondered when we planned it so close after Christmas if people would really have time to read right now. I just finished
this morning myself. I liked it but thought it was a bit perdictable, however, I'm glad I learned more about how the American born Japanese were treated during WWII. The whole thing seems so shameful now, but then when I think about how Muslims are being treated current day I wonder if we have learned anything.
Cheryl: I wondered the same thing about whether we have learned anything. Pretty sad, eh? It wasn't a book I kept, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Terri wrote: "Cheryl: I wondered the same thing about whether we have learned anything. Pretty sad, eh? It wasn't a book I kept, but I thoroughly enjoyed it."Yah, I'll trade mine too, but it made me want to learn more about the subject.
message 575:
by
Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie
(last edited Dec 29, 2011 07:07PM)
(new)
I recently picked up the following at the old church sale, the week before Christmas: An Irish Country Christmas by Anne Taylor, Great American Ghost Stories by Hanz Holzer, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick, At Home on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball, A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber and An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor. Along with my husbands books, a total of 10 between the two of us, for $11.50!
Jo wrote: "I recently picked up the following at the old church sale, the week before Christmas: An Irish Country Christmas by Anne Taylor, Great American Ghost Stories by Hanz H..."Don't you just love those sales? Our library does one twice a year and a paper grocery bag full is 2 bucks!
After reading the Fire and Ice series (I've read 3, with 1 to go) I needed a break with some easy reading so I chose a Maeve Binchy
.Hadn't read one of hers for a long time. The books Jo chose at the sale makes me think of the same kind of writing, what I call a good cosy read.My memoir club is reading
for our January selection. I got a gift card to my fave bookstore for Christmas so ended up paying .96 for a hardcover book. Then I went to Wal-Mart because I had a credit from a defective iron I had purschased there and got
for $3.50 after using my store credit. Haven't read any SK for years, but since the Kennedy assassination is one of my more vivid memories I had an interest in this one. Hope it doesn't freak me out too much as a rule I don't read creepy stuff.I rarely buy new books except from the bookstore I'm trying hard to support so this was a red letter day to have two brand new books.
I hear you re new books! I make every effort to use the library first, then if it's a book I really want to own, I check the 2 on-going library sales and the old church sale before considering buying it new, but even then, I usually order through bn.com where things are discounted to begin with then get an additional 10% off with the membership - if I have a coupon, I use that too! Costco has excellent prices on new books, around $8 for paperbacks and $15 for hardbacks!
Unless they are rare books, I only have new ones. And I prefer hardbacks. When business is good I don't quite have the choice I do now. Positive thinking - silver lining - bad business=good reading!Actually you can buy a lot of new, hardback books at very good prices from all sorts of sources - Booksamillion have a fantastic bargain section and I think they do free shipping if its over $25. Also Bookcloseouts, especially for hardback fiction. They have a lot of coupons and this December have had free shipping. One nice thing about BCO is that they have books from Australia and the UK that are not otherwise available in the US. I should be an associate!
Uh oh...I'm going to have to check out Booksamillion, and that's probably not wise. LOL.Wow Cheryl, you made out! I think you'll really like the SK book. I'm reading it now too and have already gotten to page 257 and I got it Christmas Day and haven't been able to read it the last two days. So that tells you something. I can already tell it's going to be one of those books I don't want to end!
I am a member of our Friends of the Library, and since I am such a fast reader, when we sort the books prior to the booksale, I get to take home the ones I am interested in, read them, and get them on the table for the sale, at NO cost. Sometimes I don't make it for the current sale, but put them out for the next one. I also have much more wide and deep reading interests than what actually sells at our sales, so lots of the culled books are ones I am interested in. I always volunteer to take the culled books to the Goodwill and recycle center, so then can take my pick! Works well for all! In the past when I had income, I donated generously too.
Jo wrote: "I hear you re new books! I make every effort to use the library first, then if it's a book I really want to own, I check the 2 on-going library sales and the old church sale before considering buyi..."I buy a lot of used books on Amazon and trade on PaperBackSwap, but it's hard to find new releases at good prices either of those places.
Terri wrote: "Uh oh...I'm going to have to check out Booksamillion, and that's probably not wise. LOL.Wow Cheryl, you made out! I think you'll really like the SK book. I'm reading it now too and have alread..."
Thanks for the book review, it's next on my list. We'll have to compare notes.
I used to buy a lot on Booksamillion but found out I do better pricewise on Amazon. I'm not fussy about books being hardcover or new, I just want to be able to read them. I trade all my paperbacks except special ones I might want to re-read sometime. Whoops! Just remembered I'm not going to do that anymore---grow, right?
Well I think you can re-read and still grow. I know whenever I re-read my all time favorites I usually "get more" as I age. I really love rereading my favorite spiritual type books (I have some Buddhist books for ex.) because sometimes I'm amazed how much easier it is to understand the second or third time around. Plus, if you're brain is anything like mine, you forget half the stuff you read before. LOL.
I just finished an interesting older book. It was published in 1964. Interesting correlations to today's political climate with all the anti Obama media blitz. It is "The Man" by Irving Wallace. I cannot find the link here. Anyway, overnight a Negro becomes president, and he is impeached for being a Negro, under bogus Articles of Impeachment. There is still a contingent of people who do not believe a black should be representing our country, and I feel, in my own humble opinion, that the anti Obama media and books come from these folks, distorting the truth for their agenda, just like in the book. Anyway, that was why it was so interesting. In 1964 it was a NY TImes best seller. Yet many have not learned the lesson of the book.
Terri wrote: "Well I think you can re-read and still grow. I know whenever I re-read my all time favorites I usually "get more" as I age. I really love rereading my favorite spiritual type books (I have some B..."I've been known to buy a book I've never heard of, read two or three pages and realize I've read it before. Really irritating.
Miriam wrote: "I just finished an interesting older book. It was published in 1964. Interesting correlations to today's political climate with all the anti Obama media blitz. It is "The Man" by Irving Wallace. I ..."I'm pretty sure I did read this one back in the day. When Obama was running for president I was still working. I happened upon a conversation between some co-workers talking about the book series "Left Behind" and how it would come true if BR was elected as he is a black man. I haven't read the series but I understand a high powered black man turns out to be the devil or something like that. I was just appalled. I realize I live in a small town in the north and colored people are very rare here so I don't know if it's fear of the unknown or what. When I said Obama is just a man like any other I got the stink eye so I walked away.
message 588:
by
Bloomin’Chick (Jo) aka The Eclectic Spoonie
(last edited Jan 02, 2012 04:54PM)
(new)
I made a Barnes & Noble on NYE and picked up My Life in France by Julia Child, The Silver Boat: A Novel by Luanne Rice (both 'bargain priced') and Pilgrimage by Annie Leibovitz which was 60% off and 2012 Our Country Diary Engagement Calendar which was half off. Only thing not on sale was the January UK Edition of Country Homes & Interiors. (I love that and the UK Edition of Country Living - such Gorgeous magazines!!!)
Cheryl, I have done the same with books, later realizing I had already read them. It is really frustrating when it is the only book you have, late at night in a hotel room or on an airplane! Worse is to realize you have read it before and didn't like it, and have nothing else!The Left Behind series scares me. Such wrong thinking in my humble opinion. I am reading The God Delusion right now. Pretty interesting. I am reading his chapter on the evidence of the existence of God, and it is interesting that I have heard all of these before, but not had the facts to back up a rebuttal, even though I knew the "evidence" was not in reality fact. It has to be just faith alone, there is no evidence that is fact.
Could not believe it ! My friend gave me a Folio boxed copy of In Your Garden and In Your Garden Again by Vita Sackville West. It is so beautiful I am afraid to open it.!!She is a friend who went with me to Sissinghurst years ago and watched me cry as I toured the garden.
The white garden at Sissinghurst was unbelievable and would be so fun to try If we did not have so much rain here.
Lucky me.
What a wonderful gift!!!
Elizabeth wrote: "Could not believe it ! My friend gave me a Folio boxed copy of In Your Garden and In Your Garden Again by Vita Sackville West. It is so beautiful I am afraid to open it.!!She is a friend who went..."
Wow! What a terrific friend. Something you can savor forever.
I'm just a little over half way in
and I have to say I'm intrigued. It seems to get better as it goes along and I am enjoying SK's writing style. It took me a while to accept the premise of the book, but I guess I have gotten past that now. Teri I'll be anxious to discuss it with you when I'm done.
Reading The taker
and Invisible on my kindle
Brought home
from the library. The cozy mystery people are all talking about the author and her books. Mum's the Word is the first in the series.
I just finished The God Delusion which was really interesting. Also reading an autobiography of the Vietnam War, and Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity. Various others... I have gotten lazy about noting them here.
I just read
for my book club and the question came up as to what happened to the American born Japanese who were interned in camps once the was was over? No one knew and I was wondering if any of you have read anything about how that situation was handled? We all thought it was very interesting none of us were ever taught anything about it in school, I don't even remember hearing about the camps until I was much older.
Many of them went back to what was left of their lives in the Seattle area. The many that lost their businesses started working for others. Many were employed in the nursery business.( plants). Our friend Sio went on to become the head grower and at a very large and very successful nursery in the Seattle area. Many became noted landscape architects in the Northwest.
Where I grew up in Portland, Oregon a Japanese couple raised very successful plants where we went and bought all our bedding plants and they sent two sons to dental school.
We still have a very large Asian population many of them Japanese and they are loved and respected even after what we did to them.
Elizabeth wrote: "Many of them went back to what was left of their lives in the Seattle area. The many that lost their businesses started working for others. Many were employed in the nursery business.( plants). O..."
Thank you so much for this info. I was just bummed when I finished that book because I couldn't imagine what would happen to all the people who had lost everything, It's great to know some of them went on to have very productive lives.
Gardener's Group
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss (other topics)The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health (other topics)
White Beech: The Rainforest Years (other topics)
Orchids of Britain and Ireland (other topics)
A Garden with House Attached (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
D.E. Stevenson (other topics)Margaret George (other topics)
Bernd Heinrich (other topics)
Adriana Trigiani (other topics)
Konrad Lorenz (other topics)
More...
I don't think I've heard of this one, but I'll look for it. I like reading stuff about Minnesota, although I'm more familiar with the northern 2/3 of the state. Thanks for the tip!